An Accidental Military Marriage

Li Hongying was relieved to learn that Jiang Qing had gone to find her son-in-law.

Jin Yulan, on the other hand, was furious.

Jiang Qing hadn’t returned to her in-laws’ for the past two days, and Jin Yulan had been gleefully assuming that she had found a job. That would mean an extra stream of income for the family every month.

She had already been scheming that as soon as they saved up enough money, she would arrange a marriage for her second son.

Her eldest was in the military year-round, so that couldn’t be helped. But if she could get a wife for her second son, she’d be able to hold a grandson that much sooner.

She had even thought of a nickname for her grandson.

But what happened? That wretched Jiang Qing had run off!

She had already been played for a fool by Jiang Moli over arranging a job, and now Jiang Qing had her running in circles.

Jiang Moli’s husband was her son’s superior officer, so she didn’t dare do anything to Jiang Moli. With Li Hongying, however, she didn’t hold back.

"What kind of mother are you, raising such a shameless hussy! We hadn’t even finished the wedding formalities, and she was already rushing over to our house. Now she’s snuck off without so much as a word. If I had known she was this type of person, I never would have let her marry into our family!"

Li Hongying, tongue-tied and blushing furiously, couldn’t get a single word out in her own defense.

Jiang Moli stood up and clapped. CLAP. CLAP. "Auntie, you’re so right!"

Hearing Jiang Moli agree with her, Jin Yulan grew even more confident. She jutted out her chin at Li Hongying and said:

"See? Even her sister, Moli, is more sensible than her. I really don’t know how you raised your daughter!"

Overcome with shame, Li Hongying burst into tears. "It’s all my fault. If only I had known Xiao Qing would..."

Before she could finish, Jiang Moli cut her off. "Of course it’s your fault! Aunt Ying, a marriage must follow all the traditional customs and etiquette—the proposal, the betrothal gifts, the bridal procession, the wedding banquet. Not a single step can be skipped! You tried to cut corners and ignore the rules, so now the villagers will just laugh at the Zhang Family. They’ll say they’re so poor and stingy they can’t even afford to properly marry a daughter-in-law!"

The smug look on Jin Yulan’s face froze.

Jiang Moli smiled sweetly at Jin Yulan. "Auntie, you’ve already handled the proposal, but the betrothal gifts aren’t complete yet. You should provide at least one of the big three—a bicycle, a sewing machine, or a watch—and of course, a radio. For the cash gift, 88 or 66 yuan should be about right. Then there are the four ceremonial gifts and the red envelopes for the bridal procession... I probably don’t need to elaborate on those. And the wedding banquet doesn’t need to be too extravagant. Eight or ten tables should suffice, don’t you think?"

Jin Yulan was dumbfounded.

’Wouldn’t all of that cost five or six hundred yuan?’

Even Li Hongying, as slow on the uptake as she was, could tell her stepdaughter was helping her. She immediately stopped crying.

’She, the mother-in-law, didn’t mind that her son-in-law was poor. What right did Jin Yulan have to complain about her daughter?’

"Auntie, Jiang Qing has no manners and was poorly raised. She deserves to be scolded. But as the elder, you have to set an example for the younger generation. So, when will you be sending over the betrothal gifts? What day are you planning to hold the banquet? It doesn’t matter that Jiang Qing and Zhang Jia Ming aren’t here—we’ll handle all the arrangements for them. We’ll make it a grand affair!"

Jin Yulan’s pockets were cleaner than a washed face; there was no way she could agree to this.

Making the excuse that she needed to discuss it with her family, she led them away in a dejected retreat.

"Uncle, Auntie, we’ll be waiting to hear from you!"

Hearing Jiang Moli’s shout from behind, Jin Yulan picked up her pace and vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Moli, on Xiao Qing’s behalf, thank you. Thank you for not holding a grudge and speaking up for her."

Li Hongying’s eyes welled with tears, but they weren’t tears of sadness. They were tears of overwhelming gratitude.

Jiang Moli waved a hand dismissively. "I wasn’t helping her. I just can’t stand the Zhang Family’s attitude—they got a great deal and still have the audacity to act wronged."

’It’s true that Jiang Qing chose Zhang Jia Ming because she saw his potential.’

