The three of them arrived at the regimental headquarters office building.
Before even entering the office, they could hear Lu Jianguo’s reprimands from inside.
“What kind of work is this? Bringing someone in without verifying the facts?”
“This is the military, not some street theater!”
“Reporting.”
Gu Huai’an called out, not waiting for a response before pushing the door open and entering.
Lu Jianguo stood behind his desk, while two staff members stood with their heads bowed, taking the scolding.
Sitting on a chair in the corner was a man wearing a blue Zhongshan suit, his hair neatly combed.
Hearing the commotion, the man looked up.
Their eyes met.
Shen Yu raised an eyebrow.
Lin Qichuan saw Gu Huai’an, his gaze sweeping over the man’s tank top before drifting to Shen Yu.
That glance made his heart sour with envy.
Shen Yu wore a white shirt and work pants, her waist cinched slender. Her face was clean, no longer timid and submissive, but radiant in a way that was hard to look away from.
How long had she been with this soldier? A day? Two?
She seemed like a completely different person!
She should have been his woman!
Lin Qichuan felt a pang of bitterness and took two steps forward.
“Shen Yu,” he said, “I knew you were just confused for a moment.”
Shen Yu ignored him, standing beside Gu Huai’an.
Lin Qichuan pointed at Gu Huai’an. “For a few hundred yuan, you’d stoop so low as to hang around with this kind of person?”
“What kind of person?” Gu Huai’an retorted. “Straighten your tongue and speak clearly. What kind of person?”
Lin Qichuan was afraid of him.
But he thought that since they were at the regimental headquarters, with the political commissar present and the investigation team here, this roughneck wouldn’t dare actually start a fight.
So he stiffened his neck and said, “A military thug! You’re nothing but a thug and a scoundrel! Bullying civilians just because you wear that uniform!”
Gu Huai’an lit a cigarette with a smirk and looked at Lu Jianguo. “Old Lu, is this the ‘witness’?”
Lu Jianguo rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.
He also thought the handling of this matter had been sloppy.
The two staff members from the investigation team were unlucky too.
They had gone to the Xiangyang Brigade and were about to leave the village when Lin Qichuan stopped them.
The guy claimed to be the only witness and victim, insisting on coming along to expose Shen Yu’s true face in person.
The two staff members had no choice. To get to the bottom of things, they had to bring him back first.
“Comrade Gu Huai’an, watch your attitude.”
Group Leader Chen, standing nearby, spoke with a dark expression. He had just been reprimanded by Lu Jianguo and was eager to regain some authority.
“We received a real-name report, along with a signed statement from Secretary Wang of the Xiangyang Brigade. Although your marriage application was approved, there are procedural issues.”
Gu Huai’an exhaled a puff of smoke, looking utterly nonchalant. “What issues?”
“Financial and conduct issues.” Group Leader Chen took out a document. “Wang Dashan has made a real-name accusation that Shen Yu, before leaving the village, used her status as a martyr’s child to morally coerce others, accompanied by violent threats, to extort four hundred yuan in collective property.”
Shen Yu laughed. “Extortion?”
“What are you laughing at? Be serious! This is an investigation!” Group Leader Chen slammed the table.
“I’m laughing because you can’t tell right from wrong.”
“You’re in charge of investigations, so your math shouldn’t be too bad, right? I took four hundred yuan, which was my father’s pension, calculated at five yuan per month.”
She raised her fingers, counting them one by one.
“My father passed away in ’63. It’s now 1976—thirteen years. Sixty yuan a year, thirteen years comes to seven hundred and eighty yuan.”
"I've been in Xiangyang Brigade for eight years, that's four hundred and eighty yuan. I only took back four hundred, saving the brigade eighty."
Shen Yu grabbed the documents and asked:
"A martyr's child reclaiming their own survival money—taking less should be considered my generosity. How does that become extortion in your mouths? That old bastard Wang Dashan embezzled my money to build a tiled house. No one investigates his corruption, but instead you investigate me for taking back what's mine?"
"Why don't we go to the Commune right now, pull out the account books, and go through them entry by entry in front of all the Commune members?"
He truly hadn't considered this angle.
Wang Dashan had only said it was collective reserve funds, not that it was years of accumulated survivor benefits.
"This… this is just your side of the story. We need to verify the specific accounts." Team Leader Chen's confidence weakened by a third.
"Then go investigate! I'll be right here waiting!"
Seeing the situation turning unfavorable, Lin Qichuan grew anxious.
If the financial issue couldn't be substantiated, Shen Yu would slip away!
He jumped out: "Forget about the money for now! You running off with him is a fact!"
Lin Qichuan, red-eyed with desperation, added, "Yes! You're being a loose woman, engaging in improper relations!"
Shen Yu's cool gaze fell on Lin Qichuan, making his face sting inexplicably.
Gu Huai'an narrowed his eyes, the cigarette butt in his mouth crushed flat.
He suddenly stood up.
