The young soldier felt like crying but couldn’t shed a tear—he could only stay silent, waiting for the scolding.
“I heard that Jinyan is still at odds with his wife, right? One is in the army and can’t even fart freely, while the other dresses up and runs around everywhere like a showy flower—it’s outrageous! This couple really needs to be taught a lesson.”
He glared at the soldier. “It’s disturbing the troops’ morale.”
Whether or not he was speaking metaphorically, the young soldier didn’t dare say a word or ask a question.
Jiang Mengning never would have expected that simply asking for directions would land her under the commissar’s scrutiny.
By the time she reached the southern part of the mountain, she indeed saw a lot of cacti. Some were as tall as twice her height. On the cactus leaves, there were plenty of cochineal insects.
In their silvery state, they turned blood red with a gentle touch.
The cactus also bore fruit. The fruits were edible, tasting a little like dragon fruit, though not as sweet, and full of seeds—fun enough to nibble on.
Jiang Mengning took a small brush and swept the cochineal insects into a glass jar.
In no time, she had a full jar. She couldn’t make much lipstick for now, and didn’t plan on taking too many insects back—she’d leave the rest to reproduce slowly.
After collecting the cochineal insects, she wandered around the mountain. Another essential ingredient for lipstick was beeswax. Without it, the mixture wouldn’t solidify.
She searched for wild beehives; if she couldn’t find any, she’d have to buy some.
Luckily, her luck held. On an old locust tree, she spotted a massive beehive—huge enough to be embraced by an adult man’s two hands. Bees were buzzing in and out, collecting pollen and making honey.
Her eyes went wide.
“Wow, so big!” she exclaimed. This was the kind of jackpot that promised profits. Sure enough, whether a transmigrator or a reborn woman, protagonist luck never fails. Everything seemed to fall into place.
She set down her basket and prepared to harvest the honey.
She had never seen pigs before, but she knew how to handle bees: smoke them. Smoke would temporarily incapacitate the bees, making them less aggressive.
She gathered some green grass, leaves, and dry straw.
She lit the straw under the tree, then covered the fire with non-flammable grass and leaves.
The flames went out immediately, replaced by thick smoke.
“Cough, cough, cough!” Jiang Mengning coughed relentlessly.
She had never suffered like this before—she thought she might die.
As the smoke rose, the bees sensed danger and scattered in all directions. Jiang Mengning tried to climb the tree to get the hive, but she had never climbed trees before. Watching others do it looked easy, but for her, it was incredibly difficult.
Several attempts later, she hadn’t made a single step up. How was she going to get the beeswax now?
She felt like she might collapse from exhaustion.
“Boss! Fire! Someone’s setting fire in the mountains!”
Suddenly, a voice rang out, followed by a swarm of soldiers rushing in from all directions. They quickly stomped out the partially burning pile and cleaned up the area. A mountain fire could be very dangerous, especially in the dry summer—if not extinguished, it could threaten nearby residents.
“Who’s setting fires in this heat? Trying to burn down the mountain?” Duan Xiaowu’s anger peaked as he glared at the person under the tree.
But when he saw Jiang Mengning, his eyes nearly popped out.
“Ah! Commander! The arsonist—uh, no, your wife… your wife is the arsonist!”
He froze, utterly bewildered. What was the commander’s wife up to this time? She was certainly a handful.
The crowd parted, and Huo Jinyan approached. The man frowned, looking at Jiang Mengning with a mix of confusion and exasperation.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
Jiang Mengning: “…!”
She had only wanted some beeswax, not to become a mountain-burning criminal. She hurried to explain, “Don’t misunderstand! I just wanted the hive on the tree—I wasn’t trying to burn the mountain!”
Worried that if she explained too slowly, she might be dragged off to a holding cell, she kept talking.
Huo Jinyan walked up to her, looking down from above.