"Regiment Commander Zhou, there's a letter for you." Zhou Yueshen's door was knocked upon.
Zhou Yueshen stood up and opened the door. It was an envelope from Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan Province.
He reached out to take it and was just about to close the door when he heard a hurried voice, "Zhou..."
Bang— The door was slammed shut.
Yang Yujie, panting heavily: "..."
She had been quite happy initially. The whole way there, she had thought that no matter how special Zhou Yueshen had been to that Si Nian, he had ultimately chosen to return.
Si Nian wasn't all that remarkable.
Men were good at pretending; any kindness shown to her was merely superficial.
She didn't intend to ruin their relationship, but she just couldn't believe, deep down, that Zhou Yueshen, who was cold to everyone, could truly fall in love with a woman.
If he were capable of real feelings, he wouldn't have waited until now.
Yang Yujie felt she had won.
She had been back for a while and hadn't quite understood why her father had assigned her so much work.
It wasn't until she overheard her subordinates gossiping that she learned Zhou Yueshen had actually returned.
Thinking of that father of hers, Yang Yujie's expression turned sour.
If it weren't for him back then, her brother wouldn't have died, and Zhou Yueshen wouldn't have left.
Although she wasn't entirely sure what terms he had used to get Zhou Yueshen to return, it was ultimately good news for her.
Yang Yujie was a woman with self-respect. She knew Zhou Yueshen was married, so she had always suppressed her feelings deep in her heart, not wanting anyone to think she was trying to break up their relationship.
Having waited for him all these years, she didn't mind waiting a little longer.
This time, she had looked into it: Zhou Yueshen and his first wife had been together for less than a year before divorcing.
Now that Zhou Yueshen had left, Si Nian was alone with three children who weren't even her own. Yang Yujie didn't believe anyone would genuinely care for children who weren't their own flesh and blood.
Sooner or later, the truth would come out.
However, all these pleasant thoughts were utterly shattered the moment Zhou Yueshen unceremoniously closed the door in her face.
Yang Yujie told herself that Zhou Yueshen was just avoiding impropriety.
Yes, that must be it. After all, he was a married man now.
He must be avoiding suspicion; otherwise, he wouldn't be so cold.
Comforting herself this way, she turned to leave but was stopped.
"Regiment Commander Yang, the General asks you to return home early today."
She was intercepted by her father's guard.
Yang Yujie's face darkened slightly, her tone less than polite. "Understood."
At the Yang residence, two men were sitting in the living room. One, with slightly graying hair, appeared to be in his fifties and wore a Zhongshan suit.
Opposite him sat Wang Jianguo, clad in a crisp military uniform.
Wang Jianguo's hair was still messy, a cigarette dangling from his lips. At thirty-three, he looked much more mature than Zhou Yueshen, his face covered in scars. Though somewhat fierce-looking, it added to his mature masculine appeal.
Wang Jianguo was burly and tall; sitting next to Zhou Yueshen, they resembled two mountains.
The two had once been rivals, having fought several times before their relationship improved.
He seemed somewhat rakish, but his eyes were sharp and piercing, clearly not someone to be trifled with.
He had come this time to report on Zhou Yueshen's situation to the old General.
"He's got a wife and three kids back home, Old General. Don't push him too far," he said, taking a drag of his cigarette and exhaling smoke.
The old General smiled kindly. "Don't worry. Yueshen has been with me since he was a teenager, longer than any of you. Would I mistreat him?"
"Hah." Wang Jianguo chuckled. "You sure know how to talk."
"Even a rabbit bites when cornered, let alone a beast like him."
"Old General, you're about to retire. Can't you just take it easy?"
"Silence! Who do you think you're talking to like that?" A cold female voice interrupted him.
Wang Jianguo raised an eyebrow and looked over.
Yang Yujie walked in, the picture of an ice queen.
"General! What did you need me for?"
The old General smiled. "Yujie, no need to be so formal at home. No 'General' here. I called you back today mainly hoping you'd keep an old man company for a meal."
Then, he turned to Wang Jianguo. "Jianguo, you stay too."
The atmosphere instantly became extremely awkward.
Yang Yujie's face darkened. She understood perfectly well that when her father wore that expression, he was definitely about to play matchmaker.
He had introduced several officers to her before, all sorts, and she had wanted to stay as far away as possible.
This time, he was even introducing Wang Jianguo? Was he insane? Wang Jianguo was so old!
Although Wang Jianguo's family background was good, with generations of officials, she detested his type the most.
