An Accidental Military Marriage

Lu Deyao picked up the phone. When he heard it was his wife, his temper subsided a little. "What is it?"

An Hui rattled on and on.

The gist was that Lu Cheng had announced he was getting married to a girl named Jiang Moli, and she was asking Lu Deyao if he knew anything about this Jiang Moli’s background.

Lu Deyao knew absolutely nothing, which made An Hui so angry that she chewed him out before slamming the phone down.

Lu Deyao held a high position, but he was helpless against his own wife. He could only suppress his anger and pin the blame on Lu Cheng.

...

Mrs. Zhang was extremely pleased that her son had broken off his engagement with Jiang Moli to marry Jiang Qing instead.

"She’s a lazy glutton herself, yet she has the nerve to look down on our family? *I’m* the one who should be looking down on *her*! Xiao Qing is so much better. She’s diligent, virtuous, and isn’t afraid of hard work. That’s the kind of daughter-in-law who will make our family prosper."

Zhang Jia Ming agreed with his mother.

He also felt that Jiang Qing was better than Jiang Moli in every way.

He was in the army year-round and couldn’t be home to fulfill his filial duties.

Marrying a virtuous and capable wife like Jiang Qing, who could honor his parents and look after his younger siblings for him, would give him much more peace of mind while he was away at his post.

The three siblings—Zhang Jiaquan, Zhang Ermei, and Zhang Sanmei—were equally delighted at the prospect of Jiang Qing becoming their sister-in-law.

Jiang Moli was vicious and bossy, and she bullied them every time she visited their hometown.

Jiang Qing never bullied them. In fact, she brought them tasty snacks and helped with their chores.

Zhang Tiesheng watched his happy family, a frustrated fire simmering in his heart.

He was a man; he saw things with more foresight than the women and children.

No matter how good Jiang Qing’s character was, she was just a stepdaughter. Once she married out, she would have little connection to the Jiang family.

Jiang Peng had joined the army. If he ended up staying in the military, wouldn’t the job at the Jiang Dahai Machinery Factory fall to Jiang Moli?

Besides, Jiang Dahai had worked his way up in the city for years and was well-connected. He had been hoping Jiang Dahai might be able to pull some strings for his own children.

But with things turning out like this, his decades-long friendship with Jiang Dahai was likely at its end.

...

Jiang Moli slept until evening.

It was a great sleep, but she felt uncomfortably sticky with sweat.

She got up, splashed her face with cold water, and, clutching the five-fen coin she got from returning a soda bottle, headed to the corner store.

"Ma’am, do you have any popsicles?"

"We do. Five fen each."

"Ma’am, how about we make a deal? Could you give me a popsicle for free?"

The shopkeeper pulled a sour face. "If you don’t have money, then don’t eat!"

"I have money, but I don’t want to spend it. My money is for important things."

’Ha, so your money is real money, but other people’s isn’t?’

’What kind of person is this?!’

『Dislike Value +1. 10,000 Yuan credited to your account.』

Hearing the notification that the Dislike Value had been registered, Jiang Moli held out her five-fen coin. "Ma’am, I was just kidding. One popsicle, please."

With a dark expression, the shopkeeper took the money and handed her a popsicle.

As she ate the popsicle, her mind cleared, and she remembered the ten yuan Jiang Peng had conned out of Zhang Jia Ming.

After wandering around aimlessly for a short while, she ran right into Jiang Qing on her way home.

Although Jiang Qing didn’t have a formal job, she was incredibly diligent, working odd jobs at the match factory every day and returning home at mealtimes to cook.

Jiang Moli swaggered up to her. "What took you so long? The sun’s already set. Are you trying to starve me to death?"

Jiang Qing glanced at the popsicle in her hand and tried to walk around her, but Jiang Moli stretched out an arm to block her path.

"I want fried eggs for dinner."

Jiang Qing scoffed. "You already ate all the eggs we had."

Jiang Moli jutted out her chin. "Then couldn’t you have bought more? Do I have to teach you how to do something so simple? Did you forget to bring your brain with you when you left the house?"

"What are you gaping at? Get going!"

Jiang Qing stared at her coldly for a moment, then suddenly smiled. "Alright. I’ll go buy some."

"Hurry back. And cook dinner soon. I’m starving!"

Jiang Moli felt not a shred of guilt for making Jiang Qing her slave.

’After all, that bastard Zhang Jia Ming played her for a fool. This was just her collecting a little interest.’

"Xiao Qing, what are you buying?"

Just as Jiang Qing reached the entrance of the grain and oil store, she ran into Zhou Xiaoqing coming home from work.

