Chapter 159: Why Can’t You Take a Joke?

Chapter 159: Chapter 159: Why Can’t You Take a Joke?

"If you didn’t send the telegram, then who did?"

As Jiang Moli spoke, her eyes were fixed on Jiang Qing.

Lu Tingting was no fool. She stomped over to Jiang Qing and slammed her hand on the desk.

The entire office, including Jiaojiao in her arms, jumped in surprise.

"Did you secretly send that telegram to my family?"

Jiang Qing snapped, "It wasn’t me! Why would I send a telegram for you?"

Lu Tingting snorted. "Because you’re sick in the head!"

Jiang Qing was sputtering with rage. "I told you it wasn’t me! Stop making a scene!"

"It had better not be you. If I find out you did this, I won’t let you get away with it!"

Unsure if Jiang Qing had actually sent the telegram, Lu Tingting just left her with a threat and returned to her desk.

Loving the drama, Jiang Moli fanned the flames. "Actually, it would be simple to find out who sent it. Just go ask at the post and telegraph office in town."

When Lu Tingting heard that, she thought it was a great idea.

But when she checked her watch, she saw the ox-cart to town had already left.

School was starting tomorrow, so she wouldn’t be able to go to town then either.

Jiang Qing had thought of this too and was secretly relieved.

There was only one post office in town, and at least thirty, if not fifty, people went in and out every day.

By the time Lu Tingting could get there to ask in a couple of days, the operator would have long forgotten about it.

"Your Third Uncle is going to town for a meeting this afternoon, I think. You can just catch a ride with him."

Lu Tingting couldn’t help but light up at Jiang Moli’s words.

Jiang Qing, however, instinctively tightened her grip on her pen as panic began to stir within her.

’If Lu Tingting finds out I was the one who sent the telegram, I’ll be in for it!’

’And if word of this gets out, the other military families will gossip about me even more!’

...

When it was about time, Jiang Moli led Lu Tingting to the military compound to make the call.

Watching them leave, Jiang Qing felt her mood sour.

’Jiang Moli was her damn curse. Nothing ever went right when she was involved!’

...

When Jiang Moli and Lu Tingting reached the entrance to the compound, Lu Cheng was already waiting for them.

His eyes fell on the puppy nestled in Jiang Moli’s arms, and he grew slightly irritated. "It’s not like it doesn’t have legs. Why are you carrying it?"

"Its legs are short. It can’t walk very fast."

"Short legs are a result of no exercise. It needs to be on the ground, walking and running more."

As he spoke, he reached over, plucked the puppy from Jiang Moli’s arms, set it on the ground, and gave its tiny rear a light kick.

"Walk on your own!"

Jiaojiao stumbled from the kick, scrambled back up, and waddled back to Jiang Moli’s feet. It looked up at her, its tail wagging furiously.

Seeing the dust on the puppy’s fur and paws, Jiang Moli no longer felt like picking it up.

’Who wants to hold a dirty puppy, anyway?’

"Be good. Walk by yourself."

As if sensing its owner’s disdain, Jiaojiao turned and barked at Lu Cheng. "WOOF! WOOF!"

’You sneaky jerk! I hate you!’

’Serves you right! That’s what you get for ruining my fun!’

Lu Cheng gloated inwardly.

...

The military compound was vast. Buildings were arranged in neat rows, and even the pine and cypress trees lining the walkways seemed to grow in uniform formation. Everything radiated a strict sense of discipline.

But that wasn’t the important part.

’There are so many people.’

’And they’re all men!’

Especially on the training grounds nearby, where a group of shirtless, powerfully built soldiers sweated through high-intensity drills. It was quite the beautiful sight.

Jiang Moli was completely mesmerized by the sight when a hand grabbed her chin and forced her to look away.

"What do you think you’re looking at?"

"I’m just seeing how the soldiers train."

Jiang Moli said it with a perfectly straight face, but Lu Cheng didn’t believe her nonsense for a second.

