Chapter 74: Forced Discharge

Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Forced Discharge

Liu Lang was exasperated. ’Do I look like that kind of scumbag?’

"I know," Liu Lang said, his face dark. "Liu Xiangju left the fruit at the door and went on her way."

This was the exact sentence Aunt Liu had been waiting for.

She raised her voice righteously. "My Xiangju and her future son-in-law, Song Feng, are kind and generous. They heard you were injured, so they brought you fruit."

"Even knowing a visit would stir up gossip, she came anyway. It’s a good thing you were polite enough not to insist she come inside."

With a single sentence, Aunt Liu framed the event: Liu Xiangju had merely dropped off fruit and never stepped inside.

Sure enough, the other family members asked boldly, "Xiangju didn’t go inside? Then who was spreading the rumor that she and Liu Lang were rekindling their old flame?"

Hearing this, Liu Lang looked at Aunt Liu.

Aunt Liu, of course, gave him a look, silently telling him to play along.

After all, the rumor was just as absurd and meaningless for Liu Lang.

Liu Lang lowered his eyes. "I don’t know who’s gossiping, but I’m telling the truth. My comrade-in-arms, Zhou Chuang, was the one who carried the fruit in for me."

He was sitting in a chair, his legs wrapped tightly in bandages through which ointment and fresh blood were seeping. The sight of his grievous injuries silenced the family members who had come over to watch the drama unfold.

The last thing they wanted to see was an injured soldier; after all, their own family members were in the military too.

At the very least, Liu Lang was fighting for the country. They couldn’t do anything to dishearten a soldier.

"Lieutenant Liu has Zhou Chuang for a witness. I can’t imagine where this idle talk came from, falsely accusing Lieutenant Liu and my Xiangju. I just wonder what the person who first said it was thinking," Aunt Liu said, her tone dripping with insinuation.

Instantly seizing the upper hand, a few of the nearby family members who had participated in the gossip averted their eyes, not daring to meet Aunt Liu’s gaze.

But Aunt Liu made a point of staring right at them.

"Little Qi, tell me. Was it you who spread this gossip?" Aunt Liu rounded on Qi Lin, the youngest lieutenant’s wife.

Qi Lin was young and thin-skinned. Confronted by the mother of one of the parties involved, she couldn’t take the pressure and instinctively turned to look at Granny Zhang, the one who had told her the gossip in the first place.

Granny Zhang met Aunt Liu’s furious gaze. She faltered, her conscience pricking her, and pointed directly at Deng Chun. "Xiao Deng told me! I just talked about it a little, is that a crime?"

Deng Chun’s expression soured. Annoyed that Granny Zhang had dragged her into this mess, she could only resentfully point out the next person in the chain.

And so they passed the buck from one to another, until finally, all eyes landed on Zheng Qing.

"Zheng Qing! So it was you, running your mouth." Seeing her, Aunt Liu didn’t hesitate for a second, raising her hand and slapping her across the face.

Zheng Qing’s hair was knocked into disarray. She knew what Aunt Liu was capable of, so she didn’t dare hide anything. She grabbed Aunt Liu’s arm, begging for mercy. "Auntie, Auntie, please don’t be mad! It’s all my fault. I just had a moment of stupidity and blabbed about seeing Sister Xiangju leaving the Liu Family’s home last night. I honestly can’t control my big mouth, I didn’t mean any harm!"

Seeing that she actually dared to admit it, Aunt Liu was livid.

Pretending not to hear, she continued to hit her.

Zhang Yun rolled up her sleeves. "Aha, so it was you, Sister-in-law Zheng! You and your big mouth! You nearly made Aunt Liu think I was the one who said it."

Her mistress had almost been wrongly accused at the very start of this.

And Zhang Yun herself was about to be sent back to her village because of this whole affair.

The more Zhang Yun thought about it, the more wronged she felt. Unable to hold back, she also stepped forward and gave Zheng Qing a few hard slaps.

"Enough! If you want to cause a scene, take it outside," Liu Lang roared, his voice low. His sudden outburst startled everyone—except for Aunt Liu—and they all stopped, looking at each other in shock.

Aunt Liu shoved away the wailing Zheng Qing and warned her, "Run your mouth again, and see if I don’t go have a nice long talk with your husband."

That scared Zheng Qing. She was afraid of causing trouble for her husband, which would surely earn her a scolding. So, covering her face, she swallowed her resentment. To save face, she kept her face covered and ran off.

Aunt Liu was one to hold a grudge. After giving a cold snort in Zheng Qing’s direction, she asked Liu Lang, "Your fiancée, Zheng Zhizhi, made a mistake and can’t enter the military compound, so there’s no one to take care of you. Aren’t you going to call your family back home and ask someone to come look after you?"

Aunt Liu wasn’t actually concerned about Liu Lang. She wanted to see what kind of people his parents were—the ones with rocks in their heads who had messed up her daughter’s marriage prospects. No matter who they sent to the family compound, she was prepared to give them a hard time.

"I’ve already written and called. My mom will come to the compound to take care of me. She should be on the train by now." Liu Lang lowered his eyes, hiding the icy glint within them.

"Fine. As long as you have someone to take care of you. It’ll also stop my Xiangju and Song Feng from taking pity on you, only to have people start rumors when they bring you some fruit."

The family members who had participated in the rumor-mongering: "..."

Everyone was left speechless again, a little peeved. They thought Zheng Qing was completely out of line. If not for her spouting nonsense, why would they have gossiped? They were just shocked that the two might be getting back together.

"Alright, if there’s nothing else, I’m leaving. That fiancée of yours... since the military wouldn’t even approve the marriage report, you can’t possibly still marry her, can you?"

Liu Lang didn’t answer Aunt Liu.

Not two or three days later, Mrs. Liu personally arrived at the family compound to "look after" Liu Lang.

Liu Lang watched her shut the courtyard gate tightly, and he brought up the topic himself. "Mom, the army didn’t approve my marriage report with Zheng Zhizhi. I can’t marry her."

"Then you should just leave the army. You’re injured anyway. I heard if this injury doesn’t heal well, you might have to be discharged regardless. If that’s the case, you’re better off applying for a transfer to a civilian job. I think a few of the factories in our county are pretty good. With your military record, you could at least become a department head."

Hearing this, Liu Lang snapped his head up, his eyes red with anger.

"Mom, are you serious? I already agreed to marry Zheng Zhizhi. Isn’t that enough?"

"But you can’t marry her, can you? If you don’t marry Zheng Zhizhi, what if her brother starts implicating your little brother from prison?"

"All the family’s money went to paying fines for your brother. If you don’t placate Zheng Zhizhi and your brother gets into trouble again, where are we supposed to find the money to get him out?"

Mrs. Liu angrily slapped at him.

Liu Lang was numb from the pain racking his body. His eyes were bloodshot, and his voice was hoarse. "Mom, can’t you see that I’m injured? Is my brother the only one you care about?"

"I’m doing this for your own good." Mrs. Liu accused him tearfully, "You’re a soldier, you’re not home year-round, and you could be killed in action at any moment. Your brother is the only one who stays by our side. Can’t you think about your father and me for once? If you don’t help your brother, do you want your father and me to be left all alone with no one to rely on in our old age?"

Liu Lang grabbed his head in agony and said no more.

At the door, Zhang Yun quietly slipped away and went to find Aunt Liu.

She relayed everything she had just overheard.

Aunt Liu patted her shoulder in satisfaction. She then said to Su Wan, who was just coming out from Master Ji’s house next door, "Wanwan, ah, I’ll return Xiao Yun to you. You can take her back. As for this business with the gossip, I won’t hold her mistake against her anymore."