Seeing the man's gloomy face, Jiang Yu knew he was genuinely angry, so she didn't continue confronting Jiang Meier. After all, her reputation was already rotten to the core in the village; how could her man of seven years not have heard of it?
Besides, all of this was the original owner's doing, what does it have to do with her? She, Jiang Yu, is upright and honest, so at worst she can just get a divorce! It will save the two of them from feeling awkward when they meet.
But then again, why did he speak up for her? After a moment's thought, Jiang Yu pictured the children in her mind. He was probably thinking of them, so she figured he was just helping her out of a tight spot.
In this awkward situation, Zhang Ergou spoke up to express his opinion:
"Brother Ying, these are all baseless rumors, don't take them seriously. Besides, this lady..."
He glanced at the furious Jiang Meier.
"Is she your sister-in-law's younger sister? This is the first time I've met her; I didn't know her at all before."
Zhang Ergou wasn't lying; he was indeed meeting Jiang Meier for the first time. But how did she know his name? Could it be that she had heard of his exploits and was secretly in love with him?
"In that case, please leave. It's almost Chinese New Year, don't let it affect my family's fortune."
Shen Ying glanced at him coldly, waiting for the people at the door to clear the area.
Jiang Yu held Wang Cuihua's hand, and the two exchanged glances for a while before leaving, still feeling uneasy.
Zhang Ergou roughly grabbed Jiang Meier and dragged her backward, trying to avoid Shen Ying's line of sight as much as possible. To vent his anger, he deliberately spoke in a voice that everyone could hear:
"You vicious woman! Who do you think you are, spreading rumors at his doorstep? Are you tired of living? If you dare to upset him again, I'll beat you up every time I see you."
After saying that, she didn't forget to wave her fist to scare her. She originally thought that Jiang Yu, as her older sister, would stop her, but considering that she was going to ruin her, anyone who wasn't a saintly, naive person would pretend not to see it. If she wasn't taught a lesson, she would really think that this society was easy to navigate and that she could say whatever she wanted.
Jiang Meier swallowed all the words she wanted to say in defense. She knew that Shen Ying was genuinely protecting Jiang Yu, but she was also genuinely afraid of Zhang Ergou.
Now look what's happened! The blood from her forehead has soaked her hair, and there are dried bloodstains on her clothes. And that fish—if her dad finds out when she gets back, he'll break her legs. She'll just have to make up some excuse and say a stray cat snatched it away.
Jiang Yu followed Shen Ying through the door, staring at his muscular back, and whispered:
"Thank you for speaking up for me."
The voice wasn't loud, but it was enough for the man to hear clearly. He paused for a moment, then went into the house without looking back. Jiang Yu rubbed her hands together, pondering: No man could stand the original owner's actions. Her powerless actions these past few days were like a gust of wind, unable to stir up any waves, and naturally, unable to change other people's opinions.
Sitting in the chair, Shen Niannian kept asking her father to hold her, and Shen Suisui snuggled up to him. Jiang Yu didn't understand why the children liked this seemingly cold man so much. Aren't children supposed to like people who seem kind on the surface?
Wang Cuihua was worried that there might be some misunderstanding between the two and that it should be resolved by talking it out. She called her son, who was reading a book nearby, and asked him to take his younger siblings out to play.
Once given permission, things are like wild horses that have broken free of their reins, running with incredible speed.
Without the child in the house, the atmosphere suddenly became tense. Jiang Yu walked around the room, trying to find something to do to ease the awkwardness, and then focused on the spring cleaning.
I've been very busy lately and haven't had time to clean the house. Now that there's someone else here, the work will probably be much faster.
And the walls around the kang (a heated brick bed) were covered with mud and mortar, so some dust inevitably flew around, making the sheets very dirty. She remembered that there was a pile of unused newspapers at home, which would help to cover the walls.
Jiang Yu was certain of her plan. She turned and went to the outer room to find a basin and glue. She then found some old newspapers and placed them on the table, hesitatingly speaking:
"Comrade Shen Ying, we need to paste newspaper on the walls at home. Could you please help us? Thank you."
Shen Ying didn't speak, but seeing that the woman was fully prepared, he picked up the tools on the table, which was considered his agreement.
Jiang Yu patted her chest inwardly and breathed a sigh of relief. Talking to this man was practically a test of courage.
Applying paste to the wall would stick to the mattress, so it naturally had to be folded up first. While Jiang Yu went out to find sorghum seedlings, the man had already finished folding the bed, making neat, square folds that looked very pleasing to the eye.
But why were there an IOU and a letter under the mattress? Shen Ying originally intended to put them aside for her, after all, it's not good to pry into other people's privacy. However, his curiosity got the better of him, and he couldn't help but be itching to see the contents.
With the determination to take only a glance, he picked up the IOU. It bore Lu Yi's name, and Shen Ying immediately recalled what she had said at the door earlier. However, he wasn't interested in the exact amount of money on it.
The envelope below was from the military compound. Shen Ying looked at the familiar address and his heart skipped a beat. Could it be that some urgent mission had been sent to him, but that woman had seen it and deliberately hidden it?
A quick glance at the date on the letter eased the tension in my heart. Back then, he was still in the military; he would have been notified personally of any important matters. This letter was probably just some ordinary words of comfort.
After opening the envelope, the contents were about the clothing store in the department store. The sender mentioned the rental price of the store and suggested that I ask my husband for help.
As he read on, the letter didn't mention his name at all. Just as Shen Ying was beginning to suspect that the woman had been tricked into giving him money and was regretting giving him the hundred yuan last time, Li Xue's name at the end caught his attention.
As Commander Li's most trusted subordinate, Shen Ying had quite a few interactions with his wife, Li Xue. This commander's wife was extremely friendly to the soldiers under his command, always ready to lend a helping hand whenever they faced difficulties.
So, did Jiang Yu deliberately approach the regimental commander's wife to build a relationship with her? Probably not, otherwise the impatient Regimental Commander Li would have already told me.
But... just as things were getting confusing, the activities of the troops a few days ago came to mind.
That day, when he saw Li Xue storming out carrying a clothing bag, Commander Li specifically reminded her to avoid his wife as much as possible, saying that she was like a powder keg ready to explode at any moment. At the time, he was already extremely worried at the regiment, knowing that he would have to argue with her when he got home that night, and the thought gave him a headache.
When she returned in the afternoon, she was like a completely different person. She greeted everyone with a smile and instructed several comrades to move things, a stark contrast to the woman she was before leaving home.
Some comrades joked that perhaps the regimental commander had angered her, so she ruined the clothes at the clothing store. She then recounted how a young and pretty girl helped her alter the clothes, solving her immediate problem.
When the comrade asked about the girl's appearance, he was fortunate enough to hear Li Xue's description of the process.
Big eyes, high nose, cherry lips, loose, jet-black hair, two dimples when she smiles, and a mole near the corner of her eye—isn't that his wife?
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