"She knew perfectly well how hard it was for us to conceive this child, yet she still pushed me down the stairs."
"I begged her, pleaded with her desperately, but she remained unmoved. She only took me to the hospital after I passed out."
What happened afterward, Hu Meili already knew.
Even now, recalling it still made her sick to her stomach.
"While Mingjuan was unconscious, that wicked old hag went around the military housing complex telling everyone Mingjuan had slipped and fallen down the stairs on her own."
"And when Mingjuan woke up and accused her, the old hag didn’t even try to explain—she just kept crying."
"At the time, only the two of them were home. Each had their own version of events, and with no way to determine the truth, the military couldn’t fairly mediate."
Hearing this, Jiang Si immediately understood.
This woman had set up the whole thing. She had spent years playing the meek, dutiful mother-in-law, carefully crafting a saintly image for herself.
Then she twisted the truth, pinning all the blame on Sister-in-law Xu.
This wasn’t just ruthless—it was downright cruel.
She had left Sister-in-law Xu with no way out.
If not for Sister-in-law Xu’s resilience, she might not have survived that ordeal.
Jiang Si couldn’t contain her anger. "What a vile, wicked heart!"
Hu Meili nodded in agreement. "Thank goodness Lei Zi didn’t buy into his mother’s lies, or Mingjuan would’ve been wronged to death!"
"But without proof, Lei Zi couldn’t officially cut ties with her."
"Still, there’s one thing Lei Zi did that was truly admirable."
Jiang Si perked up with curiosity. "What was it?"
Hu Meili nudged her chin toward Xu Mingjuan, signaling her to explain.
At this, a faint smile finally returned to Xu Mingjuan’s face.
"After Lei Zi went back, he tore down the old family house. Anything bought with his salary, he took back."
"And as for the agreed-upon support money for his mother—not a single cent was sent after that."
In essence, it was as good as cutting ties.
Jiang Si suddenly chuckled, as if struck by a thought. "Didn’t they come to make trouble over it?"
"Oh, they came—several times, actually."
Xu Mingjuan continued, "But every time they showed up, Lei Zi would beat up his useless older brothers and younger brother first thing."
"He’d take the disciplinary action without hesitation—he just kept hitting them."
Hu Meili chimed in, "Once, when Lei Zi and my Old Xiao were away on a mission, your Old Huo went out in the middle of the night with a burlap sack."
"Point is, they never left empty-handed. Every visit, they went home with fresh bruises."
"After a few beatings, they finally got the message and stayed away."
Still, Hu Meili warned, "That old hag hasn’t shown her face around the housing complex in over a year. You and Lei Zi should be careful—I doubt she’s up to anything good."
Xu Mingjuan thought for a moment. "A colleague mentioned she brought a child with her this time. Probably trying to force an adoption on us."
She wasn’t entirely sure, but Lei Zi was handling it.
"What?!"
Hu Meili exploded. "That old hag must be out of her mind!"
Jiang Si stayed silent, but her emotions were indescribably tangled.
Noticing their concerned looks, Xu Mingjuan smiled reassuringly. "Don’t worry about me. If those things didn’t break me back then, they certainly won’t now."
In the first couple of years, she had desperately wanted a child.
After all, the doctors had only said her chances of conceiving again were slim—not impossible.
But after trying every method under the sun, each attempt ended in failure.
Over time, she made peace with it. No child? So be it.
She and Lei Zi had saved up plenty over the years—enough to secure their future.
"Enough about these unpleasant matters. It’s past eleven—shouldn’t we start cooking?" Xu Mingjuan rolled up her sleeves cheerfully.
"Right, but with all this seafood, it won’t take long," Hu Meili said.
With that, the women headed to the kitchen.
While they had been talking, the two little ones had already washed most of the vegetables for lunch and were now peeling sweet potato stems.
Still a novice in the kitchen, Jiang Si opted not to get in the way. Instead, she pulled up a small stool and sat between the kids.
"You can eat these?" she asked curiously.
"Yep! Stir-fry them with lard, chili, and garlic—super tasty!"
The younger boy, a natural extrovert, demonstrated enthusiastically. "Auntie, watch—break off a small piece like this, then peel downward. Once the skin’s off, snap it into bite-sized bits."
It looked simple enough.
Jiang Si grinned. "Let me try."
The boy nodded eagerly.
With nimble fingers, he broke the stems into segments and draped them—leaves and all—over his ears.
He gave his head a playful shake. "Bro, don’t I look gorgeous?"
Weidong shot him a deadpan look and stayed silent.
But Hu Meili, emerging from the kitchen with a dish, took one glance at the ridiculous sight and kicked the boy lightly.
"Gorgeous? More like ridiculous! Go wipe the table already."
Rubbing his backside, the boy sighed. "Okaaay…"
Jiang Si burst out laughing.
There was no denying it—with these two around, life was never dull.
Just then, noise erupted outside.
Spotting her husband’s return, Hu Meili promptly dragged Xu Mingjuan out of the kitchen.
Without a word, Xiao Zhengjun untied Hu Meili’s apron, while Huo Tingzhou and Deputy Regiment Commander Lei rolled up their sleeves and filed into the kitchen.
The three men worked efficiently.
In under half an hour, the meal was ready.
With twelve people—adults and kids—gathered, Hu Meili had prepared a feast of Qiongzhou Island specialties.
The seafood spread included steamed grouper, poached prawns, stir-fried crab with ginger and scallions, clams in black bean sauce, braised eel, and squid with chives.
There was also a massive steamer piled with oysters, scallops, sea urchins, slipper lobsters, and assorted shellfish.
Hot dishes featured chicken gizzards with sand ginger, taro-braised pork, tofu stewed with shrimp paste and pork belly, and twice-cooked pork.
For greens, they had stir-fried sweet potato stems and water spinach.
The main staple was seafood fried rice noodles, accompanied by a light winter melon and clam soup.
"Almost forgot—I made agar jelly too!"
"Old Xiao, go crack open a couple of coconuts," Hu Meili called out before ushering everyone to the table. "Come on, Uncle Zhong and Elder San, you take the seats of honor. Everyone else, find a spot!"
As Jiang Si sat down, she glanced around. "Huh? Where’s He Ping?"
Speak of the devil.
No sooner had she asked than He Ping strolled into the yard, grinning as he carried a crate of sodas.
Trailing behind him was a girl with shoulder-length braids.
Hu Meili beamed. "This is He Ping’s girlfriend, Ding Xiang."
Young but confident, Ding Xiang exchanged greetings with everyone before they all settled in.
The atmosphere was warm and relaxed among close friends. After a few toasts with water in place of wine, they dug into the meal heartily.
The men, however, barely ate—they spent the whole time peeling shrimp for the others.
At that moment, He Ping and Ding Xiang suddenly raised their cups and stood up with solemn expressions.
