An Accidental Military Marriage

"Xu, your thinking is a huge problem! As cadres, we are supposed to lead by example and put a stop to these crooked practices of seeking special favors and using the back door!"

Lu Deyao looked at Xu Chengping and declared sternly, "It’s been a while since we held a training session, and everyone’s ideological discipline has grown lax. Starting tomorrow, you will come to the conference room every day from 12:30 to 1:00 PM for a half-hour of ideological study. And that goes for the rest of you, too. I’m going to report this to the Commander right now. Anyone absent will be considered in breach of discipline."

With that, Lu Deyao picked up his tea mug and headed for the Commander’s office.

Xu Chengping and the others looked at each other in dismay.

"Seriously, that Lu... We were just joking around, and he had to go and make a federal case out of it."

"You know what his temper is like. Well, great. Now we all have to listen to his lectures."

Coming out of the Commander’s office, Lu Deyao snorted. ’So you want to see me become a laughingstock? You really think I can’t sort you all out?’

...

When Lu Deyao got home, he saw his wife sitting alone on the living room sofa, mending clothes. He huffed and cursed:

"Damn it! They’ve got nothing better to do!"

An Hui glanced at him over her reading glasses but didn’t say anything.

It was Ma Hongmei, who was cooking in the kitchen, who heard the commotion and came out. She poured a glass of water for Lu Deyao. "Calm down. What happened? Did you get into an argument with someone at work?"

"They’re not doing their jobs. Instead, they’re acting like a bunch of gossips, poking their noses into my family business and wagging their tongues."

Ma Hongmei glanced at An Hui, guessing this was probably about Jiang Moli. She didn’t feel it was her place to say much, so she offered a few comforting words to Lu Deyao before returning to the kitchen to continue her work.

"This is infuriating!"

After waiting a while without any reaction from his wife, Lu Deyao couldn’t help but say, "I’m this angry, and you won’t even try to comfort me."

An Hui shot him a look. "When I first objected to this marriage, what was it you said? You said it wasn’t a bad thing to have a daughter-in-law like her. You said our third son has had it too easy his whole life and has become unbearably arrogant. You said it was time for him to suffer a bit and learn his lesson."

Lu Deyao looked sheepish. He hurriedly sat down next to his wife and whispered, "But you ended up supporting my view, didn’t you? We were a united front on this. We can’t be fighting amongst ourselves and letting outsiders laugh at us."

An Hui snorted. "I don’t know if our third son has learned his lesson or not, but I know I’m too embarrassed to leave the house."

Lu Deyao looked at her. "What, are the people in the family compound laughing at you too?"

An Hui shot him a glare, not wanting to speak at all.

Lu Deyao scratched his head. "I didn’t expect our son’s fiancée to be such a troublemaker. Any girl with half a brain would have come to us for help when she ran into trouble, right? Whether it was you or our third son stepping in, the whole thing could’ve been easily resolved. It never should have gotten so out of hand."

Then he started coaxing his wife again. "Don’t be angry. Once she’s married into the family, we’ll have her go with our third son to his post. Once she’s in a place like Menghai, even if she’s the Monkey King, she won’t be able to stir up any trouble."

Hearing her husband say this, An Hui’s anger actually subsided a little.

Upstairs, at Mr. Liu’s home.

Wei Xiuqin was telling her husband and mother-in-law about Jiang Moli being paraded through the streets. She was right in the middle of her animated tale when she heard Lu Deyao cursing loudly from downstairs.

Even though Lu Deyao wasn’t cursing at her, she still felt her face burn with embarrassment. She quickly changed the subject.

Downstairs, at the Lu family’s home.

Seeing that it had gotten dark, Lu Deyao asked about his son, "Where’s our third son?"

"He went out to deliver invitations. He’s not back yet."

For some important relatives, elders, and leaders, An Hui was supposed to deliver the invitations in person to show sincerity.

But An Hui was truly infuriated by Jiang Moli and felt it was too humiliating, so she refused to leave the house, leaving Lu Cheng to handle it himself.

