An Accidental Military Marriage

"Moli! Wake up, don’t scare me! Moli!"

Lu Cheng knelt on one knee, allowing Jiang Moli to lean back into his arms. His stern face was etched with anxiety and urgency.

He looked at the staff from the Educated Youth Office. "You’ve punished her, and Moli has learned her lesson. She’s fainted now. This is a matter of life and death. I need to take her to a doctor."

The staff from the Educated Youth Office eyed the unconscious Jiang Moli with suspicion.

They suspected Jiang Moli was faking it, but they had no proof.

"Since she was so ashamed she fainted, she must have realized her mistake. We’ll give her a chance to turn over a new leaf. You can take her back."

Gao Jing, intending to do Lu Cheng a favor, relented and let them go.

She was the leader, and she had given the order. Although the other functionaries at the Educated Youth Office were reluctant, they could only watch as Lu Cheng carried Jiang Moli away.

Watching from the crowd, Jiang Qing was deeply disappointed.

In her opinion, the reckless, foolish, and arrogant Jiang Moli deserved to be paraded through the entire city, to be scorned and detested by even more people.

’Jiang Moli is getting off way too easy.’

But Jiang Qing didn’t know that Jiang Moli wanted the whole city to see her even more than she did.

In fact, if circumstances permitted, Jiang Moli would have loved to go on a national tour.

...

The commotion surrounding Jiang Moli had already started to die down.

But her fainting spell reignited the crowd’s excitement.

"She’s definitely faking it. One minute she was full of energy, arguing with the Educated Youth Office, and the next she just faints? Who does she think she’s fooling?"

Everyone unanimously agreed she was faking it.

Using a fake illness to dodge punishment—she was incorrigible. Simply detestable.

[Disdain Value +1, +3, +5, +7...]

...

Seeing Lu Cheng carrying his daughter and striding toward their home, Jiang Dahai immediately panicked.

"What happened? What’s wrong with Moli?"

"We’ll talk when we get back."

Lu Cheng walked past Jiang Dahai without breaking stride, the wind from his swift passage rustling the hem of the older man’s shirt.

Jiang Moli was settled on the large bed in the outer room.

"What on earth happened? What’s wrong with Moli?"

Jiang Dahai was beside himself with anxiety as he looked at his unconscious daughter.

"Uncle Jiang, I know you’re worried, but try to calm down..."

Before Lu Cheng could finish his sentence, Jiang Peng burst into the room with an enamel basin and a spatula. Faster than anyone could react, he brought them down with a CLANG on Jiang Moli’s head.

As if jolted from her deathbed, Jiang Moli shot upright.

Seeing her awake, everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief.

Her head ringing, Jiang Moli looked around in a daze. "Was that thunder? Or an earthquake?"

Lu Cheng covered her ears with his hands and patted them gently. "It’s nothing," he soothed. "You misheard."

His palms were calloused and warmer than average, and the contact made her ears feel itchy and hot.

As Jiang Moli’s awareness returned, she remembered Lu Cheng "pinching her unconscious" while she was being paraded through the streets.

But she couldn’t be bothered to settle the score with Lu Cheng just yet, because the notifications for her rising Disdain Value were still rolling in.

’System, what’s my current task progress?’

[Task Progress: 1679/10000.]

Just as the system reported the numbers, the Disdain Value jumped again.

She clearly remembered that a few minutes before she fainted, her progress was only around 1200.

’Logically, now that Lu Cheng has taken me away, the increase in Disdain Value should have slowed down. Why does it feel like it’s climbing even more rapidly?’

"What did you do?"

She suspected this damn man had done something to provoke public anger while she was out.

But Lu Cheng thought Jiang Moli was angry about being "pinched unconscious" by him.

He politely asked Jiang Dahai, Li Hongying, and Jiang Peng to step outside so he could explain his reasoning to Jiang Moli alone.

"The Educated Youth Office was just doing its duty by making an example of you. If I had intervened by force, not only would it have created a scandal, but I might not have been able to get you out. Having you fake an illness and faint was the only option. They would let you go, fearing they’d be held responsible. It’s a justifiable excuse that leaves no room for criticism. It was the best way."

