Chapter 54: Fiancé

Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Fiancé

"Your fiancé?"

"That’s right. My fiancé’s name is Liu Lang. He’s in the same unit as Lu Zhengchuan and, young as he is, he’s already a lieutenant. If you want to punish me, you have to get his permission first."

There was a reason Zheng Zhizhi was so brazen. She hadn’t caused any actual harm, so with Liu Lang around, she was sure she’d be fine.

Her reputation in the village, however, would be ruined.

But if it was ruined, so be it. She would just go join Liu Lang at the base and start her new life with him.

Could any of the villagers’ lives compare to the good life she would have as a lieutenant’s wife?

She had no desire to spend her life toiling in the fields. She couldn’t bear such a hard life for one more second.

The production team leader made a call to the military base.

Liu Lang was summoned to the mailroom.

"Lieutenant Liu, you have a phone call."

"Mm, thanks." Liu Lang took the receiver and spoke into it. "Hello, this is Liu Lang."

"Comrade Liu Lang, hello. This is Guo Dezhang, the leader of the Sunshine Production Team in Yang County. May I ask if you are the fiancé of Comrade Zheng Zhizhi from our village?"

"Zheng Zhizhi?" Liu Lang frowned upon hearing the name. "What has she done now?"

Liu Lang had a gut feeling that anything involving Zheng Zhizhi was bound to be bad news.

And sure enough, when Guo Dezhang told him what Zheng Zhizhi had done in the village, Liu Lang’s expression instantly darkened.

"Zheng Zhizhi tried to destroy the university acceptance letters of Comrade Su Wan and her older brother, Su Jue?"

Liu Lang hadn’t said it quietly, and nearly everyone in the mailroom heard him.

Zhang Cui, in particular, found her attention instantly captured.

She always paid extra attention to matters concerning Su Wan, just as she had when she first started spreading gossip about her.

"That’s right. Regarding this incident, although her attempt failed, she definitely did it. By rights, she should be fined and jailed for a week of reform."

Liu Lang said, "She’s done something outrageous. Even if she is my fiancée, she can’t be exempt from punishment. You should handle it as you see fit."

Guo Dezhang was a little surprised. "Really?"

"Yes. I won’t enable her to keep making mistakes."

After saying this, Liu Lang was about to hang up.

On the other end of the line, Zheng Zhizhi snatched the phone away. "Liu Lang! How can you not help me?"

"I can’t control you. You had a good life ahead of you. Why must you cause trouble for Comrade Su Wan? When you were doing these wicked things, didn’t you ever think it would ruin the good life you already had?" Liu Lang was baffled.

’I really don’t understand how her mind works,’ he thought.

"If you were more capable, I wouldn’t have made these mistakes." Zheng Zhizhi was jealous of Su Wan. She didn’t understand why Lu Zhengchuan insisted on marrying Su Wan instead of her.

Wasn’t she doing all this simply because the man she had couldn’t compare to Su Wan’s?

Liu Lang’s tone was calm. "The fact that I’m not as capable as Battalion Commander Lu is no excuse for you to make mistakes."

"Just confess your mistakes honestly. I don’t have the power to help you, nor will I enable you."

With that, Liu Lang hung up the phone.

Back in the village, Zheng Zhizhi was taken directly by the production team members to the county police station.

By the time the two elders of the Zheng Family heard the news, she had already been locked up.

"That Zheng Zhizhi is such a menace." Hearing the news gave Aunt Zhang a headache. She tugged on Uncle Zhang’s arm. "Tell me, was I wrong before? For wanting Wanwan to stay in the village to have her baby?"

"I’ve told you before, that was just your idea. Su Wan might not want to come back to the village to give birth and recover," Uncle Zhang said, his head down as he dug for sweet potatoes.

Aunt Zhang frowned. "But I was only thinking of what’s best for Wanwan. It’s not an issue while she’s still early in her pregnancy, but when it’s time to give birth, she’ll have no one to look after her at the base. Zheng Chuan is often away on missions."

