“Achoo!”
As soon as the jeep drove into the military base, Jiang Zhou let out an earth-shaking sneeze.
A comrade in the jeep teased him, “Look at that—loud and clear! The person thinking of our Battalion Commander Jiang must be a female comrade!”
Jiang Zhou shot him a glare. “Don’t talk nonsense.”
He instinctively touched the photo in his chest pocket. He didn’t know why he’d brought it along on this mission.
“Battalion Commander Jiang, you don’t seem to have a partner yet, do you? You’re twenty-five—it’s time to settle down. My wife has a cousin who’s quite pretty. Want me to set you up?” another person in the jeep said.
Jiang Zhou waved his hand. “I already have a partner.”
“You have a partner? Since when? Why haven’t we heard about it?”
“It was arranged by our parents when they were still alive.”
“Then why haven’t you gotten married yet?”
“She’s a few years younger than me. She only came of age this year.”
“So it’s a childhood betrothal! I never thought Battalion Commander Jiang would agree to an arranged marriage.”
Jiang Zhou smiled and shook his head, not continuing the topic.
The jeep entered the main road of the military base.
At that moment, Sister Chunmei was walking out of the service cooperative with Yuan Juan. As soon as they stepped outside, Yuan Juan shoved the canned goods she was holding into Sister Chunmei’s arms.
“No, no, I can’t take your things. Keep them for yourself.”
Sister Chunmei tried to push them back but didn’t dare use too much force, afraid Yuan Juan might accidentally drop the cans.
“Please take them, Sister. Bring them home for the children. I’ve troubled you with so many things these past few days.”
Yuan Juan also felt a pang of reluctance at giving things away for free, but the thought of meeting Jiang Zhou today made her heart flutter with anxiety. What if Jiang Zhou suspected her? What if he didn’t take a liking to her?
She didn’t know anyone else here, and Sister Chunmei was the only one who had been kind to her. As the wife of Jiang Zhou’s good friend, it made sense to win her over.
As the saying goes, “If you take something, your hand grows short; if you eat something, your mouth grows soft.” Yuan Juan didn’t believe Sister Chunmei would fail to speak well of her in front of Jiang Zhou after accepting her gifts.
“This is really too much,” Sister Chunmei said, unable to refuse any longer and reluctantly accepting the cans.
She hadn’t expected “Yuan Xiu” to be so generous—giving away four cans of food at once, something she herself rarely splurged on.
It seemed the girl’s life back home wasn’t as difficult as they’d imagined.
Sister Chunmei had sharp eyes. Glancing into a passing jeep, she spotted Jiang Zhou sitting inside.
She quickly called out loudly, “Battalion Commander Jiang! Battalion Commander Jiang!”
The jeep slowed down, and several heads popped out. “Who’s calling?”
“It’s Battalion Commander Li’s wife.”
“Hey! Who’s that young woman beside her?”
“Could it be a relative of hers?”
Jiang Zhou’s gaze fell on Yuan Juan, and his brow slowly furrowed. He raised his hand to touch the photo in his chest pocket, and the faint spark of hope he’d felt these past few days flickered out.
“Battalion Commander Jiang, someone’s looking for you. Should we stop?” the driver asked.
Jiang Zhou withdrew his gaze from outside. “Let’s head back to the command center first.”
As the jeep drove away, Sister Chunmei pointed at the receding vehicle and asked Yuan Juan, “Jiang Zhou was in there. Did you see him?”
Yuan Juan shook her head. She was far too nervous to even notice whether Jiang Zhou was in the jeep or not.
“Have you seen a photo of Jiang Zhou?” Sister Chunmei asked.
Yuan Juan nodded. There was a photo in the letter—Jiang Zhou in his military uniform. Her father saw the four pockets on his uniform and immediately knew he was an officer. Then, reading in the letter that she could accompany the army and that his rank was at least deputy battalion commander, he decided right away to have her replace Yuan Xiu and go to the army.
“Sister, I’m nervous. What if Battalion Commander Jiang doesn’t like me?”
Sister Chunmei laughed. “How can you think that? If he didn’t like you, why would he buy you clothes and send you a photo? His meaning is clear—he likes you. If you like him too, come to the army and marry him!”
But the person in the photo wasn’t her.
“Sister, have you seen my photo?” Yuan Juan asked cautiously.
“Yes, I have. You look quite pretty, but the photographer in your area isn’t very skilled. The photo isn’t very clear.”
The camera at the Xiangyang Commune photo studio was over twenty years old, so the photos naturally weren’t as clear as those from studios in the city.
Yuan Juan breathed a sigh of relief. That was it. Sister Chunmei had seen the photo and spent several days with her without noticing anything. Jiang Zhou, being a man, surely wasn’t as observant as a woman. He definitely wouldn’t notice!
…
In the meeting room, Jiang Zhou gave Li Shan a puzzled look. Was this guy on the wrong medication today?
Instead of paying attention to what he should be looking at, why was he staring at him?
“Want to spar?” he whispered, uttering this intimidating phrase.
Li Shan shuddered and stopped looking at him.
Spar, my foot! He had his pride to think about!
After the meeting ended, Jiang Zhou was kept behind by Political Commissar Wang.
“…Jiang Zhou, come with me to the office. There’s something I need to discuss with you.”
In the office, Jiang Zhou finally learned what the commissar wanted to talk about and understood why Li Shan had been glancing at him earlier.
“…After receiving the call, I contacted Xiangyang Commune again and confirmed that this matter is indeed true. The woman who has come to the army is named Yuan Juan. She is Yuan Xiu’s cousin, the daughter of her uncle Yuan Xinmin. As for Yuan Xiu herself, she is already on her way to the army.”
The spark that had died out in Jiang Zhou’s heart began to flicker again.
“If we already know she’s a fake, why not send her away?”
Political Commissar Wang replied, “We’ve been checking her background these past few days. It was only confirmed today. Her background is simple. She came to the army to replace Yuan Xiu and marry you.”
Jiang Zhou snorted coldly. “Does she think she can marry me just because she wants to? It depends on whether I want to marry her! I never liked her in the first place.”
Unaware that Jiang Zhou had already met the imposter Yuan Juan, Political Commissar Wang thought he was referring to Yuan Xiu and glared at him. “If you didn’t like her, why did you ask her to come to the army to see you? Aren’t you just toying with the girl? Although I don’t approve of arranged marriages, this is something you agreed to. As a soldier of the people, you can’t just casually go back on your word!”
Jiang Zhou retorted, “Who said I’m going back on my word?”
“Then what you just said…”
“I don’t like the fake one, but I like the real one.”
Political Commissar Wang immediately laughed and pointed at him. “You! I don’t know whether to say you’re lucky or unlucky. Thankfully, the girl isn’t foolish and knew to call for help. If it weren’t for that call, I don’t know what you’d do.”
Jiang Zhou laughed, “So I’m just lucky.”
Political Commissar Wang waved his hand, “Alright, alright, hurry up and go. Your wife will probably arrive today or tomorrow. I’m giving you two days off—go wait for her at the train station. And while you’re at it, send that fake one away.”