After finishing tidying up the house, Xiang Wanwan began arranging their new home.
She started with the kitchen, filling it up first. She took out all the pots, bowls, ladles, and utensils she had moved from the Xiang family’s kitchen and neatly put them away one by one.
Elegant plates, various cups, and jars of all sizes were arranged tidily inside the cabinets. Looking at the now fully stocked cupboards, a deep sense of satisfaction naturally welled up in her heart.
Next was the master bedroom. It was quite spacious, and Lu Jingnian’s bedding was folded neatly on the bed—perfect tofu-block style, a textbook military skill.
Out of the four rooms, only the master bedroom had a bed. Did that mean she’d be sleeping together with Lu Jingnian tonight?
Wasn’t that a bit too fast?
She took her own quilt out of the space. Though she couldn’t fold it into a perfect tofu block like his, she still placed it neatly beside his quilt.
One quilt per person was better!
Then she brought out her skincare products and arranged them on the table. After finishing all this, the room felt noticeably fuller and more lived-in than before.
Next were her toiletries, all of which she put into the bathroom.
Though none of the work was particularly heavy, she was already breathing hard by the time she finished.
Looks like this body wasn’t very strong yet!
She’d need to start exercising more—after all, her new life was only just beginning.
She walked out into the courtyard, stretched lazily, and looked around again.
The yard was large. Aside from a gravel path laid down the middle, both sides were still bare earth.
This courtyard actually suited her quite well.
Later, she could put up a grape trellis on the left, maybe add a small pavilion and plant some flowers. The right side would be more than enough for a vegetable patch.
Looking outward from the courtyard, the surrounding houses were similar in layout and not far apart.
This must be the family compound!
“Hey—are you Wanwan?”
Hearing someone call her from behind, Xiang Wanwan spun around abruptly.
Her face filled with surprise.
It was Sister Wang!
She actually lived right next door!
Sister Wang was holding freshly washed clothes, tossing them over a line, then hurried over from her yard.
Xiang Wanwan quickly went to open the gate.
“It really is you! What a coincidence—we’re neighbors!”
Sister Wang warmly grabbed her hand, visibly excited.
Wanwan was happy too. In this unfamiliar place, Sister Wang was the only person she knew.
“Sister, come in and sit!”
“Ah, okay!”
Hand in hand, they went inside.
The moment Sister Wang entered, she exclaimed, “Oh my goodness, it’s so clean! You cleaned all this yourself? You’re really capable!”
She looked around. The layout was exactly the same as her own place.
Then she went into the kitchen—and her eyes nearly popped out.
“So much stuff here?”
“Oh my, these plates have such pretty patterns! I’ve never seen anything this nice before—and these cups too.”
Sister Wang turned to her and asked in a lowered voice, “Your family wouldn’t happen to be capitalists, would they? How else could you have so many good things?”
Wanwan’s heart tightened. This was a place full of soldiers—being labeled a capitalist here wouldn’t be good at all.
Better not say anything unnecessary.
She smiled at Sister Wang. “You’re joking, Sister. I bought these in the city before coming. Since I’m here to live, I thought having nicer kitchenware would make meals more enjoyable, right?”
“That makes sense!”
Wanwan took out a set of pink peony-patterned cups from the cabinet—four in total.
“Sister, this is for you.”
“No, no! How could I take your things? I can’t!”
Sister Wang waved her hands repeatedly.
Wanwan pressed the cups straight into her hands. “Take them. They say distant relatives are no match for close neighbors. I’ll be relying on you a lot in the future.”
Sister Wang genuinely liked the pretty cups, so she accepted them.
She grabbed Wanwan’s hand and pulled her outside.
“Come on, let’s eat at my place! We’ll make dumplings!”
Seeing that Sister Wang’s kitchen didn’t even have firewood yet, Wanwan thought for a moment and didn’t refuse, following her over.
At Sister Wang’s house, only she and the two children were home.
