After finishing the meal, Qi Xiaoyuan learned that Su Man was currently staying at a guesthouse, so he offered to send her back.
The distance was not far. The two still did not speak much. Qi Xiaoyuan was still thinking about how to bring up the matter to Su Man. Before he could find the right words, they had already arrived at the door of her room.
“I’ve arrived.”
“Alright.” Before Qi Xiaoyuan could finish speaking, Su Man had already closed the door.
Before going out today, Su Man had originally planned to act weak and obedient so she could quickly win over Qi Xiaoyuan. Now, that was no longer necessary. After all, Qi Xiaoyuan had already seen her true nature.
Once the door closed, the frustration she had been holding in suddenly dissipated. Then she found it a little amusing. It was just that the man she had fallen for at first sight had not taken a liking to her—yet she had actually gotten angry about it.
Qi Xiaoyuan’s current attitude did not mean the marriage could not happen. Had she not already known? In the original story, the male lead had been unwilling anyway.
Even in the worst-case scenario, she still had money, and she clearly understood the future policies and opportunities. What was there to be unhappy about?
Su Man took out all the money in her spatial storage and counted it again. As expected, money truly solved many problems. Just counting it once already improved her mood significantly.
The money left behind by the original owner’s father, the money extorted from Su Ercheng and Xia Hongxia, and after subtracting what she had spent in Ha City—she still had a total of 1,560 yuan, along with some grain coupons and meat coupons. In the 1970s, this was already a huge sum.
Qi Xiaoyuan stared at the closed door for a moment, then could not help but sigh inwardly. This girl really was decisive in speech and action.
After returning to the dormitory, his comrade-in-arms Xie Wei immediately leaned over with a teasing grin, wiggling his eyebrows. “I heard your childhood fiancée came to marry you. They say she’s very beautiful. Tell me about her.”
Qi Xiaoyuan frowned in displeasure. “Stop talking nonsense.”
“I’m not! The whole Military Unit has been talking about it. Who doesn’t know you, Qi Xiaoyuan, have a childhood fiancée coming to find you for marriage?”
Qi Xiaoyuan had not expected the rumor to spread so quickly. He had clearly told those people along the way that she was a relative.
Too irritated to sit still, he stood up abruptly and strode out.
Behind him, Xie Wei was still shouting: “You haven’t told me yet! Where are you going?”
Qi Xiaoyuan went to the telephone booth and called the old master, explaining the misunderstanding and the rumor spreading throughout the entire Military Unit.
Old Master Qi listened and unexpectedly made a decision on the spot: “Then change it. You’ll marry Xiao Man instead. Anyway, no one outside the family knows that the engagement was originally Changming’s. We just won’t mention it.”
As he spoke, the old master grew more convinced of the idea and sternly ordered: “You must marry Xiao Man. This is not up for discussion!”
Qi Xiaoyuan thought of that bright and beautiful face, of their encounter that night, and of the incident on the train. His heart suddenly skipped a beat.
But before he could fully process that unfamiliar feeling, the commanding tone of the order ignited his anger. He let out a cold laugh. “To repay your debt of gratitude, you’ve already sacrificed your grandson, and now even your son. Anyone can be thrown away by you. Why didn’t you just throw yourself in as compensation back then?”
Old Master Qi flew into a rage. “You brat! You’re already this old—someone willing to take you is already generous! If you refuse, then don’t recognize me as your father!”
Qi Xiaoyuan said coldly: “In any case, I will never marry Su Man. Goodbye, Uncle Qi!”
He hung up.
Old Master Qi was so furious at being called “Uncle Qi” that he kept cursing his unfilial son.
Old Madam Qi kept rubbing his chest to calm him down. After he finally relaxed, she also felt somewhat aggrieved for her son. “I know you want to repay Su Dacheng’s kindness, but you can’t just force Changming’s rejected engagement onto Xiaoyuan.”
Old Madam Qi was Old Master Qi’s second wife. His first wife had died of illness early on. Busy with his career, Old Master Qi had not been able to care for his eldest son Qi Jianguo, born from his first marriage. Under organizational arrangement, he later married Old Madam Qi, who was more than ten years younger than him.
After entering the Qi family, Old Madam Qi had treated Qi Jianguo well out of respect for her husband. Their relationship had been good at first, but after Qi Jianguo married, things gradually became complicated. After all, there was always a layer of distance, and she eventually shifted her focus back to her own son.
This time, Qi Changming running away from the marriage had made her somewhat angry. “That Changming kid seemed fine when he was young. How did he become like this when he grew up?”
Old Master Qi glanced at his wife and sighed. “This might actually be Xiaoyuan’s fate. Your precious son is already 27. If you keep indulging him, he’ll really end up a bachelor for life.”
Old Madam Qi thought about it and felt it made sense. She had been troubled by this for years, introducing countless women, yet her son simply refused all of them.
Still, she felt a bit uncomfortable. “Then couldn’t you have spoken to him properly? Why force him like that? If he ends up mistreating Su Man, you’ll regret it!”
Old Master Qi chuckled. “You know your son. Even if he’s angry with me, he wouldn’t do something like that. If he weren’t in the same Military Unit as Changming, I wouldn’t even feel comfortable letting Xiao Man go there alone.”
Old Madam Qi also knew her son was reliable and softened with a smile. Then she suddenly thought of something and said: “If those two really get together, we won’t be around to prepare the wedding.”
“It’s fine. In half a year we’ll be back in Ha City. Let them register first, and we’ll properly handle the wedding then.”
The Qi family lived in Ha City’s urban district. This time, Old Master Qi had been sent out on official duty for a year, and Old Madam Qi accompanied him to take care of him. The letter Su Dacheng sent to the Qi family had been received and relayed by Qi Jianguo.
Since the elderly couple were not in Ha City, they were not reassured about letting Su Man go directly to the Qi family. After all, the eldest daughter-in-law had never been fond of Su Man’s background. That was why they arranged for her to go to the Military Unit to get married.
Old Master Qi had originally planned for Qi Xiaoyuan to force Qi Changming to register first, and for the wedding to be held later when they returned. He did not expect things to go wrong.
“No, my daughter-in-law will think we’ve treated her unfairly.“ Old Madam Qi said, already lying in bed with the lights off, then suddenly sitting up again. “How about I go back to Ha City first? You staying here alone won’t cause any trouble anyway.”
Old Master Qi laughed helplessly. “Weren’t you just worried she might be fat and strong, weighing 200 jin? Why are you suddenly so eager now, even ignoring me, an old man?”
Old Madam Qi retorted angrily: “That was Changming pestering me about what Su Man looked like. I just want a good daughter-in-law.”
Meanwhile, the elderly couple continued their argument, while the protagonist of their discussion, Su Man, had already woken up early, gone to the canteen for breakfast, packed some buns and fried dough sticks, and headed toward the address Aunt Xu had given her.
What Su Man did not know was that just as she had left that morning, Qi Xiaoyuan had already brought several lunch boxes to the guesthouse and gone straight to her room.
After knocking for a long time without any response, he asked the front desk and only then learned that Su Man had gone out early in the morning.
Qi Xiaoyuan was still wondering where she could have gone. She was not familiar with this place.
“Regiment Commander Qi, I must tell you something!”
Ye Aihua at the front desk looked at the cold-faced man in front of her. After hesitating for a long time, she finally could not suppress her indignation and gathered her courage to speak.
Qi Xiaoyuan turned his head. His thick brows furrowed, his gaze sharp and cold. His entire body seemed covered in frost, radiating a chilling pressure.