A lonely, unlucky military officer with a stubborn fate insisted on marrying me.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me!"

Old Mrs. Li peered out the window, her heart pounding as she watched her daughter being ridden like a pig.

"Ouch! Why are you pinching me now? It hurts so much! Waaaaah!"

Li Jianying's cries pierced the heart of Old Lady Li. Just as she was about to speak, she caught a glimpse of seven or eight neighbors gathered at the gate. Her eyes darted around, and she immediately changed her expression.

She stumbled out of the house and sat down on the ground. Slapping her thigh, she wailed, "This is outrageous! This jinxed wild girl dares to hit me while staying at my house!"

Now they're taking advantage of my old age and my honest daughter, trying to steal my things!

Seeing this, Lin Yinyin sneered inwardly. Anyone can cry and complain.

She slowly stood up, dusted off the corner of her clothes, and her eyes reddened the next second.

Large tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Auntie, how can you say that..."

She choked up, her voice full of grievance, "That jade pendant was a keepsake my father left to my sister before he passed away. My father has been gone for many years, and it was the only thing my sister and I could remember."

If you need money, I'll give you all my savings.

If you like peach shortbread or meat, I'll buy it for you and send it over even if it means cutting back on my own food rations.

But...but those are my dad's belongings, how could you just take them from me...Waaaaah..."

The neighbors who had been watching immediately started talking about it.

The old lady from the Zhang family next door also squeezed in. She couldn't stand Li's old lady's behavior the most. Her daughter even disgusted her son. She was so shameless!

Old Mrs. Zhang immediately said, "Old Li's family, what the girl wants is her father's belongings. What's the point of you holding onto her memories?"

Besides, your Jianying isn't someone to be trifled with either; it's hard to say who'll bully whom!

She glanced disdainfully at Li Jianying, who was still lying on the ground. "That round face, where does she get the confidence to block her son?"

Aunt Wang, who was collecting brown sugar mooncakes that morning, chimed in, "Yes, Old Lady Li, you can't just keep her belongings. If you do too many bad things, you won't sleep soundly at night!"

Lin Yinyin's eyes lit up after hearing this.

Yes, Old Man Li just died, so Old Woman Li can remember him tonight!

Just then, a sarcastic voice interrupted: "Hey, you can't say that."

When everyone turned around, they saw it was Battalion Commander Zhou's mother.

She stood to the side with her arms crossed, giving Lin Yinyin a disdainful look. "Who knows if this girl is telling the truth? After all, she was just staying at someone else's house, and then she turned around and hit her sister-in-law, and even made the landlady cry. This kind of behavior doesn't seem like something to be trifled with. She's obviously a troublemaker!"

Lin Yinyin looked up and saw that it was good. She would remember this woman.

The old lady from Battalion Commander Zhang's family immediately retorted, "Old Mrs. Zhou, stop with the sarcasm! Everyone knows you've been hanging out with Old Mrs. Li lately, and you even brought your divorced daughter to deliver cured meat! What's going on here?"

"Shut up! Stop spewing nonsense without any evidence!"

"Oh, oh, oh, I guessed right, are you getting anxious now?"

The people in the courtyard whispered among themselves after hearing this.

Lin Yinyin understood as well.

Well, the compound is quite lively!

Old Mrs. Zhou has a daughter who's been married twice. She came to deliver cured meat to Old Mrs. Li. Meat is such an expensive thing, could it be that she's taken a liking to her brother-in-law? Anyway, Old Mrs. Li has looked down on her sister for a long time! Who knows what she might be thinking!

"Let's go find Commissar Huang's sister-in-law!" someone suggested.

"That's right, she's the most impartial. Let her come and find out about Old Lady Li's family's affairs."

"Yes! We should get the parents' committee to do something about it. It's shameful to seize someone's belongings!"

Upon hearing this, the old lady Li, who had been throwing a tantrum, stopped crying abruptly.

Commissar Huang was in charge of ideological education, and his wife was the recognized "backbone" of the compound, and also served on the family committee. The thought of being locked up immediately dampened Old Lady Li's spirits.

She stood up awkwardly, "No, no need to trouble the political commissar's wife, it's all a misunderstanding... I was just keeping that thing for my daughter-in-law in case she lost it. I just remembered where I put it, I'll go back and look for it now!"

Lin Yinyin raised an eyebrow.

It turns out that even Old Lady Li has someone she's afraid of.

Her gaze swept across the crowd and met that of Aunt Zhuang, who then subtly gave her a wink.

Lin Yinyin knew what was going on. Once this matter was over, she would have to ask Aunt Zhuang how many shady things Old Lady Li had been hiding.

Lin Yinyin wiped away her tears, turned to the neighbors who had gathered around, and bowed slightly. "Thank you all, sisters-in-law and aunties, for judging this for me. If it weren't for you today, I'm afraid I wouldn't have gotten my dad's only hope back. Waaah!"

