The Secret of Second Marriage

I gave Zhou Shanshan a deep look. I didn't expect that she, who had been so full of saintly compassion before, would be so ruthless when it came to her own interests and losses.

I said, "No matter what, I can't just stand by and watch someone die. It goes against my conscience, and I won't have peace of mind for the rest of my life."

In such a situation, it is considered an act of kindness and accumulating merit.

I believe in the justice of Heaven.

There's never any benefit to doing good deeds.

"You talk as if you're so kind, but I was just thinking about the team too."

Zhou Shanshan started to sulk.

Mr. Jiang and I carried the woman to our tent to rest. We lit a fire and cooked instant noodles for the couple, adding two sausages. Each of them had a bowl, which filled their stomachs.

We rescued a couple here. The husband was a soldier with a high rank, and his wife was his childhood sweetheart. They grew up together, got married, and had two children.

Seeing that his wife's fever was slowly subsiding, he knelt down with a thud, kowtowed to us, and said with tears streaming down his face, "Thank you. My name is Yuxiang. You saved my wife. When we get back, I will definitely repay you properly."

I said, "It's nothing, just a small favor. Don't worry about it."

Yuxiang gave me a very grateful look.

Mr. Jiang held my hand and said to me with some surprise, "Man, what I like about you is your indomitable courage."

You are very responsible and kind, much better than Zhou Shanshan, who appears to be a wealthy heiress but is actually selfish and arrogant.

"Mr. Jiang, you flatter me."

I smiled, looking at the winding mountain road stretching into the distance, a deep worry in my eyes.

How is my daughter Tangtang doing? There's no signal on the plateau, so I can't get through to her on the phone.

All we can do now is wait for rescue here.

The rain stopped for a while, then started falling again.

Mr. Jiang held up an umbrella and we searched for dead trees by the roadside, collected the dead branches, tied them with rope, and carried them back.

Yu Xiang was a burly, 40-year-old middle-aged man.

He was a soldier, with an iron fist, a resolute face, deep eyes, and extraordinary strength.

I feel much more at ease with him in our team; at least no one should dare to steal our supplies.

Yu Xiang helped his wife into the tent to rest and gave her fever reducer and altitude sickness medication.

Although his wife is also 40 years old, she is very beautiful, with very fair skin, and looks like a very intellectual and elegant woman.

I heard his wife is a university professor.

His wife lay weakly in the tent and said to her husband, "Honey, it's okay. Can you help me gather some firewood? I heard from Man that we're running out of natural gas for cooking. If we continue to be trapped here, we'll have to use firewood for cooking and boiling water."

They saved my life, and I want to repay them properly.

Yu Xiang said, "Wife, you lie down and rest here. I'll go help gather firewood. We'll definitely survive until we're rescued. I can't lose you... I can't live without you."

After he finished, he took a military dagger and quickly climbed up the mountain road along the rocks, dragging down branches from several large trees.

When Mr. Jiang and I returned, the firewood next to our tent was already piled up very high.

Zhou Shanshan and her daughter squeezed into the tent for a whole day, doing nothing but waiting for food.

Zhou Shanshan, with her big, watery eyes, saw a sick woman lying in the tent and couldn't help but cover her nose, complaining to me, "Who told you to save people so casually? Who knows if she has pneumonia or if it's contagious? Now look what's happened, there was only one tent to begin with, and now we have to share it with the couple."

Six people crammed into one big tent, how are we supposed to survive?

I finally lost my temper, rushed forward, slapped her hard across the face, and said, "If you're not going to work, then shut up. We're all trapped here to survive and wait for rescue; we're all comrades."

You have no supplies, and no strength to help cook or move things. Staying quietly in the tent is already quite good.

Otherwise, don't blame me for leaving you here. This isn't your home, and you're not some rich heiress. Nobody's going to pamper you!

"Jiang Man, can you please stop saying such awful things? What did I do to offend you? Didn't I give you money? I'm not eating and drinking for free."

Zhou Shanshan was still throwing a tantrum.

And I was left speechless.

As evening approached, several cars carrying tourists arrived one after another; they were all pedestrians stuck in traffic.

There was a car full of men with thick gold chains, four of them, looking shifty and obviously not good people.

As soon as they got off the bus, they came over to ask how many of us there were, what supplies we had in the bus, and if we could lend them some instant noodles.

I glanced at them quickly; they weren't exactly good people. I discussed it with Mr. Jiang and told them, "I'm sorry, we don't have much instant noodles left in the car, and we don't have much bottled water either. It's not convenient for me to lend them any. Please think of another way."

When those men heard that we didn't want to see them, their expressions changed. They said, "You're heartless to leave someone to die. Your truck is loaded to the brim; you must have a lot of supplies on it, and you're obviously wealthy. You can't even bear to spend a single packet of instant noodles on your own. How stingy!"

Zhou Shanshan, that idiot, actually said directly: "Jiang Man, it's not like they're not going to give you money. It's just a few packs of instant noodles, what's the big deal? There are at least five boxes of instant noodles in the car, why can't you give them two packs?"

"Aren't you always doing good deeds? You just saved a woman."

