The next day.
The instructor discovered that eight or nine people were missing from his unit and immediately shouted angrily, “Where are the missing recruits? Where did they go?”
Liu Xiaocui stood at the front and called out, “Reporting, sir! They were all placed in confinement.”
There was a clear note of schadenfreude in her voice.
The instructor was surprised. “What did they do to get confined?”
“They got into a group fight, so Regiment Commander Shen confined them.”
As soon as she finished speaking, laughter broke out among the female recruits.
The instructor frowned. “Quiet! Do you all want to be confined too?”
“All of you, attention! Dress right!”
Training continued as usual.
That morning, Meng Weiguo came by for his usual inspection. He looked around but couldn’t find the familiar, pretty figure among the new recruits.
He couldn’t help asking, “Are some of the new recruits absent from training?”
The instructor replied, “Yes, Regiment Commander Meng. Nine new recruits aren’t here. One was injured from a fall, and eight have been placed in confinement.”
Meng Weiguo frowned. “What happened?”
The instructor then animatedly told him the rumors he had heard that morning.
At the end, he even chuckled. “This batch of new recruits is something else. They actually got into a group fight. They’re even more impressive than we were back in our day.”
Meng Weiguo also smiled in surprise. He hadn’t expected that the delicate-looking young woman could actually get into a fight.
However, the instructor’s information was inaccurate. The eight recruits had actually been confined for two separate incidents. It was just that the news about the group fight had overshadowed the other incident, causing most people to assume that the fight was the only reason.
The person Meng Weiguo had wanted to see was in confinement, so he was about to leave when a small commotion suddenly broke out among the recruits.
The instructor took one look and realized that something was wrong with his unit again. His smile immediately disappeared.
“What are you all crowding around for?” he barked.
One of the new recruits reported, “Reporting, sir! Comrade Liu Xiaocui isn’t feeling well, so we’re checking on her.”
“Not feeling well? What’s wrong with her?”
As he spoke, he walked toward the group surrounding Liu Xiaocui.
Worried that these inexperienced young instructors might be too rough on the female soldiers, Meng Weiguo followed him over.
When Liu Xiaocui saw Meng Weiguo approaching, her face instantly turned bright red.
In a timid voice, she said, “S-Sir, I started my period. My stomach hurts. Can I take the day off?”
The instructor was completely clueless and asked loudly, “Started what? What’s ‘that’?”
Being asked so loudly made Liu Xiaocui’s neck turn red as well. The girls standing beside her were too embarrassed to explain.
Liu Xiaocui shyly glanced at Meng Weiguo before biting her lip and saying, “I mean… a woman’s monthly period.”
The two men finally understood.
The instructor’s face immediately turned crimson. Meng Weiguo also had a faint blush on his face. He cleared his throat awkwardly.
“Ahem. Since Comrade Liu isn’t feeling well, I’ll approve half a day’s leave. Will half a day be enough?”
Liu Xiaocui’s attention was completely focused on the gentle and refined man in front of her. She barely heard what he said.
“Yes, Regiment Commander Meng. Half a day is enough.”
Meng Weiguo nodded lightly. “Then go back and rest.”
With that, he turned and walked in another direction.
The instructor, his face still red, ordered the other female recruits to resume training before hurrying away himself.
Since she no longer had to train, Liu Xiaocui quickly caught up with the man ahead.
“Regiment Commander Meng, wait!”
Meng Weiguo turned around and asked in confusion, “Comrade Liu, is there something else?”
There wasn’t.
Liu Xiaocui simply wanted an excuse to talk to him.
Her eyes shifted as she put on a pitiful expression.
“Regiment Commander Meng, my stomach really hurts. Could you help me back to the dormitory?”
Meng Weiguo frowned slightly.
“Sorry, Comrade Liu. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to help you. How about I call a female soldier to assist you?”
Liu Xiaocui blurted out, “No! I mean… it would be bad to interrupt their training. Regiment Commander Meng, do you dislike me? Is that why you don’t want to help me?”
“No, it’s just… Look behind you.”
Because Meng Weiguo was tall, he happened to notice a dark red stain seeping through the back of her pants.
Liu Xiaocui didn’t understand and looked behind herself. Naturally, she couldn’t see anything, so she instinctively reached back and touched the area.
Her fingers came away with a little blood.
She immediately let out a scream.
She completely forgot about the man in front of her and hurriedly covered her backside as she ran back toward the dormitory.
Meng Weiguo was left standing there awkwardly before he also walked away in large strides.
……
That afternoon, after changing into clean pants, Liu Xiaocui went to the infirmary to visit Wen Lili and help her back to the dormitory.
Wen Lili had suffered a serious injury to her muscles and bones. It wasn’t appropriate for her to remain in the infirmary indefinitely. Now that she could walk, she could return to the dormitory and recuperate there.
“What? I was injured that badly, and she only got confinement?”
The moment Wen Lili heard that Wen Jiaojiao’s punishment was merely confinement, an ugly expression of resentment and unwillingness flashed across her face.
Liu Xiaocui helplessly replied, “Yes. Lili, you’ve really suffered. But there’s something else you don’t know.”
“What?”
Liu Xiaocui told her that everyone in Wen Jiaojiao’s dormitory had also been placed in confinement.
As expected, Wen Lili immediately smiled maliciously.
“They deserve it! It’s karma.”
“Xiaocui, help me back. I want to write a letter and send it home. Wen Jiaojiao has been so vicious toward me. I’ll have Third Uncle and Third Aunt come here personally to teach her a lesson. Better yet, they should take her home. Someone with such poor morals has no right to remain in the military!”
Liu Xiaocui was delighted to hear this.
“Sure. Come on, Xiaocui—slowly.”
“Mm.”
Liu Xiaocui supported her as they slowly made their way back toward the dormitory.
Halfway there, a military-green off-road vehicle drove past them.
Liu Xiaocui couldn’t help looking surprised.
“Who is that? How did they drive a car all the way inside?”
Wen Lili stared intently at the back of the vehicle. She kept watching until it disappeared from sight.
“The person inside must be a high-ranking officer. I wonder when I’ll get to ride in a car like that.”
Hearing this, Liu Xiaocui gave her a disdainful glance.
Someone like you? You’ll never get the chance in this lifetime.
She had once seen Meng Weiguo getting out of a car, and that was the moment she decided that he was the man she wanted.
As long as she married Meng Weiguo, she would become an officer’s wife and would be able to ride in such an impressive car too.
The people inside the vehicle had no idea what kind of fantasies the two women behind them were having.
Zhang Shaobing parked the car.
“Commander, you go inside first. I’ll go check on Yingzi.”
His face darkened.
“That girl has only been at the military base for a few days, and she’s already gotten into a group fight and been confined. She’s nothing but trouble!”
“That only proves you’re really a family,” Jiang Ting said flatly.
Then he got out of the car and walked away.
“Commander, you…”
Zhang Shaobing watched his departing figure and swallowed the rest of his words.
A knowing smile slowly appeared on his face.
Picking up some documents was such a trivial matter. There was no need for the commander to come personally; he could have handled it himself.
So why had the commander come along?
Obviously, he had come to see a certain someone who had been placed in confinement.
Being confined was nothing unusual to them. If it weren’t for the documents, he wouldn’t even have bothered coming to see Zhang Shaoying.
If the others found out that their commander had come all the way here just to see a particular young woman, they would probably be so shocked that their jaws would drop.
At present, he was the only person who knew that the commander had someone he was interested in.
He had to keep this secret safe.
When the time came, he would make sure everyone got the surprise of their lives!