Qin Yuanzheng personally wrapped the young girl who had fainted at the gate of the command headquarters in his military greatcoat, and then carried her over his shoulder into the headquarters building.
He called over two guards, had them bring a car around, and sent the little girl to the military region hospital.
He did not go with them, heading straight to the military base instead.
Qiao Lanshu was a bit disappointed. Fortunately, it was not cold in the hospital, and there was hot water to drink.
Most importantly, she had avoided the miserable fate of her past life. She did not have to freeze and faint on the street, get picked up by a ruffian, and then be locked away in a mountain cave dwelling.
Qiao Lanshu had caught a cold from the freezing weather, so she simply stayed in the hospital for a day. By the second day, she could not help but ask a nurse, "Comrade, I would like to ask, which kind-hearted comrade saved me last night? I want to thank him in person."
The nurse smiled and said, "The people who brought you here last night are from the 21st Regiment of our Production and Construction Corps. I heard you were saved by their regiment commander. If you want to say thank you, you can go look for Regiment Commander Qin."
So her Brother Zheng was now in the 21st Regiment of the Construction Corps, and he was even a regiment commander.
Her Brother Zheng was truly amazing.
Qiao Lanshu nodded, pondering in her heart: should she play pitiful and wear thin clothes to go thank Brother Zheng?
Or should she first go buy some clothes, find a guesthouse, track down Sun Mingyong to settle the marriage issue, and finally come back to find Brother Zheng?
Being in an unfamiliar place with no acquaintances, she had to get herself settled first, right?
...
Meanwhile, outside a construction site office in a certain mining area, Qin Yuanzheng was accompanying Commander Li out of the mine. Before getting into the car, Commander Li suddenly asked, "Yuanzheng, how old are you this year?"
Qin Yuanzheng: "Twenty-nine."
Commander Li looked at him. "Why haven't you settled the major event of your life yet? Why didn't you go to the mixer arranged by the base with the female workers from the textile factory?"
Qin Yuanzheng lowered his head. "Don't ask when you already know the answer. I'm still busy here."
Commander Li snorted coldly. "You're always like this whenever this is brought up. I heard you rescued a little girl from the south a couple of days ago? Haven't you gone to check on her these past two days?"
Qin Yuanzheng: "..."
Commander Li said meaningfully, "Saving a life is a great grace... Since you brought the person back, you should go check on her more often. At the very least, you need to help her get settled, right?"
Qin Yuanzheng nodded helplessly. "Understood. I'll go this afternoon."
Right before getting into the car, Commander Li was still talking: "If you can settle your marriage issue as soon as possible, your future path will be much smoother, understand?"
What else could Qin Yuanzheng say? He could only nod. "Understood."
After finally sending Commander Li off, Qin Yuanzheng stood by the road with his hands on his hips. He looked up at the gloomy gray sky and sighed.
He was tall, muscular, and had sharp, striking facial features. Over the years, there had been quite a few women who took a liking to him.
He used to think about starting a family too. After all, what man didn't dream of a wife, kids, and a warm bed?
But two years ago, when he returned from a mission and had a routine physical examination, the medical report showed that he had low sperm motility.
The doctor told him that this counted as infertility, and he would never have biological children of his own in this lifetime.
Because of this, the girls who had previously gone on blind dates with him all turned their attention to his other comrades.
He himself lost interest and decided to dedicate his whole life to serving his country, giving up on marriage.
However, his older cousin, who was the director of a food factory, was very invested in the major event of his life.
So, he simply asked his cousin to introduce him to divorced female comrades who already had children.
Thinking of this, it just so happened that he had to visit his cousin's house today to go on a blind date with a divorced female comrade.
With this in mind, Qin Yuanzheng left the mining area and drove back to the headquarters building.
He parked the car, went to the nearby supply and marketing cooperative to buy two jars of canned fruit and half a pound of biscuits, and carried them to the military region hospital.
Qiao Lanshu was resting in the hospital. It had been too cold these past two days, and she had caught a cold again, constantly having a runny nose and sneezing.
It seemed the freezing weather had truly made her sick.
Moreover, because the climate here was dry, completely incomparable to the humid south, her throat and nasal passages felt extremely uncomfortable. She would even wake up from the dryness while sleeping.
