Jiang Tang had expected Xiao Xun to say something like, “I only look at her like a younger sister.” She never imagined he would specify “Company Commander Yin’s younger sister.”
Well, wasn’t she literally Company Commander Yin’s younger sister?
Unable to hold back a soft, curling smile, Jiang Tang said, “Comrade Xiao Xun, I didn’t take you for someone so amusing. Still, I believe what you say is true.”
The more Jiang Tang looked at her fiancé, the more satisfied she felt. Aside from salvaging the treasures left behind by her maternal grandparents, crossing paths with Xiao Xun was by far the greatest harvest of this lifetime.
If she could cultivate a genuine, loving relationship with him, it seemed like a wonderful prospect.
Sensing the satisfaction radiating from his fiancée’s gaze, Xiao Xun felt a secret surge of joy, while also considering himself immensely fortunate that his fiancée turned out to be precisely his ideal match.
“Comrade Jiang Tang, let me walk you back.”
Jiang Tang nodded without refusing. Although Xiao Xun was carrying a mountain of bags, pushing a bicycle alongside them didn’t take much effort, and he even managed to free up a hand to take the green cloth bag right off her shoulder.
Walking empty-handed by Xiao Xun’s side, Jiang Tang even felt a mild twinge of embarrassment. She offered to carry a few things herself, only to be turned down flat.
Watching the two of them leave while chatting and laughing merrily only made Yin Tiantian grit her teeth with frustration.
Yet, lacking the nerve to march up and confront them directly, Yin Tiantian could only storm back and pour out her grievances to her older brother through angry tears.
“Brother, you’ve known Comrade Xiao Xun for so many years and you’re so close to him—why didn’t you talk some sense into him? How can Comrade Xiao Xun marry a woman like that? Putting on airs like some capitalist eldest miss, she’s clearly not here to help build the country!”
Yin Zhiqiang’s expression instantly turned ice cold: “Tiantian, stop talking nonsense. Who Xiao Xun chooses to marry is his own business; it’s not your place to gossip behind his back. I know you’ve got a crush on Xiao Xun, but since he’s getting married, let it go. Just treat it as not being fated to be.”
Unwilling to accept this in the slightest, Yin Tiantian’s grievances instantly transformed into falling tears: “Why should someone else snatch the opportunity away? I clearly knew Comrade Xiao Xun much earlier—why couldn’t he fall for me?”
“How can human affection be measured by who arrived first or last? Besides, Xiao Xun and his fiancée’s betrothal was arranged by the elders of their families. When you really trace it back, they were the ones who locked down their future relationship long before anyone else. What do you have to compare against them? Tiantian, don’t ever spout such nonsense again, and it’s time for you to drop these improper thoughts once and for all.”
Yin Tiantian’s tears streamed down even more fiercely. Clearly, she was the one who had suffered a wrong, yet her own brother refused to stand by her side.
She refused to let it go. She was determined to find a way to prove that Jiang Tang wasn’t worthy of Comrade Xiao Xun!
Even if she couldn’t marry Comrade Xiao Xun herself, she certainly wouldn’t let him marry just any random person!
Thus, the very next day, Yin Tiantian managed to secure a job serving food in the cafeteria.
Since she was already working at the school cafeteria, transferring to a different station within it wasn’t overly difficult.
The sole reason Yin Tiantian wanted to serve food was to make things difficult for Jiang Tang.
While she enthusiastically served meals to all the other teachers, the moment Jiang Tang showed up, Yin Tiantian pulled a long face and declared that they were out of food.
The second she laid eyes on Yin Tiantian, Jiang Tang had already guessed that the girl would likely try to deliberately antagonize her.
And true to her prediction, Yin Tiantian was overflowing with open hostility.
In Jiang Tang’s eyes, Yin Tiantian’s behavior was utterly ridiculous—like a toddler throwing a tantrum.
Finding it utterly childish, Jiang Tang couldn’t be bothered to argue with her.
Coincidentally, she had no classes that afternoon, so she planned to take a stroll into town anyway. Besides, missing a single lunch wasn’t going to leave her starving.
Still, this was a one-time exception; if Yin Tiantian dared to come looking for trouble again, Jiang Tang wouldn’t be so polite.
