Chapter 18: The Showdown
Jiang Moli turned her head and saw "Zhang Jia Ming." She deliberately lifted her chin in provocation. "What, I can’t eat this?"
If "Zhang Jia Ming" had dared to say no, she would have immediately performed a Thomas flare on the spot and caused a huge scene.
However, Jiang Moli had miscalculated again.
"You can. Let me open it for you."
Lu Cheng used his thick, long fingers to untie the mesh bag, saying to her, "You can’t just rip it open with brute force. There’s a knot here—one pull and it’s open."
"This won’t do. That’s just not right..."
Jiang Dahai awkwardly stepped forward to stop him, but Lu Cheng cut him off. "Uncle Jiang, it’s fine. It was bought for her in the first place."
’Once she eats my food, she’s my woman.’
’Heh heh!’
Lu Cheng untied the mesh bag in a few deft movements, picked a jar of preserved fruit, and handed it to Jiang Moli.
"Didn’t ask for your help."
Jiang Moli scoffed.
’She wasn’t an idiot; of course she could open it. She was just deliberately putting on an exaggerated, desperate act to make people dislike her.’
Lu Cheng paid no mind to her attitude. Instead, he twisted open the lid of the fruit jar for her.
Jiang Moli froze for a second. ’Eating it wasn’t actually part of my plan.’
’And wow, this guy is strong. He opened a vacuum-sealed jar that easily.’
Since she had to see the act through, Jiang Moli reached directly into the jar with her hand, grabbed a piece of yellow peach, and stuffed it into her mouth.
Everyone in the courtyard immediately grimaced in disgust.
[Disgust Points +1+1+1... Account credited: 70,000 yuan.]
The yellow peach was firm and juicy, sweet but not cloying.
Jiang Moli’s craving was completely triggered. She simply took the jar from Lu Cheng’s hand, found a spot to sit down, and dug in.
"Don’t just stare at me. If you want some, grab it. No need to be polite."
It wasn’t enough for Jiang Moli to eat by herself; she even started playing host and inviting everyone else.
’Her target wasn’t just the few people in the yard. She wanted them to spread the word for her.’
’One person tells ten, and ten tell a hundred. Wouldn’t the Disgust Points just skyrocket?’
Watching her eat, her lips turning rosy and moist, Mrs. Zhang gulped.
She’d seen a luxury item like fruit preserves before, but she’d never tasted it.
Just from the tempting, mouth-watering aroma of peaches in the air, she knew it had to be delicious.
But she wasn’t as shameless as Jiang Moli. She didn’t want to be called a glutton.
Jiang Dahai’s eyelid twitched uncontrollably; he was terrified the engagement would fall through.
He pulled Jiang Moli up, led her over to An Hui, thrust the jar from Jiang Moli’s hand into Li Hongying’s, and even used his own sleeve to wipe Jiang Moli’s mouth.
"Moli, this is Ms. An, An Hui. She is Xiao Lu’s mother. Hurry and say ’Aunt An.’"
"’Xiao Lu?’ Who’s that? I don’t know him!"
Jiang Dahai was baffled by his daughter’s reaction.
’Weren’t the two of you getting along just fine a moment ago? You even ate the things he brought!’
Jiang Dahai quickly pulled Lu Cheng to his side. "Lu Cheng, Xiao Lu, didn’t you two meet a few days ago?"
Jiang Moli stared at Lu Cheng. "You’re not Zhang Jia Ming?"
"Oh, you silly girl, *he’s* Jia Ming!"
Jiang Moli followed the direction of Jiang Dahai’s finger and saw the man in the military uniform standing next to Li Hongying.
He was 1.75 meters tall, with thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a square-shaped face—a real heartthrob by the standards of the time.
’It wasn’t that I hadn’t noticed him; I just assumed he was a soldier who came with "Zhang Jia Ming."’
’I never would have guessed that *this* was the real Zhang Jia Ming.’
She mechanically turned her face to Lu Cheng. "If he’s Zhang Jia Ming, then who are you?"
Lu Cheng extended his large hand towards her. "I’m Lu Cheng, Zhang Jia Ming’s superior officer."
Jiang Moli: "!!!"
Seeing this, Jiang Qing could no longer control her anger. "Jiang Moli, stop with your act!"
’Logically, I know I should be careful about what I say and do.’
’After all, my engagement to Zhang Jia Ming wasn’t exactly obtained honorably.’
’But I just can’t accept it! Why does Jiang Moli get to have all the good things in the world?’
