An Accidental Military Marriage

Chapter 87: Chapter 87: Can I Not Die Tomorrow?

"Dahai, it was all my fault, completely my fault. If you can just forgive me, I’ll do anything."

Ruan Fuqiang apologized to Jiang Dahai, slapping himself in the face as he spoke.

His look of sincere repentance made him seem like a completely different person from the aggressive man he had been a couple of days ago.

In the past, Jiang Dahai might have softened out of respect for his late wife.

But his daughter’s warning still rang in his ears: ’They don’t realize they were wrong, they’re just scared—scared of losing you, their meal ticket of a brother-in-law.’

Jiang Dahai said to the three brothers, "If you can get the factory to give the house back, I’ll drop the whole matter."

Ruan Fuguo gave a sheepish laugh. "Dahai, you can’t be serious. We’re just simple farmers. We don’t have that kind of pull."

"Since you know you’re farmers, you should go home and focus on farming. Stop running to the city all the time."

With that, Jiang Dahai grabbed his bicycle and made to leave.

Ruan Fuguo quickly grabbed the handlebars, signaling for his brothers, Ruan Fuqiang and Ruan Fushun, to stuff the gifts they were holding into the bike’s basket.

"Dahai, this is just a small token of our appreciation. Please take it."

"I’m only accepting a house. I don’t need anything else."

As he spoke, Jiang Dahai pulled the items out of his basket and threw them on the ground, one by one. Once he was done, he got on his bicycle and rode away.

The three brothers watched him pedal away, then simply stared at each other, at a loss for words.

"Big Brother, I think Dahai really hates us this time," Ruan Fushun said, crestfallen.

Ruan Fuguo clicked his tongue. "Dahai’s just blowing off steam. We’ll wait a while for him to cool down, then come back. We’ll just have to be a bit more humble, say a few nice things, and this will all blow over."

Ruan Fuqiang, on the other hand, wasn’t so much worried about Jiang Dahai forgiving them as he was about his son’s job.

"So that job at the grain and oil station is a bust? When we get back to the village and people ask, what am I supposed to tell them?"

Ruan Fuguo was also worried, and full of regret.

He shouldn’t have bragged about it back in the village before the job was secured. Now, everyone’s eyes were on them.

The moment they stepped outside, everyone would rush over to ask about the job.

If word got out that the job fell through, who knew how people would laugh at them behind their backs.

Worst of all, they had borrowed from others in the village to pay back the Jiang family, using the job as a guarantee.

If the villagers found out the job was gone, they would surely come demanding their money back. What would he pay them with?

"We’ll keep it under wraps for now. If anyone asks, just say it’s still being arranged."

Ruan Fushun said, "We can hide it for a while, but we can’t hide it forever."

Ruan Fuguo’s face darkened. "We’ll hide it for as long as we can. Once Dahai has cooled off, we’ll go and talk to him again. If he can’t arrange a job, then he has to give us the money. He said so himself."

His two brothers quickly nodded in agreement.

If they couldn’t land a job, getting that money would be the next best thing.

...

Jiang Dahai returned to his house in the military family housing.

Seeing him walk in with a grim expression, Li Hongying concernedly handed him a glass of water. "What’s wrong? Did people at the factory say something again?"

Jiang Dahai took the water, had a sip, and told her about the three Ruan brothers coming to apologize.

Li Hongying had never been one to have strong opinions, and upon hearing this, she didn’t know what to do either.

"Why don’t you go talk to Moli about it?"

The military family housing was only a street away from the Military District Courtyard, so getting there was convenient.

Unlike his old place in the machinery factory’s residential area, where a round trip on his bike took more than half an hour.

When he got to the Military District Courtyard, Jiang Dahai didn’t go inside. Instead, just like usual, he called Jiang Moli out to the gate to talk.

"...I told them that if they could get the house back, I’d pretend this whole thing never happened."

Jiang Moli gave Jiang Dahai a thumbs-up. "Dad, I have to say, that was nicely done."

