Xiao Song wiped away a bead of sweat.

It seemed Granny Wang had genuinely made herself unpopular throughout the military family compound. Looking at it that way, Lin Yao had actually done everyone a favor.

“Yes, yes, sisters-in-law. I’ll definitely report this to the leadership. Auntie Wang’s behavior will certainly be dealt with.”

Only then did Lin Yao carry Yuan Bao back toward the courtyard entrance.

As she walked, she said,

“Xiao Song, I don’t dare trust Xiao Liu anymore. No matter what happens, somehow it’s always my fault. When I’m bullied, he still thinks I should just endure it.”

“As for the Qin family’s affairs back in the village, I definitely won’t trust him to investigate them. You handle it instead. Whatever the truth is, it shouldn’t be decided by my word alone.”

Her tone dripped with sarcasm as she openly targeted Xiao Liu.

Did he really think she was easy to bully?

Back in the village, she hadn’t bothered arguing because long-distance calls cost money.

But now she was standing inside the military compound itself, and he still dared to look down on her.

He must have grown tired of living comfortably.

Xiao Liu’s face turned green from her verbal assault.

Unable to hold back, he blurted out,

“Sister-in-law, are you insulting me?”

“Insulting you?”

Lin Yao scoffed.

“Do I have that much free time?”

“Tell me—which thing I said was false?”

“Didn’t you just defend Auntie Wang?”

“And wasn’t it because of you that I never learned about Le Bao’s existence?”

Then she suddenly frowned.

“Also, I’ve been talking all this time. Where’s Le Bao?”

Her eyes narrowed at Xiao Liu.

“I specifically told you over the phone to investigate the nanny taking care of Le Bao.”

“You didn’t ignore that, did you?”

“I did investigate!”

Xiao Liu replied, both embarrassed and angry.

“If it weren’t for me, nobody would have discovered something was wrong with Le Bao.”

“I was the one who rushed him to the hospital for emergency treatment the moment we found out.”

He felt Lin Yao was deliberately targeting him.

Truthfully, he had never liked her.

From just a few phone conversations, he’d concluded she was bad-tempered.

Combined with the commander and her marital conflicts, along with all the rumors floating around, he’d long ago decided she wasn’t a good person.

Naturally, being questioned in public infuriated him.

“What?!”

“Le Bao is sick?”

The moment Lin Yao heard that, her fists clenched.

She remembered what the novel had described:

Le Bao was frequently locked in a dark room, which led to severe psychological problems.

The nanny had even drugged him with sedatives to keep him quiet and obedient.

A surge of anger rose within her.

“Brother is sick?”

Yuan Bao immediately became anxious too.

“Mom, let’s go find Brother!”

His little eyes reddened.

At that moment—

A military jeep drove into the compound.

Qin Shishen stepped out, carrying Le Bao in his arms.

“Commander Qin!”

“Commander Qin and Le Bao are back!”

“Le Bao, are you okay?”

The family members immediately crowded around, asking questions all at once.

Frightened by the noise, Le Bao buried himself deeper into Qin Shishen’s chest.

Then someone in the crowd called out,

“Commander Qin, your wife brought Yuan Bao here.”

What?!

That bad woman…

Le Bao abruptly raised his head and looked toward the gate.

His eyes met Lin Yao’s.

He instantly screamed,

“Bad woman!”

The crowd erupted.

Qin Shishen stared at Lin Yao.

No one could tell what he was thinking.

He remained completely expressionless.

“Qin Shishen!”

Lin Yao snorted angrily.

“This is how you’ve taught Le Bao? To call me a bad woman?”

Carrying Yuan Bao, she stormed over and kicked Qin Shishen.

His reflexes were quick.

He dodged easily.

His lips pressed into an even tighter line.

Lin Yao had long been dissatisfied with him.

Furious, she said,

“And you still have the nerve to dodge?”

“Look what you’ve turned Le Bao into!”

Qin Shishen finally spoke.

“If there’s something to discuss, let’s go inside.”

“Don’t make a spectacle of ourselves.”

Lin Yao laughed coldly.

“The one being laughed at is you, not me.”

“You don’t like me anyway and want a divorce.”

“Fine.”

“I’ll divorce you.”

