An Accidental Military Marriage

When Jin Yulan got home from work in the afternoon, she heard the village gossip: Guo Dawei was back.

He was fine, apparently, aside from the several layers of gauze wrapped around his head.

She didn’t pay it much mind. When she got home and saw her second daughter working alone, with no sign of her third daughter, her face darkened.

"Where’s Sanmei?"

"At Chunling’s next door, doing her homework."

Jin Yulan put down her tools and was about to go out and call her third daughter back when the courtyard gate was kicked open with a BANG.

Mrs. Guo stormed in, leading the Guo Family with an aggressive air.

Guo Dawei had come with them. Just as the villagers said, his head was wrapped in thick, white gauze.

Jin Yulan looked at the large group in confusion. "Aunt Luo, what are you all doing?"

"Doing? Fuck your mother!"

Before Jin Yulan could react, Mrs. Guo spat a thick glob of phlegm right in her face.

"It’s all because you, you rotten cunt, gave birth to a piece of trash with a filthy mouth! Get your Zhang Sanmei out here! Today, I’m going to ask her just who gave her the fucking nerve to spread rumors about our Yue’e!"

Hearing the commotion, Zhang Sanmei ran back from next door to see what was happening.

When she heard Mrs. Guo was there to settle accounts with her, she got scared and turned to run back and hide next door, but Ge Yue’e spotted her.

"Zhang Sanmei! Where do you think you’re running? You stop right there!"

Zhang Sanmei was just a child, after all. The adult’s furious shout rooted her to the spot, terrified and unsure of what to do.

Mrs. Guo ran over and landed a heavy slap across her face.

Jin Yulan’s eyes went red. Her protective maternal instincts took over, and she lunged forward, grabbed Mrs. Guo’s hair, and started pounding her.

"You dog-fucking old hag! You must be bored shitless after eating too much congee, coming here to bully my girl! If you’re tired of living, you can go die!"

"Jin Yulan, you filthy-cunt woman! Let go of my mother!"

Ge Yue’e and her two sisters-in-law joined the fray.

With their help, Mrs. Guo quickly turned the tables. She straddled Jin Yulan, slapping her with one hand and pinching with the other, attacking her face and body until Jin Yulan howled in pain.

Seeing their mother being bullied, Zhang Ermei and Zhang Sanmei’s eyes also turned red.

One grabbed a tool to use as a weapon, the other started biting, and they pounced on the Guo Family like puppies, tumbling into a chaotic brawl.

"Tiesheng, Jiaquan, hurry home! The Guo Family is attacking your family!"

Although Zhang Tiesheng didn’t know what was happening, he immediately grabbed his son and ran for home.

When he got back, he saw Jin Yulan, Zhang Ermei, and Zhang Sanmei being held down and beaten by Mrs. Guo and the others. His eyes practically split with rage.

"Stop! What are you doing?"

Seeing Zhang Tiesheng enter with a hoe, the Guo men thought he was going to use a weapon and, not to be outdone, grabbed clubs to meet him.

***

"This is a trapezoid, so you can use the formulas for area and perimeter to calculate..."

After talking for a while without getting a response, Qiao Wenjing looked up, saw Jiang Qing was lost in thought, and was instantly displeased.

"Jiang Qing, do you still want to learn or not? If not, I’m leaving."

Jiang Qing snapped back to reality. "I do, I want to learn. I’m sorry, Wenjing, I was thinking about something and zoned out. Please say it again, I’ll listen carefully this time."

Qiao Wenjing checked her watch. "I have to get back to the barracks. I’ll come back in a couple of days when I have time."

"Okay, I’ll walk you out. Wenjing, don’t be mad. I promise I won’t let my mind wander again."

Qiao Wenjing didn’t think much of it, but she did notice that Jiang Qing’s complexion was a bit fairer than when she first arrived. She was dressed neatly and looked clean, giving her a certain delicate charm.

Suddenly, she grew curious about what Jiang Moli looked like. "Do you have a picture of Jiang Moli?"

Jiang Qing shook her head. "No, she never takes pictures with me."

