At this very moment, everyone realized they had been fooled by the facade Ding Jihuan had built.
Mu Zhaozhao truly was pure-hearted and innocent.
Ding Jihuan’s eyes welled with tears of panic as she shook her head frantically. “No, Xianzhi, it’s not like that…”
No matter how she tried to explain, her words rang completely hollow.
Yue Xianzhi let out a furious huff, turned on his heel, and strode out.
Seeing that there was nothing left to help with, the crowd quietly dispersed as well.
Mu Zhaozhao smirked, casting a contemptuous glance at Ding Jihuan. “Ding the Homewrecker, I advise you to stow away your malicious little tricks from now on. You’re no match for me!”
With that, she flipped her off!
Then, maintaining a calm and composed composure, she sauntered out of the room.
“Ahhh—!”
The moment she stepped outside, a blood-curdling screech rang out from behind her.
Mu Zhaozhao snorted, a playful smile playing on her lips. Before she could even suppress her smirk, she spotted a tall, upright figure in olive green standing outside a room at the end of the hallway.
Isn’t that the handsome guy who saved me last night?
She could clearly see his awe-inspiring presence standing not far away.
Tsk tsk, she thought to herself. The man is outrageously handsome—flawless, really—except his face looks so icy he could freeze someone into a statue.
Mu Zhaozhao averted her gaze, trying her best not to look at him to avoid being recognized, and hurriedly left the guesthouse.
When Shan Chengming arrived at the guesthouse carrying breakfast, he caught sight of Ruan Jingsheng looking deep in thought, his eyes glued to the retreating back of a young woman.
He teased, “What’s this? Has our stone-faced Commander’s heart finally fluttered? I thought you couldn’t tell men and women apart!”
He couldn’t be blamed for thinking that way. In the past, Ruan Jingsheng never even glanced at women. Even if a heavenly fairy descended, he wouldn’t lift his head to look.
He wondered what that woman who just passed by looked like. He was getting a bit curious!
Hearing Shan Chengming’s banter, Ruan Jingsheng shot him a cold, displeased look. “Get in here!”
He had only felt that the woman looked a bit familiar—it was just a fleeting thought, and there was no need to explain it to Shan Chengming.
Shan Chengming was long used to his businesslike, taciturn personality. He casually sauntered into the room and placed the meat buns on the table, only for Ruan Jingsheng to hand him a ten-yuan bill.
Shan Chengming scratched his head awkwardly. “Jingsheng, we grew up together. Why be so distant? It’s just a few meat buns, no need to pay me.”
Saying that, he reached out to take the money anyway.
“It’s not for you!” Ruan Jingsheng exposed him bluntly, leaving Shan Chengming instantly embarrassed.
“Look at the words on it!” Ruan Jingsheng added.
Shan Chengming took the bill, glanced at it, and immediately burst out laughing. “Haha! ‘Thanks for coming to the rescue. Thanks for working so hard!’ Jingsheng, did you sleep with some woman last night? Is this her tip for you?”
He joked around carelessly, not taking it seriously at all.
Just as he was laughing uncontrollably, he looked up and caught Ruan Jingsheng’s dead-serious expression.
His laughter instantly cut off. He stammered, “I… I didn’t guess right, did I?”
Growing up in the high-ranking officers’ compound in the capital and having received a Western education, he had progressive ideas and dared to think in that direction. But he truly couldn’t imagine which woman was brave enough to pull this off!
Ruan Jingsheng nodded slightly, his tone stiff. “Help me find the woman from last night.”
“What?! You don’t even know who she was? Don’t tell me you didn’t even catch a clear look at her face?” Shan Chengming asked in utter shock.
Ruan Jingsheng nodded once more.
Shan Chengming: “…”
It’s over. My brother’s purity was lost just like that, completely cluelessly!
Unwilling to accept it, he pressed, “Then why are you still looking for her? What if you find her and she turns out to be hideous, and she insists on clinging to you?”
Ruan Jingsheng knit his sharp brows, displeased. “I’m looking for her to take responsibility, of course. No matter what she looks like, I will marry her.”
“What?! You want to marry her too? You, a grand Commander, want to marry a woman whose face you haven’t even seen? Are you out of your mind?!”
Shan Chengming couldn’t wrap his head around it. He felt like his brother—a fine cabbage—was being rooted up by a pig!
Meanwhile, Mu Zhaozhao, who was in a fantastic mood, sneezed loudly. She rubbed her nose. “Who’s talking trash behind my back?”
After muttering to herself, she walked over to the military compound and stood in front of Yue Xianzhi’s door.
She happened to run into a stony-faced Yue Xianzhi. Seeing Mu Zhaozhao, he said with an impatient tone, “I’ve told you many times, I only married you to go through the motions back then. I don’t love you. Go back to Shanghai as soon as possible and stop making an unreasonable scene here.”
Mu Zhaozhao sneered. “Right, I know. Your family was poor and wanted my family’s money, which is why you married me. Oh my, talk about cheap, despicable, and shameless! And yet here you are, acting all high and mighty reminding me! Fine, you don’t need to kick me out. As long as you return the dowry my family gave you, I’ll leave immediately!”
Yue Xianzhi’s face flushed red and blue at her words; he felt completely humiliated. He could only say stiffly, “Your family gave one thousand yuan, but my mother used it. I’ll return it to you once I save up enough.”
“Tsk tsk tsk~ Look at you, acting so principled. You still have to save up? Let’s set the money aside for now. Where’s the betrothal jade pendant my family gave you? Give it back first!” Mu Zhaozhao held out her delicate hand.
According to the original body owner’s memories, that jade pendant was her parents’ keepsake of love, and she had to get it back. Moreover, she remembered that the novel mentioned the pendant hid a secret, so she had to get her hands on it first.
Driven into a corner by her ridicule, Yue Xianzhi, as a soldier, still possessed some pride. He immediately agreed, “The jade pendant is with Ding Jihuan. I’ll give it back to you once I get it from her!”
“Then please hurry it up!” With that, Mu Zhaozhao turned around and left, ignoring the deadbeat Phoenix man.
Watching Mu Zhaozhao’s decisive figure as she left, Yue Xianzhi felt that she had changed. She was no longer clinging to him shamelessly like yesterday.
Facing this version of Mu Zhaozhao, he actually felt a strange pang of discomfort in his heart.