Zhang Qin’s face turned deathly pale.
So the Huang Guixiang mother-daughter pair were clearly trying every possible way to force her into giving up Guo Xuyang.
Lin Wan had first stirred up trouble between them in front of Guo Xuyang, and now Huang Guixiang was causing chaos at home in the same way.
Most of her salary was handed over to the family, yet she still couldn’t even eat enough at every meal—who could tolerate that?
Sooner or later, her older and younger sisters-in-law would come one after another to persuade her to give up her boyfriend.
But Lin Wan did have one thing right: she had no right to treat Guo Xuyang like an object to be passed around.
Zhang Qin steadied herself and said abruptly, “We’re out of soy sauce. I’m going to buy some!”
With that, she grabbed the soy sauce bottle and ran out.
Seeing her flee, her elder sister-in-law Bao Yan and second sister-in-law Zhong Hongmei quickly chased after her. They stopped her outside the residential compound and tried to persuade her earnestly.
“Qin Qin, just give Guo Xuyang to Lin Wan. Otherwise this whole family will really be ruined by them mother and daughter!”
“Dad only earns a few dozen yuan a month. There are so many people in the family, and the kids are always crying from hunger…”
“She’s spending money like it’s paper…”
“And now her mother is even worse—she’s not even feeding you properly, just a few pieces of sweet potato. Don’t you feel sorry for your brother? At least think about your nephews and nieces. You raised them yourself—they’re as close as your own children!”
“You’ve always been the sensible one. You wouldn’t want to see this family fall apart because of you, right?”
“There are plenty of men in the world besides Guo Xuyang. If you give him up, your sister-in-law will help you find another one—one that guarantees you won’t be sent to the countryside!”
At that moment, Lin Wan who had chased after them almost exploded in anger.
“Are you done yet?!”
“The envelopes and stamps were bought by my boyfriend for me to play with! There’s no food at home, and grain is hard to get at the supply station—every household is like this. Why are you blaming my mom?”
“And I don’t even care about Guo Xuyang—stop trying to force him on me!”
“Oh, and if you two sister-in-laws like him so much, then hurry up and divorce your husbands and marry him yourselves!”
“But it’s a new society now—no polygamy allowed. If you want him, go fight for him!”
Her words were vicious and merciless.
Bao Yan and Zhong Hongmei’s faces turned green.
But they could only endure it. If the younger one went home and complained, the old man might immediately kick both families out.
Their father-in-law seemed to have been bewitched by Huang Guixiang, completely obeying her.
That old fox Huang Guixiang, along with the little fox she brought with her, were not easy to deal with.
They took a deep breath and forced an awkward smile.
“Don’t talk nonsense, little sister. How could we possibly be interested in Guo Xuyang? By the way—you said your boyfriend… you have a boyfriend?”
“Who is he?”
“Where does he work? What’s his family background?”
“Is it Guo Xiangyang from the state-run restaurant, or Pei Yongjun from the department store?”
“Or is it Yu Anwu from the meat processing factory?”
“Sun Zhi from the textile mill?”
Lin Wan proudly raised her chin.
“My boyfriend is called Huo Xiao. He’s an Air Force regiment commander—way more impressive than Guo Xuyang!”
“Taller, more handsome, more capable, and richer too!”
She was just talking nonsense.
Once she got the job, she could always say the family objected and they broke up—no big deal.
The priority was to stop Jiang Qin from misunderstanding and affecting her marriage with Guo Xuyang.
Not far away, a military jeep was parked by the roadside.
A man leaned against the door with his arms crossed, long legs casually overlapping, his whole body radiating a lazy, indifferent aura.
He lifted his eyelids and looked toward Lin Wan and the others, a faint mocking expression appearing in his dark, sleepy phoenix eyes.
Watching her boast about “him” and his supposedly unreachable background, he gave a self-deprecating laugh.
Then he got into the driver’s seat, started the engine with a dark expression, and stepped hard on the accelerator.
The jeep roared past Lin Wan, blowing exhaust straight into her face.
Startled, she jumped.
What was wrong with this guy?!
The road was so wide—why drive so close to the edge like a lizard or something?
But soon, the jeep reversed and stopped right beside her.
The door opened.
The first thing she saw was a pair of long, straight legs.
As her eyes moved upward, all the insults she was about to say got stuck in her throat.
Oh my god.
This man was absolutely top-tier.
It was like the “perfect character she’d spent money pulling for in an otome game” had walked into reality.
A male “fox spirit” type face—but his aura was nothing seductive.
Instead, it was cold and distant, like bamboo and pine.
Like a strict master in a tragic romance drama, exuding aloofness and restraint.
His fair, almost icy skin contrasted with sharp brows and deep, frosted black eyes. The faint curve of his lips carried a hint of mockery.
The moment their eyes met, Lin Wan’s heartbeat went completely off rhythm.
Even her face flushed.
She quickly searched the original host’s memory and confirmed this man was not one of her “fish in the pond.”
“Comrade Lin Wan.”
“Care to talk?”
His voice was low and cool, naturally carrying a hint of indifference.
“Wan Wan, who is this comrade?” Bao Yan asked curiously. Zhong Hongmei and Zhang Qin also looked over.
The man glanced at Lin Wan and smiled slightly.
“Huo Xiao.”
Lin Wan: (ΩДΩ)
Holy crap!
She had used someone as a fake shield—and the real owner heard everything!
Wait—why was Huo Xiao in Huacheng?!
