"If you put it that way, it does sound rather wicked," Zhi Xia said in surprise, staring with wide eyes. She suddenly became rather curious about just what kind of high-tech gadgetry Shen Hongmei had on her body.
"Let's just talk about this between ourselves at home. We shouldn't mention it when we go out," Pei Jing cautioned, even though he knew Zhi Xia wasn't the type to gossip maliciously behind people's backs.
"I know that. And it's not like I'm dying to know their business. It's just that Shen Hongxing has had it out for us all along," Zhi Xia said, looking at him. "There's a saying, 'Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle.' I have to figure out why she's targeting us first, so I'll know how to deal with her in the future."
"I'm surprised you even know that saying. It seems like you've been keeping up with your studies lately. If there's anything you don't understand or have trouble with, you can ask me or Meng Meng," Pei Jing said. He knew Zhi Xia had brought some books with her when she came.
It was a good thing for her to love learning this way. An exceptional man like Pei Jing would never want his wife to be an ignorant village woman who couldn't read.
Although his original intention was to take responsibility because of that wild night and the relationship between their two families, and then later because of the child, he was always more satisfied deep down when Zhi Xia was willing to study and improve herself.
"Don't underestimate me. I just never had the opportunity before. In a few years, I might even be more learned than you," Zhi Xia said.
Pei Jing chuckled, his voice uncharacteristically playful. "Is that so? Then I look forward to seeing it."
Zhi Xia still didn't know he had graduated from a proper military academy.
"You don't need to worry too much about Shen Hongxing either. Get along with her if you can, and avoid her if you can't. We don't owe her anything, and certainly don't need to fear her," Pei Jing sighed as he continued. "To be honest, Shen Hongxing used to be quite nice. It's only in the past couple years that her personality has changed so drastically, and that was right around the time Shen Hongmei first came to visit not long afterwards. If Shen Hongmei comes looking for you again, just shut the door and don't let her in. She has no business coming over here from the performing troupe so often."
Pei Jing didn't used to believe in ghosts and spirits, but he had personally handled Shen Hongmei's investigation, and found the whole thing far too bizarre. At times, he couldn't help but wonder if there were indeed things in this world that they didn't know about.
But knowing something was one thing. When it hadn't happened to you personally, you still tended to doubt its credibility.
Outside, Pei Meng was giggling and shouting, "Auntie, they're all throwing snowballs at me! Come out and help me fight them!"
Pei Jing shot her a look indicating not to get involved, then went to the door himself and said, "Go play by yourself. Go play out front. Your auntie is expecting now, so we'll need to shovel all the snow off the yard later to keep the paths from getting slippery."
Pei Meng was taken aback for a moment before a delighted smile spread across her face. "Really? Then I get to be a big sister again?"
She didn't keep playing after that, and called for the other children to stop throwing snowballs that way.
Pei Jing had spoken loudly enough to be heard on both sides.
At this point, Zhi Xia was only a few days away from three months along, but they had claimed to others she was only a month and a half.
They would have to explain the month and a half time discrepancy later by saying she had delivered prematurely.
Lin Fengxia had just come out of the kitchen and happened to hear Pei Jing's announcement. She had been thinking Shen Hongxing claimed they couldn't conceive, and now suddenly she was pregnant. How delightful!
She called loudly from the kitchen, "Zhi Xia, so you really are pregnant? Congratulations to you two!"
Pei Jing answered on Zhi Xia's behalf, "Sister-in-law, yes she's pregnant, only a month and a half along. We didn't intend to share the news so early, but we were worried about worrying all you sisters-in-law, so we had to tell you sooner."
Next door, Shen Hongxing knew perfectly well they had said it loudly on purpose for her to hear. She gritted her teeth and grumbled under her breath, "So what if she's pregnant? With a body as weak as hers, who knows if she can even carry to term? And even if she does give birth, there's no guarantee she can raise the child well..."
Yang Jun crouched miserably nearby, his face covered in scratch marks.
After a while, he finally came to a decision.
Lately, ever since Hongmei had come back, he felt this woman's madness had grown worse and worse. At least she used to be discreet when maligning people behind their backs. Now she was provoking them to their faces.
No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't understand how his once gentle and kind wife had become such a vicious person, even cursing their neighbor's unborn child.
Having just returned from the hospital, Shen Hongmei got up to go reconcile with her sister and brother-in-law when she heard they were fighting again, but stopped when she reached the door and went back to lie down instead.
She couldn't go over.
This was all because of her that her sister had changed like this. If her sister didn't love her so much, none of this would have happened.
She had to keep her distance from them. She couldn't keep hurting her sister and brother-in-law.
[Host, if you want to save your sister, you should hurry up and increase her favorability. You don't want to hurt anyone, so make more people like you. That way, each person only needs to contribute a little favorability without causing them any harm.]
Sensing Shen Hongmei's inner longing, the system quickly continued enticing her.
It had thought it could obtain more energy after leaving that small mountain village, but unexpectedly, Shen Hongmei had become hesitant and cautious after coming here, and the guards were too vigilant for it to make any big moves.
But looking at its current host, she was growing more and more disobedient. If it didn't teach her a lesson, she would never understand her place.
It snowed for three days before stopping. The accumulated snow on the ground was very thick, and icicles had also frozen on the eaves. Pei Jing poked them down with a stick.
Pei Meng didn't want to return to the countryside again, so her marriage had to be put on the agenda. After all, the household registrations of educated youth went wherever the person went, so she could live here, but her registration and food subsidies were still in the village.
Pei Jing called his Second Brother and Sister-in-Law, but with the roads blocked from snow, they could only mail Pei Meng the money and tickets. Pei Jing would have to handle the rest.
After breakfast, Zhao Xin came over with things in hand. Pei Jing gave him some instructions and then they went out together, saying they wanted to see if they could catch rabbits or fish. If they got lucky, they could have hot pot for dinner.
There was a large river not far from the military base. With the thick ice from the heavy snow and everyone being free with nothing to do, some people had smashed open holes in the ice to fish, but whether they caught anything was entirely up to luck.
Pei Meng and Zhao Xin's acquaintance was also quite fated. Zhao Xin was also from Jincheng. He had gotten injured last year, and Pei Jing sent him back to recuperate. It was Pei Sheng who went to pick him up, and Pei Meng had spontaneously gone along that day. As a result, Zhao Xin took a liking to her at first sight, insistently pursuing her and willing to lower his status by a generation to marry into Pei Jing's family if necessary. He had also begged Pei Jing to put in a good word for him.
Pei Jing was pestered to no end, and later learned Pei Meng wanted to start looking for a partner. So he brought it up.
Although Zhao Xin's position wasn't as high as Pei Jing's, he was still young and could be considered a promising youth. And with Pei Jing's recommendation, Pei Sheng trusted his brother's judgement, saying to let them interact and see where it went.
The two had exchanged letters for over half a year, and found they were quite compatible. Pei Meng had even met Zhao Xin's parents before going down to the countryside, and their elders had agreed to arrangements for the future.
