After walking out of the Barracks Administration Department, Qi Xiaoyuan had immediately wanted to go find Su Man.
But out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed that she was right not far away.
The house Aunt Xu had taken Su Man to see was in the residential area next to the Military Unit, the Zhang family’s house.
The Zhang family house was currently only occupied by the elderly couple, Grandpa Zhang and Grandma Zhang. Their grandson, Zhang Yong, was in the Military Unit, while their son and daughter-in-law lived nearby in the unit area. The elderly couple wanted to rent out the unused rooms.
The price was very reasonable. The old couple had said it was not for making money, but simply to bring some liveliness into the home and have people occasionally chat with them.
“My grandson rarely comes home, so the two of us old folks always feel it’s too quiet. We like it a bit lively.”
The house was clean and tidy. Although it was an old building, it had been carefully maintained. Su Man was quite satisfied, but she did not want to make a decision immediately.
At that moment, Zhang Yong suddenly returned. He had come home on his day off to bring something to his grandparents.
The moment he saw Su Man, his eyes lit up. After learning that she was there to view the house, he immediately became extremely attentive.
Su Man and Aunt Xu said they would go back and think about it. Zhang Yong even insisted on sending them back, which was why Qi Xiaoyuan was seeing this scene now.
Zhang Yong said: “Su Man, our house is really good. I can even make it cheaper for you—how about free, then?”
Su Man was almost numb. This Zhang Yong was really persistent. All the way, it had been nothing but his voice talking nonstop. He did not even feel embarrassed, and he did not understand rejection at all.
Aunt Xu was about to laugh herself to death. She had never seen such a talkative young man before. She had always said Xiao Man was likable. Then, when she saw Qi Xiaoyuan walking over with a dark face, she became even more delighted.
“Xiao Man, I still have to cook at home. I’ll head off first, okay?”
Aunt Xu left after speaking. It was about time for Regiment Commander Qi to get anxious too; she felt a little embarrassed staying around the young people.
But Aunt Xu kept turning her neck back as she walked away. Clearly, her body was leaving, but her heart had not. She nearly even tripped.
“Zhang Yong!”
“Regiment Commander Qi?” Noticing Qi Xiaoyuan’s gaze, Zhang Yong asked: “You know Su Man?”
Qi Xiaoyuan did not answer him. Instead, he looked at Su Man. “The house I applied for has been approved. I’ll take you to see it.”
Su Man had already wanted to leave, so she did not bother asking anything further. She immediately turned and walked away.
Qi Xiaoyuan followed.
With a sharp glance from Qi Xiaoyuan, Zhang Yong’s steps stopped. He could only watch Su Man’s back with regret.
“Zhang Yong’s mother is not very easy to get along with.”
After walking some distance, Su Man finally remembered to ask about the house. But before she could speak, she heard Qi Xiaoyuan say this.
Su Man froze.
Zhang Yong’s mother was not easy to get along with? What did that have to do with her?
But… Qi Xiaoyuan was actually badmouthing someone behind their back?
Seeing Su Man’s expression, Qi Xiaoyuan coughed. “I’m not gossiping. I’m objectively stating facts to help you make a rational and correct decision.”
Su Man said: “It’s fine.”
Zhang Yong’s mother did not even live in that courtyard. Besides, after seeing Zhang Yong, she had already decided not to live there anyway. She was genuinely a bit scared of Zhang Yong’s nonstop talking.
No wonder Grandpa Zhang and Grandma Zhang felt lonely—it must be because they had already gotten used to Zhang Yong.
Qi Xiaoyuan was momentarily speechless.
He was not sure whether Su Man had not understood his meaning, or simply did not care about having a difficult future mother-in-law.
But this was already the limit of what he could say. He was too embarrassed to continue, so he shifted to his own family matters instead.
“The old master in my family is away on official duty. My mother went with him to take care of him, and they probably won’t return to Ha City for about half a year. Your father’s incident happened suddenly, and my family’s old master felt deeply sorry. It was also for your sake that he asked you to come directly to the Military Unit. It was not intentional neglect.”
