She paused, her gaze sweeping over the toy car in Li Tao’s hands.
Then her eyes shifted to the familiar enamel washbasin and floral-print fabric that could be seen inside Bai Lili’s room.
Her voice suddenly rose, filled with disbelief, grief, and biting sarcasm.
“But… how could you steal from us?!
While my husband hadn’t even been laid to rest, while I was devastated with grief, you sneaked into my home with your child.
You turned our house upside down! You even searched beneath my daughter’s pillow and took the little toy car Commander Huo bought for her!”
She suddenly raised her arm and pointed straight at Bai Lili, whose face had turned deathly pale, and Li Yanchuan, whose pupils had visibly contracted. Her voice trembled with rage.
“Li Haichuan! Bai Lili! Is this what you call ‘taking care of us’?
Is this what my husband’s own elder brother and sister-in-law do right after he ‘dies’?
Stealing from your own younger brother’s widow? Stealing from your own niece?
Have you no shame at all?
Can you really face the military uniform my husband wore?”
Boom!
Her words exploded through the crowd like a drop of cold water splashed into boiling oil.
“What? They stole from her?”
“My goodness… Commander Li would do something like that?”
“Why not? Didn’t you see Su Jiuyue replace all the locks on her house today? She must have realized things were missing!”
“No wonder she came over carrying a hammer. I’d be furious too!”
“You really can’t judge a person by appearances! This afternoon they were talking about ‘supporting both households,’ and then they went and stole from her!”
“That’s just bullying a helpless widow and her child! Battalion Commander Li has only just passed away!”
“I recognize that toy car! Commander Huo gave it to Jiaojiao for her birthday. Tao Tao had always wanted one. I can’t believe they actually took it!”
The courtyard buzzed with whispers, accusations, and shocked exclamations.
Every eye turned toward Li Yanchuan, whose face alternated between pale and livid, and Bai Lili, who looked completely flustered.
Startled by the commotion, Li Tao burst into tears. The toy car slipped from his hands and clattered onto the ground.
Bai Lili felt her mind go blank.
If the accusation of theft stuck, she and her husband would become complete outcasts in the military housing compound.
Li Yanchuan’s military career might not survive it either.
“N-No! Su Jiuyue, what nonsense are you talking about?!”
Bai Lili shrieked, her voice cracking as she frantically waved her hands. Tears flowed instantly.
“How could we possibly steal from you? You’ve misunderstood! You really have!”
Li Yanchuan’s chest rose and fell violently, the veins at his temples throbbing.
He stared at the woman before him as though she were a complete stranger.
Her gaze was as sharp as a blade, every word striking him like a knife.
He wanted to explain.
He wanted to say that the money… the belongings…
He hadn’t stolen them.
He had only taken them for safekeeping.
But when he opened his mouth, not a single word came out.
Because right now, he was Li Haichuan.
What right did he have to touch his younger brother’s household belongings?
Besides, with so many neighbors watching, and some of the stolen items literally sitting here as evidence, there was no way to explain himself.
He stared fixedly at Su Jiuyue, his eyes filled with shock, fury… and a trace of fear he himself failed to notice.
How had she dared?
How had she suddenly become so sharp-tongued, so merciless, so utterly ruthless?
“A misunderstanding?”
Su Jiuyue gave a miserable smile as tears slid down her cheeks, making her look even more pitiful.
“Sister-in-law, my enamel mug is gone. My floral fabric is gone. My sugar is gone. Jiaojiao’s toy car is in your house…
Are you saying I sleepwalked and carried everything over myself?
Or did these things grow legs and walk into your house on their own?”
“Exactly!”
One of the military wives, who had never liked Bai Lili’s behavior and had happened to see her hurrying home that afternoon carrying a bundle of things, couldn’t hold back any longer.
“I saw her this afternoon! Bai Lili was carrying a whole pile of stuff back from Battalion Commander Li’s house. She wrapped everything up so tightly I thought she’d bought them.
