Qian Xing frowned slightly. The captain had indeed warned her that things were somewhat sensitive at this time, but did that mean she couldn’t even make a few extra dishes?
She had only wanted to properly entertain Huo Yuan’s superior officers and friends. Could it be that instead, she had gotten him into trouble…
Noticing the hesitation on Qian Xing’s face, Huo Yuan walked over to her and quietly squeezed her hand before saying,
“They’re just ordinary dishes for entertaining guests. Whoever said otherwise is slandering us.”
“Exactly. There isn’t even much meat. The only meat dish is the pork that was delivered this morning.” Deputy Company Commander Hu Shihua backed him up.
Deputy Regiment Commander Qian Hongchuan also said, “Political Commissar, you can take a look for yourself.”
Xiang Ming stepped closer to inspect the dishes and nodded. “Indeed, there’s only one meat dish. The rest of the fish and shrimp were caught from the river, right?”
Huo Yuan nodded.
“Political Commissar, you can’t let them fool you so easily!” A woman’s anxious voice suddenly came from the doorway.
After reporting the matter to the political commissar, Zhu Xiuyun had already told the people in the apartment building about it. By now, quite a few people had crowded around the entrance to watch the commotion.
She had originally intended to mingle among the crowd and wait to see Song Qianxing get humiliated, but the more she listened, the more she felt that the matter was about to blow over.
Unable to hold herself back, she stepped forward and argued,
“Even if there’s only one meat dish, just look at those radishes! What ordinary family serves them like that? Song Qianxing is clearly putting on airs like a petty-bourgeois woman.”
The moment she heard that familiar voice, Qian Xing understood.
“Are you the one who reported us to Political Commissar Xiang?”
“I didn’t report you. I just happened to mention a few things to him.”
In front of Xiang Ming, Zhu Xiuyun didn’t deny it.
After all, she hadn’t written any report letter. She had merely happened to run into him and chatted with him along the way.
Zhu Xiuyun looked smugly at Qian Xing. “What? Feeling guilty?”
“What is there to feel guilty about?”
Although Zhou Maishu had only known Qian Xing for two days, she still couldn’t help stepping forward.
“Zhu Xiuyun, open your eyes and look at these dishes. Loaches and little fish—which one of these isn’t something military wives usually catch from the river? You call this extravagant? What, do you normally not even get to eat a scrap of meat?”
“Before Company Commander Qian was promoted, he was at least a platoon commander earning fifty yuan a month. Could he really not spare a few yuan to buy you a pound of meat?”
“You—you are talking nonsense! Xuefeng treats me very well!” Zhu Xiuyun stomped her feet in anger. “Who hasn’t eaten meat before?”
“I’m talking about the presentation!”
She pointed toward the beautifully arranged dishes on the table for Xiang Ming to see.
Qian Xing loved eating delicious food, loved cooking delicious food, and loved beautiful things even more. Whatever she did, she always wanted it to look beautiful.
That habit had naturally carried over into the way she arranged dishes after being taught by the chefs.
Not only had the sweet-and-sour radishes been arranged into the shape of a flower, but the little sugar cakes had also been stacked in an intricate pattern, with tiny flowers decorating the top.
Even the Dongpo pork and salt-and-pepper loaches had been carefully arranged on their respective plates.
That was why everyone present had been so astonished when they saw the food on the table.
The ingredients were clearly things they ate themselves on ordinary days, yet after Qian Xing had arranged them, they suddenly looked unfamiliar and refined.
But after Zhu Xiuyun pointed it out, everyone suddenly realized that this kind of presentation could indeed be considered somewhat questionable.
Only capitalists engaged in such extravagant pleasures. This wasn’t something they were supposed to do.
At the same time, they all knew that Huo Yuan and his wife were hardly capitalists. They had simply wanted to entertain their guests properly and make them feel welcome. That thoughtfulness shouldn’t be exploited by someone with ulterior motives.
But if they said that out loud, given their positions, it could easily be interpreted as favoritism or abusing their authority.
Especially Hu Baoguo, the regiment commander. Although he was technically the same rank as Xiang Ming, the political commissar, the two handled different responsibilities and normally didn’t interfere with each other.
However, if Hu Baoguo really did something inappropriate, Xiang Ming, as the political commissar, could report it directly.
Hu Baoguo wasn’t particularly close to Xiang Ming, so he couldn’t tell what Xiang Ming’s intentions were or what he thought about the matter.