She paused, glancing at Old Lady Li's ashen face out of the corner of her eye, and then gently changed the subject: "Actually, I know that my aunt is getting old and sometimes forgets things. It's not uncommon for her to keep my sister's things as if they were her own."

Fortunately, my aunt is in good health; she even ate two bowls of white rice just now, otherwise I wouldn't have dared to argue with my elders.

Upon hearing this, the onlookers couldn't help but chuckle.

In those days of scarcity, how could an old woman who could eat two bowls of white rice in one meal be truly senile? She was quite robust; no wonder she sat on the ground crying for so long without even breaking a sweat. It was obvious that Old Lady Li was doing it on purpose.

Lin Yinyin said this to deliberately set the stage for the fact that Old Lady Li was in good health. Otherwise, if she was too scared to sleep for the next two days, it wouldn't be fun to pretend to faint or be sick.

"Alright, let's all go!" I don't know who said it first.

Seeing this, the neighbors wisely left one after another.

Lin Yinyin followed Old Lady Li into her room and said coldly, "Give it to me!"

Grandma Li unbuttoned her collar and pulled a red string from the fabric close to her body.

Lin Yinyin: "..." Damn it!

Her father's belongings and her sister's memories were actually worn close to the old lady's heart!

Suppressing her disgust, she stepped forward and, before Old Lady Li could react, grabbed the red rope and yanked it hard.

"hiss--"

The red rope was choking her neck painfully. Just as Old Lady Li was about to curse, Lin Yinyin turned around and went back to her room.

They then brought over two stools and used them to barricade the door.

Lin Yinyin lay on the bed and threw the jade pendant into her spatial storage.

A familiar dizziness washed over me, and I passed out the next moment.

***

Military headquarters, regimental commander's office.

As soon as the door was pushed open a crack, a pungent smell of smoke rushed out through the crack.

Chi Peng covered his mouth and nose, and as expected, he saw Li Jinye's face behind the smoke-filled desk.

"Boss, are you turning this office into a battlefield?"

Chi Peng pushed open half a window, and fresh air rushed in, dispersing some of the smoke smell.

Li Jinye looked up at him, said nothing, and took another deep drag on his cigarette.

Chi Peng sat down opposite him, having roughly figured things out.

"Boss, why didn't you chase after them?"

Li Jinye remained silent, knowing that pursuing him would be futile.

"How's the inquiry going?"

"That Lin girl, as majestic as an eagle..."

Upon meeting the sharp gaze, Chi Peng quickly shut his mouth, "Oh, I was wrong, I misspoke."

Then, with a serious expression, she said, "Lin Huiyin, from Kunshan Province, 18 years old, 160 cm tall. She arrived at the family compound two days ago to stay with her relative, Li Jianjun, the battalion commander of the First Regiment. Her identity information has been verified with the local household registration system."

Li Jianjun is currently the battalion commander of the First Regiment, having served for eight years.

Performance evaluation: He has received a good rating in training assessments for five consecutive years, has a solid and conscientious work style, and has maintained strict discipline within the troops during his tenure, with no violations of rules or regulations occurring.

Weaknesses: A somewhat reserved and conservative personality; prone to overthinking when dealing with complex issues; overly rigid in adhering to principles; and lacking in flexibility and adaptability.

"Lin Huizhi, 27 years old, is Lin Yinyin's half-sister.

She married Li Jianjun eight years ago and has lived in the family compound ever since.

Marital status is stable, no children at present. Currently working in the canteen of the compound, distributing meals.

At this point, Chi Peng clicked his tongue and started gossiping, "Boss, I heard from the cafeteria lady that Lin Yinyin's sister is having a tough time. Her mother-in-law is very strict with her."

This old lady, Li, is a "celebrity" in the compound.

I came here once six years ago. I got into a fight with Commissar Huang's sister-in-law over a piece of wasteland on the back hill to plant potatoes. Later, I was persuaded to leave and return to my hometown.

Two years ago, they came again under the guise of the old man seeking medical treatment, and they even brought Li Jianjun's sister, Li Jianying, with them. Since then, the Li family has never had a peaceful time.

Li Jianying, 22 years old, is an unemployed vagrant and is known for his wild behavior.

In September of the year before last, I staked out the door of Battalion Commander Zhang's house in the Logistics Department for three consecutive nights, causing Battalion Commander Zhang to stay in the dormitory and dare not go home.

During last year's Spring Festival Gala, he attempted to pull on Staff Officer Hu's body under the guise of toasting, but his mother stopped him in time.

If Staff Officer Hu's mother hadn't been there, she probably would have been his wife.

In both incidents, Political Commissar Huang held talks with the perpetrators and warned them that "repeated offenses will result in dismissal."