"I’d love to go take care of her, but the travel and living expenses aren’t cheap. For that much money, she could come back here and buy plenty of nourishing foods in the village."

Ultimately, Aunt Zhang was just trying to save money. She wouldn’t dare spend money the way Su Wan did. The root of it was that she had no way to earn her own, so naturally, she had to pinch every penny.

"But isn’t there still the Su Family? Besides, Su Wan will probably be going to university. Having a baby at the base or in the village is unrealistic either way."

"You’re right. I’ll go talk to the Su Family right now." Hearing this, Aunt Zhang couldn’t sit still.

That evening, after finishing her work, she took a basket of eggs and went to the Su family’s home.

"Sister-in-law, I hope I’m not bothering you." Aunt Zhang gave Mother Su an ingratiating smile.

Mother Su’s attitude toward her was lukewarm; after all, Aunt Zhang’s daughter, Zhang Yun, had been an accomplice in harming Su Wan.

Since the incident, Mother Su had been ignoring Aunt Zhang. When they ran into each other in the village, they would exchange smiles to avoid giving people something to gossip about, but they had absolutely no real interaction.

They had a silent agreement not to approach each other.

"Oh, it’s Zheng Chuan’s aunt. Is there something I can help you with?" Mother Su invited her to sit in the main room.

Aunt Zhang saw that while the Su family’s house was also made of packed earth, the inside was beautifully kept. There were even stylish calendar posters on the walls.

There was also a vase—it was just a glass wine bottle, but it looked quite pretty and elegant.

And the windows even had new paper panes pasted on them.

"Ah, Sister-in-law, I know I’m being brazen by showing up like this, but I wanted to ask... Wanwan is going to university, right?" Aunt Zhang asked, her voice full of apprehension.

"That’s right. Our Wanwan is so accomplished, she actually got into Jing University! It would be a terrible waste for her not to go after getting such great scores." Mother Su puffed out her chest with pride. "Our Su family will support her even if we have to sell everything we own."

Su Jue also nodded. "Exactly. Wanwan’s scores are much better than mine. Even though she’s married, she can still go to school. Our village isn’t that old-fashioned."

Su Jue watched her guardedly, aiming that last sentence directly at her.

There were stories from other villages of married young women who passed the university exams, only for their husbands’ families to forbid them from going, even tearing up their acceptance letters.

Aunt Zhang felt a prickle of discomfort. ’Does the Su Family really think I’m that kind of awful person?’

But then she remembered what her own daughter had done, and she could only swallow her pride.

"Of course, I’m also very happy that Wanwan got into university. If she weren’t pregnant, there would be no problem with her going. But she’s three months pregnant now..."

"What? Pregnant? Three months pregnant?" Mother Su’s face went pale with shock at the sudden news.

Su Jue blurted out instinctively, "Impossible! How could I not know Wanwan is pregnant? And three months? Doesn’t that mean she was already pregnant before she left for the base?"

"Wanwan’s pregnant? It’s so dangerous for her to go to the base all by herself, then," Eldest Brother Su said with a worried frown.

Second Brother Su was also worried. "Mom, Wanwan is so young. She’s only eighteen and already pregnant. She definitely doesn’t know anything about pregnancy. Won’t she be scared all alone at the base?"

The entire family, including the nieces and nephews, suddenly grew worried sick about Su Wan.

"Auntie is pregnant? Does that mean her belly will get big like Mommy’s, and she’ll bleed if she falls down?" their niece, Qianqian, asked, tugging on Eldest Sister-in-law Su’s hand with a scared look on her little face.

Eldest Sister-in-law Su remembered when she was pregnant with her second child, An’an. She had lost her footing and fallen, and there had been bleeding. She was rushed to the clinic and needed expensive medicine to save the baby. Back then, her sister-in-law, without a single word of complaint, had taken out her own money to buy the medicine for her.

That was the only reason An’an was born safely.

And her sister-in-law—Su Wan—was only fourteen at the time.

"This won’t do. We have to go to the base and take care of Wanwan!" the whole family declared in unison.