"Officer Jiang." Just then, two soft knocks suddenly came from outside the door.
"What is it?" Jiang Yao took a deep breath and responded in a deep voice.
"Something urgent has come up with the Troops. Could you please come take a look?" The adjutant outside sounded anxious.
"Go ahead first. I'll be right there." After a few seconds of silence, Jiang Yao replied.
Xu Changxia remembered that in their previous life, Jiang Yao had also left in the middle of the night on their first evening together. At that time, they had already shared a room, and she had been so exhausted that she immediately fell into a deep sleep.
She pressed her lips tightly together, watching Jiang Yao without saying a word.
"About this matter, call me at the Troops when you've figured it out yourself." Jiang Yao stood up, walked over to pick up his military cap from the table, put it on, and said to her quietly.
Xu Changxia knew she had missed her opportunity tonight, but it was too late to remedy the situation now. She couldn't delay his official duties with the Troops.
She remained silent, watching him finish dressing in front of the mirror.
"Will you come back tomorrow?" she asked softly, just as he was about to step out the door.
"It depends," Jiang Yao replied indifferently.
Xu Changxia thought for a moment, then asked him, "If I have an emergency, can I come directly to your dormitory to find you?"
Jiang Yao glanced back at her: "Unless it's a special circumstance, it's better not to."
With that, he closed the door without looking back.
Watching him leave, Xu Changxia bit her lip and silently cursed herself after a long moment: "Why were you so difficult in your previous life!"
If she hadn't behaved so improperly at the engagement banquet, Jiang Yao wouldn't have misunderstood her so deeply.
In her previous life, Jiang Yao would be sent for Island Special Training just over ten days later, and after that, they never saw each other again.
Their next meeting would be in two days – just a brief encounter lasting less than an hour before he returned to the Troops. The time after that would be their second time sharing a room, ten days later.
She only had ten days left with Jiang Yao.
…
Early the next morning, Xu Changxia watched the sky lighten outside and abruptly sat up in bed.
She had thought all night long, remaining sleepless throughout.
How to proceed next was now perfectly clear in her mind.
She needed to return to the Xu family first to retrieve something, then go to the Troops to find Jiang Yao.
Just as she finished washing up and changing clothes, rapid knocking suddenly came from outside her door.
"Who is it?" Xu Changxia alertly looked toward the window beside the door.
"Miss Xu, it's me. The Madam sent me to bring you two pots of hot water," came the polite reply from outside.
Xu Changxia recognized the voice – it was the Jiang family's housekeeper, Chuan Ma.
In her previous life, Xu Changxia had woken up on her own and gone downstairs for breakfast.
Though the Jiang family had three or four servants, having Chuan Ma personally deliver hot water to her first thing in the morning probably meant more than just delivering water.
"Coming," Xu Changxia replied after considering for a few seconds. "Let me change clothes first."
Two minutes later, she walked to the door and unlocked it.
As soon as she opened the door, she saw two people standing outside – one was Chuan Ma, the other was Jiang Chi's mother, Jiang Yihe.
Jiang Yihe was Jiang Yao's stepmother. She had married into the Jiang family when Jiang Yao was five years old and given birth to Jiang Chi.
Jiang Yihe's expression at this moment could only be described as extremely unpleasant.
The remaining servants of the Jiang family were also standing in the corridor.
Xu Changxia scanned them briefly, and alarm bells immediately went off in her mind.
She watched as Jiang Yihe took two quick steps toward her and suddenly swung her hand to deliver a slap across her face.
Xu Changxia was mentally prepared and immediately raised her arm to block.
Jiang Yihe's nails scraped fiercely across the back of her hand, and the area immediately burned with a stinging pain.
"You little bitch! How dare you block with your hand!" Seeing Xu Changxia dodge, Jiang Yihe flew into an even greater rage and swung another slap at her.
This time, Xu Changxia didn't let her touch her, evading it as she frowned deeply and asked, "Auntie, what are you doing?"
"How dare you ask me!" Jiang Yihe pointed at her, fuming with rage. "Last night, after Jiang Yao rejected you, you actually had the nerve to seduce our Jiang Chi and even threatened him with a weapon! He's lying in the hospital now. If anything happens to him, you just wait!"
"Did Jiang Chi tell you that?" Xu Changxia frowned and retorted.
But Jiang Yihe paid no attention to her words, sneering contemptuously, "Let me be frank with you. Since Jiang Yao doesn't want you, my son would never want a cheap, used goods like you either! Someone like you, in the old days, would have been thrown into a pig cage and drowned in a pond!"
Xu Changxia simply watched Jiang Yihe calmly.
In her previous life, Jiang Yihe had never liked her and always made things difficult for her.
"Are you finished?" she waited a moment before coolly countering.
"Do I look stupid to you?"
