Here it comes again.
Su Jiuyue’s heart tightened, though nothing showed on her face. She simply listened quietly.
Watching her expression, Sister Zhang continued.
“The young man has never been married. He’s three years younger than you, good-looking, and works as a driver for the transportation team. He’s a proper state employee with decent wages and benefits.
“The only drawback… is that both his parents passed away early, so he doesn’t have any close family.”
She paused before speaking even more sincerely.
“Ordinarily, having no parents would be considered a disadvantage. But this young man is honest and kind-hearted. Two years ago, while on a work assignment, he saved my husband Old Qin’s life!
“He’s the great benefactor of our family. Both Old Qin and I are deeply grateful to him and think highly of him, so I accepted him as my sworn younger brother.
“I can personally guarantee his character. So… what do you think?”
Compared to Aunt Fang’s blatant scheming and insults, Sister Zhang’s approach was far more tactful and sincere.
She openly laid out the man’s background, strengths, and weaknesses, even explaining his relationship with the Qin family to show how much they valued him.
Su Jiuyue knew Sister Zhang genuinely meant well. At the very least, she wasn’t filled with the same hidden agendas Aunt Fang had.
But Su Jiuyue had already made up her mind. She didn’t want to waste anyone’s time.
With a soft sigh, she let the perfect amount of helplessness and sorrow appear on her face.
She repeated the same excuse she had used to turn Aunt Fang down.
“Sister Zhang, thank you for thinking of me and for taking the trouble to find such a wonderful match. I’m truly grateful.
“But… to be honest, I still can’t let Yanchuan go. We were husband and wife for so many years, and Jiaojiao… she’s still so young. She misses her real father every day.
“Right now, I really don’t have the heart to think about remarrying. Thank you for your kindness, and please thank Commander Qin as well.”
Her words were only half true.
But they allowed both sides to save face.
Sister Zhang’s eyes filled with understanding and regret.
More than anything, though, she respected Su Jiuyue’s feelings. She gently patted her hand.
“I understand. I was just too impatient. This is something only you can figure out for yourself. All right, let’s pretend I never brought it up. If you ever run into any difficulties, just come to me.”
“Thank you, Sister Zhang,” Su Jiuyue said sincerely.
As fate would have it, the moment Su Jiuyue said she couldn’t let Yanchuan go, Bai Lili happened to hear every single word.
Bai Lili had already been suppressing her anger.
After what happened at the training grounds, Li Yanchuan hadn’t openly blamed her, but his attitude had clearly grown colder.
They had been sleeping on the same heated brick bed, yet now they were sleeping separately.
That alone made her feel a deep sense of crisis.
What infuriated her most was how unfair it all seemed.
She and her son had both been beaten, yet in the end they were the ones everyone blamed.
Even Tao Tao had suffered because of it. Not a single child had wanted to play with him all morning.
Wanting to cheer her son up, she’d planned to take him to the service cooperative to buy some treats.
Who would’ve thought that before they even got there, she’d overhear this conversation around the corner?
Those words were like a lit fuse.
The flames of rage exploded inside her.
Su Jiuyue!
That shameless woman just won’t go away!
She still has the nerve to pine after Yanchuan?
Wasn’t she acting as though she didn’t care before? What’s with this act now?
Officially, Li Haichuan was the one who was alive, while Li Yanchuan had died a martyr.
But the three of them all knew the truth.
So what did Su Jiuyue mean by saying she still couldn’t let Yanchuan go?
No!
She absolutely couldn’t allow Su Jiuyue any chance to win him back or shake Li Yanchuan’s resolve.
Because Bai Lili knew the truth—
Compared to Su Jiuyue, she lost in both looks and family background.
Her fingernails dug so deeply into her palms they nearly drew blood.
Her carefully made-up face twisted with jealousy and fury.
She glared venomously at Su Jiuyue, who was saying goodbye to Sister Zhang beneath the tree, wishing she could tear her apart.
The hatred in that stare was impossible to ignore.
Su Jiuyue quickly sensed it.
She turned around and met Bai Lili’s blazing, jealousy-filled eyes.
Their gazes collided.
For a brief instant, the air itself seemed to freeze as invisible sparks crackled between them.
Sister Zhang noticed the tension as well. Following Su Jiuyue’s gaze, she frowned when she saw Bai Lili’s expression.
Ignoring Sister Zhang completely, Bai Lili strode over in her low-heeled shoes, nearly charging straight at Su Jiuyue.
But once she arrived, all the furious curses sitting on the tip of her tongue became lodged in her throat.
After all, according to the official story, Li Yanchuan was dead and Li Haichuan was alive.
If she made a scene, everything would become impossible to explain.
So, in an instant, her furious expression transformed into one of fake concern.
“Jiuyue, don’t take this the wrong way, but Yanchuan is gone. We have to move forward with our lives. When it’s time to take the next step, we should. If not for yourself, then at least for the child’s sake.”
Setting aside her ulterior motives, the words themselves sounded perfectly reasonable.
Even Sister Zhang nodded in agreement.
“She’s right. That’s exactly what I think too.”
However, since Su Jiuyue had already made her position clear, Sister Zhang wasn’t about to pressure her.
“But everyone has their own way of thinking. We shouldn’t force our opinions on others. Since Comrade Su isn’t ready to consider it, let’s leave the matter alone for now.”
Bai Lili hadn’t expected Sister Zhang to switch sides so quickly.
Caught off guard, she was left speechless.
After a long moment, all she could do was shoot Su Jiuyue one vicious glare before turning around and leaving.
Sister Zhang had already heard about the disturbance at the training grounds the day before.
She sighed quietly before speaking in a low voice.
“Sometimes… even relatives don’t necessarily have your best interests at heart.”
She didn’t elaborate, only gave Su Jiuyue’s shoulder a gentle pat.
“Old Qin used to praise Battalion Commander Li all the time. He always said he had great potential. It’s just a pity… he left us far too soon.”
Su Jiuyue sneered inwardly.
Soon?
Of course it was sudden.
He threw away his future for the sake of his widowed sister-in-law.
Do you know how many people spend their entire lives unable to climb from company commander to battalion commander?
Only someone blinded by love and swollen with self-importance would throw it all away so recklessly.
Seeing Sister Zhang becoming sentimental, Su Jiuyue simply remained silent.
Instead, she turned her gaze toward the children playing happily in the distance.
Men?
What are they worth?
Only Bai Lili would cling to one so desperately.
If not for her children in her previous life, why would she have stubbornly held on until everything ended in tragedy?
Seeing the sadness cloud Su Jiuyue’s face, Sister Zhang wisely chose not to say anything else.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, she quietly took her leave.
Neither of them noticed that from the moment Bai Lili appeared until she left, Jiaojiao and Yunsheng had been watching the entire time.
Only after they were certain their mother hadn’t been wronged did the two children relax and resume playing with Little Fatty Liu.
Little Fatty Liu had noticed how tense the siblings had been.
Acting like a little grown-up, he patted Jiaojiao on the shoulder and whispered righteously,
“Don’t worry. We’ve all agreed on it. Every kid in the entire camp is going to stop playing with Li Tao!”