Chapter 100: Spoiled

Chapter 100: Chapter 100: Spoiled

"This incident was our fault. Besides, Su Wan is a military dependent. Her husband is a battalion commander, and he even knows the He family. Commander He also contacted me personally. Do you understand?"

It dawned on Mrs. Gao. "Old Gao, so that’s why you backed down. You scared me for a second. I really thought you were angry at Qiangqiang."

Mr. Gao frowned, a strange look on his face. "What makes you think I’m not angry?"

"Our daughter is being completely spoiled by you and Zhong Liu, and you don’t see a problem with it at all?"

Mrs. Gao replied automatically, "Qiangqiang doesn’t usually get into trouble. This was probably just a one-time thing."

"Enough. For the time being, don’t let Gao Qiang hang around Zhong Liu," Mr. Gao said with a frown.

"...If you do that, Ah Liu will be upset," Mrs. Gao countered, frowning in disapproval. "Besides, Qiangqiang is all grown up. We can’t control her forever."

"What do you mean, we can’t? I’m her father, so I have to discipline her. Not unless she wants nothing to do with me in the future!"

Mr. Gao continued, his brow furrowed, "Let’s drop it. We need to resolve this first. Since she isn’t willing to come to our home, you’ll go and apologize to her personally."

"...I understand."

-

In the courtyard, Su Wan and Su Jue had just finished breakfast.

A knock came from the front door.

Su Wan, her baby bump prominent, went to open the door. Seeing the elegant-looking woman standing at the entrance, she asked in confusion, "Ma’am, can I help you?"

"I’m looking for Comrade Su Wan."

"I am Su Wan." Su Wan was certain she didn’t know the woman.

"So you’re Comrade Su Wan. My name is Zhong He. I’m Gao Qiang’s mother."

Su Wan couldn’t see any resemblance to Gao Qiang in her face. ’Gao Qiang must take after Mr. Gao.’

"Hello, please come in." Su Wan didn’t leave her standing at the door but immediately welcomed her into the living room.

Su Jue came into the living room from the kitchen with a thermos and poured Mrs. Gao a cup of tea. "Mrs. Gao, we have a humble home, and the tea is just ordinary. If it’s not to your liking, I can get you some plain hot water."

In truth, Mrs. Gao was taken aback by the living room’s decor. She had originally thought of Su Wan as just a girl from the countryside and never expected her to have such a good eye for decorating.

"It’s fine, thank you."

"Mrs. Gao, this is my third brother, Comrade Su Jue," Su Wan introduced him.

It clicked for Mrs. Gao. ’So Su Wan has family to back her up here in the Capital,’ she thought. ’No wonder she’s so self-assured.’

"Comrade Su Wan, I actually came today to apologize to you. What my daughter, Gao Qiang, did was wrong. It’s my fault as a mother for not raising her better."

Su Wan didn’t know who was behind Mrs. Gao’s change in attitude. She smiled and said, "Mrs. Gao, the matter between Gao Qiang and me has already been fully investigated by the military and the research institute."

"Honestly, I’m not holding a grudge. I just feel that we don’t get along, so it’s better if we don’t run into each other."

"Neither of us is at fault."

Mrs. Gao’s expression had soured at the first sentence—after all, no one likes to hear their child being disliked—but the second sentence gave her a way to save face.

She could only play along, giving an awkward laugh. "You’re very sensible."

Mrs. Gao gently patted Su Wan’s hand. "I won’t say much more. These gifts represent the Gao family’s apology."

"Rest assured, I will discipline Qiangqiang. I’ll make sure she never bothers you again."

"Hearing you say that puts my mind at ease," Su Wan said with a faint smile.

It seemed polite, but her attitude was firm.

Although Mrs. Gao was displeased, she didn’t want to overstay her welcome and become a nuisance.

The first thing she did when she got home was tell Gao Qiang, "From now on, you steer clear of Su Wan when you see her. Our family can’t afford to provoke her. You two won’t be in the same place for long anyway, so stop looking for trouble with her."

"Mom, why are you taking Su Wan’s side too?"

"I’m not just taking her side; I even brought her an apology gift. A few more incidents like this, and you’ll have made me lose all my face."

Gao Qiang was mortified and annoyed by her mother’s words.

"Since when am I afraid of some country bumpkin?"

"She married well, so she’s not just a country bumpkin anymore. What can you do? She was born lucky." Mrs. Gao admonished her. Seeing her daughter was still unconvinced, she played her trump card. "If you don’t listen, I’ll stop giving you an allowance from now on. I’ll give it all to your brother instead."

Gao Qiang was instantly speechless. Losing her money over someone like Su Wan wasn’t worth it at all. Of course, she wasn’t going to let that happen.

"Fine, fine, fine! I’ll steer clear of her from now on."

"That’s more like it."

Sometime later, Su Wan ran into Gao Qiang again, but the other girl spotted her and left before she could even get close.

With such a major nuisance resolved, Su Wan was very happy. Her steps were lighter on the way home, and since she had also managed to buy some useful parts today, she hurried back.

Unexpectedly, Lu Zhengchuan, who had been away at the military base for five days, was back.

"Wanwan."

He arrived just after Su Wan and Su Jue had finished dinner.

Su Wan had already cleaned up and was sitting in the room, reading by the light of a kerosene lamp.

Beside her were some notes she had written down—things she didn’t understand and planned to ask Professor Wang about when she had the chance.

Ever since she visited Professor Wang and received those books, he had given her an assignment: finish reading several books before the school term began, and she could ask him about anything she didn’t understand.

"You’re back?"

Su Wan rubbed her eyes and looked up. Seeing Lu Zhengchuan in his dirt-stained military uniform, she shot up from her seat. A slight pain flared in her belly, and she abruptly sat back down.

She drew in a sharp breath.

"Wanwan, are you alright?" Forgetting how dirty he was, Lu Zhengchuan rushed over to support her. "I’ll take you to the clinic."

Su Wan reached out and grabbed his wrist. "I’m fine. I just stood up too quickly."

"What about you? Have you already been in the exercise?"

"Not yet. The exercise will last for a month." Lu Zhengchuan shook his head, telling her everything he was permitted to say.

"I’ve been in training these past few days and also demonstrating a new type of mine detector for the leaders." ℴ

"So when does the exercise start?" Su Wan asked with concern, rubbing her belly.

Lu Zhengchuan sat beside her, gently stroking her abdomen with a soft look in his eyes. "The day after tomorrow. That’s why I’m going to pick up Aunt Zhao tomorrow."

"...Okay."

Early the next morning, Lu Zhengchuan took Su Jue and drove directly to Zhao Village on the outskirts of the city.

Su Wan stayed home to prepare lunch.

Early in the morning, she gave Zhang Shun some money and called out to him, "Shunzi, could you please go to the market and buy some groceries for me? You and Wei Hong should come over for lunch, too. I’ve been meaning to treat you both to a meal."

"Yes, Ma’am. I’ll go tell Wei Hong."

"Take the bicycle to be quicker." Su Wan told him to ride the new bicycle she had bought.

Zhang Shun waved his hand. "Ma’am, I can get a bike myself. My cousin has one, and he’d probably be mad if I didn’t use it. It’d be a waste!"

Leaving her with that, Zhang Shun ran off. He went to get Wei Hong, and the two of them went to the market together, returning quickly with the groceries.

For lunch, Su Wan made several dishes: scrambled eggs with tomato, shredded pork in sweet bean sauce, potato and pork bone stew, stir-fried cucumber, braised winter melon, and braised pork belly.