“Of course not!”
He had already promised Wen Yan inside the house.
Jiang Baizhou didn’t think Wen Yan was the anxious type—from their first meeting until now, she had always been straightforward.
So she must have been asking for someone else’s benefit.
Jiang Baizhou lowered his head slightly, placing his palm on the pom-pom of Wen Yan’s hat. His voice was gentle yet clear: “You’re my wife. I’ll never divorce you in this lifetime. Let’s build a good life together.”
“Okay!”
One tall, one short, they walked side by side. Amid the crunching sound of footsteps on snow came a choked sob.
Bai Shanshan ran away crying.
Wen Yan secretly glanced back and whispered an explanation, which finally made Jiang Baizhou understand.
“I don’t know the comrade you mentioned, and I’ve never asked anyone to arrange a blind date for me.”
Wen Yan said with full sincerity: “Don’t worry, I believe you.”
Jiang Baizhou was momentarily speechless.
Wasn’t this damn sense of trust a bit off?
Political Commissar’s Office, Land Reclamation Corps.
Two men—one slightly dark-skinned, the other very dark-skinned.
The lighter-skinned Lin Zhengwei asked: “What do you think of the speech I just gave? Can it persuade Jiang Baizhou’s wife not to divorce?”
The darker-skinned Li Hanjun widened his tiger-like eyes, exuding an intimidating aura: “I say you’re wasting your breath! We’ve already received twelve telegrams—she’s dead set on divorcing. Why should my soldier be treated like this? If she wants a divorce, let it be. I’ll find Jiang Baizhou a better match right away!”
“What are you shouting about? Showing off your loud voice? Divorce, divorce, divorce—sounds like a broken record!”
Lin Zhengwei finished scolding and sighed: “I doubt it’ll work either. Let’s just go through the motions.”
“Report! Battalion Commander Jiang and Comrade Wen have arrived.”
Lin Zhengwei cleared his throat and called out: “Let them in.”
Wen Yan and Jiang Baizhou entered one after the other, standing side by side.
Lin Zhengwei stood up, all smiles, and politely shook hands with Wen Yan.
The young lady was fair-skinned, with a neat, pretty, and spirited appearance.
No wonder Jiang Baizhou married her in the first place—this brat only likes good-looking ones!
But now things have turned out like this, and it might even affect Jiang Baizhou’s future promotions.
He shot Jiang Baizhou a discreet glare—serves you right for only caring about looks!
Jiang Baizhou: What did I do?
“Hello, Comrade Wen. I’m the political commissar of the 513th Land Reclamation Corps. My surname is Lin. This is our Commander Li.”
Wen Yan greeted them, frowning slightly as she thought about how to explain later. To Lin Zhengwei, this looked like the despair of a broken heart!
Truthfully, he also thought divorce would be better—a resentful couple is unfair to everyone.
“Since you’ve come together…”
“Report!”
Jiang Baizhou interrupted Lin Zhengwei, who didn’t seem angry.
“Go ahead.”
Jiang Baizhou flashed a small, white-toothed smile, carrying a hint of familiarity: “Report, I have already apologized to Comrade Wen Yan and admitted my mistakes. Comrade Wen Yan has forgiven me, and we’ve decided not to divorce.”
Lin Zhengwei & Li Hannian: ??
Not divorcing?
Were the two of them drafting speeches and discussing for over an hour just to demonstrate what “superfluous” means?
Jiang Baizhou knew the two leaders were biased in his favor—they had even proactively approved the divorce report.
But since they had decided not to divorce, he couldn’t let Wen Yan’s reputation suffer.
He sighed, with a touch of “guilt”: “Actually, Comrade Wen Yan didn’t really want to divorce me. We only met for the first time at our wedding, and I ran off halfway through. Who wouldn’t be angry about that?”
Lin Zhengwei and Li Hannian exchanged glances, sharing the same guilty conscience: She definitely had the right to be angry.
Jiang Baizhou continued to pile on the guilt.
“I was away on a mission for a year, and after returning, I spent another year reclaiming wasteland in Heilongjiang Province. Communication was difficult, so Comrade Wen Yan’s frustration is understandable.”
Lin Zhengwei and Li Hannian’s rising anger subsided a little: military spouses truly have it tough.
“Comrade Wen Yan traveled thousands of miles to come to me. After arriving and seeing how hard my life was, she felt heartbroken and even made me fried flour tea to nourish my health. Take a whiff—can you still smell the fried flour tea on my breath?”
Jiang Baizhou actually stepped forward and opened his mouth, only to be kicked away by Li Hannian. But it did seem like the scent of fried flour tea lingered.
Was this female comrade really that good? Had they misunderstood?
Beside them, Wen Yan pursed her lips expressionlessly. If not for the lingering taste in her mouth, she might have believed it herself.
