An Accidental Military Marriage

Jiang Moli glanced at Aunt Shi’s bare wrist with a look of surprise. "He works at a watch factory and hasn’t even bought his own mother a watch to wear? He’s either stingy, or his family is under too much financial strain. If you marry into a family like that, you’d better pick an auspicious wedding date, because once you’re married, you won’t have a single good day for the rest of your life."

Two steel factory workers on the top bunks, who were watching the show, couldn’t help but laugh.

Aunt Shi’s face twisted with anger.

Her son, Lü Mingguo, was just as furious, but he didn’t say a peep.

[Disdain Value +2. 20,000 Yuan credited.]

Lu Tingting didn’t understand what was happening. ’She’s crazy,’ she cursed Jiang Moli inwardly before returning to her bunk to play dead.

...

Seeing the brother and sister asleep, Aunt Shi pulled her son aside to whisper.

"That little Lu girl is really something. She’s pretty, simple-minded, and a university student. If you two get together, you’ll be the son-in-law of a regiment commander!"

Lü Mingguo knew his own limits. "Her standards are so high. She’d never fall for me."

"Who cares if she falls for you or not? It’s not like we have anything to lose! What if she’s blind and actually picks you? Even if it doesn’t work out, we can still say you went on a date with the regiment commander’s daughter. That alone will boost your status."

Encouraged by Aunt Shi, Lü Mingguo approached Lu Tingting’s bunk with two meat buns.

"What do you want?"

Lü Mingguo had the desire but not the guts. After one glare from Lu Tingting, he stammered, "N-nothing," and scurried back to his own bunk.

Aunt Shi, exasperated by his incompetence, decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Dearie, try this meat bun. I made it myself. It’s stuffed with tons of meat, absolutely delicious."

"I don’t want it. You can have it."

The meat bun held no appeal for Lu Tingting.

Aunt Shi was about to say more when Jiang Peng, who had been woken up, shamelessly sidled over. "If she doesn’t want it, I’ll take it. I’m not picky..."

Before he could finish, Jiang Moli kicked him right back onto his bunk.

"Eat, eat, eat! All you know is eating! Were you a starving ghost in your past life? Like you’ve never had anything good before?"

"Didn’t your teacher ever tell you that when someone’s overly nice for no reason, they’re up to no good?"

"You’d eat anything from a stranger? Aren’t you afraid they’ll drug it and poison your sorry ass?!"

Jiang Peng cowered, tucking his neck in like a quail, not daring to make a sound.

Aunt Shi stood there holding the bun, her face a colorful mess of emotions.

On the surface, Jiang Moli was scolding Jiang Peng, but every single word was actually aimed at her, accusing her of having ill intentions.

’It’s true I have ill intentions, but I’m an old woman. She could at least show me some respect!’

Lu Tingting was stunned by Jiang Moli’s furious outburst.

Jiang Moli always bullied her, but compared to how ferociously she treated Jiang Peng, she was practically gentle.

The long train ride was dreadfully boring. Hearing the argument, a crowd of passengers from the carriage swarmed over to watch the drama unfold.

Seeing her audience, Aunt Shi pinched her own thigh hard and began her performance:

"Everyone, you be the judge! I just felt a connection with this girl and kindly offered her a big meat bun to try, but now I’m being slandered and dragged through the mud like this. I’ve never been so wronged in my life!"

Jiang Moli gave a smirk that wasn’t quite a smile. "Since you’re so kind-hearted, why don’t you show your sincerity with ten or so yuan?"

Hearing this, the crowd of onlookers shot her looks of condemnation and disdain.

’She doesn’t owe you anything. Why should she just give you money?’

[Disdain Value +4. 40,000 Yuan credited.]

Aunt Shi was so angry she cursed, "In all my years, I have never met anyone more unreasonable than you!"

Jiang Moli feigned surprise. "You sound so certain. Are you not expecting to live to see tomorrow?"

"You... you..."

Never mind that Aunt Shi was nearly angered to death.

Even the spectating passengers thought Jiang Moli was being too harsh.

’Cursing someone not to live to see tomorrow.’

[Disdain Value +5. 50,000 Yuan credited.]

Seeing that Aunt Shi was losing the argument, Lu Tingting couldn’t help but come to her aid. "Aunt Shi, give me the bun. I’ll eat it!"