"Zhou Shanshan! Shut up! Since you're so generous, you won't be eating instant noodles tonight. From today onwards, not a single pack of instant noodles will be given to a saint like you."

I was instantly furious; I never imagined this woman could be so brain-dead…

No wonder people say, "In chaotic times, kill the saintly mother first..."

After getting to know Zhou Shanshan, I found that she really is a saint. She is selfish to death, but she always uses other people's things to do favors.

For example, we used the stir-fried meat we ordered at the small hotel to feed stray dogs, showing off our saintly heart.

For example, someone might use my instant noodles as a favor, wanting to give them away to curry favor with those older guys across the street.

How can there be such a disgusting woman in this world? She reminds me of those shrewd people in the workplace. They take all the credit for good things and make others take the blame for bad things.

Zhou Shanshan is trash. She has a glamorous job as a TV host and is also a rich second-generation heiress. She eats, dresses, and uses designer brands and is never short of men pursuing her.

But now I only find her face incredibly ugly. I secretly vowed that I would cut off all ties with this kind of person as soon as I returned to Beijing, otherwise, who knows what she might do to you...

Zhou Shanshan pouted and complained, feeling wronged: "Why? I just said something fair. Jiang Man, you're so petty."

The guys across from us said, "Hey beautiful, why don't you come sit in our car? We'll protect you."

Zhou Shanshan thought about it and still refused. I guess she wasn't that stupid. She knew that for a girl like her to go and ride in a car with four men in the middle of nowhere on a highway was like a lamb entering a tiger's den.

She smiled and said, "Never mind, Mr. Jiang and I are friends. We're traveling together, and I need to stay here with my friend, so I won't go over."

The four men came over again and threatened me, saying, "Jiang Man, right? I'll remember you. There are five boxes of instant noodles in the car. Can you lend us a few packs? What's wrong with that? Are you some kind of selfish woman? We're all stuck on the road, we're all friends, so just give us a straight answer."

But our team isn't made up of the elderly, weak, sick, or disabled to be bullied by them.

At the most critical moment, President Jiang and Yu Xiang came out and stood on either side of me, like two bodyguards, which made me feel particularly safe.

In particular, when Yu Xiang showed his military ID to the other party, the four men were frightened and dared not make any further moves.

I feel incredibly lucky that I saved Yu Xiang and his wife; this must be what they mean by good deeds being rewarded.

I told those four people, "I won't lend you the instant noodles. There are four or five cars stuck in traffic behind us. What if someone else wants to borrow them if I lend them to you?"

With this blizzard and another landslide ahead, we don't know when the road will be open. Everyone is stuck on the highway, surrounded by desolate mountains and wilderness, with no food to be found.

These five boxes of instant noodles are our team's last hope for survival.

I know you're all smart people, so let's be frank. I just don't believe you guys would drive on a road trip without bringing any snacks.

The instant noodles we brought are only enough for our own group. If you really want to give up instant noodles, then you'll have to exchange them for something else.

"The egg yolk pies we brought in the car have made our throats feel sweet, dry, and thirsty. How about we trade a few packs for your instant noodles?"

The eldest member of their group came up to us and discussed it.

I guess they saw that we weren't pushovers, so they went back to their own carriage and took 10 egg yolk pies in exchange for four packs of instant noodles from us.

I gave them the instant noodles.

After they walked away, I distributed the egg yolk pies to our team, two for each person, except for Zhou Shanshan and her daughter, which I suppose was a lesson learned.

Ziyi cried and said, "Mom, I want to eat egg yolk pie."

Zhou Shanshan stared at the egg yolk pie in my hand like a hungry wolf and said, "Jiang Man, I know you have a problem with me, and you're getting revenge. I don't care about your egg yolk pie. Humph, once we get back to the city, I'll be able to eat any Michelin-starred cake I want!"

"Let's talk about it when you get back to the city safely."

President Jiang gave her a cold look and said,

Mr. Jiang and I each took out an egg yolk pie and gave it to the little girl, Ziyi.

I know that adults' grudges shouldn't involve children. Although I dislike Zhou Shanshan, I have a daughter myself, so I won't make things difficult for her daughter.

Feeling sorry for her mother, Ziyi gave her a salted egg yolk pie, saying, "Mom, Uncle Jiang and Aunt Man each gave me a salted egg yolk pie. I'll give you one first, and we can eat them together, okay?"

"You good-for-nothing brat, when we get back to the city, Mom will treat you to all sorts of delicacies. Who cares about a lousy egg yolk pie?"

Zhou Shanshan angrily knocked the trump card out of her daughter's hand and forbade her daughter from eating the egg yolk pie we gave her.

Her daughter, Ziyi, burst into tears.

I peeled open the egg yolk pie and fed it to Ziyi. I said to Zhou Shanshan, "Stop throwing your tantrum like a spoiled princess. It's fine if you don't eat, but if children don't fill their stomachs to replenish their energy, they might experience altitude sickness, have difficulty breathing, or catch a cold. You'll regret it then."

Zhou Shanshan was startled by what I said.

She hugged her daughter tightly, kissed her forehead, and apologized, "Ziyi, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. You're my mother, I was too willful. No matter what, Mommy will definitely bring you safely back to Beijing."