"Is... is this true?" Yue Yihan wanted to tell Xie Changning about this, hoping it would make her happy.

But without proof, he couldn’t say anything.

The brigade commander shook his head. "There’s no proof. Don’t make it public yet."

Yue Yihan nodded.

...

While Yue Yihan was investigating the matter of Xie Changning’s biological parents, Xie Changning herself was handing over the results of her experiments to Director Zhao. "This is what I’ve developed so far. I’ll need you to find someone to help test its performance."

Xie Changning had created a crucial piece of military equipment in just one month. Director Zhao was overjoyed.

Asking him for help was no problem at all!

"Don’t worry, I’ll take this to the Provincial Industrial Bureau right away and ask Mr. Wang for help! I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to assist us." Upon receiving the item, Director Zhao grew antsy.

He promptly sent Xie Changning on her way so he could go to the Provincial Industrial Bureau to show off.

’No, no, to ask for help!’

Watching Director Zhao leave, Xie Changning glanced at the secretary standing guard at the door, gave an awkward smile, and then left his office.

After leaving the Industrial Bureau, Xie Changning didn’t rush back. Instead, she decided to visit the nearby department store.

Her stomach had been feeling uncomfortable lately, and her pants were starting to feel a bit tight. She wanted to look for a looser pair.

The department store was well-stocked, but the only inconvenience was the need for various ration coupons. Even with money in hand, she couldn’t spend it freely.

Besides, the clothing styles available were rather plain, so she didn’t have much desire to shop. She simply asked the salesclerk to wrap up the pair of pants she pointed to and prepared to pay.

As she turned, Xie Changning saw a familiar face.

To be precise, it was someone the original owner of her body would have found familiar—the daughter of the Xie Family’s second uncle, Xie Changyu. She was currently walking further into the store, arm in arm with a man.

Xie Changning warily took a step back, putting some distance between them.

The crime of "hooliganism" was taken very seriously these days, and she didn’t want to get caught up in any trouble caused by this idiot.

Just as Xie Changning was debating whether to hide, Xie Changyu turned her head and saw her, dressed in worker’s clothes with a healthy, rosy complexion.

"Xie Changning?! What are you doing here?"

Xie Changyu found it absurd to see Xie Changning dressed as a worker. ’Hadn’t her uncle’s entire family been sent down to the countryside?’

’Why is Xie Changning here?’

"Why can’t I be here?"

Since the other woman had spotted her, Xie Changning had no choice but to frown and engage.

Just then, the salesclerk handed her the purchase. Xie Changning took it and tried to leave from the other side, but unfortunately, Xie Changyu had no intention of letting her go.

"Your whole family was sent down. You being here... did you escape?"

"...A brain is a terrible thing to waste. It’s a pity you don’t have one." After saying this, Xie Changning shot a pitying look at the man with Xie Changyu before turning to leave from the other side.

Xie Changyu tried to follow her out but was stopped by the salesclerk.

"Ma’am, please wait a moment."

The salesclerk was defending Xie Changning, which made Xie Changyu frown. "Why are you stopping me?" She was very displeased.

"That lady is pregnant. Are you trying to hurt her?" The salesclerk looked at Xie Changyu with a righteous expression, her face full of vigilance.

Hearing this, Xie Changyu’s desire to move forward instantly vanished.

She looked at the salesclerk, a meaningful smile touching her lips. "She’s pregnant? I haven’t heard anything about her getting married."

’Xie Changning is pregnant out of wedlock. Now this is going to be a good show.’

The man who had come with her frowned. "Stop pestering her. We should be picking out a wedding gift for the Commander."

"Alright."

After leaving the department store, Xie Changning felt sick to her stomach for a long time, thoroughly disgusted by Xie Changyu.

Xie Changyu wasn’t the blood niece of Xie Changning’s "cheap" parents. She was the niece of the Xie Family’s second uncle’s wife. Her parents had died in an accident when she was three, so her aunt brought her back to the Xie Family to be raised.

The two of them had never gotten along, even as children. Xie Changyu always acted like she was the true young lady of the Xie Family, and since Xie Changning wasn’t favored by her parents, Xie Changyu bullied her relentlessly.

Later, Xie Changyu married a soldier and left with his unit, and the war between them finally subsided.

If she hadn’t suddenly appeared, the transmigrated Xie Changning would have never even known such a person existed. After all, she rarely showed up and had long been buried in the depths of her memory.

Seeing her now, Xie Changning had a feeling she would run into her again in a few days.

The woman would definitely try to find out where she was and then deliberately come to antagonize her.

Xie Changning then thought of the man whose arm Xie Changyu had been holding. ’That must be her husband. He looked like a soldier...’

’He wouldn’t happen to know Yue Yihan, would he?’

She mulled it over the whole way, but the moment she saw her front door, she pushed the matter to the back of her mind.

Their wedding was only seven days away. The house was already being festively decorated with lanterns and streamers, pasted with red "double happiness" characters, and hung with red lanterns. Red items were placed everywhere, with the plan to have everything set up two days before the wedding.

「In the blink of an eye, the wedding day arrived.」

Xie Changning was dressed in a red suit jacket, a red mermaid skirt, and matching red high heels, looking exceptionally beautiful.

Her hair was styled in large curls, with the top half pulled back and a red veil pinned in place with a hairpin. She wore light makeup, and her beauty drew gasps of admiration from everyone present.

"As expected of the bride, she’s just gorgeous!"

"When we block the door later, we’ll have to ask for extra wedding candy, HAHAHAHA!"

"Let’s make Yue Yihan do a bunch of push-ups! Our wonderful deputy director can’t be taken away by him that easily!"

The ones speaking were the aunties from the family compound who were on excellent terms with Xie Changning. The children were all waiting outside to pick up the wedding candy that would be thrown when Xie Changning and Yue Yihan came out.

Just then, a commotion erupted outside.

"The groom is here!"

"Ooh, who would’ve thought? Young Yue Yihan cleans up pretty nicely!"

Today, Yue Yihan had shed his usual military uniform for a black Zhongshan suit with a red corsage pinned to his chest. He stood tall with his chest puffed out, like a soldier returning from a victorious battle.

He stood at the entrance and gave a military salute to the door.

"Greetings, aunties, big sisters, and little sisters! I am Yue Yihan, Xie Changning’s husband, and I am here to pick up my wife!"

Without anyone inside needing to prompt him, he loudly announced his purpose on his own initiative.

After speaking, he very proactively took out the one-fen red envelopes he had prepared in advance and slipped them through the crack in the door. "Share in the good fortune! Share in the good fortune! Please cut me some slack and let me in!"

Yue Yihan’s actions made the young wives giggle and the older women tease him.

"Looks like Commander Yue is in a hurry to take his beautiful bride home!"

"Isn’t he just!"

"You know, Commander Yue is handling this pretty well. When will my old man ever be this proactive?"

’Look at him, as happy as if he’d won a great battle just by getting married! And he’s even giving out red envelopes!’

’If we’d known, we would have gone to block the door too!’

The people inside the door had expected a few pieces of wedding candy, but they never thought it would be money!!