“Battalion Commander Chen,” Jiang Lai quickly corrected herself. “I’m Jiang Lai. You can call me Little Jiang.”
Chen Jianguo didn’t dare. He swallowed hard and forced a smile. “Comrade Jiang, you came to the military district looking for someone, right? Do you know who exactly? Do you need my help?”
Jiang Lai’s eyes lit up. “Yes!”
Because in that era novel she’d read, a cannon-fodder supporting character shared her exact name, Jiang Lai only skimmed the synopsis and the first two chapters. She didn’t actually know much about the male lead who was supposedly her fiancé.
Before the original body’s mother passed away, she had mentioned: “His surname is Qi, he’s handsome and good-natured. Honest and simple. His family is uncomplicated; he’s an only child.”
“Oh, and his rank seems pretty high, qualified to have a family accompany him in the military.”
Chen Jianguo clapped his hands. “What a coincidence. Except for the ‘honest and simple’ part, that sounds exactly like Old Qi.”
Could she really be Qi Huaiye’s fiancée?
Not impossible. After all, he never dated, so he probably forgot about an arranged marriage long ago.
“Old Qi, you scumbag. You have such a beautiful fiancée waiting at home, and you still went on so many blind dates!” Chen Jianguo said, full of disdain.
Qi Huaiye took a deep breath. “…Shut up.”
His gaze returned to Jiang Lai, growing darker.
His parents had married for politics, not love. Their relationship was cold. Over the years, his father’s side kept urging him to get married. His mother, after giving birth to him, dumped him on a nanny and moved down south to a research base.
Growing up, he barely saw her.
Jiang Lai secretly peeked at Qi Huaiye—only to run right into his deep, cold gaze. Her fingers tightened. In uniform, the man’s broad shoulders and long legs radiated pure masculine strength.
The thought that he was her fiancé made her hold her breath.
“Any other information?” Chen Jianguo asked quickly, terrified they had the wrong person.
Jiang Lai thought hard, then said with little confidence, “Uh… his nickname is Ermao. Qi Ermao.”
Qi Huaiye suddenly froze, unable to hide the shock in his eyes.
What a coincidence.
Because his own childhood name was Qi Ermao.
When he was born, his hair was sparse and yellowish, so his grandmother gave him this terrible name. Later he grew up with thick black hair that his male comrades were all jealous of.
“Ermao?” Chen Jianguo acted like he’d discovered a new continent and burst out laughing. “Ermao’s great! Ermao sounds so down-to-earth! Ermao the officer—so friendly! Hahahahaha—”
Unbelievable!
Rumor had it that down at the South Sea base there was an officer nicknamed Black Egg, famous across the force. Now their Northern Brigade finally had their own legend: Commander Ermao.
Face dark, Qi Huaiye grabbed Chen Jianguo by the collar and hauled him outside, locking the door.
Standing above her felt too condescending.
He thought a moment, pulled over a chair, and sat directly in front of Jiang Lai. His back was straight, hands resting lightly on his knees. Even sitting, he still towered a full head over her.
From this angle, her apricot eyes looked huge and bright, eyelashes thick and long. Her skin was smoother than silken tofu, flawless.
Her lips, pressed nervously together, looked like crushed berries—soft, ripe, tempting.
For once, Qi Huaiye’s mind wasn’t solely filled with the army and training.
Then Jiang Lai noticed—his ears were actually red.
Realizing she wasn’t the only nervous one, her tension eased. Her lips curved, dimples blooming like pear blossoms. “Excuse me… are you Comrade Qi Ermao?”
So it was Qi, not Qi she had heard wrong.
Jiang Lai extended her hand, straightforward and open. “Let me formally introduce myself. Hello, I’m Jiang Lai. I came specifically to marry you.”
Her hand was so pale it almost gleamed.
Without thinking, Qi Huaiye reached out to take it. “Yes. My nickname is Qi Ermao.”
Years of firearm training had left calluses across his tiger’s mouth and scars across his palm and knuckles. His hand was rough and broad, completely enveloping hers with ease.
Just as she imagined—a girl’s hand cool, soft, impossibly small.
He didn’t dare use strength, afraid she might break. He barely squeezed before letting go.
His ears reddened even more.
Jiang Lai was embarrassed too, but there were steps she had to follow. “This engagement was arranged by my mother before she passed. My family is a stepfamily now. My mother was a martyr. My father is Jiang Jianjun, a worker at the meat processing plant. My stepmother used to work at a textile factory—now my fifth brother has taken her job.”
“There are five children in my family. My two older sisters are married. I’m the third. My little sister is Jiang Bao’er—unemployed.”
“As for what happened later, you might have heard—I was supposed to be married off to the accountant’s youngest son so my sister wouldn’t be sent to the countryside. I sold my job and ran away.”
Qi Huaiye had already heard about her from Officer Gao.
But according to Officer Gao, Jiang Lai was notorious for being lazy, vain, obsessed with climbing the social ladder—her reputation in the family compound was not good at all.
Meanwhile, her stepmother Zhou Chuanfang supposedly pampered her endlessly, dressing her like a little fairy, completely faultless.
Qi Huaiye had grown up in a military compound. He’d seen everything.
What kind of stepmother treats her predecessor’s child better than her own? It was obviously fake.
“Comrade Jiang, I must clarify—I had no idea we had an engagement.” Qi Huaiye said earnestly, meeting her eyes. “However, everything you’ve said matches me perfectly.”
His mother had lived in the south for years, admiring talented women. Jiang Lai, trained by her late mother, clearly had strong skills.
Those two women getting along at first sight and casually arranging a match for him was entirely plausible.
After all, to his mother, even her own son ranked below lab specimens.
Jiang Lai’s fingers curled. So he never knew of the engagement.
Qi Huaiye’s gaze lingered on her pale, bitten lip. Had he been too harsh? She had traveled all the way to Shenzhou, full of hope, only to be doused in cold reality.
So he added, “Don’t worry. I’m currently single. I’ve never been involved with any woman.”
W-what?
Jiang Lai blinked up at him, stunned.
To her, someone as exceptional as Commander Qi must have countless admirers.
A faint laugh rippled in Qi Huaiye’s dark eyes as he continued introducing himself.
“My name is Qi Huaiye, Commander of Regiment Nine of the Shenzhou Military District. I’m twenty-eight. My father works in a central ministry in the capital. My mother is a researcher at a confidential base in the south. My grandfather is retired. My grandmother is a university professor.”
“No siblings. One older cousin, married, with a child in second grade.”
Jiang Lai nodded.
The Qi family was a blend of intellectuals and military heritage—a family of high achievers. It made sense they’d be serious about marriage.
Except…
“Our families are so different. Why would they agree to an arranged marriage?” she asked, voicing her doubt. “Could it be… I found the wrong person?”
If the engagement wasn’t real… did she need to go back to Huai County?