Qin Qiaoxia had been accepted to a university in the capital. At seventeen or eighteen, she was about to leave her hometown to pursue her studies, and both Qiao Lanshu and Qin Yuanzheng were deeply worried.
Qiao Lanshu had originally wanted Qin Qiaoxia to attend her alma mater and simply go to university in Wencheng.
But Qin Qiaoxia said she wanted to see the world beyond her hometown. She had spent more than a decade in Wencheng, from childhood to the present, and didn’t want her entire future—university, work, and even marriage—to take place there.
Because of this, Qiao Lanshu sighed to Qin Yuanzheng, “I suppose the more obedient children are when they’re little, the more rebellious they become when they grow up. Look at her—these days, Xiaxia doesn’t listen to a word we say.”
Qin Yuanzheng felt somewhat melancholy as well. Qin Qiao’an was already serving in the military, and after joining the army, he rarely had the chance to return home. It was perfectly normal for them not to see him for two or three years.
And now even Xiaxia was leaving home to attend university. After all these years of marriage, the two of them had worked so hard to raise their children. In the past, they had often found the kids troublesome.
But now that neither child was by their side, they couldn’t help feeling a little sad.
Qin Yuanzheng comforted Qiao Lanshu in a low voice. “Children have to leave home once they grow up. We can’t keep her by our side forever.”
Qiao Lanshu was simply overwhelmed with emotion.
In the blink of an eye, even Xiaxia was off to university.
Qin Yuanzheng consoled her again. “Isn’t Han Ye in the capital? He can go check on Xiaxia from time to time. There won’t be any problem.”
Han Ye had served for more than two years before returning to take the national college entrance examination. He was successfully admitted to the Army Armored Forces Academy. That year, the school had only two admission slots in Wencheng.
The competition had been fierce, but Han Ye had made it.
Zhou Dingwen hadn’t been admitted. He had gotten into the Army Engineering University in the south, which meant he, too, had been away from home for a long time.
After graduating, Han Ye was assigned to an army unit in the capital. Since Xiaxia was going to university there as well, the siblings would be able to look after each other.
Qin Yuanzheng and Qiao Lanshu personally escorted Xiaxia to the university and took a look around her dormitory.
Before leaving, Qiao Lanshu held Xiaxia’s hand and gave her a long list of instructions. “Other than attending class and studying, try not to go out at night, all right? Society is chaotic these days. There are so many human traffickers and scammers. A young, pretty girl like you is the easiest kind of person for them to target.”
Xiaxia was already eighteen. Qiao Lanshu had married Qin Yuanzheng when she herself was eighteen.
So, looking at Xiaxia now, Qiao Lanshu was filled with emotion.
She never would have imagined that her daughter with Qin Yuanzheng would already be eighteen—and a student at one of the country’s top universities at that.
Xiaxia was half a head taller than Qiao Lanshu, but she looked very much like her mother had in her youth. She had fair skin, large eyes, a cherry-red mouth, and an oval face with dimples that appeared whenever she smiled.
With such a beautiful daughter studying so far from home, Qiao Lanshu was practically worried sick.
She even felt that she was becoming more and more long-winded. “Your father and I aren’t here with you, so you have to get along well with your classmates. If anything happens, call home or find your big brother. Have you memorized all the phone numbers?”
Xiaxia nodded obediently. “I’ve memorized them all. They’re written in my address book, and I remember them too. I even know Brother Ye’s unit number by heart.”
Han Ye was stationed with an army unit in the capital, and although he was still young, he had already become a company commander.
However, the unit was quite far from Qin Qiaoxia’s university. It would probably take more than an hour to drive there, and Han Ye was busy with his work in the army. He couldn’t just leave whenever he wanted.
He hadn’t come today because the unit was holding a training exercise and he couldn’t get away.
Qiao Lanshu nodded. “When you’re away from home, don’t believe everything people tell you. Don’t casually go anywhere with strangers, and never accept things from them. Do you understand?”
Qin Qiaoxia was at a loss for words. She took Qiao Lanshu’s arm and said, “Mom, I know all that. You don’t have to keep repeating yourself.”
Qiao Lanshu had indeed been unusually talkative that day, going over the same warnings again and again until Xiaxia was almost helpless.
After Qiao Lanshu and Qin Yuanzheng left, Qin Qiaoxia went to familiarize herself with the campus.
