Outside, it was pitch dark, and she didn’t see anyone.
She only noticed water and a stool at the door, with breakfast placed neatly on the stool.
She felt inexplicably confused it was still dark outside.
She had no idea what Xiao Ye was up to this time.
She picked up the items, yawned, and went back inside…
After that, for the next few days…
At the service center, in the wash area, she kept running into Xiao Ye. He would always sneak glances at her. When they washed clothes at the same sink, he wouldn’t speak, but inexplicably, whenever there was a moment alone, he’d grab her clothes to wring them out, snatch her water bucket when she went to fetch water…
Going home was even more baffling.
Every time she entered the backyard, Xiao Ye would happen to come to pour water.
If she was busy in the backyard, he would happen to be fixing the roof.
He wouldn’t say much, but he always lingered in the yard until she turned back to go inside, then he would return to his own room.
Every morning, she received breakfast he had made. If she didn’t go to the cafeteria in the evening, she would receive dishes he had prepared: stewed vegetables, stir fried green peppers with pork, shredded mushroom and pork…
He always said he made extra, so it wouldn’t go to waste.
Su Yemang tried sending him fried snack cakes as a thank you gift, but Xiao Ye coldly pushed them away.
“These are from a female comrade. I don’t need yours,” he said.
Su Yemang’s heart sank, and she looked up to meet his half smiling, half serious gaze.
Time flew by, and suddenly it was late December.
The weather was good that day.
Su Yemang carried dirty laundry to the wash area.
At the wash area…
She saw Yun Ruo at a rectangular sink.
She walked over. “Sister Yun Ruo…”
Yun Ruo’s expression immediately brightened when she saw Su Yemang. “Xiaomang, what a coincidence! You’re here to do laundry too…”
In the afternoon, the communal wash area was crowded. Yun Ruo and Su Yemang stood out, but the older women were gossiping about Yun Ruo, talking about her matchmaking plans and her request to set up a stall.
“Heh, what a pipe dream. The military district would never agree!” one older woman mocked.
Yun Ruo slapped the washbasin, crossing her arms. “Sorry, but the military district has approved it!”
She raised her voice. “Starting next week, I’ll be selling snacks beside the service center: tea eggs, roasted sweet potatoes. Everyone, please support me!”
Hearing this, Su Yemang helped promote it. “This is the new spirit of reform and opening up. Comrade Yun Ruo is taking the first step as a model woman of the new era…”
“Professor Su is right. This responds to our military district’s call for positive action!”
A low male voice sounded.
It was Xiao Ye.
For some reason, seeing him follow up so closely on her words, Su Yemang’s hand unconsciously clenched.
That evening…
Yun Ruo carried her basin and walked home chatting with Su Yemang.
Under the moonlight, she walked backward, joking, “Hey Xiaomang, I’ll tell you my application was approved, but starting next year, I’ll also need a business license from the commerce bureau.”
Su Yemang hopped over a green brick and said, “That’s fine. Rules make everything orderly. You go for it, Sister Yun Ruo…”
The moonlight that night was as bright as frost, the sky a deep, dark blue.
A gentle evening breeze carried the pleasant scent of pine. Frogs croaked from distant mud.
On the main road of the military family compound…
Two female comrades walked home. One talked enthusiastically about her plans, the other listened like a tree hollow absorbing the sound.
They suddenly stopped, wrapped in their coats, and sat on a tree stump, chatting late into the night. The road became emptier and emptier.
Yun Ruo and Su Yemang saw them safely to within a few dozen meters of their homes before leaving.
Su Yemang was in high spirits; she hadn’t opened up like that in a long time and had even seen Yun Ruo’s positive outlook.
She couldn’t help but hum “Waves upon Waves of the Songhua River…” and sang all the way home.
At the end of the bungalow row, she suddenly heard the striking of a match.
She looked up to see Xiao Ye with a cigarette in his mouth, standing at the door watching her.
He had one hand in his pocket, standing on the steps like a pine tree. Under the moonlight, she immediately noticed his high, sharp nose.
Her heart raced.
