Jiang Yan said calmly, “You’re welcome.”
Su Nanyue detected the coldness and distance in his tone but didn’t think much of it.
After informing Yang Peng, she walked out with the remittance slip and commendation letter.
Yang Peng sat on the stool watching Su Nanyue’s retreating back without any hesitation, then turned to Jiang Yan with curious gossip in his eyes.
Weren’t these two married?
Why did they seem like complete strangers?
Jiang Yan didn’t notice his expression, handing over his mission report and beginning to debrief about his recent assignment.
Only after finishing did he notice Yang Peng’s strange look.
“Political Commissar, is there any problem with my report?”
“No problem.” Yang Peng waved his hand. “Alright, get back to work. By the way, I’ve already notified the Family Compound. Just let me know when you’ve made your selection.”
Jiang Yan frowned, confused. “Why would I need to select a Family Compound?”
As a single man living comfortably in the barracks, why would he need a Family Compound? That would be a waste of resources.
Yang Peng looked at him, suddenly realizing something. He tentatively asked, “Xiao Jiang, it’s been years since you visited home. Do you still remember what your wife looks like?”
Hearing this, an image of timid, red-rimmed eyes surfaced in Jiang Yan’s mind.
But he quickly dismissed it.
Not wanting to answer the question, he said, “Is there anything else? If not, I’ll go pack my things.”
Seeing his reaction, Yang Peng understood everything.
This guy hadn’t recognized his own wife.
Not only had he failed to recognize his wife.
His wife hadn’t recognized him either.
Giving him a meaningful look, Yang Peng said, “Your wife came here with your child. They’re staying at the military Guest House right now. You should go see them.”
Jiang Yan froze for a moment before frowning. “My wife and child?”
His first thought was that Political Commissar Yang must have misspoken.
Yang Peng couldn’t help clicking his tongue. “You heard correctly. Your wife and child are here to see you.”
Seeing Jiang Yan still standing there, he shooed him away. “Alright, get out of here now.”
Jiang Yan pressed his lips into a straight line. Instead of leaving immediately, he said, “Political Commissar, I’d like to make a phone call first.”
Yang Peng glanced at him, then picked up his teacup and leisurely walked out, leaving him the room.
After Yang Peng left, Jiang Yan directly called the Dongtou Village brigade office.
The Brigade leader answered the phone and agreed to fetch Jiang Jianguo for him.
Since everyone in the village knew he’d been doing well in the military these past two years, the Brigade leader asked him to call back in twenty minutes.
After hanging up, Jiang Yan pulled over a nearby stool and sat down, tapping his fingers lightly on the table.
His mind drifted back to events from four years ago, when Wang Xiu Lan had feigned illness and Jiang Che called saying she was on her deathbed.
He had taken annual leave to return home, but on the day he arrived, Su Wan Ning and her mother Shen Shu Fang also showed up, bringing along a young girl.
The girl was very thin, looked about fourteen or fifteen, kept her head bowed the entire time, appeared timid, and didn’t speak at all.
Both families said he and Su Wan Ning had been engaged for two years and wanted to discuss their marriage, but he directly refused.
After all, the engagement with Su Wan Ning had been arranged by their families without his consent – he had never agreed to it from the beginning.
His father didn’t say much, just opened a bottle of liquor.
He had good alcohol tolerance, but that day he became unconscious after just two drinks.
The next day when he woke up, he found himself sharing a bed with the young girl Su Wanning had brought along.
The girl’s eyes were red, and the marks on her body served as evidence of what had transpired between them the previous night.
Before he could even process what had happened, his mother Wang Xiu Lan burst into the room.
Soon after, others rushed in as well, everyone accusing him of betraying Su Wanning, who had waited for him for two years.
Knowing his alcohol tolerance, he immediately voiced his suspicions.
After he explained that he had been drugged, they all pinned the blame on the young girl.
Shen Shu Fang started cursing loudly, “You little slut! I wondered why you insisted on coming along yesterday. So this was your plan all along.”
Su Wanning stood by, weeping.
“Yue Yue, you said you had nowhere to go, and I took you in. I treated you like a sister, but how could you do this when you knew Brother Jiang Yan was my fiancé?”
Jiang Che chimed in, “Wan Ning, you’re just too kind-hearted. A woman like her is clearly scheming and manipulative.”
Everyone was pointing fingers at Su Nanyue.
He turned his head and saw her tightly wrapped in the blanket, her eyes red and filled with confusion.
After a long period of commotion, his father Jiang Jianguo made the final decision: he had to marry her.
Aware of his position, he had no choice but to comply under those circumstances.
However, because he believed she had set him up, he felt nothing but disgust for her.
After submitting the report and obtaining the marriage certificate, he left home without even bothering to remember her name.
Later, he heard that to compensate Su Wanning, his family had arranged for her to marry Jiang Che. He felt nothing about it.
After all, he had no feelings for Su Wanning—they had never even met, and the engagement had been arranged by Jiang Jianguo and his wife.
In the years following the incident, he never returned home.
Apart from sending a fixed monthly allowance, he had little contact with his family.
Little did he know that from that one night, she had become pregnant.
Snapping out of his memories, he checked the time—twenty minutes had passed.
He dialed the number.
The call was answered almost immediately, and before he could speak, Wang Xiu Lan’s shrill voice came through the receiver, “Eldest, you finally called back.”
“That little slut stole money from the house and ran off with those two bastards.”
As for the brigade leader’s claim that Su Nanyue had mentioned taking the children to find Jiang Yan when applying for the letter of introduction, Wang Xiu Lan didn’t believe a word of it.
Even she didn’t know Jiang Yan’s military address, so how could Su Nanyue possibly find him?
“I always knew she was trouble, but I never thought she’d dare to steal money—that was all the savings your father and I had for our retirement!”
Wang Xiu Lan ranted for a long time until Jiang Jianguo, unable to bear it any longer, interjected, “Enough! Haven’t you cursed enough at home? Phone calls are expensive.”
Then Jiang Jianguo’s voice came through.
“Eldest, don’t blame your mother. It’s just that your wife went too far. She’s disgraced our entire family.”
Jiang Yan had remained silent until he heard Jiang Jianguo’s words, then he asked, “She gave birth to two children for me?”
Before Jiang Jianguo could respond, Wang Xiu Lan started cursing again.
“Yours? Those are two bastards! Do you think she drugged you back then for any other reason? It was just to find a father for those two bastards of hers!”
Jiang Yan frowned.
Although he had been drugged and his consciousness was unclear at the time, he still vaguely remembered some things.
It had been her first time when they were together.
But knowing Wang Xiu Lan’s temperament, he didn’t argue with her.
He asked directly, “Who did she run off with?”
This time, Jiang Jianguo answered, “We’re not sure exactly who it was. We just heard people say they saw her getting very close with a man while taking the two children with her.”
“All the money you sent home over the years—your mother and I didn’t keep a single cent of it—we gave it all to her.”
“She even stole eight hundred from your mother and me. That money was what your brother and his wife had managed to save over these years.”