“Li Qiuyue!”
“Li Qiuyue, you damn widow, you slut bring your bastard out here right now!”
Someone outside was shrieking insults at the top of their lungs. The sharp, piercing voice startled the little one who had been sleeping soundly inside, making him jerk awake.
Li Qiuyue gently soothed her son, stroking his fever-reddened cheeks. Then she wrapped herself in her padded coat and hurried outside.
Ever since she was young, she’d had trouble remembering people’s faces.
But just from the voice alone, she recognized the woman and child at the door her own younger sister, Li Erni, and her nephew.
That very morning, her nephew had gotten into an argument with her son over words like “widow” and “bastard,” and then shoved her son into the river. If someone hadn’t happened to pass by and pulled him out in time, her child would have drowned.
She hadn’t even had the chance to go after the culprit yet, and these two actually had the nerve to come looking for her.
Especially after hearing those filthy insults, Li Qiuyue finally snapped. She strode forward in a few quick steps, grabbed Li Erni by the collar, and slapped her twice smack, smack.
How could a four- or five-year-old child really understand such vicious words? They were nothing more than phrases adults repeated at home every day, which children picked up through constant exposure and memorized.
After hitting her, Li Qiuyue threw her to the ground.
“Say one more word, and I’ll slap you one more time!”
They had split households many years ago, and Li Erni had long forgotten Li Qiuyue’s thunderous temper. She never expected Li Qiuyue to actually lay hands on her, and she sat there stunned for a moment, clutching her face.
Her son hid behind her thigh, barely daring to breathe.
Afraid that after hitting his mother, Li Qiuyue would turn on him next.
“Li Qiuyue! You dare hit me? Believe it or not, I’ll get someone to kill you!”
It took Li Erni a while to react. She scrambled up from the ground and lunged forward, reaching to tear at Li Qiuyue’s hair.
But before she could get close, Li Qiuyue kicked her back to the ground again.
Li Qiuyue was truly furious now. She grabbed Li Erni by the throat, her eyes bloodshot.
“If you ever lay a finger on my son again, I’m not afraid to die together with you!”
Li Erni’s face turned purple-red as she flailed wildly, legs and arms thrashing, yet she couldn’t escape the agony of suffocation.
Just as she felt she was about to die there, someone grabbed Li Qiuyue’s arm from behind.
“Li Qiuyue! What do you think you’re doing?” The man pulled her away, his voice low. “Killing someone is a crime. Are you trying to kill her?”
Li Qiuyue lowered her gaze and glanced at the large, well-defined hand gripping her arm. On his wrist was an expensive foreign watch.
She looked up.
Broad shoulders, narrow waist, tall and straight posture.
He wore a dark navy wool coat, with a blue turtleneck sweater underneath, yet a slender stretch of neck was still visible.
She couldn’t clearly see his face, but she could vaguely sense the intense, deep gaze he was directing at her. Even his close-cropped hair made him seem steady and restrained.
His outfit, completely out of place here, made it easy for her to recognize who he was.
Her husband Qin Huai.
Qin Huai had returned to the army on the very day they got married. Five years later, on his first trip back, he happened to run into their son falling into the water.
Putting aside everything else, she did feel a bit of gratitude toward Qin Huai for this, and coupled with her innate respect for soldiers, she didn’t continue attacking Li Erni.
But before she could say anything, Li Erni had already sat up, adopting a weak posture. Her voice, once coarse, suddenly turned soft and affected. “Commander Qin! You have to stand up for us!”
Li Qiuyue shuddered involuntarily. Was Qin Huai really that eye-catching?
She secretly glanced up. His temperament really was quite good…Before she could come to a conclusion, she met his slightly lowered gaze and immediately panicked, pulling her eyes away.
Handsome or not, what did it matter? She couldn’t tell anyway!
“That bastard from her family hit my son on the head, and now she’s beaten me too. If you don’t do something, how are we ordinary people supposed to live?” Li Erni slapped her thighs and wailed in a pinched voice. But her burly figure clashed absurdly with the pretentious act.
Li Qiuyue couldn’t stand it anymore and kicked her on the spot.
“You still dare spout nonsense!”
If Qin Huai hadn’t grabbed her in time, she would’ve kicked Li Erni right in the face.
Qin Huai glanced back at Li Qiuyue and stopped her with a look.
A trace of amusement flashed in his eyes. The person on the ground was like Cheng Yaojin pretending to be Xi Shi, while the real “Xi Shi” in front of him proved with every move that she was nothing but a shrew from the countryside.
Li Erni thought he had stopped Li Qiuyue because he believed her words, and hurried to press on.
“Commander Qin, you were gone for five years. Her son is three and a half now if he’s not a bastard, what is he?”
“You should arrest that bastard and the adulterer together crack down on them, throw them in prison!”
The viciousness in that sentence was barely concealed.
Seeing that Li Erni was still unrepentant, Li Qiuyue was about to lash out again.
But Qin Huai seemed to sense it and pulled her behind him first.
“Comrade, are you finished saying everything?” Qin Huai looked down at her, his tone calm and unreadable.
Li Erni nodded shyly, waiting for Qin Huai to seek justice for her.
Unexpectedly, Qin Huai didn’t turn on Li Qiuyue. Instead, he continued to look at Li Erni coldly.
“Very well. I will report everything truthfully. We will not let go of anyone who insults a soldier, nor anyone who slanders a soldier’s family.”
Li Erni froze, stammering, “I—I didn’t say it. Everyone says it.”
Li Qiuyue couldn’t help letting out a snort of laughter.
Her husband really had some skill.
That laugh landed like a slap across Li Erni’s face.
Furious, and remembering her original purpose for coming, Li Erni unwillingly said to Qin Huai,
“Th-that bastard her son really did hit my son’s head. The doctor said he needs to eat nutritious food to recover. She has to pay!”
“If you don’t deal with this, Commander Qin, I’ll report it higher up. There’ll always be someone who can handle you.” Her voice had completely returned to normal now, and she scrambled to her feet.
“Go ahead and report it,” Li Qiuyue rolled her eyes. Afraid Li Erni wouldn’t see because Qin Huai was too tall, she even tiptoed deliberately. “Your five-year-old couldn’t out-argue a three-and-a-half-year-old and shoved him into the river. Then he got scared out of his wits and smashed his own head on a bridge pier.”
Qin Huai turned back, saw he couldn’t stop her at all, and simply stepped aside to give her room.
As long as she didn’t resort to violence or endanger anyone, he’d let her vent.
Li Qiuyue already knew exactly what had happened, and now her words rang with conviction.
“He bumped his own head and got a big lump, then comes to extort money from the victim. I’d like to see whether the authorities arrest me first or drag you and your son off to jail first!”
It was that forceful, decisive tone that finally scared the child standing behind Li Erni out of his wits.