She truly couldn’t stay in the village any longer. Coming to the island to find Zhou Yue was simply for a bit of peace and freedom.
Xu Xi knew Zhou Yue still held resentment toward her in his heart. Anyone would feel the same, and she understood that. Neither of them liked each other, so at worst, they could divorce after the child was born.
Zhou Yue’s dark eyes fixed on her. She was quite self-aware—even divorce had crossed her mind.
Seeing him remain silent, Xu Xi continued, “Don’t worry. After I join you here, if you’re busy with work, I won’t cling to you or cause you any trouble.”
To Zhou Yue’s ears, these words felt oddly uncomfortable.
When she first arrived, she had said she missed him. Now she claimed she wouldn’t cling to him. How much truth was there in her words?
He didn’t respond. After watching her drink water and rest for a while, he took her out.
The marriage report had been approved two months ago, but he hadn’t found the time to return to the village and register with Xu Xi. Now that she was on the island, he took her to the marriage registration office before it closed to finalize their marriage certificate.
After all, she was already carrying his child—they couldn’t go without a marriage certificate.
After leaving the registration office, Zhou Yue took her to the military canteen for a meal.
Xu Xi was genuinely a bit hungry. During the train and boat journey to the island, she had finished all the steamed buns she had stored in her Spatial Dimension.
The two walked in silence, drawing curious stares from soldiers who had just finished training.
Finally, Sister-in-law Guo, who was serving food in the canteen, cheerfully asked them, “Xiao Zhou, I heard your family member has come to our island military district. Is this your wife?”
“Mm,” Zhou Yue replied briefly before turning to look at Xu Xi, who was still visibly annoyed.
“Order whatever you want to eat.”
Was she really this upset just because he had walked too fast out of habit and left her behind on the way to the marriage registration office? He had heard that pregnant women shouldn’t get angry, so Zhou Yue had no choice but to indulge her and bring her for a meal.
Xu Xi glanced down at the dishes. As expected of an island, even the military canteen served mostly seafood.
But in her current condition, she couldn’t stand the smell of fish, so she simply picked two vegetarian dishes.
Seeing this, Zhou Yue frowned. “Eating so little?”
She was pregnant—how could the baby get enough nutrition if she ate so little?
Xu Xi replied, “I have no appetite.”
After days of traveling by train and boat, it was already an achievement for her to sit down and eat now.
Zhou Yue said nothing more. He filled a bowl with rice and dishes for himself and led Xu Xi to an empty seat.
As soon as they sat down, they attracted discreet glances from many soldiers.
Everyone was too curious about what the battalion commander’s wife looked like. Rumors had been circulating in the barracks that their battalion commander had been tricked into marrying her and that the village girl was downright vicious.
Now, seeing Xu Xi in person, they didn’t think she looked like a malicious village girl at all.
Zhou Yue noticed their stares and swept a calm glance across the room. Instantly, everyone averted their eyes and buried themselves in their meals.
Just then, orderly Zhao Heping suddenly walked in and said to Zhou Yue, “Reporting, Battalion Commander. The comrades in the communications room said there’s a phone call for you. They asked you to go over.”
Zhou Yue replied, “Alright.”
He told Xu Xi to eat first and hurried off to the communications room to take the call.
The call was from the village brigade. The signal was poor, and there was static when he first picked up. Then, Mother Zhou’s loud voice came through.
“Son, has Xu Xi arrived at the island yet? Oh, that wretched girl actually ran off to find you without telling us!”
Zhou Yue frowned. “Mom, she didn’t tell you before coming to the island?”
“No! She just left a note in her room! Wasn’t I just suspecting she was having an affair with a man from her village? And then she went off to find you without a word!”
“You hurry up and make that wretched girl come back. Don’t let her get in the way of your work. Just wait till I get my hands on her!”
Zhou Yue pursed his lips and asked, “Mom, why didn’t you tell me about Xu Xi being pregnant?”
Mother Zhou hemmed and hawed for a moment before saying, “Wasn’t I afraid you’d worry? She’s pregnant, and our family hasn’t mistreated her. I thought I’d tell you after she gave birth.”
Zhou Yue: “…”
With that kind of attitude from his mother, no wonder Xu Xi ran off to the island to find him.
Xu Xi had schemed her way into marrying Zhou Yue, and Mother Zhou simply didn’t want to give her a friendly face.
Hearing no response from the other end, Mother Zhou thought the signal was bad and called out “hello” several more times. Then she heard a low “hanging up,” followed by the busy signal.
“The signal is really too poor.”
Mother Zhou muttered a few words before hanging up the hand-cranked telephone. She knew her son didn’t like Xu Xi and would surely send that wretched girl back to the village soon.
Zhou Yue stood still, rubbing his tightly furrowed brow before turning back to the cafeteria.
Xu Xi had already finished eating and was sitting obediently in her seat, waiting for him to return.
Sister-in-law Guo, having finished her tasks, saw Xu Xi sitting alone and couldn’t resist going over to strike up a conversation.
“Little Zhou’s wife, hello. I’m the wife of Second Battalion Commander Yang Weiguo. My name is Guo Ailan.”
Seeing someone willing to talk to her, Xu Xi smiled brightly. “Hello, Sister-in-law Guo. My name is Xu Xi.”
Guo Ailan had only brought her children to the military family compound last month and didn’t know many military wives here. Now, seeing that Xu Xi seemed easy to talk to, she couldn’t help but strike up a conversation.
“Comrade Xu, everyone says accompanying the army is very hard. How come you still wanted to come to the island even though you’re pregnant?”
Xu Xi was about to say she came to accompany the army for some peace and quiet when, out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly caught sight of Zhou Yue’s tall figure approaching.
Her words changed at the last moment: “Zhou Yue is my beloved. Wherever he is, I naturally am too.”
Guo Ailan’s face flushed. Oh, young people these days are really not subtle at all.
Hearing her words, Zhou Yue’s footsteps halted. His Adam’s apple unconsciously bobbed, and his ears inexplicably grew warm.
She had grown even more beautiful and seemed even more skilled at deception.
Back at the guesthouse, she had said she wanted a divorce after giving birth.
Zhou Yue sat back down opposite Xu Xi. After politely greeting Sister-in-law Guo, he ate his bowl of rice as if pouring it directly from his mouth into his stomach, finishing it in just a few bites.
These soldiers all ate that fast.
Seeing that the couple seemed to have something to say, Sister-in-law Guo found an excuse and slipped away.
The cafeteria was crowded, not a convenient place to talk.
The two returned to the guesthouse. Only after leaving the door half-closed did Zhou Yue lower his gaze to look at Xu Xi.
“My mom called just now.”
Xu Xi sat on the bed, pouting. “Mother-in-law must have told you to pack me up and send me back.”
“Zhou Yue, but I really want to accompany the army. In the village, they’re always saying bad things about me. I know drugging you was wrong, but does that really deserve ruining my reputation?”
Zhou Yue’s thin lips pressed tightly together. She had brought all this upon herself.
But now, seeing her clear eyes brimming with tears, her voice choked with obvious sobs, pitiful and aggrieved, it somewhat resembled that night…
His throat inexplicably tightened, and he averted his gaze as if jolted by an electric shock.
Seeing him remain silent and refusing to look at her directly, Xu Xi bit her lip, as if mustering her courage, stood up, and stepped past him.
With a loud “bang,” she slammed the door shut.