I was reborn after my cousin stole my life.

Chapter 30: Dissatisfaction

Yuan Juan, dressed in red, sat by the window, holding a mirror and looking at her face.

The more photos she took, the less satisfied she became.

She also wore makeup, which Zhou Lei had arranged for a member of the performing arts troupe to do for her, but no matter how she looked at it, she felt it didn't look as good as it did on Yuan Xiu's wedding day.

Even the clothes and shoes he was wearing weren't as expensive as Yuan Xiu's.

Besides her, there was also the wife of Zhou Lei's comrade-in-arms, surnamed He, in the room. Zhou Lei had specially invited her to keep her company.

"It already looks great." Sister He praised her with a smile. "Is what you're wearing the one Zhou Lei took you to buy in town? It looks really good, and these leather shoes, they must have cost a lot of money. Unlike when I got married, the clothes I wore were all borrowed from others. I wore them for two hours and then immediately took them off and returned them, afraid that I might accidentally damage them."

Yuan Juan twitched the corner of her mouth. "I bought it when I went into town a couple of days ago."

"I knew it. It's obviously not made at a tailor shop." Aunt He touched it with her hand. "The material is also thick. My husband and I have been married for so many years, and I've never worn such nice clothes. Your Zhou Lei is really good to you."

These words instantly made Yuan Juan, who felt she wasn't dressed as well as Yuan Xiu, feel better.

She lowered her head and smiled. "He is indeed quite good to me."

After saying that, she looked up and asked, "Sister-in-law, you can just go to the city to buy one whenever you want. Your family isn't bad off."

"Hey, what's the point of buying anything? There are so many kids at home, I won't have time to take care of myself. You'll understand when you have kids of your own."

Yuan Juan subconsciously pursed her lips. Even if she had a child, she would never live like that.

He's been with the army for so many years, but he still dresses like a country bumpkin; he hasn't changed at all.

Zhou Lei was the same; those he was close to were all peasants from the countryside.

The person they found to accompany her, they didn't even bother to find someone with any education.

The sound of a bicycle bell rang outside the window. Yuan Juan's eyes lit up, and she ran to the window and peered out.

The next moment, her face was filled with disappointment.

There are not ten bicycles.

Only Zhou Lei arrived on a bicycle, followed by a few people in twos and threes.

Yuan Juan's eyes reddened as she looked at the lone big red flower on the bicycle.

She gripped the windowsill and stomped her foot angrily.

Aunt He was standing next to her. Seeing her like this, she looked at her with surprise.

"Zhou Lei looks so energetic today! He looks several years younger. He must be so happy to have married such a young and beautiful wife." Sister He didn't forget her mission today. If the bride was in a bad mood, she had to comfort her and say something to make her happy.

Yuan Juan wasn't happy at all. Instead, after Zhou Lei came up, she immediately asked him, "Why did you only ride one bike? Didn't you say you were going to ride several bikes to pick up the bride?"

Zhou Lei laughed and said, "It's not that I don't want to lend it, it's just that we chose such a coincidental day. Everyone who has a car is already riding to work."

Yuan Juan was half-believing and half-doubting.

Even though she felt uncomfortable, she still hugged Zhou Lei's waist and sat on the back of the bicycle.

All she could do now was to mutter a few complaints to Zhou Lei.

It only took Zhou Lei five minutes to get from the guesthouse to the family compound.

Yuan Juan felt sad again.

When Yuan Xiu got married, Jiang Zhou took her along, followed by a group of bicycles, and they drove around the family quarters for half an hour.

Zhou Lei brought her straight back.

She felt uncomfortable, and without realizing it, it showed on her face. Zhou's mother was originally very happy today. Although her daughter-in-law was not what she wanted, at least her son got married and her eldest grandson was about to be settled. Her dissatisfaction was suppressed by this joy.

However, when Zhou's mother saw the expression on Yuan Juan's face, her expression changed.

She's still unhappy?

What right does she have to be unhappy?

She's a lazy bum who knows nothing and only knows how to take people's food. It's amazing that she and her family could marry her son, who is a cadre. It's like the Yuan family has burned incense to their heart's content!

In their rural area, a lazy wife like that wouldn't be wanted even if you offered her a dowry!

If she hadn't used underhanded tactics, would she have been able to marry her family's Stone?

"What's wrong, ma'am? Your son is getting married, aren't you happy?"

The neighbor next door advised.

Zhou's mother squinted and forced a smile, "No, no, I'm happy. It just reminded me of the girl in front of my stone. She was a good daughter-in-law, praised by everyone in the surrounding villages. She and I got along like mother and daughter. It's just that she wasn't blessed. She wasn't blessed, and neither was I."

The neighbors fell silent. On the day of the wedding, the groom kept praising the bride, saying, "Is this what you call being happy?"

Hearing this, the neighbors exchanged knowing glances, thinking that this mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were in for a treat.

Not many people attended Zhou Lei and Yuan Juan's wedding. It wasn't that Zhou Lei was unpopular, but rather that most of the men in the army were working on that day, so the guests were mostly military dependents.

The military dependents weren't familiar with Yuan Juan, and most of them had heard about what had happened before. They didn't like her, and since she was a male comrade like Zhou Lei, they didn't have much to talk about. At most, they would say a word of congratulations, take a couple of candies, stand there for a short while, and then leave.

When Jiang Zhou arrived, there were only a few people left in the Zhou family's house.

He handed over the return gift prepared by Yuan Xiu and offered his congratulations.

Zhou's mother warmly called out to him, "Battalion Commander Jiang, sit down and have a cup of tea."

He grabbed another handful of candy and stuffed it into Jiang Zhou's pocket.

Jiangzhou definitely wouldn't drink the tea. "I have to go back to my unit, so I won't drink the tea. Auntie, you don't need to see me off. Please stay."

After saying that, he strode away.

By noon, all the guests had left, and the family was hungry.

Zhou Lei reached for his lunchbox. "I'm going to the cafeteria to get my food."

Zhou's mother snatched the lunchbox from his hand. "Why go to the cafeteria? It's not like we're short of rice and vegetables at home."

She looked at Yuan Juan, "I'm not going to cook."

Yuan Juan bit her lip and looked at Zhou Lei.

Zhou Lei: "...Let's skip lunch today, we'll eat at the cafeteria, and Xiao Juan can cook for dinner."

"Why wait until evening to cook? Are you just reluctant to let her cook? Fine, I'll cook. I'm just destined to be a workaholic. Even at my age, I still have to cook for my daughter-in-law."

Zhou's mother rubbed her lower back and sighed as she walked towards the kitchen.

Zhou Lei quickly grabbed her, "Mom, what are you doing?"

Zhou's mother sighed, "Alas..."

Ten minutes later, Yuan Juan stood in front of the stove, cooking while cursing the old hag in her heart!

Zhou's mother sat on a stool by the door watching her. "Don't put out so much rice. There are only three of us in our family. How can we possibly eat that much?"

"Turn the fire down. If you keep burning it like that, you'll burn through a month's worth of kerosene in just half a month."

"How can you pour oil like that? Just wipe the pan with a cloth, that's enough. Didn't your mother teach you that when you were at your parents' house?"

"Why did you turn off the heat before the dish was even cooked? How am I, an old woman, supposed to eat this? Do you expect me to just eat rice for free?"

Yuan Juan was so angry she almost threw the pot!