“You don’t know, I ran into their family on the train…”
Fang Yuan then recounted what had happened without exaggeration, sticking strictly to the facts.
“What? They’re actually that kind of family? I never would have guessed!”
Liu Lan’s initial fondness instantly turned into disgust.
Fang Yuan leaned closer to Liu Lan and whispered, “And when I randomly accused them of being bandits, they actually left out of guilt. I suspect there’s something off about their family background.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?” Liu Lan said urgently.
They couldn’t allow individuals of unclear identity to appear within the military.
“I hadn’t seen her before and thought she wasn’t from our area. But when I saw her today, I immediately told you.”
Knowing there was something suspicious about this family’s background, she naturally wouldn’t let them off easily.
In this era, not only military service but even farming placed great importance on one’s background and origins.
Anyone with questionable identity, once discovered, would have no chance of staying in the military.
“You’re right. If she hadn’t come looking for me, I wouldn’t have known about her either. Come on, let’s go find your Aunt Luo. We can’t let bad elements sneak into our ranks!”
Fang Yuan’s words instantly unsettled Liu Lan.
Her husband’s unit often suffered casualties—who knew if it was the work of those bad elements?
“Huh? Go now?” Fang Yuan feigned confusion.
“You’re still young and inexperienced, child. This is a serious matter—we can’t delay.”
Liu Lan quickly finished the steamed buns in a few bites and pulled Fang Yuan toward the neighboring house.
Her husband was currently on a mission. If someone with ulterior motives had infiltrated, it could be a matter of life and death.
She had wondered why the former second company commander, who had always been fine, suddenly met with an accident and died.
Could it be that someone had tampered with something?
The more Liu Lan thought about it, the more frightened she became, dragging Fang Yuan toward the neighboring house.
Fang Yuan quickly called out to stop her:
“Sister-in-law, wait! Let me go back and grab a few more steamed buns to bring over. Aunt Luo should taste these buns too.”
She then hurried back inside, packed a few more steamed buns, and followed Liu Lan to Luo Meihong’s house.
She went to deliver the buns, while Liu Lan went to report the situation, with Fang Yuan adding details alongside her.
“Is that so? You did the right thing. We can’t have black sheep in our ranks.”
Luo Meihong nodded seriously as well.
If someone of unclear identity had infiltrated the ranks, it wasn’t just her—everyone needed to take it seriously.
After delivering the items and reporting the situation, the two prepared to return to their respective homes.
Coincidentally, Zhang Xiuzhen appeared in the distance again, leading the chubby child who had demanded meat.
“Sister-in-law Liu, I’ve come to see you again. You mentioned this morning that your Weimin is too young and has no one to play with.
Well, my nephew is about the same age—perfect for playing together.”
Zhang Xiuzhen was determined to befriend Liu Lan.
Knowing that Liu Lan’s youngest child was around the same age as her nephew, she had persuaded her own mother to bring the boy along.
But she forgot that her nephew was a little tyrant, domineering and unruly.
Fang Yuan chuckled:
“Play? On the train, he even dared to snatch meat from adults. Sister-in-law’s child is no match for him. Don’t bring him here to cause trouble for her kids.”
Fang Yuan’s words were sharp and unsparing.
“It’s you? What are you doing here? Oh right, you’re also a military wife. But how can you slander people like that?”
Hearing Fang Yuan’s voice, Zhang Xiuzhen finally noticed her and immediately switched to her delicate white flower mode.
Inwardly on guard, she thought to herself that she must have forgotten to check the almanac before leaving home today, to have run into this jinx.
“My husband is the battalion commander of this unit. If I’m not here with the army, where else would I be? You accuse me of slandering others—do you want me to bring witnesses from the train to prove it?”
Fang Yuan provoked her while continuing to argue.
“She said she came to take care of her brother and the child while accompanying the army,” Liu Lan coldly interjected.
Knowing their identities were questionable, Liu Lan’s attitude naturally changed.
“What? Doesn’t accompanying the army require being a spouse? Since when can a sister come along?” Fang Yuan feigned surprise.
She had never heard of someone accompanying the army as a sister instead of a wife. This woman’s excuse was simply ridiculous.
Zhang Xiuzhen ignored the earlier remarks and hurriedly explained herself: “My sister-in-law fell ill recently, so she asked me to come first to help take care of my brother and the child. She’ll be here in a while.”
She suspected this woman was deliberately making things difficult for her.
So what if she was pretty?
With such a malicious heart, deliberately embarrassing her and blocking her way, she didn’t deserve to be a military wife.
“Oh? Your sister-in-law is sick? Little fatty, how could you leave your sick mother behind and come here? It’s not just for the meat, is it?”
Fang Yuan shifted the conversation directly to the little fatty.
Children weren’t like adults—they spoke and acted as directly as they felt, and that was the most honest truth.
“You bad woman! You didn’t give me meat to eat. I’ll tell my dad to beat you to death!”
The little fatty remembered Fang Yuan hadn’t given him meat on the train.
“Well, aren’t you something, little fatty? Just because I didn’t give you meat, you want to beat me to death. Is your family a bunch of bandits? This is the army, and we specialize in dealing with bandits!” Fang Yuan said deliberately.
Zhang Xiuzhen quickly chimed in: “Sister, please don’t take it seriously with the child. He doesn’t know any better and just talks nonsense. I’m really sorry. I’ll come back another time to apologize!”
Fang Yuan’s words made her heart race with fear.
“Jinbao, let’s go!”
Seeing that Liu Lan wasn’t speaking up for her, she knew she wouldn’t get anywhere today. She pulled the child and started walking back.
“I won’t go, I won’t! You said you’d take me out to eat meat. I want meat!”
As soon as Zhang Baogen heard they were going back, he refused. He twisted his butt and plopped down on the ground, throwing a tantrum.
Auntie had clearly said if he came out to play nicely, he’d get meat. He hadn’t gotten any meat yet, so he wasn’t going back.
“Stop making a scene. I’ll make meat for you when we get home!”
Zhang Xiuzhen’s face flushed with embarrassment as she picked Zhang Baogen up, whispering to coax him.
She hated Fang Yuan intensely, feeling as if this woman was always clashing with her.
Looking at Fang Yuan’s innocent, pampered young lady appearance and then at her own rough skin made her feel deeply uncomfortable.
Once the two had left, Fang Yuan turned to Liu Lan again: “Sister, did you see that? The moment I said her family was like bandits, that woman’s face changed instantly.”
“I saw it. You go back first. I’ll go chat with your Aunt Luo for a bit!”
Though Liu Lan had a straightforward personality, she wasn’t a fool.
That woman’s expression earlier definitely indicated something was wrong with her family. She’d have to make sure the higher-ups looked into it carefully.
“Alright then, I’ll head back first.”
Assured that someone would deal with that family, Fang Yuan hummed a tune contentedly as she went inside.
She wanted to see just how much longer that family could stay in the army.
…
“That bitch, how despicable! That bitch!”
Zhang Xiuzhen returned home seething with anger, cursing under her breath the whole way.
What her family situation was like, others might not know, but she was well aware.
Her father had a problematic background and had used fleeing famine as an excuse to settle in their ancestral village—a remote and impoverished place.
She didn’t want to stay poor forever. She wanted to marry into a good family so she wouldn’t have to farm the land.
It had taken great effort to persuade her mother to let her take her sister-in-law’s place in the army support program, hoping to earn a good reputation and secure a better marriage.
Never did she expect to end up with Fang Yuan, a woman who filled her with envy and resentment.