Xiao Ye looked at her and said in a low voice, “You sing really well.”
He lifted his pointed chin and, with a creak, opened the door and went inside.
Su Yemang’s forehead tingled…
The next day…
The Military Science Academy’s schedule was getting increasingly tight.
The Military Science Academy suddenly held a meeting, and the director announced plans to collaborate with the Chemical Defense Battalion.
By the afternoon, arrangements were made for Fu Yang and Su Yemang to work together on “nuclear, biological, and chemical reconnaissance” at the fourth gate in the back mountain.
Coincidentally…
Xiao Ye was at the back mountain working at the border post.
Su Yemang ran into him several times…
He only exchanged joking words with Fu Yang, completely ignoring Su Yemang.
Having stayed too long, Fu Yang cleared his throat softly. “Yezi, maybe you should go now, or you’ll disrupt Professor Su and me.”
“Heh. Is that so? Looks like you two… are cooperating pretty well.” Xiao Ye suddenly darkened.
“Is that so, Professor Su?” he added, turning to look at Su Yemang.
Su Yemang exhaled and said, “Of course. Battalion Commander Fu is much easier to work with than certain people.”
“Uh!” Fu Yang bit his lip and raised an eyebrow…
That evening, Su Yemang was busy making the second generation “three defense” equipment and forgot to take firewood to heat the kang bed.
Yet the kang was warm all night. After 6 a.m., the low wall in the backyard creaked and loosened.
Xiao Ye’s footsteps remained steady and strong.
He had climbed over the wall again.
After so long…
A while later,
Su Yemang walked into the backyard. “Captain Xiao, what are you doing here?”
Xiao Ye held firewood in place. “I have too much at home. I thought I’d give some to you to use.”
He suddenly remembered seeing Su Yemang and Fu Yang working in the back mountain these past few days. She had been cheerful, and occasionally bantered with him.
Thinking of this, he said, “If I come, you’re unhappy. Who do you want to come instead?”
“Huh?”
“Who could I want?” Su Yemang raised her brows in surprise.
Xiao Ye tilted his head and looked elsewhere. “Fu Yang… you two have been cooperating well recently, right?”
“Ah?”
Su Yemang almost laughed. “You’re switching topics so strangely how did we end up talking about Battalion Commander Fu?”
She suddenly curled the corner of her lips and said meaningfully, “You… care?”
Xiao Ye answered instantly, “Then when I rode the bike with Su Yueyue, you cared?”
“What would I care about? Heh. Captain Xiao, you’re overthinking. I don’t have any feelings for you,” Su Yemang said, fiddling with her bangs.
Xiao Ye stared at her and bit his back teeth. “You better not.”
He turned and left…
Su Yemang watched his back, feeling he was just like before still forceful and intense, yet with no ill intent.
Xiao Ye didn’t go far; he took the firewood to the Su family kitchen.
While adding the wood, he thought about Su Yemang’s words and reflected on himself.
Why? Why is my heart always stirred by her?
Five years ago, after their cliffhanger breakup, he had been furious, feeling that Su Yemang looked down on him.
Afterwards, food had no taste, so he threw himself into work, joined the military, and pushed himself to exhaustion. Through countless cross country runs, he numbed his own heartbreak.
Yet even while busy, something would trigger sudden anger.
Now that he had met her again, food finally had taste, but his emotions remained unstable.
She just said she had no feelings for him?
A sudden heaviness pressed on his chest, and his ribs ached sharply.
He was always like this so easily, Su Yemang shattered the confidence he had just picked up.
He shook off the thoughts, fixed the kang for Su Yemang to ensure she wouldn’t be cold overnight, and climbed over the wall to leave.
As his hand rested on the top of the wall, he paused
As if waiting for something.
With no voice calling him, he chuckled wryly and quickly jumped down, leaving.
Su Yemang watched the direction Xiao Ye had gone, her heart tingling slightly.
She realized he was jealous.
But it was different from his previous jealousy.
In the four years they had dated before,
Whenever Xiao Ye was jealous, it was written all over his face.
He would redden and say, “Su Yemang, have you taken a liking to someone else?”