Aunt Shi was both surprised and delighted to see Lu Tingting taking her side.

It gave her the confidence to challenge Jiang Moli. "Miss Lu is a university student, after all. She knows right from wrong, unlike some people who treat kindness like dirt and are completely ungrateful!"

Lu Tingting took the bun and shot Jiang Moli a smug, triumphant look.

’You don’t want me to eat it? Well, I’m going to eat it, just to spite you! See if that doesn’t make you fume!’

Lu Tingting’s train of thought was truly something else.

She thought Jiang Moli was making a scene just to target her, feeling jealous that Aunt Shi had only offered her a bun, and was deliberately trying to sabotage the moment.

Jiang Moli said mockingly, "Go on, eat up. Eat lots. You know, human traffickers just love naive little things like you who are so easy to bait. They slip some drugs into food, trick you into eating it, and then abduct you to some poor, remote mountain village. After you’re married to the older brother, you’ll be passed to the younger brother, and you’ll even have to warm the beds of the uncles. You’ll be forced to pop out babies all year round like a sow, and if you can’t produce a son, they’ll break your legs and throw you into the mountains to be eaten by wolves!"

"Good heavens, what kind of grudge does she have to curse another woman like that?"

Many of the passengers didn’t know the real relationship between Lu Tingting and Jiang Moli, nor did they believe the horrifying scenario Jiang Moli described was real. They just thought Jiang Moli was being harsh and vicious.

[Disdain Value +8. 80,000 Yuan credited.]

Although Lu Tingting also didn’t believe such unconscionable things could happen in this world, she suddenly didn’t feel like eating the bun anymore.

"Never mind, I’ve lost my appetite. I’m not going to eat it. Here, take it back."

With that, she stuffed the bun back into Aunt Shi’s hand.

Jiang Moli pointed at the woman who had just accused her of cursing Lu Tingting. "You seem to think everyone in the world is a good person. Why don’t you eat this bun, then?"

The woman was genuinely afraid Aunt Shi might actually offer her the bun. Who knew if it was even clean?

She quickly said, "I brought my own food. I don’t need anyone else’s."

Aunt Shi never expected that offering a bun would cause so much trouble. She took the bun and sullenly returned to her own area.

With the show over, the passengers all returned to their own bunks.

After all that arguing, Jiang Moli’s throat was practically smoking. She had Jiang Peng grab her an orange to quench her thirst.

After handing the orange to Jiang Moli, Jiang Peng started rummaging for other snacks.

It was a twenty-hour ride to Kun City, and Ma Hongmei had packed a huge bag of food for the three of them.

Flatbreads, mung bean cakes, salted duck eggs, braised pork knuckle, roast chicken, preserved fruits, peanuts, and even a net bag of honey peaches and green-skinned oranges.

Jiang Peng grabbed a piece of roast chicken and stuffed it in his mouth, then handed a juicy drumstick to Jiang Moli. "Sis, here, a drumstick."

Just as Jiang Moli took the drumstick and was about to bite into it, half a head peeked down from the bunk above.

Lu Tingting glared down at the siblings, her cheeks puffed out. "I want some too!"

Jiang Peng picked up the chicken’s rear and offered it to her. "Here."

Lu Tingting glared at him. "I’m not eating that! I want a drumstick!"

Jiang Peng said, "There are only two drumsticks. If you eat one, what do I get to eat?"

Lu Tingting was furious. "This is stuff from my Lu Family! What right do you have to eat it?"

"Because I’m shameless."

Saying this, Jiang Peng deliberately picked up a drumstick and licked it from top to bottom. After licking it clean, he held it out to Lu Tingting. "Here, you can have it."

Furious, Lu Tingting reached out and slapped him across the face.

Jiang Peng, caught off guard, took the full force of the blow.

Both of them froze.

Lu Tingting shrank back into her bunk, afraid that Jiang Peng would hit her back.

Jiang Peng was tall and strong, and brutish. She definitely couldn’t win a fight against him.

"You hit me, so this drumstick is mine now!"

With that, Jiang Peng sat back down on his own bunk and began to happily gnaw on the drumstick.

Jiang Moli facepalmed. "..."

’Whose idiot son is this?!’