Watching Jiang Tang turn on her heel and walk away, Yin Tiantian was left with a sudden, frustrating sense of impotence, as if her punch had landed on a pile of cotton.
She had felt a guilty conscience doing something like this in the first place, terrified of being spotted by the leadership and reprimanded.
Yet she had clearly put in her best effort—why hadn’t Jiang Tang been fazed in the least?
The more Yin Tiantian dwelled on it, the more uneasy she felt, almost tempted to call Jiang Tang back and serve her a meal after all.
Noticing the scene unfold, Chang Hong—who had also come to get food—decided to dish up an extra portion for Jiang Tang.
Suffering from a whirlwind of complicated emotions, Yin Tiantian ended up piling extra food onto both of their plates.
Before long, Jiang Tang and Chang Hong sat across from each other at a cafeteria table, staring at the towering mounds of lunch before them.
Chang Hong was dumbfounded. She had clearly witnessed Yin Tiantian trying to give Jiang Tang a hard time just moments ago—so why had she turned around and given them such an enormous serving of food?
Could it be that Yin Tiantian’s unique method of bullying people was to give them extra food in hopes of bursting their stomachs through overeating?
Staring at the towering pile of food, Jiang Tang found Yin Tiantian even more childlike.
Looking to be roughly her own age, Yin Tiantian was likely someone who had been overly sheltered, which explained why she acted the way she did.
Figuring that Yin Tiantian’s core nature was likely still decent, Jiang Tang couldn’t be bothered to hold a grudge against her.
Digging into her meal, Jiang Tang looked across the table at Chang Hong: “Thanks for this today, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have gotten any lunch.”
Waving her hand in mild bewilderment, Chang Hong replied, “Oh, it’s nothing. Though I honestly didn’t think you’d end up going hungry.”
That was precisely what Jiang Tang had figured. She even suspected that if she had simply walked out of the cafeteria without eating, Yin Tiantian would have called her right back.
A spark of gossip igniting in her chest, Chang Hong lowered her voice and asked, “Have you two ever crossed paths before? Do you have a grudge against her?”
Jiang Tang had no intention of making a big deal out of it. If Yin Tiantian didn’t actively come looking for trouble again, she would simply treat today’s incident as if it never happened.
“It’s nothing. Let’s just eat.”
During lunch, Jiang Tang asked Chang Hong if she wanted to accompany her into town that afternoon.
As newly arrived educated youth, neither of them had visited the town since arriving at the military post. Stuck cooped up in this single area all this time, saying they didn’t feel restless would be a lie.
Even though their days were fulfilling, who wouldn’t want to step out and see the wider world?
Without a second thought, Chang Hong agreed. Taking a trip into town sounded wonderful; who knows, they might even pick up some nice things.
Even if they couldn’t find what they wanted, it would still serve as a pleasant change of scenery.
As an art teacher, Chang Hong didn’t carry a heavy lesson-planning burden, so getting out to explore the outside world would also help inspire her to create more vibrant, lifelike artwork grounded in everyday reality.
The two quickly reached an agreement, deciding to hop on the educated youth post’s tractor to head into town right after lunch.
Jiang Tang had originally planned to ride her heavy-duty bicycle. Since the town wasn’t terribly far from the military post—about an hour’s ride—it was entirely feasible.
Though the road might be a bit rough, there were patrols stationed around the post perimeter, so safety wasn’t an issue.
To her surprise, a few other educated youth were also heading to town on business, offering to give Jiang Tang and Chang Hong a lift along the way.
Climbing aboard the tractor, Jiang Tang spotted Zheng Jiahe sitting among them, seemingly bound for the town as well.
The moment Jiang Tang laid eyes on Zheng Jiahe, her thoughts immediately drifted back to the plot point in the book concerning Zheng Jiahe’s act of poisoning.
It was difficult to acquire poison within the military post itself. Since Zheng Jiahe couldn’t possibly have brought it all the way from her journey here, she was most likely going to purchase it during this trip to town.
If Zheng Jiahe really managed to buy poison back on this trip, Jiang Tang would have to exercise even greater caution to ensure nothing went wrong with Cui Xiangyang.
This wasn’t something she could expose prematurely; she had to catch Zheng Jiahe red-handed right when she made her move.
Hopefully, this time around, she could successfully rewrite the original storyline of the book.