...

"Are you saying Jiang Moli got engaged to your third uncle just to avoid being sent to the countryside?" Meng Wei looked incredulous.

Lu Tingting nodded. "She came to me before, asking me to arrange a job for her, all so she wouldn’t have to go to the countryside. I don’t know how she managed to hook my third uncle! It’s one thing for her to cause trouble and disgrace herself, but she’s dragged my third uncle and my grandmother down with her. My grandmother is so angry she’s lost her appetite."

Meng Wei said angrily, "How outrageous! How dare she? Using your third uncle as a shield to avoid being sent to the countryside!"

"Sister Weiwei, please, try to talk some sense into my third uncle. There are a million other women in the world, why does he have to pick someone like Jiang Moli?"

"Tingting, you’ve known Jiang Moli for several years. How much do you know about her past?"

Lu Tingting was confused. "Sister Weiwei, what sort of things are you referring to?"

Meng Wei said, "In terms of her moral character... I see she’s somewhat attractive, so she must have had one or two admirers pursuing her, right?"

Lu Tingting said with disdain, "Her? Her nose is always in the air. She looks down on the poor, but the ones with good family backgrounds look down on her. It’s a classic case of someone who has all the pretensions of a pampered princess but none of the status! No one at school would hang out with her, so she’d shamelessly latch onto us all day."

Meng Wei was very disappointed.

She had thought that since Jiang Moli was greedy and vain, she would have been messing around with boys for money.

Lu Cheng was such a proud man; if he knew Jiang Moli was a woman of loose morals, he would surely cast her aside like a worn-out shoe.

Unwilling to give up, Meng Wei then asked if Jiang Moli had ever accepted expensive gifts from boys.

Accepting things from boys for no reason would also be enough to prove she was frivolous and improper.

However, Meng Wei was disappointed once again.

Jiang Moli was spoiled by Jiang Dahai, so her food, clothes, and lifestyle were no worse than her classmates’. She didn’t give a second glance to the small favors and trifles offered by her male classmates. On the contrary, she often put the boys who gave her small gifts in an awkward position. Over time, no boy dared to try and curry favor with her anymore.

Although she hadn’t managed to dig up any dirt on Jiang Moli’s moral character, Meng Wei still went to find Lu Cheng.

"Third Brother."

The night was as still as water, and the elegant fragrance of a few rose bushes drifted from the Lu family’s courtyard.

Meng Wei had deliberately worn a light pink dress. Her waist-length hair was draped over her shoulders as she stood before Lu Cheng, her eyes glistening.

Any other man would likely have been captivated by her beauty.

Too bad Lu Cheng was blind to it. "If you have something to say, say it quickly. I’m busy."

Meng Wei said plaintively, "Do you really like that Jiang Moli so much? What’s so good about her?"

"Everything about her is good. It’s too much to explain in a sentence or two, and I don’t have to explain it to you."

His blunt words were like a knife twisting in Meng Wei’s chest. "Third Brother, marriage is a serious matter! It’s not a game! I truly hope you will think this through carefully. Even if you don’t like me, you could find a good, virtuous woman, not just settle for someone like Jiang Moli. You’re being irresponsible with your own future!"

Lu Cheng did not like hearing this. "I’m not marrying Moli just to settle. Nor am I doing it just to get marriage over with. It’s because I genuinely like her and want her to be my wife."

Meng Wei couldn’t understand. "Third Brother, why can’t you just see things clearly? She’s full of bad habits and has a terrible track record. What is there about her that’s worthy of your affection?"

"I am perfectly aware of my wife’s good and bad qualities. I don’t need to discuss them with outsiders, nor do I need an outsider’s approval."

To him, she was an outsider, while Jiang Moli was his wife. Meng Wei’s heart shattered into a million pieces.

"Third Brother, you aren’t even married yet."

"We’ve already registered our marriage. We are a legally recognized married couple."

Meng Wei swayed on her feet, so grief-stricken she could barely breathe.

But Lu Cheng’s next words were like another knife plunging viciously into her heart.