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

Lin Yinyin did not sleep well that night.

She suddenly sat up in bed before dawn.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead, the absurd scene from his dream still lingering in his mind.

A jet-black cheetah wagged its tail at her, begging for her attention.

It had braised pork hock, braised pork belly, and brown sugar mooncakes in its mouth—all her favorite foods.

Seeing so much delicious food, she reached out to take some, but the cheetah suddenly opened its blood-red maw and almost bit off her arm.

"Pah, pah, pah! What a lousy dream!" Lin Yinyin rubbed her heavy temples.

The sky outside the window was just beginning to lighten, and the courtyard was quiet; my sister was still asleep.

She turned over, unable to fall back asleep, so she simply put on her clothes and got up. Since she had nothing else to do, she might as well go to the kitchen to make breakfast and transplant some more vegetables from the yard into her space.

She tiptoed out of the side room and saw that the rice in the jar was almost gone.

Lin Yinyin frowned. She had rice in her space, but it couldn't appear so abruptly.

"Oh, so it's only this early and you're already up to fawn over people?" a sarcastic voice rang out.

Li Jianying, wearing a floral shirt, leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed. "We're out of rice. We used it all up yesterday to prepare the dishes for your blind date. You'll have to go to town to buy some yourself later!"

"We're out of rice, what about noodles?"

Lin Yinyin glanced at the bag of noodles next to her; it was empty too. "Why is there no more noodles?"

"We finished eating it yesterday."

"So, you want me to go buy rice and noodles?" Lin Yinyin already understood her intentions.

"Otherwise what?" Li Jianying scoffed.

"Do you expect to eat and live in our house for free? We pay for the rice, flour, and oil."

The commotion quickly attracted Lin Huizhi, followed closely by Li Jianjun.

Li Jianjun was injured and rested for a day. He stayed at Grandma Li's house yesterday.

Lin Yinyin understood what Li Jianjun meant.

No wonder Li Jianying was so assertive today; it turns out she has her brother backing her up.

Li Jianjun glanced at his sister, then at Lin Yinyin, whose face was tense, and at his wife, who looked helpless. He frowned and said, "Alright, I'll go to the cafeteria to get some breakfast and come back."

"elder brother!"

Li Jianying immediately objected and stepped forward to stop him, saying, "You can't just let this go!"

I need to find out if she intends to stay here indefinitely.

Are we supposed to support her for the rest of our lives?

She turned and glared at Lin Yinyin, "Don't you have any sense of being a dependent?"

You're nowhere to be seen during the day, but you come back to freeload at mealtimes. Why should we support you?

My brother can't stay in the dorm forever and live separately from my sister-in-law, can he? It's all because you took up a room!

Li Jianying didn't sleep well yesterday either; she tossed and turned, thinking about what happened yesterday.

Since Lin Yinyin returned, those five officers haven't even glanced at her! They've all been glued to her.

Lin Yinyin is so pretty. With her around at home, everyone will be attracted to that bitch! How is she supposed to find a boyfriend?!

Lin Yinyin laughed as she listened to her accusations, a laugh that sent chills down Li Jianying's spine.

"Li Jianying, is your brain so small you can't remember anything?! Last night I did all the housework—sweeping, washing dishes, cleaning the stove, taking out the trash, right? Are those two eggs hanging under your eyebrows? If they're blind, just pick them out and feed them to the dog, save them space!"

After saying that, Lin Yinyin looked at Li Jianjun and said, "Brother-in-law, today is only the third day since I arrived. Are you already so eager to get rid of me?"

Alright, now I'll make things clear: I'm really not leaving easily; I'm going to stay for a month or two!

Also, I'm here to see my sister, so I absolutely have to stay in the same room with her.

"It's true that staying here temporarily is taking up your space, so starting today, I'll pay my sister one cent a day as rent."

She paused, then glanced at Li Jianying. "As for food, I, Lin Yinyin, will never touch a single grain of rice or drop of oil from your house. I will take care of my own food, so you don't need to worry about it."

Also, my sister works in the cafeteria early in the morning, so she doesn't eat breakfast at home. She also doesn't come home for lunch during her shift at the cafeteria. Your family will take turns cooking dinner.

"That won't do!" Li Jianying exclaimed anxiously.

If Lin Huizhi doesn't cook at home, what will she eat in the future?

"Is there a problem?"

Lin Yinyin raised an eyebrow. "I don't spend your money, and I don't eat your food. That shouldn't bother you, right?"

"My sister-in-law has to go home to cook lunch!"

"Yes, if a daughter-in-law doesn't serve her in-laws, doesn't do laundry or cook, are you going to marry her and treat her like royalty?"

Grandma Li also came out.

"Son, listen to this! What family brings home a wife who doesn't have children, doesn't cook, and just loafs around in the cafeteria all day?"

"My sister has a job to do, and the cafeteria provides three meals a day, so she doesn't need to come back to cook!"

