After being hit repeatedly, Lin Chaohai finally lost his patience. He reached out to grab Qiao Qingqing’s arm, planning to pin her down on the bed first.
But Qiao Qingqing was surprisingly strong and kicked him again.
This time she used full force; with a loud bang, Lin Chaohai was knocked off the bed.
He jumped up to retaliate, but Qiao Qingqing, her voice trembling with sobs, shouted loudly, “Lin Chaohai, you’re not a good person!”
“You lured me to your house just to bully me?”
The night was quiet, and her shouts could easily be heard throughout the entire courtyard.
Lin Chaohai, though furious, had to control himself. He hurriedly whispered, “Stop making a scene! Keep your voice down! I didn’t mean that! I really didn’t!”
“Then why did you insist on getting so close to me?” Qiao Qingqing yelled, kicking her legs wildly. The mosquito net above the bed tore from her thrashing.
Sweat broke out on Lin Chaohai’s forehead. “I’m begging you, keep your voice down! I’m not bullying you. I just want to hold you. If you don’t want me to, I won’t. I care about you too much to force you.”
Seeing him swear so earnestly, Qiao Qingqing couldn’t help but laugh inwardly.
As the writer Yu Hua once wrote: “He will beg you, even kneel, even slap himself. Don’t soften. He will swear again and again. Men love swearing; their promises are no different from a dog barking. Don’t believe them.”
In her previous life, every word of that was proven true.
Seeing that she wasn’t getting worked up, Lin Chaohai got off the bed and obediently sat to the side.
Qiao Qingqing began her act, letting out a few sobs. “Do you really want to help me, or are you pretending?”
Lin Chaohai immediately replied, “Of course I really want to help.”
“My family has been taken, and there’s no news. I’m in no mood for anything else. If you really care about me, let me calm down for a couple of days. Otherwise, I’ll leave immediately. Even if I run, the Revolutionary Committee will still catch me.”
“Okay, anything to make you happy. Don’t act rashly,” Lin Chaohai said repeatedly.
Qiao Qingqing glanced at him. “Then I’ll trust you one more time.”
Saying this, she turned over and went to sleep.
Lin Chaohai stood in the dark, staring at the woman sleeping on his bed. He couldn’t do a thing—like meat just out of reach—and the frustration and burning desire within him wouldn’t go away.
He calmed himself: for now, he’d let her be. Once the Qiao family members were sent away, and everything fell into his hands, he wouldn’t fear her disobedience. For these few days, he could only follow her lead.
Unable to sleep, he went out to the courtyard in the middle of the night to draw water and wash his face. Shirtless, he paced back and forth, tempted to kick open the door and confront her, but he held back. Instead, he dragged a bamboo lounge chair into the courtyard and only managed to sleep as dawn approached.
Early the next morning, Qiao Qingqing was already urging him to get information from the Revolutionary Committee.
Lin Chaohai had barely slept all night. His eyes were bleary, fists clenched, but his face still wore a patient expression.
“This isn’t urgent. The priority is keeping you safe. Today, we’ll post a public notice of our engagement in the newspaper for three days. After that, we can register. If we inquire now, there might be news, but you can’t do anything. Your identity is sensitive. We must act carefully to avoid getting you involved.”
Knowing how concerned with face he was, Qiao Qingqing deliberately chided him:
“You’re always so cautious. What good is that? Just inquiring once can’t hurt. We need to know how they’re doing, whether we can meet them, or deliver something. These are all important. If we don’t ask, we’ll just sit at home guessing all day.”
Lin Chaohai gritted his teeth and patiently replied, “There’s no rush. Things need to be handled step by step, right?”
“Fine,” Qiao Qingqing reluctantly agreed.
Everything proceeded as planned. Early that morning, Lin Chaohai brought a letter of introduction and military credentials to the newspaper office.
