On the other side, Huo Yuan closed the door to the regiment headquarters, feeling somewhat relieved.
Suddenly, an arm slung itself over his shoulder, accompanied by a carefree voice beside his ear.
“Did you finish the marriage report? Just who managed to make our Battalion Commander Huo finally blossom? I have to go take a look. Come eat at my place tonight. Consider it a welcome dinner for you and your wife.”
Huo Yuan shrugged off the hand on his shoulder. “I’ll get food from the cafeteria.”
That was as good as agreeing.
Yan Fengshou walked beside him. Just as they reached the entrance of the cafeteria, they ran into their regiment commander, Hu Baoguo, and his wife, He Manhong.
“Commander.”
Huo Yuan and Yan Fengshou greeted them and were about to enter the cafeteria.
“Why are you walking so fast?” Hu Baoguo called out to them. “Huo Yuan just got back from a mission. Why don’t you come to my place for dinner? Your sister-in-law has been talking about you for ages.”
Everyone in the regiment knew that Hu Baoguo wanted to play matchmaker between Huo Yuan and his sister-in-law. But now that Huo Yuan’s wife had already come to join him in the army, could this family really still refuse to give up?
Yan Fengshou thought for a moment and tried to smooth things over.
“Commander, you’re a little late. I already invited the two of them to my place for dinner. The food is all prepared.”
“Go?” Hu Baoguo glared at him. “What good food could you possibly have? Your sister-in-law specifically bought meat for Huo Yuan.”
He Manhong chimed in, “Exactly. Huo Yuan, you can’t refuse me, or if word gets out, our family will lose all face.”
After all, she was the wife of his superior, and Hu Baoguo had always treated him well. Huo Yuan couldn’t refuse outright, so he simply said, “My wife is also at home. Would you and Sister-in-law mind if I brought her along?”
Hearing Huo Yuan personally acknowledge that he had a wife, He Manhong’s smile became somewhat stiff.
“You really intend to keep her? I heard your mother picked her up, and that her mind is—”
“Sister-in-law He,” Huo Yuan interrupted her, “I already submitted the marriage report just now.”
Something as routine as submitting a marriage report wasn’t handled by Hu Baoguo, the regiment commander, but was first reported to the regiment’s political department. That was why Hu Baoguo had only just learned about it.
His expression immediately darkened as well.
He didn’t know how many times he had cursed Huo Yuan in his heart for being so oblivious to a good opportunity.
He Manqing was his sister-in-law. She was beautiful and a nurse. Exactly what was it that Huo Yuan didn’t like about her?
Could it be that his newly married wife was some kind of celestial beauty?
Hu Baoguo didn’t believe it. How could some country girl possibly have better qualities than his sister-in-law?
“Ah, well, since that’s the case, then—”
“Bring your wife along!”
At Hu Baoguo’s words, He Manhong looked at her husband in surprise.
She had originally intended to say forget it. Huo Yuan was already getting married, and if their family continued pestering him, it wouldn’t look good once word got around.
What had gotten into Old Hu? He actually wanted to invite Huo Yuan and his wife over?
What if that upset Qing’er?
She shot her husband a meaningful look, only for him to pull her aside and whisper:
“You know what your sister is like. If she doesn’t see it with her own eyes, she won’t give up. Why not let her see the truth this time and completely give up on him? After that, I’ll introduce her to someone else.”
That made sense.
Her younger sister had no idea who she had inherited that temperament from. She was stubborn and strong-willed, and once she made up her mind, not even five oxen could drag her back.
“Fine, then let’s go. We can take this opportunity to meet your wife. Fengshou, you and Maizi come too.”
He Manhong had lived here for more than twenty years. She had watched all the soldiers under Hu Baoguo grow up, so when she spoke, she naturally carried the air of an elder.
Yan Fengshou had no choice but to agree vaguely.
The group headed toward the tube-shaped apartment building.
On the way, He Manhong curiously looked at Huo Yuan.
“What kind of person is she?”
What kind of celestial beauty could possibly move someone like Huo Yuan?
Thinking of the way Qian Xing had acted around him, Huo Yuan realized that he actually found it difficult to describe her with any particular word.
“You’ll know when you see her.”
Huo Yuan didn’t realize that when he said those words, his eyes held a gentleness that had never been there before.
