Li Shengi felt distressed and suddenly realized Zheng Xianghong was so right. She reflected on her actions over the years—the trouble she caused for Zheng Xianghong, thinking about how Gao Guoqiang must view her in his heart, and it all just made her feel terrible.
In fact, most of her life had already passed, and Li Shengi wasn’t so fixated on Gao Guoqiang anymore. It was just that she couldn’t swallow her pride, which was why she harbored animosity toward Zheng Xianghong. She didn’t want Zheng Xianghong to have an easier life and couldn’t stand seeing Zheng Xianghong doing better than herself, hence she kept causing trouble.
"So these years you’ve just been laughing at ?" Li Shengi grew sowhat angry.
Zheng Xianghong looked at Li Shengi speechlessly and said, "Isn’t it you who laughed at ? Instigating my mother-in-law to hit and scold , you must have been very pleased inside, right?"
Li Shengi suddenly felt ashad, and thinking of the reason she had co, she was unsure whether it was appropriate to speak up. She said, "It’s all in the past. Why hold onto it? I didn’t gain anything from it anyway. He Hongjun doesn’t treat as well as before, and Gao Guoqiang hasn’t laid a finger on you, yet He Hongjun hasn’t been sparing with ."
Had it been before, Li Shengi wouldn’t have ntioned such things, but now she was truly trying to ingratiate herself with Zheng Xianghong.
Thinking about Zheng Xianghong’s son making sothing of himself, Li Shengi felt a sourness in her heart. Her second son, He Xuebing, had just been promoted to platoon leader, while Gao Jiaxing was already a Deputy Company Commander and even had the chance to study at a military academy and attend university. The disparity between their achievents was so glaring that it made Li Shengi’s eyes turn red with jealousy.
"That was your own doing." Zheng Xianghong had no sympathy for Li Shengi. Heaven knows when Li Shengi married into the He Family, she didn’t have to do anything; her mother-in-law waited on her. anwhile, Zheng Xianghong was working like an ox for her mother-in-law, and it was still not enough to please her.
Life is what one makes of it. Li Shengi had a good family but was never content. Who’s to bla then?
Li Shengi didn’t bring it up again. Instead, she said to Zheng Xianghong, "Gangzi, Bingzi, along with Jiazhi and Jiaxing, grew up together like brothers. Although our relationship isn’t good, their bond is genuinely strong."
Zheng Xianghong agreed with this point. Of course, this was under the premise that He Hongjun always approved of the children from both families mingling, and unlike Li Shengi, Gao Guoqiang and Zheng Xianghong had no issues with the children interacting. Thus, the kids from both families grew up fighting and playing together, forging strong ties.
"Now that Jiaxing has beco a Deputy Company Commander and is going to military college next year, could you ask him to lend a hand to Xuegang for the position of platoon leader?" If she weren’t truly thinking of her son, Li Shengi wouldn’t be speaking to Zheng Xianghong in such a humble way.
He Xuegang was currently only a squad leader, despite being in the military for over a decade and eting the conditions to serve alongside troops. Considering her second son was already an officer while her eldest wasn’t, Li Shengi still hoped He Xuegang could beco a platoon leader.
Zheng Xianghong said, "It’s useless to ask , and it’s useless to find Jiaxing. It’s not up to him to decide."
"Even if it’s not for Jiaxing to decide, he has a say in it, doesn’t he? Isn’t Lieutenant Liu Xia Xiao’s cousin?" Li Shengi’s tone turned sour as she spoke. Who could have predicted that Xia Xiao would turn out to be a golden egg?
At the ti, Li Shengi truly looked down on Xia Xiao. And so what if she ca from a big city? A phoenix fallen on hard tis is not as good as a chicken. That’s why Li Shengi had acted against the match, not letting her son be involved with Xia Xiao.
But look at Xia Xiao now—with a good family background, not to ntion influential relatives, and having easily birthed three sons. If you ask Li Shengi if she regrets her actions.
She does.
Sotis, Li Shengi would think if she had agreed to let Xia Xiao be with He Xuebing, and if He Xuegang had married the regint commander’s daughter, everything would have been perfect.
Of course, this was just wishful thinking on the part of Li Shengi.
"Lieutenant Liu has already said that the winner of next sumr’s assessnts will be chosen based on rit. You should just encourage Gangzi to work harder. Things can’t be done this way. There are rules in the military, and it’s all about real ability. If Jiaxing didn’t have the capability, others wouldn’t favor him either. Gangzi is also an experienced soldier and shouldn’t be less capable than the others. You have to believe in your son. I won’t talk about this to anyone else, and you shouldn’t beg others either. Otherwise, you’ll just be making a joke of Gangzi, and it might even lead to him being looked down upon."
Zheng Xianghong had watched He Xuegang grow up, and He Hongjun was her relative, with He Xuegang being more like her younger cousin. She also hoped for He Xuegang to do well.
Li Shengi wasn’t pleased, feeling that Zheng Xianghong was unwilling to help, "If you don’t want to help, fine, but why bother saying so much?"
Zheng Xianghong just rolled her eyes at Li Shengi, "You should ask Gangzi himself. If what I’m saying isn’t right, forget I said anything. You also don’t need to look for . Our relationship has never been good to begin with. If it weren’t for this familial tie, I wouldn’t even want to deal with you."
When He Xuegang returned ho, they naturally complained about the situation in front of him, to which He Xuegang furiously exclaid, "What, you went to ask for favors on my behalf?"
Dong ihua didn’t say a word, but Li Shengi replied, "What favors? Don’t make it sound so nasty. We were just hoping that Zheng Xianghong and Xia Xiao could speak to Gao Jia and Lieutenant Liu on your behalf. We’re looking out for your best interests."
"You’re just embarrassing , trampling my dignity underfoot," He Xuegang seethed. Although he tended to be more aggressive and liked to sche, if Liu Yuanchao hadn’t stated that the assessnt next year would be fair, he might have actually considered using his connections.
But Liu Yuanchao had explicitly said that next year’s assessnt would determine the winner, and cheating wouldn’t be possible with over a hundred people in one unit.
Rather than think about those things, it was better to work on improving himself and his skills.
Moreover, there were only six months left, and He Xuegang’s training had been particularly strenuous. Since Li Shengi’s arrival, she had been sleeping in the greenhouse. He had just wanted to co ho to see his son and instead had to listen to Li Shengi and Dong ihua’s complaints, which infuriated him.
He felt he was working hard to improve, aspiring to win on his own strength, and here his own mother and wife were holding him back.
Although he didn’t know whether Xia Xiao and Zheng Xianghong would tell Gao Jia, or if Liu Yuan and Mu Xingzhi would find out, He Xuegang felt belittled and was far from comfortable with it.
"Mom, I know you’re doing this for my sake, seeing how hard I work and feeling sorry for . I’ve known Zheng Xianghong for decades; she won’t tell anyone," Li Shengi tried to soothe her angry son, sharing Zheng Xianghong’s words with him.
"Yeah, Xia Xiao probably won’t say anything either," Dong ihua added, sharing Xia Xiao’s remarks with He Xuegang.
After hearing everything, He Xuegang looked at Li Shengi, then at Dong ihua, and said, "I have never envied Gao Jiaxing so much." Then, He Xuegang walked away.
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