Chapter 45 p1
This day, Ye Qingzhi was knitting a sweater when she saw Li Jinfeng come in, bundled up like a ball.
“You’re pregnant. Why are you still visiting in this cold weather?” Ye Qingzhi quickly pulled a chair for her to sit by the fire.
It had just snowed the day before. Although the snow on the ground had been cleared, it was still a bit slippery. Li Jinfeng had one arm in a sling, a child in her belly, and was still visiting from house to house. Ye Qingzhi was scared for her.
“It’s fine. I’m being careful,” Li Jinfeng said, pulling a chair and sitting opposite Ye Qingzhi, looking at the sweater she was knitting. “This pink yarn is so beautiful. Are you knitting it for yourself?”
“Yes, I don’t have a daughter,” she said. She didn’t know if it was because she was actually over thirty, but Ye Qingzhi now really liked bright colors like pink and red.
Li Jinfeng looked at Ye Qingzhi’s skin with envy. “Your skin is fair. Pink looks good on you.”
Unlike her, whose skin was dark and yellow. Never mind pink, she couldn’t even wear red or blue.
Heaven was truly biased. She and Ye Qingzhi both worked in the fields, exposed to the wind and sun every day, yet Ye Qingzhi’s skin was still fair and tender, like a peeled egg.
Mainly, Ye Qingzhi was also good-looking. Look at those big eyes and small mouth, and her nose was so straight…
Li Jinfeng still couldn’t understand. With such a good wife as Ye Qingzhi, how could her deceased ex-husband have been gone for six years and even found a mistress outside? How beautiful must that mistress be!
Ye Qingzhi looked up and saw Li Jinfeng shaking her head in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. That Li Yang, she went to find Cao Liyan. In front of her brother and sister-in-law, she told her not to make things up and said that she had nothing to do with your Regiment Commander He. Tsk, tsk, so domineering. I like it,” Li Jinfeng said, her eyes shining.
Ye Qingzhi was taken aback for a moment. “When did this happen?”
“Just last night. You don’t know yet?” Li Jinfeng looked at her in surprise.
“I don’t!” Ye Qingzhi hadn’t been out, so she really didn’t know these things.
“Then do you know that Regiment Commander Xu’s family has a relative visiting again?” Li Jinfeng had come to find Ye Qingzhi in a hurry just to talk about this.
“Another relative? The same as last time?” Bai Xue’s mother-in-law hadn’t given up yet? Ye Qingzhi couldn’t help but sigh. This mother-in-law of Bai Xue’s was really difficult.
“No, this time it’s a real cousin, Regiment Commander Xu’s maternal uncle’s daughter. I think her name is Su Mengwan. She’s very pretty. I heard she wants Regiment Commander Xu to introduce her to a match,” Li Jinfeng said. In such a short time, she had already gathered a lot of information.
Su Mengwan? Ye Qingzhi’s mind buzzed. Wasn’t the female lead’s mother in the original novel named Su Mengwan? It couldn’t be such a coincidence, could it?
“Really? Where is she from? How old is she?” Ye Qingzhi’s expression did not change.
She kept recalling the plot of the original novel in her mind. It seemed there was such a segment.
Before Wei Jiancheng and Su Mengwan got married, the Su family had looked down on Wei Jiancheng’s background, so they had never agreed. To separate them, they had even sent Su Mengwan to her military officer cousin, hoping that her cousin would help introduce her to a match of equal social standing.
So Regiment Commander Xu was Su Mengwan’s military officer cousin?
Suddenly, she remembered another plot point. After Su Mengwan arrived at the base, she had gone on a blind date with a divorced Regiment Commander He through her cousin’s wife’s introduction. Su Mengwan had almost married him, but then Wei Jiancheng had chased after her, sweet-talked her, and made vows of eternal love. Then the misunderstanding was cleared up, and they got back together.
Originally, it was just a blind date between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman. As long as Su Mengwan made it clear, Regiment Commander He would definitely not pester her.
But she had wavered, hiding it from Regiment Commander He and maintaining correspondence with him, while also keeping Wei Jiancheng on the hook, saying that Regiment Commander He was introduced by her family and she couldn’t be disrespectful.
Wei Jiancheng was already a narrow-minded person. The hatred of having his wife stolen made him hate Regiment Commander He to the bone.
A year later, during a mission, Wei Jiancheng had seen the disguised Regiment Commander He and had guessed that he was on a mission. For revenge, he had secretly leaked Regiment Commander He’s information, which had led to the failure of the mission and had also caused Regiment Commander He to sacrifice himself at a young age.
Divorced, with the surname He, and a regiment commander. Who else could it be but He Qiming?
Thinking back carefully, if she hadn’t married He Qiming, with He Qiming’s relationship with Xu Kaisheng and Bai Xue’s personality, it was indeed possible that they would have introduced their cousin to him.
So He Qiming was the cannon fodder who didn’t even have a name in the original novel?
Just because he had gone on a blind date with Su Mengwan, Wei Jiancheng had disregarded the national interest, sabotaged He Qiming’s mission, and had even caused He Qiming to sacrifice himself at a young age.
That animal Wei Jiancheng. No, he was worse than an animal. Even a tiger doesn’t eat its own cubs.
He could even do such a thing. No wonder he was indifferent to the fate of his two sons later on. He might have even participated in it.
Hiss. Ye Qingzhi gasped. If the story followed the original plot, then wouldn’t He Qiming have a death knot next year?
“Qingzhi, what’s wrong?” Li Jinfeng asked with concern, seeing Ye Qingzhi’s pale face.
“I’m fine,” Ye Qingzhi said, trying to calm her nerves. “So it’s a real cousin. Does our regiment have any suitable matches?”
