"Of course Zhi Zhi is the one who deserves you."
Zhang Yun finished her sentence hesitantly, then snuck a glance at Su Wan.
Su Wan looked at her and rolled her eyes.
Zhang Yun’s eyes went wide. She tattled to Lu Zhengchuan, "Cousin, did you see that? Su Wan just rolled her eyes at me!"
"So? Can’t she?" Lu Zhengchuan frowned, perplexed. "You’re lucky your sister-in-law didn’t just slap you."
"Brother, why are you taking Su Wan’s side?" Zhang Yun stomped her foot, displeased.
Lu Zhengchuan’s face turned cold as he scolded her. Seeing Su Wan’s unhappy expression out of the corner of his eye, his own expression darkened. "She’s my wife. Who else would I side with, you?"
"I..."
"Enough. Shut your mouth," Lu Zhengchuan said, laying down the law. "If you still want to call me your cousin, then from this moment on, you listen only to Su Wan. If you can’t do that, I’ll send you home right now. And after that, I’ll pretend I never had a cousin like you."
Zhang Yun was stunned that her cousin would make such a demand. She opened her mouth twice, but no rebuttal came out.
She could only cast a wronged look at Su Wan.
Su Wan was thoroughly unimpressed. Her eyes curved into a smile. "Zhang Yun, I’m your sister-in-law. Yet you’re helping an outsider. Anyone watching would think she’d promised you the world."
Zhang Yun sulked, muttering, "That’s not true. Zhi Zhi didn’t give me anything."
"If she didn’t give you anything, then why did you help her swap out the letters I sent to your cousin?" Su Wan pressed her advantage.
Zhang Yun jumped in fright. She took a guilty step back, the words tumbling out of her mouth. "How did you know!"
"Swapping letters? What letters?"
Zhao Qing, who had been enjoying the drama from the sidelines, sensed this was some juicy gossip. Her ears practically twitched as she stared at Zheng Zhizhi, who had remained silent the entire time.
For a moment, Zheng Zhizhi’s expression was a mask of fear and rigidity.
Lu Zhengchuan also looked at Su Wan. "Swapping letters?"
"Does that mean what I think it means?" Lu Zhengchuan’s brow furrowed.
"The letters that have been circulating around the base... I didn’t write any of them to you," Su Wan said, looking up at him and articulating every word. "Zhang Yun helped swap them. Zheng Zhizhi wrote them."
Lu Zhengchuan’s voice dropped. He turned to Zheng Zhizhi. "Tampering with a soldier’s family mail?"
Zheng Zhizhi grew flustered under his stare. Her eyes welling with tears, she stepped forward. "Brother Lu, no! I would never do something like that."
Su Wan’s gaze flickered between the two of them. Lu Zhengchuan’s face was unreadable, giving nothing away.
Zheng Zhizhi, on the other hand, was obviously panicking and trying to get back into Lu Zhengchuan’s good graces.
"How can you prove you didn’t do it?" Lu Zhengchuan’s question silenced Zheng Zhizhi.
Even Su Wan shot him a surprised glance. ’Is this jerk actually going to abandon his so-called childhood sweetheart?’
Zheng Zhizhi blinked stupidly. "If I didn’t do it, what is there to prove?"
"The letters I received are the evidence," Lu Zhengchuan said, his tone like an interrogator questioning a suspect. "Are you sure you don’t want to come clean?"
Zheng Zhizhi grew uneasy. ’This isn’t how I imagined he’d react at all.’
"Brother Lu, have you read the letters I sent you?" Zheng Zhizhi asked expectantly.
But she was destined for disappointment. Lu Zhengchuan’s next words nearly made Su Wan laugh out loud.
"They’re evidence. Not only have I read them, I’ve already submitted them to be kept on file."
Zheng Zhizhi’s face went pale with horror. She stomped her foot in anger. "Brother Lu, how could you!"
"I was being sincere."
"I don’t even mind that you married Su Wan."
Zheng Zhizhi truly looked aggrieved.
