Chapter 90: The Pretty Military Wife of the Seventies 13

Zhan Hongjun picked out the fish bones and placed the meat into his wife’s bowl.

“I know Xu Chunxia far too well. She is incredibly ambitious but lacks the substance to back it up. If there is a profit to be made, she runs faster than anyone. The moment she sees no benefit, she turns and leaves. She thinks she is the only clever one and treats everyone else like fools who cannot see through her schemes,” Zhan Hongjun said. He took a bite of a steamed bun, followed by some vegetables, swallowed, and continued.

“So, if Liu Zhanyuan cannot bring her any benefits, Xu Chunxia will definitely push for another divorce.” Not to mention the massive loss of face she just suffered; it was only natural for her to want to run away.

Su Huandan was about to respond when she heard a woman’s wailing cry.

Su Huandan and Zhan Hongjun exchanged a look. Zhan Hongjun nodded. “That is Xu Chunxia’s voice. When she cries, she gets hysterical like that. It is the complete opposite of her fake, quiet, and elegant persona when she is calm. When she cries, she is just like her mother, a total shrew.”

The two ignored it and quickly finished their meal. Zhan Hongjun went to wash the dishes.

Meanwhile, a crowd had gathered outside their door, listening to the couple across the hall making a scene.

Usually, so many people would not have gathered, but Xu Chunxia’s screams were too misleading. Anyone who heard her would think she was being beaten to death.

“Hmph, believe it or not, when Xu Chunxia comes out later, she won’t have a single injury on her body,” Zhan Hongjun said. He was met with Su Huandan’s look of disbelief.

To scream that tragically only for people to find out you were faking it? Was Xu Chunxia really that stupid?

She did not seem like the type.

“Don’t doubt me. There really are people like her in this world. As long as you don’t expose her to her face, she will claim domestic violence later. I learned that lesson five years ago. When I divorced her, I ended up with a reputation for beating my wife at my old unit. I couldn’t even explain it away. Since I didn’t expose her at the start, whatever she said became the truth later on,” Zhan Hongjun said. Whenever he spoke about the grievances he suffered because of Xu Chunxia, he still gritted his teeth.

Su Huandan really wanted to see if Xu Chunxia, who was screaming so pitifully today, had actually been hit.

She had.

When Su Huandan and Zhan Hongjun stepped out, Xu Chunxia happened to run out of her apartment. Her hair was a mess, and her face was swollen like a pig’s head.

Zhan Hongjun was speechless.

Liu Zhanyuan must be messing with him. He had just said Xu Chunxia was faking it, and then Liu Zhanyuan actually laid hands on her.

Liu Zhanyuan was truly annoying.

Looking at Xu Chunxia’s appearance, Su Huandan felt her guess was correct. Liu Zhanyuan took after his father; he was also a domestic abuser.

Beating one’s wife seemed to be a family tradition.

Several military wives quickly pulled Xu Chunxia behind them, pointing accusingly at the pursuing Liu Zhanyuan. “What is wrong with you? Do you think this is still the old society¹? This is a new era, a new society. Beating your wife is not allowed. Can’t you talk things through? You are persecuting a woman!”

The military wives, who did not know the inside story, spoke up out of a sense of justice.

Su Huandan and Zhan Hongjun rolled their eyes simultaneously, which happened to be caught by Sister-in-law Niu.

Sister-in-law Niu leaned toward Su Huandan and whispered, “You two live right across from them. Do you know something?”

Zhan Hongjun leaned his large head in to respond. “The one doing the hitting is my Dan-dan’s ex-husband, and the one being hit is my ex-wife. Sister-in-law, you asked the right people. In this entire family compound, no one knows that couple across the hall better than us.”

Sister-in-law Niu was stunned.

She had only asked a casual question and ended up uncovering this. She felt quite embarrassed; she had not intended to pry into the couple’s past.

Su Huandan held Sister-in-law Niu’s arm. “Sister-in-law, what Zhan Hongjun said is true. We don’t feel this is something that needs to be hidden. Back then, Liu Zhanyuan forced himself on me and pressured me into marriage. For two years, we were a couple in name only. During those two years, I even had to provide money to his family to improve their lives, all while acting like a servant to wait on his entire family. As for Zhan Hongjun’s ex-wife, she was even worse. She cheated during the marriage and wanted Zhan Hongjun to raise another man’s bastard as his own son. Tell me, what man could stand that?”

Sister-in-law Niu gasped. She turned to look seriously at Su Huandan and her husband. Looking at their features, neither had a “solemn” appearance. In her eyes, the couple looked a bit too flashy.

Yes, that was it. They were too beautiful, and when your beauty does not align with mainstream aesthetics, you are often categorized as “not looking like a proper person.”

Then she looked at the couple across the hall. The one named Liu Zhanyuan had thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a square face. What a righteous look he had!

To think he was actually a hooligan?

As for Liu Zhanyuan’s wife, she had seen her earlier that afternoon. She looked intellectual and dignified, with such good features. To think she was an unfaithful cheater?

Truly… appearances can be deceiving!

Su Huandan spoke quite openly, and many people nearby heard her.

Everyone was shocked. Both Zhan Hongjun and Liu Zhanyuan were battalion-level officers² who had just been transferred here this year. Who would have thought there was such a history between them?

Not only did they work together, but their wives had essentially swapped?

Tsk. When Zhan Hongjun was still married to his ex-wife, could she have already been involved with Liu Zhanyuan?

If that were the case, it was simply unspeakable. Even mentioning it felt like dirtying one’s mouth.

They were comrades-in-arms; how could anyone do such a thing?

Indeed, while the soldiers thought this way, the military wives thought even more.

Why was Liu Zhanyuan beating his wife?

It must be because he knew his wife had poor morals. Perhaps her old habits had resurfaced. When a woman like that gets beaten, even they, as fellow women, felt no pity for her.

See? The women immediately jumped to the conclusion of an affair.

Xu Chunxia had a prior record, after all. If they didn’t think that, what else could they think?

The military wives who had been blocking Liu Zhanyuan were pulled away by others who had learned the “inside story.” They all began whispering to one another.

Soon, the crowd dispersed.

No one dared to meddle in a family like that. Both of them had questionable morals. If one meddled too much and ended up getting dragged into the mess, it would be a total disaster.

She still wanted to live her life with a clean reputation.

Once the onlookers dispersed, Su Huandan and Zhan Hongjun turned around and headed home as well.

In truth, Liu Zhanyuan and his wife had quieted down the moment they stepped out of the house and saw so many people watching.

It was quite embarrassing for a couple’s quarrel to be witnessed by the neighbors.

They scurried back inside like beaten dogs. Xu Chunxia hid in the inner room, refusing to come out. She was truly afraid of Liu Zhanyuan now; Zhan Hongjun had never laid a hand on her, yet Liu Zhanyuan beat her over the slightest trifle.

So what if she was Zhan Hongjun’s ex-wife?

It wasn’t as if Liu Zhanyuan hadn’t been divorced himself.

Xu Chunxia was unaware of the history between the Zhan and Liu families; otherwise, she wouldn’t have dared to marry into the Liu family even if it killed her.

As for Liu Zhanyuan?

He was genuinely disgusted. Had he picked up Zhan Hongjun’s discarded leftovers³? That fact alone was enough for him to want to beat Xu Chunxia to death. This wench had never even mentioned it.

If she had been honest, would he have ever married this woman?

Translator’s Notes