Lu Lin noticed that his wife was obsessed with making sure he was full, afraid he would go hungry even a little.
“Alright, let’s keep it simple,” he said.
Jiang Nuan smiled and nodded, then left the room and went into the kitchen.
The rain lasted for five straight days.
The two of them spent these days leisurely together.
Lu Laopo (Lu Daqiang’s mother-in-law) had already spent all the money she borrowed from relatives and kept nagging Lu Daqiang to go back and get more.
But Lu Daqiang kept delaying and eventually stopped coming to the hospital entirely.
Lu Laopo stormed to the meat processing plant, only to find Lu Daqiang wasn’t there—he had gone to the countryside to collect pigs.
Angrily, Lu Laopo left the plant, thinking about her daughter’s hospital bills. If she didn’t pay soon, she’d be kicked out. She had only one option left…
The weather cleared.
But the fields were still flooded, so no one could work outside.
Jiang Nuan was hanging quilts in the yard when she suddenly looked in one direction.
“Mi Mi, are you there?” she whispered, staring at Lu Daqiang’s room.
“I’m here, master!”
Looking down, she saw the cat at her feet, tail swishing, looking up at her. So cute.
Jiang Nuan squatted down and, out of habit, petted the cat’s head. “Mi Mi, can you help me unlock Lu Daqiang’s room?”
She remembered the cat had said it could help her with anything.
“Of course!” the cat replied proudly, swishing its tail. “Not only can I unlock it, I can also… borrow Lu Daqiang’s money for you—oops! I mean, return it.”
That money originally belonged to Lu Lin.
Since her master was now Lu Lin’s wife, Lu Lin’s money was her money.
Jiang Nuan’s eyes lit up. “How did you know what I wanted to do?”
The cat rubbed against her pants. “Because you’re my master! This is what we call telepathy.”
Jiang Nuan melted hearing the cat’s sweet voice.
“Master, wait here. I’ll bring the money right away.” With that, the cat disappeared in a flash.
Jiang Nuan quickly locked the front gate and went to the window of Lu Daqiang’s room.
Lu Daqiang was extremely cautious. When he wasn’t home, the door was locked tight and the curtains drawn.
Jiang Nuan pressed her ear to the window, listening carefully—yet heard nothing.
“Master, I’m back!”
The cat suddenly appeared on the windowsill, holding a bulging black wallet in its mouth.
Jiang Nuan took it, petted the cat, and gave a thumbs up. “Mi Mi, you’re amazing! Thank you so much!”
The cat’s tail swished proudly like a feather duster.
“No need to thank me! It’s my honor to serve you, master! Now, open it and see how much is left. Lu Daqiang cheated Lu Lin out of 1,500 yuan, spent 300 on finding a job, so there should be 1,200 yuan left.”
1,500?!
Jiang Nuan was shocked. Lu Daqiang had only told her that Lu Lin had given him all the money—but she hadn’t realized it was this much!
She opened the wallet: it was all big bills, no small change.
She counted carefully—130 bills. One extra 100-yuan bill.
Lu Daqiang valued money too much—he must have added his own for fun.
Jiang Nuan took all the money and stored it in her space, then looked at the cat.
“Mi Mi, where did you get the wallet from?”
“From a locked wooden box, master. Do you want me to put it back?”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Jiang Nuan, you shameless girl! Open the door now!”
Lu Laopo’s furious voice boomed through the door.
Jiang Nuan eyed the door, then a plan formed in her mind.
“Mi Mi, put the wallet back in the box.”
“Okay, master.” The cat took the wallet from Jiang Nuan’s hands and vanished in a blink.
“You shameless girl! Open the door now! You’re probably inside trying to steal men again!”
Jiang Nuan grabbed an axe from the kitchen and walked quickly to the door.
Passing her and Lu Lin’s room, she saw him worriedly looking out the window.
She met his gaze and said, “Don’t worry. I know my limits. I won’t hurt myself.”
Lu Laopo’s yelling continued outside. Jiang Nuan calmed Lu Lin with a few words, then turned away.
