This meal passed without incident.
This was somewhat unexpected for Han Yue. He had already been mentally prepared—if Chu Ci were to confront him directly at the dining table, he would simply carry him home and explain things to the commander’s family later.
Yet throughout the entire meal, Chu Ci behaved impeccably. Although he still didn’t speak much, whenever Old Commander Han asked him something, he answered immediately and politely, showing no sign of reluctance.
Even when the commander’s wife, smiling, asked the question “Who pursued whom first?”, Han Yue almost thought Chu Ci would flip the table on the spot. Instead, Chu Ci only paused briefly and then said indifferently, “I can’t remember.”
Han Yue let out a sharp sigh of relief. Before he even had time to wipe away his cold sweat, he saw Old Commander Han glare at him sharply, his expression full of reproach.
Overall, the meal was dull but very safe—nothing even remotely explosive happened. Afterward, the commander’s wife felt a bit tired and said she wanted to take a short nap. As soon as she left the table, Old Commander Han stood up, cast a cold glance at Han Yue, and said, “Come to my study. Now.”
Han Qiang and his wife remained silent, pretending they did not exist.
Han Yue hesitated briefly and glanced at Chu Ci. Chu Ci was drinking tea with his head lowered, not even sparing him a glance.
“Old man, you really going to put on airs in front of everyone…” Han Yue complained half-jokingly, but as soon as he saw the old commander’s expression, he immediately straightened up. “Alright, alright, I’m coming, I’m coming.”
Old Commander Han knew Han Yue’s mind was still entirely on the young man in the dining room. Even after sitting down in the study, Han Yue still looked distracted.
Old Commander Han slammed the table. “What are you thinking about?!”
Han Yue sucked in a breath and answered seriously, “Chu Ci.”
“You’re thinking about him. Does he think about you?”
“….” Han Yue froze for a moment, then smiled. “Old man, that’s not an interesting way to put it. Of course he doesn’t think about me—but whether he does or not has nothing to do with me. I’m not asking him to love me. I just want to live well with him, warmly and closely for a lifetime. Isn’t that simple? There are only 365 days in a year, just over 3,000 in ten years. Decades pass in the blink of an eye. What’s so hard about that…”
Old Commander Han gave a cold chuckle. “You really think it’s not difficult?”
“…What?” Han Yue hesitated. “Dad, you’re not going to lecture me on morality again today, are you?”
“Even if I tried, it wouldn’t help—you’ve already gone your own way. Han Yue, you really are…” The old commander paused, then sighed heavily. “You think I care that you’re involved with a man, that I think it’s immoral, and that your mother and I are scheming to break you apart, don’t you? Let me tell you this clearly—I don’t care who you spend your life with. Man or woman, it doesn’t matter to me. I’ve been through war, killed people, lived through storms for decades. At this age, all I want is my children to be safe and well. As long as it’s mutual, you can stay together as long as you want. Parents just want their children to be happy—not to end up hating them later. Isn’t that right?”
Han Yue hesitated and nodded. “I thought you were going to stop me…”
“I am going to stop you.”
Han Yue startled.
The old commander interrupted him and asked, “Do you remember Uncle Guo? The one who used to come to our house often and play mahjong with your mother?”
“I remember. Didn’t he pass away the year before last?”
“Do you know he never married?”
Han Yue shook his head. From the age of eighteen, he had rarely been home. Many of the older acquaintances were only vague impressions to him.
“I fought in Vietnam with your Uncle Guo. I was a division commander, he was a political commissar. We were comrades who trusted each other with our lives. When he first enlisted, we were together too. He fell for someone in our unit—a comrade. They were so close… the kind of closeness where each would die for the other.”
The old commander paused, sounding somewhat heavy-hearted.
“I still remember what that comrade looked like. Very proper, very bright smile… Military discipline was strict back then, so I often covered for them. He’d buy me cigarettes—Feima brand, thirty cents a pack…”
Han Yue wanted to ask what happened later, but he could already guess. Uncle Guo had never married, and there was no family at his memorial. Most likely, something had happened to that lover during the war.