"Just getting some eggs."

Jiang Qing replied as she walked into the store.

Zhou Xiaoqing followed her inside. "Didn’t your family already use this month’s egg ration tickets?"

"Jiang Moli is demanding eggs. If I don’t get them for her, there’s no telling what kind of tantrum she’ll throw."

"Does she really think she’s some rich princess? She does nothing productive all day, and on top of that, she’s picky and full of awful habits. She just sees you as a pushover. Why do you let her get away with it?"

"Forget it. It’s better to keep the peace."

It was peak time after work, so the grain and oil store was filled with local residents doing their shopping.

Jiang Moli’s reputation for being a lazy glutton was famous throughout the neighborhood.

While they sympathized with her stepsister, Jiang Qing, they felt nothing but contempt and disgust for Jiang Moli.

And all of this was part of Jiang Qing’s plan.

The more trouble Jiang Moli caused and the worse her reputation got, the less condemnation Jiang Qing would receive for stealing her fiancé.

『Dislike Value +1, +1, +1. 30,000 Yuan credited to your account.』

The Most Hated Person System was already numb to it all.

Its host completed missions as if they were just a game.

"System, what’s my mission progress?"

『Mission Progress: 46/10,000』

’It had been about twenty-four hours since she’d transmigrated into the book yesterday. She’d collected 46 Dislike Value points in a single day.’

’At this rate, hitting the ’Hated by Ten Thousand People’ achievement within a year would be no problem.’

But Jiang Moli had no intention of staying here for a year.

’Her maternal grandmother’s health had been poor for the last two years, and her mother had even quit her job to take care of the old woman full-time.’

’If something happened to her, not only would her grandmother and mother be heartbroken, but their source of income would be cut off.’

’She had over a hundred thousand yuan in her bank account, but that money had to cover her mortgage and car payments, buy medicine for her grandmother, and support the living expenses of two older adults. It wouldn’t last more than a few months.’

’So, she had to complete this mission as quickly as possible and get back to her own world.’

...

Jiang Qing bought ten eggs on credit.

Jiang Dahai was a senior technician at the machinery factory with a monthly salary of 68.50 yuan, not including bonuses and various subsidies. It was a solid middle-class income, so getting a few eggs on credit was no problem.

On the way back, Jiang Qing took the initiative to bring up Jiang Moli’s marriage.

"I heard her say the Zhang Family is very pleased with her and that they’re coming to make a formal marriage proposal in three days."

"She can only marry some country bumpkin. If you ask me, it would be better for her to just go to the countryside. Uncle Jiang has good relationships with a few of the factory leaders; he could probably get her recalled to the city in a couple of years."

"I know, right?"

Zhou Xiaoqing eyed Jiang Qing. "If you get married and she gets married, does that mean no one from your family has to go to the countryside?"

"Mm-hm. Isn’t that great?"

"It is pretty great."

Zhou Xiaoqing laughed it off, but inside, she felt it was deeply unfair.

Both of her own older sisters had been sent to the countryside, and they frequently wrote letters home complaining of the hardships and begging to return to the city.

If she hadn’t gotten lucky and found a job, she’d be suffering out in the countryside right now, too.

Yet Jiang Moli and Jiang Qing were able to take a shortcut to avoid that fate.

It was just too unfair.

...

Jiang Moli was also pondering the matter of being sent to the countryside.

’Zhang Jia Ming would never marry her, so marriage was not a viable path. That only left finding a job.’

’But in this era, finding a job was much harder than finding a husband.’

’Otherwise, the government wouldn’t be forcing masses of unmarried, unemployed young people into the countryside to aid in its development.’

Just as she was mulling it over, she saw Jiang Peng sauntering over from down the street.

Jiang Moli called out from a distance, "Jiang Peng!"

Jiang Peng trotted over eagerly. "Sis, what are you doing squatting here?"

"What do you think?"

"How should I know?"

Jiang Moli held out her hand with a smirk. "Hand it over."

Jiang Peng pretended not to understand. "Sis, I didn’t take anything from you."

"I’m counting to three. Three!"

With lightning speed, Jiang Moli’s hand shot out and accurately pinched Jiang Peng’s ear.

"You said you were counting to three! You only said one number!" Jiang Peng protested.

Jiang Moli gave his ear a sharp twist, and Jiang Peng immediately cried out for mercy.

"Sis, I was wrong! OUCH, go easy on me! My ear is going to fall off!"

"Are you going to fork it over or not?"

"I will, I will!"

Jiang Peng hastily pulled all the money out of his pocket.

Jiang Moli took it and counted. There was only 7.50 yuan left.