But in these eight years, every single day she rushed back, rain or shine.

I get up before dawn to make breakfast, and after get off work I do laundry before making dinner. Has anyone ever lent a hand to me?

Besides, as I just said, we can take turns cooking dinner. My sister will cook; would it kill you two to lift a finger?

She pointed to a large basin of clothes drying in the yard and glared at Li Jianying: "So many clothes, from spring to winter, were they all washed by my sister alone?"

Are you all useless?

And what's that? Underpants, I guess?

Li Jianying, you're a grown woman, and you make your sister-in-law wash your underwear? You're like a naked man pulling a millstone, utterly shameful!

"I...I...I..."

"What do you mean 'we'? If anyone's freeloading, it's you, Li Jianying!"

What have you contributed to this family? How much money have you earned?

"I don't have any money, but my brother earns money to support me!"

"Hehehe!" Lin Yinyin's laughter was full of sarcasm.

"Your brother supports you, so why should my sister suffer along with him?"

She turned to look at Li Jianjun, who had been silent all along, and her tone suddenly became serious, "Brother-in-law, let's settle this today."

How much of your monthly salary do you give to my sister? How much do you give to your mother?

"You're an outsider, mind your own business in the Li family!" Old Mrs. Li jumped out to protect her son and reached out to push Lin Yinyin.

Lin Yinyin dodged to the side, her eyes sharp: "My sister has suffered injustice in this family for eight years, her affairs are my affairs! I'm going to intervene today! Sister, what are you saying!"

Lin Huizhi looked at her younger sister's determined back, then at her mother-in-law and sister-in-law's self-righteous expressions, and bit her lip, saying, "Jianjun earns 49 yuan a month. He gives me 15 yuan, gives Mom 30 yuan, and keeps 4 yuan for himself."

The rice, flour, oil, soap, and matches in the house were all bought with those 15 yuan. Sometimes it wasn't enough, and I had to take money from my salary...

"hehe!"

Lin Yinyin laughed in anger, "So my sister works and earns money, but she has to be your free nanny, take care of your whole family, and even pay out of her own pocket to support you?"

"Li Jianjun, why! Why should my sister suffer this injustice!"

"It's only right that they show me filial piety!" Old Mrs. Li retorted, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"Leaving her 15 yuan is more than enough!"

A wife who doesn't lay eggs should serve the whole family, and it's only right that she pays out of her own pocket!

I think we should just have her quit her job at the cafeteria and let Jianying take over. She can stay home and take good care of me. If she can't have a baby in six months, I'll pack my bags and get a divorce!

"Say that again!"

Lin Yinyin clenched her fists in anger, her knuckles turning white, but Lin Huizhi held her back tightly.

Lin Huizhi looked at Li Jianjun, "Jianjun, you think so too, right?"

"Sister-in-law, don't play dumb!"

Li Jianying quickly interjected, "You got that cafeteria job only because my brother pulled some strings, right? It's only fair that you give it to me now, isn't it?"

She had been hoping for this job for several years, and today she finally got the chance.

"Jianjun? You also want to give my job to Jianying?" Lin Huizhi's tears fell.

The military does offer job opportunities to military dependents, but Li Jianjun was only a battalion commander. His family of four moving in was against the rules, so no jobs were ever arranged for them.

Moreover, her mother-in-law and sister-in-law were not well-liked, and they even got into a fight with the political commissar's wife, which caused them to miss out on job opportunities.

Back then, Uncle Zhuang, who worked in the canteen, saw that she was quick and efficient and always helped him serve people when he served food. That's how she started as a temporary worker. She worked hard from dawn till dusk for two years, washing pots and chopping vegetables for two years, before she finally became a full-time employee through her own hard work!

Jianjun knows all of this!

Even so, would he agree to transfer the job to his sister?

Li Jianjun felt a pang of sympathy seeing Lin Huizhi shedding tears.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but Old Lady Li spoke first.

"Of course you should share this! It's a woman's duty to stay home and take care of the family!"

Seeing that her son was still hesitating, Old Lady Li simply sat down on the threshold, slapped her thigh and wailed, "Why is my life so miserable!"

"Marrying a barren, jinxed woman who won't give up her job to her own sister-in-law—she's trying to drive our Li family to ruin!"

She cried and pounded the ground, spitting as she spoke: "I've only raised one son and one daughter in my whole life. My son is honest but his wife has him under her thumb, and my daughter can't even get a decent job!"

My wife is as black as the bottom of a pot; she won't even cook. Why is my life so miserable? Waaah, ancestors of the Li family!

Li Jianjun was driven crazy by his mother's crying and nagging. He glared at Lin Yinyin, as if she was the one who caused all of this.

"Hmph!" he said, and strode out of the courtyard.

Lin Yinyin watched his retreating figure and cursed, "Coward!"

After saying that, he grabbed his sister and left.

"Sis, let's go to the cafeteria for lunch!"