An Accidental Military Marriage

Ma Hongmei spoke for Lu Deyao first. "Xiao Jiang, you didn’t say beforehand that this apartment was for your father. Fourth Brother and his wife thought you were in a hurry to move out."

Lu Deyao asked, "Xiao Jiang, so you don’t plan on moving out?"

Jiang Moli recalled that before getting married, she had indeed said she wouldn’t live with her in-laws.

And before marrying into the Lu Family, that was exactly what she’d thought.

But after spending this time with the Lu Family, she felt it was actually quite nice.

’The old couple aren’t difficult, and they don’t seem to mind me being idle. I have food to eat and things to drink without doing any chores. Someone even washes my dirty socks for me. This is more comfortable than staying in a five-star hotel in my past life. I’m not going anywhere.’

’Lu Deyao got her the family apartment so quickly... Could it be that he’s tired of me and wants to kick me out as soon as possible? Out of sight, out of mind?’

Jiang Moli gave Lu Deyao a wicked grin. "Dad, I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you. I’m not moving out."

Lu Deyao and An Hui exchanged a look.

’Wife, did you hear that? Our third son’s wife says she’s not moving out.’

’My ears aren’t broken. I heard her.’

The old couple’s silent exchange didn’t escape Jiang Moli’s notice. She thought, ’Are my in-laws whispering about me behind my back?’

"Dad, Mom, what are you whispering about? I want to listen in."

Of course, Lu Deyao couldn’t let her know what he was really thinking. "Oh, it’s nothing. Say, the photos from your and our third son’s wedding have been developed. After dinner, we’ll pick out a few nice ones to mail to him at his military base."

Jiang Moli nodded. Then she heard Lu Deyao add, "Our third son sent you a telegram for the Dragon Boat Festival. Since we’re mailing the photos, you should write him a letter to send along with them."

After dinner, Lu Deyao and An Hui took Jiang Moli to see the apartment in the military family compound.

The apartment was on the third floor. The rooms were clean and bright, but it didn’t have a private kitchen or bathroom.

This was typical for the corridor-style apartment buildings of the era; the bathrooms and showers were communal for the whole floor, and people cooked in the hallways outside their doors.

When they got home from seeing the apartment, Lu Deyao took out the photos from the wedding day.

There were more than Jiang Moli had imagined, a stack as thick as a brick.

Many of them were candid shots, taken without her knowledge.

She had to admit, she was quite photogenic. Every single photo looked like it had been professionally touched up.

’In a word: beautiful.’

...

「Late at night.」

Outside the window, countless stars twinkled brightly, like mischievous children winking. The rich, sweet fragrance of Chinese roses drifted up from the bushes by the wall.

Jiang Moli rested her chin on her left hand, a pen in her right.

The ink on the fountain pen’s nib had dried, but she still hadn’t figured out what to write.

Sleepiness washed over her, and she casually wrote a single sentence on the letter paper.

The next day, the letter, along with the wedding photos, was put in an envelope and mailed.

「In the military family compound.」

An Hui, with Jiang Moli in tow, showed the apartment to Jiang Dahai and his family. "The apartment was just assigned to us, so we haven’t had time to furnish it yet. It’s a little spartan, but please take a look and see if you’re missing anything."

Jiang Dahai quickly said, "Please don’t go to so much trouble. We’re only staying for a few days. A bed to sleep in is more than enough."

The apartment had been occupied before and came with a bed and some simple furniture, which was sufficient to live with.

After showing the apartment to the Jiang family, An Hui went home first, while Jiang Moli stayed behind to help clean up.

However, she was all talk and no action, ordering Jiang Peng to do all the work.

The apartment wasn’t large, and the three of them had it cleaned up in half an hour.

Looking at the sparkling clean apartment, Jiang Dahai looked this way and that, touching things here and there with a happy expression.

’Thanks to my son-in-law, I’ve finally gotten to live in an apartment building in this lifetime.’

As for Jiang Peng, he was grinning from ear to ear, looking like he wanted to do a few somersaults on the spot.

