Commander Zhang was a burly, dark-skinned man built like an iron tower. Just looking at his appearance, no one would guess he was such a chatterbox.
When he saw Jiang Baizhou, he was startled at first, then immediately raised his foot to kick him.
“Damn it! Didn’t you say you didn’t want to be near me?”
During the land reclamation work earlier, their First and Second Battalions were often assigned together, so Commander Zhang naturally sought out Jiang Baizhou to work alongside.
But Jiang Baizhou said he couldn’t work with him, praising him for being strong, efficient, and fast—claiming he himself was no match, and so on.
At the time, Commander Zhang was delighted, thinking he finally had something to outdo this guy.
But when the reclaimed land was measured that day, Jiang Baizhou came in first!
Devious!
Jiang Baizhou chuckled and dodged, setting down his pickaxe.
“After some tough training, I finally gained a bit of confidence. Otherwise, how would I dare come?”
Commander Zhang laughed in exasperation.
“Get lost! Tough training, my ass! You’re always first in land reclamation—stop trying to fool me! You’re full of tricks. I’m not talking to you.”
Jiang Baizhou didn’t take offense. He pulled a piece of milk candy from his pocket, tilted his chin slightly, and nudged Commander Zhang with his foot.
“What are you—whoa! Candy? Where’d you get that?”
Even as he asked, Commander Zhang had already snatched the candy from Jiang Baizhou’s hand, sniffed it under his nose, his mouth unconsciously watering.
He grinned. “Sweet!”
Jiang Baizhou rolled his eyes. “Have you even eaten it? How do you know it’s sweet?”
Commander Zhang scoffed and promptly tucked the candy into his pocket. “I’ll save it for my son.”
Jiang Baizhou couldn’t bear to watch. “Here, here, I’ll give you half.”
He took out another piece, rustled open the wrapper, and prepared to split it in two.
Commander Zhang snatched it directly. “Got any more? Hurry up! My wife hasn’t had any yet!”
The two went back and forth until Commander Zhang had grabbed three pieces of candy. In the end, he ate half of one himself, savoring it slowly in his mouth without chewing, and asked, “Where’d you get the candy?”
Jiang Baizhou ate his candy, raised his pickaxe to dig up roots, and said casually, “My wife brought it for me. She said the work is tiring and told me to replenish my energy.”
Commander Zhang, who was also working, suddenly felt a sour taste in his mouth, but he couldn’t resist his gossipy nature. “Your wife brought you candy? Didn’t she come to get a divorce?”
Jiang Baizhou pulled up a root and tossed it onto a nearby pile of grass, turning his head. “No, she was just angry with me before.”
“Angry? Really? I saw those twelve telegrams—they didn’t seem like just anger. Jiang Baizhou, don’t be foolish. If this woman isn’t serious about staying with you, you won’t be able to keep her.”
Jiang Baizhou straightened up, leaning on his pickaxe handle as he looked at Commander Zhang.
“I know, but my wife really doesn’t want a divorce.”
With the northwest wind adding a touch of emotion, Jiang Baizhou repeated the same story he had told Lin Zhengwei, this time with even more sincerity.
After hearing it, Commander Zhang sighed with emotion. “Military wives have it tough. We men need to be more understanding.”
Jiang Baizhou gave him a look that said, “You get me.” “I knew you were a decent and generous man, Old Zhang.”
Commander Zhang: “Hahaha, of course I am!”
All morning, without Jiang Baizhou having to say a word, Commander Zhang couldn’t help but spread the news: Wen Yan didn’t want a divorce, she was really good to Jiang Baizhou, and she even brought him candy.
Of course, quite a few people still didn’t quite believe it.
But when they stopped for a midday break, Jiang Baizhou took out another peach shortbread, smiling sheepishly as he said, “My wife brought this from the city, worried I wouldn’t have enough to eat at noon.”
Everyone chewed on their coarse cornmeal buns, smacking their lips—what did peach shortbread even taste like again?
