The book had mentioned an incident that took place before Su Yinyin, the female lead, arrived at the military post to join her husband.
A female educated youth who taught music at the dependents’ school harbored a secret affection for Regiment Commander Cui. After approaching him to confess her feelings and being rejected, she sent poisoned peach pastries to his young son, Cui Xiangyang.
Being so young and having no guard against a teacher, Cui Xiangyang ate the peach pastries and was poisoned; despite being discovered, he could not be saved in time.
Later, the female educated youth was exposed. Since it was intentional homicide—and the victim was a child as well as a military dependent—she was sentenced to death.
The book had only glossed over this incident in a passing sentence. After Su Yinyin arrived at the military post, she mentioned that there was a madwoman in the family quarters, though she didn’t have much contact with her either.
Recalling this plot point, Jiang Tang suddenly realized that the female educated youth mentioned in the book must be Zheng Jiahe, and the “madwoman” was Lin Xue.
Since she had the rare opportunity of advance knowledge about this event, and shared such a great relationship with Sister Lin Xue, she couldn’t stand by and watch Cui Xiangyang come to harm, nor could she let Sister Lin Xue be driven to madness.
Unfortunately, she had no idea when Zheng Jiahe would make her move. Knowing there was no guard against a thief every single hour of the day, Jiang Tang decided to make Cui Xiangyang her breakthrough point.
Since Zheng Jiahe was going to send poisoned peach pastries, Jiang Tang planned to give Cui Xiangyang peach pastries every day before that.
As long as he ate enough of them, Cui Xiangyang would gradually lose interest in peach pastries altogether.
On top of that, if Jiang Tang taught him never to eat food given by others at random, Cui Xiangyang would surely keep it in mind.
Although the child was a bit of a glutton, he was still obedient to Jiang Tang’s words.
Jiang Tang had hoarded plenty of items in her portable spatial dimension, including peach pastries. So after coming up with this plan, she used the excuse of returning to the office to grab something, taking the opportunity to pull out two peach pastries from her space, wrapping them neatly in a handkerchief, and heading over to deliver them to Lin Xue.
As luck would have it, Lin Xue had just picked up Cui Xiangyang. Before the child even saw what was inside the handkerchief Jiang Tang handed over, he couldn’t help swallowing his saliva.
Lin Xue couldn’t resist scolding him: “You silly child, I’ve never let you go hungry at home, so why are you acting so greedy?”
Jiang Tang said with a smile, “He’s just a child in his growing years, so it’s only natural he loves good food. I get along great with Sister Lin Xue, and I’m more than happy to share tasty treats with Xiangyang. But Xiangyang must be a good boy too—you can’t eat things given by strangers. Do you remember?”
Cui Xiangyang nodded repeatedly: “I’ll remember what Sister Xiaotang said! I won’t eat things from strangers at random.”
Jiang Tang reached out to pat Cui Xiangyang’s head, planning to send him peach pastries frequently during this period while repeatedly reminding him.
Regardless of what happened, she did not want Zheng Jiahe to hurt Cui Xiangyang.
Just as Jiang Tang prepared to leave the school, her eyes met with Xiao Xun, who was walking toward her.
Xiao Xun was wheeling a brand-new “Flying Pigeon” heavy-duty bicycle, holding various large and small packages in his hands. When he caught sight of Jiang Tang, his eyes lit up with a bright sparkle.
“Comrade Jiang Tang, my mother had someone bring these items over and specifically instructed me in a telegram to hand them to you.”
Walking over, Jiang Tang looked down at the items in Xiao Xun’s hands and thought about her current living setup at the educated youth post, deciding it was best not to bring them inside for now.
With people coming and going around the school entrance, if Jiang Tang accepted the items Xiao Xun brought, others would see them, preventing her from secretly stashing them into her spatial dimension later on.
Jiang Tang suggested, “How about leaving them with Comrade Xiao for the time being?”
Facing Jiang Tang, Xiao Xun almost didn’t need a second thought before nodding in agreement: “Alright. Would Comrade Jiang Tang like to take a look at what’s inside first?”