“I used to think they would stay together forever. Back then, the situation was tense—the Sino-Indian war was about to break out. No one knew how many of us would die if war came, or who would survive. I just thought a person only lives a few decades. If you can find someone you truly love while alive, even a single day together—what does it matter if you die afterward?”
Han Yue couldn’t help asking, “You were stationed in Tibet back then?”
“Shannan in Tibet, at the Kyirong River valley. That comrade of mine died there.”
Even though he was prepared, Han Yue still fell silent, his heart sinking slightly.
“Old Guo was devastated… truly devastated. After that, he never married. When the organization introduced him to potential matches, he refused them all. He even went to get a false medical certificate claiming he was physically unfit to have children. People said he didn’t want to burden any woman, but as someone who knew him for decades, I knew the truth—he never forgot the person who died.”
The old commander fell silent for a moment, then took a deep breath.
“Han Yue, you keep telling me how much you like this person, how you want to spend your life with him. But you don’t understand—life is too long, and there are many things you cannot predict. You can never guarantee you’ll grow old together. The only thing you can truly hold onto is today, the present.”
“…I understand. I’ll cherish it…” Han Yue said, his mind slightly chaotic as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
“I hope you really do understand what it means to cherish,” the old commander said heavily. “I just hope that one day you don’t regret it only after you’ve lost it.”
Downstairs, the dining room atmosphere remained somewhat heavy. Although everyone appeared to be watching television attentively, only they themselves knew how much they were actually paying attention.
At that moment, Han Qiang’s phone suddenly rang in his pocket. He took it out, glanced at it, and said quickly, “I’ve got a call,” then walked briskly outside.
Although Xiao Ruo wanted to know who was calling her husband, this was not a house where she could act freely, so she could only watch as Han Qiang walked toward the courtyard.
At that moment, there was no one in the courtyard. Everyone knew the commander’s wife was taking a nap, and the house was quiet everywhere.
Han Qiang answered the phone and said somewhat impatiently in a low voice, “Hello?”
On the other end was a faintly soft female voice. It wasn’t clear what she said, but Han Qiang’s expression of impatience became even more obvious.
“I already told you I can’t divorce… What? Get rid of it! If the old man in our family finds out, what am I supposed to do… Fine, fine, I know, I know. You women are always so troublesome… What? How could that be? I’ll come see you in a couple of days… I’m really busy lately…”
At that moment, footsteps sounded in the corridor. Han Qiang immediately covered the phone and held his breath, waiting for a few seconds. Then he heard Chu Ci’s voice:
“Mrs. Han, where are you going?”
Immediately after, Xiaoruo gave a forced laugh. “Nothing, just walking around. Oh—Mr. Chu…?”
“I’m going out to the courtyard for a cigarette.”
“…I see… then, I won’t disturb you…”
A surge of irritation rose in Han Qiang’s chest. That woman was eavesdropping on his calls again! He quickly said into the phone, “Not convenient right now, I’ll call you back later,” and hung up.
He turned back toward the corridor and saw Chu Ci standing under the eaves by the railing, smiling faintly.
“Mr. Han, not very lucky, are you?”
Seeing that his wife had already walked away, Han Qiang let out an awkward laugh. “Sorry about that… I’ve caused you trouble. Sigh, women are always like this, I was just making a call and she—”
“It’s fine. I didn’t hear anything.”
Han Qiang visibly relaxed, his expression smoothing out as he smiled knowingly. “Right, right! Men just have these little things outside. She just likes to worry about irrelevant stuff. —Oh! I think you’re actually quite loyal, Mr. Chu. Thanks a lot this time!”
Chu Ci waved it off. “It’s nothing.”
His attitude was so calm and straightforward that Han Qiang couldn’t help but take another look at him. He thought to himself that his younger brother really had found someone quite capable this time—decent, perceptive, and easy to deal with. A rare kind of friend, indeed… worth keeping in contact with.
As if he could read his thoughts, Chu Ci nodded slightly and gave a faint smile.