The kids were asleep—after a full day of travel, they were clearly exhausted.
As expected, the layout was exactly the same.
Four bedrooms, a living room, and a bathroom.
But Sister Wang’s home was obviously much more furnished. Every bedroom had beds and cabinets, complete with bedding.
The kitchen, too—firewood stacked high, everything in place. One glance told Wanwan that Sister Wang’s husband cooked often.
“Sister, it looks like Commander Chen is quite capable. Everything at home is so complete.”
While kneading dough, Sister Wang laughed. “I remember he couldn’t do anything back then either. Guess living alone trained him up.”
When she arrived, she had expected to need to clean up a lot, but the place was already fairly tidy.
Everything was there.
Looks like Xiao Dezi had been living quite well these past few years!
Just like that, the two women chatted and worked together in the kitchen.
One kneaded dough, the other mixed the filling.
Just as the dumplings were dropped into the pot, a sharp female voice suddenly rang out from behind them.
“Who are you? What are you doing in my house?”
Wanwan and Sister Wang turned around at the same time.
Standing at the kitchen doorway was a woman wearing a blue floral dress, her hair tied back. She looked about the same age as Wanwan.
Her face was filled with shock and confusion as she stared at them.
Wanwan glanced at Sister Wang beside her.
Had Sister Wang gone into the wrong house?
“Who are you? This is my man’s house!”
Sister Wang couldn’t have gotten it wrong. She had asked around all the way here—everyone said Chen De lived here.
And she had already checked inside; the photos in the room were of Chen De!
So she couldn’t be mistaken.
Then who was this woman?
The woman curled her lips into a mocking smile, crossed her arms, and leaned against the kitchen doorframe.
“So you’re that yellow-faced old woman?”
At the words yellow-faced old woman, Sister Wang subconsciously reached up to touch her face, suddenly unsure of herself.
Did she really look that old?
Seeing her reaction, the woman smiled even more brightly.
“Didn’t Chen De say he already divorced you? I didn’t expect you’d actually find your way here.”
“You don’t seriously think Chen De would still want you, do you?”
By now, Wanwan understood exactly what was going on.
No wonder Sister Wang had said Chen De hadn’t written home for nearly two years!
Turns out he had someone else here!
A scumbag!
After getting himself a young, pretty lover, he was ready to abandon his wife who had shared hardships with him!
Sister Wang also finally realized what was happening.
She rushed into the master bedroom, then came out holding a pile of clothes, throwing them onto the living room floor.
Staring at the woman in disbelief, she demanded, “So these are all your clothes? I thought Xiao Dezi bought them for me!”
“I never imagined he’d do something so sorry to me!”
“I gave birth to his children back home, took care of his parents, and he dares to find you, you little slut, out here!”
Sister Wang’s hands hung stiffly at her sides, her whole body trembling with rage.
Wanwan hurried over, helped her sit down, and softly comforted her.
“Sister, don’t rush. Let’s first figure out exactly what’s going on.”
Seeing the clothes scattered on the floor and Sister Wang sitting there, the woman instantly exploded.
Smack!
She strode forward and slapped Sister Wang across the face.
It happened so fast that Wanwan didn’t even have time to react.
Sister Wang covered her face, staring at the woman in disbelief.
“You yellow-faced hag—how dare you throw my clothes away!”
She raised her hand again. This time, Wanwan grabbed her wrist and slapped her backhanded across the face.
Ridiculous!
A mistress daring to bully the rightful wife right to her face!
And from what Wanwan knew, Sister Wang and Chen De had never divorced at all!
So this woman was a confirmed homewrecker!
The woman clutched her face and stared at Wanwan in shock.
“You dared to hit me? Who do you think you are?”
Smack!
Wanwan stepped forward and slapped her again, the corners of her lips lifting slightly.
“Who I am is none of your business—mistress.”
The word mistress made the woman’s pupils widen in fury.