“Mom, I wasn’t trying to hide it on purpose. I just… just thought it would be fine to have someone taking care of Mingyuan’s parents back in the countryside…”
Now that things had already reached the military compound and she knew she couldn’t escape it, Jiang Yuting could only confess all her calculations to Liu Hui.
“Mom, I was just worried about those rural relatives coming to the military compound. With her there, Mingyuan’s parents definitely wouldn’t come here to disturb our lives.
At the time I thought her parents had been sent down and she had nowhere to go. If the Song family gave her a place to stay, she’d surely be grateful and work hard in the countryside, taking care of the elderly—and it would also give Mingyuan one more reason to stay loyal to me.”
Liu Hui poked Jiang Yuting hard in the forehead with one finger, grinding her teeth in anger.
“Should I praise you for being smart or scold you for being stupid? How could you make such a big decision without telling us? You’ve really brought trouble to the family!”
If this hadn’t blown up, and that woman had stayed quietly in the village forever, Liu Hui would have even thought her daughter was being far-sighted.
After all, she herself wouldn’t want rural in-laws coming to the military compound either.
But now that everything had exploded, she only blamed Jiang Yuting for not handling it properly and not discussing it with the family earlier.
Otherwise, how could that woman have run all the way here and even found the military compound?
They had already considered the worst outcome—if Jiang Yuting hadn’t known, they could have forced a divorce to minimize the impact on the Jiang family.
The two of them didn’t even have children yet. After a divorce, with Jiang Yuting’s conditions, she could easily find someone better.
But now that she was involved in this from the beginning, the situation had become more complicated.
“From childhood to now, how have I taught you? Either don’t do something, or if you do it, do it cleanly so no one can find a handle on you. How did you not learn that?”
“Mom, I was wrong.” Jiang Yuting grabbed Liu Hui’s arm and admitted her mistake. “I won’t hide anything from you again. Please don’t be angry anymore.”
She flattered her mother while massaging her shoulders and pounding her legs. Before long, Liu Hui’s anger had mostly subsided.
After all, she was her own daughter, raised carefully since childhood. Liu Hui couldn’t bring herself to be too harsh.
“Just do what Mingyuan said. Say she has mental issues—that the banquet was just a recognition ceremony and she was only a goddaughter of the Song family.
Handle this quickly to avoid complications. If necessary, give her some compensation. Everyone has weaknesses.”
“Mom, you’re the best.” Jiang Yuting hugged her and acted spoiled. “With you here, I’m not afraid of anything. You’re the backbone of our family!”
With her mother no longer blaming her, Jiang Yuting finally relaxed and continued flattering her.
“Alright, go back and discuss with Mingyuan how to handle this.”
Unaware of all this, Wen Xi—who wouldn’t have cared even if she knew—was currently inside her spatial dimension, busy drawing blueprints.
She was designing a wheat combine harvester.
At this time, combine harvesters already existed, but they were traction-type machines that required oxen or horses to pull them.
Because they were expensive and difficult to maintain, they were mainly used in state-owned farms and were extremely rare in rural areas, where most people still relied on sickles.
When wheat ripened, farmers had to bend over and harvest it bit by bit. One acre could leave a person so exhausted they couldn’t even straighten their back.
It wasn’t just exhausting—the efficiency was low.
And if extreme weather like wind or rain hit during harvest, large areas of wheat could collapse, and months of hard work might result in losing half the yield.
As a mechanical researcher, Wen Xi planned to bring a more advanced combine harvester forward by ten to twenty years.
She wanted to use her knowledge to help the people and reduce farmers’ labor burden.
In addition, she wanted to use her spatial fertile land to optimize wheat, corn, and other crop seeds to increase yields.
Of course, none of this could be achieved overnight. It all had to wait until she had secured her footing and earned enough money.
Just as she was fully immersed in her work, there was a knock on the door.
She exited her space and opened it.
Outside stood Song Mingyuan—and an unfamiliar woman, neatly dressed and strikingly fashionable.
No need to guess. This was the “high branch” he had climbed.
Wen Xi casually sized up Jiang Yuting.
Compared to her current appearance, the other woman looked like a white swan soaring in the sky, while she herself was a toad in a muddy pond.
Because she was coming to see Wen Xi, Jiang Yuting had deliberately dressed up.
A red long-sleeved polka-dot dress, hem reaching mid-calf, ruffled collar design, a black belt cinching the waist, and polished high heels. The outfit perfectly outlined her slender figure.
Seeing the mountain-like fat woman in front of her, Jiang Yuting lifted her chin slightly like a proud peacock.
With this appearance, anyone would know who to choose between them.
How did she even have the courage to come to the military compound and claim to be Mingyuan’s wife from the countryside?
A flash of disdain crossed Jiang Yuting’s eyes. If she were that fat, she would have already hung herself.
Wen Xi caught that fleeting look of disgust—but didn’t care at all.
Honestly, she herself was disgusted by this body too.
“Song Mingyuan, are you here to return my things? Give them to me,” Wen Xi said, blocking the doorway and extending her hand.
Song Mingyuan frowned in disgust and glanced at her hand.
“Wen Xi, let’s talk.”
“If you’re not here to return my things, then there’s nothing to talk about.”
She moved to close the door immediately. A scumbag—she didn’t even want to look at him twice.
“Wen Xi!” Song Mingyuan pressed his hand against the door, lowering his voice, anger burning in his eyes. “Don’t be unreasonable. You came to the military compound just to demand benefits, didn’t you?”
At that moment, Jiang Yuting gently tugged his sleeve.
“Mingyuan, speak nicely.”
Then she turned to Wen Xi with a soft, graceful smile.
“You must be Sister Wen Xi, right? Mingyuan always tells me how filial you are to my in-laws. Thanks to your careful care in the countryside, we can work in peace.”
Wen Xi felt a strong “tea” energy from her.
She looked her up and down seriously.
“We’re enemies. No need to act familiar.”
“Also, don’t pretend to misunderstand and twist the facts. I don’t believe you knew nothing about this.”
“You might even have contributed to it. The biggest beneficiary is you. Someone else is taking care of your in-laws, and they can’t come to the military compound—you two just enjoy your sweet little life.”
She let out a cold laugh.
“Also, even in high heels, you’re still a head shorter than me. Anyone with eyes can tell we’re not sisters.”