The rumor that “Captain Gu’s wife is too delicate to take care of herself” was completely shattered overnight.
In its place emerged a brand-new legend: “Captain Gu’s wife is hiding her true abilities. She’s not someone you want to mess with.”
The gossip among the neighbors disappeared completely. Those probing and scrutinizing gazes had turned into looks of awe and cautious politeness.
When Sister-in-law Wang came out carrying her basin of water again and saw Su Qiao, the warmth on her face remained, but there was now a hint of careful respect in her manner.
“Qiaoqiao, heading out? If you ever need anything, just tell your sister-in-law. No one in this compound would dare bully you.”
Su Qiao still wore that gentle, slightly shy smile, as if the ruthless woman who had broken a man’s wrist with one hand the previous night had nothing to do with her.
“Thank you, Sister-in-law Wang.”
She was more than happy to enjoy the peace and quiet.
Sun Cuifen was detained for fifteen days for “inciting others to break into a residence and attempt robbery,” and was also fined a hefty sum.
By the time she was released, her reputation was completely ruined, and there was no way she could continue living in this neighborhood.
Problem solved once and for all.
From then on, Su Qiao began living the lazy, carefree life she had dreamed of.
Every day, she slept until she naturally woke up, took all kinds of delicious food out of her space, and experimented with ways to recreate the delicacies of the future using the limited ingredients available in this era.
In the mornings, she would wander around the county town, familiarizing herself with the layout and scouting locations for her future “speculator” business.
In the afternoons, she would curl up comfortably at home, reading books or listening to the music stored in her space.
One morning, just as she returned from outside, she saw the postman riding the familiar black-and-silver 28-inch bicycle and stopping downstairs.
“Comrade Su Qiao! You have a letter!”
A letter?
Su Qiao was slightly surprised. She raised an eyebrow, not expecting the letter to arrive before the allowance.
She walked downstairs and accepted a thick kraft-paper envelope from the postman.
There was no postage stamp on it. Instead, it bore a military internal mail postmark.
The sender’s address consisted of a string of military unit codes she could not understand. The recipient was her, while the signature at the bottom was three bold, sweeping characters:
Gu Changfeng.
She squeezed the envelope. It was fairly thick.
Back in her apartment, Su Qiao closed the door and carefully slit open the envelope with a small knife.
What fell out was not the few sheets of paper she had expected, but a neatly bundled stack of cash secured with a rubber band, along with a thick stack of national grain coupons, cloth coupons, and industrial coupons.
She roughly counted the money.
There was about two hundred yuan, the same amount he had given her last time.
Had he… sent next month’s allowance in advance as well?
Su Qiao took out the letter that had been tucked beneath the money and coupons.
It was the kind of paper commonly used by the military, with a red letterhead printed at the top.
His handwriting was just like the man himself. The strokes were sharp and powerful, every character exuding the uncompromising bearing of a soldier.
His handwriting was truly a reflection of his character.
The letter was short, and its contents were completely unsurprising.
It was filled from beginning to end with polite yet distant official language.
“Comrade Su Qiao:
Seeing this letter is like seeing you in person. I wonder if everything at home has been properly settled? Was the money and supplies I gave you last time sufficient? I have already reported to the logistics department. From now on, your monthly allowance will be sent home on time. If it is insufficient, you may write and let me know.
If you encounter any difficulties at home, you may seek assistance from the local Armed Forces Department. Just give them my name. Do not let yourself suffer any grievances.”
Those few short paragraphs read almost like a work report. There was not a single unnecessary greeting, let alone the slightest hint of personal emotion.
“This guy…”
Holding the letter, Su Qiao could not help laughing.
She could almost imagine Gu Changfeng sitting at his desk, frowning as he wrote the letter in that stiff, serious manner.
He was clearly expressing concern, yet insisted on wrapping it in such an official, businesslike tone.
It was awkwardly adorable.
Beneath all the polite formalities was something he could never completely conceal—a thing called responsibility.
Su Qiao turned the letter over to the final page.
In the lower-right corner was the standard signature and date.
But beneath the words “Best wishes,” there was a very faint area where some ink had been crossed out.
The mark was extremely light, as if he had written something and immediately regretted it, then hurriedly scribbled it out with the tip of his pen.
If she had not looked carefully, she would never have noticed it.
Su Qiao’s gaze stopped.
She narrowed her eyes and held the paper up to the light.
Beneath the smeared ink, she could vaguely make out the outlines of several characters.
Her heart stirred.
She focused her mind and reached into her space. A high-powered jeweler’s loupe, barely the size of her thumb, appeared in her hand.
She held the magnifying glass over the crossed-out handwriting and examined it carefully.
Under more than ten times magnification, the faint strokes hidden beneath the ink finally revealed their original form.
Four characters.
—Stay safe.
The four characters were written much more carelessly than the rest of the letter, as though they had been written instinctively in one swift motion. Afterward, he must have felt that they were inappropriate and hurriedly crossed them out.
They did not belong to that formal, businesslike “report.”
They belonged to Gu Changfeng.
Holding the magnifying glass, Su Qiao quietly stared at those four characters for a long time.
Her heart felt as though a feather were gently, slowly brushing across it.
It was itchy.
And tingling.
During her ten years in the apocalypse, she had heard countless orders, countless flattering words, and countless cries of agony.
But only the four simple words “stay safe” felt ordinary yet extravagant, almost something that had disappeared completely from the world.
Because in an era when human lives were as worthless as blades of grass, everyone’s safety could only depend on themselves.
In this letter, the two hundred yuan and the thick stack of coupons represented his responsibility.
The cold, formal language throughout the letter was his disguise.
And those four words he had crossed out were what he had truly wanted to say.
Su Qiao put down the magnifying glass and gently ran her fingertips over the patch of ink on the paper.
She realized that this iceberg seemed to be a little easier to melt than she had imagined.
She carefully put away the letter, money, and coupons, then smoothed out the kraft-paper envelope and placed it in the drawer.
Then she took out a fresh sheet of letter paper and a fountain pen.
She decided to write him a reply.
As for what she would write…
The corners of Su Qiao’s lips slowly curved into a sly smile tinged with anticipation.
Holding the pen, she wrote the first line on the paper.