Winter, 1984
Qin Qing dragged her suitcase, missing one wheel, and stared at the unit sign hanging before her. She had finally found it!
That scoundrel, joining the military and ending up in the middle of nowhere.
“Comrade, who are you looking for?” The guard on duty stepped forward and saluted.
“I’m looking for…” Qin Qing checked the slip of paper in her hand, “Zhou Yansheng, from the 9728 Unit.”
“What is your relationship with him? Do you have an introduction letter?”
Qin Qing quickly crouched down, opened her suitcase, and rummaged through the inner compartment to pull out the introduction letter and… the marriage certificate.
Not long after, she was led into the heavily guarded compound.
“Please wait here for a moment. Captain Zhou is in a meeting.”
The guard brought her to a small conference room and then left.
Qin Qing waited from dusk until dark.
She waited until she grew drowsy and fell asleep on the long bench.
She waited until she was awakened by the cold in the dead of night.
And she waited until she was mistaken for a suspicious individual and taken to the interrogation room.
…
The door to the military exercise command room was knocked open. “Captain Zhou, could you step out for a moment?”
Zhang Qi, the communications officer, looked troubled as he interrupted his superior’s urgent meeting.
Zhou Yansheng looked up, his gaze sharp and filled with displeasure.
“What is it?”
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Zhang Qi steeled himself and reported.
“Well, there’s a female comrade here to see you, claiming to be your… wife. She’s been waiting since this afternoon. Just now, she insisted on seeing you and was taken to the interrogation room by the patrol team as a suspicious individual.”
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have rushed here to find him.
If she really was the captain’s wife, this would be a grave mistake.
Almost as soon as Zhang Qi finished reporting, Zhou Yansheng had already darted to the door.
He only left behind one sentence: “Please ask Deputy Captain Xu to continue presiding over the meeting.”
…
In the interrogation room, Qin Qing huddled on the interrogation chair, clutching a cup of hot water.
An introduction letter and a bright red marriage certificate lay on the table not far from her.
The patrol team member on duty sat by the door, looking awkward.
This woman causing trouble in the middle of the night might actually be the wife of that iron-willed captain from the special operations team.
The marriage certificate looked quite genuine.
Wait!
The photo seemed a bit off!
Who takes a wedding photo with such a stern expression?
Qin Qing was now exhausted, cold, and hungry.
She glanced at her watch—it was already 1 a.m…
Even in this second life, why was she still so unlucky!
She bit her lip in frustration.
Yes, Qin Qing was someone who had died once before.
In her previous life, she had gotten drunk and slept with Zhou Yansheng.
Zhou Yansheng said he would take responsibility, but her heart belonged only to Lin Xiang.
Although she reluctantly married Zhou Yansheng, she never gave him a kind look.
To give her space and time, Zhou Yansheng soon returned to his unit.
Meanwhile, Lin Xiang coaxed her into giving him all her money to support his rock music career.
She even took on odd jobs to earn money for Lin Xiang.
In the end, Lin Xiang signed with a Hong Kong talent agency and cut off all contact with her.
He only left a letter saying she was unworthy of him and told her not to cling to false hopes.
Too ashamed to return to Zhou Yansheng, Qin Qing only wanted to catch a distant glimpse of him, only to find that he already had a beautiful companion by his side.
She didn’t blame Zhou Yansheng; instead, she felt relieved that he hadn’t wasted his life on someone like her.
When she tried to approach Zhou Yansheng to greet him, she failed to notice the oncoming traffic and was hit by a car, dying on the spot.
Recalling her past life, Qin Qing felt deeply ashamed.
Fortunately, in this life, she had been reborn just a few days after Zhou Yansheng returned to his unit following their marriage.
Qin Qing immediately decided to pack up all her belongings and join him at the military base!
Just as she was lost in thought, the half-closed door of the interrogation room was pushed open from outside.
“Qin Qing! What madness is this? Do you know where you are?” The man’s voice was colder than the frigid night outside.
Seeing Zhou Yansheng again.
Qin Qing’s tear glands reacted with their usual swiftness, tears falling with a plop.
Qin Qing’s father had been a subordinate of Zhou Yansheng’s father and died saving him.
