Reborn as a Tough Army Wife

Qiu Lian leaned in close to the group and whispered, "Here's the thing: I have a cousin back in my hometown who is 24 this year. Some years ago, there was talk of a marriage proposal for her at home, but then the man got sick and died. Everyone in the village now says she is fated to be a widow-maker, and nobody in the village dares to marry her."

Juzi frowned upon hearing this, "A widow-maker?"

As soon as Qiu Lian heard this, she immediately waved her hand, "No, that man was already sick to begin with, and he wouldn't have lived long anyway. It's just my cousin who had bad luck. And my cousin is a really kind person."

"Plus, my cousin is also pretty and hardworking. Aside from being a bit older, I think she's good in every way. Actually, I believe she would be a suitable match for Chief Zhou, and if I'm not mistaken, Chief Zhou is also around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old this year."

Upon hearing this, Fang Pingying immediately asked, "Did Chief Zhou agree to this?"

Qiu Lian nodded, "I talked to him about it last week, and he agreed."

Seeing this, Fang Pingying frowned and glanced at Fang Xiu. What's going on here? Zhou Guangsheng is being (flirtatious) with Fang Xiu, and on the other hand, he agreed to meet another woman for a marriage proposal?

Fang Xiu shook her head, indicating she didn't know anything about it either.

But soon, Fang Xiu looked at Qiu Lian with some disbelief and asked, "Did he personally agree to it?"

"Yes, I spoke to him myself," Qiu Lian, seeing Fang Xiu's anxious expression after her words, asked in some confusion, "What's wrong, Xiu'er? You seem upset. Do you have your eyes on Chief Zhou too?"

Fang Xiu hurriedly shook her head and quickly clarified, "No, no, I'm not interested in him. I barely even know him."

Hearing this, Qiu Lian laughed, "I didn't say you liked him. You've got someone else now. I meant, do you also have someone suitable to introduce to Chief Zhou?"

As if afraid of being suspected, Fang Xiu immediately waved her hand and said, "No, not at all. My family doesn't have many relatives, and I haven't met many people since I came here."

Qiu Lian thought about it and then hurriedly said with a smile, "That's good. Otherwise, if both of us were to make introductions, it'd put Chief Zhou in an awkward position."

Fang Pingying thought that Qiu Lian was serious about this matter, and she still wanted to fight for Fang Xiu, "Sister-in-law Qiu Lian, actually…"

But before she could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by Fang Xiu saying, "Sister Fang, right, I just remembered there's something in the room I can't find. Come help me look for it."

After speaking, she forcibly dragged Fang Pingying out.

Fang Pingying had no choice but to entrust Qiu Lian, "Sister-in-law Qiu Lian, please watch the fire for me, I'll be right back."

Once Fang Xiu pulled Fang Pingying into the bedroom and closed the door, she whispered, "Sister Fang, please don't tell Sister-in-law Qiu Lian about my business with Zhou Guangsheng."

Fang Pingying slightly furrowed her brows, "If we don't tell, Zhou Guangsheng will end up with Sister-in-law Qiulin's sister."

"If he's willing to agree to meet someone through Sister-in-law Qiu Lian, it means he has no feelings for me. I misunderstood," Fang Xiu said with a self-mocking smile, feeling rather disheartened, "And Sister-in-law Qiu Lian's sister is so decent, a pure and virtuous girl, without any children to hold her back, any man would want to marry a wife like that."

"Xiu'er…" Fang Pingying could tell that Fang Xiu really liked Zhou Guangsheng. That's why she reacted so strongly upon learning that Zhou Guangsheng would be meeting someone else for marriage. She had wanted to say a few words of encouragement.

But Fang Xiu cut her off, "Sister Fang, let's not talk about it anymore. I got this wrong myself. I won't think about it this way anymore."

"You..."

Fang Xiu cuts Fang Pingying off this time and smiles at her, "Let's go out, there's a roomful of guests outside."

Seeing Fang Xiu insisting, Fang Pingying had nothing to say but to nod in agreement.

When the two walked out, Zhou Guangsheng was standing at the doorway. Upon seeing Fang Pingying, he smiled and greeted, "Sister-in-law."

And when he saw Fang Xiu behind Fang Pingying, he gave her a faint smile; although he didn't verbally greet her, his smile suggested a familiarity with Fang Xiu that seemed to transcend the need for such formalities.

However, Fang Xiu just glanced at him indifferently, and then responded with a noticeably aloof smile, "Chief Zhou, it's bustling today, sorry if I haven't been able to entertain you properly, please don't mind."

To a stranger, this statement would seem perfectly normal, but to Zhou Guangsheng, it felt somewhat off.

He looked at Fang Xiu with a puzzled expression, but Fang Xiu did not return the gaze, instead, she took Fang Pingying with her towards the kitchen.

Fang Pingying observed the reactions of these two and sighed softly; she just couldn't figure out what was going on between them.

For lunch, Fang Pingying personally made some traditional dishes from her memories of a past life, such as boiled pork slices, braised fish, and beef casserole - not too extravagant but utterly delicious.

The guests were divided into two tables; quite naturally, the men sat at one and the women at another.

The men took their places at the large dining table that was usually used, while for the women, Fang Pingying cleared the small coffee table in front of the sofa and surrounded it with low stools.

Being the weekend, and with no work, it was certain that the men would have a few drinks.

At the women's table, where several children were present, no alcohol was served; instead, they chatted while eating.

With Li Aihua and Li Yuchun taking care of the children, Fang Pingying and Fang Xiu were free to enjoy their meal at the table.

Sitting next to Fang Pingying, Tingting got a helping of food from her. Fang Pingying asked with a smile, "Your dad's not here today, and I'm too busy to play with you. Are you bored being by yourself?"

Tingting grinned at Fang Pingying and shook her head, "No, I've been playing with Yaoyao and the others, they're all so much fun."

Fang Pingying nodded and smiled at her, "That's good. Anything planned for this afternoon? If not, you're welcome to stay here until your dad picks you up in the evening."

Tingting shook her head with a pout, "I need to go back to grandma's house this afternoon, and dad will come over there for dinner tonight."

"Why did you guys move out from your grandma's house to live by yourselves?" Juzi asked, having heard some of Tingting's family stories from Fang Pingying, unable to suppress her curiosity.

Tingting, uninhibited, started blurting out, "My grandma's house is very big, and a lot of family lives there – an uncle and two aunts, all together. When there are more people, it's easy to have arguments, and my dad found it annoying, so we just decided to buy our own place to live."

She paused, then pointed upstairs with a smile, "However, we actually didn't plan to buy a house here originally. It was when we were coming to Sister Fang's place one day, all of a sudden my dad told me he had bought this place."

Upon hearing this, Fang Pingying felt a vague sense of puzzlement. Liu Fengsheng had told her that they had already bought the house earlier, and living upstairs from her was simply coincidental. This differed somewhat from what Tingting had just shared.