There was no electric fan in the house.
After taking a shower, Shen Shuyue came out wearing a short shirt and shorts.
She was nearly 1.7 meters tall, with remarkably long legs. Once she put on those shorts, her two long, fair legs immediately caught Qiu Chengyue’s attention.
A few days ago, Shen Shuyue had dressed like this, and Qiu Chengyue hadn’t felt anything at all.
But today, for some reason, the moment he looked at her legs, his body heated up again.
He had just taken a cold shower. His hands and feet were still cold, yet his body had somehow started burning up.
There was nothing else worth doing in the living room, so Shen Shuyue stretched lazily before heading back to her room for a late-night snack.
She had bought some delicious food during the day and brought it home. She had to eat it tonight; otherwise, it wouldn’t taste as good tomorrow.
At nine that evening, Qiu Chengyue lay in the room next door, listening to Shen Shuyue eating.
The sounds came intermittently and continued until ten o’clock, when she finally stopped.
Another half hour passed before Qiu Chengyue finally fell asleep.
Shen Shuyue slept soundly. Especially after eating her fill, she slept deeply without even dreaming, and before she knew it, dawn had arrived.
The women in the military residential compound woke up early.
Some were taking their children to school, while others were washing clothes at the communal laundry area.
Still asleep in her room, Shen Shuyue turned over and felt a little hot.
She got out of bed and pulled open the curtains.
Below, she could hear the women chatting.
“Did you all see what happened yesterday?”
“That vixen from Battalion Commander Qiu’s house didn’t come home until it was dark.”
“When she came back, she was carrying a whole bunch of things. And those high heels she was wearing… Tsk, tsk. Just looking at her makes me angry.”
“I saw her too! I don’t know what’s gotten into that vixen. I heard she hasn’t even bought groceries or cooked for Battalion Commander Qiu for several days.”
“Oh, poor Battalion Commander Qiu. He married a woman like that. They’ve been married for half a year, and she still hasn’t gotten pregnant. Who knows whether she can even have children?”
“Just look at that vixen… Tsk, tsk. Only someone as foolish as Battalion Commander Qiu would give his entire military allowance to a woman like her while going without a proper meal himself.”
A group of women gathered around the laundry area, criticizing Shen Shuyue from every possible angle.
Hearing them, Shen Shuyue snorted and went back to lying on her bed.
The women in this residential compound never seemed to run out of things to say.
Before she had taken over the original owner’s body, the original Shen Shuyue had been incredibly virtuous.
After marrying into the family, she washed Qiu Chengyue’s clothes, cooked his meals, and cleaned the house. She never deliberately dressed up, either, wearing nothing more than ordinary clothes.
And yet people still talked about her.
Now that Shen Shuyue had taken over the body, she had completely abandoned the original owner’s virtuous ways. She didn’t cook, didn’t serve Qiu Chengyue, liked dressing up, ate whatever she wanted, and bought whatever she liked.
And people still talked.
All because she was the newest woman to arrive in the residential compound, and because the man she had married was Qiu Chengyue.
Whatever.
She didn’t care.
Let them talk.
When she was in a good mood, she could simply ignore them.
When she was in a bad mood, she would fight right back.
“Good morning, Battalion Commander Qiu…”
“Morning, Battalion Commander Qiu…”
“Battalion Commander Qiu, are you going to the cafeteria for breakfast today?”
“Did Shen Shuyue get up and make breakfast for you?”
“Oh, she spends your money and eats and drinks on your dime, yet she doesn’t even cook for you. She’s completely out of control. A woman like that is nothing but a spendthrift. Keeping her around isn’t appropriate.”
Shen Shuyue heard the women downstairs talking to Qiu Chengyue.
She had wanted to sleep, but it was simply too hot.
When she heard them talking to Qiu Chengyue, she instinctively perked up her ears and listened.
After a while, she still hadn’t heard Qiu Chengyue say anything. Apparently, he hadn’t bothered responding to the women.
Shen Shuyue found a palm-leaf fan and was about to go back to sleep when Qiu Chengyue’s voice suddenly came from below.
“She doesn’t spend my money.”
Shen Shuyue: “?”
Huh?
Qiu Chengyue was actually explaining himself?
He wasn’t taking the opportunity to complain about her to those women?
Holding the palm-leaf fan, Shen Shuyue stood by the window and happened to see Qiu Chengyue standing below.
He was quite close to the building where she lived.
No wonder she could hear him so clearly.
Down below, one of the women asked incredulously, “She doesn’t spend your money? Really?”
“She’s a woman who stays at home every day and doesn’t have a job. If she doesn’t spend your money, whose money does she spend?”
“Could she be spending the money of those men outside?”
“I saw her buying a whole bunch of things yesterday.”
“She was even wearing high heels and a skirt. If she doesn’t spend your money, where does she get the money to buy all those things?”
They were clearly jealous that Shen Shuyue had bought nice things and started wearing skirts.
It was only a skirt. How could the women in the compound be this jealous?
Shen Shuyue found it rather amusing.
Anyone who knew the situation would understand that she had merely bought some clothes and made them jealous.
Anyone who didn’t know better would think she had committed murder or arson.
It was such a ridiculous conversation that Shen Shuyue couldn’t be bothered listening anymore.
She was spending her own money. What business was it of theirs?
Shen Shuyue lay back down on the bed.
With the palm-leaf fan, she finally didn’t feel quite as hot.
Half-asleep, she heard Qiu Chengyue’s voice again.
“Her father has money. Everything she bought was paid for by her father.”
“The car she drives belongs to her father, too.”
“Is there anything else you want to ask?”
There was clear impatience in that final sentence.
Shen Shuyue jolted awake.
Was Qiu Chengyue actually defending her?
How strange.
Had the sun risen in the west today?
Shen Shuyue climbed out of bed again and went to the window, just in time to see Qiu Chengyue walking away.
Shen Shuyue: “?”
The women downstairs fell silent.
Every one of them stood there, unable to say a word.
Shen Shuyue hadn’t spent Battalion Commander Qiu’s money?
She had been spending her father’s money?
Was Shen Shuyue’s father really that wealthy?
After a long while, the women finally found their voices again.
“That woman… is actually that rich?”
“Her father bought her a car?”
“Oh, so what if she has money now? She doesn’t do anything and spends all day wasting money. Sooner or later, she’ll squander every last penny she has.”
Hearing that, Shen Shuyue couldn’t help laughing.
Her money would be squandered?
Exactly how was she supposed to squander it?
She didn’t gamble, didn’t sleep around, and didn’t touch drugs. Even if she spent all day eating and drinking, at most she’d spend fifty or sixty yuan a day.
Her father had deposited seven figures into her bank account.
Even if she simply lay around spending money until she died, she couldn’t possibly use it all.
Besides…
Her father’s businesses were bringing in huge profits every single day. Even if she never invested, never started a business, and stayed away from gambling, drugs, and other vices, she’d have enough money to last her ten lifetimes.
“You don’t need to worry. Even if I lie at home every day doing absolutely nothing and live off my savings, I still won’t be able to squander all my money.”
“Instead, why don’t you figure out when your husbands are getting their next military allowances? Maybe those allowances will be enough to buy you a few meals with meat.”
“You can’t even manage your own lives properly, yet you’re so concerned about other people’s affairs. You really are awfully nosy.”