Being able to leave home and attend university in another city felt quite novel to her. This was the first time since growing up that she had truly left home and traveled somewhere far away. She was both excited and full of anticipation.
Han Ye had known for a long time that Xiaxia would be attending university there, and he was eager to see his little sister. After all, he was now the one his younger siblings could rely on.
When Qin Qiao’an had been serving in the army, Han Ye had even gone through all sorts of channels to call Qin Qiao’an’s company commander, asking him to take extra care of his little brother.
Qiao Lanshu probably never imagined that the words she had once used to encourage Han Ye would be taken so seriously.
Every few days, he called Qin Qiao’an’s company commander to ask about him. In the end, because he kept pulling strings, Han Ye was given a stern reprimand by his battalion commander.
At the same time, Qin Qiao’an’s battalion commander, unable to bear it any longer, gave Han Ye a thorough tongue-lashing over the phone.
But Han Ye had thick skin and didn’t take any of it to heart.
He continued asking about his little brother from time to time. Eventually, Qin Qiao’an’s battalion commander even called Qin Yuanzheng to complain.
Qin Yuanzheng still got a headache whenever he thought about it. Later, he had Qin Qiao’an transferred to another military district without telling Han Ye.
There were army units all over the country. Han Ye couldn’t call every single one of them to ask where Qin Qiao’an was, and the military had its own rules and discipline. Because of that, Han Ye finally quieted down somewhat over the past year.
But the fact that Qin Qiao’an had not only a general for a father but also a brother-protective maniac for an elder brother had already spread throughout the army.
Qin Qiao’an was under a great deal of pressure as well. If he failed to get into a military academy—or if he backed down when faced with difficulties or performed poorly—wouldn’t that bring shame upon his father and elder brother?
In any case, it had indirectly pushed him to work even harder.
But those were matters for another time.
As for Han Ye, after spending more than half a month in a training exercise with his unit, he was finally able to leave.
The first thing he did was drive to Xiaxia’s university to see her.
Han Ye was six years older than Xiaxia and was already in his mid-twenties. Aside from being more mature and steady, his domineering personality hadn’t changed much.
Xiaxia had already received a call from him, so as soon as class ended at noon, she went to wait for him at the university’s east gate.
Han Ye was wearing a dark green T-shirt. His hair had been shaved down to a short layer of stubble, and his skin was deeply tanned. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with an imposing presence that increasingly resembled Qin Yuanzheng’s.
Both men carried the same intimidating air that came from spending years training and leading soldiers in the army.
Xiaxia came out with her two roommates. When the girls saw Han Ye from a distance, they both silently took two steps back.
Confused, Xiaxia looked at them. “What’s wrong? Are you leaving already?”
One of her roommates lowered her voice. “Qiao Xia, is that really your brother?”
Xiaxia nodded. “Yes.”
The other roommate said, “Then why doesn’t he look anything like you? You’re so pretty, but he looks so fierce.”
Qin Qiaoxia glanced at Han Ye. She didn’t think he looked fierce at all.
Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that she had grown up in a military compound. All the adults around her had been officers, and they carried themselves much like Han Ye.
Han Ye strode over to Xiaxia and, looking down, gave her a once-over. As usual, he reached out to tug on her braids and said with a grin, “Why are you just standing there like an idiot? Aren’t you going to say hello?”
Xiaxia pulled her braids back and greeted him. “Brother Ye.”
Han Ye nodded. “All right, let’s go. I’ll take you out to eat.”
Xiaxia hurriedly introduced her roommates. “Brother Ye, these are my roommates. This is Mei Xiaofang, and this is Liu Wenli.”
Han Ye stopped and finally followed Xiaxia’s gaze to the two girls behind her.
He had only noticed Xiaxia just now and hadn’t realized there were two other people standing behind her.
Since Xiaxia had introduced them, he nodded a greeting to the two girls. Both of them shyly stole glances at him.
Han Ye didn’t say much more and soon took Xiaxia out to eat.
On the way, he asked her, “You’ve been at school for a few days now. Haven’t you gone out to look around?”
Xiaxia shook her head. “No. Mom won’t let me go out. She says it’s dangerous outside.”
At that, Han Ye’s expression turned serious, and he nodded. “Our mom is right. You’re a young girl, so you’d better not wander around for no reason. Especially at night—there really are quite a few human traffickers around.”