Although she had to admit his plan was both thorough and effective, Jiang Moli snapped, "Faking it? I wasn’t faking! You literally pinched me unconscious!"

"Did it hurt? Let me see."

As he spoke, Lu Cheng reached out to turn her head and check the back of her neck, but she irritably slapped his hand away.

"Don’t touch me."

"If it’s sore, rubbing some liniment on it will help."

Jiang Moli pressed the back of her neck. It wasn’t exactly painful, but it wasn’t comfortable either.

"How did you do that? Is there a trick to it?"

"Want to learn?"

’I do,’ Jiang Moli thought.

In the future, she was bound to do plenty of outrageous things. The number of people who hated her would only grow, so there was no telling when someone might try to stuff her in a sack and beat her up.

Learning one more life-saving trick couldn’t hurt.

But she didn’t want to let him have the upper hand. "I was just asking. If you don’t want to say, then forget it."

"I’ll teach you in a couple of days."

Jiang Moli was about to retort, ’Why not now? If you’re not going to teach me properly, then just forget it.’

But then she heard his low, rumbling chuckle. "This is a secret technique passed down in the Lu Family. I can only teach you after you’ve officially married in."

"Pfft."

Jiang Moli rolled her eyes.

Outside, Jiang Dahai stared at the closed door, looking even more worried than when he saw Lu Cheng carry Jiang Moli back.

’What are my daughter and son-in-law whispering about behind that closed door?’

’He hasn’t seen what a troublemaker she is and decided to call off the engagement, has he?’

Spotting Jiang Peng standing idly by, Jiang Dahai pulled him over and whispered, "Go on, listen to what your sister and brother-in-law are saying."

Jiang Peng was not amused. "If you want to know, go yourself."

As the girl’s father, he couldn’t stoop to eavesdropping on his own daughter and son-in-law. It was too humiliating.

"Just do as I say and go listen. What if your brother-in-law wants to break the engagement..."

Before Jiang Dahai could finish, Jiang Peng cut him off. "Relax. Even if he wanted to break the engagement, Sis would never allow it. She’d latch onto him like a mad dog and never let go. Where else is she going to find a man better than him in this lifetime?"

His words were coarse, but he had a point.

Jiang Dahai’s heart eased a little. He had no idea, however, that Wang Lianhua had overheard the entire father-son conversation from the kitchen behind them.

Wang Lianhua immediately turned and ran out the back door of the east wing.

"That Officer Lu and Jiang Moli are behind closed doors. I hear they’re discussing calling off the engagement!"

"Did you hear? Officer Lu wants to call off the engagement. They’re behind closed doors discussing it right now!"

"Cause for celebration! Jiang Moli’s engagement is off!"

Thanks to Wang Lianhua’s zealous efforts, the news that Jiang Moli’s engagement was off spread like wildfire through the family residential quarters.

Jiang Qing was stunned when she returned to the residential quarters and heard the news.

She quickened her pace toward the Jiang family’s home, afraid she would miss the sight of Jiang Moli’s pathetic, regret-filled state.

...

Seeing that Jiang Moli was mostly fine, Lu Cheng got up to leave.

He was reluctant to leave, wanting to spend a little more time with his fiancée.

But their wedding day was in two days, and there was still a mountain of things to arrange: the wedding procession, the guest list, the celebratory cigarettes and candy, the banquet...

"Get some rest. I’m going to head back."

"Oh."

"Behave yourself, and don’t make me worry."

Lu Cheng’s voice was unique. It had a low timbre, as if forged in fire and blood, that was inexplicably reassuring and powerful. Yet, when he used it in that coddling tone, it made Jiang Moli’s ears burn.

"If you’re going, then go. Stop wasting your breath."

"I’m really going now?"

"Just get out of here!"

Seeing her bristle like an angry kitten, Lu Cheng found her unbearably cute. He let out a low chuckle, then turned, opened the door, and left.