Ji Shuyu stared fixedly at Lin Feifei as she said this.
Lin Feifei seemed as if she had been choked. All she could do was shoot Ji Shuyu a fierce glare.
From the moment she arrived here, she had taken a liking to He Yuan—tall, imposing, and handsome.
She just never expected others to say he was already married.
However, his wife had never come to live with him in the army, and it was rumored that his relationship with her wasn’t very good.
Since childhood, Lin Feifei had always believed she deserved the best of everything in the world.
Whether it was a life of luxury or high-quality men, they all had to be hers.
So she was especially determined to win He Yuan for herself.
Since his wife wasn’t here to live with him in the army, she couldn’t blame others for setting their sights on her man.
Lin Feifei clenched her hands tightly behind her back, barely suppressing the resentment in her heart.
She stared at Ji Shuyu’s fair hands, as if she could see how those hands usually looped through He Yuan’s arm, how they were held tenderly in the palms of the man she yearned for day and night.
Why?
Ji Shuyu looked plain and unremarkable, lacking both her own delicate charm and the radiance she possessed on stage. So why could she securely hold the position of He Yuan’s wife?
Just because she, Lin Feifei, had arrived a step too late?
“Whether our relationship as a couple is good or not, is it for an outsider to comment on?”
Ji Shuyu seemed to see right through her thoughts. Her tone remained calm, yet carried a sharp edge.
“Comrade Lin, you’d better mind your own words and actions. The cultural troupe is a place to spread positive energy, not a venue for you to spread rumors and destroy other people’s families.”
“If you act like this, who would dare come watch your performances? What if, one day, their own husbands were slandered by you like this?”
She had originally intended to give Lin Feifei a way out, but she never expected Lin Feifei to bring this upon herself.
The comrades around them already had their reservations about Lin Feifei’s behavior. Now, hearing Ji Shuyu’s words, they nodded one after another in agreement.
Someone couldn’t help but whisper, “Exactly, Commander He treats his wife so well. Last time, when his wife sent cured meat, he shared it with all of us in the kitchen, saying it was specifically from his wife to nourish everyone.”
“Lin Feifei has gone too far. She was saved, yet she turns around and accuses her rescuer. If it were someone else, who would dare jump into the water to save people in the future?”
These murmurs surged over like a tide, causing Lin Feifei’s face to flush red then pale. Tears once again welled up in her eyes.
But this time, there was none of the pitiable charm from before—instead, she looked rather disheveled.
She abruptly shook off He Yuan’s sleeve, staggered back two steps, her voice choked with tears.
“I didn’t spread rumors… I was just… just too scared…”
“Scared?”
Ji Shuyu raised an eyebrow, her gaze sweeping over the military jacket Lin Feifei wore—clearly not her own.
It belonged to He Yuan, taken off when he jumped into the water to save her, and later casually draped over Lin Feifei by a comrade after they came ashore.
“So scared that you would ruin your rescuer’s reputation? So scared that you can’t even distinguish basic right from wrong?”
He Yuan stepped forward, naturally shielding Ji Shuyu at his side. His gaze toward Lin Feifei was icy.
“Comrade Lin, today I saved you out of a soldier’s duty. But you slandered me and harassed my wife. I will report this matter truthfully to the cultural troupe’s leadership. I hope you’ll take this as a warning.”
After speaking, he didn’t spare Lin Feifei another glance. Holding Ji Shuyu’s hand, he turned and walked away.
His hands were warm and strong. Ji Shuyu could clearly feel the temperature of his palm, and his deliberately slowed pace—accommodating hers.
She tilted her head to glance at the man beside her. His expression was grim, but when their eyes met, a trace of tenderness flickered in his gaze.
“I’ve let you suffer this grievance.”
“I didn’t suffer any grievance.”
Ji Shuyu shook her head gently. “If anything, it’s you—slandered for no reason.”
The two walked side by side on the path along the seaside. The sea wind tugged at the hem of Ji Shuyu’s clothes.
He Yuan instinctively pulled her closer to his side, shielding her from the oncoming wind.
In the distance, waves crashed against the reefs, their rhythmic roar filling the air.
“If I had known that helping her out back then would lead to her clinging to me like this, I would never have stepped in.”
He Yuan sighed, stopping in his tracks to explain to Ji Shuyu.
“When she first arrived in the army, a few seasoned soldiers, seeing she was good-looking, liked to tease her.”
Lin Feifei’s appearance was indeed sweet and pleasant, fitting the popular standard of beauty.
So those men enjoyed seeking her out from time to time.
On one occasion, Lin Feifei was nearly harassed by them. He Yuan happened to pass by and stepped in to help her.
But his help wasn’t out of any personal interest—in that situation, anyone would have done the same.
Otherwise, things could have turned serious.
Who would have thought that this very act of help would end up bringing him trouble?
At first, He Yuan didn’t even remember Lin Feifei, but she started hovering around him every day.
As time passed, everyone began to take notice of her.
“But didn’t Sister-in-law Chunhua say she just arrived recently?”
Ji Shuyu asked, somewhat puzzled. From what He Yuan was saying, it sounded like she had been here for a long time?
“No, she’s been here for a while. It’s just that she was away for some time previously. Battalion Commander Li and I only became close later on.”
He Yuan explained, which created an information gap that led Battalion Commander Li to mistakenly believe Lin Feifei had just arrived.
“Battalion Commander He, I didn’t expect you to be quite popular, huh.”
Ji Shuyu teased with a laugh, but He Yuan’s expression instantly darkened.
He turned to face Ji Shuyu, his look so fierce it seemed he might start a fight the next second.
Ji Shuyu swallowed and took a step back, but he reached out and wrapped an arm around her waist.
“Wife, I don’t like it when you say that. It makes me feel like you don’t care about me at all.”
Unexpectedly, what came out of He Yuan’s mouth was these words.
He just felt that if other wives encountered such a situation, they would have long been angry and made a scene.
But Ji Shuyu acted as if nothing was wrong. Didn’t such a reaction mean she didn’t care about him?
Because she didn’t care, she didn’t see any problem with other women hovering around him.
As he spoke, He Yuan directly pulled Ji Shuyu into his embrace.
Ji Shuyu felt that if she didn’t comfort him now, he might genuinely cry.
“He Yuan, I trust your character. That’s why I won’t make a scene. The most important thing between husband and wife is mutual trust.”
“Besides, I don’t think that Lin Feifei is any match for me anyway.”
She said this last sentence with full confidence.
Only then did He Yuan laugh, holding her even tighter.
But neither of them noticed that, not far behind them behind a coconut tree, Lin Feifei was staring fixedly at their retreating figures, her eyes filled with resentment and bitterness.
She pulled out a handkerchief hidden in her pocket and roughly wiped the tear stains from her face, a sinister smile curling at the corners of her mouth.
So what if Ji Shuyu had come?
So what if He Yuan was protecting her?
As long as she remained in this army, as long as she could still see He Yuan, there would be plenty of opportunities.
She refused to believe that, with her methods, she couldn’t steal a man away from a mere Ji Shuyu who only knew how to put on airs.
That book was right—Ji Shuyu was originally just a cannon fodder character who was supposed to die early!
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