Even the usually reserved Li Hongying was smiling so broadly she couldn’t close her mouth.

In this era, being able to live in an apartment building was something worth bragging about.

More than being happy about living in an apartment building, Jiang Dahai was moved.

His own daughter had such a trying personality that even he, her father, found her difficult. Yet, the Lu Family not only didn’t mind her, they didn’t look down on his family either. Instead, they took care of them in every possible way.

’It must have taken several lifetimes of good deeds to find such wonderful in-laws.’

"Moli, your in-laws are truly doing their utmost for our family. You must treat them well and be filial. Be more diligent around the house, and don’t make them angry. Do you hear me?"

"I know," Jiang Moli replied.

The family of four agreed to keep the move into the military compound a secret. They would tell anyone who asked that they had moved into a cheap motel.

Their living in the military compound was bound to attract criticism.

The Lu Family had given them shelter, a great kindness that they couldn’t repay by causing trouble for them.

If any neighbors on the same floor asked where they came from, they would say it was a relative’s apartment and they were only staying temporarily.

Now that they had a place to stay and had spoken with the people in the family compound, Jiang Dahai didn’t plan on dealing with the Ruan Family for the time being.

’The Ruan Family is from the countryside, after all. They can’t stay in the city forever. They’ll probably go back home in a few days.’

But the Zhou Family couldn’t stand living in the same courtyard as the Ruan Family.

The country folk were crude, spitting on the ground and not closing the door when they used the toilet.

Ruan Zishan was in poor health, and his earth-shaking coughs at night made it impossible to sleep.

The Ruan Family members were unemployed, so if they didn’t sleep well at night, they could just sleep in during the day.

The Zhou family, however, had to go to work and school. After a few days, not only were the siblings Zhou Xiaoqing and Zhou Xiaojun completely listless, but even Wang Lianhua had huge dark circles under her eyes.

"Have you talked to Mr. Jiang? When is he going to come back and get rid of those people?"

"Mr. Jiang said he’s working on it."

"Working on it? How long is he going to ’work on it’? His daughter caused this whole mess, and if he won’t clean it up as her father, then I will! And when I do, don’t you dare blame me for being merciless!"

"Keep your voice down."

"This is my own home! I’ll be as loud as I want! Who’s going to stop me?"

Listening to the argument coming from the Zhou family’s apartment, Ruan Fuqiang whispered smugly to Ruan Zishan, "Dad, did you hear that? We just have to keep living here, and someone else will get justice for us."

Ruan Zishan nodded.

Chen Guifen watched the father and son, her face full of worry. "Dahai has been good to you three brothers over the years. It’s not right for us to squat in his house like this. Why don’t we just go home?"

"Mom, don’t be so soft-hearted. Whether Jiajin can have a future depends on this! If you ruin his prospects, he’ll resent you for the rest of his life."

Ruan Zishan also chided her, "Don’t be so short-sighted. Just listen to Fuqiang on this."

Chided by her husband and son, Chen Guifen could only fall resentfully silent.

Ruan Fuqiang stroked his chin and whispered to Ruan Zishan, "We can’t let this drag on. The work in the fields won’t wait for us. We need to find a way to add some fuel to the fire, make Dahai settle things for Xue Wen and Jiajin as soon as possible."

Ruan Zishan nodded.

The next day, Ruan Fuqiang called over a few hoodlums from the village.

They spent the day playing cards in the apartment and the night drinking, roughhousing, and shouting, making a racket around the clock.

...

"Mr. Jiang, you’re finally here! Something’s happened!"

Jiang Dahai had just reached the factory gate when Wu Shengli from the same workshop stopped him.

Seeing the other man’s serious and tense expression, Jiang Dahai quickly jumped off his bicycle. "Was there an accident in the workshop? Or did some equipment break down?"

"Neither!"

Wu Shengli pushed him toward the factory, saying as they walked, "Director Zhou’s wife, she led a few dozen people from the family compound first thing this morning, stormed into Factory Director Yang’s office, and is demanding the factory give them an answer."

As soon as Jiang Dahai heard this, he guessed it was about him, and his heart sank.