"What do you mean?" Jiang Yihe scanned her up and down.
"Would I give up a promising battalion commander fiancé for a good-for-nothing Compound Loafer who can't even graduate? Do you really think that's possible?" Xu Changxia smiled faintly at her.
"You…" Jiang Yihe instantly flushed with shame and anger. "I don't want to hear another word from you! All of you, go in and throw all her things out!"
"I'll tell your Uncle Jiang about what happened last night. As for this marriage, your Xu family can forget about it from now on!"
Xu Changxia watched as several people stormed in aggressively. She didn't try to stop them, instead stepping back to make way.
After all, no matter how she explained last night's events, no one would believe she was innocent, so she might as well keep quiet.
Moreover, Jiang Yihe had come prepared, and there was no need for her to suffer losses here.
She watched as they ransacked her room, pulling out the dowry she had brought and the betrothal gifts the Jiang family had previously given her.
Among them were a few antiques left to Jiang Yao by his biological mother before her death, which were extremely valuable.
"Be careful, don't break anything! These belong to the young master and must be returned to him!" Chuan Ma warned the servants who were rummaging through the items.
While speaking, she spotted the sandalwood box containing the half-catty Golden Toad. Chuan Ma and Jiang Yihe immediately exchanged a furtive glance before stepping forward to pick it up.
This was the most valuable item among the betrothal gifts. In her previous life, Jiang Yihe had also taken this Golden Toad with the jade bead string in its mouth from Xu Changxia early on.
Chuan Ma carried the sandalwood box back to Jiang Yihe and handed it to her.
Just as Jiang Yihe was about to open it to check, Xu Changxia, watching their shameless behavior, couldn't help but sneer, "Return it to Brother Jiang Yao?"
"It seems to me more like 'meat buns thrown at a dog'—nothing returned."
Exposed, Jiang Yihe shot her a venomous glare. "Who are you calling a dog?! Have you no manners or upbringing? A woman like your mother could only raise someone as disgraceful as you!"
Xu Changxia glanced expressionlessly at Jiang Yihe. "Insult me if you must, but leave my mother out of it."
That single glance sent an inexplicable shiver of fear through Jiang Yihe.
How had Xu Changxia changed into a completely different person overnight? During their previous encounters, she had clearly been as spineless as her mother, not even daring to speak in front of elders!
Xu Changxia turned and slowly took two steps toward Jiang Yihe.
Jiang Yihe instinctively retreated a step under her approach: "What are you doing!"
In her past life, Xu Changxia and her mother had been constantly bullied and oppressed by Jiang Yihe. Even after her mother passed away, Jiang Yihe would still occasionally bring up her mother just to mock her.
But that was the past life. In this life, no one would ever bully the two of them again!
Xu Changxia smiled faintly at Jiang Yihe and reached out her hand: "Return what belongs to me. These are the betrothal gifts Brother Jiang Yao gave to my Xu family."
"And auntie, there's no need for you to anxiously identify yourself with my words. Whoever intentionally keeps these things for themselves, I call them a dog. Could it be that you actually want to keep Brother Jiang Yao's biological mother's mementos for yourself?"
Jiang Yihe immediately shrieked: "How dare you say that! I'm keeping them for Jiang Yao! To prevent you from quietly taking them away! After the engagement is broken off, all betrothal gifts must be returned to our Jiang family!"
"Does Brother Jiang Yao himself know about this engagement cancellation?" Xu Changxia smiled again and countered.
"After what you've done, if Jiang Yao finds out, do you think he would still want you?" Jiang Yihe straightened up again and sneered coldly: "If you have any shame left, you should leave on your own. Don't force me to make this known to everyone!"
After saying this, she turned to Chuan Ma and the other servants: "What are you still standing there for? Throw her and her worthless belongings outside! Let all the neighbors see this shameless little slut!!!"
Chuan Ma and another tall, sturdy servant immediately stepped forward, each grabbing one of Xu Changxia's arms.
Downstairs, Jiang Yao's adjutant, hearing the commotion above, rushed upstairs in a flash.
"Wait." Jiang Yao reached out to stop the adjutant, speaking quietly.
"But Mrs. Jiang has so many people with her. Aren't you afraid Miss Xu might be at a disadvantage?" The adjutant, seeing Jiang Yao's calm expression, asked anxiously.
"We're this close, what is there to fear?" Jiang Yao replied indifferently.
Moreover, Xu Changxia was his rightful fiancée. Jiang Yihe wouldn't dare go too far.
She could just try to lay a finger on Xu Changxia.
Xu Changxia didn't seem like the type to surrender without a fight.
And she wasn't stupid. She probably wouldn't deliberately provoke Jiang Yihe without any preparation. He wanted to wait a bit longer and see how she would resolve this situation.