On the first day they walked around the area, Bai Shanshan just thought Wen Yan was bored out of her mind.
The second day, Bai Shanshan couldn’t help but imagine: ‘Is this woman planning to run away?’
The third day, Bai Shanshan had already concocted a premeditated murder plot in her head.
In the desolate wilderness, the two of them, burdened by their “rivalry in love,” had finally reached the moment of truth.
The desolate north wind howled, the withered grass swayed.
Bai Shanshan’s heart pounded like a drum as her eyes darted around, searching for a way to survive.
‘How did we even get here?’
She hadn’t paid any attention to the route at all, just silently followed Wen Yan.
‘I’ve been so careless!’
“Bai Shanshan, what do you think?
Is this a good spot?”
Bai Shanshan’s mouth was dry.
For once, she didn’t try to find fault.
With a strained smile and a trembling voice, she said, “Good.”
Wen Yan turned and raised an eyebrow.
“Are you cold?”
“No, no, no.”
Bai Shanshan saw Wen Yan reach into her bag.
‘Oh my god!
Did she bring a knife?!’
“Here—”
“I don’t want it!”
Bai Shanshan’s voice died in her throat.
Seeing the scarf in Wen Yan’s hand, she gave an awkward laugh and fanned her face with her hand.
“No, no, I don’t need it.
I’m hot, really hot actually.”
Wen Yan glanced at Bai Shanshan but didn’t press the issue.
Her teacher had always said to equally respect everyone’s “quirks.”
“This is such a great place to raise ducks and geese!”
Wen Yan spread her arms, completely satisfied.
She recorded the coordinates; the last three days hadn’t been for nothing.
Bai Shanshan’s overactive imagination finally returned to normal.
“What?
You did all this just to raise ducks and geese?”
Wen Yan shook her head.
“Not just that.
I’m also planning to raise chickens and pigs.”
As long as she wasn’t lost in her wild imagination, Bai Shanshan was her usual snarky self.
She threw cold water on the idea, saying, “Wait, did you forget what Master Niu from the canteen said?
It’s not that they don’t want to raise them, it’s that they don’t have that many kinds of eggs.”
Out of more than fifty Reclamation Teams, there wasn’t a single one that didn’t want to.
Who wouldn’t want to improve their team’s standard of living?
But the reality was, there were no resources to allocate to them.
Wen Yan gave a mysterious smile.
“If we don’t have them, we don’t have them.
We’ll get them ourselves!”
Even after returning to camp, Bai Shanshan couldn’t figure out how Wen Yan planned to “get them herself.”
“Bai Shanshan, first thing tomorrow morning, we’re going to ambush Li Tuan.”
Bai Shanshan said, “For money again?
I’d give up if I were you.
My uncle-in-law is a total cheapskate.
His socks have been patched eight times over.
There’s no way he’ll give you money for some harebrained scheme.”
A look of sudden realization crossed Wen Yan’s face.
“So that’s why Li Tuan looks taller!”
Bai Shanshan rolled her eyes.
‘Is that the goddamn point?!’
The two parted ways, heading to their respective homes amidst the scent of traditional medicine wafting through the camp.
The smell came from the medicinal solution Wen Yan had brought back to treat frostbite.
A dozen or so soldiers had been soaking in it for three days now, so it should be starting to show some effect.
Wen Yan was mulling things over when she reached her house and saw someone at the door.
“Xiao Zhao?”
Xiao Zhao greeted her enthusiastically.
He was one of the men Jiang Baizhou had found to test the frostbite solution.
After three days, Xiao Zhao could clearly feel that it wasn’t as itchy anymore.
In his eyes, Wen Yan was a very capable person.
No matter where you were, people with real skills were always respected.
“Did you need something?”
Wen Yan didn’t open the door.
She was home alone and wouldn’t invite Xiao Zhao in to sit down; it was better to talk right here.
“Yes, I’m here to deliver a letter for you.”
Wen Yan assumed it must be a letter from her family.
Xiao Zhao handed it to her.
Wen Yan took it, then paused.
“There’s no stamp?”
Xiao Zhao broke into a gossipy grin.
“It wasn’t mailed.
It’s from Jiang Yingzhang.”
Wen Yan was genuinely stunned for a moment.
‘From Jiang Baizhou?’
Xiao Zhao was a gossip, but he knew how to keep a secret.
On the day Jiang Yingzhang left, he had privately given him several letters, telling him to deliver one to Wen Yan every three days.