Li Hannian’s gaze fell on Wen Yan, who had remained silent all this time. His face was stern without anger, and his voice was serious.
“If that’s the case, why did Comrade Wen send twelve divorce telegrams?”
Wen Yan met Li Hannian’s gaze without flinching, her tone as steady as if she were delivering a work report: “They weren’t divorce telegrams. Those were twelve love letters I wrote to Jiang Baizhou.”
Li Hannian: “?”
Lin Zhengwei: “?”
A thousand words turned into the silent Cam River.
Jiang Baizhou clenched his jaw, holding back laughter. He really wanted to hear how she would talk her way out of this.
Wen Yan continued earnestly, spinning her tale: “They really were love letters. The three characters ‘Jiang Baizhou’ represented my longing for him. The words ‘divorce’ were a rhetorical question and an exaggeration. The twelve times were a repetition used for emphasis…”
Lin Zhengwei immediately raised his hand and said, “Alright, alright, I understand what you mean.”
Please, don’t keep making things up! Even a Chinese teacher would cry all night if they heard this.
Jiang Baizhou’s words had some credibility, but Wen Yan’s explanation was blatant fabrication. Yet, she delivered it with such sincerity.
That was a skill in itself.
His eyes shifted back and forth between Jiang Baizhou and Wen Yan, understanding that neither of them wanted a divorce.
“The organization respects personal wishes. Since neither of you wants a divorce, go back and build a good life together. No more of this reckless behavior in the future—it has an extremely negative impact. Understood?”
Jiang Baizhou and Wen Yan immediately promised earnestly that they would.
Next, Lin Zhengwei spoke about the difficult environment and the need to prepare for hardship, while also finalizing Wen Yan’s military spouse procedures.
Wen Yan carefully put away her letter of introduction and said, “I understand machinery, woodworking, and mapmaking. Can I be assigned work?”
Lin Zhengwei and Li Hannian looked at Wen Yan with strange expressions, clearly skeptical.
Jiang Baizhou also watched her, inexplicably feeling that Wen Yan wouldn’t lie.
Except, of course, when “coaxing” someone.
Lin Zhengwei asked, “You didn’t attend university, did you?”
Her letter of introduction hadn’t mentioned it, and she didn’t even have a job.
Wen Yan shook her head honestly.
“No, I didn’t. But my family lived in the university faculty housing. My father taught machinery, my mother was a geography teacher, my grandfather was an old carpenter, and our neighbors were quite impressive too. Uncle Zhu next door…”
Lin Zhengwei nodded seriously. A family with a rich academic background… Hmm? What did impressive neighbors have to do with her?
Wen Yan continued, “I learned by osmosis. I’m smart and pick things up quickly.”
Whether they believed her or not didn’t matter—she was just laying the groundwork. From now on, she would simply know these things.
Lin Zhengwei didn’t know how to respond for a moment. While it was true that one shouldn’t judge without investigation, this sounded like empty boasting, didn’t it?
His already unfavorable impression of Wen Yan dropped another notch.
Li Hannian shared the same thought—how could his best soldier end up with such a troublemaking, lying wife?
The two exchanged a glance, but in the end, out of respect for Jiang Baizhou, they held their tongues.
Lin Zhengwei replied perfunctorily, “That’s quite impressive. Why don’t you, Comrade Wen, take a look tomorrow and see where you can help out?”
In other words: Do whatever you want!
Wen Yan chose to ignore their dissatisfaction and disbelief, focusing only on the fact that they were letting her do as she pleased.
She immediately seized the opportunity and thanked them, “Thank you for your support, leaders. I’ll arrange things properly.”
Jiang Baizhou, who had been watching Wen Yan the whole time, suddenly felt a pang of unease, as if something was about to happen.
Lin Zhengwei & Li Hannian: Did they actually support her?
Jiang Baizhou’s wife seemed a bit… slow in the head.
Once the matter was settled, Wen Yan stepped out first, while Jiang Baizhou stayed behind to talk.
A short while later, she heard Li Hannian scolding from the doorway, “You brat! Look at how eager you are!”
With a click, Jiang Baizhou emerged, holding three pieces of biscuit in his palm.
“These are soft. Save them for later—you can even soak them in water if you like.”
“And there’s a bundle of dried noodles. We’ll cook them when we get back.”
Wen Yan replied with a soft “okay,” and the two walked out of the house one after the other. Outside, it was already pitch dark.
The cold air made their nostrils feel chilly and sticky, and their shoes crunched on the snow. Suddenly, Jiang Baizhou asked, “What about the love letter you mentioned?”
“Do you believe it?”
In the darkness, Jiang Baizhou’s smile was hard to see, but Wen Yan could clearly hear his bright yet slightly aggrieved voice.
“Of course I believe it. Didn’t you say you liked me the most? Or… were you lying to me?”