Posting a public notice wasn’t instant—it usually required at least a week of approval. But thanks to Lin Chaohai’s connections at the Revolutionary Committee, it only needed three days, after which the notice could be published.
Qiao Qingqing had no psychological barrier. Whatever Lin Chaohai had her write, she wrote obediently, following his every instruction.
To make a good impression, she styled her hair to create a high crown effect, making her face look even more youthful and delicate.
She wore the same dress and small leather shoes, fashionable and eye-catching. Everywhere she went, people looked at her.
She also acted timid, pretending to be afraid of Lin Chaohai, keeping her head down while following him—weak, helpless, pitiful.
After filling out the information, a female clerk glanced at her a few times and quietly pulled her aside.
“Is he your fiancé? Why is he bringing you to post the notice? Was this your idea or his?”
Qiao Qingqing could tell the question was partly kindness and partly professional caution.
The registered mail would arrive at the Revolutionary Committee by tomorrow at the latest. If the organization didn’t approve and her household registration couldn’t be transferred, she would still be considered a Qiao family member, so the act had no practical significance.
She deliberately acted vulnerable, her eyes misty, whispering, “He’s only doing this for me. He’s helping me… it’s all my own choice.”
The clerk studied her for a while, sighed lightly, and didn’t ask further.
As soon as they left the newspaper office, Qiao Qingqing started urging Lin Chaohai to quickly get the Revolutionary Committee to allow her to meet her parents.
“Lin Chaohai, will you do what you promised? You had me post the notice. I did it. Now it’s your turn. A whole day has passed, and I haven’t heard a thing!”
Walking and talking, Qiao Qingqing nagged incessantly. Lin Chaohai grew exasperated, barely able to maintain his calm.
By the eighth prompt, he could no longer tolerate it. He said in a low voice, “Qingqing, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Go ahead.”
“There’s a military mission. I must leave for about three days,” he said earnestly. “I should have left yesterday, but I worried about you, so I delayed it.”
Qiao Qingqing objected, “Why now? You never leave before, and suddenly now? Are you lying to me?”
Lin Chaohai felt frustrated. Somehow, he felt Qiao Qingqing had changed—no longer the naive girl she once was, but harder to deal with.
Perhaps it was because her family had suddenly run into trouble.
But women were still women. Once the body was given, she couldn’t pull any tricks. He only needed to wait for the Qiao family to be sent away before everything could be settled.
Anyway, she could see but not touch, and would nag every day. It was better to hide for a few days.
Lin Chaohai comforted himself.
He took a deep breath. “I swear, heaven and earth witness this. I am not deceiving you. Wait a few days, okay? I can’t promise you’ll see your parents, but when I return, I’ll help you deliver things to them.”
“I’ll finish my mission properly. Once the notice ends, we’ll register and hold the wedding. I’ll marry you publicly and properly.”
After this stream of empty promises, Qiao Qingqing pretended to trust him and let him leave.
She curled her lips—this “delivering things” was purely for his benefit, costing her both time and money. The advantage was all his.
But her real plan was to get Lin Chaohai temporarily out of the way so she could go to Wucheng.
With both Lin Chaohai and herself away, Li Xiulian wouldn’t ask too many questions.
Even if she did, Qiao Qingqing didn’t care. Enough witnesses could confirm that she and Lin Chaohai were on the same side. When it became too difficult, she could stop pretending.
Lin Chaohai escorted her home. On the way, Qiao Qingqing nagged twice more about getting news. Lin Chaohai, not wanting to linger, only took his documents and the letter of introduction before rushing off, leaving Qiao Qingqing and Li Xiulian staring at each other.
By now, it was almost noon. Seeing Qiao Qingqing still lying on the bed, waiting to be fed, Li Xiulian’s anger boiled.
Was this a wife or a Buddha statue?
She had just entered the house and hadn’t even registered, and already this girl acted as if she owned the place.
Li Xiulian’s anger mounted. Sitting by the door, she muttered, “What bad luck to meet such a