Huo Guangji’s expression froze, utterly confused.
Wasn’t this woman perfectly fine just now? Why had she suddenly exploded in anger again?
Qin Yu’e’s face was as dark as the bottom of a wok. After throwing his bedding onto the floor, she even viciously kicked it twice before immediately pulling the two children into her arms.
“Sleep!”
The children were obedient. Curled up against Qin Yu’e, they quickly drifted off to sleep.
Lying on the floor, Huo Guangji couldn’t help sighing.
A woman’s heart really was deeper than the sea. He truly couldn’t figure out what this woman was angry about now.
Late at night.
The soft snores of both adults and children rose and fell around the room.
But Qin Yu’e, lying in bed, tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
As for this He Jiaojiao…
She and Huo Guangji were old acquaintances.
The two had enlisted in the army the very same year. Back then, He Jiaojiao had been assigned to the entertainment troupe while Huo Guangji was just an ordinary recruit.
According to the novel, during their time stationed at the training base, the two had spent a great deal of time together, and Huo Guangji had already fallen deeply in love with He Jiaojiao at that point.
But later, pressured by his parents, he had no choice but to separate from her and marry Qin Yu’e instead.
Thus, the two lovers had been forcibly torn apart.
Only after Qin Yu’e died were they finally reunited.
The novel itself began with Huo Guangji learning of Qin Yu’e’s death and then pursuing He Jiaojiao once more.
Unexpectedly, the gears of fate had aligned again so quickly.
He Jiaojiao was about to arrive.
Once she came, Captain Huo would probably wish he could stay eight hundred feet away from Qin Yu’e.
Quietly calculating things in her heart, Qin Yu’e gently stroked the children’s soft, chubby faces under the moonlight.
She silently swore to herself.
There was an old saying: Once there’s a stepmother, there’s also a stepfather.
She absolutely would not hand the children over to Huo Guangji and He Jiaojiao.
Since the two of them were clearly in love with each other, there was no reason for her to stay here, competing for affection and becoming an obstacle in their romance.
Didn’t Huo Guangji say his salary would arrive next month?
As soon as she got that money, she would immediately leave with the children.
As for whatever happened between those two afterward, it had nothing to do with her.
By the time the slanting morning sunlight landed on the window lattice, steam was already rising from the cafeteria’s bamboo steamers.
Qin Yu’e was busy working alongside Deputy Director Zou, Aunt Liu, and the others.
Today was the day the performance troupe would arrive.
Outside was lively and noisy, filled with drums and gongs. The entire camp seemed to boil with excitement.
Several large red flowers had been hung from the old locust tree at the camp entrance, hastily made overnight by the logistics department to welcome the female comrades from the troupe.
Not long afterward, loud shouting erupted outside.
“They’re here! The comrades from the performance troupe are here!”
Then came the rumbling of trucks mixed with drums and gongs.
The camp instantly exploded with excitement.
Through the small cafeteria window, Qin Yu’e watched as a string of girls in military uniforms with braided hair jumped down from the truck one after another.
Leading them was a girl with braided pigtails. Qin Yu’e couldn’t see her face from behind, but her voice was bright and crisp.
“Reporting to the company commander! Performance Troupe Unit Twelve—twenty-eight female comrades total. Twenty-eight expected, twenty-eight present. Awaiting instructions!”
The performance troupe actually had twenty-eight members.
Quite a lot.
Just as Qin Yu’e was secretly marveling at this, she heard Company Commander Liu laugh loudly.
“Welcome, welcome! Welcome, Comrade He Jiaojiao! Our soldiers already finished repairing the guesthouse ahead of time—we’ve been waiting for all of you to move in!”
Qin Yu’e’s heart jumped.
So this woman was He Jiaojiao?
Sure enough, just from her voice alone, she sounded exactly like the great beauty described in the novel.
“Xiao Qin, what are you staring at?”
Aunt Liu suddenly leaned over beside her with a smile.
Qin Yu’e quickly brushed it off.
“Nothing. It’s just my first time seeing a performance troupe, so I’m curious. Aunt Liu, don’t we still have two baskets of buns left to steam? I’ll knead the dough.”
With that, she took over Aunt Liu’s work and busied herself seriously.
Whatever kind of person He Jiaojiao was had nothing to do with her.
After all, if others didn’t offend her, she wouldn’t offend them.
All Qin Yu’e wanted was Huo Guangji’s money.
After the performance troupe arrived, the young men in camp all seemed to inject themselves with chicken blood—every single one of them bursting with excitement.
Fortunately, since it was the troupe’s first day, no performances had been arranged yet.
So after finishing the welcoming banquet, Qin Yu’e packed up some food, took the children, and headed back.
Until nightfall, she never once saw Huo Guangji.
Qin Yu’e understood perfectly well.
Old lovers reunited after such a long separation naturally had endless things to say to each other.
As for herself—the uneducated original wife—she was obviously nothing more than a third wheel, long since tossed aside in the back of their minds.
So she didn’t wait for him.
She figured Huo Guangji surely had somewhere else to stay tonight anyway, so she directly locked the door and lay down with the children to rest.
Half-asleep, Qin Yu’e suddenly heard knocking at the door.
Outside came Huo Guangji’s deliberately lowered voice:
“Why did you lock the door? I haven’t even come back yet. Why didn’t you leave the door open for me?”
“You should go sleep in the dormitories. It’s inconvenient for you to sleep here now. I’ll explain things to Company Commander Liu myself.”
Qin Yu’e didn’t even get out of bed. After saying that, she simply closed her eyes again.
Having watched so many romance dramas in her previous life, she understood better than anyone—
One absolutely had to stay far away from the male lead.
Otherwise, by the end, you might not even know how you died.
Standing outside the door, Huo Guangji froze, his brows instantly knitting together.
What was wrong with this woman now?
He thought carefully about it. He’d spent the entire day busy coordinating with Second Squad and hadn’t done anything to offend her.
So why was she suddenly refusing to let him into the room?
But if she wouldn’t let him in, he couldn’t exactly kick the door down.
Huo Guangji stood there silently for quite a while before finally sighing and turning away.
Watching the tall shadow on the curtain gradually disappear into the distance, Qin Yu’e finally let out a long breath.
The male lead belonged to the female lead anyway.
She didn’t want him at all.
Before Huo Guangji had even left the guesthouse area, a surprised voice suddenly rang out behind him.
“Brother Huo? Brother Huo, is that really you?!”
He Jiaojiao hurried over in quick little steps, her face filled with delight.
“My goodness, I had no idea you were stationed at this company!”
This was…
Huo Guangji frowned and stared for a long moment before finally matching the bright face before him to the round-cheeked young girl he vaguely remembered.
“You are…?”
“I’m He Jiaojiao! Brother Huo, don’t you remember me? We enlisted together, and we’re even from the same hometown! When I first joined the army, I lost my introduction letter—it was you who helped prove my identity!”
Only then did Huo Guangji barely remember.
“Oh… so it’s you.”