That’s right. He Qiming was already married to her and could not go on a blind date with Su Mengwan again. This meant that the subsequent plot would not happen.
But she still had to keep it in mind. What if?
And the person who might go on a blind date with Su Mengwan next was also an upright, brave, and resourceful hero who defended his country. He might replace He Qiming and follow the plot of the original novel.
Ye Qingzhi did not want such a thing to happen. The scumbag and the bitch, Wei Jiancheng and Su Mengwan, should be locked together. They must not harm the iron-willed heroes in the army.
Li Jinfeng looked at Ye Qingzhi suspiciously. “The army has no shortage of men, but it’s not that easy to find someone you like. I’ve seen that Su Mengwan once. She’s just like Bai Xue, looking at people like this.”
Li Jinfeng imitated Bai Xue’s posture, lifting her chin and looking down, smiling but not with her eyes, her gaze carrying a faint scrutiny and a hint of contempt.
Ye Qingzhi burst into laughter. It had to be said, Li Jinfeng’s imitation was really good.
But since Su Mengwan had come, Wei Jiancheng would soon appear. If she exposed Wei Jiancheng now, wouldn’t his marriage with Su Mengwan be impossible?
That wouldn’t do. They had to be together again. Otherwise, what if they harmed innocent people?
So she couldn’t expose Wei Jiancheng yet. Fortunately, Wei Jiancheng couldn’t enter the family compound. During this time, she and the children would be hibernating at home. Wei Jiancheng probably wouldn’t find out.
But she had to pretend to have discovered Wei Jiancheng and tell He Qiming that he was still alive, ask him to help investigate, and then have him help her be on guard.
If He Qiming kept an eye on Wei Jiancheng’s movements, it would not be so easy for him to harm others.
With a plan in mind, Ye Qingzhi relaxed a lot and started to chat and laugh with Li Jinfeng.
“Qingzhi, now that Liu Yuqin and I are both pregnant, you should also hurry up and have one while you’re young,” Li Jinfeng said, patting Ye Qingzhi’s arm. She really couldn’t understand her thoughts.
Children just needed to be fed and clothed. Who cared what they thought? And what thoughts did children have? They just wanted to eat meat every day.
In her view, for parents to be able to give birth to a child was a great kindness. He had to be filial to his elders. How dare he complain about his parents having younger siblings? Was he rebelling against heaven?
“I think I’ve told you before. I’m taking Chinese medicine to condition my body. I can’t have children for now,” Ye Qingzhi said, not making it a definite statement.
“Didn’t you finish drinking it?” For nearly a month, she hadn’t smelled any Chinese medicine at Ye Qingzhi’s house, which meant she had stopped taking it.
“I found the decoction too bitter, so I asked Dr. Hu to make it into pills. Dr. Hu said that my body was not well-nourished after childbirth in my early years and was severely depleted. I need to recuperate for a few years before it’s better to have another child,” Ye Qingzhi said, half-truthfully.
“You need to recuperate for a few years? I think you’re in good health,” Li Jinfeng said, looking at Ye Qingzhi’s rosy complexion. She hadn’t expected her to be so weak on the inside.
Thinking of how Ye Qingzhi had no mother-in-law and couldn’t rely on her own family, had no one to take care of her during her confinement, and had lost her husband right after her second child was born, it would be a wonder if she could recover well.
Her tone changed. “It’s fine. You’re still young. In three to five years, you’ll be the same age as me. It won’t be too late to have one then.”
Ye Qingzhi smiled. She was different from Bai Xue. She had two biological children, so no one could say she couldn’t have children. He Qiming also had children, so no one could say anything about him either. People would just say that she was very broad-minded and not in a hurry to have children.
If people said a few words, then let them. They were indeed not in a hurry.
Not long after Li Jinfeng left, Yang Xiaorou came again. She was here to deliver the eggs.
“Here, only fifty. It’s cold this year, and the chickens don’t like to lay eggs,” Yang Xiaorou said, taking off her gloves and warming her hands by the stove. “Qingzhi, Brother Xu’s family has a cousin visiting. Do you know?”
“I know. Sister Jinfeng told me. She just left not long ago,” Ye Qingzhi nodded.
Yang Xiaorou nodded in understanding. Li Jinfeng was always well-informed.
“Then did she tell you that Su Mengwan is here to find a match?” Yang Xiaorou asked in a low voice.
“She did. What, are you going to be a matchmaker for her?” Ye Qingzhi chuckled lightly.
Yang Xiaorou pouted. “Forget it. Su Mengwan has high standards. Ordinary people won’t do.”
Ye Qingzhi raised an eyebrow. High standards? High standards would fall for a scumbag like Wei Jiancheng?
But from Yang Xiaorou’s expression, her relationship with Su Mengwan should not be good, and might even be very bad.
Sure enough, before Ye Qingzhi could ask, she herself rattled off a bunch of things.
“My family and the Xu family are on good terms. Su Mengwan is Auntie Xu’s niece and often comes to the Xu family to play. Once, she accidentally broke a fruit plate and insisted that I had pushed her. Why would I push her? If the Su family didn’t have Su Liuli, this great-aunt, married into the Xu family, Su Mengwan wouldn’t even be fit to carry my shoes. I pushed her? Tsk, after that, I rarely went to the Xu family. But from what I heard, Auntie Xu also didn’t call Su Mengwan to the Xu family to play much anymore.”
So the Su family’s conditions were average, and they had only achieved their current status by relying on the Xu family. In other words, if Wei Jiancheng wanted to climb higher, he would most likely have to rely on the Xu family’s connections.