Chapter 329: Chapter 329: Extraordinarily Thick-Skinned

In the evening, Jiang Moli was woken up by the sound of children talking.

She got up and went to the window. The sun had already set, and the orange-red sunset painted the sky like a magnificent oil painting.

Across the way, in front of the window of the opposite room, two children were staring at her in surprise.

From their faces, they looked like a sister and brother. The sister appeared to be eleven or twelve, while the brother was about seven or eight.

The sister was holding a bright yellow banana. The two of them must have just been fighting over it.

Jiang Moli reached her hand out the window. "Give me a banana."

Probably having never met an adult so shamelessly begging for food, the sister hesitated for a moment before tossing the banana to her through the window.

Jiang Moli caught the banana and, right in front of the siblings, peeled and began to eat it.

[Disdain Value +1. 10,000 Yuan credited to account.]

The little brother’s lip jutted out. "That’s my banana! I’m going to tell Mom!"

With that, he huffed and ran out of the room.

"An’an!"

The sister turned to chase after him but was stopped by Jiang Moli.

"Hey, what’s your name?"

"Xu Yingzi."

"How old are you?"

"Eleven."

Jiang Moli took a bite of the sweet, soft banana and smiled at her. "Do you know who I am?"

Xu Yingzi shook her head, though she secretly guessed, ’She must be Commander Lu’s wife.’

’Commander Lu’s wife is so beautiful. Her skin is as white as snow, with curved eyebrows and big eyes, just like a fairy from a painting.’

Jiang Moli said, "Go on, take a guess."

Before Xu Yingzi could purse her lips and say anything, Xu Anan, who had run out, came running back with a woman in her thirties following behind him.

The woman wore a blue blouse with diagonal frog closures and black trousers. Her hair was pulled back into a round bun. Her relaxed features conveyed a simple, rustic competence.

"Mom, Sis gave my banana to her!"

Seeing the banana in Jiang Moli’s hand, now only a small piece, Xu Anan was so angry he was about to cry.

"Go on, go do your homework outside. If you don’t finish, watch out, or your dad will peel your hide when he gets back."

After shooing the two siblings out of the room, the woman turned to Jiang Moli and made polite small talk. "You must be Commander Lu’s wife, right? My surname is Sun. My husband is Political Commissioner Xu."

"A pleasure to meet you, Sister."

Jiang Moli smiled and sniffed the air. "What delicious food are you making for dinner, Sister? It smells wonderful."

Sun Li smiled back. "Just some braised tofu. You’ve just arrived, so you probably don’t have all your kitchen things yet. If you don’t mind, you can join us for a simple meal tonight."

Jiang Moli beamed. "Okay, okay! I love tofu!"

Sun Li was just being polite, not expecting Jiang Moli to be so forward. Her smile froze for a second before she said:

"Alright then. Come on over in a little while."

"Okay!"

...

After washing her face, rinsing her mouth, and tidying up, Jiang Moli leisurely made her way down the wooden stairs and out the door.

Next door to the left, the wife of Vice Commander Huo was taking in laundry at her doorway.

Seeing Jiang Moli, Chen Guihua quickly stopped what she was doing to greet her.

"I work at the tea plantation outside town. As soon as I got back, I heard the other wives saying Commander Lu’s wife had arrived. I was just thinking of stopping by to say hello later."

After all, Jiang Moli’s husband was her own husband’s superior, so Chen Guihua’s attitude was particularly enthusiastic.

Jiang Moli was curious. "Oh, really? What are they saying about me? They’re not gossiping, are they?"

Chen Guihua gave an awkward laugh. "Of course not! Everyone’s praising how beautiful you are. So young and educated! From now on, the title of ’Belle of the Compound’ will belong to you!"

"Hmm, it seems our residents have sharp eyes after all."

After watching Jiang Moli enter Political Commissioner Xu’s home, several other wives living nearby came out of their own homes and surrounded Chen Guihua.

When they learned that Jiang Moli had accepted the title of "Belle of the Compound" without a hint of modesty, they all remarked that the commander’s wife was truly thick-skinned.

