Wang Xiu Lan’s eyes widened, and she instinctively wanted to say Su Nanyue was talking nonsense.
But when she turned her head and saw Jiang Jianguo’s guilty expression, she immediately understood everything.
Letting out a sharp scream, she directly abandoned Jiang Jing Zhou and charged toward Jiang Jianguo.
Caught off guard, Jiang Jianguo received two scratch marks on his face from Wang Xiu Lan.
The veins on his forehead bulged as he retreated to avoid her, saying, “She’s deliberately trying to stir up trouble. There’s nothing between me and Shu Fang.”
Su Nanyue clicked her tongue, thoroughly enjoying the drama. “Shu Fang? How intimate.”
Wang Xiu Lan gritted her teeth. “Jiang Jianguo, how could you do this to me?”
She was absolutely furious. The thought of being played like a fool by them for so many years made her want to kill them both.
Su Nanyue gave Da Bao a meaningful look, and he immediately ran outside.
This was what they had agreed upon earlier.
Being small and unnoticed, with Jiang Jianguo and Wang Xiu Lan too busy fighting, no one paid any attention to him slipping away.
After watching Da Bao run off, Su Nanyue turned back to the entangled pair and dropped another bombshell.
“Su Wan Ning knows about this too. She even covered for them.”
“While you were sleeping with your grandson at night, those two were rolling around on your Kang.”
Wang Xiu Lan flailed her arms, adding two fresh scratches to Jiang Jianguo’s face.
Taking advantage of dodging Wang Xiu Lan, Jiang Jianguo glared furiously at Su Nanyue. “Shut your mouth!”
Su Nanyue, with her ninety-nine pounds of defiance in her hundred-pound body, was the type to do exactly what she was told not to.
Since Jiang Jianguo told her not to speak, she was determined to say more.
“Xiu Lan, look at you—scrimping and saving all year, never getting to wear new clothes. Meanwhile, Shen Shu Fang never runs out of new clothes or snowflake cream. I actually feel sorry for you.”
Wang Xiu Lan knew full well that Su Nanyue was doing this on purpose, but she was already blinded by rage.
Her only thought was to scratch that old bastard’s face to shreds.
Fueled by fury, her fighting spirit soared.
Jiang Jianguo took several hits to his face and arms.
In frustration, he shoved Wang Xiu Lan away.
Wang Xiu Lan fell to the ground, stunned for a moment before slapping her thighs and wailing loudly, hurling a stream of vulgar insults.
The richness of her vocabulary surprised even Su Nanyue.
Fuming, the veins on Jiang Jianguo’s forehead throbbed. He ignored Wang Xiu Lan and looked up, his face covered in scratches, his expression dark and menacing as he stared at Su Nanyue.
“What do you want? Are you only satisfied when you’ve destroyed this family?”
Su Nanyue sneered. “It’s not me who’s destroying this family—it’s all of you.”
The original host had only ever wanted to live peacefully, but they never gave her the chance.
Jiang Jing Zhou dared to push her into the river precisely because he relied on Jiang Jianguo and Wang Xiu Lan’s doting indulgence.
After she was barely rescued, clinging to life, these people couldn’t even be bothered to take her to the clinic, leaving her to lie on the Kang and fend for herself.
Poor original host—she lost her life just like that.
Seeing Jiang Jianguo’s sinister gaze and the look that suggested he was about to attack her, Su Nanyue tightly gripped the kitchen knife in her hands.
“I advise you not to try anything. My life is worthless anyway, and if I die, I’ll make sure to take someone down with me.”
Jiang Jianguo halted his steps, but the look he gave Su Nanyue grew even more chilling.
“It seems I’ve underestimated you.”
Su Nanyue sneered coldly, “Even a cornered dog will jump over a wall. Blame yourselves for driving me to the brink—you’re the ones who pushed me to desperation.”
Jiang Jianguo stared fixedly at her for a long moment. Suddenly, he raised his hand abruptly.
Su Nanyue swiftly brandished the kitchen knife.
Her frenzied movements added several fresh cuts to Jiang Jianguo’s body.
Hearing footsteps approaching from outside, her eyes flickered, and she loosened her grip, letting the kitchen knife clatter to the ground.
Seeing this, Jiang Jianguo lunged forward to grab her.
Su Nanyue leaned back, evading his grasp, and burst into tears. “Don’t hit me! I really didn’t tell anyone about you sneaking into Shen Shu Fang’s room at night.”
Just as Da Bao entered with Shen Shu Fang and a crowd of curious villagers, they overheard this statement.
Their eyes lit up, and they hurried forward to restrain Jiang Jianguo, who was about to attack Su Nanyue.
