Chapter 272: Gift
Chapter 272: Chapter 272: Gift
Before Lu Tingting could finish, An Hui pulled her aside and had Ma Hongmei check on Jiang Moli.
Ma Hongmei carefully examined Jiang Moli’s cheeks and neck before breathing a sigh of relief.
"It’s fine. There are no finger marks."
Lu Tingting was frantic. "I didn’t choke her! I was just..."
"Come out with me. Don’t disturb your Third Aunt’s rest."
Once in the living room, An Hui grabbed a feather duster and swatted Lu Tingting’s bottom twice.
"What were you thinking, choking your Third Aunt? Did you want to kill her?"
Lu Tingting hopped in frustration. "I didn’t! I was just trying to measure her neck!"
"I saw it with my own eyes, and you still won’t admit it! Is a neck something you can just grab? It looks like you’re asking for a beating!"
With that, she raised the feather duster and started hitting her bottom.
No matter how Lu Tingting tried to explain, An Hui wouldn’t believe her. After giving her a sound spanking, she sent her packing.
Lu Tingting was so frustrated she could have coughed up blood.
After she left, An Hui fetched a basin of hot water, brought it into Jiang Moli’s room, and began wiping her hands and face.
The moment the hot towel touched her face, Jiang Moli woke up.
Seeing it was An Hui, she smiled sweetly. "Mom~"
"You’re a lightweight, yet you always drink too much. You never learn your lesson."
An Hui scolded her, but her expression was filled with the gentle affection of an elder.
Jiang Moli reached both hands toward An Hui, fingers slightly splayed, looking as adorable as a kitten stretching its paws to be pampered.
"That’s because I was happy! Besides, we’re at home, so I have you all to take care of me."
Speaking of being taken care of, An Hui’s mind was filled with the image of her granddaughter choking her third son’s wife.
’That granddaughter of mine is truly lawless,’ she thought. ’I’ll have to discipline her harshly another day.’
Many years later, when An Hui was old and senile, having forgotten most things and people, she still remembered this incident.
On her deathbed, she would still be holding Lu Tingting’s hand, instructing her, "You mustn’t harm your Third Aunt..."
After wiping Jiang Moli’s face and hands, An Hui took the basin out.
When she returned, Jiang Moli was already fast asleep, her eyes closed.
She placed the item she was holding by Jiang Moli’s pillow, tucked her in, and then turned off the light and left.
...
「Daluo Town, Red Ant Village.」
Lu Cheng and the members of his mission team were hidden in a dilapidated stone house.
In the center of the house, a bonfire built from dry wood burned brightly.
Lu Cheng, Jiang Peng, Zhang Jia Ming, and seven or eight other soldiers sat around the fire. Their faces were painted with pigments to alter their skin tone, making them look more like the natives of Daluo Town.
At midnight, they would take a mountain path to sneak into Myanmar.
A large group would attract too much attention, so the team had to split up.
Lu Cheng and Jiang Peng would be one team, while the other soldiers would form groups of two or three.
After finalizing the operational plan and code signals, Lu Cheng took out dry rations and distributed them to everyone.
The rations were corn buns, two for each person.
The soldiers looked at each other as they ate the buns.
"Big Brother, why are these buns sweet?"
To avoid exposing the operation, everyone in the task force had adopted new identities and codenames.
Lu Cheng went by the codename Big Brother, and Jiang Peng was Iron Bull.
Jiang Peng took a bite of his bun and said, "They’re sweet because sugar was added."
Lu Cheng replied, "It’s the white sugar your Sister-in-law sent. When this mission is over and we’re back, I’ll have the mess hall stew some cured pork for you all to celebrate."
The soldiers were all thrilled, practically itching to set off immediately.
After finishing the buns, Lu Cheng volunteered for the first watch outside, letting the soldiers rest.
As he was staring blankly at the pitch-black night sky, Jiang Peng furtively sat down next to him.
"Brother-in-law, missing my sister, huh?"