Turns out she took them! Hah! Have you no shame?”
“That’s right! I saw her too!”
“This is going too far!”
“She owes everyone an explanation! You can’t treat people like this!”
The crowd became increasingly outraged.
Bai Lili’s face was as white as paper, her legs so weak she could only cling desperately to the doorframe.
The veins bulged on Li Yanchuan’s forehead as his fists clenched with audible cracks, yet he dared not act recklessly.
He couldn’t offer a single convincing rebuttal.
Just as the uproar was about to spiral out of control, a stern shout rang through the courtyard.
“What’s all this commotion? Make way!”
The crowd instinctively parted.
Political Political Commissar Zhang strode in with a grim expression.
Walking behind him was Commander Huo Tingxuan, standing tall and straight, his face cold and imposing.
When people had gone to fetch Political Commissar Zhang earlier, Commander Huo had happened to be discussing Li Haichuan’s situation with him.
The moment he heard what had happened, he came without hesitation.
One glance at the courtyard told them almost everything.
Su Jiuyue stood holding a hammer, gripping a new lock in one hand while leading the still-crying Jiaojiao with the other.
Opposite her stood Li Haichuan’s family of three, all deathly pale.
Listening to the surrounding neighbors’ animated accounts, the sequence of events quickly became clear.
Political Political Commissar Zhang’s anger flared instantly.
He shot Li Yanchuan a fierce glare.
“Li Haichuan! Look at the disgrace you’ve brought upon yourself!
Do you even deserve to keep wearing that military uniform?”
Li Yanchuan trembled.
“Commissar, I…”
“What ‘I’?!”
Political Commissar Zhang cut him off furiously.
“Was that embarrassing spectacle this afternoon not enough?
Now you’ve caused another scandal tonight!
Stealing from your younger brother’s widow?
Have you completely forgotten the discipline and integrity expected of a revolutionary soldier?
Your brother has only just sacrificed his life, and this is how you treat his widow and child?
Has your conscience been eaten by dogs?”
Each question struck like a heavy hammer.
Li Yanchuan’s vision darkened.
He had no defense.
He could only grit his teeth and endure the harsh public reprimand as humiliation washed over him in wave after wave.
Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Huo Tingxuan.
The commander stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his expression calm.
But when his deep eyes swept over Li Yanchuan and Bai Lili, they carried icy scrutiny—and unmistakable disappointment.
Li Yanchuan’s heart sank.
This is bad… Even the commander is here…
Seeing Political Commissar Zhang in a rage and Li Yanchuan unable to utter a word in his own defense, Bai Lili knew that if she didn’t fight back now, they were finished.
She suddenly threw herself in front of Political Commissar Zhang.
Without caring about the dirt on the ground, she dropped to her knees with a loud thud.
Crying miserably, tears and snot streaming down her face, she wailed,
“Commissar! Please see the truth!
We’ve been wronged!
Terribly wronged!”
Still sobbing, she pointed a trembling finger at Su Jiuyue.
“Jiuyue misunderstood us! She really misunderstood!
We weren’t stealing! How could we possibly steal?”
As she choked on her tears, her mind raced frantically, fabricating an excuse.
“It’s… it’s because Yanchuan had just passed away. I saw how overwhelmed Jiuyue was with grief—she wasn’t thinking clearly—and Jiaojiao is still so young.
Haichuan and I discussed it. We planned to have the mother and daughter come eat with us from now on.
That way she wouldn’t have to stay alone in that house, constantly reminded of him, cooking by herself in an empty kitchen.
As for those things—the pots, bowls, utensils, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar…
I only brought them over first so we could keep everything together and use them more conveniently once we started sharing meals!”
She lifted her tear-filled eyes and looked at Su Jiuyue with the most aggrieved expression she could muster.
“Jiuyue, your sister-in-law meant well!
How could you… how could you mistake my kindness for something so awful and accuse me of stealing?
Am I really that kind of person?
We’re family!”