Meanwhile, Yang Xixi had already moved into the military family compound.
As soon as Sheng Xiao returned to the military district, he had been sent out on a mission. He still hadn’t come back, and he had no idea that Yang Xixi had already arrived at the military district.
The Sheng family had already spoken to the people here, however, and given the special circumstances, the logistics department had made arrangements after receiving instructions from higher-ups. They had directly assigned her a single-story family residence with its own courtyard, according to Sheng Xiao’s rank.
The car bumped and swayed along the dirt road for a long while before they finally reached a stretch of relatively level ground. Rows of single-story houses stood packed closely together.
It was mealtime, and wisps of cooking smoke curled up all around the family compound. As the car drew closer, the laughter of children playing could be heard, filling the place with a lively, cheerful atmosphere.
It was completely different from what Yang Xixi had imagined. She had assumed that the worst she would get was an apartment building. This place couldn’t possibly compare with the Sheng family’s home in Kyoto. That was a detached Western-style villa with its own garden.
She hadn’t expected to end up in such a “godforsaken place.”
Wasn’t Sheng Xiao a major? The southwest was full of mountains and winding roads, and the military district was built deep in the mountains. It took at least two hours to get anywhere by car, making the place extremely inconvenient.
Yang Xixi frowned in distaste, already feeling a little regretful.
She had come here expecting to enjoy a comfortable life. She hadn’t expected to end up somewhere like this.
At that moment, she had completely forgotten that back in her own village, she had hardly ever even seen a car. She had simply broadened her horizons after visiting the Sheng family.
She secretly made up her mind. As soon as Sheng Xiao returned, she had to get their relationship settled and register their marriage as soon as possible. Ideally, she would get pregnant too.
Only then would her status as the Sheng family’s daughter-in-law be truly secure!
The car stopped outside the military family compound. After the sentries saluted, they checked her identity as usual. When they opened the letter of introduction and read its contents, their eyes widened.
This… this was the fiancée of Major Sheng, the cold-faced demon everyone knew.
Major Sheng was a prominent figure in their military district. The unit he led had repeatedly earned outstanding achievements, and on top of that, he was handsome and came from a background so deep and mysterious that no one could see its full extent.
There were countless young women around the compound who secretly harbored feelings for him. Unfortunately, Major Sheng devoted himself entirely to training and missions, turning a blind eye to every woman’s advances.
Who would have thought that after this latest mission, he had gone home and quietly settled his marriage without telling anyone?
The sentry didn’t dare stare. He merely gave her a quick once-over.
The girl didn’t seem to have anything particularly remarkable about her. At best, she could be called pretty in a delicate sort of way, and she even looked somewhat arrogant.
After confirming her identity, the sentry let her through.
The car drove a little farther inside before finally stopping in front of a fairly spacious courtyard.
Li Yumei had just finished preparing dinner when she heard the commotion and hurried outside. With a simple, friendly smile, she asked,
“You must be Little Sister Yang, right? I’m Li Yumei. We live right next door. My husband, Sun, told me to take good care of you when you arrived. You must be tired after such a long journey. Have you eaten yet? The food at our place was just made. Come over and have a simple meal with us, at least enough to fill your stomach!”
Yang Xixi knew that she had only just arrived and didn’t know anyone here. She couldn’t afford to leave a bad impression.
She gave an embarrassed smile and said softly,
“Hello, Sister-in-law Li. We ate on the way here. It’s already a little late, and I still have some luggage to put away.”
When Li Yumei heard that, she realized it really was getting late, so she helped carry the things inside.
She then stayed to help with everything, bustling around inside and out for quite a while. Once things were more or less put in order, she said goodbye and went home ahead of her.
The moment she stepped through the door and saw Sun Jianlin sitting at the table, having already eaten by himself, her anger immediately flared.
“All you know how to do is eat as soon as you get home. You don’t care whether your wife lives or dies!”
Seeing that Li Yumei was clearly in a bad mood, as though someone had offended her, Sun Jianlin responded in his usual good-natured manner.
“I didn’t know you hadn’t eaten yet. I just finished training and was so hungry I was seeing stars. I’ll make you a bowl of noodles right now!”
Of course Li Yumei knew how hard her husband trained every day. She had only been taking out some of her frustration on him.
Her expression softened a little, and she gave a quiet “Mm.”
Sun Jianlin quickly cleared away the dishes he’d finished with and washed them in the kitchen. Then he cooked a steaming bowl of noodles, topped it with an egg, and brought it over.
Seeing how considerate her husband was being, much of the irritation in Li Yumei’s heart finally dissipated.
She really was hungry, too, and quickly finished the entire bowl of noodles.
Only then did Sun Jianlin ask,
“Sheng Xiao’s wife has arrived?”
Li Yumei rolled her eyes at that, clearly still annoyed.
“They haven’t even filed their marriage application yet. Who knows what will happen!”
Hearing the tone in her voice, Sun Jianlin immediately knew something was wrong.
He knew his wife well. Although Li Yumei could be rather sharp-tongued, she was an extremely warmhearted person.
He frowned, puzzled.
“What? She’s difficult to get along with?”
Now that she was back in her own home and had an opening to vent, Li Yumei poured out all her grievances at once.
“I heard the commotion earlier and went over to help because I was being kind. I thought the girl was young and had just come here alone, so it wouldn’t be easy for her. I helped her put away her things. She talked nicely enough, but that young orderly who brought her and I did all the work, inside and out. She just stood there watching the whole time, occasionally giving us instructions!”
“It was like I was her old nanny! After we finished, she didn’t even leave us a cup of water. She was at least somewhat polite to me, but when it came to that young orderly, she didn’t even say thank you. She just told him to leave!”
“I really don’t know what Sheng Xiao was thinking. How could he choose a girl like this? I heard she used to be from some remote village and doesn’t have any family background or connections. In the past, countless people tried to set him up with someone. Which of those girls wasn’t prettier and more gracious than this one? Back then, even Qin Qin, I…”
Everyone could see how outstanding Sheng Xiao was. He was clearly destined for a brilliant future. Which family in the compound with a daughter of the right age hadn’t entertained the idea of marrying her to him?
Li Yumei was no exception.
She had even secretly invited him over for meals, hoping to play matchmaker. Unfortunately, her wooden-headed daughter simply hadn’t caught on, and Sheng Xiao hadn’t shown any interest either.
She couldn’t very well force her daughter on him. She had figured that if they spent enough time together and got to know each other better, there would eventually be a chance.
Who could have expected Yang Xixi to appear out of nowhere?
If the girl had truly been outstanding, Li Yumei would have accepted it. But she hadn’t expected her to have such a personality.
Although she hadn’t said it outright, deep down she felt that Yang Xixi looked down on other people.
Li Yumei couldn’t understand it. If Yang Xixi had some impressive family background, that would be one thing. But wasn’t she simply acting high and mighty because she thought she was about to marry Sheng Xiao and become an officer’s wife?
The more Li Yumei thought about that young man, the more sorry she felt for him. Even setting aside her own selfish hopes for her daughter, it was a shame for such an outstanding soldier to end up with someone like this.
Listening to Li Yumei complain, Sun Jianlin couldn’t help sighing inwardly as well.
But this was someone else’s private business, after all, and there was nothing he could do to interfere.