“I don’t want your money.”

“Just give me Yuan Bao and Le Bao.”

She couldn’t be bothered wasting time.

She directly stated the purpose of her visit.

“Divorce?”

Qin Shishen raised an eyebrow.

For the first time, genuine surprise appeared in his eyes.

The surrounding family members all gasped.

None of them had expected that the supposedly greedy and selfish Lin Yao had come all the way to the military compound to ask for a divorce.

If she was willing to let go of a man like Commander Qin, who could still claim she only cared about money?

Had they misunderstood her all along?

“We’ll discuss the divorce later.”

Qin Shishen’s tone remained calm.

“There are more urgent matters at home right now.”

“Take Yuan Bao inside first.”

“Whatever happens can wait until Le Bao recovers.”

Lin Yao studied Le Bao’s pale complexion.

Then she nodded.

“Fine.”

“Le Bao’s health comes first.”

Turning around, she addressed the gathered family members.

“Thank you, sisters-in-law, for speaking up for me today.”

“I, Lin Yao, don’t go looking for trouble, but I’m not afraid of it either.”

“If any of you ever need my help, just ask.”

The women exchanged surprised glances.

Truthfully, they had only criticized Granny Wang because they disliked her.

They hadn’t specifically intended to help Lin Yao.

Yet her words were graceful and generous.

Instantly, everyone felt warm toward her.

At least she seemed straightforward and honest—not someone who would secretly scheme against others.

“Comrade Lin Yao, I only spoke the truth.”

“I wasn’t taking your side.”

“You don’t need to take it to heart.”

“That’s right. We’ve put up with Granny Wang for years.”

“Just don’t hold all those rumors we spread about you against us.”

One woman sighed.

“I still wonder who started calling you vicious in the first place.”

Another immediately pointed at Xiao Liu.

“I know.”

“The rumors that Lin Yao was greedy started with Xiao Liu.”

The moment those words were spoken, Xiao Liu’s face darkened.

He recognized the speaker instantly.

It was Commander He’s wife.

She was one of the most respected wives in the compound—a true “sister-in-law among sisters-in-law.”

More importantly, she and Commander He were famous for having an exceptionally loving marriage.

“Sister-in-law, I…”

“Xiao Liu, don’t deny it.”

She calmly raised a hand.

“At the time, you had just sent money to Comrade Lin Yao.”

“You casually remarked that she spent a lot despite not raising any children.”

“Some family members and soldiers overheard you.”

“That was how the gossip started.”

Xiao Liu was rendered speechless.

Now that she mentioned it, he remembered the incident.

“I’m sorry.”

“I never imagined a careless remark would spread into something so ugly.”

“Oh, so it was you.”

Lin Yao looked at him coldly.

“Then I’m really curious.”

“I was in the village raising Yuan Bao.”

“In fact, from beginning to end, Yuan Bao was the only child I even knew existed.”

“I received fifty yuan a month in allowances.”

“Given Qin Shishen’s rank and salary, was asking for fifty yuan really that greedy?”

She sneered.

She had known her reputation couldn’t possibly have become that terrible on its own.

Someone had clearly been stirring trouble behind the scenes.

And once again, it turned out to be Xiao Liu.

“What?”

“Only fifty yuan?”

“That’s not a lot at all!”

“Exactly!”

“My husband is only a company commander, and even his full allowance is more than fifty yuan.”

“Right! Considering Commander Qin’s position, fifty yuan is barely enough.”

“If that’s all she got, then she was practically living like a neglected wife back in the countryside.”

Another woman sighed.

“This is why wives should move to the military compound when possible.”

“Otherwise husbands and wives end up misunderstanding each other.”

The group immediately launched into another lively discussion about whether military wives should accompany their husbands.

The topic wandered off, but the earlier comments had already made it impossible for Xiao Liu to cleanly explain away his actions.

“Sister-in-law, it wasn’t only fifty.”

Grinding his teeth, Xiao Liu finally spoke.

“It was one hundred yuan.”

“At least one hundred.”

He didn’t know whether he’d still be able to remain at Commander Qin’s side after today’s events.

But as long as he remained in the military, he had to protect his reputation.

This misunderstanding had to be cleared up.