An Accidental Military Marriage

"Let me tell you guys, my wife’s fried pancakes are the best! The batter isn’t too thin or too thick. You crack an egg into it, sprinkle in some chopped scallions, and then pan-fry it in lard. It’s more fragrant than meat!"

The soldiers sipped their roasted flour paste while listening to the old squad leader describe his wife’s technique for making scallion pancakes, their eyes filled with longing and hunger.

’Eggs and lard? That must smell heavenly!’

Lu Cheng stared at the squad leader’s animated face, his mind conjuring an image of his own wife’s face—as fair, tender, and pretty as jade.

Before he got married, he could never understand how grown men could talk about their wives day in and day out.

’It’s not like they’re unweaned babies who can’t leave their mothers. Can’t they live without their wives?’

Now, he was finally experiencing that feeling for himself.

He was constantly worried, thinking about her day and night. His mind was completely filled with his wife.

The thought of his soft and delicate wife waiting for him at home made his chest burn as if a fire was raging inside, filling him with an incredible energy for everything he did.

Two hours passed in the blink of an eye.

Their break over, the soldiers resumed their hard work.

...

The weather was hot, and the sun was scorching.

After depositing the money at the bank, Jiang Moli found a sweet soup shop and sat there until nearly dusk before leisurely making her way back to the Military District Courtyard.

"I’m home."

An Hui was sitting on the sofa, her arms crossed, looking as if she had been waiting for her for a long time.

"I told you to go apologize to Aunt Wu this afternoon. Where did you run off to?"

Jiang Moli was very calm. "I took the set of bowls over, but Aunt Wu said it wasn’t necessary, so I brought them back."

Ma Hongmei came out of the kitchen, speaking in a preachy, guiding tone. "Xiao Jiang, Aunt Wu was just being polite with you. You can’t just take the things back. If word gets out, people will say the Lu Family has no manners."

"Is that so? Then I’ll take the bowls to her."

"Your sister-in-law already took them over for you this afternoon and apologized to Aunt Wu on your behalf."

"Oh."

Seeing her indifferent expression, Ma Hongmei shook her head and went back to the kitchen to cook.

An Hui glared at her, snapping, "What were you doing all afternoon?"

"I went to the bank to deposit some money."

"What money?"

"My dowry. The 888 yuan betrothal gift you gave during the engagement, plus the greeting gifts—my dad had me bring it all back. Including the red envelopes from the wedding and the money for formally addressing you as my parents, the total was 1,358. I deposited the round sum of 1,300 into Lu Cheng’s bankbook."

Jiang Moli handed the deposit slip and the bankbook to An Hui.

Although the Lu Family hadn’t asked how much dowry she had brought, she felt she had to make it clear.

’After all, if we divorce later, these accounts will need to be settled clearly. It will prevent the Lu Family from thinking I tricked them into marriage just for their money.’

An Hui looked at her fair face, and much of the frustration lingering in her heart dissipated.

The dowries of her eldest and second daughters-in-law were both kept in their own hands, and as their mother-in-law, she had never inquired about it.

It wasn’t that her two other daughters-in-law were bad or had selfish intentions.

In her opinion, it was perfectly understandable for a woman to hold on to her own dowry.

But Jiang Moli hadn’t opened her own account for her dowry. Instead, she had deposited all of it under her third son’s name.

This clearly showed that she genuinely wanted to build a life with their third son.

Her expression softened considerably. She returned the bankbook to Jiang Moli. "If you need to go out in the future, let someone in the family know. Don’t just run off without a word. You’ll make people worry."

The request wasn’t unreasonable, so Jiang Moli readily agreed.

Not long after, Lu Deyao came home from work.

Seeing An Hui sitting alone on the sofa doing needlework, he hurriedly put down his briefcase, scurried over, and sat down next to her, his tone placating.

"Still angry? I gave that little rascal, our third son, a good scolding to vent your anger for you."