...

"Xiao Jiang, please have a seat and some tea. We’ll eat as soon as Xu gets back."

"Okay, thank you for your trouble, Sister."

After getting Jiang Moli settled, Sun Li returned to the kitchen to continue with dinner.

Jiang Moli sipped her tea while sizing up the Xu Family’s home.

The layout was the same as hers, the only difference being that the bedroom on the right had been partitioned into two smaller rooms.

Right then, the brother and sister were each sitting at their own small desks in their rooms, doing homework.

Before long, the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs came from outside.

Xu Anan threw down his pen, shot out of the room like a rocket, and ran onto the corridor outside.

"Dad, Sis gave my banana to someone else!"

Xu Yingzi stomped out of her room, stood at the living room entrance, and yelled at Xu Anan, "Xu Anan, are you ever going to stop?! You keep going on and on about such a stupid little thing! I’ll buy you another one tomorrow!"

Sun Li came out of the kitchen, put a stop to the siblings’ argument, and then introduced Jiang Moli to the man who had just entered, Xu Heming.

"Commander Lu’s wife is here. Xiao Jiang, this is my husband, Xu."

Jiang Moli stood up and made polite conversation. "Political Commissioner Xu, sorry to impose on you for dinner tonight."

Xu Heming’s position was on the same level as Lu Cheng’s, but his military rank was one grade higher.

"Not at all! You’re most welcome."

Xu Heming was all smiles as he discreetly sized up Jiang Moli.

He had been transferred from the 1st Regiment and had never met Jiang Moli before, but he had heard quite a few rumors about her.

Seeing her today, he had to admit, her looks and bearing were truly extraordinary.

No wonder a man as cold, hard, and untamable as Lu Cheng would unconsciously show a trace of tenderness whenever his wife was mentioned.

Meanwhile, next door, Lu Cheng came home and didn’t see Jiang Moli. Just as he was about to go out and look for her, he heard a familiar voice call from the neighboring window, "Hey, looking for me?"

Turning to see her, Lu Cheng let out a visible sigh of relief. "What are you doing over there? Come back, it’s time for dinner."

Jiang Moli waved to him. "I’m eating at the Political Commissioner’s house tonight! You come over."

"Alright."

Lu Cheng grabbed his lunch box and swiftly headed over to the Xu Family’s home.

Sun Li had made three dishes: besides the braised tofu with radish, there was also a plate of stir-fried winter melon and a bowl of scrambled eggs with tomato.

In a place like Menglong, serving three dishes for one meal was a sign of considerable hospitality.

After eating and drinking their fill, Jiang Moli and Lu Cheng returned next door.

The Xu siblings, Yingzi and Anan, also went back to their rooms to continue their homework, while Xu Heming helped Sun Li clear the table.

Sun Li murmured to Xu Heming, "That wife of Commander Lu... she really isn’t shy with strangers at all. She even asked for the kids’ food, and when I invited her for dinner, she actually came."

Xu Heming said, "Relationships are built over time. Commander Lu is young and holds a high position, with a bunch of seasoned veterans under him. If his wife acts all high and mighty and doesn’t socialize with the other families, would that be any good for him?"

Sun Li thought about it for a moment and realized he was right.

They had been here for almost a month, and their interactions with Lu Cheng had been limited to polite nods.

But after tonight’s dinner, the two families had grown much closer.

「Late the next morning.」

A few of the wives had gathered by the well to do laundry, gossiping as they stared in the direction of Jiang Moli’s home.

"Hey, it’s almost 10 o’clock, and we still haven’t seen Commander Lu’s wife. She can’t still be sleeping, can she?"

"Ten to one she is. Our commander’s wife is a delicate one. When she went to visit family in Menghai, she didn’t do a thing. Every day she just waited for Commander Lu to bring back food from the mess hall, and he even washed her clothes for her."

What?

A wife who doesn’t do housework and instead makes her husband wash the clothes?

The other wives found it unbelievable.

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