Her skin had become somewhat allergic due to the excessive dryness, breaking out in quite a few small red bumps that were both dry and painful. Her lips were also chapped and hurt a lot.
Qiao Lanshu had grown up in a well-off family. Although her stepmother had never really liked her and secretly planned to kick her out once she graduated.
But as a teacher, she didn't dare to mistreat Qiao Lanshu when it came to basic necessities like food, clothing, housing, and transportation.
Setting aside her past life, Qiao Lanshu had indeed never suffered such hardships.
Now, she decided to rest well for a few days and focus on recovering from her illness first.
At this moment, a knock came from the door. Holding her water cup, she sat up and looked toward the doorway.
She had thought it would be a nurse coming in, but instead, a man wearing a military greatcoat entered.
The man was very tall with broad shoulders and wheat-colored skin. He sported a buzz cut, and his sharp eyes lowered slightly as he stared at her for a moment.
The moment she met the man's gaze, Qiao Lanshu's heart instantly started pounding.
Qiao Lanshu was currently wearing a white Dacron shirt and black trousers. Her waist-length hair was draped over her shoulders, and straight bangs covered her forehead, revealing a small face that still carried a bit of baby fat.
With her fair skin, almond-shaped eyes, cherry-like lips, and an oval face, she looked exactly like a good, obedient girl.
As soon as the good girl saw him, her little face turned red, and her small hands rubbed the hem of her shirt as if she were somewhat nervous.
However, the way she looked at him was extremely focused, carrying a hint of the joy of a long-awaited reunion or the pleasant surprise of regaining something lost, which left Qin Yuanzheng completely baffled.
Consequently, Qin Yuanzheng even lowered his voice, afraid of frightening her. "I heard you caught a cold. Are you feeling any better?"
Qiao Lanshu nodded, her bright black eyes staring fixedly at him. Her nasal voice was heavy, and her tone was soft. "Much better. It's just a bit too cold, and I brought too few clothes."
Listening to her speak and looking at her pitiful appearance, Qin Yuanzheng asked in a low voice, "You're not a local? Where are you from?"
Qiao Lanshu replied, "From Yangcheng."
Qin Yuanzheng was a bit surprised. "Then you've crossed more than half the country. That's quite far. What are you doing here? Going down to the countryside?"
However, going down to the countryside meant having special buses to drop them off and dedicated personnel to receive them.
Within their Construction Corps, there were people specifically assigned to settle the educated youth who came down to the countryside for construction. Over the years, they had already received tens of thousands of educated youth.
As a result, to Qin Yuanzheng's absolute astonishment, the little girl in front of him actually said, "I came to the military base to find my husband."
Qin Yuanzheng: "..."
The expression on Qin Yuanzheng's face was somewhat stunned as he looked at Qiao Lanshu.
The little girl looked delicate and soft, and her voice was gentle and sweet. She seemed so tiny that he thought she was still a child.
After a long while, he finally asked, "Find your husband... How old are you?"
Qiao Lanshu blushed and said, "I'll be eighteen in a few days. Here is my household register, and my letter of introduction."
As she spoke, she took out a pile of documents.
Qin Yuanzheng: "..."
Looking at this silly girl who had absolutely no guard up against him, Qin Yuanzheng suddenly felt a sense of responsibility in his heart.
After all, she was the girl he had rescued. She was completely alone here, a stranger in a strange land, so he had to help her out, right?
He set the two jars of canned yellow peaches and the biscuits he was holding on the table.
Then, he took off his military overcoat, revealing the uniform underneath.
He pulled up a chair and sat by the bed.
Even though they were both seated, Qiao Lanshu was still significantly shorter than him. Looking at Qin Yuanzheng sitting so close, she could even catch the crisp, cool scent of pine and cypress mixed with coal dust radiating from him, and she quietly blushed again.
Qin Yuanzheng, a dozen years younger, looked even taller and more handsome.
Qin Yuanzheng looked at her, finding it somewhat amusing.
This little girl was truly prone to shyness, blushing at the drop of a hat.
So, he pulled his chair back a bit, putting some distance between them.
Qiao Lanshu: ...
Wait, why did he move away?
Qin Yuanzheng looked at her and asked, "Which regiment, battalion, and company does your fiancé belong to? What is his name? Tell me, and I will help you find him."