"Like I need praise from you!"

He sounded dismissive, but inwardly, he was bubbling with delight.

Though he couldn’t quite put his finger on why.

"Dad, trying to be the good guy always means you lose out. Your friends and relatives praise you for being so generous because they’re the ones walking away with your money. The moment they can’t take advantage of you anymore, they’ll turn on you, curse you, and slander you. Reputation is fleeting. You can’t always be thinking about ’what if’ this or that happens in the future. You need to consider, what if you drop dead tomorrow?"

Jiang Dahai was indignant. "Can’t I just *not* die tomorrow? I don’t want to die yet!"

Jiang Moli said, "I’m just giving you a hypothetical."

"Honestly, can’t you ever wish your old man something good..."

The rest of his words were choked back as Jiang Moli stuffed some cash into his hand. "What are you doing?"

"This is so your trip wasn’t for nothing. Go buy some braised pig’s head, get a little something to drink. Eating well, drinking well, and living happily is what matters most."

"I don’t want it. I have my own money."

"It’s from your son-in-law, showing his respect. You really don’t want it?"

Jiang Dahai was skeptical. "You’ve been in touch with Xiao Lu?"

"Mhm, he called today. Said he’s getting paid in a couple of days and will send the money home. He told me to buy whatever I need."

"Then if he told you to spend it, you should spend it on yourself. Why are you giving it to me?"

"Because what I want to buy is my dear old dad’s happiness."

On the way back, Jiang Dahai was overjoyed. His face was beaming like a sunflower, and he had a swagger in his step.

And when he thought about how this happiness had been bought for him by his daughter...

...he felt even happier!

...

After losing several rounds against Jiang Moli, Lu Tingting decided to call for reinforcements.

"Sister Weiwei, please, you have to help me. I’m begging you. You have no idea how awful Jiang Moli is. She’s been bullying me to death."

After Lu Tingting’s repeated pleading, Meng Wei agreed to step in and help her get even.

In truth, even if Lu Tingting hadn’t asked, she had already been planning on paying Jiang Moli a visit.

...

Early in the morning, the Lu Family left to attend a banquet, but they didn’t ask Jiang Moli to come along.

It wasn’t because they were ashamed of her; they were attending a funeral, and it was considered bad luck for a newlywed like her to be present.

As usual, Jiang Moli slept in until she woke up naturally.

It was a rare overcast day, so Jiang Moli decided to go out for a walk and find something to eat.

The restaurant scene of this era was nowhere near as prosperous as it would be decades later. Apart from state-run restaurants, there were only a few noodle shops and bun stalls.

But for people of this time, even getting to eat a bowl of noodles at a shop was considered a rare treat.

Just as she was wondering what to eat, she heard someone call her name.

She looked toward the voice, and a smile touched her lips.

Lu Tingting walked up to her, arm in arm with Meng Wei. "Jiang Moli, do you know who this is?"

Jiang Moli arched an eyebrow. "Niece, have you forgotten your manners again? When you bring a friend to meet an elder, you’re supposed to introduce them to the elder."

With that, she turned to Meng Wei and gave a magnanimous nod, as an elder would. "You look like you were raised properly. Why don’t you just give a simple self-introduction?"

Meng Wei remained unfazed.

’In her eyes, Jiang Moli was a shallow, brainless woman. Even considering her a rival was giving her too much credit.’

"I’m Meng Wei."

Lu Tingting then launched into a long spiel about Meng Wei’s family background, education, and career. "...Sister Weiwei and my third uncle were childhood sweethearts! If you hadn’t interfered, Sister Weiwei would be my third aunt by now!"

’So, she’s the childhood sweetheart.’

Jiang Moli sized up Meng Wei, a flicker of secret excitement stirring within her.

’This was why she liked her niece, Lu Tingting.’

’Just when she was getting bored out of her mind, Tingting had specially brought someone over to entertain her.’

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