Jiang Baizhou turned his back to the group, already planning to snack on some dried sweet potato in the afternoon.
Of course, none of these things had actually been brought by Wen Yan. Jiang Baizhou had exchanged for them with the logistics officer, all to help clean up Wen Yan’s reputation.
Just thinking of Wen Yan made Jiang Baizhou’s lips curl into a smile. He wondered what she was up to.
Noon.
In just one morning, Wen Yan had already shaped a prototype of the plow. Commander Zhu gave it a try.
“This angle is good—much less effort than what we made before.”
By now, Old Zhu had come to realize that Wen Yan really knew her stuff.
When lunchtime arrived, Old Zhu and Wen Yan walked ahead, followed by a group of young soldiers, all heading to the canteen.
The so-called canteen was really just a rectangular mud-brick building.
At this hour, many people were lining up with their lunchboxes or small bowls to get food. Most of the military wives took their meals home, while the soldiers ate in the canteen.
There were no chairs inside—only rough wooden tables. At the front stood several large black pots steaming with food, with cooks serving portions.
You couldn’t pick and choose the dishes—not that there was much choice anyway.
Once inside, Wen Yan scanned the room and spotted Bai Shanshan and Gu Qing.
She turned to Old Zhu and said, “Commander Zhu, you all go ahead and get your food. I’m going to find someone.”
Commander Zhu saw nothing wrong with that—a female comrade would naturally feel awkward eating with them.
“Sure, sure. Will you be coming back this afternoon?”
Wen Yan nodded. “Yes, to finish the plow.”
Old Zhu replied, “Good, then. Go on ahead.”
As Wen Yan walked away, Bai Shanshan spotted her from a distance, her face sour with displeasure.
This morning had been the most humiliating experience of her life.
Her aunt had dragged her around to find every educated youth from the bus that day, as well as that Aunt Wang.
Her aunt had claimed Bai Shanshan had misspoken, saving her a bit of face, but Bai Shanshan doubted anyone really believed it. The piercing stares had felt like knives scraping her skin.
Wen Yan approached and stopped in front of Bai Shanshan.
Gu Qing smiled and spoke up. “It’s all cleared up, every last one. You can rest assured.”
Wen Yan gave a quiet “Mm.” “Alright, then I’ll go verify it.”
She turned to leave, but Bai Shanshan, fuming, blurted out, “What do you mean? You don’t believe me?”
Gu Qing tried to pull Bai Shanshan back but couldn’t hold her.
This foolish niece!
Wen Yan paused, her expression sincere yet puzzled. “Of course I don’t believe you.”
Bai Shanshan: “…”
Gu Qing: She knew it.
Wen Yan turned to Gu Qing and continued, “I believe you, Sister-in-law. But verifying has nothing to do with trust. Only after I confirm it will this matter be truly settled.”
Once again receiving this “special treatment,” Gu Qing suppressed a strange little thrill and said, “Yes, exactly. That’s how it should be.”
With that, Wen Yan smoothly went off to verify with the others.
Bai Shanshan was so angry she stamped her feet, but Gu Qing held her back.
“Aunt, look at her!”
Gu Qing sighed. “I did look, and I think she’s just stating the truth—and reasonably so… She doesn’t mean anything else by it.”
Bai Shanshan was so furious she nearly choked, but she didn’t dare make too much of a scene. In the end, she stewed in silence, her chest tight with anger, her eyes fixed venomously on Wen Yan.
Soon, she noticed that Wen Yan hadn’t missed a single person!
Even though Wen Yan hadn’t spoken a word to any of them that day.
After making the rounds, Wen Yan returned and said, “I’ve verified everything. This matter ends here.”
After speaking, Wen Yan looked at Bai Shanshan with a relaxed expression: “Comrade Bai, would you like to come work for me?”
Bai Shanshan’s pupils trembled in shock: Are you kidding me?!