An Accidental Military Marriage

An Hui was strong-willed to the core. Even though she had a bad feeling and suspected her husband was the one being disciplined, she refused to admit defeat.

"You’re right," she said, feigning nonchalance. "With so many officers in the military district, someone’s bound to get criticized by a superior every day. It’s nothing special."

"Exactly."

Wu Miaoyun agreed on the surface, but inwardly, she thought An Hui was being far too unconcerned, not seeming the least bit anxious.

’If it were me,’ she thought, ’I’d kick a troublemaker like that out of the house, no matter what, before she could drag down the whole family.’

A short while later, the head of the Family Committee, He Qiuxia, came over with a few people to collect the zongzi.

"Wow, your group wrapped so many! Looks like you have a good shot at winning."

Wu Miaoyun smiled. "If we really get first place, come over to my house tonight. I’ll treat you to some meat."

"Sounds good!"

Seeing Wu Miaoyun looking so cheerful, He Qiuxia’s eyes flickered. She couldn’t help but say, "It’s impressive you can still be so optimistic. But then again, a formal warning isn’t that serious. Once the dust settles, everyone will forget about it."

Wu Miaoyun chimed in smoothly, "That’s what I was just telling Sister An."

He Qiuxia was a sharp woman. She knew at once that Wu Miaoyun hadn’t gotten the full story and said meaningfully, "That doesn’t really apply to Mrs. Lu. Vice Political Commissar Lu wasn’t the one disciplined."

An Hui, who had been looking down and helping the activity committee members count the zongzi, looked up when she heard this.

The other women around them all swarmed over.

"Director, if it wasn’t Vice Political Commissar Lu who was disciplined, then who was it?"

The rumor mill had only said an officer was given a warning, but it hadn’t mentioned any names.

Connecting it to Jiang Moli’s recent actions, everyone had guessed the officer who received the warning was Lu Deyao.

If it wasn’t Lu Deyao, who could it be?

Who else could it possibly be?

Although the news would get out sooner or later, saying it out loud in front of everyone was a surefire way to offend people.

He Qiuxia wasn’t about to do something that would harm others without benefiting herself. "I just heard it through the grapevine, so it might not be accurate, but it definitely wasn’t Vice Political Commissar Lu."

As expected, An Hui’s group won first place in the zongzi-wrapping contest. Each member was rewarded with a ration ticket for a pound of meat.

But no one had the mind to be envious; they were all preoccupied with which officer had actually been disciplined.

They all rushed home to call their husbands and dig for information.

As soon as she got home, An Hui also called Lu Deyao’s office.

"Sister-in-law, what did Brother Six say? Who was disciplined?" Ma Hongmei asked eagerly the moment An Hui hung up the phone.

An Hui looked at her. "It was Dadong."

Ma Hongmei was stunned. "How could it be Dadong?"

Wu Miaoyun never would have dreamed that the one who got disciplined was her own husband!

The thought of how she had been comforting An Hui in the activity room made her face burn as if it had been slapped several times.

「The story goes back to the day before.」

Wu Miaoyun had scolded her daughter for being impulsive, but she wasn’t much better herself. She had immediately turned around and called her husband, telling him all about Jiang Moli privately selling a job position to one of her relatives.

Chen Dadong had then run to Wu Lifeng and tattled.

In truth, Chen Dadong didn’t actually think Lu Deyao would dare to engage in corruption or accept bribes.

For officers like them, reputation and integrity were more important than life itself; they would never make such a low-level mistake.

The reason he snitched was to take the opportunity to curry favor with Wu Lifeng.

He and his wife, Wu Miaoyun, were distantly related to Wu Lifeng, so maintaining a good relationship was important.

With Wu Lifeng in his position, even if it didn’t benefit Chen Dadong, it wouldn’t harm him either.

But for the past year or two, there had been rumors that Lu Deyao might be the one to take over Wu Lifeng’s position.

’Wu Lifeng must hold a grudge against Lu Deyao,’ he figured.

