Song Xuezhi saw that the soldiers around her had all fallen silent, and her heart tightened with anxiety. She worried they would refuse.
After all, military marriages were not easy to dissolve. Although she and Zhou Weidong were not formally married yet, officers tended to sympathize with fellow officers. A woman who had been hard to find was not easily “let go.” Unless the man had committed some serious wrongdoing, military leadership usually sided with the serviceman and tried to smooth things over.
Lieutenant Colonel Li was the first to react. His expression turned cold as he asked, “Are you Zhou Weidong’s fiancée?”
His aura was overwhelming. Nervously, Song Xuezhi nodded.
Li Chengyuan’s expression darkened further.
He knew about Zhou Weidong submitting his marriage report and requesting three days of wedding leave.
When he had rescued her by the river, he had seen Zhou Weidong—but at that time, Zhou Weidong had been rushing past, holding another soaked woman in his arms. So he had assumed that woman was Zhou Weidong’s fiancée.
If he had known the truth… even if the situation had been urgent… he should not have done what he did to his subordinate’s fiancée.
Li Chengyuan felt a trace of regret.
Commander Lu also realized it was a misunderstanding and stepped in to ease the tension.
“Girl, since you and Captain Zhou already submitted your marriage report, the wedding should already be arranged. Why are you suddenly not getting married?”
Looking at the kind-faced senior officer, Song Xuezhi sniffed, clearly struggling to hold back tears.
“This marriage… can’t go through anymore.”
Her voice trembled as her shoulders shook slightly, fingers twisting at her clothes. Her aggrieved appearance made Li Chengyuan frown deeply.
Commander Lu frowned as well.
“What happened between you two? Did you argue? If Captain Zhou treated you badly, I’ll talk to him myself. How could he treat his fiancée like this?”
In his view, couples often argued but always made up. Divorce was rare.
He also thought Zhou was being careless—how could he not cherish such a beautiful fiancée?
Song Xuezhi gave a bitter smile.
“It’s not necessary, Comrade Commander. He lent all his money to his sister and now has nothing left. There won’t even be a wedding. I don’t want to marry him anymore. My parents also won’t agree.”
“Please help me cancel the marriage report. I want to go back home.”
Upon hearing it was a financial issue, Commander Lu quickly said, “Don’t worry. If there are difficulties, the organization can help solve them! His sister is also unreasonable—no matter how urgent it is, she shouldn’t delay your wedding.”
“How much does your wedding cost? We can all pool money to help you.”
He assumed a military wedding would not cost much—just a meal in the canteen, some cigarettes, wine, and candy shared with comrades.
“It’s not about the money,” Song Xuezhi shook her head. “Even if you help him this time, can you help him forever? His nephew has heart disease and needs a huge amount of treatment. His sister moved in from the countryside, and he even gave up the military housing assigned to him for her. I’ve been living in a rented place all along…”
She paused, her voice trembling.
“Everything good goes to his sister first. Even my dowry, which my parents saved through years of hardship, he used for his nephew’s treatment.”
“If my parents had known earlier, they would never have agreed to this marriage. Now my mother says if I insist on marrying him, she’ll disown me. I can’t become an unfilial daughter. Please understand.”
To ensure she could cut ties with Zhou Weidong, she used her parents as leverage.
Commander Lu looked troubled.
Zhou Weidong did have his reasons. A sick nephew, a struggling family—it was understandable that he would help.
“How much does the treatment cost?” asked Chen Jianye from the side. “Maybe the unit can pool money to help.”
“Probably tens of thousands,” Song Xuezhi replied.
In her dream, Zhou Weidong later spent over twenty thousand yuan on surgery, and even sold their marital home in the 1990s to send the child abroad for treatment. The total cost was unimaginable.
Chen Jianye fell silent.
Ten thousand yuan was an enormous sum at this time.
There was no way they could cover that.
At this moment, Li Chengyuan asked in a low voice, “He used your dowry without your permission?”
Tears welled in Song Xuezhi’s eyes.
“No. I came here to ask you for help. He said he can’t return the money right now, so I wanted to ask if the leadership could advance his salary and return my 200 yuan dowry first…”
“I understand his sister’s situation, but that money was saved by my parents through endless hardship. My older brother and younger brother still haven’t been able to get married because of it.”
The officers’ expressions grew serious.
Indeed, saving a life was important—but he had not even married her yet, and he was already using her dowry to support his sister. That was clearly improper.
Li Chengyuan felt increasingly irritated seeing her tears and said directly, “Fine. I’ll issue a note for you. You can go to the finance office and collect the money.”
Song Xuezhi was pleasantly surprised and glanced cautiously at Commander Lu.
She wasn’t sure whether Li Chengyuan had that level of authority.
He looked too young.
Commander Lu, after a moment’s thought, nodded.
“Given your situation, marriage is indeed not appropriate right now. You’re still young—you shouldn’t be delayed by this. I’ll have your marriage report withdrawn.”
“Thank you, Comrade!” she said gratefully.
Only then did Commander Lu realize she had misunderstood, and he laughed, pointing at Li Chengyuan.
“You’ve got the wrong person—that’s Lieutenant Colonel Li.”
Li Chengyuan looked at her and said calmly, “And that is Commander Lu. You can go through him for your issues with Zhou Weidong.”
Song Xuezhi was stunned.
Then she looked at the military jacket in her hands.
A sudden thought struck her.
The person who had saved her that day by the river… was actually him?
What a coincidence…
“Thank you for saving me the other day,” she said sincerely, handing him the jacket. “I’ve already washed it for you.”
“Mm. It was nothing,” Li Chengyuan replied casually, taking it back and placing it over the chair.
Commander Lu noticed there was something between them and exchanged a glance with Chen Jianye before stepping out, leaving them alone.
Standing alone in a confined space with such a tall, handsome officer made Song Xuezhi feel slightly uneasy.
Seeing him keep looking at her without saying anything, she tried to make small talk.
“Thank you so much. If you don’t mind, I’d like to treat you to a meal sometime.”
She had said it casually and didn’t expect him to agree.
But to her surprise, the usually cold Lieutenant Colonel immediately nodded.
“Alright. When?”
Seeing her stunned expression, he added, “When are you inviting me?”
Thinking she would soon end things with Zhou Weidong and leave, she hesitated.
“…How about the day after tomorrow?”
He glanced at his watch.
“Can it be tomorrow? I have official duties the day after.”
“Oh… okay then.”
That sounded almost like he was pressed for time, so she quickly added, “No problem, I’m usually free during the day anyway.”
Originally she had a job at the cultural troupe, but that had been taken by Zhou Yuwei, so she no longer cared.
“Good,” he nodded. “Tomorrow at 5 p.m., I’ll wait for you at the state-run restaurant across from the military gate.”
After issuing her the signed note for the finance office, he watched her leave.
Downstairs, Chen Jianye scratched his head.
“Commander Lu, are we really allowed to interfere with Captain Zhou’s marriage like this?”
The saying went: it takes ten temples to be built, but one marriage should not be broken.
Military marriages were rarely dissolved unless both parties agreed and there were no children involved.
Commander Lu clasped his hands behind his back.
“The marriage report hasn’t even been approved yet. What marriage are we interfering with? At most, it’s a relationship. Does a woman not have the right to choose?”
Chen Jianye thought about it and nodded.
Indeed.
Given Zhou Weidong’s situation—financial strain, sick parents, and now a sister and nephew depending on him…
It would be irresponsible to watch a girl walk into a pit of fire.