1970s: My childhood sweetheart ran away, and I turned around and married the wildest chief.

Zhou Lan immediately jumped up and down, "You...you shut up! Who do you think you are, daring to talk to us like that, Old Chen..."

"Alright!" Mr. Chen's face was gloomy, but he controlled his temper at the crucial moment. He did not expect Qiao Wanqing to be so powerful. He thought she was easy to manipulate. He thought he could ruin her reputation and vent his anger by saying a few unclear words. Normally, young girls would not react so quickly.

Now that this approach is not working, Mr. Chen has no choice but to give up.

Because of the Qiao family, especially Uncle Qiao, he couldn't afford to offend them.

"Alright, that's enough. It was a misunderstanding on our part. Little girl, don't be so prickly at such a young age. It's all a misunderstanding, just explain it and it'll be fine. Okay, everyone, go away, don't crowd around here."

Seeing that he couldn't get past Qiao Wanqing, Chen's father gave up and took Zhou Lan, who was full of resentment, home.

Their family also lived in this compound, but Qiao Wanqing's family lived in a different area. There were many families in the military region, and some barracks were far away from here. The family compounds were also concentrated here, so the family areas were all in clusters and quite far apart from each other.

Chen's father is one of the deputy directors of the logistics department, but he is not a deputy director at the level of a major military region. His qualifications and abilities are far from reaching that level. At present, he is a division-level officer, only one level higher than Lu Mingzhou in terms of rank.

Those around them were dumbfounded to see Chen's father and Zhou Lan leave like that!

That's it?

They thought they were about to witness a great show, but to their surprise, the two of them were no match for this girl at all!

After all that had been said, they had begun to understand the situation.

Seeing that they had left, Qiao Wanqing did not chase after them. After all, she was not at an advantage in age, and pursuing the matter would not yield any good results. She glanced at Sun Xiaoqin and Aunt Li, who were already somewhat bewildered, turned around, and went home.

With the main characters gone, the onlookers immediately started discussing among themselves, their faces still showing the excitement of having just witnessed the drama unfold.

"I think I've guessed the truth. Do you think she had a crush on that girl, but her family was going through a bit of trouble, so she tried to take advantage of her. Then the girl got married, and that's when she got angry?"

"I think she ran away because she was afraid of being harassed, and now that she sees that the other person is fine and even married into a good family, she's furious!"

"They're upset that their daughter-in-law ran away, so they've come to cause trouble!"

"This girl must come from a well-off family. Judging from her airs, she's definitely a city girl, and probably quite educated. They were trying to take advantage of her parents losing their jobs, but she just married someone else. They lost everything and are unhappy!"

"Hehe, mothers-in-law all understand!"

"There will probably be more trouble to come!"

"This girl is no pushover; she's not someone to be trifled with."

"She thought her son was so outstanding that no girl would marry anyone but him, but what happened? There was no engagement, no token, they were just acquaintances, and she started acting like a mother-in-law. In the end, the girl ran away. She was so humiliated."

"Hmph, how do you know it's definitely the Chen family's fault? That girl looks alluring and seductive; she's clearly not a simple person."

……

Zhou Lan was pulled home by Chen's father. Once home, Zhou Lan spoke without restraint, "Look, look! I told you before that that brat was no good. She's arrogant and thinks she's above everyone else. And it's true! She doesn't respect us at all. The Qiao family..."

"The Qiao family is alright now!" Mr. Chen added.

Zhou Lan was taken aback. "What? Everything's alright?"

Chen's father recounted the events to Zhou Lan, who was completely stunned. "Bai Zhengxiong is dead? Just like that?"

Mr. Chen sighed helplessly and sat down on the sofa.

Seeing that Chen's father had tacitly agreed, Zhou Lan was completely distraught.

The Qiao family was a prominent family with extensive connections. Now, the patriarch of the Qiao family is engaged in scientific research and is highly regarded. The eldest son of the Qiao family holds a high position and great power. Previously, their family had been carefully maintaining this relationship. Now that Grandpa Xu wants to choose a husband for Qiao Wanqing, they are very happy to let their son marry her.

If Bai Zhengxiong hadn't caused this trouble, they wouldn't have refused the marriage proposal from the Qiao family, right?

Now that all this has happened and everyone has been offended, the Qiao family hasn't suffered any serious damage at all.

……

Qiao Wanqing had nothing much to do in the afternoon, so she continued to till the soil around the yard to plant vegetable seeds. She was strong and energetic, and in one afternoon she had cleared out all the corners of the yard, bought some seeds from the supply and marketing cooperative, and planted them all.

It was getting late, time to make dinner. So she killed the biggest fish from before, chopped up its head to make soup, and added some spiritual spring water. She wanted to help Lu Mingzhou recover properly.

Health is the foundation of everything. Successful people are generally high-energy individuals. Without good health, one may have the will but not the strength to do many things.

Lu Mingzhou worked too hard in his early years, resulting in many hidden injuries in his body. After the age of thirty, people's energy becomes increasingly insufficient, so we need to replenish it as soon as possible.

The aroma wafted far and wide. Qiao Wanqing stir-fried some vegetables, which were delivered by Lin Ling from next door. She had given Lin Ling some seafood at noon, and the young girl was very polite, picking a basket of vegetables to bring over.

Lu Mingzhou and his family smelled the delicious aroma coming from their yard. "Wife, what delicious food have you made? It smells so good!"

"Fish head tofu soup, are you hungry? Wash your hands and eat."

At the dinner table, as the two ate, Qiao Wanqing recounted the events of the day to him. She emphasized that couples need to communicate with each other to prevent problems from arising in the first place.

After listening, Lu Mingzhou thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "There's nothing wrong with doing this. Although there's no procedural blemish on your family's record, it's a fact that you were arrested by the Revolutionary Committee. If you don't speak up, who knows what they'll say if they spread the word! Now that you've spoken up, the focus is blurred, and the impact will be much smaller."

"As long as you marry me, conflicts with the Chen family are inevitable. It doesn't matter whether you offend them or not; they'll definitely try to take advantage of us whenever they get the chance."

"As for the Sun family, the situation is similar. I've managed to get this position, so competition is inevitable. Don't be fooled by the fact that many people seem to get along well on the surface. When it comes to competition, they won't hold back. Don't worry too much about it."

Lu Mingzhou was very open-minded. He understood power struggles all too well. Even if they tried to curry favor with the Chen and Sun families and maintain their relationships today, when it came time to compete, those two families would still not hold back. They might even think they were easy to bully and become even more unscrupulous.

One family wants to marry Qiao Wanqing and control her, taking her dowry and climbing up the social ladder by stepping on her. The other family wants to marry their daughter to him so they can cling to him and enjoy the resources he has.

He could not agree to either of them; their interests conflicted, and competition was inevitable.