Reborn before the famine, kicking away the scumbag's family and living a carefree life.

Military service (8)

Jin Gui continued, "And later, when I was the township head, the rice I bought for the township was also purchased through sellers contacted by Aru."

Dingxiang was somewhat incredulous: "I heard there's a famine all over the country, and food is scarce everywhere. The person who can transport so much rice must be no ordinary person. How could Aru know such a person?"

Jin Gui: "Have you noticed that Aru is like a completely different person since her divorce?"

Dingxiang recalled carefully: "During that locust plague, she said she dreamed about it and told the production team to harvest the wheat ahead of schedule, but neither of us believed her."

Jin Gui nodded.

"Later, the locusts really came, swarming everywhere. Everyone was stunned, including me, the team leader. But Aru remained calm and directed everyone to catch the locusts. Not only did she protect some of the grain, but she also ate the locusts as food for three days."

Jin Gui continued, "But she gave all the credit to me. From then on, the higher-ups started to have a high opinion of me. Including the two grain purchases later, she was willing to be an unknown behind-the-scenes promoter. She gave all the credit to me. If it weren't for her, I would still be a production team leader now."

Dingxiang: "So, she's still your benefactor."

“She is my benefactor! Without her, I, Zhang Jingui, would not be who I am today. So what’s the big deal about me writing a recommendation letter for her sister? She was still selected even without my recommendation letter.”

Jin Gui told Ding Xiang about Su Jinru's honesty in returning the lost money.

Dingxiang: "Aru's luck is too good! She went to the county town and found a bag. She even got the favor of Minister Ye."

"Only kind and virtuous people have such good luck."

"Indeed, two hundred yuan and more than a hundred jin of grain coupons, that's a huge fortune. No one would be able to resist it."

"So how can one not admire someone like that!"

“Including her contacting grain sellers to sell grain to me, in such extraordinary times, if she were a little greedy and raised the price of rice by one or two times or even more, and made a profit from the price difference, wouldn’t she have made a fortune?”

"But she didn't do that, so our production team was able to buy this grain and save many people."

"She had the opportunity to make money but didn't; she had the opportunity to claim credit and become famous, but she didn't; she had the opportunity to keep the money she found for herself, but she didn't; she helped me, but only through me, to help more people avoid starvation. Tell me, what do you have to worry about when dealing with someone like that?"

Dingxiang: "In that sense, she is indeed admirable."

Jin Gui: "There's one more thing you might not know."

"what's up?"

"Yesterday, Qi Zhengyang took his eldest nephew An Rong to the Armed Forces Department to see Minister Ye. Guess what he said to Minister Ye?"

"How could I possibly guess what he would say?"

“He told Minister Ye that he was Su Jinru’s husband.”

"This Qi Zhengyang is shameless. He is Du Mei's husband now, and he still has the nerve to say that he is Su Jinru's husband. How can he say that?"

"Minister Ye was unaware of the situation and believed what he said. Qi Anrong got his wish and joined the army. He left this morning."

"How could Minister Ye believe Qi Zhengyang so easily?"

"Minister Ye called me last night to verify, but I wasn't in the office at the time. I only spoke to him this morning. But the new recruits have already set off."

Dingxiang: "Qi Anrong got a huge advantage for nothing."

The villagers of Daben Village soon learned that Su Jinru's honesty in returning lost money had secured her sister a chance to join the army.

They also heard that Qi Zhengyang had secured a spot for his nephew to join the army in the name of Su Jinru's husband.

There wasn't much objection to Su Jinru securing a spot for her sister. After all, she was lucky to find Minister Ye's bag. Moreover, putting ourselves in her shoes, many people wouldn't be able to return lost property, so naturally, they wouldn't have such good fortune.

However, Qi Zhengyang actually had the audacity to impersonate Su Jinru's husband and even managed to secure a spot for his nephew. Many people couldn't tolerate this and cursed Qi Zhengyang behind his back, calling him worthless.

Some people even mocked Du Mei in front of her as she washed clothes by the pond.

"Oh my! Your Mr. Qi is really something, still acting like Su Jinru's husband even in public."

"Yes, Du Mei, it seems like he didn't consider your feelings when he did this, did he?"

"What is he thinking about! He doesn't even care about his own reputation, just for his nephew's future."

"Li Meili said that her son is destined to be a high-ranking official. She's really shameless for her nephew's bright future!"

"What's so great about being a soldier? People go around saying their sons will be successful. Every year, more and more people join the army and become high-ranking officers. Are there that many high-ranking officers for them?"

Whether they can become high-ranking officials is unknown, but at least they have the opportunity.

Du Mei quickly washed her clothes, packed her things, picked up the basin, and hurried home, leaving the gossipy women behind.

She kicked open the courtyard gate, threw the basin of clothes into the yard, and ran into the house to find Qi Zhengyang.

At this moment, Qi Zhengyang was holding a book in his hand and sitting at the table reading.

Du Mei snatched the book from Qi Zhengyang's hand and tossed it aside.

"Du Mei, what are you doing?"

"Ah Yang, have you heard what people outside are saying about you?"

"What's the matter?"

"They're spreading rumors that in order to get your nephew a chance to join the army, you actually went to the leaders of the armed forces department and said that you were Su Jinru's husband, and that they only gave your nephew a spot because of Su Jinru."

"Why bother with those gossipy old women? Taking their words seriously is giving them too much face. These are your own words! Have you forgotten?"

“What happened between us before was something we couldn’t change, but you can’t just ignore your image! Even though these gossipy women are annoying, we still need to build a good reputation when we go back to school. We can’t just ignore our reputation.”

"We've always been the subject of gossip in the village, and our reputations are long gone. What difference does it make if one more or one less comes along?"

"How can there be no difference? This is a matter of credibility. You shouldn't have lied. Just for a mere spot to join the army, you lied to the leaders of the Armed Forces Department. This is a very serious offense."

"Compared to my nephew's future, the loss of my reputation is nothing."

"Losing this little bit of reputation is nothing, you make it sound so easy. How can you be so foolish? In your eyes, your nephew's future is more important than your own?"