’I just want to roll my eyes,’ Su Wan thought. But she kept her mouth shut, determined not to get involved in their drama. Lu Zhengchuan had to be the one to handle Zheng Zhizhi. Only then would she even begin to trust him.
With that thought, she pulled Zhao Qing over to a stool in the reception office and sat down.
She wasn’t about to make herself uncomfortable.
Lu Zhengchuan caught Su Wan’s little maneuver out of the corner of his eye, and a flicker of amusement crossed his face.
"Comrade Zheng Zhizhi," Lu Zhengchuan said, his gaze stern. "Even though you are a female comrade, you cannot implicate me like this. Therefore, if you cannot prove that you did not tamper with the letters or harass me, I will have no choice but to hand you over to the proper military authorities for processing."
’The word "processing" sounded utterly cold and merciless.’
Su Wan raised an eyebrow. ’I can almost picture Zheng Zhizhi bursting into tears right about now.’
But Zheng Zhizhi’s reaction was not what Su Wan expected.
Zheng Zhizhi lowered her head, tears streaming down her face. "Brother Lu, I only admire you. But since you’ve rejected me so strongly, I will naturally stop pining for you. I’m not a shameless person, after all."
’Yeah, right,’ Su Wan thought, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes.
Zhao Qing slapped her thigh. Seeing Su Wan’s lack of reaction, she was exasperated. "Wanwan, that girl from your village is completely shameless! Lusting after another woman’s husband and still pretending to be so pure. I’ve never seen anyone with such a thick skin!"
Zheng Zhizhi looked at Zhao Qing in surprise.
’But I just heard one of the other family members in the reception office say that Su Wan has a bad reputation on the base.’
’And it was all because of those letters.’
’How long has Su Wan been here? How does she already have someone on her side? Is this woman a relative?’
’I was so happy I’d finally managed to ruin her reputation.’
’That would make it easier for Brother Lu and Su Wan to divorce without him being judged for it.’
’Then I could marry him, and my life would be set.’
’Who would have thought... ’
’...all my careful plans would meet their Waterloo with Lu Zhengchuan.’
’I don’t understand why he doesn’t want to marry me.’
But Zheng Zhizhi wasn’t a fool; she knew not to ask such a question in public.
"Brother Lu, I was wrong," Zheng Zhizhi admitted on the spot. "I didn’t really do anything, I just wrote one letter to express my feelings. I won’t do it again. I’ll be sure to keep my distance from you from now on."
She saw Lu Zhengchuan didn’t react.
Biting her lip, she walked over to Su Wan and bowed in apology. "Comrade Su Wan, I’m sorry. This was all just my own wishful thinking. Please, don’t blame Brother Lu."
She trailed off, her words seemingly a clarification but actually designed to sow doubt. It was a clear attempt to make Su Wan suspect Lu Zhengchuan.
’Regardless of my actual relationship with Lu Zhengchuan, there’s no way I’m letting her have the satisfaction.’
"My husband is an officer, a Battalion Commander, in fact. Why would I blame him for personally handling a woman’s advances? I’m thrilled," Su Wan said, her expression one of profound understanding. "After all, it’s only natural for such an outstanding man to be on someone’s mind."
Zheng Zhizhi’s face flushed red with anger.
That remark clearly hit a nerve.
’She wished she could march right over and claw that smiling mask right off Su Wan’s face.’
"What’s this, Comrade Zheng Zhizhi? Could it be you’re only interested in Battalion Commander Lu’s rank? Is that why you want to marry him, for an easy life?"
Zhao Qing also knew exactly where to stick the knife.
Her words almost made Zheng Zhizhi jump up in a rage. Her expression flickered, but in the end, she suppressed her anger, lowered her "noble" head, and said through gritted teeth, "Comrade Su Wan is correct."
"But I truly did not swap the letters."
’Zheng Zhizhi wasn’t a fool. If she couldn’t marry Lu Zhengchuan, she could still marry another officer. Her reputation couldn’t be ruined. She would die before admitting to that crime.’