Wang Xiu Lan, who had been sitting on the ground throwing a tantrum, sprang up at the sight of Shen Shu Fang and charged at her.
Caught off guard, Shen Shu Fang suffered several scratches to her face and let out a sharp scream.
Dropping all pretense, she shrieked, “Wang Xiu Lan, have you lost your mind?”
Wang Xiu Lan spat in disgust. “You’re the one who’s crazy, you shameless slut, stealing men right under my roof!”
She was determined to expose Shen Shu Fang as a homewrecker, holding nothing back.
She even revealed what Su Nanyue had mentioned earlier—how Su Wan Ning had covered for the two of them.
Shen Shu Fang was no match for Wang Xiu Lan and could only shield her face, screaming Jiang Jianguo’s name.
The crowd outside had originally come to mediate and witness the commotion after hearing that Jiang Jianguo and Wang Xiu Lan were fighting.
None had expected to stumble upon such a shocking scandal. They began whispering among themselves.
“Jianguo has no shame, getting involved with his own in-law.”
“I always thought Xiao Su was decent. Xiu Lan treated her like her own daughter, and yet she helped cover up their affair.”
Seizing the opportunity, Su Nanyue hid behind the crowd and lowered her voice, speaking just loud enough for everyone to hear:
“Before Su Wan Ning got married, she often brought her mother to the Jiang family. Could it be they were already involved back then?”
She added another remark, “I even saw Jiang Che and Su Wan Ning together in that rundown shack at the foot of the mountain—they were really going at it!”
It was true that Su Wan Ning had frequently brought Shen Shu Fang to the Jiang house before her marriage, though Shen Shu Fang and Jiang Jianguo weren’t involved at the time.
As for Jiang Che and Su Wan Ning, her vivid description prompted someone to chime in:
“I heard them too when I was coming down from gathering firewood! I wondered who it was—so it was Jiang Che and Su Wan Ning!”
Jiang Jianguo, failing to recognize Su Nanyue’s voice, hurriedly denied the accusations.
But no one listened. Instead, they pointed fingers and gossiped about him.
He, who prized his reputation above all, felt as though his dignity was being trampled underfoot.
And it was all because of Su Nanyue.
He wished he could kill her on the spot, but faced with the large crowd at the door, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and let her go for now.
He rushed toward Wang Xiu Lan and Shen Shu Fang, who were still tangled up, pulling each other’s hair, and tried to pry Wang Xiu Lan away.
Seeing him protect Shen Shu Fang at such a moment, Wang Xiu Lan redoubled her efforts, landing several blows on Jiang Jianguo as well.
Su Nanyue added a few more inflammatory remarks, observing as Jiang Jianguo became entangled in the fight between Wang Xiu Lan and Shen Shu Fang.
After confirming that everyone knew about the matter, she finally took Da Bao and Xiao Bao outside.
The thought of Jiang Jianguo’s unpleasant expression, along with the money and ration coupons in her pocket, lifted her spirits immensely.
She didn’t even feel tired from walking anymore.
When encountering villagers along the way, she pretended to be deeply wronged, tearfully explaining how she had accidentally discovered Jiang Jianguo sneaking into Shen Shu Fang’s room under cover of darkness.
She said Jiang Jianguo wanted to kill her, and out of fear, she was taking the children away to hide.
After hearing this, everyone looked at her with sympathy and offered words of comfort.
The Jiang family lived in Dongtou Village, about ten kilometers from the county town.
The three of them—one weak and two small—walked for over two hours before finally reaching the county.
Su Nanyue first took the two children to the train station to buy tickets. There were still two hours before departure.
Although Da Bao claimed to trust her, he still felt somewhat wary. It was only when he saw her actually buying three tickets that he finally relaxed.
With two hours left before the train departed, Su Nanyue took them to the State-Run Restaurant for a meal.
After eating, she bought several large steamed buns to take on the journey.
After all, it would take forty hours by train to get to Jiang Yan’s military base.
As they left the State-Run Restaurant, Xiao Bao licked his lips and couldn’t help but ask, “Mom, the meat was so delicious. Can I have it again in the future?”
Both Xiao Bao and Da Bao had inherited her delicate, porcelain-like features.
Hearing his words, Su Nanyue felt her heart ache with tenderness.
The Jiang family’s living conditions weren’t poor—after all, they had two sons serving in the military.
They could afford to eat meat once a month, but Su Nanyue and the two children were never given any share.
This was the first time the two children had ever tasted meat in their lives.
Ruffling the little ones’ hair, she promised, “Of course. Besides meat, there are many other delicious foods. Mom will buy them all for you in the future.”
Xiao Bao was overjoyed. He pulled a fruit candy from his pocket and handed it to Su Nanyue, saying, “Mom, have some candy.”