A vow, poisonous but ineffective.
Shen Huainian’s fox-like eyes curved slightly.
Interesting.
“Alright, I believe you.”
Everyone else: “???”
Xie Li was escorted to a cabin.
“Comrade Xie Li, this is your room. There are clean clothes inside for you to change into.”
With that, Zhang Qingliang left.
They never questioned their commander’s decisions. No matter how absurd, they believed there must be a reason behind them.
Thinking of this, Zhang Qingliang felt a little proud.
Who in the Yellow Sea didn’t know Shen Huainian? The mere mention of his name made enemy navies tremble.
Many countries had tried to poach him, and when they failed, they even thought about eliminating him.
The enemy agents sent for him alone could form an entire platoon.
Xie Li changed into a clean set of clothes: a men’s-style shirt and army green men’s trousers.
The shirt was made of smooth dacron fabric. Both the shirt and pants were impeccably clean and carried a faint scent of soap.
Xie Li wasn’t fussy. She quickly changed and asked for some water to wash and hang her floral blouse.
When she finished and went out onto the deck, she saw the masked man in black combat gear from before hadn’t left.
He was still watching her.
The white dacron shirt hung loosely on her frame. She tucked the hem into her waistband. The black belt cinched the army-green pants tightly, and she rolled up the cuffs to her ankles, revealing a small patch of pale skin.
These were her usual clothes.
Shen Huainian pressed his lips together.
The way she wore those clothes gave him a strange feeling one he couldn’t quite place and he quickly turned his face away.
This was his wife, who had traveled all this way to find him.
This marriage had been arranged by his grandfather, Shen Yi, while he was on a mission. When he returned, he learned that his grandfather had arranged this match.
The girl was the granddaughter of an old family friend, 21 years old, a delicate young lady.
She wasn’t his type he never liked delicate women.
Fussy and troublesome.
He had refused.
But his grandfather insisted: this family had once saved his life, and this match had been arranged back then. Now that the Xie family was in trouble, if the engagement were broken, the girl might spend the rest of her life in hardship.
Shen Huainian could refuse a random arranged marriage, but he could not ignore a life-saving favor.
Though he was 25, his peers already had two or three kids, yet he hadn’t even found a girl he liked.
He had thought of respecting and treating her well in the future.
Sometimes he imagined their first meeting, in the military district, at the dock…
But he hadn’t expected that the first time he saw his wife, she would look like this.
While he was scrutinizing her to decide whether she was an enemy agent or a ghost, this spirited young lady clearly told him she was his wife.
Weird.
“You came to marry Shen Huainian?”
The man’s voice was still low, but slightly less cold than before.
Xie Li nodded, then quickly shook her head:
“No, no, I came to divorce Shen Huainian!”
“Oh?”
The man turned to stare at her. Xie Li, a bit warm from changing clothes, suddenly felt a chill—as if a cool breeze blew from an air conditioner directly at her!
“Well! This marriage was arranged by my grandfather. We haven’t met. It’s all parents’ orders, matchmaker talk, but we follow the revolution, follow the Party. So, we advocate free marriage! No arranged marriage! That’s why I’m here to divorce, hahaha!”
She gave a long, lofty speech, though in reality, she just didn’t want to marry an old man.
She admitted it she was a beauty snob. She liked good-looking men, preferably like the model guy.
Xie Li glanced at the man in front of her.
Tall, long-legged, even with most of his face covered by the black mask, she could see his fair skin, which looked even paler against the dark mask.
He was staring at her so intently she felt uneasy. She couldn’t help but speak honestly:
“Actually, I like men my own age. I don’t like old men. I’m a beauty snob I like handsome guys, preferably younger ones…”
Beauty snob? Younger ones?
Shen Huainian didn’t understand the slang, but he got the point she liked younger men.
The man’s fox-like eyes flicked, and he looked off into the distance, saying in a faint voice:
“Shen Huainian is on this ship.”
Xie Li’s eyes widened.
Could this man be one of Shen Huainian’s subordinates?! Good thing she hadn’t blurted out anything crazy. Saying she liked younger, handsome men should be fine, right?
“Do you want to see him?”
The man’s gaze lingered on Xie Li.
She thought for a moment, then nodded:
“Yes, I want to see him!”
She wasn’t the type to dawdle.
She would never marry an old man that was her bottom line!!
At the very least, he had to be a 180 cm tall, eight-pack, long-legged model type!
As a seasoned beauty snob, her standards were high.
Anyway, she had left Shanghai, had plenty of money, and could even take the sea route to Hong Kong. Even if she had to stay there forever, it was better than marrying an old man.
“Good. In twenty minutes, come here.”
Shen Huainian said this and turned to leave.
…
Zhang Qingliang didn’t understand why his commander suddenly went back to change clothes several times in a row.
Even though all the sets were identical navy uniforms.
“How do I look?”
Shen Huainian asked coldly. Zhang Qingliang choked look how?
“How old do I look?”
Zhang scratched his head:
“Twenty…”
Although his commander was a true tough guy, his face was youthful and handsome, looking just over twenty. But Shen Huainian hated being called young or pretty.
Zhang straightened, confident, and started flattering:
“Commander, not to say anything, though you’re only twenty-five, you look mature like forty!!!”
The air fell silent.
“Mm.”
Shen Huainian paused tying his shoelaces, then casually said:
“Go run eight kilometers on the deck.”
“Okay… huh?? Why??”
Zhang Qingliang panicked, saluted, and started running.
What was going on? Why?
Wasn’t their commander the type who hated being called a pretty boy?
Xie Li stood on the deck, watching poor Zhang Qingliang run in circles.
The sea wind was damp and sticky, like a freshly made lump of dough clinging, sticky, uncomfortable.
Just as Xie Li began to lose patience, a man emerged from the cabin.
He wore a gray-blue navy uniform, tall and upright.
This a nearly-retired old man’s figure? Impossible.
Xie Li looked up.
A straight nose, pale skin, fox-like eyes with long lashes, lips full and slightly upturned.
Xie Li’s lips twisted this man was exquisite!
Hiss!
Wasn’t this the masked man from before?
The man approached her, extended a hand, and gently said:
“Hello, I’m Shen Huainian.”