Whenever the matter of marriage came up, Xie Zhongming would always think of that terrible night five years ago, and his chest would feel unbearably heavy.
At the time, he had gone to Chadain Village to carry out a mission and stayed at a local villager’s home.
That was when he was slept with by a village girl who weighed over two hundred jin.
A packet of veterinary drugs had caused him to lose all rationality. By the time he woke up, it was already deep into the night.
The two of them were lying there completely naked.
The chubby girl’s mother cried and screamed, claiming her daughter’s innocence had been ruined.
Although he had been set up, the chubby girl was indeed still a virgin, so in the end he could only take responsibility. He returned to the army, submitted a report, and married her.
After the marriage, he felt only responsibility toward the chubby girl, with no affection whatsoever. Even now, after becoming a regiment-level officer and gaining eligibility for family accompaniment, he still had not brought her to the military family compound.
Even though five years had passed, whenever he thought about it, he still felt a deep sense of humiliation.
A two-hundred-plus-jin chubby girl riding on him.
Who would not feel humiliated by that?
Both his superiors and his parents felt that spreading news of this matter would be disgraceful, so they told him not to publicize the marriage.
Aside from a few leaders, his father who was a division commander, his family, and a handful of close comrades, no one in the entire military camp knew he was married.
He was unwilling to mention the chubby girl at all.
When responding to Qiao Xingyue, his voice naturally carried a hint of coldness.
“Comrade Qiao seems very interested in my personal marital status?”
Qiao Xingyue did not answer and instead asked back.
“Comrade Xie would not happen to think that I am trying to make advances toward you, would you?”
That was not what Xie Zhongming meant.
He simply did not want to talk about getting married.
“Comrade Qiao has misunderstood.”
Qiao Xingyue added calmly.
“I only want to remind you that whether your injured area can recover its previous sexual function is still uncertain.”
“If you have a wife, you should consider whether to tell her about this yourself.”
“After all, if you have a wife, the two of you will eventually sleep in the same bed, and she has the right to know.”
Xie Zhongming thought back. Over the years, even when he had leave, he had never returned to Chadain Village even once.
Thinking of the chubby girl’s two-hundred-plus-jin body and her mother crying while opening her mouth for money made him instinctively resist.
When he was a platoon leader, his monthly allowance was forty-eight yuan. He kept ten yuan for himself and sent the rest back to Chadain Village.
Now that he was a regimental commander with a monthly allowance of one hundred forty-eight yuan, he sent a full one hundred yuan back.
It could be considered compensation to the chubby girl.
Over the years, the village head of Chadain Village and the chubby girl’s mother frequently sent letters saying she caused trouble outside. Sometimes she was caught stealing chickens and ducks. Other times she was caught stealing money.
Aside from his monthly allowance, he often sent extra money back to help clean up her messes.
This chubby wife truly gave him endless headaches.
“No need for Comrade Qiao to worry about it.”
In these five years, he had not written a single letter to the chubby girl.
Although he devoted himself entirely to the army and had never seriously thought about romantic matters, since ancient times it had always been that a graceful lady suited a gentleman.
He did not expect his partner to be as beautiful and capable as Comrade Qiao, but at the very least she should not be someone who was lazy, deceitful, troublemaking, and fat to the point of weighing over two hundred jin.
He did not plan to tell the chubby girl about this matter either.
From the beginning, he had never intended to have any real marital relationship with her.
He only needed to send money back on time every month.
Even if his family line ended, it no longer mattered.
By the hospital bed, Qiao Xingyue truly seemed exhausted.
Seeing a chair nearby, she moved it over and sat down.
“I will rest for a bit.”
After three consecutive days and nights of emergency rescue work without sleep, she had not closed her eyes even once.
Once she sat down, she unknowingly leaned against Xie Zhongming’s bed and fell asleep.
A young nurse lifted the curtain and came looking for her.
“Doctor Qiao…”
“Shh.”
Xie Zhongming raised a finger to signal silence.
“Has Comrade Qiao not slept all night?”
The nurse answered honestly.
