I was reborn after my cousin stole my life.

"Brother, come in, come in quickly." Zhou Lei, holding his daughter, warmly greeted his older brother, who was carrying a large sack.

Yuan Juan stood awkwardly in the room, a polite smile on her face.

As soon as Brother Zhou entered the house, he saw Yuan Juan and asked with a simple smile, "This must be Stone's wife, right?"

Zhou Lei introduced: "This is her, her name is Yuan Juan, Xiao Juan, and this is her older brother."

Yuan Juan forced a smile. "Big brother, please sit down."

"Hey hey."

This was Brother Zhou's first time visiting his family at the military base. Before he even put his things down, he stared wide-eyed at everyone looking around. "Stone! This house is amazing! It's so bright! Is the floor paved with cement? You could sit right on it! And this furniture, it's so beautiful! No wonder Mom stayed here instead of going back. If it were me, I wouldn't go back either!"

Yuan Juan rolled her eyes inwardly and muttered "country bumpkin" under her breath.

"Brother, quickly put your things down." Zhou Lei said with a smile, "This time, you'll stay here for a while longer."

Yuan Juan couldn't control her expression and subconsciously widened her eyes to look at Zhou Lei.

Brother Zhou put down the sack on his back and shook his head, saying, "I can't stay here. There's a ton of work to do at home. We're about to plant winter wheat, and every day I go back late means one less day of work points. I have a bunch of kids at home waiting to be fed. I'm not as successful as you. I only have Xiaohua, so I don't have any burdens."

He could see the look on his sister-in-law's face; she was clearly disgusted with him.

Zhou Lei put down his daughter and asked Yuan Juan, "Where's Mom?"

"She went to the cafeteria. Knowing that her older brother and Xiaohua were arriving today, she went to the market early this morning to buy meat, but she couldn't find any, so she went to the cafeteria to get two good dishes to welcome her older brother and Xiaohua."

Yuan Juan felt angry just thinking about it. The old hag had been holding onto the money and the family's ration coupons for so many days, but she hadn't bought a single piece of meat. Yet, when her son and granddaughter from her hometown came, she was willing to spend money.

They don't treat their daughter-in-law like human beings!

Zhou Lei then remembered that he hadn't told his daughter to greet him. He squatted down, pointed at Yuan Juan, and said, "Little Flower, this is your mom. Call her Mom."

Little Flower glanced timidly at Yuan Juan, then tugged at her father's trouser leg and hid behind him.

Yuan Juan bent down, revealing her gentlest smile, and waved to the little girl, "Little Flower, let me and your mother take a look."

Little Flower hid behind Zhou Lei, her little hands tightly gripping her father's trouser leg.

Yuan Juan called the little girl several times, but she didn't come out. She reached out to pull her, and Xiao Hua let go of her little hand that was holding her father's trouser leg and hid behind her uncle.

Brother Zhou patted his niece's head and said to Yuan Juan with a smile, "The child is shy. Once she gets used to you, she'll call you. She's very lively back in her hometown."

Yuan Juan smiled outwardly, but inwardly she scoffed: Who cares?

She wished this little brat would never call her that again.

It's not like she won't have her own children in the future.

Zhou's mother returned quickly. As soon as Xiaohua saw her, she stretched out her little arms and ran towards her, shouting, "Grandma!"

Zhou's mother hugged her tightly, her face beaming with joy, "Oh, my dear grandson! Did you miss your grandma?"

Little Flower hugged her neck, "Yes!"

Zhou Lei looked on with envy. "At the train station, I wanted to hug her, but she wouldn't let me at first."

Zhou's mother glanced at him. "Whose fault is this? If you had listened to me and married a wife earlier, you would have brought Xiaohua'er to live with you long ago. You've only met her a few times. I raised her when she was a kitten, so of course she's close to me, right, Xiaohua'er?"

Little Flower understood what the adults were saying and nodded in agreement.