’But right now, Zhang Jia Ming is just an ordinary soldier, and his family is so poor they can’t even get enough to eat.’

’Jiang Qing has a city residence permit and an education. She’s marrying into their family without asking for a betrothal gift or even a wedding. The Zhang Family should be counting their lucky stars, yet they still have the gall to complain about this and that.’

But Li Hongying didn’t believe what Jiang Moli said.

She was certain that Jiang Moli was all bark and no bite; no matter how fiercely she fought with Jiang Qing at home, she would still defend her in front of outsiders.

In fact, it wasn’t just Li Hongying who thought so; Jiang Dahai also believed his daughter was backing her stepsister from the family’s standpoint.

He was deeply gratified by his daughter’s maturity and magnanimity.

...

"None of those Jiangs are any good! One is a lazy, good-for-nothing con artist, and the other is a shameless hussy desperate to marry a man!"

Jin Yulan grumbled and cursed the entire way back.

The father and son duo, Zhang Tiesheng and Zhang Jiaquan, trailed behind her, not daring to make a peep for fear of provoking her.

"Are you two mute? Two grown men, and you’re completely useless! When something happens, you don’t even make a peep!"

Even though the father and son did their best to make themselves invisible, they still got chewed out.

Fuming as she was, when she got back to the village and faced the inquiries of the other villagers, Jin Yulan had to force a smile and lie to cover for Jiang Qing.

"Xiao Qing went to the base to visit family. Jia Ming wrote and asked her to come. She’ll be back in a while!"

’If word got out that their daughter-in-law had secretly run off, their family would be the village laughingstock for the next three years.’

Hearing that Jiang Qing had gone to visit the military base, Jiang Dashan and Ge Yue’e both breathed a sigh of relief.

’Now that Jiang Qing wasn’t in the village, she wouldn’t have the chance to spread their business to everyone.’

...

"This is Xiao Qing’s first time traveling so far. I hope her journey is going smoothly."

Even though she knew her daughter’s whereabouts, Li Hongying, being a mother, couldn’t help but worry.

Jiang Dahai said, "I’ll call Xiao Lu tomorrow. If Xiao Qing has made it to the base, I’ll have Jia Ming send word."

Li Hongying nodded happily.

Jiang Peng looked up from his rice bowl. "Dad, I’m your biological son. How come you’re not worried about me?"

Jiang Dahai shot him a look. "All you do all day is give me things to worry about. What’s there to be worried for?"

"I’m going to the military too, and it’s my first time traveling far. Aren’t you worried I’ll get abducted or something along the way?"

Jiang Dahai gave him a sidelong glance. "If a kidnapper snatched a good-for-nothing like you who can’t do anything but eat, they’d be taking a massive loss!"

"Dad, I’d be nicer to me if I were you. Otherwise, when you’re paralyzed in bed, pissing and shitting yourself, I won’t be the one taking care of you."

Jiang Dahai grabbed a feather duster and chased him from the third floor down to the first.

"What are you running for? You little rascal, can’t you ever wish your old man well?"

"If you’ve got the energy to yell at me, you might as well save it to find me a virtuous wife to serve you in your old age. But the family house is gone, so no girl would look at me twice. I can’t rely on you as a father, so I can only rely on my brother-in-law. With his support, once I become an officer, I’ll be assigned family housing. Dad, you have to help me get on his good side!"

...

"I’m sorry, Ma’am. This is a military guesthouse, and we only accommodate military personnel and their families."

"I’m here to visit family. My husband is Zhang Jia Ming. He’s a squad leader in the 3rd Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Regiment. This is our marriage certificate."

After examining the certificate, the attendant at the check-in desk softened his tone. "You’ll need to contact your husband first and have him come here with his military ID, or with an accommodation permit from the base. The visitor reception center is one hundred meters to the right as you exit."

"Alright, thank you."

Jiang Qing couldn’t help but feel frustrated as she walked out of the guesthouse.

’In this heat, she hadn’t bathed in days, and even she was disgusted by her own sour stench.’

’She had wanted to get settled in, wash up, and make herself presentable before going to see Zhang Jia Ming.’

’They were newlyweds, after all, and she wanted to maintain the best possible image for her husband.’

’There was no other choice. She would have to go to the reception center to register first.’

She had barely taken two steps when someone called out from behind her, "Ma’am—"