Chapter 170: Tension

He didn't seem to have committed any errors, did he? And he hadn't been on any missions recently.

"It's been nearly ten years," Liu Tiezhu said.

The Secretary smiled, "Don't be nervous, sit down."

"Yes." Liu Tiezhu sat on the chair.

Under his uneasy gaze, the Secretary poured him a cup of hot water, "Today is just a casual chat, nothing major, don't be nervous."

Is it, casual, chat, really?

He recognized every one of these characters, but no matter how he looked at it, it didn't feel like a casual chat.

The Secretary hadn't approached Liu Tiezhu directly at noon because he had conducted an investigation; Wang Erhua hadn't only spoken about Comrade An.

The three of them were always gathered together, sitting there every day gossiping; it had already formed a habit and a trend.

Today, Comrade An was wronged, but in the past, others had been wronged; either they didn't want to bother with her, or their husbands held low positions and didn't dare to bother with her.

This had already formed a bad habit; if it wasn't corrected, it would be a great scourge for the Northeast Military Region.

"Your Comrade Wang has been following the army for three or four years now, right?" The Secretary appeared gentle, holding his tea mug while thinking about his wording.

"Yes, she's been following the army for over three years," Liu Tiezhu replied.

"Tie Zhu, you are a veteran; family, state, and the world—to regulate the family, govern the state, and bring peace to the world—the family is placed first."

"You still need to be more attentive to your home; the ideological education of family members must also keep up."

"Only when the ideology of family members doesn't slide can our soldiers charge into battle."

The Secretary didn't make things too explicit, as he wanted to save face for Liu Tiezhu; he was a ten-year veteran, and he couldn't just be finished because of his family member's affairs.

But what needed to be pointed out had been brought to the surface.

"Yes, I will pay more attention when I go back." Liu Tiezhu hurriedly stood up and saluted.

The Secretary nodded, "Alright, go back."

He had come in a daze, but when he left, he had a slight clue.

All of today's events likely had something to do with Wang Erhua.

He first asked around from the side, "Do you know what my wife did this morning?"

The young soldiers also knew about these things among themselves; after all, there was a team that was at the scene at the time, and if it weren't for the fact that Liu's wife was being too excessive, they definitely would have stepped in to stop her.

"Company Commander Liu, you know?" the young soldier said.

"Mm, I know a little, tell me more specifically." Liu Tiezhu nodded, pretending he knew.

That he had to ask about his own family's affairs from elsewhere—no matter how he thought about it, it was pathetic.

"Hey, it's just that your wife said our Battalion Commander abandoned Zhang Qingqing and then hooked up with the sister-in-law, and also said our Battalion Commander's wife isn't a decent woman, otherwise why would she be living in the Dayuan without status or title."

"She also said..." Seeing Liu Tiezhu's face turning increasingly iron-black, the young soldier suddenly realized something was wrong.

This didn't look like he knew, did it?

Did he say the wrong thing?

"What else? It's fine, go ahead." Liu Tiezhu suppressed the anger in his heart and looked at the young soldier with a smile.

But that smile, in the young soldier's eyes, seemed like a stabbing knife.

"She also said, she also said, she also said... nothing else." The young soldier didn't dare to say it.

Liu Tiezhu said, "This is an order."

The young soldier was about to cry, "She also said that in ancient times, she would be put in a pig cage."

"Anything else?" Liu Tiezhu barked.

"She also said that when Battalion Commander Chen was training, the sister-in-law was cheating; actually, that was the sister-in-law's Guard, and your wife saw it and misunderstood." The young soldier closed his eyes and just blurted it all out.

If I'm going to die, I might as well die sooner.

"Anything else?" Liu Tiezhu felt his blood running backward; his whole person felt like it was being roasted on a pan, flipped on both sides, crispy and tight.

The young soldier stood straight and hurriedly shook his head like a rattle-drum, "Really, nothing else."

Only then did Liu Tiezhu know why Battalion Commander Chen had drilled him in the afternoon, and he also understood the roundabout words the Secretary had said.

After all that, the reason was here.

At this moment, he couldn't care about anything else; he rushed back to the Family Quarters and kicked the door open.

After Wang Erhua gave Dani a beating, the fire in her heart had dissipated quite a bit, and she was busy feeding Jindou; just as she finished feeding, the door was kicked open.

"What kind of scene are you making? Do you want to live or not? Can't you open the door properly when you come back?" As soon as Wang Erhua walked out, she saw the furious Liu Tiezhu.

Liu Tiezhu pulled her along, full of fire, "Go inside and talk."

He didn't want to lose his temper in front of the children, and even less did he want the children to see their mother like this.

"Why are you pulling me? If you have something to say, say it here." Wang Erhua became defiant and directly shook off Liu Tiezhu's hand.

Liu Tiezhu had been giving her face, but he didn't expect her not to cherish it; he reached out and grabbed her clothes, ignoring the crying children behind him, and went straight into the inner room.

"What are you doing?" Wang Erhua shouted.

Liu Tiezhu threw her onto the bed and pointed at her, asking, "What am I doing? What have you done?"

Wang Erhua's eyes flickered, "What have I done? I saw a man go to Battalion Commander Chen's courtyard during training time, can't I even talk about that?"

Liu Tiezhu looked at the woman full of lies; although he was straightforward, he had never hit her once in all these years. Before they followed the army, the money he saved by skimping on food and drink was all mailed back, just because he was afraid the four of them would suffer grievances.

He didn't expect how it had turned into this.

"Wang Erhua, search your conscience; my life was saved by Battalion Commander Chen. I've told you this, can't you understand, damn it?" Liu Tiezhu roared.

His clenched fist smashed onto the table beside him with a "Bang."

With a "crash," the wooden table scattered, and the things on the table spilled all over the floor.

"For so many years, I knew you had it hard. I skimped on food and drink, and whatever I could mail to you, I mailed to you—the new military overcoat, the new canteen. You are my wife, the mother of my children; I should give it to you."

"You said my mother was making things difficult for you, that you couldn't live in the countryside—fine, I brought you here."

"What about you? Wang Erhua, where is your conscience?"

"Every day you nag in my ear, asking why Battalion Commander Chen is so young and can be a Battalion Commander, while I can't?"

Liu Tiezhu's eye sockets were bloodshot, and his entire body was trembling from suppressed emotion.

"What the hell can I do? Huh? I, Liu Tiezhu, can't even manage my own family, what can I do?"

"The year I became a Company Commander, I was only chosen because of a life-or-death mission, do you know that? The bullet hit right here, I almost died in that mission; it was Battalion Commander Chen who carried me back step by step. Without him, all you would have received was a pension, not my salary and subsidies time after time." Liu Tiezhu cried.

Who says a man does not shed tears easily? It is just that he has not reached the point of heartbreak.

This was the first time Wang Erhua had seen Liu Tiezhu like this; she began to panic, no longer possessing her initial arrogance, "I was wrong, I won't be like this next time."

Liu Tiezhu, however, waved his hand, not letting her continue.