After all, what kind of superior would like a subordinate who was poised to replace him?

This was the perfect opportunity for Wu Lifeng to knock Lu Deyao down a peg.

Who would have thought he’d lift a rock only to drop it on his own foot? He didn’t gain any favor and ended up getting reprimanded instead.

As for Wu Lifeng, he hadn’t originally wanted to make a big deal out of it.

Chen Dadong hadn’t filed a formal report or framed anyone; he had simply repeated the gossip from the compound as a joke.

Once Lu Deyao explained the situation, the matter would have been over.

But Jiang Moli’s one comment—"acting like a bunch of gossips"—had sharply pointed out that the officers’ thinking had become lax, their discipline was loose, and they weren’t focusing their minds on their work.

This made the problem serious. As the man in charge, he had to rectify the situation and tighten his unit’s discipline.

That’s why he decided to make an example of Chen Dadong.

「...」

Jiang Moli spent the whole day out and didn’t return to the compound until evening.

The Family Committee had come by earlier to announce that all unemployed wives were required to participate in the zongzi-wrapping event. Unwilling to join, she left the military base, went to wander around the department store, and then found a teahouse in the afternoon to listen to opera and pass the time.

While waiting for the bus, two women next to her were chatting excitedly.

Jiang Moli stared at the net bag of preserved eggs one of the women was holding and couldn’t help but swallow.

’I’m getting a little hungry.’

The two women were talking about their salaries. One of them, who had a bob haircut, said, "My pay this month was a bit more than last month—35.70 yuan."

The other woman, who had her hair in a braid, looked envious. "That’s great. I only made 33.30 yuan this month, more than two yuan less than you..."

Jiang Moli leaned in and said to the woman with the lower salary, "I have a way to make your salary ten times bigger."

The woman gave her a strange look. "Who are you?"

Jiang Moli pointed to the woman holding the preserved eggs. "If you can get her to give me one of those preserved eggs, I’ll tell you the secret to making your salary ten times bigger."

Before the woman could speak, the others waiting for the bus started to chime in excitedly.

"Just give her one! How much can a single preserved egg be worth?"

Making ten times your monthly salary—the idea was just too tempting!

Since she was supposed to have met with a high-ranking leader, Jiang Moli was dressed quite formally today.

She wore a short-sleeved white blouse with gray-blue trousers, white socks, and black leather shoes, her hair in two braided pigtails.

Seeing that Jiang Moli was young and pretty, and dressed so respectably, and with the encouragement from the crowd, the woman gave Jiang Moli a preserved egg.

"Don’t be hasty, now. I’ll tell you after I finish eating the egg."

A free preserved egg always tastes the best. The jelly-like white was springy and smooth, and the yolk was rich and savory.

The entire bus stop of people crowded around her, waiting with bated breath for her to finish the egg.

Passersby saw the commotion and, thinking something interesting was happening, also gathered around.

"What’s going on here?"

Someone who had been watching for a while but couldn’t figure it out asked.

"This young woman says she has a way to make your salary ten times bigger."

"For real? She’s got to be bluffing, right?"

"Who knows? Let’s just watch. No harm in watching."

’Fair enough.’

Under everyone’s expectant gazes, Jiang Moli finally finished the preserved egg.

She licked her lips, savoring the aftertaste, and said to the woman with the braid, "You should say it like this: ’This month, my salary was 330 mao.’"

???

Just then, the bus arrived.

Jiang Moli pushed through the crowd and quickly boarded the bus.

The two women finally realized what had happened and pointed at Jiang Moli, fuming:

"Where do you think you’re going?"

"You swindler! Give me back my preserved egg!"

From the bus, Jiang Moli poked her head out the window, her face breaking into a brilliant smile. "So tell me, ma’am, did your salary multiply by ten or not?"

"Ten times my ass, you shameless fraud!"

The crowd of onlookers also booed at Jiang Moli.

What kind of tenfold increase was that? She was clearly just messing with them.

So cruel!

[Disgust Value +17. 170,000 Yuan credited to account.]