"You!!!"
Zheng Hongjuan covered her mouth and pointed at Tang Qiyue in terror.
Zhan Zeyi and Political Commissar Wu sensed something was wrong and quickly turned around. They saw Tang Qiyue holding a jar of sweet bean sauce in one hand, while a wild boar lay beside her feet. The boar's neck had been snapped, and its body was twitching on the ground.
"Are you a monster?"
Zheng Hongjuan finally blurted out what she had been thinking. She rushed toward Tang Qiyue to check her leg, but then immediately stepped back in fear, worried she might end up like the wild boar at Tang Qiyue's feet.
Only Zhan Zeyi and Political Commissar Wu looked confused.
"Hongjuan, what's wrong with you? Why are you so startled?"
Political Commissar Wu looked at his sister-in-law with a headache. He knew she was troublesome, but he couldn't refuse his wife and mother-in-law's request to bring her to the island.
And before even a day had passed, she had already started causing trouble.
"Brother-in-law, didn't you see? She just kicked a wild boar and broke its neck! Her foot—look at her foot!"
Zheng Hongjuan jumped around in panic. Seeing that her brother-in-law and Zhan Zeyi didn't believe her, she almost grabbed Tang Qiyue's foot to prove it.
Tang Qiyue took two steps back, dodging Zheng Hongjuan's hand, and looked at Zhan Zeyi.
Zhan Zeyi didn't doubt Zheng Hongjuan's words. After all, Tang Qiyue had nearly snapped his neck before.
What shocked him was how strong Tang Qiyue really was.
Tang Qiyue noticed his expression and quickly explained in a low voice,
"That was just a stress response. I didn't expect the wild boar to be kicked to death so easily."
Zhan Zeyi: …
The wild boar wasn't very big, but it still weighed nearly a hundred pounds.
Even an adult man would struggle to hunt a wild boar easily. Wild boars were naturally ferocious. Even if someone got lucky and kicked one in a vital spot, it would still be terrifying.
Political Commissar Wu squatted down to check the wild boar and confirmed that it was dead.
Ignoring Zheng Hongjuan's frantic reaction, he praised Tang Qiyue enthusiastically.
"Sister-in-law, you're strong! Now this brat won't dare bully you anymore!"
Men and women really do think differently.
Zheng Hongjuan stared at her brother-in-law in shock, then looked at Zhan Zeyi, who didn't seem surprised at all.
Realizing her reaction seemed excessive, she stomped her foot and pointed at Tang Qiyue.
"You're a monster! Did you force Battalion Commander Zhan to marry you?"
Tang Qiyue: …
She was too lazy to deal with Zheng Hongjuan's nonsense. Instead, she shoved the jar in her hand into Zhan Zeyi's arms—she was tired of carrying it.
Seeing that Tang Qiyue had no intention of responding, Zhan Zeyi grew impatient with Zheng Hongjuan's nagging.
"Shut up! Who I marry is my business. It has nothing to do with you. Why are you so agitated?"
Zheng Hongjuan's eyes instantly reddened. She didn't even stay to see what happened next. Covering her face, she ran away.
Zhan Zeyi clicked his tongue and reminded Political Commissar Wu.
"Old Wu, take the wild boar to Uncle. I'm heading back first."
He had no interest in joining the commotion. With the one-eyed uncle around, the wild boar would definitely end up as food.
"Don't worry about it. Sister-in-law, go back and rest. This wild boar has thick skin and tough meat—don't hurt your feet!"
Political Commissar Wu didn't even look at Tang Qiyue and Zhan Zeyi while speaking. Instead, he grabbed the wild boar by its hind legs and dragged it toward the canteen.
Who cared about young couples' arguments when there was meat to eat?
Zhan Zeyi pulled Tang Qiyue away. After they had walked a while, he explained:
"Old Wu keeps his mouth shut. He won't spread rumors. Even if Zheng Hongjuan runs around talking, nobody will believe her. But you should be more careful in the future. Being strong isn't a problem, but kicking a wild boar to death… I guess the women in the family compound won't dare argue with you anymore."
Tang Qiyue: …
She seemed to be speechless most of the time today.
She was mainly curious—wasn't Zheng Hongjuan supposed to be at home? How did she suddenly appear here? And why was there a wild boar nearby?
Fortunately, Zhan Zeyi didn't think anything was strange about her.
"Aren't you curious why I'm so strong?" Tang Qiyue asked.
Zhan Zeyi shook his head.
"What's so strange about that? Plenty of people are born with great strength. I've seen many things far more extraordinary than this. Our country is vast and full of strange people and unusual events. You're not the most special one."
Tang Qiyue: …
She realized she had been overthinking.
She didn't ask why there were wild boars on the island, nor did she explain why a delicate young woman like her could strangle someone.
Instead, she simply reminded him:
"Fix the yard as soon as possible. I want to plant vegetables."
The island wasn't short of seafood, but it lacked vegetables. Coral and the fisherwomen had told her that they usually had to go inland to exchange seafood for vegetables and grain. Most of the time they could only get dried vegetables. Fresh vegetables were rare.
Tang Qiyue didn't want to suffer from vitamin deficiency. She knew the consequences very well. For the sake of her health, vegetables were necessary.
Zhan Zeyi explained that their task for the next few days was to repair the courtyard and build houses in the family compound. The fence and yard should be finished by tomorrow.
When they returned home, the bamboo in the yard had already been cleaned up. Someone had even set up a temporary latrine, although it couldn't be used yet because the septic pit hadn't been dug.
Still, now that they had a roof over their heads, Tang Qiyue wasn't worried about improving things later.
She even planned to exchange some items in the trading system and renovate the house to greatly improve her quality of life.
Of course, she had no intention of telling Zhan Zeyi. She was afraid he might become suspicious.
After eating earlier, Tang Qiyue returned to the house. There wasn't much to tidy up, but she did have some clothes to wash.
Not far from the family compound was a stream formed by a mountain spring. It provided fresh water for everyone on the island, and many people washed clothes there.
Before Tang Qiyue could take a basin to the stream, Zhan Zeyi offered to fetch two buckets of water so she could wash the clothes at home.
At this time, many soldiers were bathing in the stream, wearing shorts but shirtless.
It was an eyesore!
He couldn't say that directly, so he simply insisted she wait at home.
Tang Qiyue didn't think much about it. She was happy not to carry the basin herself and sat on a stone in front of the house, enjoying the scenery.
"Aunt Tang! My mother asked me to bring you this!"
Hu Weimin ran up to Tang Qiyue and handed her an oil-paper package.
Tang Qiyue opened it curiously and found a packet of peach shortbread inside.
"Aunt Tang doesn't need this. Take it back and share it with your younger siblings."
Peach shortbread was a rare treat. Tang Qiyue didn't need it, and judging from Hu Weimin's expression, he clearly wanted it.
"My mother said it's a return gift for the cooling balm you gave us yesterday. If it hadn't been for your balm, my younger siblings and I would have been covered in mosquito bites!"
Hu Weimin ran off quickly, afraid Tang Qiyue would return the shortbread.
Tang Qiyue shook her head with a smile. Xu Qiuju's children were very polite.
But before she could put the shortbread away, cheers suddenly erupted from the seaside.