He should be in the same unit as Guo Xuyang. If he was on leave, he should’ve gone back to Beijing!
That was exactly why she had dared to talk nonsense so confidently!
“Comrade Lin Wan?”
Huo Xiao’s voice pulled her back to reality.
She immediately nodded.
“Talk, talk, talk!”
“Let’s go somewhere else to talk!”
She opened the car door and quickly got in.
Huo Xiao nodded slightly at Zhang Qin and the others, then got into the driver’s seat.
The car drove off.
Lin Wan’s toes were curled so tightly they had gone numb, her mind buzzing with chaos. She couldn’t think of a single way to respond.
“System, give me some advice. What am I supposed to do now?”
The system didn’t even respond.
It wasn’t part of its job scope.
It was just a system, not toilet paper—it couldn’t wipe up her mess for her.
Huo Xiao drove the car to an empty area on the outskirts of the city.
The car stopped. Through the rearview mirror, he looked at the woman in the back seat—head lowered, looking like an uneasy little quail.
“Comrade Lin Wan.”
“We don’t know each other, yet you’ve managed to obtain such detailed information about me. Do you understand what that implies?”
“Let me remind you—I am an active-duty Air Force officer.”
Lin Wan whimpered internally.
She had stepped on a landmine.
An Air Force officer in the 1960s… that was elite among elites.
“Speak. How did you learn about me?”
Huo Xiao’s gaze never left the rearview mirror, carefully observing every one of her small movements.
His long fingers tapped lightly on the steering wheel—each soft sound landing on her nerves like a hammer on a drum.
Lin Wan grew even more nervous.
She looked up pitifully at him, like a cat that had done something wrong but still tried to appear innocent while staring at its owner.
A cat can do no wrong.
The fault must be someone else’s.
“I… if I said I made it up, would you believe me?” she almost cried.
Huo Xiao said nothing, but the tapping on the steering wheel grew heavier.
A cold, sharp glint flickered in his otherwise calm eyes.
The atmosphere inside the car grew suffocating. It felt as if the air had condensed into water, then frozen into ice, trapping her completely.
She couldn’t breathe.
Huo Xiao didn’t rush her. He waited in silence—like a patient predator.
Lurking.
Observing.
Waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
Lin Wan took a deep breath.
“Whether you believe it or not, I really made it up. I’ve never even met you—how could I possibly fall in love with you at first sight and insist on marrying you?”
“As for your situation… I heard it from someone named Xu Hui in a lane in Yanshi.”
“At the time, she was dealing with a man harassing her. She said she liked you, that you were an officer, and told that man to look in the mirror and stop embarrassing himself in front of you.”
This part existed in the original novel, so she wasn’t worried about being investigated.
Xu Hui and Guo Xuyang’s later affair happened after he rescued her when she was drugged by that same harassing man. In gratitude for saving her, she ended up sleeping with him.
“What was your purpose?” Huo Xiao asked.
Lin Wan buried her head again, her voice getting softer.
“Just… using you as a shield. Otherwise my mom would think I like Guo Xuyang.”
“A normal person would understand that with someone like you as a fiancé, no one would still look at Guo Xuyang.”
Huo Xiao’s gaze flickered slightly, softening almost imperceptibly.
“Write me a statement of explanation about everything you just said. Give it to me tomorrow.”
“I will verify it.”
“But before everything is confirmed, you must write me a weekly report—your recent activities, and a thought report as well.”
“I’ll give you the address tomorrow.”
Lin Wan froze.
Wait… so she had just landed herself another boss?
“Comrade Huo Xiao, can we reason this out? I already told you everything!”
Huo Xiao started the car.
“If you don’t agree, I’ll send you directly to the security bureau for investigation.”
The car pulled away.
“!!”
She absolutely could not go to the security bureau.
She wasn’t afraid of being investigated—but being detained for a few days would cost her the job opportunity. Once she got out, she’d be forced to go to the countryside immediately.
She could not handle farm work.
“Fine, fine! I agree!”
A boss was a boss.
She could handle it.
Huo Xiao dropped her off at home. Resting his elbow on the car window, he glanced at her casually, then started the car and drove off.
A gust of wind swept past, and the car vanished around the corner.
Neighbors in the compound immediately surrounded Lin Wan.
“Lin Wan, was that your boyfriend?”
“Wow, he even has a car!”
“What department is he from?”
“Whose driver is he?”
“You’re really something!”
“Did he get you a job?”
“Hey, can your boyfriend introduce one for my Cuihua too?”
At that moment, Huang Guixiang, who had been watching from the balcony after hearing about “Huo Xiao,” rushed downstairs with a spatula in hand.
“Move aside! Don’t you have your own homes to eat in? Blocking people here at mealtime!”
“Is this any of your business?”
“Who are you to ask?”
She rolled her eyes dramatically and grabbed Lin Wan’s hand, pulling her out of the crowd.
One of the women muttered behind them:
“What’s so impressive? So what if she found a driver? Go find a real leader if you can!”
“Tch.”
Back home, everyone’s eyes focused on Lin Wan.
Huang Guixiang pulled her straight into the room, shut the door, and sat her on the bed.
“So? I heard from your sisters-in-law—this Huo Xiao is tall and handsome?”
Lin Wan nodded.
He was extremely handsome.
So handsome it was almost dangerous.
But a man that handsome showing up like this… meant trouble was doubled.
Her mind was in complete chaos now, worried that Huo Xiao might go back on his word and report her to the security bureau.