An Accidental Military Marriage

Once the door was shut, Lu Deyao turned to Jiang Moli with a stern expression and began his interrogation. "Xiao Jiang, you’ve been running back to your parents’ home constantly these past few days. What have you been up to?"

Before Jiang Moli could answer, Ma Hongmei cut in anxiously, "Xiao Jiang, this is no laughing matter! Buying and selling jobs is speculation and profiteering—that’s a crime you can be sentenced for! You can’t do something so foolish!"

An Hui was equally stern. "Xiao Jiang, tell me the truth. I won’t hit you."

"I didn’t buy or sell any jobs."

Hearing this, the three of them sighed in relief.

"I just promised my relatives on my mother’s side that I would help arrange jobs for them."

Lu Deyao nearly choked. "Xiao Jiang, just say everything at once! Don’t leave us hanging like this."

"Is this the time for nonsense?"

An Hui shot him a glare, then said sternly to Jiang Moli, "Xiao Jiang, you’re not a child anymore. How can you be so reckless? Can jobs just be arranged so casually?"

"If I hadn’t said that, they would never have paid back the money they owed my family."

"..."

Lu Deyao paced back and forth in the living room, hands clasped behind his back. "It’s over. This very afternoon, in front of my superior, I slammed the table and swore up and down that nothing like this was going on. Now I won’t be able to explain my way out of this."

Hearing that this had reached his superior, An Hui’s expression darkened as well.

On the surface, their family appeared to be high-ranking and influential, but who knew how many people were waiting in the shadows, eager to watch them fall.

Amidst the heavy atmosphere, Jiang Moli’s bell-like voice piped up, "Dad, I know you’re anxious, but hold your horses."

"How can I not be anxious? Xiao Jiang, what am I supposed to say to you? Why wouldn’t you discuss something this important with the family first?"

"Xiao Jiang, you’ve really gotten yourself into some deep trouble this time!"

"Your reckless behavior isn’t just going to harm you—Lu Cheng and your father will be dragged into it as well!"

Faced with the Lu Family’s rebukes and blame, Jiang Moli was the picture of calm. "The Qing Dynasty is over. We live in a new society now; we don’t practice guilt by association for nine generations. In other words, even if I did commit a crime, it wouldn’t fall on Lu Cheng or you, Mom and Dad. Besides," she added, "I was just bluffing. That’s not a crime, is it?"

"Bluffing?!"

Jiang Moli nodded. "I just said it offhandedly, and they all believed me. Every single one of them was scrambling to pay me back."

The Lu family exchanged glances.

An Hui was finally starting to understand. "So you used the promise of jobs to trick your uncles into paying back their debts?"

"They lied to my dad first. When they borrowed the money, they promised to pay it back as soon as they got it. And what happened? They obviously had the money, but every one of them cried poor and acted miserable. Since they were unscrupulous, they can’t blame me for being ruthless."

Lu Deyao was thoroughly relieved.

’Tricking people might not have been the most honorable thing to do,’ he thought, ’but compared to bribery and corruption, it was nothing at all.’

"Xiao Jiang, from now on, you must discuss things with the family first. Your mother-in-law and I are getting old. We can’t handle these kinds of shocks."

"Okay, I got it."

Seeing her agree so readily, and considering she hadn’t actually caused a disaster, Lu Deyao’s tone softened considerably:

"Those debts from your relatives—have you collected them all?"

"There are still one or two left, so I need you to do me a favor and help me keep this quiet for a few more days."

That was an easy request, so Lu Deyao nodded. Then he asked how much money her relatives had owed.

Jiang Moli hadn’t had a chance to count it herself yet. She went to her room, brought out the money, and began to count it in front of the Lu family.

"A total of 614."

"Whoa, that’s not a small sum. It’s almost my entire year’s salary," Lu Deyao said in surprise.

"It was all old debt. Without this method, I never would have gotten the money back."

Hearing this, Lu Deyao thought to himself, ’This daughter-in-law of mine is actually pretty clever.’

"Dad, Mom, do you two have enough money?"

Lu Deyao and An Hui exchanged a look.

’What does she mean?’

’Is our daughter-in-law offering us money?’

’She might be a handful, but she has a good heart.’

"Xiao Jiang, your mother and I have enough money."

"Well, if you have enough, you can spend a little on me."