“Not just one night. Over the past two days, injured people have been sent in from the mine nonstop. Doctor Qiao has not slept at all.”
Xie Zhongming looked at Qiao Xingyue.
Did this female comrade really treat herself like she was made of iron?
So thin that a gust of wind could knock her over, yet she managed to endure three days and nights?
He said to the nurse, “Let her rest here for a while.”
The nurse thought that Doctor Qiao truly had not slept for two days and nights, so she carefully lowered the curtain and left.
Xie Zhongming, who normally never spared a glance for any female comrade, looked at Qiao Xingyue again under the kerosene lamp.
When she operated on him, her movements had been decisive and efficient.
Now that she was asleep, she was as quiet as a lily.
The night wind lifted the tent curtain, cold air rushing in.
Xie Zhongming looked around.
He only had one blanket, and he was not wearing pants, so he could not give it to Doctor Qiao.
He could only take off his army green jacket. Not knowing whether she would dislike it when she woke up, he gently covered her slender back with it.
A mining accident had occurred in Shantang Village.
His unit was very close to the disaster area.
When disaster strikes one place, help comes from all sides. His unit dispatched five hundred soldiers to participate in the rescue.
Although he was worried about the situation outside, he was in this condition and could only lie there obediently.
The injured area throbbed painfully, making sleep impossible. His eyes stayed open until dawn.
The kerosene lamp burned out just in time.
“Mommy, Mommy.”
Qiao Xingyue was awakened by a clear, bell-like voice.
After two days and nights without sleep and under intense rescue work, even after being woken up, her mind was still muddled, and she could not immediately open her eyes or get up.
She wanted to wake up.
Her exhausted body would not allow it.
The ones who lifted the curtain calling for Qiao Xingyue were two little girls.
They were Qiao Xingyue’s twin daughters.
Seeing their mother lying by an uncle’s sickbed and looking extremely tired, they did not make another sound.
Although it was called a hospital bed, it was actually two long benches with a wooden board placed on top, a makeshift bed.
Xie Zhongming had been lying here for two days before realizing that the village had no clinic.
Comrade Qiao’s home was the temporary clinic.
It was only three thatched huts with mud walls. Old, torn newspapers were pasted on the walls, and everything was shabby and broken.
The two little girls holding porridge and corn cobs were also dressed in ragged clothes.
Their clothes were covered in patches.
These two girls were calling Comrade Qiao… Mommy?
Xie Zhongming could not help but look at Qiao Xingyue again. She was slowly getting up, still not fully awake.
So young, yet she already had two children?
Seeing that their mother had woken up, one of the girls brought a bowl of sweet potato porridge to her.
“Mommy, the porridge is ready. You did not eat dinner last night. Hurry and drink some.”
The girl had soot smeared on her nose and face, dirty and messy.
But her eyes were big and lively, and her voice was crisp like a wind chime.
The other girl beside her looked less energetic. Her face was clean but carried a sickly paleness, like a weak little chick.
She handed over a corn cob.
“Mommy, eat some corn too.”
Her voice was noticeably thinner and carried a breathless weakness.
Xie Zhongming asked, “Comrade Qiao, are these two girls both your daughters?”
Qiao Xingyue had already taken the porridge and corn and responded with a simple sound.
“Yes.”
“Twins?”
“Yes.”
Qiao Xingyue set the porridge aside and touched the girls’ heads.
“An’an, did you get up before dawn again today to light the fire and cook?”
“Yes,” An’an said, worried about her mother. “I was afraid Mommy would be hungry.”
Xie Zhongming was shocked.
Such young children already knew how to cook?
Were there no other adults at home?
He did not ask.
Qiao Xingyue was deeply comforted.
“Mommy will eat later. Go wash your face first and clean that little dirty face.”
From the wooden bed, Xie Zhongming’s gaze lingered on the two girls.
“Comrade Qiao, are these two girls your biological children?”
He had no other intention. He simply felt that Comrade Qiao did not look like a woman who had given birth.
Among the twins, the pale younger sister Ningning was quiet by nature.
Hearing this, she stood obediently in front of her mother without reacting.
