Ye Qiaoqiao retorted, “Why wouldn’t I dare to go out?”
“Besides, you’re wrong. I’m the one who broke off the engagement, not the one who got dumped.”
Li Lele didn’t believe it at all. “Zhou Cong is such a great match, and you’re saying you broke it off? What a joke.”
“He’s a scumbag who cheated and committed a hooligan offense with another woman. What good is his background? If you like him, Li Lele, you can have him. I can even help introduce you two.” Ye Qiaoqiao was set down by Fu Juechuan. Leaning on him for support, she focused entirely on arguing with Li Lele.
The moment Li Lele heard the words “hooligan offense,” she lost all interest.
She was disgusted by Zhou Cong’s disgraceful behavior.
No wonder Ye Qiaoqiao suddenly called off the engagement.
After helping Ye Qiaoqiao sit down in a chair, Fu Juechuan quickly walked inside to find the military doctor and get medicine.
Seeing him, the military doctor asked in confusion, “What’s wrong? Is your injury from last time not healed yet?”
“It’s not me who’s injured this time,” Fu Juechuan explained. “Qiaoqiao twisted her ankle.”
Hearing it was about a girl, the military doctor gave him a curious look. “Oh? The usually aloof Soldier King Fu actually knows how to be gentle with a lady? Do you fancy her?”
Fu Juechuan said seriously, “Qiaoqiao is my girlfriend now.”
His voice was firm and loud, declaring it outright to change everyone’s impression that Zhou Cong was Qiaoqiao’s boyfriend.
At that moment, there were quite a few people in the clinic’s consultation room. Comrades both inside and outside heard it, exchanging glances.
Fu Juechuan acted as if no one else was there. He knelt down, picked up her foot, and began applying the medicine, his movements natural and without any hint of reluctance.
“Brother Fu, thank you for applying the medicine for me.”
“It’s only right.” Fu Juechuan’s voice was gentle, as if it were the most natural thing.
Then, with a crack, Fu Juechuan directly reset her bone.
Ye Qiaoqiao realized belatedly. She looked down at him, her eyes red, but stubbornly insisted, “I… I’m not in pain!”
“Mm, the pain will pass quickly.” This time, Fu Juechuan warned her before applying the medicine. “I’m going to use medicated wine now. It needs to be applied with force to be effective.”
Ye Qiaoqiao watched as his large palm vigorously rubbed her swollen, red ankle. The pain made her whole body tremble, but she didn’t want to lose face, so she gritted her teeth and endured it.
Soon, she was drenched in sweat.
“Bear with it. If we don’t massage the swelling away, it’ll puff up like a steamed bun over the next few days.” Fu Juechuan seemed completely unaware.
“Okay.” Ye Qiaoqiao bit her lip and agreed.
Li Lele watched from the side, growing more and more suspicious.
“Hey, Ye Qiaoqiao… you wouldn’t… really have taken a liking to that lieutenant in front of you, would you?” Li Lele’s father was the second-in-command in the military district, one rank below Commander Ye.
As a result, Li Lele’s status in the compound was also lower than Ye Qiaoqiao’s.
This was why Li Lele couldn’t stand Ye Qiaoqiao.
“Brother Fu and I are a couple witnessed by my father. We’ll be engaged soon. Isn’t it only natural for me to fancy my own boyfriend?” Ye Qiaoqiao chuckled, not only unbothered by the gossip but proactively revealing the news herself. “Don’t you pride yourself on having wide connections in the military compound?”
“Didn’t you even know I changed boyfriends?”
Having received confirmation from both parties involved, Li Lele no longer doubted it but still spoke disdainfully. “I never thought you’d have the nerve to say it out loud. Changing boyfriends so quickly is just shameless.”
"Is this me being shameless? Clearly, I'm just too popular. I know you're jealous, but your jealousy is useless. No matter who I marry, I'll be happy." Ye Qiaoqiao forced herself to dismiss the nightmare of marrying Zhou Cong in her past life.
In this life, she would marry Fu Juechuan, a man of good character. The ones who would regret it would be Zhou Cong and others who had humiliated her in her past life, not her, Ye Qiaoqiao.
"Hey, what's your name?" Li Lele spoke up, trying to persuade him, "Don't be fooled by Ye Qiaoqiao's good looks. Her personality is terrible—she's spoiled and arrogant. I advise you not to get involved with her, or she'll cling to you and never let go."
Ye Qiaoqiao turned to observe Fu Juechuan's reaction.
She was actually taking advantage of him a bit, relying on her knowledge that Fu Juechuan wanted to repay a favor, thinking he wouldn't refuse her, which was why she dared to gamble.
She didn't know what Fu Juechuan would think of her.