Outside, the gate was surrounded by villagers.
Lu Laopo pounded and cursed loudly.
“Everyone come see this! She divorces in the morning and is with the second son in the afternoon! Our Lu family marrying such a woman is a huge humiliation! Shameless girl! How dare she threaten our Rou Rou! I say the ones who deserve a pig cage bath are these two traitors!”
Bang!
The door suddenly opened from inside!
Jiang Nuan stood there holding the axe, eyes cold and dangerous, exuding a terrifying aura.
Lu Laopo’s curses stopped mid-word. She froze, then stepped back frantically.
Jiang Nuan grabbed her collar and slammed her against the wall.
Bang!
Lu Laopo’s back hit the stone wall, twisting her face in pain.
Seeing Jiang Nuan’s ferocity, her legs shook. “Y-You… what are you going to do? So many people are watching! If you dare—”
A cold steel pressed against her neck.
Jiang Nuan held the axe to Lu Laopo’s throat.
The crowd gasped.
Lu Laopo’s eyes widened in shock, mouth open, legs weak as noodles.
If Jiang Nuan hadn’t held her, she would have collapsed.
Next door, Mrs. Wang and the village chief’s wife hurried over to calm her.
“Warm girl, calm down. Don’t stoop to her level. Just ignore her nonsense,” Mrs. Wang said nervously, too scared to touch Jiang Nuan in case the axe fell.
“Yes, yes! Mrs. Wang is right,” said the chief’s wife anxiously. “Don’t waste your life on someone like her.”
Jiang Nuan turned to the two women, looking aggrieved. “Auntie, Mrs. Wang, I don’t want it to be like this either. You heard her yourself— I didn’t do anything, and she just opened her mouth to curse me, even dragging my husband into it.
You can curse me—I can take it. But cursing my husband? I can’t let that happen!”
Her gaze suddenly hardened, and she pressed the axe harder.
Lu Laopo felt a sharp, piercing pain and shut her eyes in terror. “S-s-someone… save me… I… I won’t dare again…”
A strong smell of urine hit Jiang Nuan’s nose. Looking down, she saw that Lu Laopo had wet herself completely, creating a wet patch on the ground beneath her feet.
The villagers erupted into laughter at the sight.
“Look at her! So arrogant earlier, thinking she was all that… turns out she’s nothing.”“Serves her right! She insulted a hero, and now Jiang Nuan has the axe at her neck!”
The village chief’s wife and Mrs. Wang held their noses and stepped back, disgusted.
“Warm girl, enough. She’s clearly terrified. She won’t dare provoke you again,” Mrs. Wang said, trying to calm her down.
The chief’s wife nodded. Her husband was the village chief—if anyone got hurt, there’d be trouble.
“Warm girl, give her a chance. But if she curses you without reason again, Auntie will handle her for you!”
Jiang Nuan knew both women were looking out for her. She hadn’t actually intended to hurt anyone—she just wanted to scare the troublemaker.
“Since Auntie and Mrs. Wang are here, I’ll spare you a dog’s life,” she said, retracting the axe and fixing her cold gaze on the pale old woman.
“If I ever hear you curse my husband again, I’ll cut your tongue out!”
Lu Laopo nodded frantically, sliding down the wall, landing on her wet pants.
Jiang Nuan, disgusted, stepped aside to stand near Mrs. Wang and the chief’s wife.
The villagers pointed and whispered, mocking Lu Laopo’s humiliation, their laughter growing louder and louder.
Lu Laopo was only concerned with having saved her life—she didn’t care what anyone thought.
After a long moment, she finally remembered her daughter at the hospital.
Struggling, she got up from the ground and headed toward Lu Daqiang’s room.
Jiang Nuan watched her wobbly figure, curious, and so did the others.
When Lu Laopo reached Lu Daqiang’s room, she saw the custom iron lock and remembered that Lu Daqiang always carried the key wherever he went.
Her daughter needed the money urgently, so she didn’t stop to think. She turned and hurried toward Jiang Nuan.
“Give me the axe!”