An Hui shot him a sidelong glance, skeptical. "Our third son should be in Dian City right now, shouldn’t he? How could you have contacted him?"

"I scolded him in my head."

An Hui was speechless. "Get lost. Just looking at you is annoying."

Lu Deyao shamelessly scooted closer. "How about I give Xiao Jiang a good scolding, too?"

"Scolding this one, scolding that one all day! Stop bringing your workplace habits home!"

Lu Deyao said, "Well, she’s the one who keeps making you angry."

An Hui sighed and told Lu Deyao about Jiang Moli depositing her dowry into Lu Cheng’s account.

"I always used to think our third son had terrible taste, finding himself a spendthrift wife who was gluttonous, lazy, and spent money like water. But now it seems his judgment isn’t so bad after all. No matter what, her heart is with him."

Lu Deyao scratched his head. From a man’s perspective, he couldn’t understand what was so remarkable about it.

’They’re a married couple, one family. Does it matter whose name the money is under?’

But from An Hui’s perspective as a woman, for a wife to give her entire dowry to her husband, she must truly love him and want to spend the rest of her life with him.

...

Plum Valley had no electricity, so once it got dark, the villagers would eat dinner and go to bed early.

Jin Yulan carried a kerosene lamp and led Jiang Qing into an earthen-brick house. "Xiao Qing, you can sleep in here. To marry you, Jia Ming specially asked his uncles to help build this new house. Look, the walls aren’t even fully dry yet."

"They’ve gone to so much trouble. When Jia Ming comes back, we’ll go thank the uncles together."

Jin Yulan was very satisfied with Jiang Qing’s considerate nature. "Alright then, you get some rest. Here’s the kerosene lamp for you. Don’t keep it lit too late; kerosene is expensive."

"Okay."

After Jin Yulan left, Jiang Qing closed the door and surveyed the room with the kerosene lamp.

Mud-brick walls, a thatched roof, and a floor paved with unfired mud bricks. Besides a wooden bed and a long bench, there was nothing else in the room.

Perhaps because the newly-built mud-brick walls hadn’t fully dried, combined with the dampness, the room had an unpleasant, rotten smell.

Used to the brick-and-tile houses of the city, Jiang Qing felt extremely ill-at-ease suddenly living in a rural earthen house again.

’But this hardship is only temporary.’

’Three months at most. Once Zhang Jia Ming earns a military commendation and gets promoted, I’ll go join him with the army. Then I’ll come back for the college entrance exams.’

’It would be great if I pass the exam. If not, I can still find a job on the base and be with Zhang Jia Ming, a husband and wife working in harmony.’

With these thoughts, Jiang Qing felt full of confidence for the future.

Meanwhile, Jin Yulan fumbled her way back to her own room in the moonlight, took off her shoes, and got into bed.

She had just lain down when her husband Zhang Tiesheng’s hand reached for her, but she irritably slapped it away.

"Don’t fool around. I’m in a foul mood."

"What do you have to be upset about? You used to worry about Jia Ming’s marriage, and now he’s brought his wife home. What’s there to be upset about?"

"What kind of ’bringing a wife home’ is this? She just ran over here without a sound, with no explanation and not a single dowry item. What’s that about? It’s only because we’re in a new society. In the old days, this is how a concubine would act! Back then, she pledged her life to Jia Ming without a matchmaker or a betrothal gift. She’s got no proper upbringing in her bones."

Before today, Jin Yulan had been full of praise for her daughter-in-law, Jiang Qing.

She was dignified and beautiful, highly educated, had a city residence permit, and was diligent.

Who in the village didn’t envy her for getting such a wonderful daughter-in-law?

But as the saying goes, what comes too eagerly isn’t a good deal.

Now that Jiang Qing had shown up at the Zhang Family’s home with just a single bundle and no dowry, Jin Yulan found herself looking down on her.

In ancient times, someone like Jiang Qing wouldn’t even be considered a wife—she’d just be a concubine!