Downstairs went quiet for two seconds.
Gu Mingyang was the first to react. His eyes went wide, and his mouth moved faster than his brain.
“This… this is the one—” He instinctively turned to look at Huo Zheng.
Huo Zheng said nothing.
His posture against the pillar hadn’t changed, but at some point his hand had come out of his pocket, hanging at his side, fingertips slightly curled.
Beneath the cap brim, his eyes were fixed on the person on the stairs.
Compared to the girl who’d just bounded up the stairs with a basin like a rabbit, this one…
He couldn’t put it into words.
Like a different person.
Not the clothes. It was… her whole aura had changed.
The one from before was vivid, a little childish, the kind who’d secretly smile to herself, who’d hop and skip up the stairs.
This one was composed, assured, walking with purpose, her eyes holding something he couldn’t name.
Huo Zheng pressed his tongue against his cheek and nudged his cap brim up a little to see more clearly.
Gu Mingsong was briefly startled too.
He recovered quickly, but a flicker of something imperceptible crossed his eyes. Surprise. He’d seen all three Qiao girls earlier.
One gentle and poised, one quiet and sparing with words, and one… wrapped in a military coat, hunched in the corner, only her eyes showing, looking timid and out of place.
He’d assumed that was the youngest, the most sheltered, the one who hadn’t grown up yet.
But now—
The person before him had nothing to do with the words “little girl” as he’d pictured them.
Gu Mingyang had already snapped out of it, grinning wide enough to show a row of white teeth. “Comrade Qiao Yujie? That’s you, right? With the change of clothes, I almost didn’t recognize you!”
Qiao Yujie descended the last step, the corner of her mouth curving into just the right arc. She nodded at him. “It’s me.”
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it was clear, carrying a soft southern lilt without a trace of timidity.
Gu Mingyang scratched the back of his head and glanced back at Huo Zheng again, his smile loaded with meaning.
Huo Zheng glared back, expressionless.
Qiao Yurou, standing beside Gu Mingsong, froze for an instant. The hand at her side quietly clenched a fistful of her coat.
Her mind went blank for a moment.
No.
This was wrong.
The Qiao Yujie of her past life hadn’t been like this.
Qiao Yurou dug her nails into her palm and shoved the panic down.
So what if she’s different?
The marriage contract had already been changed.
Huo Zheng was hers. Gu Mingsong was hers. She was the one who’d laugh last.
She quickly adjusted her expression, the gentle smile returning to her face. She stepped forward.
“Little Sister Xiaoyu, you look so pretty after freshening up. I didn’t even recognize you upstairs just now.”
Her tone was intimate, but the words carried a quiet jab. You looked a mess before.
Qiao Yujie glanced at her lightly and didn’t take the bait. “Is that so.”
She turned to Gu Mingsong, Gu Mingyang, and Huo Zheng, nodding slightly. “Sorry to keep you all waiting.”
Her bearing was gracious and composed, neither servile nor overbearing.
She didn’t look at Huo Zheng a second longer than necessary.
Nor a second less.
She just… looked at him equally. Like everyone else.
Huo Zheng switched his cigarette pack from his left pocket to his right, then back again. He suddenly felt that the whole showering, changing, shaving business—
Had been a bit pointless. She hadn’t planned on looking at him anyway.
Qiao Yurou noticed the small movement and a shadow flickered through her eyes. In her past life, when had Huo Zheng ever been nervous about anyone?
She bit down on her back teeth, but her smile only grew gentler.
“Everyone’s here,” Gu Mingsong said, breaking the subtle tension. “Let’s go eat first. The cafeteria should still have something hot at this hour.”
He led the way.
Qiao Yurou followed, then after two steps turned back and extended a hand toward Qiao Yujie. “Little Sister Xiaoyu, are you cold? I have hot water—”
“Thanks! I’m fine.” Qiao Yujie pulled her hand from her coat pocket and gave the cloth bag on her wrist a little shake. “I brought my own mug. I’ll get some at the cafeteria.”
With that, she tugged her scarf up to cover half her face and stepped after them. Her pace was still unhurried.
Gu Mingyang sidled up to Huo Zheng and lowered his voice, his tone dripping with schadenfreude.
“Zheng-ge, your fiancée… doesn’t seem too keen on you.”
Huo Zheng ignored him.
“The way she looked at us just now,” Gu Mingyang pressed on, fanning the flames, “I felt like I was being inspected by a leader. You know, that ‘greetings, comrades’ kind of feeling.”
Huo Zheng still ignored him, but the corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
Gu Mingyang added one more. “But seriously, Zheng-ge, you showered, shaved, changed clothes this afternoon… she didn’t seem to notice, did she?”
Huo Zheng finally turned his head and looked at him. The look was terrifyingly calm.
Gu Mingyang wisely shut his mouth, shrank his neck, and quickened his pace to catch up with Gu Mingsong.
Huo Zheng fell to the very back, watching the figure in the army-green coat ahead.
She walked beautifully.
Not the coy, simpering kind of beautiful. Her back was straight, her steps steady, each one planted firmly.
As if what she walked on wasn’t pitted concrete, but a red carpet.
He suddenly remembered the look in her eyes when she’d come down the stairs.
She’d swept over everyone without lingering on anyone for more than a second.
Including him.
Huo Zheng pulled his cap brim down and followed in silence.
Fine.
If she wouldn’t look, she wouldn’t look.
The cafeteria wasn’t far. About ten minutes on foot.
It was mealtime. The military district cafeteria was busy, cadres and soldiers in uniform carrying enamel basins in and out.
Steam poured from the gaps in the door curtain in waves, mixed with the smell of food.
The group pushed through the curtain and walked in. The noise in the cafeteria paused for a moment.
Several young soldiers’ gazes drifted over in unison, landing on Qiao Yujie.
The army-green woolen coat, the beret, the white scarf. Against a sea of uniforms and drab civilian clothes, she stood out.
But not the showy kind of standing out. It was… clean, crisp, spirited. Like someone who’d stepped out of a pictorial.
Qiao Yujie’s expression didn’t change. She accepted the looks calmly, unruffled.
Gu Mingyang, on the other hand, was a little uncomfortable. He edged closer to Huo Zheng and muttered, “Zheng-ge, your fiancée… really commands a room.”
Huo Zheng said nothing. He just quietly shifted half a step forward.
Positioning himself squarely between Qiao Yujie and the young soldiers’ line of sight.
Qiao Yurou walked behind them, taking in every detail.
The smile on her face remained gentle, but her nails had already dug into her palm. In her past life, Huo Zheng wouldn’t even look at her. In this life, he was actively blocking other men’s view of Qiao Yujie?
She took a deep breath and told herself: It’s fine. The marriage contract is in my hands. As long as I get Gu Mingsong, this life will be perfect.
She quickened her pace to walk beside Gu Mingsong, tilted her face up, and spoke softly. “Brother Gu, does the cafeteria food require meal tickets? I have—”
“No need.” Gu Mingsong tilted his head slightly, his tone warm. “Today counts as a welcome dinner. The family quarters were notified in advance.”
“Then I’ll have to thank you, Brother Gu.” Qiao Yurou curved her eyes, smiling obediently and sensibly.
Gu Mingsong nodded and said no more. He walked in front, his steps steady. As he turned a corner, his peripheral vision swept unobtrusively toward Qiao Yujie, walking behind.
She was looking up at the menu board above the cafeteria window, her expression as serious as if she were studying an important document.
The dish names on the board were written in chalk, crooked and uneven. What was there to look at?
Gu Mingsong withdrew his gaze, a faint, unidentifiable curiosity stirring in his mind.