At the time, he couldn’t help but tease, “Jiang Yingzhang, I never knew you were such a romantic!”
Jiang Baizhou replied, “Xiao Zhao, you don’t have a wife.
You wouldn’t understand.”
Xiao Zhao: “…”
‘Did he have to be so brutal!’
“Well, I’ll be going now, ma’am.”
“Alright, thank you.”
“It’s nothing!
Jiang Yingzhang specifically told me, if you have any heavy lifting to do, just call for me or anyone else from the Second Battalion.
We’ll come as soon as you call.”
Wen Yan thanked him again and watched Xiao Zhao run off.
She took the letter inside, loosened her scarf, and sat down in the shaft of light coming from the doorway to open it.
[My Dearest Yanyan, I hope this letter finds you well.
The night is late and all is quiet, the firelight flickers, and as I take up my pen to write to you, a thousand thoughts rush through my mind, and I know not where to begin.
The two-plus days we spent together felt like finding the spring sun in the dead of winter, or a clear spring in a barren desert.
Now, I look forward to the long life ahead of me, for only with you by my side does this world feel worthwhile.
I love your earnest candor and delight in your sincere affection.
All I ask for in this life is to spend all my years with you.
Jiang Baizhou, written on a winter day in the Wuxu year.]
Wen Yan’s fingertips, pinching the letter, turned white.
A corner of the paper was now slightly crumpled.
Her expression was stern, her breathing slow and heavy.
“Have I…
lost?”
“My love letter was so much worse!”
“With this level of literary flair, how could Jiang Baizhou still have characters he doesn’t recognize!”
Wen Yan muttered to herself, full of a desire to win.
She smoothed out the letter, folded it carefully, put it back in the envelope, and paced back and forth in her room.
Finally, she broke her own rule about not working after hours.
She actually went to the logistics department and took several wooden planks.
By the end of the night, there was a new rectangular box in her house.
It was lined with a small piece of floral fabric, and inside, a single letter “lazily” enjoyed its spacious, private suite.
「The next day.」
When Bai Shanshan came to find Wen Yan, she couldn’t help but stare.
Why did Wen Yan seem to be in such a good mood?
“Did you find some money yesterday?
You look so happy.”
Wen Yan locked her door and said, “Finding money is the kind of good luck you can’t count on.
I’m happy because Jiang Baizhou wrote me a letter.”
One second, Bai Shanshan was nodding along; the next, she was sucking in a sharp breath and rolling her eyes.
“Wen Yan, can you please not flaunt how great your relationship is in front of me!
At least have some respect for your former rival in love.”
Wen Yan blinked innocently.
“I’m not flaunting anything.
You asked.”
“Besides, please get your own positioning straight.
You don’t even qualify for a title as formidable as ‘rival in love’.”
Bai Shanshan was so mad she started making threatening gestures behind Wen Yan’s back.
Wen Yan suddenly turned around with a grin and reminded her, “Attacking your superior gets your pay docked, you know!”
From a distance, Bai Shanshan could be heard asking, “Is that the only trick you know?!”
Wen Yan replied, “You don’t need many tricks, just one that works.”
The two arrived at Li Tuan’s office amidst Bai Shanshan’s muttering.
Bai Shanshan tried to take credit, “I already spoke with my uncle-in-law last night.”
Wen Yan said knowingly, “You must have told him I wasn’t asking for money.”
Bai Shanshan said, “Of course.
If I’d mentioned money, we wouldn’t have been able to corner him even if he was on the toilet.”
CLICK!
The door opened.
Li Tuan shot them a glare.
“Get in here already!”
‘They don’t even have the decency to talk behind someone’s back out of earshot.’
If it weren’t for the fact that the frostbite solution was working, he would have given them a piece of his mind.
“Wen Yan, I hear you were looking for me?”
Wen Yan nodded and stated her purpose concisely, “I want our Reclamation Team to raise chickens, geese, and ducks.
I’ve already scouted a location.
I don’t need money, just adobe bricks to build some temporary shelters for them.”
Li Tuan started to object, but Wen Yan raised a hand to stop him.
“Li Tuan, I wouldn’t have come to you if I hadn’t thought this through.
Please hear me out.”
Li Tuan swallowed the words he was about to say.
‘Fine, I’ll listen.
The outcome will be the same anyway.’
Besides, before that rascal Jiang Baizhou left, he had said a whole bunch of things—both nice and threatening—but the core message was: ‘Take care of my wife.’
“Fine.
Go on.”