Fu Juechuan stopped what he was doing and looked up at Li Lele. His dark eyes carried an imposing aura. "So you're the one spreading rumors about Qiaoqiao?"
"I know everything you've heard came from Xu Zhengqing and his friends."
"But what you don't know is that Xu Zhengqing never tells the truth. You've been deceived by him."
"In a few days, the investigation bureau will release an announcement."
"Impossible!" Li Lele stood up angrily, nearly pulling out her IV drip. She thought about how Xu Zhengqing had told her when no one else was around. If things went south and he was implicated, he would deny everything, and she would surely be held accountable.
Looking at Fu Juechuan's calm and composed demeanor, it seemed as if he had only casually mentioned a few things.
"I don't believe it." Li Lele, perhaps to save face, could only say this.
"I'll naturally go ask him for the truth."
"Ye Qiaoqiao was dumped. You're not trying to pick up the scraps and climb the social ladder, are you?" Li Lele sneered.
"It's not that Qiaoqiao was dumped. It's that Qiaoqiao saw through the scumbag and kicked him to the curb." Fu Juechuan replied with this and then ignored her.
Li Lele was furious at being disregarded by Fu Juechuan.
She glanced at Ye Qiaoqiao and Fu Juechuan and suddenly sneered, "I was wrong earlier. You two are a perfect match."
"You're just a lowly lieutenant, acting so arrogantly. Aren't you afraid of getting beaten? You and Ye Qiaoqiao are made for each other—a spoiled rich girl who got dumped. Who else would be together if not you two?"
Li Lele couldn't help but think that Ye Qiaoqiao wouldn't marry a rising business tycoon but instead would marry a mere lieutenant, a junior officer. Climbing to Commander Ye's position would be impossible in this lifetime. Even if it were possible, it would take until he was sixty.
That would be forty years from now.
Unlike her fiancé, who was a major!
A full three ranks higher than Ye Qiaoqiao's man.
Besides, her fiancé came from a military family.
Li Lele couldn't wait for Ye Qiaoqiao to marry down to Fu Juechuan. It would be so amusing then.
Ye Qiaoqiao would definitely be mocked by the other girls in the compound!
"Li Lele, I know you dislike me, which is why you're deliberately causing trouble for me." Ye Qiaoqiao stood up for Fu Juechuan.
"If you want to cause trouble, aim it at me. Don't bother Fu Juechuan. He was just kind enough to bring me here for treatment."
In Fu Juechuan's peripheral vision, all he could see was her defending him.
Li Lele desperately wanted Ye Qiaoqiao to marry beneath her. Seeing Ye Qiaoqiao so protective of Fu Juechuan, she rolled her eyes but wasn't foolish enough to try and drive them apart.
Once Ye Qiaoqiao marries that low-ranking officer Fu Juechuan, she’ll be forever beneath me in marriage. Hmph!
Ye Qiaoqiao had no idea about her thoughts, and even if she did, she wouldn’t care.
“Brother Fu, I’m sorry for dragging you into this,” Ye Qiaoqiao said apologetically, lowering her head to look at Fu Juechuan.
Fu Juechuan lowered his gaze, his expression unreadable.
“It’s not your fault. She was the one who picked a fight with you. There are many people like her—no need to be soft-hearted,” Fu Juechuan replied.
Seeing that he didn’t take Li Lele’s words to heart, Ye Qiaoqiao finally felt relieved.
Still, she couldn’t shake off her guilt.
After applying the medicine and securing the bandage, she offered to treat Fu Juechuan to a meal.
“Another time. I have matters to attend to in my company. And… next time you see Zhou Cong, remember to bring someone with you. Don’t let him hurt you again.” Fu Juechuan paused briefly before finishing his sentence, then turned to borrow a wheelchair from the army doctor.
Ye Qiaoqiao didn’t notice anything unusual, simply assuming Fu Juechuan was genuinely concerned for her.
Still, it was true that she should avoid Zhou Cong for now. With Jiang Yao still detained, Zhou Cong was bound to act recklessly, and she had no intention of getting entangled with him again!
After pushing her back in the wheelchair, Fu Juechuan turned and strode away.
Ye Qiaoqiao decided to stay home for the time being and avoid going out, focusing instead on drafting her proposal.
After all, targeting the Zhou family’s business required careful preparation.
Meanwhile, Commander Ye suddenly remembered he hadn’t yet discussed the engagement with Fu Juechuan!
“Xie Wu, where is Fu Juechuan now?” Commander Ye asked.
Xie Wu replied, “Commander, Platoon Leader Fu is doing weighted training in the wilderness.”
North of the entire military compound lay a vast stretch of forested hills, an area typically used for soldiers’ training.
“Let’s go see him.”