Zhang Yingzhang was big and burly, with swarthy skin—a mountain of a man.
Just by looking at him, who could have guessed he was such a gossip?
He was startled when he saw Jiang Baizhou, but a second later, he lifted his foot to kick.
“Damn it, I thought you didn’t want to be anywhere near me!”
During the previous land reclamation project, their respective units, the First and Second Battalions, had always worked together.
Zhang Yingzhang had naturally sought out Jiang Baizhou to work alongside him.
But Jiang Baizhou had refused, praising Zhang Yingzhang for being strong and for working so well and so fast.
He’d gone on and on about how he couldn’t compare.
Back then, Zhang Yingzhang had been thrilled.
He’d finally found one thing where he could one-up the kid.
But when the reclaimed land was tallied up that day, Jiang Baizhou had come in first!
‘So treacherous!’
Jiang Baizhou dodged with a laugh and set down his pickaxe.
“I’ve been through some arduous training since then, and I’ve finally gained a bit of confidence.
Otherwise, how would I dare approach you?”
Zhang Yingzhang laughed in exasperation.
“Get the hell out of here!
Arduous training my ass!
You’re number one in land reclamation every single day, so stop trying to bullshit me!
You’re nothing but a sly bastard.
I’m not talking to you.”
Jiang Baizhou wasn’t offended.
He pulled a milk candy from his pocket, lifted his chin, and nudged Zhang Yingzhang with his foot.
“What do you think you’re—Holy crap!
Candy?
Where’d you get this?”
As he asked, Zhang Yingzhang had already snatched the milk candy from Jiang Baizhou’s hand.
He held it under his nose and sniffed, his mouth watering involuntarily.
He grinned.
“Sweet!”
Jiang Baizhou rolled his eyes.
“You haven’t even eaten it.
How would you know it’s sweet?”
Zhang Yingzhang scoffed, then immediately stuffed the milk candy into his pocket.
“I’m taking this back for my son.”
Jiang Baizhou couldn’t bear to watch.
“Alright, alright, I’ll split one with you.”
Jiang Baizhou took out another piece.
With a RUSTLE of the wrapper, he prepared to break it in half.
Zhang Yingzhang reached out and tried to snatch it.
“Are there more?
Quick, my wife doesn’t have any yet!”
After some back-and-forth, Zhang Yingzhang managed to snatch three candies.
He finally ate half a piece himself, but instead of chewing, he let it dissolve slowly in his mouth.
“Where’d you get this candy?” he asked.
While eating his own piece of candy, Jiang Baizhou lifted his pickaxe and started digging up grass roots.
“My wife brought them for me,” he said casually.
“She said the work is tiring and that I should keep my energy up.”
Zhang Yingzhang, who was doing the exact same work, suddenly felt a pang of jealousy.
Still, he couldn’t suppress his gossipy nature.
“Your wife brought you candy?
Isn’t she here to get a divorce?”
Jiang Baizhou pulled up a handful of roots and tossed them onto a nearby pile.
He tilted his head.
“No, she was just angry with me before.”
“Angry?
Really?
I saw those twelve telegrams.
That didn’t look like someone who was just angry.
Jiang Baizhou, don’t be a fool.
If a woman doesn’t genuinely want to build a life with you, you can’t force her to stay.”
Jiang Baizhou straightened up, leaning on the handle of his pickaxe as he looked at Zhang Yingzhang.
“I know.
But my wife genuinely doesn’t want a divorce.”
With the northwest wind adding a dramatic flair, Jiang Baizhou repeated the same heartfelt story he had told Lin Zhengwei, making it sound even more sincere this time.
After listening, Zhang Yingzhang said with deep feeling, “It’s not easy being an army wife.
We men ought to be more considerate.”
Jiang Baizhou gave him a look that said, ‘I knew you’d understand.’ “I knew you were a righteous and magnanimous man, Old Zhang.”
Zhang Yingzhang: “HAHAHAHA, that goes without saying!”
Throughout the morning, without any further prompting from Jiang Baizhou, Zhang Yingzhang couldn’t resist spreading the news that Wen Yan didn’t want a divorce, was treating Jiang Baizhou wonderfully, and had even brought him candy.
Of course, quite a few people were skeptical.
But when they took a break for lunch right there in the fields, Jiang Baizhou pulled out a peach crisp.
He smiled sheepishly and said, “My wife brought this from the city.
