Pei Yuncheng silently sighed.
He was about to hold back his tears.
Forget it.
What was the point of crying in front of someone like Song Zhuowei?
The man was as dense as a block of wood.
Nothing could get through to him.
He was cold-hearted and hard as iron.
A pitiful act simply didn’t work on him.
Thinking this, Pei Yuncheng raised a hand to wipe away his tears.
Suddenly, something splashed into the water.
Before he could react, a large hand grabbed the waistband of his pants and yanked him toward the sea without explanation, dragging him down so hard that he had no choice but to sink.
This time, Pei Yuncheng didn’t even get a chance to lose his temper.
He could only be dragged along by that powerful hand, forced to rise and fall with the waves.
On the shore, the other three Coastal Defense Team members looked at one another.
“Since when is the captain this kind-hearted? He’s actually teaching him to swim?”
“Yeah, he never treated us this well.”
“We all learned through hard training ourselves…”
“The captain’s practically a fish in the water. With him teaching, Educated Youth Pei will probably learn in one go.”
“Sigh. Looks like boys need to know how to cry and act spoiled too.”
Neither Song Zhuowei nor Pei Yuncheng could hear their comments anymore.
All they heard was the endless sound of the waves.
…
Lin Xizhi only heard about the incident around noon the next day from the other women in Widow Village.
“I heard Captain Song was called to the commune for a talk this morning because he’s been giving special attention to those Pei siblings!”
Originally, Lin Xizhi had been following Aunt Hui’s instructions, delivering newly made ointments, honey pills, medicinal soups, and other remedies to the neighbors one household at a time.
She hadn’t expected to hear such fresh gossip.
Curious, she asked for details.
But the more she heard, the stranger it sounded.
Was Song Zhuowei really taking special care of Pei Yuncheng and his sister?
With Pei Yuncheng’s frail build…
He was thrown straight into the sea to learn swimming?
And he didn’t choke to death?
Curious about whether Pei Yuncheng was still alive and well, Lin Xizhi began subtly asking the women around her about his condition.
She didn’t notice that among the crowd, a young woman had been staring at her the entire time.
As Peng Zeping listened to Lin Xizhi asking about Pei Yuncheng, anger surged inside her.
Song Zhuowei had been looking after Lin Xizhi everywhere.
To spare her hardship and protect her from harassment, he had even arranged for her to stay in the isolated Widow Village.
And this woman had no conscience at all!
She was actually asking about another man!
Unable to endure it any longer, Peng Zeping left Widow Village and headed straight for the Coastal Defense Team office, specifically asking to see Song Zhuowei.
“The captain and the others are out training,” said A-Ming, who was on duty.
Peng Zeping frowned.
What terrible timing!
“Where are they training? I have something very important to tell him in person!”
A-Ming yawned.
“The captain specifically said that unless the sky is falling, no one is to disturb their training. So I can’t tell you today’s training location.”
Then he added, “If you’ve got nothing to do, you can wait here. They’ll definitely come back to eat later.”
Peng Zeping curled her lip.
“Who says I have nothing to do? I’m busy at the clinic all day!”
A-Ming shrugged.
“Then go be busy. When the captain gets back, I’ll tell him you came.”
Helpless, Peng Zeping had no choice but to accept that.
She couldn’t exactly stay and wait foolishly.
Still fuming, she instructed him, “When Brother Zhuowei comes back, tell him to come find me at the clinic.”
“Mm, got it!” A-Ming answered readily, then added, “I’ll definitely pass on the message, but whether the captain goes or not is up to him. I can’t control his legs.”
Peng Zeping’s heart tightened again.
Right.
Would Song Zhuowei actually come see her?
Lost in thought, she walked out of the office and was about to turn west when she caught sight of someone approaching from the east.
She looked more carefully and was shocked to see Lin Xizhi.
Why was she here at the Coastal Defense Team office too?
Was she also looking for Song Zhuowei?
The more Peng Zeping thought about it, the more agitated she became.
“Is this woman here to ask Captain Song to treat those Pei siblings even better?!”
With that thought, she quietly followed and pressed herself against the window to eavesdrop.
“Brother A-Ming,” Lin Xizhi said with a smile as she entered the office. After glancing around, she asked softly, “Captain Song and the others are out?”
A-Ming immediately stood up and replied with a smile, “Yes! Are you looking for the captain? Come on, I’ll take you to their training site!”
Lin Xizhi was just about to thank him when Peng Zeping suddenly burst in.
“Huang Shouming! That’s not what you told me just now!”
“You said no one could disturb your team’s training unless it was a sky-falling emergency!”
“So why is it allowed when she comes?!”
A-Ming rubbed his nose and muttered unhappily, “Didn’t you already leave…”
Peng Zeping let out a cold laugh.
“Good thing I didn’t! Looks like you’ve learned some bad habits too. Not only are you lying, you’ve even got different faces for different people!”
“Who’s learned bad habits? The captain told me to!” A-Ming blurted out in agitation. “The captain specifically said that if Comrade Xiao Lin comes looking for him, I can take her directly to see him!”
Peng Zeping turned pale with anger.
“Why does Song Zhuowei give her special privileges?!”
Lin Xizhi tapped the table lightly and smiled at Peng Zeping.
“We don’t know each other, do we? We’ve neither wronged nor offended one another. Why are you so hostile toward me?”
“If you have something important to report to Captain Song, or need his help, I can pass the message along for you.”
“Sorry to trouble you, but please wait here for a moment.”
Beside them, A-Ming looked at Lin Xizhi with shining eyes.
Look at that!
This was the level of an educated person’s speech!
“Sorry to trouble you, but please wait here for a moment”…
So polite!
So courteous!
Nothing like Peng Zeping, that half-baked medical assistant who couldn’t do anything except lose her temper.
When she gave injections, it hurt like hell.
Her mind was clearly not on proper work!
If she actually focused on her job, she might have become a full doctor by now.
Thinking of this, A-Ming joined Lin Xizhi in mocking Peng Zeping.
“Assistant Peng, since Comrade Xiao Lin already agreed to pass on your message, just wait here.”
“Don’t go around accusing others of getting special treatment all day.”
“Our captain has his reasons for looking after Comrade Xiao Lin.”
“The way you’re blushing and getting worked up if someone saw you, they’d think you were jealous of her.”
“And if you really are jealous, then the person who wants special treatment the most is actually you.”
Peng Zeping was rendered speechless.
After holding it in for a long while, she could only point at A-Ming and snap viciously,
“You! So your Coastal Defense Team doesn’t choose people by strength it chooses them by arguing!”
A-Ming waved it off.
“Say whatever you want.”
Then, right in front of Peng Zeping, he lowered his voice and whispered to Lin Xizhi.
After learning the location of Song Zhuowei’s training, Lin Xizhi prepared to leave.
Peng Zeping immediately followed, trying to tag along.
Lin Xizhi frowned.
“Assistant Peng should stay here and wait. You know Captain Song’s temper. If he gets angry later, who’s going to clean up the mess?”