A Beauty in the 80s Goes on a Blind Date with Her Child, Captivating the Military Compound - Chapter 94

Sisi Shen kept her composure. “Ting Chen, are you sure I’m hitting you without rhyme or reason?”

Ting Chen clutched her burning cheek, shouting incoherently through the pain. “Nonsense! That… Xiaojuan Huang saw it! You hit me as soon as I walked out, just like a mad dog.”

At the mention of the words “mad dog,” both Chengfeng Gu and Changmei Gu glared at her simultaneously. Ting Chen shrank back, the rest of her words dying in her throat.

Sisi Shen gritted her teeth in fury. “You nearly got my daughter killed. Hitting you is letting you off light!”

“What?” Changmei Gu grew anxious. “What happened to the child?”

Sisi Shen fought back tears. “Luckily I found her in time, otherwise…”

Changmei Gu’s brow furrowed, her well-maintained face wrinkling with concern. “What exactly happened?”

Sisi Shen explained the entire sequence of events, from start to finish.

“Ting Chen deliberately spread news of my daughter’s illness, fabricated rumors to stir up trouble, and incited people in the military compound to lure my daughter away. She nearly caused her irreparable harm. Tell me—does Ting Chen deserve a beating or not?”

Ting Chen’s face turned pale instantly.

She had indeed spoken to Zhaodi Chen about Sisi Shen and her daughter. She had intended to “kill with a borrowed knife,” using the rumors to drive Sisi and her child out of the family compound. But… she hadn’t expected those brats to be so wild that they would actually kidnap Niuniu and take her to the back mountain.

Ting Chen’s eyes darted around. “A few kids acting out is just childish nonsense. Is there any need to pin the blame on me?”

“Nonsense?” Sisi Shen was so angry she wanted to lunge at her again, but Changmei Gu held her back.

At that moment, a cold voice drifted from behind: “Indeed, a few half-grown children understand nothing. So, who was it that instigated them to lure my daughter away?”

Chengfeng Gu stood there, his eyes simmering with suppressed rage. “I have every reason to suspect that you are the mastermind behind this.”

In this era, kidnapping or trafficking a child could lead to facing a firing squad—the “peanut” treatment. Ting Chen’s head rang with terror at the implication, her face turning ashen.

“You can eat the wrong food, but you can’t say the wrong words! When did I ever instigate them? I… I was just passing along a few bits of gossip.”

Sisi Shen let out an “Oh.” “So, you admit these words came from you?”

Ting Chen cursed inwardly. She had been trapped! Chengfeng Gu had no proof; he had been bluffing to bait her into a confession. She stamped her foot in resentment, but it was too late to change her story.

“I… I admit, I did say a few things to Zhaodi Chen about you. Who doesn’t indulge in a bit of gossip after dinner?”

“Besides,” Ting Chen continued, “I am your cousin. Even if I said a few things about you, there’s no need to resort to physical violence!”

“Family matters should be discussed behind closed doors. For you to hit me in public like this, showing no regard for our blood ties or sisterly affection… it makes me so… so sad!”

Ting Chen began to sob piteously. Her skill at distorting the truth had clearly been practiced to perfection. The onlookers almost forgot she was the source of the trouble and began to sympathize with her.

“Yeah, it’s not that big of a deal. Is there a need to hit her that hard?”

“Isn’t the child fine? If she’s fine, let it go!”

“Sister Ting has such a beautiful face, and she’s been beaten like a pig. She’s lost all her dignity.”

“This cousin is so fierce; she probably isn’t a good person herself…”

However, there were clearer-headed people in the crowd who pointed fingers at Ting Chen.

“This Ting Chen is always stirring up trouble in the Troupe. She’s like a stick in a latrine.”

“She’s always forming cliques and bullying newcomers…”

“Exactly. Seeing someone finally teach her a lesson actually feels quite satisfying…”

The surrounding discussion was loud—loud enough for Sisi Shen and Chengfeng Gu to hear every word clearly. Seeing Chengfeng gradually losing his grip on his temper, Changmei Gu frowned and let out a sharp “Tsk.”

