An Accidental Military Marriage

After asking a server for directions, Jiang Moli headed straight for the restaurant’s kitchen.

The banquet was still half an hour away, but all the cold appetizers had already been prepared.

Crispy peanuts, shredded radish salad, braised beef, roasted chicken, camphor tea duck, and more were piled high, completely covering the five-meter-long counter.

Jiang Moli casually grabbed a big, juicy chicken leg.

The kitchen staff were all bustling with activity, so no one noticed her at first. By the time they saw her eating, Jiang Moli had nearly finished the large chicken leg in her hand.

"Oh my goodness, Madam Bride, you can’t eat that!"

Jiang Moli feigned surprise. "What’s the matter? Did you poison the food? Is it going to kill me?"

The kitchen staff jumped in fright at her words. ’You can’t just joke about something like that!’

"Each serving of roasted chicken is a whole bird. If you eat a leg, that plate will only have one leg left. It won’t look good."

Jiang Moli smiled. "There’s only one bride at the wedding. What’s so shocking about a chicken having only one leg?"

"..."

"Jiang Moli, how dare you sneak in here to steal food!?"

Looking at Lu Tingting standing at the kitchen entrance, her face a mask of righteous indignation, Jiang Moli smirked. "That’s right, I stole food. Go ahead, call the police."

Lu Tingting gritted her teeth in anger.

’Sneaking some food isn’t the same as actual theft. The police won’t do anything about it.’

’Besides, this is the Lu family’s wedding banquet. If she makes a scene, it’s the Lu family that will lose face.’

When she saw Jiang Moli brazenly start eating the braised beef right in front of her, Lu Tingting got so angry she spun around and stormed off.

’Out of sight, out of mind. She didn’t want to let Jiang Moli anger her to death.’

"Tingting, that Jiang Moli is so infuriating. Are you just going to let her walk all over you like that?"

Her friend’s words stoked Lu Tingting’s anger. "What can I do? She’s my Third Aunt now!"

’Before, she could have hit or yelled at Jiang Moli whenever she wanted, or even thrown her out.’

’But now, Jiang Moli was her Third Aunt.’

’The Lu family was extremely strict about etiquette. If she so much as laid a finger on Jiang Moli, forget about her Third Uncle, Lu Cheng—her own mother would have her hide.’

"We may not be able to do anything to her directly, but we can let the guests know her true, ugly nature. We can make her a laughingstock."

Lu Tingting’s eyes lit up. "Let’s do it!"

...

"Did you hear? The bride is in the kitchen sneaking food!"

"No wonder I didn’t see the bride when I arrived. How utterly improper! Instead of helping her in-laws greet guests on her own wedding day, she ran off to the kitchen to steal food?!"

"I know, right? It’s hilarious. In all my years, I’ve never seen such a gluttonous new bride."

Thanks to the diligent efforts of Lu Tingting and her gaggle of friends, the news of Jiang Moli stealing food from the kitchen spread like wildfire, reaching the ears of every guest.

[Scorn Value +1, +2, +3, +4...]

Watching the Scorn Value skyrocket, the Scorn System was already exasperated. [Host, what did you do now?]

Jiang Moli was puzzled herself. ’I haven’t said a single unnecessary word during this whole banquet.’

But out loud, she said, "And here I thought you were giving me a cash gift for my wedding."

The Scorn System: [...]

The news of Jiang Moli stealing food from the kitchen soon reached Lu Deyao and An Hui’s ears.

An Hui was so angry she was about to march to the kitchen and drag Jiang Moli back, but Lu Deyao stopped her. "Just let her eat. Stealing a little food is no big deal. If a person is hungry and doesn’t think to eat, wouldn’t that make them an idiot?"

An Hui glared at her husband. "You’re just like our third son, completely muddle-headed and always spoiling her!"

Lu Deyao gently patted his wife’s back, trying to calm her. "She’s already become a laughingstock. If you don’t even let her eat until she’s full, wouldn’t she have suffered that embarrassment for nothing?"

An Hui found herself unable to argue.

...

Having eaten and drunk her fill, Jiang Moli returned to the banquet hall.

She noticed the guests were all sizing her up and whispering amongst themselves, but Jiang Moli didn’t pay them much mind.