For the moment, he didn’t dare speak rashly. He wanted to hear Xiang Ming’s position first before deciding what to do.
Seeing that even Hu Baoguo remained silent, the others also didn’t dare speak up.
An eerie silence fell over the room.
And among the crowd, no one was happier than Zhu Xiuyun.
Xuefeng had been right. The political commissar really did favor frugality and despise this kind of superficial extravagance.
Seeing that Song Qianxing’s expression wasn’t looking too good, she added fuel to the fire.
“Political Commissar, I think someone like this shouldn’t be allowed to stay in the military district. Otherwise, even someone like Company Commander Huo will be led astray by her.”
Hadn’t Song Qianxing been showing off how much her husband doted on her, whether intentionally or otherwise?
Let’s see if she could still be so smug after being sent back to the countryside!
Qian Xing had no idea what Zhu Xiuyun was thinking. If she had known, she would only have thought the woman was delusional.
“What else do you suggest?” Xiang Ming asked.
Zhu Xiuyun glanced at Song Qianxing, looking even more pleased with herself.
“She has no skills whatsoever. All she knows how to do is enjoy herself like some capitalist young lady. She’s simply corrupting the atmosphere within the military. I think she should write a self-criticism in front of everyone.”
That had been Qian Xuefeng’s idea, and Zhu Xiuyun thought it was excellent as well.
If Huo Yuan’s wife had to publicly make a self-criticism, then Company Commander Huo had probably reached the ceiling of his career too.
Want to get promoted further?
Difficult!
Xiang Ming raised an eyebrow and turned toward Huo Yuan and Qian Xing.
“What do the two of you think?”
Qian Xing pursed her lips. Although she didn’t think she had done anything wrong, she had indeed failed to understand the situation here and had even dragged Huo Yuan into trouble.
“I can apologize.”
Beside her, Yan Fengshou nudged Zhou Maishu.
After years as husband and wife, Zhou Maishu immediately understood what he meant and hurriedly said,
“Political Commissar, I also had a part in suggesting this. Qian Xing has only just arrived, and she forgot many things because of her illness. I failed to remind her properly, so I’ll apologize on her behalf.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Qian Xing looked at Zhou Maishu in surprise.
She had never expected her to voluntarily step forward and take responsibility for something like this just to help her.
“Political Commissar, what does this have to do with the women? If anything, they prepared the meal because they wanted to treat us men. If anyone is to blame, it should be us for failing to stop them in time.”
“We can’t enjoy ourselves and eat when nothing happens, then throw all the blame aside when something goes wrong. Regiment Commander Qian, Regiment Commander Hu, don’t you agree?”
That old fox, Yan Fengshou!
Qian Hongchuan cursed inwardly.
Wasn’t he trying to drag all of them into this?
But Yan Fengshou had already said it, and Qian Hongchuan couldn’t back down. He added a few words of support.
To be honest, deep down, he also thought it was ridiculous to push the blame onto a woman. And making them apologize over such a trivial matter was even more absurd.
Once he spoke up, Deputy Company Commander Hu Shihua also followed suit and took some responsibility.
Amid the noisy voices around him, Xiang Ming looked toward Huo Yuan, who had remained silent the entire time.
The whole matter had started because of him, yet he remained remarkably composed.
“You’re going to take responsibility for your wife too?”
At those words, Huo Yuan raised his eyes, the depths of them filled with sarcasm.
“No.”
Xiang Ming was taken aback. “You’re asking her to apologize? That’s unlike you—”
“Apologize?”
“She hasn’t done anything wrong. What is she supposed to apologize for?”
His tone was utterly righteous.
Qian Xing looked at him in surprise and gently tugged at his sleeve, reminding him not to act impulsively.
Xiang Ming raised an eyebrow slightly.
“You think she did nothing wrong?”
Huo Yuan tapped his fingers twice against the table and said lazily,
“The meat was bought openly and honestly at the market. The money was earned by me through risking my life as a soldier. The dishes were made by my wife after spending an entire day working in the kitchen.”
“Did we steal anything? Did we rob anyone? Just because she wanted to make the dishes look a little nicer to make me look good, she has to apologize for that?”
“Where’s the logic in that?”
Huo Yuan lifted his eyes and met Xiang Ming’s sharp gaze without the slightest hesitation.
The room was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.
After a long moment, Xiang Ming suddenly burst into laughter.
“Hahahaha! Good boy. Well said!”