At that time, Qin Qing was only twelve years old when Zhou’s father brought her into their home.
Since childhood, Zhou Yansheng had been exceptionally kind to her, always giving in to her, ensuring she had the best food and clothes.
Yet, under Lin Xiang’s instigation, she came to believe that it was because of Zhou Yansheng’s father that her own father had met a tragic end.
Later, her attitude toward Zhou Yansheng became extremely hostile.
After sleeping with Zhou Yansheng, she even hurled harsh words at him.
This led Zhou Yansheng to return to his unit and never come back again.
In her past life, she had been an annoying troublemaker. Now, she was determined—no matter what Zhou Yansheng said, she would stay here and make it up to him!
“Zhou Yansheng, I’m hungry.”
She longed to embrace him recklessly, but considering their nearly frozen relationship, the thousand words on the tip of Qin Qing’s tongue were reduced to a simple, restrained “I’m hungry.”
Zhou Yansheng’s unfathomably deep eyes flickered slightly as he stood up and picked up her suitcase.
Casually, he took the letter of introduction and the seemingly fake marriage certificate from the table.
“Follow me.”
Zhou Yansheng’s pace wasn’t fast, as if deliberately waiting for the girl behind him.
But the night was deep and heavy, the early winter in the south carrying a damp chill.
Qin Qing felt uncomfortable all over.
As soon as she encountered the cold air, she sneezed twice in a row.
Zhou Yansheng frowned.
He stuffed the documents into his coat pocket carelessly.
Then, turning around, he simply picked Qin Qing up with one arm.
With one hand holding the suitcase and the other cradling the petite woman, he walked toward the family quarters without a care for appearances.
“What are you doing?” Qin Qing didn’t dare to shout, only waving her small fists to pat the man’s shoulders.
“You walk too slowly. I haven’t finished my meeting yet.”
His voice was as cold as ever.
Hearing this, Qin Qing stopped struggling.
Whatever the reason, he was willing to take the initiative to hold her!
A fairly good start.
…
Fortunately, the night was already deep, and apart from the guards on duty, the two didn’t encounter anyone along the way.
The simple small courtyard was nothing compared to the grand villas in the capital.
As Zhou Yansheng set her down, Qin Qing’s high heels happened to get stuck in a crack between the bricks in the yard.
She nearly stumbled.
Zhou Yansheng, who was taking out his keys to unlock the door, seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, firmly grabbing her arm.
“Thank you,” Qin Qing said, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
Zhou Yansheng remained silent, simply crouching down, holding her ankle, and gently pulling out the slender heel.
“I suggest wearing flat shoes tomorrow.”
With those words, he opened the door, turned on the light, and carried the luggage inside.
Not a single unnecessary movement.
Nor an extra word.
In the darkness, Qin Qing only felt a faint warmth where Zhou Yansheng had held her ankle.
Zhou Yansheng walked straight to the kitchen, filled a pot with water, and set it to boil.
When he came out, he brought a bag.
“I don’t live here often, so there isn’t much food. Make do with this for now,” he said, handing her the bag.
Qin Qing was still standing dazed in the living room, looking at the sparsely furnished small house.
Hearing him, she hurriedly took the bag—it was a pack of compressed biscuits.
She frowned.
Just looking at them made her throat tighten.
“If you’re afraid of the cold at night, there are new blankets in the cabinet,” Zhou Yansheng said without elaborating further.
She turned and walked to the door. “I’ll submit the divorce report as soon as possible.”
After saying that, she left and closed the door.
She gave Qin Qing no chance to speak.
In the end, Qin Qing didn’t eat that bag of compressed biscuits.
Not because she couldn’t swallow them, but because she couldn’t open the package.
She managed to drink a few sips of water and lay down on the hard bed in her clothes.
The bedding, long unused, felt damp.
Even the blanket felt heavy when she pulled it over herself.
This was her first night in the family quarters.
It was a miserable one.
Qin Qing, hang in there!
…
When Qin Qing woke up, it was already noon.
No one had come to wake her.
He hadn’t shown up either.
She was so hungry…
She got out of bed.
On the only table in the living room sat a lunchbox and a nylon bag, with what seemed to be a note tucked underneath.
He had been here!