Seeing Jiang Qing jump out to stir up trouble, Jiang Moli was fired up. "So what if I’m acting? I feel like it. If you have a problem with it, why don’t you try acting too? Show us what you’ve got."
"I’m not as shameless as you, flirting with someone’s superior when you’re already in a childhood betrothal!"
’No matter how I think about it, there’s no way Lu Cheng would be interested in Jiang Moli on his own. She must have deliberately seduced him.’
’After all, Jiang Moli had what it took to seduce a man.’
The more Jiang Qing thought, the angrier she got. "If you looked down on Jia Ming for being from the countryside, why didn’t you just tell him sooner? Why did you have to waste so many years of his life!"
At some point, a crowd of nosy neighbors had gathered outside the Jiang family’s courtyard to watch the commotion.
Jiang Qing’s accusations added the charge of being a wanton flirt to Jiang Moli’s already foul reputation.
’That explains it. A man with his prospects, why would he fall for someone like Jiang Moli? He must have been seduced.’
Pah!
’Shameless hussy!’
[Disgust Points +1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1...]
"Xiao Qing..."
"Comrade Jiang Qing..."
The only two men there who cared most for Jiang Moli spoke out at almost the same time, one to defend his daughter, the other his woman. Moli stopped them both.
"Both of you, be quiet!"
’Don’t interrupt me while I’m making money.’
’Stupid System, keep ’em coming!!’
System: [...]
Only when the stream of Disgust Points stopped did Jiang Moli leisurely clasp her hands behind her back and begin to circle Jiang Qing.
"Tsk tsk tsk. You’ve been waiting anxiously all these years, haven’t you? After all, as long as I don’t break off the engagement, you can never take my place."
Jiang Qing’s face instantly paled. "Stop talking nonsense! Before you called off the engagement, there was nothing between Jia Ming and me! Our feelings were proper and our actions restrained, and we never once crossed any lines!"
’This isn’t just about my reputation; it’s about Zhang Jia Ming’s future.’
’A soldier with a reputation for being an unfaithful promise-breaker would have no hope of advancement for the rest of his life.’
Jiang Qing once again recounted, in painstaking detail, the entire story of how she had fallen into the river and been rescued by a passing Zhang Jia Ming.
Just as she expected, after she finished her story, the neighbors all expressed their understanding and sympathy.
’It’s the middle of summer, everyone wears thin clothes. When they get wet, it’s almost like wearing nothing at all.’
"Jia Ming is marrying me to preserve my reputation, and I’m very grateful to him. If you feel you’ve been hurt by us, then I’m willing to step aside and let you and Jia Ming be together."
This tactic of Jiang Qing’s—feigning retreat as a way to advance—was nothing less than venomous.
Not only did she successfully whitewash the fact that she stole another’s man, but she also put Jiang Moli in a dilemma.
If she chose Lu Cheng and dumped Zhang Jia Ming, she’d confirm her reputation as a gold digger who despises the poor. But if she chose Zhang Jia Ming, she’d have to reject the marriage proposal from the Lu Family.
’Deep down, Jiang Qing harbored a sliver of a fantasy.’
’Without Jiang Moli in the picture, might Lu Cheng take a liking to me?’
’It was the Cinderella dream. What woman wouldn’t want that?’
"Hmph. As for Zhang Jia Ming jumping into the river to save you—if you two hadn’t gone around telling people, who would have known? How could there be any talk of a ruined reputation?"
"And let’s take a huge step back. Even if Zhang Jia Ming’s actions were intimate, it was to save your life! That’s called being a hero! Anyone who’d gossip about something like that is just proving they’re worse than an animal!"
"And how innocent is Zhang Jia Ming in all this? He saved a life, and for that, he has to sacrifice his own. If something like this happens again in the future, should he rescue the person or not? If he does, will he have to divorce you and marry the next woman he saves?"
Jiang Qing stared intently at Jiang Moli, her eyes filled with suspicion.
’Jiang Moli has always been a brainless idiot who just throws tantrums when things go wrong. But the words she just spoke... they showed a cleverness and wisdom that were clearly on par with my own, if not greater.’
’Could it be... that Jiang Moli was reborn, too?’
’If so, that would explain why Jiang Moli skipped over Zhang Jia Ming to hook Lu Cheng—a much better patron.’
At this thought, Jiang Qing’s heart sank.
’Rebirth was supposed to be her exclusive advantage. But if Jiang Moli was also reborn, then her advantage would seem rather pointless.’