“Little sister, next time, just wait until nighttime when no one is around before secretly burning them, okay?”
“Sister-in-law, thank goodness you were there just now!”
Jiang Jie’s expression turned serious.
“All right, hurry up and clean everything up. Auntie Wang will probably be keeping a close eye on our family lately.”
“Okay. I’ll take care of it right now.”
At four in the afternoon, after everything had been cleaned up, Lin Shu waited for Shen Huai to return.
Lin Shu wore a dacron shirt paired with military-style trousers.
The saying that clothes make the person certainly did not apply to Lin Shu.
Sitting on the back seat of Shen Huai’s bicycle, Lin Shu knew very well that this was a Hongmen banquet.
Staff Officer Wu, who appeared kind and amiable on the surface, was actually a smiling tiger. If they managed to send Shen Huai away, what would she do?
Before entering the senior officer’s home, Lin Shu simply tied her dry hair into a single braid and let it hang naturally over her chest.
The moment she entered, her plain appearance was completely different from the Lin Shu everyone remembered.
Staff Officer Wu’s wife, Director Shao, was especially startled when she saw Lin Shu.
Inviting several promising young officers over for dinner was only part of the reason.
The real reason was the dumplings Director Shao had made herself.
“Come in, come in! Everyone’s already here. We were just waiting for you two.”
Hearing this, Lin Shu’s face flushed.
She had spent a little more time getting ready because she couldn’t find anything suitable to wear.
She quietly said to Shen Huai beside her, “Sorry. I’ll be more careful next time.”
Shen Huai, however, did not think it was a big deal.
“We weren’t late. They just arrived early.”
“But…”
Shen Huai guided her to her seat and briefly introduced the others.
“This is Meng Fan, and the one beside him is his wife, Qin Xiao…”
Apart from Meng Fan, the others were comrades she knew but was not particularly close to.
Most of them, however, had received promotions or assistance from Staff Officer Wu.
The food was soon ready, and everyone sat down at the table.
During the meal, the old staff officer chatted with his subordinates about work-related matters. Lin Shu could clearly sense that he was not particularly friendly toward her.
After drinking a couple of mouthfuls of soup and eating a few bites of rice, she barely touched her chopsticks again.
Shen Huai noticed this. Even while making conversation and entertaining his superiors, he still found time to pick food for her and cook it for her.
They had only been eating for a few minutes when someone arrived at the door.
“Oh? You have guests?”
Director Shao stood up.
“It’s my daughter. Please excuse us.”
She stood and called her daughter over to eat.
Coincidentally, the empty seat was right between Director Shao and Shen Huai.
“Brother Shen Huai, long time no see. And this is…?”
Looking at the pure-looking woman with a single braid sitting beside Shen Huai, Wu Ting did not recognize her for a moment.
“This is Comrade Lin Shu, Shen Huai’s wife. What happened to your memory?”
Wu Ting could hardly believe it.
How had this woman changed so much after not seeing her for a while?
“Oh, we haven’t seen each other for some time. How come your family has finally taught you to live simply and frugally? Have even you, a member of the ‘Black Five Categories,’ learned to keep up with the times?”
Lin Shu remembered that the former Lin Shu had always dressed in flashy and daring clothes and had been reported several times for it.
Shen Huai had always been the one to take responsibility and deal with the consequences afterward.
“Xiaoting, is that how you speak to a guest?”
The staff officer’s furious voice instantly silenced the entire table, putting Lin Shu at the center of everyone’s attention.
Lin Shu ignored the staff officer’s deliberately superficial attempt to lecture his daughter.
Instead, she said bluntly,
“I’ve already learned to improve myself. But Comrade Wu Ting is still as straightforward as she was several years ago at the Red Star Restaurant. Tell me, are you still going on blind dates lately?”
“You!”
Several years ago, Wu Ting had gone on a blind date with a deputy regimental commander at a state-run restaurant. Because she was too outspoken and said the wrong thing, the man had walked away and left her there.
The former Lin Shu had happened to witness the whole scene.
“Director Shao, I actually know a few promising young men. Sister Wu Ting isn’t exactly young anymore, right? If I remember correctly, some of her classmates already have two children in their arms.”
“Sister-in-law, stop joking. Everyone should just eat. Xiaoting has been working for so long; she must be hungry.”
Qin Xiao forcibly changed the subject, finally breaking the awkward atmosphere.
Lin Shu shrugged.
With just two sentences, she had exposed Wu Ting’s embarrassing history.
Wu Ting took advantage of the opening and sat down, but she kept staring at Lin Shu without looking away.
Furious, she secretly swore to herself:
How dare you mock me for being old and too outspoken? Just wait! Once you no longer have Shen Huai protecting you, let’s see how arrogant you can still be!
After the meal, the staff officer called the men away.
Only the military wives and Wu Ting remained.
It was obvious that Wu Ting and Qin Xiao had a good relationship. The two of them were practically the ones carrying the conversation.
Lin Shu had little to say to people she was not familiar with.
Seeing this, Director Shao called out,
“Lin Shu, could you come over and help me cut some fruit?”
“Sure. I’ll be right there.”
She put down her cup and got up.
After she left, the four military wives exchanged glances.
They all knew that the main purpose of Director Shao and her husband inviting Lin Shu over was to have a talk with her.
They just did not know whether they intended to simply educate her and give her a political lesson, or persuade her to divorce Shen Huai so she would not stand in the way of his career.
“Put some apples and oranges here, and add some pastries. The tea should be about seventy percent full.”
Lin Shu could tell that Director Shao was treating her quite coldly now that Shen Huai was not around.
Calling her into the kitchen probably meant that she had something to say.
Sure enough, the next moment Director Shao spoke.
“Lin Shu, you and Shen Huai have been married for more than half a year now, right?”
“Yes. Director Shao, seven months and three days.”
“You have quite a good memory. But to be honest with you, I called you here today mainly because I want to talk to you about Comrade Shen Huai’s future.”
“This child is an orphan. When someone treats him even a little well, he repays them a hundredfold. So you should understand that the reason he married you was actually to repay a debt of gratitude.”
Lin Shu nodded, her gaze clear as she looked at Director Shao.
Being stared at like that, Director Shao immediately took out a document.
The fact that something like this had appeared in the kitchen meant that she had prepared it long ago.
“I’ll be straightforward. Shen Huai is a promising young officer whom everyone in the military has high hopes for. Next year, there will be an opportunity for him to go to the capital for further training.”
“You need to understand that an opportunity like this isn’t available to just anyone. But because of you, he is being held back at the political background review stage.”
“Going to the capital for further training isn’t merely about studying. As long as he goes, Shen Huai’s future can be said to be bright. Over the past two years, Shen Huai has already done more than enough for your Lin family.”
“Sign it. If you still have even a little conscience, then sign it.”
Director Shao wisely left the most crucial words unsaid.
Lin Shu looked at the document that had been pushed in front of her.
She reached out and pressed the paper down with her fingertips, giving it a quick glance before picking up the pen.
Under Director Shao’s expectant gaze, Lin Shu pushed the pen and the document back toward her.
Then she carefully lowered her head and leaned close to Director Shao’s ear, speaking in a voice only the two of them could hear.
“Director Shao, breaking up other people’s marriages isn’t a very good habit. But why? Is it because your eldest daughter, Wu Shan, doesn’t know about the things you’ve done because you’re afraid she’ll become a widow?”
After saying that, Lin Shu did not bother looking at Director Shao’s shocked expression. She picked up the plate and walked out of the kitchen.
But in the very next second, she nearly collided with the man standing beside the doorway.
Shen Huai’s expression was dark and unreadable.
How much had he heard?