Li Shengmei felt distressed and suddenly realized Zheng Xianghong was so right. She reflected on her actions over the years—the trouble she caused for Zheng Xianghong, thinking about how Gao Guoqiang must view her in his heart, and it all just made her feel terrible. In fact, most of her life had already passed, and Li Shengmei wasn’t so fixated on Gao Guoqiang anymore. It was just that she couldn’t swallow her pride, which was why she harbored animosity toward Zheng Xianghong. She didn’t want Zheng Xianghong to have an easier life and couldn’t stand seeing Zheng Xianghong doing better than herself, hence she kept causing trouble. "So these years you’ve just been laughing at me?" Li Shengmei grew somewhat angry. Zheng Xianghong looked at Li Shengmei speechlessly and said, "Isn’t it you who laughed at me? Instigating my mother-in-law to hit and scold me, you must have been very pleased inside, right?" Li Shengmei suddenly felt ashamed, and thinking of the reason she had come, she was unsure whether it was appropriate to speak up. She said, "It’s all in the past. Why hold onto it? I didn’t gain anything from it anyway. He Hongjun doesn’t treat me as well as before, and Gao Guoqiang hasn’t laid a finger on you, yet He Hongjun hasn’t been sparing with me." Had it been before, Li Shengmei wouldn’t have mentioned such things, but now she was truly trying to ingratiate herself with Zheng Xianghong. Thinking about Zheng Xianghong’s son making something of himself, Li Shengmei felt a sourness in her heart. Her second son, He Xuebing, had just been promoted to platoon leader, while Gao Jiaxing was already a Deputy Company Commander and even had the chance to study at a military academy and attend university. The disparity between their achievements was so glaring that it made Li Shengmei’s eyes turn red with jealousy. "That was your own doing." Zheng Xianghong had no sympathy for Li Shengmei. Heaven knows when Li Shengmei married into the He Family, she didn’t have to do anything; her mother-in-law waited on her. Meanwhile, Zheng Xianghong was working like an ox for her mother-in-law, and it was still not enough to please her. Chapters fırst released on 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝙣𝙚𝙩 Life is what one makes of it. Li Shengmei had a good family but was never content. Who’s to blame then? Li Shengmei didn’t bring it up again. Instead, she said to Zheng Xianghong, "Gangzi, Bingzi, along with Jiazhi and Jiaxing, grew up together like brothers. Although our relationship isn’t good, their bond is genuinely strong." Zheng Xianghong agreed with this point. Of course, this was under the premise that He Hongjun always approved of the children from both families mingling, and unlike Li Shengmei, Gao Guoqiang and Zheng Xianghong had no issues with the children interacting. Thus, the kids from both families grew up fighting and playing together, forging strong ties. "Now that Jiaxing has become a Deputy Company Commander and is going to military college next year, could you ask him to lend a hand to Xuegang for the position of platoon leader?" If she weren’t truly thinking of her son, Li Shengmei wouldn’t be speaking to Zheng Xianghong in such a humble way. He Xuegang was currently only a squad leader, despite being in the military for over a decade and meeting the conditions to serve alongside troops. Considering her second son was already an officer while her eldest wasn’t, Li Shengmei still hoped He Xuegang could become a platoon leader. Zheng Xianghong said, "It’s useless to ask me, and it’s useless to find Jiaxing. It’s not up to him to decide." "Even if it’s not for Jiaxing to decide, he has a say in it, doesn’t he? Isn’t Lieutenant Liu Xia Xiao’s cousin?" Li Shengmei’s tone turned sour as she spoke. Who could have predicted that Xia Xiao would turn out to be a golden egg? At the time, Li Shengmei truly looked down on Xia Xiao. And so what if she came from a big city? A phoenix fallen on hard times is not as good as a chicken. That’s why Li Shengmei had acted against the match, not letting her son be involved with Xia Xiao. But look at Xia Xiao now—with a good family background, not to mention influential relatives, and having easily birthed three sons. If you ask Li Shengmei if she regrets her actions. Sometimes, Li Shengmei would think if she had agreed to let Xia Xiao be with He Xuebing, and if He Xuegang had married the regiment commander’s daughter, everything would have been perfect. Of course, this was just wishful thinking on the part of Li Shengmei. "Lieutenant Liu has already said that the winner of next summer’s assessments will be chosen based on merit. You should just encourage Gangzi to work harder. Things can’t be done this way. There are rules in the military, and it’s all about real ability. If Jiaxing didn’t have the capability, others wouldn’t favor him either. Gangzi is also an experienced soldier and shouldn’t be less capable than the others. You have to believe in your son. I won’t talk about this to anyone else, and you shouldn’t beg others either. Otherwise, you’ll just be making a joke of Gangzi, and it might even lead to him being looked down upon." Zheng Xianghong had watched He Xuegang grow up, and He Hongjun was her relative, with He Xuegang being more like her younger cousin. She also hoped for He Xuegang to do well. Li Shengmei wasn’t pleased, feeling that Zheng Xianghong was unwilling to help, "If you don’t want to help, fine, but why bother saying so much?" Zheng Xianghong just rolled her eyes at Li Shengmei, "You should ask Gangzi himself. If what I’m saying isn’t right, forget I said anything. You also don’t need to look for me. Our relationship has never been good to begin with. If it weren’t for this familial tie, I wouldn’t even want to deal with you." When He Xuegang returned home, they naturally complained about the situation in front of him, to which He Xuegang furiously exclaimed, "What, you went to ask for favors on my behalf?" Dong Meihua didn’t say a word, but Li Shengmei replied, "What favors? Don’t make it sound so nasty. We were just hoping that Zheng Xianghong and Xia Xiao could speak to Gao Jia and Lieutenant Liu on your behalf. We’re looking out for your best interests." "You’re just embarrassing me, trampling my dignity underfoot," He Xuegang seethed. Although he tended to be more aggressive and liked to scheme, if Liu Yuanchao hadn’t stated that the assessment next year would be fair, he might have actually considered using his connections. But Liu Yuanchao had explicitly said that next year’s assessment would determine the winner, and cheating wouldn’t be possible with over a hundred people in one unit. Rather than think about those things, it was better to work on improving himself and his skills. Moreover, there were only six months left, and He Xuegang’s training had been particularly strenuous. Since Li Shengmei’s arrival, she had been sleeping in the greenhouse. He had just wanted to come home to see his son and instead had to listen to Li Shengmei and Dong Meihua’s complaints, which infuriated him. He felt he was working hard to improve, aspiring to win on his own strength, and here his own mother and wife were holding him back. Although he didn’t know whether Xia Xiao and Zheng Xianghong would tell Gao Jia, or if Liu Yuan and Mu Xingzhi would find out, He Xuegang felt belittled and was far from comfortable with it. "Mom, I know you’re doing this for my sake, seeing how hard I work and feeling sorry for me. I’ve known Zheng Xianghong for decades; she won’t tell anyone," Li Shengmei tried to soothe her angry son, sharing Zheng Xianghong’s words with him. "Yeah, Xia Xiao probably won’t say anything either," Dong Meihua added, sharing Xia Xiao’s remarks with He Xuegang. After hearing everything, He Xuegang looked at Li Shengmei, then at Dong Meihua, and said, "I have never envied Gao Jiaxing so much." Then, He Xuegang walked away.