“You know me. I’m usually too lazy to leave the house anyway.”
She was a homebody. Normally, she preferred to curl up at home, and now she mostly stayed in her dorm room as well. She didn’t particularly like going out.
Han Ye took her around the streets near the school, helping her familiarize herself with the area. He even deliberately took her to the nearby police station and told her, “See that? That’s the police station. If anything happens, come straight here.”
Qin Qiaoxia: “…”
After that, Han Ye took her to a restaurant.
While they were eating, Han Ye asked about the two girls he had seen earlier. “They’re both your roommates? You get along pretty well?”
Xiaxia nodded. “We get along all right. We’ve only known each other for a few days.”
As she spoke, Xiaxia suddenly gave Han Ye a meaningful look. “Brother Ye, why are you suddenly asking about them?”
After a pause, she tentatively asked, “Do you think they’re pretty?”
Han Ye was eating a meat bun. “What does pretty or not pretty have to do with anything? They…”
With the bun still in his mouth, he thought for a moment, then asked, “What did they look like again?”
Qin Qiaoxia: “…”
Qin Qiaoxia was speechless. After a few seconds, she placed a bun in Han Ye’s bowl and said, “Never mind. Just eat your buns. Eat plenty.”
Han Ye put a chicken leg in her bowl. “You eat too. Come on.”
Qin Qiaoxia picked up the chicken leg and took a bite, sighing silently to herself.
She had little appetite, so she stopped eating after only a little.
Once Han Ye saw that she was finished, he began devouring the rest of the food like a whirlwind.
When he was nearly done, he noticed that the chicken leg in Xiaxia’s bowl was still there, so he very naturally picked it up and started eating it too.
His movement startled Qin Qiaoxia, and she quickly said, “I—I already ate from that.”
Han Ye bit into it. Hearing what she said, he held the chicken leg back out toward her and asked, “Do you still want it? I thought you were done.”
Qin Qiaoxia: “…”
She silently shook her head. “I don’t want it anymore.”
Han Ye nodded. “Good. Don’t waste food.”
Then he took a few bites and finished the chicken leg Xiaxia had left behind.
Xiaxia really wanted to point out that it was her leftovers, and that her saliva was still on it. Han Ye truly didn’t seem to mind at all.
After dinner, Han Ye walked her back to school. He only had one day off and still had to return to his unit.
He told Xiaxia, “I’ll come see you again next week. Zhou Dingwen is coming next week too, so I’ll bring him along and make him treat the two of us to dinner.”
It had also been a long time since she had seen Zhou Dingwen.
He was coming this way on a mission and planned to visit Han Ye while he was here. Since Xiaxia happened to be studying nearby, the three of them could get together.
Before leaving, Han Ye took two hundred yuan from his pocket and handed it to Qin Qiaoxia. “If you don’t have enough living expenses, come to me. Don’t ask our mom. Your brother has plenty of money.”
Then he added, “I’ll support you from now on.”
He meant that he would cover Xiaxia’s living expenses and tuition in the future, but his words sounded entirely different to Xiaxia.
She really didn’t know what to say about Han Ye.
Forget it. Why should she argue with this clueless blockhead?
…
By the time Han Ye returned to the barracks dormitory, everyone there already knew he had gone to visit his younger sister that day.
The moment he came back, they all crowded around him and began teasing him. “Company Commander, where’s your sister? Why didn’t you bring her back for us to see?”
Han Ye took off his clothes as he replied, “Get lost. Why would I bring my sister here for you to look at?”
Someone else said, “Company Commander, isn’t your sister our sister too? What’s wrong with letting us see her?”
Han Ye kicked him. “My sister is mine. What business is it of yours?”
Another person asked, “Company Commander, is our sister pretty? Do you have any photos?”
Han Ye was finally at the end of his patience. He glared angrily at the teammates surrounding him. “Are you all so idle that you have nothing better to do? I’m warning you—stop asking about my sister. No matter how pretty she is, she has nothing to do with any of you.”
Someone muttered, “Why are you being so fierce, Company Commander? Anyone who didn’t know better would think she was your wife, not your sister. Last time, I even showed you my family photo. I’ve got two younger sisters, and I don’t act like this.”
Han Ye: “…”