Lu Cheng turned his head to look at the blurry outline of Jiang Peng’s face and teased in a low voice, "First time on a mission? Feeling nervous and scared?"
"I’m thrilled, Brother-in-law! If this mission goes well, do you think I could get a promotion?"
Lu Cheng slapped him on the back of the head. "In your dreams. You’re already thinking about a promotion on your first mission? Get a couple of years of experience under your belt first."
Jiang Peng rubbed the back of his head, not discouraged in the least.
’I was the first from the recruit camp to go on a mission,’ he thought. ’That alone is enough for me to brag about for half a year!’
Lu Cheng gazed at the sparse stars in the night sky and said, "Today is the Winter Solstice. It’s your sister’s birthday."
Jiang Peng slapped his forehead. "I completely forgot!"
Lu Cheng’s voice carried a rare note of self-blame and loneliness. "It’s her first birthday since she married into the family. It’s a shame I can’t be there to celebrate with her."
"It’s fine. My sister is easy to please. Just give her money to spend, and she’ll be happy."
Lu Cheng asked curiously, "How did your sister usually celebrate her birthday when she was living at home?"
Jiang Peng said, "In the morning, Aunt Hongying would boil two eggs for her. Then my dad would buy some meat and cook a nice meal."
At the mention of Li Hongying, Jiang Peng couldn’t help but feel sad. "I’ve only been gone a few months, and Aunt Hongying is gone. When I enlisted, she even made me two new pairs of cloth shoes. My dad is still so young. Who knows, by the time I get back, he might have found me a new stepmom."
Lu Cheng didn’t know what to say.
’My father-in-law is not yet forty,’ he thought. ’He still has decades ahead of him, and it would indeed be lonely to spend them alone.’
"Hey, Brother-in-law, if my sister... passed away, would you remarry?"
The words were barely out of his mouth when Lu Cheng sent him flying with a kick. "Can’t you wish your sister and me well for once!"
Inside the stone house, Zhang Jia Ming wasn’t asleep either.
Although Lu Cheng and Jiang Peng kept their voices low, he had still overheard the gist of it.
When he received the news of Jiang Qing’s imprisonment, he felt more than just heartache; he was lost.
’We were husband and wife,’ he thought, ’yet I realize I was never able to figure out what was on Jiang Qing’s mind or understand what she truly wanted.’
He felt even more sorrow and regret over the death of his mother-in-law.
What he hadn’t expected was that, after everything that had happened, Lu Cheng was still willing to give him a chance.
’I have to complete this mission successfully and not disappoint my superior!’
At 4 a.m., Lu Cheng led the team, fully geared, and they set out.
The next morning, Jiang Moli rolled over and felt something under her neck. She picked it up and saw it was a red velvet pouch.
The pouch was tied shut with a drawstring and felt heavy in her hand.
She opened it, took out the contents, and a glint of gold flashed in her eyes.
It was a solid gold, unadorned pendant, about the size of a matchbox. She weighed it in her palm and estimated it was around 30 grams.
When they’d spoken on the phone a few days ago, her husband had asked what she wanted for her birthday. She had casually said half a jin of Lao Feng Xiang jewelry, never thinking he’d actually send her a piece of gold.
At the time, the price of gold was 9 yuan per gram, so 30 grams would be 270 yuan.
’Did that dog of a man have a secret stash of cash?’
Jiang Moli was wide awake now. She took out the gift that Yang Lijiong had given her yesterday.
Opening it, she saw it was a fountain pen with a gold nib.
She filled it with ink and wrote a few words. The nib glided smoothly across the paper, and the pen felt perfect in her hand.
"System, when I leave, can I take these things back to my original world?"
"You cannot. Host, once the mission is complete, you’ll be a billionaire. You can buy as many of these little trinkets as you want."
"System, you don’t understand love."
"Love is fundamentally inconsistent with human nature. Very few people love only one person their entire life. Only loving yourself is a lifelong romance."
Jiang Moli asked, "Where did you learn that?"
"It’s written in books. There’s more, too. ’No man will love you forever, but new men will constantly come to love you...’"
"Cut it out."