But the older sister An’an, who was closer to Xie Zhongming, was not happy.
Her pink little mouth pouted upward as she glared at him and snorted.
“My sister and I are of course Mommy’s biological children, hmph.”
This uncle was so annoying.
He looked quite handsome, though.
But the first thing he asked was whether they were Mommy’s biological children.
An’an was angry.
Her soot-smudged little nose snorted again.
“Uncle, are your eyes broken?”
“Can you not see that my sister and I look exactly like Mommy?”
That was true.
The two girls were miniature versions of Comrade Qiao.
Big phoenix eyes as bright as black grapes, soft little faces, braids tied exactly like their mother’s, even the orange polka-dot ribbons were identical.
Anyone who did not know would think they were Comrade Qiao’s younger sisters.
Although the twins looked the same, they were easy to distinguish. The older sister was lively and energetic, like a little sun.
The younger sister was quiet and pale, likely unwell.
An’an stopped being angry and pulled a small handful of soybeans from her pocket.
“Uncle, want some? My mommy fried them. They are really fragrant.”
Her voice was soft and sweet.
Like freshly steamed glutinous rice cake.
Xie Zhongming’s chest stirred for no clear reason.
“Uncle will not eat them. Thank you.”
Even his normally cold voice softened slightly.
It was clearly their first meeting, yet the unfamiliar little faces with their soft, tender appearance made his heart feel strangely gentle.
Like a stone dropped into water, sending ripples outward, yet the source could not be grasped.
Seeing how many patches they wore and how broken their home was, Xie Zhongming roughly understood why Comrade Qiao had raised her price during his surgery.
Raising two children was not easy.
Qiao Xingyue brought the sweet potato porridge to Xie Zhongming.
“Comrade Xie, would you like a bowl of porridge? My daughter cooked it. It is very sweet. There is more on the stove.”
“No need, thank you. The village head will bring me food later.”
“Then rest well.”
With that, Qiao Xingyue lifted the curtain and walked out with the two girls.
Xie Zhongming’s gaze remained fixed on the small figures of the two children.
Suddenly, there was a loud crash.
The thatched house was too old. A roof beam loosened and was about to collapse.
Dust filled the air.
Sensing danger, Qiao Xingyue immediately dropped the porridge bowl and shielded the two girls.
A wooden beam came crashing straight toward her head, leaving no time to react.
Suddenly, a solid wall of flesh blocked in front of her.
The beam slammed to the ground.
Only several seconds later did Qiao Xingyue realize that the man standing in front of her was Xie Zhongming, who had just undergone surgery.
Dust covered both their faces, leaving only his resolute, bright eyes visible.
His solid body made her slender figure look exceptionally small.
At the moment the beam fell, Xie Zhongming instinctively shielded her and the two girls completely.
Qiao Xingyue was enclosed in the man’s arms.
A powerful masculine presence pressed toward her.
The next second, she frowned and pushed the solid wall of flesh away, shouting at him.
“Do you have a death wish?”
This man had just undergone surgery and refused to lie down properly. Did he really want to end his bloodline?
Yet he had rushed over to save her and the children.
Qiao Xingyue was both angry and anxious.
That area of his had been stitched more than thirty times.
With this kind of movement, it must have split open again.
“Go lie down in the next room. I need to check your wound.”
She stared at his lower body, afraid it had torn open.
Xie Zhongming did not move.
His shoulders and back burned with pain, yet his expression remained unchanged.
“Comrade Qiao, are you alright?”
“I am fine. The beam hit you. What about you?”
“I am fine.”
He then looked at the frightened children.
“What about the kids? Are they hurt?”
The two dust-covered little faces shook their heads.
Only then did Xie Zhongming let out a breath of relief.
If that beam had hit Comrade Qiao and the children, their small bodies would not have been able to withstand it.
Qiao Xingyue checked his arm. It was only red from impact.
Fortunately, no bones were injured.
“Go lie down in the next room. I need to check whether your wound has split.”
She told the children to play outside, quickly moved Xie Zhongming to the adjacent room, and had him lie down on the makeshift wooden bed.
Then she decisively pulled down his pants.