She was worried I wouldn’t have enough to eat.”
Everyone else was gnawing on their coarse buns made of bran and cornmeal.
They smacked their lips.
‘What did a peach crisp even taste like again?’
With his back to the others, Jiang Baizhou thought to himself, ‘I’ll have some dried sweet potato this afternoon.’
Of course, Wen Yan hadn’t brought him this pile of snacks.
Jiang Baizhou had traded for them with the quartermaster.
His goal was to clear Wen Yan’s name.
The thought of Wen Yan brought a smile to his lips.
‘I wonder what she’s up to.’
*
「Noon.」
In the space of a single morning, Wen Yan had already built a prototype of the plow.
Captain Zhu gave it a try.
“This angle is good.
It takes a lot less effort than the one we made before.”
By now, Old Zhu had to admit it: Wen Yan really knew her stuff.
When lunchtime arrived, Old Zhu and Wen Yan walked in the lead, followed by a number of young soldiers, as they all headed to the mess hall.
They called it a mess hall, but it was really just a rectangular, earthen-walled building.
Many people were already there, holding out mess tins or small basins to be served.
Most of the army wives took their food back home to eat, while the soldiers ate in the mess hall.
There were no chairs inside, only rows of rough wooden tables.
At the front stood several large black pots, billowing steam, where a cook was doling out the meals.
You couldn’t be picky about the food; there were no choices to be made.
When Wen Yan entered, her gaze swept the room until she spotted Bai Shanshan and Sister-in-law Gu Qing.
She looked at Old Zhu.
“Captain Zhu, you all go get your food first.
I need to find someone.”
Captain Zhu saw nothing wrong with that.
‘A woman eating with a group of us men would surely feel uncomfortable,’ he thought.
“Alright, alright.
Are you coming back this afternoon?”
Wen Yan nodded.
“Yes.
To finish the plow.”
Old Zhu replied, “Good, then.
Go on, hurry.”
As Wen Yan walked away, Bai Shanshan, who had seen her from a distance, wore a look of pure resentment.
The morning had been the most humiliating time of her life.
Her aunt had dragged her to find every single one of the educated youths who had been on the transport, as well as that Aunt Wang.
Her aunt had claimed that she had simply misspoken, which saved her a little bit of face, but Bai Shanshan felt that the others probably didn’t believe it.
Their searing gazes had felt like physical blows.
Wen Yan walked up and stood in front of Bai Shanshan.
Gu Qing smiled and spoke first.
“It’s all been cleared up.
We didn’t miss a single person.
You can rest easy.”
Wen Yan grunted in acknowledgment.
“Alright.
Then I’ll go verify it.”
She turned to leave, but Bai Shanshan, incensed, blurted out, “What’s that supposed to mean?
You don’t believe me?”
Gu Qing tried to pull Bai Shanshan back, but she couldn’t stop her.
‘This foolish niece of mine!’
Wen Yan stopped and turned back.
With a look of sincere confusion, she said, “Of course I don’t believe you.”
Bai Shanshan was rendered speechless.
Gu Qing had known she would say that.
Wen Yan turned to Gu Qing and continued, “I trust you, Sister-in-law.
But verification isn’t about trust.
This matter is only officially over after I’ve confirmed it myself.”
Being singled out for praise again, Gu Qing suppressed a strange flutter of delight.
“Yes, that’s right.
That’s how it should be.”
With that, Wen Yan went to find the others to verify, moving with seamless purpose.
Bai Shanshan was so angry she could have stomped her feet, but Gu Qing held her back.
“Auntie, look at her!”
Gu Qing sighed.
“I saw.
But I think she’s just being honest, and what she said is reasonable…
She doesn’t have any ulterior motives.”
Bai Shanshan was so furious she almost fell over backward, but she didn’t dare make a big scene.
She suppressed her anger until her chest ached, her eyes glaring daggers at Wen Yan.
She quickly realized that Wen Yan hadn’t made a single mistake in identifying the people!
Wen Yan hadn’t said a single word to any of them that day.
After making her rounds, Wen Yan returned.
“I’ve finished my verification,” she announced.
“This matter is now concluded.”
After she finished speaking, Wen Yan looked at Bai Shanshan, her expression relaxed.
“Comrade Bai, would you like to come work for me?”
Bai Shanshan’s eyes widened in shock.
‘Are you kidding me?!’