“What happened? Yiqiu, you tell me.”
Cheng Yiqiu stood at attention and recounted the incident in detail.
After listening, Gu Huai’an sneered, strode to the counter, and rapped heavily on the glass twice.
“Well, well, Liu Hongmei, right? Old Huang’s relative?”
Liu Hongmei trembled with fear. “C-Commander Gu, this is a misunderstanding…”
“Passing off old stock to fool soldiers, and when something goes wrong, you try to pin it on a temporary worker?”
Gu Huai’an bent down, picked up the medicine bottle, glanced at the label, and tossed it aside.
“Seems Old Huang’s too idle as head of the Logistics Department, can’t even keep his own relatives in line. Perfect timing—I’ll go have a chat with Old Huang right now, ask him if this medical team’s been turned into a junk collection center! If it has, better shut it down early, damn it, instead of harming people here!”
Liu Hongmei’s legs went weak, and she nearly collapsed.
If this got to Old Huang, a scolding would be the least of it. If she really lost this iron rice bowl, how could she ever hold her head up at home?
After his outburst, Gu Huai’an looked at the small woman still breathing weakly and, with a huff of annoyance, bent down, turned his back to her, and crouched.
“Get on.”
Shen Yu was taken aback. “What for?”
“Weren’t you dizzy with chest pain?” Gu Huai’an glanced back, a hint of mockery in his eyes. “I’ll carry you back. If you dare jump off halfway, I’ll toss you into the ditch for the fish.”
He knelt on one knee, tilting his head to urge her. “What are you dawdling for? Want me to carry you in a sedan chair?”
“Comrade! Um… that…”
A timid voice came from behind.
Shen Yu pretended to be deaf. Only a fool would respond at a time like this.
She wrapped her arms around Gu Huai’an’s neck, leaned fully against his back, and let her legs dangle.
“Let’s go.”
Gu Huai’an steadied himself with a firm push from his thighs.
Once they left the medical team Compound, there was no one around.
Shen Yu poked his shoulder. “Slow down, you’re jolting my stomach.”
Gu Huai’an supported the bend of her thighs and hoisted her higher.
“Headache earlier, stomachache now? Shen Yu, does your illness play guerrilla warfare?”
Even when caught, Shen Yu didn’t blush, whining petulantly instead. “I’m a delicate flower, understand? How could I withstand your rough handling?”
Gu Huai’an scoffed. “More like a queen of the night, I’d say. Stop pretending to be fragile with me.”
“But I was fighting for justice, wasn’t I?”
Shen Yu spoke with righteous indignation.
“You didn’t see how Liu Hongmei was cursing, scolding that poor girl like she was nothing, and even trying to give expired medicine to soldiers. If it weren’t for me, who else would dare step in?”
Her eyes shifted, and she changed the subject. “What’s that little nurse’s name? Do you know her? She looked so pitiful.”
Gu Huai’an didn’t take the bait.
“Stop prying. She’s from the medical team, none of your business.”
“How is it none of my business?”
Shen Yu said, “That girl seems honest. If I ever have a headache or fever in the future, I’ll need to find her. Tell me her name so I can get familiar.”
Gu Huai’an glanced sideways at the woman on his back, her eyes and brows brimming with that scheming cleverness.
She was the type who wouldn’t get up early unless there was something to gain. Suddenly taking an interest in an inconspicuous little nurse—she was definitely up to no good.
“Deng Qin,” Gu Huai’an uttered two words. “Don’t go bothering her. That girl’s timid, and her family background is complicated. She can’t handle your bandit-like intimidation.”
"Deng Qin…"
Shen Yu repeated the name, pursing her lips into a smile.
Indeed, the future big shot's wife—the name matched perfectly.
"Got it, you're so naggy."
Shen Yu leaned back against him, watching the beads of sweat on the back of the man's neck.
"I'm not a tiger. I just want to help honest people. You, on the other hand, have such a dark mind."
"So now you're a living bodhisattva?" Gu Huai'an snorted coldly. "If you're so compassionate, why don't you show some pity for your own man? I've been training all morning, and now I have to carry your hundred-pound self around like a parade."
Shen Yu protested, "I'm nowhere near a hundred pounds! I have a standard figure! Everything is where it should be, and nothing is where it shouldn't!"
Gu Huai'an pinched the fleshy part of her thigh, using a bit of real force—the feel was plump and soft.
"There's meat alright, all concentrated here. Heavy to carry."
Shen Yu yelped in pain and opened her mouth to bite him, but Gu Huai'an tilted his head to dodge.
The two of them bickered like this all the way through half of the family quarters.
Passing under the large locust tree, several military wives who were sewing shoe soles saw this scene and were so shocked they stopped their needles mid-stitch.
Commander Gu, whose face was usually as dark as a pot bottom and who made everyone nervous, was actually carrying his new bride on his back and letting her act up freely.
"Oh, Commander Gu, what's… going on here?" one of the more familiar sisters-in-law teased with a laugh. "Why are you carrying your new bride?"
Gu Huai'an remained expressionless, his tone straightforward.
"Her legs are weak. She can't walk."
Shen Yu: "…"
Why did that sound so improper!
The sisters-in-law froze for a second before covering their mouths and bursting into laughter.
When they reached the bottom of the tube-shaped apartment building, Gu Huai'an set her down.
As soon as she steadied herself, ready to scold him, Gu Huai'an made no move to go upstairs.
Instead, he turned her around by the shoulders to face the wall.
"What are you doing?" Shen Yu glared at him over her shoulder.
Gu Huai'an gave the back of her head a light but firm pat.
"Behave. Go back and lie down, don't run around everywhere. If I find out you've gone off to cause trouble again, you'll really be sleeping on the floor tonight."
Shen Yu rubbed the back of her head and asked him, "Where are you going?"
"Back to continue training those brats. After Zhao's shout earlier, the whole regiment probably thinks you're terminally ill. Who knows what stories they're making up about me now."
With that, he turned and left.
After just a few steps, he looked back and pointed at the second-floor window.
"Tone down that flowery curtain of yours. Don't make it look like some spider spirit's lair."
Shen Yu stuck her tongue out at his retreating back. "I won't! I like it pretty!"
Watching his figure disappear around the corner, Shen Yu finally let her smile fade.
The bait had been cast. Now it was just a matter of waiting for the fish to bite.
…
By evening, the family quarters were bustling with activity as every household prepared dinner.
Shen Yu was busy altering a few pieces of clothing she had bought from the service cooperative.
Ready-made clothes these days really paid no attention to tailoring—no waist definition, no fitted cuts. Wearing them was no fun at all.
Knock, knock.
Even the knocking sounded timid. Shen Yu set down her needle and thread, a smile curling at the corner of her mouth.
She got up to open the door, and sure enough, it was that little rabbit, Deng Qin.
Deng Qin stood at the doorway, clutching the floral handkerchief in her hand, her head bowed, not daring to look at Shen Yu. Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's hum: "Sis… sister-in-law."
She had gotten the address from Cheng Yiqiu and had hesitated downstairs all afternoon, mustering her courage countless times before finally daring to come up.
"Oh, how did you find your way here, little nurse?"
Shen Yu feigned surprise, pulling the door open wider with a cheerful smile. "Come in quickly, don't just stand at the door. If someone sees you, they'll think I'm bullying you."