’His wife was a total lecher. It wasn’t enough that she was always taking advantage of him in bed; she couldn’t behave herself out in public either.’

But he didn’t call her out on it in front of his niece. Instead, he just silently used his large frame to block Jiang Moli’s view.

Jiang Moli: "..."

’Way to be a spoilsport.’

There were two phones on the base: one in Zhong Weiguo’s office and one in the communications room.

Lu Cheng took Lu Tingting to the one in the communications room.

She first called Lu Deyao to tell him she was safe, then called Fan Wenfang at her workplace.

When she heard her daughter’s voice, Fan Wenfang nearly wept with relief.

Ever since getting the telegram the day before, she hadn’t been able to recover from the shock of her daughter’s near-abduction.

"Has your Third Uncle said when he’s sending you home? I’ll pick you up at the station."

"Mom, I don’t want to come back yet."

Fan Wenfang grew anxious. "If you’re not coming back, what are you doing there?"

"I’ve been here for days, and school is finally starting tomorrow. If I go back now, it’ll all have been for nothing."

Fan Wenfang was furious. "Is your Third Uncle refusing to let you come back? Put him on the phone! I want to talk to him!"

"It has nothing to do with my uncle! I’m the one who doesn’t want to go back. I just called to let you know I’m fine, so don’t worry!"

And with that, she hung up.

Fan Wenfang was fuming.

’As her mother, she knew better than anyone how reluctant her daughter had been to go to Menghai. How could she possibly not want to come home?’

’She didn’t believe for a second that her brother-in-law had nothing to do with it.’

’Her daughter had nearly been abducted! She had learned her lesson. And he was still holding this stupid thing over her head.’

’It was too much!’

As for Lu Tingting, she figured that telling her family she wasn’t coming back had solved everything. She turned to ask Lu Cheng about the trip to town:

"Third Uncle, when are you going to town this afternoon? I’ll go with you."

"Who said I’m going to town this afternoon?"

Lu Tingting whipped her head around to look at Jiang Moli.

Jiang Moli said, "Oh, I must have misremembered."

Lu Tingting didn’t seem to suspect anything. She was just frustrated that if she couldn’t get to town, she couldn’t track down the person who sent the telegram.

Lu Cheng, however, was not so easily fooled.

After Lu Tingting left for Feng Meihua’s house, he asked Jiang Moli what was going on.

Jiang Moli didn’t hide anything and told him she suspected Jiang Qing had sent the telegram.

After hearing her out, Lu Cheng said grimly, "If she really did that, it proves she’s malicious. We can’t have someone like that teaching on the base."

"No, we can’t let her go back."

Lu Cheng looked at her. "She’s done so many despicable things behind your back, and you’re still going soft on her?"

"It’s precisely because she’s bad news that I can’t let her go back and torment my dad."

Lu Cheng: "..."

Jiang Moli added, "Do you know what the most agonizing part is for a prisoner on death row?"

It’s the waiting for a blade hanging over their head to fall, not knowing when it will drop.

The constant fear, terror, despair, and torment can drive a person to collapse.

A fate worse than death.

Just as Jiang Moli had predicted, back in the dormitory, Jiang Qing was on pins and needles.

She was terrified that her actions were about to be exposed, while simultaneously racking her brain for a way to stop Lu Tingting from getting to town.

And then, she came up with a plan.

Claiming she was constipated, she went to the clinic and got some laxatives. Back in the dorm, she ground them into a fine powder and poured it into Lu Tingting’s jar of honey.

Every day after lunch, Lu Tingting would come back and mix herself a glass of honey water to drink.

’Once she drinks the honey and gets diarrhea, she won’t be able to go to town.’

Just as she was about to screw the lid back on the honey jar, the dormitory door was thrown open with a BANG.

She turned to see Lu Tingting standing there, her eyes wide with fury. Jiang Qing was so startled she almost dropped the jar.

"Jiang Qing, have you no shame?! You’re stealing my honey?!"

Lu Tingting’s misunderstanding, however, made Jiang Qing breathe a sigh of relief.