Truth be told, Jiang Tang was indeed a bit curious.
After all, when she met Mrs. Fu Wenci earlier, she could clearly feel how much Mrs. Fu liked her.
“How about I take a look first?”
The corners of Xiao Xun’s lips curved into a subtle arc, and he offered a light nod: “Right here is fine.”
Thus, by the small path near the school entrance, Jiang Tang unpacked the gifts sent by Mrs. Fu.
Opening the handbag, the very first thing that caught her eye was a red rosewood box.
Based on Jiang Tang’s experience empting out the Su family’s treasures, she could tell at a glance that eight or nine times out of ten, the box held valuable items.
Jiang Tang opened the rosewood box first, only to see it packed full with a box of fine jewelry and ornaments that nearly dazzled her eyes.
Fearing he might startle her, Xiao Xun explained, “The Xiao and Fu families were prominent households in the past. My family still has plenty of these material possessions back home. My mother likes Comrade Jiang Tang very much, so she wanted to gift some of these to you. If you don’t like them, we can give you other things instead.”
Looking at the jewelry box in front of her, Jiang Tang recalled the one left behind by her maternal grandmother. The two were comparable in elegance and value—no wonder her grandfather had arranged a betrothal with the old Master Xiao back then.
After taking a look, Jiang Tang closed the box and set it back.
She then picked up a cloth bundle located underneath the box.
Unwrapping the cloth bundle, a bank savings book rested right at the top, while a stack of small gold bars lay underneath.
Jiang Tang couldn’t help swallowing her saliva. Although she already possessed plenty of gold stored inside her spatial dimension, who would ever complain about having too much money?
Besides, Mrs. Fu’s willingness to give her these items was a clear statement of her approval and affection.
Without looking too closely, Jiang Tang placed the cloth bundle back, worried that if passersby caught a glimpse, it might bring unnecessary trouble upon Xiao Xun.
Seeming to sense Jiang Tang’s concern, Xiao Xun explained, “Just like the Wei family, the Xiao family previously donated half of our family property to the state. The remaining money can be used normally without causing me any trouble.”
Jiang Tang nodded and continued looking through the rest.
Inside were also several brand-new qipaos, women’s suits, and leather shoes tailored precisely to her size.
Seeing this bundle, Jiang Tang checked the other items.
Mrs. Fu had prepared everything with complete thoughtfulness. Even if Jiang Tang hadn’t swept away the Su family’s possessions, relying on these gifts alone would guarantee her a comfortable and carefree life for decades to come.
After looking through everything, Jiang Tang asked Xiao Xun to keep them safe.
Although she really wanted to stash the items into her spatial dimension, it was best not to let anyone other than herself know about the existence of her space.
“You’ve already given me plenty of food coupons and money, and I don’t have an immediate use for these right now, so let’s keep them with you for now.”
Xiao Xun agreed, then pointed to the heavy-duty bicycle beside him: “Setting the rest aside, this bicycle is brand new. You can use it when commuting to work at the post.”
Only then did Jiang Tang notice the brand-new heavy-duty bicycle—it truly was something she could put to good use.
She was already planning to visit the nearby town when she had free time, so having a bicycle would be immensely convenient.
“Alright, then I’ll gladly accept this!”
While the two were talking at the school gate, Jiang Tang noticed a gaze directed straight toward her.
Following the direction of the gaze, she discovered an unfamiliar female comrade standing a short distance away.
The female comrade looked at her with clear hostility in her eyes. Jiang Tang realized what was going on at a single glance.
With a smile, Jiang Tang teased lightly, “Xiao Xun, did you provoke that female comrade over there to make her glare at you like that?”
Only then did Xiao Xun look over. Recognizing the female comrade’s identity, he explained to Jiang Tang, “She is Company Commander Yin’s younger sister. Her parents and relatives have all passed away, so after Company Commander Yin earned a merit, he brought her over here. She currently works at the school cafeteria. I have no personal relationship with her whatsoever—I simply regard her as Company Commander Yin’s younger sister.”