The memories of her previous life felt very distant. Shen Qinghe had almost forgotten about this matter entirely. She nodded. “Alright, let’s go then.”
“Yuxiu, Lanying, once you’ve picked through the vegetables, take them down to the river and wash them properly. They’re not country folk—probably a bit particular,” Zhou Chunfeng instructed.
“Got it, Mom.”
The man who had saved Shen Qinghe was named Huo Yanxiu. He had come to Shenjia Bay with his comrade Xu Chenfeng to deliver Shen Hongwei’s personal belongings back home. For now, the two of them were staying at Shen Hongwei’s house.
Shen Hongwei was a little older than Gu Lichuan. He had been a soldier for many years, and this time, during a mission, an accident occurred and he was killed in the line of duty.
Zhou Chunfeng was quite close with Shen Hongwei’s mother. When the news came back, her old friend cried until her heart nearly broke.
Zhou Chunfeng took out a slab of cured pork, a salted chicken, a box of biscuits, twenty eggs, and a basket of vegetables and fruit, and together with Shen Xingqing and Shen Qinghe, headed to Shen Hongwei’s house.
Shen Hongwei’s home wasn’t far from theirs—just turn a corner after leaving the house and pass about ten households, and they’d arrive.
The news of Shen Qinghe falling into the water had already spread throughout the entire village. Seeing her daring to go out now, the villagers were all a little surprised.
“Chunfeng, what are you carrying so much stuff for? Where are you heading?” someone asked.
“That’s a lot of gifts—cured pork, salted chicken, eggs. Pretty generous!”
Zhou Chunfeng answered readily, “The soldier comrade who saved my daughter is staying at Hongwei’s place. We’re going over to thank him in person!”
“Oh, well, that’s only right.”
“Wasn’t that Gu family boy in the middle of discussing marriage with Qinghe? He…” someone hesitated.
“It’s off! Completely off!” another voice cut in.
“Really off?”
Zhou Chunfeng widened her eyes. “What else could it be? He was engaged in marriage talks with my daughter, yet when she fell into the water, he went to save another woman instead. What’s the use of marrying a man like that?”
“That makes sense… but the Gu family boy and Qinghe were such a good match. What a pity…”
“What’s there to pity? He wouldn’t even save the woman he was talking marriage with, and instead ran off to save someone else. If that were my daughter’s man, I’d insist they break it off! Chunfeng did the right thing!”
“You people are really narrow-minded!” an elderly woman with a long face, wearing a dark blue coarse cloth outfit, sat at her doorway feeding chickens. She looked disdainfully at Shen Qinghe. “That Gu family boy is a soldier. Of course he should sacrifice himself to help others. Qinghe, you’re supposed to marry him in the future—why bother competing with outsiders? And you’re making such a fuss. If it were my Yaqin, she’d definitely handle it better than you.”
Zhou Chunfeng spat. “Pah! Now that you know the engagement’s off, you think your Yaqin has a chance, huh? Let me tell you— even without our Qinghe, Gu Lichuan wouldn’t look twice at your Yaqin. That time she chased after Gu Lichuan and got publicly criticized—have you forgotten, Old Madam Li? We sure haven’t!”
“You!” Old Madam Li trembled with anger, pointing at Zhou Chunfeng. “At your age, you still speak so harshly. My Yaqin at least calls you ‘Auntie’!”
“And aren’t you old too? Has that mouth of yours ever spared our Qinghe?”
Suddenly, someone in the crowd spoke up, “Didn’t Chunfeng’s daughter have skin contact with that soldier when he saved her? Why not just let her marry him? They’re both soldiers anyway.”
“I’ve seen the two soldiers staying at Hongwei’s place. Don’t know which one saved Qinghe, but both of them look pretty good—not worse than that Gu family boy. That’d be a decent match.”
Quite a few people echoed in agreement.
Shen Qinghe quickly said, “Thank you, Aunties, for your concern. The soldier who saved me did it out of kindness. If being saved means you must marry the person, then who would dare save anyone in the future?”
Zhou Chunfeng backed her up. “Exactly! Being saved and then forcing the person to marry you—that’s repaying kindness with ingratitude! Our Shen family would never do something like that!”
“If everyone thought that way, no one would dare save someone who fell into the water.”
“That’s reasonable. That soldier wasn’t a hooligan—what ‘skin contact’ are you talking about? He was just saving a life!”
“Don’t go spreading nonsense like that in the future.”
“Yes, yes…”
“….”
Shen Hongwei’s house.
A tall man wearing a white shirt carried two buckets of water into the courtyard. The weather was hot, and he had rolled his sleeves up to his elbows. His lean arms showed faintly bulging veins from the exertion.
Above them was a face with excellent bone structure—slightly prominent brow bones, a high-bridged nose, thin lips, and a sharp jawline that gave off a strong sense of aggression. Yet his deep-set eyes softened that edge, lending him an overall cool, noble air.
The man who entered with him was slightly shorter, with a gentler temperament. He joked, “Yanxiu, did you hear that just now? That girl’s got a bit of conscience—she didn’t cling to you demanding you take responsibility.”
“But you should still get ready. They’ll be coming over soon to thank you in person.”
“Just wonder if that girl will regret it once she sees your face.”
Huo Yanxiu poured both buckets of water into the vat. The splashing water cooled his arm slightly. He wiped it casually. “As a soldier, how could I accept gifts from the people?”
As for the last remark, he ignored it entirely.
Xu Chenfeng didn’t mind and continued on his own. “But isn’t that Gu Lichuan a bit messed up in the head? He didn’t save the woman he was talking marriage with and instead ran to save some unfamiliar villager. Now the girl won’t have anything to do with him anymore—serves him right!”
“At least that girl has some backbone, didn’t just swallow her grievances…”
“Who said they were unfamiliar?” Huo Yanxiu asked calmly.
“Huh?” Xu Chenfeng blinked. “What do you mean… don’t tell me—”
“In the water, I heard Gu Lichuan call that female comrade ‘Xiaoxue,’” Huo Yanxiu said.
“That’s awfully intimate…” Xu Chenfeng was shocked, then frowned. “But just being close doesn’t prove anything improper. I’m afraid that girl is going to have to swallow this loss in silence.”
“Paper can’t wrap fire forever,” Huo Yanxiu commented. If those two didn’t restrain themselves, they’d be exposed sooner or later—especially since that girl didn’t look like someone without her own mind.
“Hey, they’re here…” Xu Chenfeng said.
“Which one of you is Comrade Huo?” Shen Xingqing asked hesitantly as he looked at the two men in the courtyard.