Even though she was clearly a miserable single woman living alone, Su Man felt that her life had become “rich and colorful.“ because every day she was forcibly participating in a kind of “live broadcast.”
Houses of this era would not be as severely shoddy as those in later generations. Moreover, there was a small open space beside this small villa. By passing through that area, one could reach Aunt Xu’s home. It was both quiet and convenient.
The more Su Man thought about it, the more excited she became. Only then did she remember she had not yet answered Qi Xiaoyuan. “No need to change it. I really like this place!”
Seeing the sparkle in Su Man’s eyes—truly liking it—Qi Xiaoyuan couldn’t help but slightly curl his lips into a faint smile.
As soon as Su Man turned around, she caught that smile, and then witnessed it disappear in a single second.
Su Man pressed her lips tightly together, almost failing to hold back her laughter.
She cleared her throat softly and asked a very important question. “Can you help me build a toilet?”
She had just looked around the courtyard and found no toilet. These past few days she had been staying in a guesthouse, and every day she had to go outside to use a public toilet. She was almost at her limit.
But Su Man also knew that in family compounds, everyone used public toilets. Aunt Xu’s family lived in a bungalow and also had to walk outside to use the toilet. No one privately built their own toilet, so she didn’t know if her request would be acceptable.
But she really, truly wanted her own toilet! She didn’t even need to mention the smell of public toilets—she had already experienced it. What was even more disgusting were the small white worms crawling on the floor of the public toilets.
Su Man almost felt like she was going to vomit from disgust. As someone from modern times, how could she possibly tolerate that?
Being looked at so pitifully and expectantly by Su Man, Qi Xiaoyuan felt as though he had suddenly become extremely important, his heartbeat even missing a beat.
This actually wasn’t a big issue, and he understood what Su Man meant. Even his mother couldn’t tolerate public toilets. When she had once followed the old commander to the stationed unit, the old commander had even complained that she was too delicate, but in the end he still had a separate toilet built for her.
The old commander had said that Su Dacheng dotes extremely on his daughter, so she was probably raised with more refinement and thus unaccustomed to public toilets.
Qi Xiaoyuan turned his head away and coughed lightly. “I’ll submit an application, then I’ll help you build a toilet.”
Su Man’s eyebrows curved, her eyes full of laughter. “Why are you so nice~”
She did not know that at this moment, her smile was incredibly bright, her voice sweet and soft, even a little delicate. Sunlight poured into her clear eyes, turning them into shimmering fragments of light.
Qi Xiaoyuan suddenly turned around and left, tossing out a sentence as he went: “I’ll find people to clean today. Tomorrow I’ll help you move in.”
His retreating footsteps seemed somewhat hurried.
On the training ground.
During a break, Zhang Yong moved closer to Xie Wei to ask around. “Deputy Regiment Commander Xie, is Regiment Commander Qi’s arranged fiancée called Su Man?”
Zhang Yong had thought about it all night and felt that Qi Xiaoyuan’s reaction had been off. Later, he recalled the rumors in the military unit—that Regiment Commander Qi’s arranged fiancée had come to the unit—but he could not remember her name.
And hadn’t it been said that Regiment Commander Qi did not want this marriage?
Xie Wei had the best relationship with Qi Xiaoyuan and even shared a dormitory with him. Zhang Yong did not dare ask Qi Xiaoyuan directly, so he came to the good-tempered Xie Wei instead.
Xie Wei said: “Yes, she’s very beautiful. Why are you asking?”
Zhang Yong persisted: “Then are the rumors true? That Regiment Commander Qi doesn’t like Su Man and doesn’t want this marriage?”
Xie Wei had already seen through it—Zhang Yong must have developed feelings after seeing Su Man. He mercilessly crushed his hopes. “How can you believe rumors? Why don’t you go ask Qi Xiaoyuan directly?”
Zhang Yong looked devastated, his heart turning cold. No wonder Regiment Commander Qi had looked at him like that yesterday.
At that moment, Qi Xiaoyuan walked over. “What are you talking about?”
Xie Wei, enjoying the spectacle, said: “Zhang Yong heard the rumors about you in the unit and asked whether you don’t like Su Man.”
If it were usual, Zhang Yong would have already been scared stiff under Qi Xiaoyuan’s gaze. But this was the first time he had ever met such a beautiful girl as Su Man, and he was unwilling to give up. So he stiffened his neck and asked: “Regiment Commander Qi, is Su Man your arranged fiancée? Will you two get married?”
“Yes.” After a moment of silence, Qi Xiaoyuan coldly uttered a single word.
“En.”
What did “en” mean?
Which question did he answer? Or did he answer both?
Just as Xie Wei was about to ask, he heard Qi Xiaoyuan command Zhang Yong: “You seem too idle. Run twenty extra laps!”
Zhang Yong had completely given up. He resigned himself to running, mourning his first crush in his heart while running. Love came quietly, and disappeared just as suddenly.
Xie Wei wisely kept his mouth shut, then remembered something from a few days ago.
That night, Wang Tao had suddenly come looking for him, saying that Regiment Commander Qi had asked him to do something.
Xie Wei had only been stunned for a moment before, relying on his long-standing tacit understanding with Qi Xiaoyuan, immediately assigned Wang Tao a small errand—to deliver a message to the Logistics Department.
At that time, Wang Tao had looked at him as if accusing him: “That’s it?”
After asking around, Xie Wei learned that Wang Tao had been on a blind date that night.
Now that he thought about it, could Wang Tao’s blind date have been Su Man?
And after Wang Tao’s blind date was ruined, he was immediately sent off to carry out a mission…
Xie Wei stared thoughtfully at Qi Xiaoyuan for a long while, then slowly walked over and said casually, as if unintentionally:
“Oh right, I heard Qin Dajun introduced a girl to Wang Tao a few days ago. What a pity I wasn’t there, otherwise it wouldn’t have been Wang Tao’s turn. I heard the girl was very pretty. Anyway, Wang Tao won’t be back for a while. Should I go cut in line instead?”
The moment Qi Xiaoyuan’s expression turned dark, Xie Wei’s face twisted into a grin so exaggerated that his gums showed.
Qi Xiaoyuan narrowed his eyes and delivered an elbow strike, causing Xie Wei to clutch his stomach in pain.
But this was the first time Xie Wei had seen Qi Xiaoyuan like this. Even after being hit, he could not suppress his urge to watch the drama unfold. He shouted toward Qi Xiaoyuan’s back: “So it turns out some people are just dead ducks!”
Qi Xiaoyuan quickly brought several people to clean the house. The others even wanted to help with the move, but after hearing Qi Xiaoyuan say that Su Man didn’t have much luggage, they simply left.
Qi Xiaoyuan picked up the bundle Su Man had prepared in advance, and the two of them walked toward the new house.
The house had four rooms. Dust and spiderwebs had been cleaned thoroughly. The weeds in the courtyard had been removed, broken doors and windows repaired, and in the corner of the courtyard, the toilet had already been completed.
It had to be said—the efficiency of these soldiers was extremely high.
Although Qi Xiaoyuan had arranged the help, the house was ultimately for her to live in, and she would also need to interact with these people in the future. So Su Man suggested inviting them for a meal.
Qi Xiaoyuan said: “No need to be so polite with them.”
But Su Man insisted: “It’s basic courtesy. I also hope they can bring their wives and children.”
This time, Qi Xiaoyuan agreed. It was also good for Military Dependents to interact more with each other.
After everything that needed to be instructed was said, Qi Xiaoyuan looked at Su Man. “You’re living here alone. Are you afraid?”
Su Man raised her eyebrows slightly. “Did you forget our first and second meetings?”