Chapter 91: I’m Captain Sheng’s Little Sister...

Fang Manping knocked on the door and walked in, her gaze landing on Li Shuyao.

Li Shuyao was actually very beautiful—pure and gentle, giving off a soft and approachable vibe. Just like now, she was holding a cat in her arms, feeding it.

From this angle, it was a warm and gentle scene.

Fang Manping thought, maybe this was why so many elders in the compound liked Li Shuyao—not just because of the powerful Li family behind her, but also because of the gentle persona she put on, which perfectly fit the image of a matriarch from a prominent family.

Even her picky stepfather wanted Sheng Zexi to marry Li Shuyao.

Fang Manping knew that, although over the years her stepfather had often scolded and hit his own son Sheng Zexi under her mother’s instigation, deep down, he still valued Sheng Zexi the most.

That’s why he wanted to pick the most suitable wife for Sheng Zexi.

Who would’ve thought Sheng Zexi would get married on his own, and her stepfather only found out after he submitted his marriage report. Even now, he was keeping it a secret from the family, not letting anyone know—even though he’d brought his country wife to the Northwest Military District to live with him.

Fang Manping thought, if her stepfather found out, he’d definitely blow his top again.

“Mimi, come on, have another bite.”

Li Shuyao’s voice interrupted Fang Manping’s thoughts. Coming back to herself, she realized she’d already walked up to Li Shuyao.

Her gaze fell on the brown cat in Li Shuyao’s arms, then to the bowl in Li Shuyao’s hand—she was feeding the cat meat!

Fang Manping couldn’t help but twitch her lips. In these times, when people could barely get enough to eat, let alone meat, Li Shuyao was actually feeding meat to a cat. Honestly, people weren’t living as well as cats.

Fang Manping remembered this cat—Li Shuyao had raised it for years, and it was called Mimi.

Li Shuyao adored it, always bringing it along wherever she performed, personally feeding and caring for it.

This time, she’d brought it to the Northwest Military District as well.

“Yaoyao.” Fang Manping pushed down her thoughts and called out.

Li Shuyao replied with a nonchalant “Mm,” not even looking up. “You’re here—did you find out anything about that woman?”

Fang Manping: Is that all I am to Li Shuyao? Well, maybe that’s true.

She gave a quiet “Mm,” and then relayed what she’d learned about Gu Jianing from Peng Wenjing.

“You’re saying she’s very beautiful? Is she more beautiful than me?” Li Shuyao’s eyes turned cold as she looked at Fang Manping, making her stiffen.

Fang Manping forced a smile. “That’s not what I said—it’s what Peng Wenjing and the others said. But I think they’re exaggerating. She’s just a country woman—how pretty could she be? They probably haven’t seen city girls, or the girls in our art troupe, so they’re overhyping some country bumpkin.”

Hearing this, Li Shuyao finally looked away, clearly satisfied with Fang Manping’s answer.

But...

“That woman knows medicine?” Li Shuyao asked again.

“Yeah, apparently she even performed a surgery that Director Lian couldn’t do, and she has two prescriptions the military wants to collaborate with her on.”

“Is that so...” Li Shuyao lowered her eyes, continuing to feed Mimi, lost in thought.

“In the next couple of days, find a time to visit her yourself,” Li Shuyao said after a while.

Fang Manping was taken aback. She wanted her to go in person?

But honestly, she barely knew Gu Jianing, and even with Sheng Zexi—though they were siblings in name, they weren’t close at all.

Back when she first followed her mother Fang Wanrong into the Sheng family, she’d tried to get on Sheng Zexi’s good side.

But Sheng Zexi had always ignored her—not hostile, but never treating her as family or a sister. To him, she was just a stranger.

“You’re his sister, after all. Since you’re here, of course you should pay a visit.”

“You have to see for yourself what that woman is really like.”

Fang Manping: Fine, Li Shuyao just wanted her to use this identity to go and check out Gu Jianing.

Could she refuse? Of course not. Even though she was a little afraid of Sheng Zexi, she still agreed.

Li Shuyao hugged Mimi and suddenly smiled. “Manping, my brother will have some time off after the New Year. I’ll arrange for him to go to the movies with you.”

Fang Manping was stunned at first, then delighted, quickly breaking into a smile. “Okay, Yaoyao, thank you!”

Fang Manping knew that, although Li Shuyao was aware of her feelings, she’d never really approved of her.

But now, Li Shuyao was taking the initiative to set her up with Li Tingxuan. Did this mean she was finally being accepted?

Although Fang Manping knew this was mostly because she was helping Li Shuyao gather information about Gu Jianing and Sheng Zexi, she didn’t mind. She knew Li Shuyao was using her.

But so what?

She didn’t care about the process—as long as the result was what she wanted.

—

The next morning, Gu Jianing, who rarely had a day off from training class, was still asleep when she vaguely heard knocking at the door.

“Who is it?” Gu Jianing mumbled, unwilling to get up in the winter. She didn’t even open her eyes, just pulled the blanket over her head and pretended not to hear.

Outside, Fang Manping had been knocking for quite a while, but there was no response from inside.

She frowned. Was that woman not home at this hour?

Impossible.

She’d done her homework—at this time, Sheng Zexi would be at training, and only that woman would be home. That’s why she’d chosen this time to come.

She was debating whether to keep knocking or leave when suddenly the door next door opened and a woman stepped out.

The woman looked her up and down, then asked, “Who are you looking for?”

Zhang Shuwan had been busy in the kitchen when she heard the persistent knocking next door. She was a bit puzzled—who would be looking for Jianing at this hour? All their close friends—herself, Sister Yu, Jiang Baihe—knew that Gu Jianing liked to sleep in, and would probably still be in bed at this time.

Normally, none of them would come looking for Gu Jianing this early.

But the knocking went on and on, so Zhang Shuwan came out to check. She saw a young woman, clearly dressed like a city girl, but a stranger—she’d never seen her in the military district before.

“Hello, sister-in-law. Is this where Captain Sheng Zexi and his wife live? I’m Captain Sheng’s younger sister. I just arrived yesterday with the art troupe from Beijing.”

Captain Sheng’s younger sister?

Zhang Shuwan was stunned. Captain Sheng had a sister?

Honestly, Zhang Shuwan didn’t really know, and Gu Jianing had never mentioned it.

But since the girl said so, it must be true.

Since she was probably Gu Jianing’s sister-in-law, Zhang Shuwan’s attitude improved, but she still reminded her, “Your brother is probably at training right now, and your sister-in-law is probably still sleeping. Why don’t you come back a little later?”"