Lian Qiao was startled awake and quickly got up to open the door.
The two of them stared at each other, realizing they were acquainted.
She opened her mouth, then quickly stepped aside to let him in.
Chen Lang was somewhat taken aback. He remembered her—she had been holding a child at the time.
He had no intention of entering the room and remained standing at the doorway.
“Are you Li Guozheng’s cousin?”
Lian Qiao nodded, studying his face. Under the brim of his hat in the night, his features appeared more defined. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his chin was stubbled, giving him a weary look. His military uniform was impeccably worn, and he stood ramrod straight.
“Do you like children?”
Chen Lang’s first question caught Lian Qiao off guard.
That was the very question she had prepared to ask.
She decided to answer honestly.
“I’m divorced, and my health isn’t great. I might not be able to have children. I also want to work, not stay at home.”
Chen Lang’s gaze rested steadily on her face, a hint of hesitation in his eyes.
He had actually heard the answer he most wanted to hear, yet he began to feel a pang of reluctance.
She was beautiful, with a delicate, lively appearance. Her eyes reflected the streetlights.
She seemed as young and radiant as icicles under the winter sun, glowing and translucent.
She deserved a better future.
Even if she was the only one who had given the right answer.
His silence only piqued Lian Qiao’s curiosity.
Her words had been blunt, yet she saw no trace of awkward refusal on his face.
The two stood in silence, one inside the doorway, the other outside.
The chirping of cicadas in the grass seemed to accompany their wordless exchange.
Chen Lang still couldn’t take that step.
His eyes darkened slightly, and his tone carried a gentleness he himself hadn’t noticed, as if speaking to someone younger with appropriate restraint.
“You… are still young. Get some rest.”
Lian Qiao was bewildered. She didn’t understand what he meant.
Was this a polite refusal?
Seeing him about to leave, she instinctively grabbed his sleeve and blurted out,
“Are you…disliking me for being too young?”
She thought it would make sense if he looked down on her for being unable to have children.
But wasn’t youth supposed to be her greatest asset?
How could he look down on her for her age?
Chen Lang paused and looked down at the hand gripping his sleeve.
“You can find someone better, not someone like me. I have an agenda for getting married.”
Lian Qiao smiled but didn’t let go.
“What if I also have an agenda for getting married? I want to stay in the compound. Don’t worry, I won’t cause you any trouble. I just want a household registration.”
If it was a marriage of mutual benefit, Lian Qiao felt more at ease.
Straightforward, no need to beat around the bush.
Chen Lang gently brushed her hand away. “You have better options. Believe me.”
Before Lian Qiao could respond, he turned and disappeared into the thick darkness of the night.
Lian Qiao stood there dumbfounded, feeling as if she truly hadn’t woken up yet.
He had politely refused, so why was she taking it so seriously?
But she had seen that he was tempted.
Tempted by her answer.
The moment she answered, his expression had changed noticeably.
A vague thought crossed her mind: perhaps he had asked the same question during all those matchmaking meetings, and none of the others had given him the answer he wanted.
Yang Chunmei returned holding the child, wearing a look of eager curiosity.
“How did it go? I’ve only seen him from afar once before. He doesn’t live in our area, so I never got a good look.”
Lian Qiao changed out of her dress and began washing up. “He’s handsome and proper. I think there’s a chance.”
Yang Chunmei immediately perked up. “So there’s hope? Are you two seeing each other now? Your brother-in-law was just like his butt was on fire—couldn’t sit still, couldn’t stand still—even more nervous than when he married me. It’s my little sister after all, straight to the point.”
“I’ll go ask him again tomorrow.”
Lian Qiao truly hadn’t expected such a suitable person to appear. But now that he had, she would do her best to seize the opportunity.
Yang Chunmei lay on the bed, laughing heartily.
“Fate won’t come knocking if you just wait at home. If I hadn’t asked your brother-in-law to inquire, what a shame it would have been to miss out.”
Lian Qiao took off her clothes, pulled the light cord, and lay down beside her.
“Whether it works out or not is still uncertain, so I need to go out tomorrow.”
“Go ahead, don’t worry about the child. I guess it’s about his family matters. His mother has cancer, right? That’s why he’s in such a hurry to get married. If it really works out, you’ll live in the cadres’ district. You know those houses—each one is separate with its own yard. You won’t have to queue at the water room to fetch water, and the toilets are…”
Yang Chunmei chattered excitedly, while Lian Qiao closed her eyes and kept recalling his face.
“Can’t have children” was the standard answer?
He wanted to find a woman who didn’t want children.
It must be that.
Why wouldn’t he want them?
Could he not have them?
Was he injured? Something wrong in that department?
Lost in her wild thoughts, Lian Qiao drifted into a deep sleep to the sound of her cousin’s voice.
The next day, at noon.
Lian Qiao specifically asked her brother-in-law about Chen Lang’s address and hurried off after lunch.
Li Guozheng was still in shock.
“Never would have thought…”
“Never thought Da Qiao could win over your battalion commander?”
“Never mind others, even Dr. Meng, our regiment commander’s daughter, hasn’t made a move yet.”
“What do you mean? Does he have someone?”
“No, it’s just that everyone’s been talking, and Dr. Meng really hasn’t had anyone either…”
Li Guozheng didn’t know how to explain it properly.
Yang Chunmei summed it up for him. “So the regiment commander wants your battalion commander as his son-in-law, right?”
Li Guozheng scratched the back of his head. That was about right.
“Pretty much. Logically, our battalion commander’s situation should be something she knows about…”
Yang Chunmei put down her chopsticks in dissatisfaction. “If there was something between them, they’d have been together long ago. Since they’re not, it means they didn’t click. But he clicked with my sister—what’s wrong with that?”
Seeing his wife upset, Li Guozheng quickly picked up some food for her. “This is a good thing. When the time comes, my brother-in-law will be a battalion commander—how much face that’ll bring me.”
Yang Chunmei glared at him. “It takes a hundred years of cultivation to share a boat, a thousand years to share a pillow. Do you even know that?”
“I know, I know. Oh, Baozhu’s awake. You eat, I’ll do the dishes.”
Late June, the weather was getting hotter, and the midday sun scorched everything.
Lian Qiao stood waiting on the small path where they had met last time.
She had originally planned to go to his home to find him, but remembering that midday encounter, she figured this was likely a route he had to take. Waiting here seemed safer.
She waited for who knows how long before she finally saw a figure hurrying toward her from afar.
He was still wearing a white shirt and army-green pants, with sweat on his forehead.
Chen Lang paused his steps, a little surprised.
Truth be told, he had spotted the person waiting by the roadside from a distance—a figure in light blue.
She wasn’t wearing that dress, nor was she dressed up deliberately like last night.
But he recognized her at a glance.
“What are you doing here?” His voice was slightly hoarse. He had just finished work and rushed back without having time to drink water.
Lian Qiao didn’t beat around the bush. She looked up at him with clear, straightforward eyes, her gaze open and honest.
“I thought about it all night, and I believe you were mistaken yesterday.”
Chen Lang’s brow furrowed slightly as he waited for her to continue.
“You think I’m young and should have something better, that you can’t bear to hold me back. But you never asked me what I want.”
“If you don’t see my inability to have children as a problem, then I don’t see your marriage with an agenda as a problem either. We won’t burden each other—that makes for an excellent marriage. So, let’s get married.”