His tall frame carried an intimidating aura, frightening Lin Qichuan so much he fell back into his chair.
Gu Huai'an strode over to Lin Qichuan, looking down at him with a chilling tone:
"Kid, which dung pit did you just finish eating from? Your mouth stinks so bad?"
Lin Qichuan was terrified but could only keep shouting at Shen Yu.
If he held on now and got Shen Yu back to Xiangyang Brigade, both the person and the money would be his!
"Shen Yu, stop being so deluded! I'm an educated person; we're cut from the same cloth."
Shen Yu crossed her arms. "Who's cut from the same cloth as you?"
"I can take you to the city, teach you to study. We can discuss literature, talk about ideals. We have common ground." Lin Qichuan said urgently. "What does that roughneck understand? What can he do besides fight?"
"I happen to like roughnecks," Shen Yu said.
Gu Huai'an laughed: "Hear that? You sour scholar."
He reached out and pinched Shen Yu's fair, tender cheek.
"You tell him, do we have common ground or not?"
Shen Yu swatted his hand away. "Stop touching me, have some shame."
"Shame? Didn't we chat just fine last night?"
Gu Huai'an looked at Shen Yu. "Talked all night long. Seemed pretty smooth to me."
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Lu Jianguo, who was drinking water, spat it all out, spraying Team Leader Chen across the table.
"Gu Huai'an! You damn rascal! Can't you watch your mouth?"
Lu Jianguo's old face flushed red, whether from choking or embarrassment.
Shen Yu's face also flushed bright red instantly.
This damn man!
Daring to make such innuendos in any situation!
Nothing even happened, but he made it sound like they'd gone at it for three hundred rounds.
But the act was already this far along; she couldn't drop the ball now.
Suppressing the urge to strangle him, Shen Yu buried her face in Gu Huai'an's chest and punched him.
"Why are you saying these things in front of outsiders?"
Lin Qichuan broke down, his mind filled with indecent images.
"You… you two… utterly depraved! Shameless! Adulterers! I'll report you!"
"Enough!"
Lu Jianguo couldn't take it anymore and slammed his enamel tea mug heavily on the table.
"This is the regimental headquarters! Not a marketplace! They've obtained their marriage certificate and are legally married. You're making a scene here, slandering a military marriage—do you have any idea what kind of crime that is?!"
"Ob… obtained their certificate?"
Lin Qichuan was dumbfounded.
He had calculated everything but hadn't anticipated these two would act so quickly.
Weren't they still under political review? Weren't there letters of complaint? Wasn't there supposed to be an investigation?
How could they already have the certificate?
Then wasn't his trip here just delivering himself to be punished?
"Impossible!" Lin Qichuan shouted. "It's fake! Shen Yu must have been forced! He has a gun—Shen Yu wouldn't dare resist!"
Gu Huai'an lost his patience, pulled out Shen Yu's marriage certificate, and slapped it on the table.
"Take a good look. We got it yesterday. I'm certified and on duty—sleeping with my own wife. If this is a conduct issue, then tell your parents they shouldn't be together either!"
Team Leader Chen looked at the marriage certificate, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
Although the procedure was a bit off, the certificate was genuine!
With this certificate, accusations of improper relations became a joke, and elopement turned into a normal case of a wife accompanying her husband in the military.
"Any more questions?" Gu Huai'an asked, narrowing his eyes.
"N-no, none," Team Leader Chen said, wiping his sweat.
Gu Huai'an snorted coldly, picked up the hand-cranked telephone on the table, and dialed.
"Connect me to the security section."
"What are you doing?" Team Leader Chen exclaimed in alarm.
Gu Huai'an spoke coldly into the receiver: "This is Gu Huai'an. There's a troublemaker at the regimental headquarters, falsely accusing an active-duty officer and harassing military wives. Bring a few men over and drag him out for me."
Hearing this, Lin Qichuan panicked.
This could land him in jail—his life would be ruined!
"I'm dropping the complaint! I'm dropping it! Let me go! I want to go home!"
Lin Qichuan scrambled toward the door on his hands and knees.
Gu Huai'an stretched out his long leg, blocking the doorway with his foot.
"You think you can come and go as you please? Do you think the regimental headquarters is your own kang bed?"
"Didn't you want to accuse me and take my wife away?"
"Xiao Zhang!"
Xiao Zhang from outside rushed in with two armed guards.
"Sir!"
"Take him to the confinement room first to cool off. When he's emptied the water from his brain, send him to the Commune police station and let them deal with him."
"Yes, sir!"
Gu Huai'an took Shen Yu's hand, ignoring Lu Jianguo's fuming expression beside them.
"Let's go, heading home to sleep. I'm dead tired."
"Hey! Wait!"
Lu Jianguo called out to him: "You're just leaving? What about the investigation team…"
"Let them keep investigating!"
Gu Huai'an didn't even look back, his voice drifting in from outside the door, utterly arrogant.
"If they can't dig up anything substantial, I'll tear this regimental headquarters down for firewood!"