’After all, I’m the main character today, and I’m beautiful. If I were them, I’d be staring too.’

"Dad, Mom, I’m back."

Lu Deyao chuckled. "Xiao Jiang, did you eat your fill?"

An Hui snapped, "If you’re going to steal food, at least have the sense to wipe your mouth!"

Jiang Moli thought An Hui meant her mouth was greasy, so she quickly raised a hand to wipe it.

In reality, An Hui was implying that if she was going to steal food, she should have been more discreet and not gotten caught.

Watching his clueless daughter-in-law wipe her mouth, Lu Deyao decided to take back what he’d said earlier.

’This daughter-in-law of his was a total fool.’

An Hui couldn’t be bothered to be angry anymore either.

’What was the point of getting angry with a fool?’

Jiang Moli now understood why her Scorn Value had skyrocketed. ’Looks like everyone knows I was stealing food in the kitchen.’

’She didn’t need to think to know Lu Tingting was behind it. But that was fine, it played right into her hands.’

This gave Jiang Moli a new idea.

’She didn’t have to go to all the trouble of causing mischief herself every time. She could just make a few—no, a few dozen—sworn enemies, let them fan the flames for her, and she could just sit back and reap all the rewards.’

...

The banquet began shortly after, and Jiang Moli followed Lu Deyao and An Hui as they made the rounds, toasting the guests at each table.

The tables at the front were for the VIPs, filled with influential figures from all walks of life. They were all respectable people who spoke with decorum, dedicated to keeping up pleasantries and ensuring everyone had a good time.

But when they reached the relatives’ tables, the bizarre family members began to pop up like mushrooms after a spring rain.

"You can call me Sixth Great-Aunt, so today, your Sixth Great-Aunt is going to give you a few words of heartfelt advice..."

Jiang Moli cut her off. "Oh, no, please don’t. Talking about hearts is a bit scary. Taking out your wallet is much more practical. Why don’t you just give us another cash gift? Lu Cheng and I would be very grateful."

[Scorn Value +2.]

"Now that you’ve married into the family, you can’t be as lazy and gluttonous as you were at your parents’ house. A daughter-in-law needs to be diligent and handle the housework."

Jiang Moli replied, "Auntie, you look like a very diligent person. After the banquet is over, don’t be in such a rush to leave. You can stay and help clear the tables."

[Scorn Value +3.]

"Xiao Cheng isn’t getting any younger. You need to give him a child soon to carry on the family line."

Jiang Moli shot back, "The only reason Lu Cheng waited this long to get married is all your fault, isn’t it, Auntie?"

The aunt sputtered, "What are you talking about? What does that have to do with me?"

"Exactly! What does it have to do with you?"

[Scorn Value +4.]

Originally, An Hui and Lu Deyao had planned to take Jiang Moli to meet a few of the important leaders and elders after the toasts were done so she could make a good impression.

But seeing the way she was making an enemy of everyone she spoke to, the elderly couple quickly abandoned that idea.

Once the toasts were finished, they sent Jiang Moli to the head table to eat with her two sisters-in-law and the bridesmaids, while they went off to mingle with the guests.

Jiang Moli had already eaten her fill before the banquet even started, so she had no appetite for the feast on the table now. She just sipped her juice.

After all, verbally jousting with a pack of fools during the toasts had been hard on her throat.

"Xiao Jiang, you should eat something. You must be exhausted after that round of toasts," Zhou Jinyu said, noticing that Jiang Moli hadn’t touched her chopsticks.

’Although she had no great love for her new sister-in-law, as the wife of the eldest brother, she still had to keep up appearances.’

"Mom, you don’t need to worry about her," Lu Tingting chimed in. "She was hiding in the kitchen stealing food before the banquet even started. She’s already stuffed!"

Everyone at the table had, of course, already heard about Jiang Moli stealing food. Now that Lu Tingting had called her out so publicly, they all turned to stare at her, and the atmosphere became tense and awkward.

’Jiang Moli didn’t care about saving face, but if Lu Tingting was practically begging to be humiliated, she wasn’t about to be polite.’

"My dear niece," Jiang Moli began, "your Third Aunt has a question for you. What is the definition of ’stealing’?"