Yuan Juan opened the dishes that Zhou's mother had brought back, and then brought in the food she had made from the kitchen, setting out the bowls and chopsticks. "Mom, Big Brother, let's eat first."

"Yes, yes, let's eat first, you must all be hungry."

At the dinner table, Zhou's mother kept putting meat into her eldest son's and granddaughter's bowls.

"Eat more, it's rare to have such a good meal at home."

Zhou Lei also said, "Brother, don't be shy at home. Eat whatever you want. If you're still hungry, I'll go to the cafeteria to buy more."

Brother Zhou ate heartily.

Five people sat at the table, but Yuan Juan couldn't taste the food.

She finally spotted a piece of meat peeking out of the dish and reached out with her chopsticks, but Zhou's mother had already taken it away.

She nudged the man sitting next to her with her elbow.

Zhou Lei: "What's wrong?"

As soon as he asked that question, everyone at the table, young and old, looked at her.

"No," Yuan Juan said with an awkward smile, "It's nothing."

Zhou Lei continued eating his own food.

Yuan Juan wrinkled her nose. "What's that smell?"

Brother Zhou put his shoes on sheepishly, "I'm used to sleeping on the kang (heated brick bed) at home, I hope the smell didn't bother you."

Yuan Juan covered her nose, looking extremely disgusted.

Zhou's mother glanced at her sideways, "We're all from humble backgrounds, what are you pretending for? Do you really think you're a city person?"

Yuan Juan was embarrassed by what she was being said. "Mom, I didn't mean that."

Zhou's mother snorted and said to her eldest son, "Do whatever you want. This is your brother's house. Who's bothered if you take off your shoes? Let's see who dares to say anything."

Brother Zhou was also quite embarrassed. He could tell that his mother had a problem with his sister-in-law.

After finishing their meal, Brother Zhou pulled his mother out of the house and ran downstairs to talk.

"What's wrong with Shi Tou's wife? Why are you being so rude to her?"

Zhou's mother sighed and told her eldest son the reasons why Yuan Juan married Zhou Lei.

"Tell me, how can I possibly be nice to her! Just thinking about how she's been making a huge fuss about marrying your brother to that other guy's boss makes me uncomfortable!"

Brother Zhou advised, "She's already married to Shi Tou. No matter how upset you are, you can't keep going against her. She's going to spend her whole life with Shi Tou. If you two are going to be on bad terms, it'll be Shi Tou who suffers."

"I know!"

Mother Zhou said, "Do you think I don't understand these things? She's dishonest and has no character! Shitou is the most promising son in our Zhou family. We can't let our daughter-in-law hold him back. Look at her now, she's nothing like a virtuous wife and loving mother. I'm staying here to keep her in check and to discipline her! To prevent her from managing Shitou's household and taking things from our Zhou family's side! And to prevent her from being a bad person and causing trouble for Shitou!"

Brother Zhou stopped trying to persuade him. "You can stay with Shi Tou for a few years. Shi Tou's wife will definitely have children later. If you stay here, you can help him take care of the children for a few years."

"That's what I think too. I'm worried that she might treat Xiaohua badly. I'll go back when Xiaohua is older."

Yuan Xiu never expected that she would hear gossip about Yuan Juan when she came home.

She had seen many dramas where mothers-in-law tormented their daughters-in-law, and in these dramas, she usually stood on the daughter-in-law's side and felt indignant on her behalf.

This time she changed; her daughter-in-law was now Yuan Juan, and she only felt happy.

pretty good.

Seek kindness and benevolence.

Yuan Xiu suddenly remembered something. Yuan Juan was divorced in her previous life. From her conversation with the Yuan family, she learned that her second husband was also in the military and was in the same circle as Jiang Zhou.

That would explain why she continues to use the name Yuan Xiu and doesn't dare to come back even after divorcing Jiang Zhou.

So who was her second husband?

Is this Deputy Battalion Commander Zhou?

Or is it someone else?