"...But don’t you have money?"

"I don’t like spending my own money. I prefer spending other people’s money."

’In your dreams.’

...

「The Chen Residence」

Wu Miaoyun was fuming as she vented about Jiang Moli to Wu Lan and Qiao Jing. "I’m telling you, she’s a total shit-stirrer! All she does is cause trouble day in and day out, not to mention she has a filthy mouth. If she were my daughter-in-law, I’d have taken a broom to her and chased her out of the house long ago!"

Wu Lan tried to soothe her. "You know An Hui’s temper. After causing such a huge mess, do you really think An Hui will let her get away with it?"

Qiao Jing added in a conspiratorial whisper, "Oh, this has blown up into something huge. Lu was dragged into his boss’s office this afternoon and got chewed out. Just you wait. He might even get officially reprimanded over this."

This news undoubtedly did much to soothe Wu Miaoyun’s temper.

It wasn’t that she was the type of two-faced "friend" who was sweet to An Hui’s face but secretly wished her ill; it was that she simply couldn’t tolerate Jiang Moli, who was like a speck of dust in her eye.

On one hand, she resented Jiang Moli for defying her authority and smashing her bowl. On the other, she had never been able to reconcile herself to the fact that Jiang Moli had married Lu Cheng.

She had once tried to set up her older daughter, Chen Dan, with Lu Cheng, hoping to become even closer with An Hui by becoming in-laws.

Unfortunately, Lu Cheng had high standards and wasn’t interested in her elder daughter.

It was one thing for him to pass on her elder daughter; after all, Lu Cheng was undeniably exceptional and could afford to be picky.

’But for Lu Cheng to end up marrying a creature like that... she just couldn’t wrap her head around it.’

’Wasn’t her daughter ten, a hundred times better than Jiang Moli in every way?’

’Then again,’ she thought, ’Jiang Moli is a hopeless case. After stirring up this much trouble, she’ll probably be kicked to the curb by the Lu Family.’

’If Lu Cheng really does get a divorce, her younger daughter, Chen Xue, is still single. She just might have a chance...’

’Lu Cheng was outstanding, to be sure, but a divorced man wasn’t nearly as valuable on the marriage market.’

...

That evening, Zhou Jinyu and Xu Xiuzhen came to the Lu residence to probe An Hui for information, using the delivery of zongzi as a pretext.

Upon learning that Jiang Moli hadn’t been selling jobs and that the money was simply repayment of a debt from relatives, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief.

Speculation and profiteering was no minor offense. An investigation could easily drag others down with it, and if something really happened to Lu Deyao, both of their families would be in trouble too.

Even though the misunderstanding was cleared up, the two women still harbored resentment and disdain for their new sister-in-law, Jiang Moli.

Once outside, Zhou Jinyu lamented to Xu Xiuzhen, "Sigh, to be stuck with such a troublemaker... What rotten luck."

Xu Xiuzhen clutched her chest. "My heart starts pounding every time I hear her name. Day in and day out, it’s just one thing after another with her. Never a moment’s peace."

SLAP.

The sharp sound made both women jump.

Following the sound with their eyes, they vaguely made out a figure lounging on a chair under the pavilion.

"Who’s there?"

"Me."

Recognizing Jiang Moli’s voice, Zhou Jinyu and Xu Xiuzhen were instantly mortified.

’Getting caught red-handed by the very person they were talking about—what terrible luck.’

"I came out to cool off after dinner. Didn’t realize there’d be so many mosquitoes. I’m covered in bites."

Jiang Moli swatted at her arms and legs as she walked up to them, a look of utmost sincerity on her face. "Don’t just hate me with your words; you need to take action. When you have free time, you should visit all the relatives, chat with everyone about me, and get even more people to hate me. That would make me really happy."

"Because you see, I love it when people can’t stand me but are completely powerless to do anything about it."

Zhou Jinyu and Xu Xiuzhen: "..."

After watching Jiang Moli return to her house, Xu Xiuzhen couldn’t help but mutter, "Is she crazy?"

"Stop talking. Let’s just go home."

Zhou Jinyu grabbed Xu Xiuzhen’s arm and rushed off.

On a second-floor balcony, Wei Xiuqin turned, went back into her bedroom, and announced to her husband, who was lying in bed reading a newspaper, "It’s starting! They’re fighting!"