Seeing Qiao Wenjing’s disappointed expression, Jiang Qing said appeasingly, "But we have a lot of her photos at home. If you want to see one, I can ask my mom to mail one over."

"No need, I was just asking. By the way, why didn’t Jiang Moli come here to be with the army?"

’If I had a husband as excellent as Lu Cheng,’ she thought, ’I would definitely follow him everywhere, never leaving his side.’

"She’s used to a life of luxury and indulgence. Why would she be willing to come to a remote, mountainous area like this to suffer?"

Hearing Jiang Qing say this, Qiao Wenjing couldn’t help but feel indignant. "Does she think she could live such a good life without the protection and sacrifice of us frontier soldiers?"

Watching Qiao Wenjing’s retreating back, Jiang Qing couldn’t help but smile.

She’d zoned out because she was thinking about things back home.

’If the plan went smoothly, the Guo Family should have caught Ge Yue’e and Jiang Dashan in the act last night.’

’With Guo Dawei’s temper, there was no way he’d let the adulterous pair off lightly.’

’That gossip, Ge Yue’e, bad-mouthed me behind my back and ruined my reputation, and Jiang Dashan is no saint either.’

’Serves them right!’

***

After finishing the phone call, Jiang Moli saw An Hui staring at her and smiled slightly. "Mom, I’m going to make a trip to my parents’ home."

An Hui had an ’I-knew-it’ expression, but her tone was much calmer than before. "What’s happened with your family now?"

"Jiang Qing’s father-in-law... a villager injured his eye."

An Hui was shocked. "What happened?"

Jiang Dahai hadn’t mentioned the reason for the fight on the phone, but Jiang Moli had a vague suspicion.

"I’ll go back and find out what’s going on. I’ll give you and Dad the full details when I return."

An Hui: "...You be careful, too. Call if anything happens."

"I know."

By the time Jiang Moli returned to the military family compound, Jiang Dahai had just gotten back from the hospital.

After Zhang Tiesheng was injured, he was first sent to the town’s clinic for treatment.

The clinic examined him and found his injuries were serious, so the Zhang Family carried him to the city hospital overnight.

The hospital said Zhang Tiesheng needed surgery, but the Zhang Family couldn’t afford it, so they had no choice but to call Jiang Dahai.

"I’ve paid the hospitalization fee for now, but we still don’t have the money for the surgery. Your Uncle Zhang and I have been friends for decades. He even climbed trees to get bird eggs for you when you were little. He’s in trouble now, we can’t just stand by and do nothing."

Jiang Dahai had called Jiang Moli back for two reasons: one, to tell her what happened, and two, for the surgery fees.

After all, Jiang Moli was in charge of the family’s money.

He was worried she would refuse to lend the money, just as she had with the Ruan Family.

"How much do you need? I’ll go to the bank and withdraw it now."

Jiang Moli had the foresight to bring her passbook when she left.

Jiang Dahai had been so traumatized by Jiang Moli’s unpredictability that he eyed her skeptically.

"Moli, your Uncle Zhang is waiting for this money for his surgery. This is no laughing matter."

Jiang Moli touched her face and sighed. "It’s fine, I get it. People always find it hard to trust someone who’s this good-looking."

Jiang Dahai: "..."

’Whether you’re good-looking or not is one thing, but you’re definitely shameless.’

The father and daughter went to the bank together to withdraw the money.

Along the way, Jiang Dahai told Jiang Moli the whole story of how Zhang Tiesheng was injured.

Just as she had guessed, Zhang Tiesheng’s left eye had been injured by Ge Yue’e’s husband, Guo Dawei.

In the original book, the one whose left eye was blinded by Guo Dawei was Jiang Dashan.

Jiang Dashan had an affair with Ge Yue’e and was caught in bed by Guo Dawei, costing him an eye.

After her warning last time, Jiang Dashan had broken things off with Ge Yue’e, thus avoiding that tragic fate.

Logically, the boomerang shouldn’t have hit Zhang Tiesheng.

But what could be done, when Zhang Tiesheng had such a clever-for-her-own-good daughter-in-law?