Su Man could sense there was more beneath the surface. Especially since Qi Xiaoyuan’s older brother’s family also lived in Ha City, yet Old Master Qi still did not trust them—there must have been a reason.
But she did not ask. Instead, she smiled and said: “I understand Old Master Qi’s character. My father used to mention him often and said he was a hero.”
In truth, Su Man did not know whether Su Dacheng had ever said this to the Original Owner, but she needed to build a good relationship with the Qi Family, so saying nice things could not go wrong.
However, Qi Xiaoyuan frowned upon hearing this. “You call my father ‘grandpa’?”
“But my dad told me to call him that before.“ Su Man said. Then she also felt a bit confused. Since she had a marriage engagement with Qi Xiaoyuan, why would Su Dacheng make the Original Owner call Old Master Qi “grandpa”? Shouldn’t she follow Qi Xiaoyuan’s side instead?
Thinking further, it was likely that Su Dacheng did not want this marriage arrangement at all, so he had never mentioned the engagement to the Original Owner.
And the only reason the Original Owner knew of Old Master Qi was because whenever Su Dacheng drank, he liked to talk about his military glory days—including how he once saved Old Master Qi.
Perhaps because he did not want his daughter to marry far away, and because Old Master Qi was more than ten years older than Su Dacheng, he ended up having her call him “grandpa” instead.
Qi Xiaoyuan said: “Then either call him uncle, or just call him old master.”
Before, it was because she followed Qi Changming’s generation. Now that the engagement was gone, if she still called him “grandpa.“ it would mess up the generational hierarchy.
Qi Xiaoyuan had completely forgotten that the engagement had already been canceled, so what did generational hierarchy even matter?
Su Man understood his meaning and nodded obediently.
“Do you have any other family members?”
Su Man suddenly remembered the male lead’s little uncle from the book—that was an important character. She was still waiting to benefit from that big shot’s inheritance.
Qi Xiaoyuan looked confused. “Other people?”
Su Man prompted him: “Do you have a very powerful little uncle?”
“Yes, I do have an uncle. He’s my father’s younger brother, but he’s been overseas for many years and rarely comes back. He is quite capable.“ Qi Xiaoyuan said, then added: “How do you know about him?”
Su Man’s smile stiffened for a split second, then quickly returned to normal. “Of course my father told me. He heard it from Uncle Qi.”
Qi Xiaoyuan found it a bit strange. His old master did not like that younger brother at all and rarely even mentioned him. Why would he tell Su Dacheng about him?
Could it be that the old master was actually just stubborn, only acting tough in front of family?
Soon, they arrived at the house assigned to Qi Xiaoyuan.
Su Man did not expect it to be a small villa! And it was very close to Aunt Xu’s house—only a few hundred meters away.
Seeing her staring at the house in a daze, Qi Xiaoyuan felt slightly awkward. “This is the only available house right now. If you want a tube apartment building, you’d have to wait in line. If you don’t like it, I can try to find someone willing to exchange.”
In this era, everyone wanted to live in tube apartment buildings. Living there was considered fashionable and respectable. Qi Xiaoyuan did not care much about it himself, but he was a bit worried about Su Man’s opinion.
Moreover, this house stood alone, separated by an open space from the tube apartment family area, making it feel quiet and empty. It would be very cold in winter.
But Su Man did not notice his expression at all. She looked around the house carefully. There was a separate courtyard—and it was much bigger than Aunt Xu’s! She could even grow vegetables here!
Aunt Xu’s family did not live in a tube apartment building either; they lived in an old single-story house sharing a small courtyard with neighbors. On the way here, Su Man had been thinking that if she could live in a place like Aunt Xu’s, that would already be good enough. Who would have thought there would be such a huge surprise?
In her modern life, she had worked herself to exhaustion and only ever dreamed of owning a villa of her own—somewhere she would not have to suffer from poor soundproofing in cheap apartments.
Sometimes, at home, she could clearly hear everything happening in her neighbors’ homes.
Someone flushing upstairs. That household arguing and hitting their children again. That couple next door getting intensely intimate again. Even in the middle of the night, if the upstairs neighbor turned over in bed, she could hear the bed creaking.