"Pff!"
Just as he took a sip of tea, it unintentionally splashed all over Mo Junhua, who was pushing his wheelchair. Despite his attempt to dodge, his clothes still got partially soaked with tea.
"I’m sorry, I’m sorry!" The regint commander, while wiping the tea from his mouth, apologetically looked at Mo Junhua and took the village docunt he handed over.
It wasn’t that he was intentionally making a fuss, but what Mo Junhua had done was indeed shocking and outrageous. Through the ages, no one ever heard of a soldier reporting another to sabotage their own military marriage.
What’s crucial was the woman he reported, who broke up his military marriage, was his own wife. Under normal circumstances, the involved man usually plays dumb, trying to minimize his presence and dissociate himself to avoid complications.
Yet, here he was, doing the opposite; not only did he co forward, but he also reported the issue himself, fearing not the trouble it could bring, but rather that it would not cause enough uproar.
The regint commander quickly skimd through the docunts, glancing back and forth between them and Mo Junhua. The docunts were clearly written, detailing when and where Nurse Zhou started her entanglent, his reactions at the ti, and who were the witnesses, listing everything in great detail.
The regint commander’s mouth twitched as he read; the evidence was ticulously collected, suggesting preditation—who would believe otherwise.
The regint commander had a splitting headache, what should he explain?
Explain what? He himself hoped for soone to explain to him. He had long been dissatisfied with Nurse Zhou and wanted to kick her out of his regint, but there were higher-ups protecting Zhou Yuwei, preventing him from acting against her. What could he do?
Was his position as a regint commander easy to uphold?
"You go back first, take good care of yourself. I’m aware of the situation and will keep the docunts. Your main task now is to recover and attend the military eting. That’s an order." He tucked the reporting materials into a drawer—it was painful even to glance at them—then motioned for Mo Junhua to leave after instructing him to recuperate.
"I understand." Mo Junhua lowered his eyelids, concealing the coldness in his eyes, and wheeled himself out.
...
Lan Tian didn’t know that Mo Junhua had returned to the military base and filed charges against Zhou Yuwei for breaking the sanctity of their military marriage. At this mont, she was casually chatting with Chun i in the yard.
Grandma Sun had accompanied Zhao Li and Chun i for a while, and then Zhao Li went off to tidy up the house, taking things from the yard along with her, while Grandma Sun went to buy at in the village.
"...Does Mom know you’ve co to Shanghai?" Lan Tian asked calmly.
Chun i stiffened and looked up at Lan Tian, slowly chewing on her waterlon. Of course, Mom didn’t know; over the years, Mom had increasingly treated her as an outsider, keeping her in the dark about family matters. Knowing she was coming to Shanghai to find Lan Tian, Mom would definitely disapprove.
Chun i felt sowhat bitter. Who really was her biological daughter then?
What did Lan Tian an by asking this? Did she know she had co here behind Mom’s back? No way, she wasn’t an immortal who could predict everything.
"You know, our family moved to Shanghai and hasn’t been back for years. Mom has been worried and has always wanted to visit," Chun i pondered and continued, Lan Tian listened silently, her expression unchanged.
Chun i went on, "You also know, with so many people and things back ho, and Mom having to manage everything there by herself, she can’t just leave. coming here also gives Mom peace of mind."
So, Mom doesn’t know!
Lan Tian narrowed her eyes slightly. She could hear Chun i’s accusatory tone, blaming her for forgetting her roots and not caring for her in-laws after becoming successful.
"Are dad and mom in good health?"
"They’re fine, eating and sleeping well," Lan Tian dropped further inquiries, letting Chun i sigh in relief and beco more talkative.
"Our village has that pond on the west side, right? Last year, the village implented a lottery system for its contract, and our family won it, haha," Chun i thought of many villagers’ annoyed faces as she laughed heartily, "Mom smiled all year round. During the New Year, the pond yielded a lot of fish. Guess how much money it brought in? This much money."
Chun i gestured before Lan Tian could speak.
Following her cue, Lan Tian asked, "Can’t guess, how much?"
"Over a thousand yuan." Chun i boasted gleefully.
Back in the eighties, the town’s salary was only fifty or sixty yuan a month, amounting to six or seven hundred per year. Earning over a thousand yuan from a pond in a year was indeed a large sum. A few years of that could make one a ten-thousand-yuan household, a real wealthy family; no wonder Chun i was so joyful.
"Wasn’t the pond previously contracted by the village chief’s brother? When did it change to a lottery system?" Such a thing never happened in her past life. The pond was always contracted either by relatives of the village chief’s family or by well-to-do families in the village, others rely watched from the sides and gossiped.
"That was actually a good deed by the village chief," Lan Tian comnted.
"Indeed, everyone in the village says he’s a good village chief. Each family contracts it for three years, and the lottery is redrawn once that period is up. This way, everyone gets a chance."
Such fair and just managent, no wonder the villagers spoke well of the village chief. But knowing him, there could be ulterior motives unknown to others; he wasn’t the kind to do things without reason.
Lan Tian pondered for a while, then decided not to dwell on his intentions.
Zhao Li was busy cleaning the house and cooking, Grandma Sun had bought at and gathered a variety of vegetables including long beans and spinach, filling a large basket, while choosing vegetables she listened to the casual chat between the two.
"Do you know about Yanhua from our village?" Chun i said non-stop once she started talking.
Lan Tian glanced at Grandma Sun and naturally replied, "What about her?"
Yanhua had swindled money. She’d been worried about how to alert Grandma Sun and others to be cautious. It was like a godsend that Chun i brought it up.
Lan Tian gave Chun i a smile, radiant like the March sunshine, which briefly dazed Chun i and then flattered her. She thought to herself, what a sorceress! Lan Tian, usually so aloof like a fairy in the Moon Palace, becos devastatingly beautiful when she smiles; no wonder ancient emperors would rage for a beauty, and why her elder brother insisted on marrying her despite everything.
"She took over my uncle’s role, isn’t she working as the Red Doctor in our village?" Lan Tian walked over to help Grandma Sun pick vegetables.
Chun i rolled her eyes at Lan Tian with newfound enthusiasm, "What you’re talking about is ancient history now."
Lan Tian looked up, "Is that so? Then what’s up with her? She seems to be eating well and dressing well, living a better life than many."
Recently, Yanhua had co over dressed flamboyantly, even wearing lipstick and a ponytail hairstyle which Grandma Sun and others hadn’t noticed, but Lan Tian spotted the change right away.
Grandma Sun thought back to that day, lost in thought.
"Yanhua hasn’t always stayed in the village. As she’s getting older, her mother beca anxious and arranged a matchmaker to find her a husband. Believe it or not, she actually found soone who didn’t mind her past and she could instantly beco a mother, oh wow! What a fortunate turn, she wouldn’t even have to give birth herself." She gleefully relished the news.
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