But He Manhong, who had been watching him, caught it.
She became even more curious about this mysterious woman.
As soon as they reached the building, they saw people gathered downstairs, all looking toward the upper floors.
There was an especially large crowd gathered on the fifth floor, all staring toward one particular door.
Wasn’t that Huo Yuan’s home?
Yan Fengshou was just about to warn him when Huo Yuan had already taken two steps at a time and hurried upstairs.
The others exchanged glances before following.
He Manhong was the last to arrive.
By the time she reached the fifth floor, the crowd had parted because of the regiment commander’s arrival, allowing He Manhong to immediately see the woman standing in the middle.
Thin.
That was He Manhong’s first thought.
From the side, the woman’s body looked almost like a sheet of paper. Even beneath a relatively thick coat, her frail figure was impossible to hide.
The second word that came to mind was dark.
Even the soldiers in the military district weren’t this dark.
He Manhong stared for a while, practically unable to believe her eyes.
This was the woman?
This woman had defeated her younger sister and all those other beautiful girls and actually married Huo Yuan?!
What right did she have?!
Carrying both resentment and curiosity, He Manhong squeezed through the crowd and walked over to her husband.
Then she heard the woman she had been staring at for so long speak.
“These… Sister-in-law Zhu and Sister-in-law Ren, I only moved here today, so I didn’t know there were rules against cooking delicious food. Please bear with me.”
Her voice was actually clear and pleasant, without the slightest accent.
But why did those words sound so sarcastic?
“What kind of rule is that?” He Manhong asked, completely confused.
The other onlookers also shook their heads, indicating that no such rule existed.
“You! What nonsense are you talking about?! When did I ever say there was such a rule?” Zhu Xiuyun shouted.
Hu Baoguo’s expression darkened as his gaze swept over the two women.
“What exactly happened?”
Qian Xing glanced at Huo Yuan, whose eyes held a hint of concern, and blinked at him before innocently saying:
“There isn’t?”
“This afternoon, I was stewing some food at home when Sister-in-law Zhu came knocking and demanded to know why I was making the food smell so good. She said the aroma had drifted into her home and made her uncomfortable, and she even wanted me to apologize.”
“As for Sister-in-law Ren, she brought a bowl over and told me to pour some of the food I had cooked into it. I assumed that meant she wanted me to hand over some of the food?”
“So I thought there might really be a rule here against cooking delicious food. If that’s the case, I definitely won’t cook anymore.”
“You! When did I ever ask you to hand over food?!” Ren Weihong was furious. “Don’t make things up and twist the truth! Commander, I absolutely didn’t mean that!”
The regiment commander was here. She absolutely couldn’t leave a bad impression on him.
Her husband’s promotion depended on Hu Baoguo, after all.
Qian Xing looked at her innocently with her wide eyes.
“Then why did Sister-in-law bring a bowl to my house? Wasn’t that because you wanted me to hand over some food?”
“Could it be that I misunderstood? Maybe Sister-in-law was worried I didn’t have a bowl and brought one over so I could use it?”
With so many people watching her, and the regiment commander’s entire family standing right there, how could Ren Weihong admit that she had simply wanted to mooch some food?
She could only go along with Qian Xing’s words and hurriedly nodded.
“Yes, yes! I saw that you had just moved here and was worried you might not have enough bowls, so I thought I’d give you one of the extra bowls from my house. I didn’t expect you to misunderstand, hehe.”
Qian Xing accepted the bowl.
“Oh, then it really was my mistake. After getting scolded by Sister-in-law Zhu, I thought Sister-in-law Ren had also come over hoping to take advantage of me. When you couldn’t get any, you became angry and were preparing to snatch it yourself.”
Ren Weihong’s smile became even more strained.
“H-How could that be? I just wanted to come over and help.”
Qian Xing took the bowl.
“Then thank you, Sister-in-law Ren. To be honest, there’s only Huo Yuan, a grown man, living here, so we really didn’t prepare much. Thank you for giving me this bowl.”
“Giving?”
Ren Weihong’s smile froze on her face.
A bowl cost quite a bit of money. Who would actually give one away?!
“I meant I was lending—”
“I know. You wanted to help welcome me, so thank you, Sister-in-law. Oh, by the way, I’m still short a few stools…”