Lu Mingliang’s words made Liu Sanjin’s face turn slightly green. Ever since this little brat arrived at the Lu Family, she really disliked him; his eyes were always darting around sneakily, and his mouth never stopped talking.
"Ah, Mingliang is still young, he doesn’t understand. What grandma says is all true. Whose life is easy? If it weren’t for your dad doing well in the army, our family would have been too poor to even open the pot."
"But... but, Uncle San and Grandpa are still out working, Uncle Si is a warehouse manager, Uncle Er is still able to work, we can’t be too poor to open the pot, right!"
Liu Sanjin: "....."
This kid really makes my head spin with anger!!!
"Xiao ng is here, Aunt San, you better read the letter quickly, it’s getting late, I see my family’s dinner is already prepared."
"Indeed, Zhenping is a soldier, Xiao ng can’t be without awareness, alas his Uncle San and Aunt can’t read, it’s useless even if she looks at it."
"I’m going back, still need to fetch water at ho, Aunt San, don’t talk about Xiao ng anymore, you treat her like your own daughter, you would feel sad if she’s unwell, speak nicely if there’s sothing."
Liu Sanjin watched as several people left in a short while, feeling very upset. Usually, she was always the one being praised and sympathized with. Today these two kids and that wretched Shen ng said a few reckless words and it beca her fault, all just muddling through.
"I can read, I’ve attended literacy classes. Zhenping’s wife, give the letter, I’ll read it to your mother-in-law."
"Alright, Uncle Guai."
Uncle Guai took the letter handed over by Shen ng, cleared his throat, and under Liu Sanjin’s expectant gaze, slowly began reading the letter.
"Xiao ng, seeing the words as if seeing you, it’s been two months since my last letter. Did you receive the allowance I sent through a comrade last month? Are the children alright? If there is ti, could you take a few children to the photo studio in the county to take a photo? I miss you all, how is father-in-law’s health........ Wishing my parents well."
After Uncle Guai finished reading the letter, the scene was as quiet as a chicken, with only a short five words on the full page of the letter ntioning Liu Sanjin and Lu Changzhu, making many people confused. Although Lu Zhenping appeared cold, he was warmhearted, how could he only ntion his parents this briefly.
Liu Sanjin’s eyes brimd with fury, without waiting for Uncle Guai to comfort her, she turned her head and walked away hastily, her steps quicker than when she arrived.
Embarrassing, truly embarrassing, her many years of good reputation completely ruined in one fell swoop. In Lu Family Village, who didn’t know, who wasn’t aware that her eldest son in the army was doing well, sending allowances every month, hadn’t even separated from the family, and was providing for the elderly parents.
All these years, which old man or old lady around her age was not envious, but today, this letter seed like a slap on her face, loud and crisp.
Back in her room, Liu Sanjin climbed onto the Kang bed without having dinner, clutching the quilt in her hands, muttering under her breath, it must be that little wretch Shen ng who had sent a letter to her son, driving a wedge between them, otherwise, how could her dutiful son not care about her and the old man!
Thinking this, she suddenly sat up, hastily got off the Kang, and went to find Lu Jiaxuan to write a letter, to
express her grievances about Shen ng.
Diannan border.
Lu Zhenping was biting a cigarette, sitting on the parallel bars at the training field, staring at the moon hung in the sky, unable to snap out of his trance. A gust of wind ca, and Lu Zhenping gripped the bars, jumped down, swung around in mid-air, and clamped the legs of his sneak attacker with his own. His hands quickly interlocked on the bars, he rotated, and directly knocked the sneak attacker to the ground.
"Ouch, hiss, Old Lu, you really didn’t hold back, my old back almost gave out right here."
Lu Zhenping frowned, reached out to pull up Ma Xiang, who was lying on the ground panting.
"What are you ssing around for in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"
Rubbing his back, Ma Xiang chuckled and smiled, "Isn’t it because I saw you here all lonely and hosick, looking so pitiful—I was afraid you’d start crying so, as a brother, I hurried over to comfort you, right?"
"Tch!"
"Tsk, you’re still unappreciative, you, you really miss your wife and kids so much, and yet you always think of others. At your rank, your sister-in-law could already join the military with the kids, but every ti there’s housing you let it go. And last year, you had your bags packed but ended up covering Xiao Gu’s shift. Hey, your youngest son is three this year, right? Don’t you miss him? But you’ve brought it on yourself, who asked you to be so selflessly generous!"
Lu Zhenping glanced at him, reached into his pocket for a cigarette. After pulling out the pack, he vigorously squeezed it, while Ma Xiang next to him snickered twice.
"What’s the matter, out of cigarettes? You should’ve said earlier, brother, I’ve got so. Did you give away your own allowance again? I an, you have a whole family to support. When your wife married you, how old was she? A woman after marriage, raising three kids while being pregnant herself, and now she’s taking care of four, and you weren’t even there when sis-in-law was pregnant. Tell , do people have it easy? Bad luck marrying an insensitive guy like you."
Listening to Ma Xiang, for once, Lu Zhenping didn’t snap back. Recalling when Shen ng married him, those eyes of hers were always darting around, clearly a girl with many thoughts. He had been in the military for so many years, faced countless dangerous missions, and cunning enemies. How could he not see through those little tricks?
But Shen ng was clever and pretty, and her parents and siblings were all very kind people. When they married, he had seen Mingyang’s children interact with his father-in-law and mother-in-law, and he could tell they were genuinely nice folks. He thought a child brought up by such a family couldn’t be too bad.
Thinking of the many years of marriage, Shen ng must have suffered a lot. Whenever they sent letters saying sothing unfavorable about his wife and children, he never believed them.
He knew very well what kind of people his own parents were. From the letters sent by Lu Changhong, he generally knew his wife, though smart, was also a bit of a fool, fooled by his mother, and probably now couldn’t even tell right from wrong.
"You’re right, my sister-in-law has it tough. This year’s ho leave, I’m not letting anyone else take it, but don’t you think I didn’t know that you and Old Chen sent things to my house again this month. Don’t send next ti, you guys aren’t well-off yourselves. With wives and children joining the military, just getting by is enough, don’t worry about ."
Seeing him say this, Ma Xiang heaved a sigh of relief, gathered up his mischievous deanor, and looked seriously at Lu Zhenping, "Old platoon leader, don’t keep everything to heart all the ti. What we do is about protecting our holand; sacrifice and shedding sweat and blood are inevitable. You can’t save everyone, old platoon leader, don’t carry too heavy a burden on your shoulders."
Lu Zhenping looked at him intently for a mont, then clapped him on the shoulder,
"Got it, Comrade Old Ma, co on, run a few steps with , let’s do an unburdened thousand ters, see who has the shortest ti."
"Let’s go!" Ma Xiang ran off before he could give the signal.
"You cheater, old man!" Lu Zhenping quickly chased after him.
They hadn’t run far when a patrolling soldier nearby shone his flashlight on them, two people—one a deputy regintal commander, the other a chief of staff—scrambled off running.
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