“Comrade Ting Chen, your problem is very serious!”

Ting Chen had hoped to turn the tide by acting pitiful, but she hadn’t expected her leader to be so unimpressed.

“The leaders from the Military District came to see me and other officials the day before yesterday. Comrade, there is a serious problem with your ideology!”

Changmei Gu had given her a chance to reform because she was Sisi Shen’s cousin; she had only suspended her work. She hadn’t expected Ting Chen to remain unrepentant and indirectly cause harm to Niuniu, leading to the family’s ostracization in the compound. It was utterly detestable!

Since that was the case, there was nothing left to discuss.

“Youth Sisi is your cousin. She followed her husband to Jiangcheng. As her elder sister, not only did you fail to look after her, but you spread rumors about her everywhere. You even fabricated an illicit relationship between her and the Military District Commissar, and sent a letter to the military calling for her husband to ‘catch them in the act,’ resulting in a total farce.”

“The truth was nothing like what you claimed. Commissar Feng was simply asked to help Youth Sisi carry something. It was all above board, yet you threw a bucket of filth on them for no reason.”

“Slandering a soldier is a major offense. The organization originally intended to issue a formal warning and a demerit, but I protected you. I thought I’d give you a chance to reform, but… you are so disappointing!”

Changmei Gu was trembling, her face full of disappointment.

The people who had previously felt sympathy for Ting Chen now felt as if they had been struck by a blunt club. So that was why Ting Chen had been benched. She was truly wicked!

“What kind of person slanders their own cousin and the District Commissar…?”

“She even called her brother-in-law to catch her.”

“What kind of grudge could justify that? How terrifying…”

The gazes directed at Ting Chen turned into ones of pure disdain. The incident was a fact that had reached the leadership level, and Ting Chen’s punishment was real; she could not talk her way out of it. And yet, after all that, she still hadn’t stayed quiet and had gone to provoke other military wives.

At this moment, Sisi Shen took a few steps forward and stood directly in front of Ting Chen.

“Ting Chen, we’ve been sisters since we were small. We have no real grievances. Why do you insist on making life difficult for me?”

“Life is already hard enough for women in this world. Even if you dislike me and don’t want to support or stand with me, you don’t have to try and drive me to a dead end!”

Ting Chen narrowed her eyes, her pupils bloodshot. Her intense hatred was like two violent whirlpools, as if she wanted to swallow Sisi whole.

“Sisi Shen… we were sisters since childhood. On what grounds were you born a pampered young lady, while I could only be a ‘mud-leg’ from the countryside?”

“Do you know what kind of bitter life I led before I moved to the city?”

“I had to go up the mountain to cut pig grass before dawn, then walk over an hour on mountain roads to attend a joint primary school for several villages. For lunch, I could only gnaw on cold sweet potatoes and corn buns.”

“In the busy farming season, school would close so we could go back to do farm work. I’d stand in the scorching sun, panting, treading in the paddy fields to transplant rice seedlings with blood-sucking leeches crawling up my legs. I cried from the pain.”

“Back then, I envied you beyond measure. I envied that you lived in a big house with electric lights. I envied that you didn’t have to work from dawn to dusk, and that you didn’t have to walk mountain roads to go to school.”

“And of course, what I envied most was that you had parents who adored you. They were educated and reasonable; they spoke softly. They never hit you—they wouldn’t even scold you. They held you in the palms of their hands.”

“And me? My mother had a hemorrhage when she gave birth to me, which ruined her health. She was never able to give my father a son. My father would hit us to vent his frustrations whenever he felt like it.”

“Every day I would think—why is the difference between people so vast? On what grounds do you live like a princess while I live like a pest? So I worked extra hard, I studied extra hard, I tried everything to get out of the mountains. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t even compare to one of your toes. On what grounds?