Not only was his name rustic, but he also had an air of a street ruffian. Zhou Yueshen was the one from the countryside, yet Wang Jianguo seemed even more like a country bumpkin.
Foul-mouthed, a chain-smoker, undisciplined, unpleasant voice... the list of flaws was endless!
Just thinking about it made Yang Yujie's face turn green with disgust.
Her look of disdain and disgust was blatantly obvious, completely unconcealed.
Wang Jianguo took another drag of his cigarette and stubbed it out in an ashtray nearby.
His eyes grew a shade colder.
Originally, he hadn't planned to stay, but now he instead smiled. "Alright then."
Yang Yujie's expression turned even uglier.
The dinner table atmosphere was stiff, but Wang Jianguo showed no restraint whatsoever.
Watching his complete lack of manners, Yang Yujie lost her appetite just from looking and didn't touch her chopsticks.
As night fell, Wang Jianguo prepared to leave.
The old General spoke up. "It's late, Yujie. You should head back too."
"Jianguo, could you trouble you to see Yujie home?"
Yang Yujie had moved out and had her own dormitory.
Hearing this, she gritted her teeth silently, knowing her father wouldn't give up.
Was he really so determined to pair her with Wang Jianguo? Was family status truly that important?
Clearly, Zhou Yueshen was much more capable than Wang Jianguo. Although his family background wasn't good, if he hadn't left back then, his current rank would definitely be no lower than Wang Jianguo's.
She hated people who judged others solely by their family background.
But then, thinking of Zhou Yueshen's coldness towards her, a wave of sadness washed over her.
If back then, if she had stopped Zhou Yueshen from leaving, would everything be different now?
She disliked Wang Jianguo but knew it wasn't his fault.
The two walked outside in silence. Wang Jianguo opened the passenger door, his voice still carrying a hint of mockery. "Get in, Miss."
Yang Yujie was infuriated by his attitude and was about to say, "No need!" when she saw her father standing on the second floor, watching her.
A chill ran down her spine, and she resignedly got into the car.
At that moment, Yang Yujie felt like a puppet.
A toy to be controlled, doing whatever others told her to do.
Her mind screamed in rebellion, but her body moved against her will, disobedient.
Wang Jianguo asked her a couple of questions, but she ignored him.
Wang Jianguo laughed in exasperation. "Fine, don't talk if you don't want to. I'm not in the mood to indulge you either."
No matter. He had plenty of ways to make her talk. "If you have such a big problem with this, I'll call the old General later and tell him to stop giving you a hard time."
"You wouldn't dare!" Yang Yujie looked up, glaring at him excitedly, her delicate face flushed red.
Seeing the desired effect, Wang Jianguo curled the corner of his mouth.
"If you don't dare to resist, then accept your fate. Why are you acting like I owe you something?"
"Dad this, dad that, Wang Jianguo, can't you have a bit of class? You're over thirty years old." Yang Yujie said irritably.
"This is just how I am. If you don't like it, suck it up."
"You!" Yang Yujie gritted her teeth. "My father must have been blind."
Wang Jianguo let out an angry laugh and jerked the steering wheel, making a sharp U-turn to head back.
Yang Yujie panicked. "What are you doing? What do you think you're doing?"
Wang Jianguo curled his lip in a cold sneer. "Letting your 'old man' hear how shamelessly you talk."
"You, stop! I... I'll apologize, alright!"
"Wang Jianguo!"
"Beg me?"
Yang Yujie glared at him as if she wanted to devour him whole.
Seeing the car was about to reach her family's doorstep, Yang Yujie's defiance completely crumbled. Gnashing her teeth, she said, "I beg you..."
The car screeched to a sudden halt.
Yang Yujie's face flushed red, feeling a humiliation she had never experienced before.
Her father's commands were not to be contradicted. She had understood this principle deeply since childhood. Her brother's departure had cast too large a shadow over her, forcing her to live her entire life under her father's manipulation.
No one knew that she, known as the Ice Beauty in the military district, was like a mouse watched by a cat at home, every move made with extreme caution.
Because she knew that one careless mistake could cost her everything she had now, her life, and someone else would take her place...
How could Yang Yujie dare to gamble with her future?
She bit her lower lip until it almost turned white.
Tears of humiliation finally streamed down her face.
Wang Jianguo felt somewhat agitated. He lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and said, "Want to talk?"
...
Zhou Yueshen closed the door and opened the envelope.
He read the letter's contents carefully.
Noticing that Si Nian said she wanted to try the local specialties here and see the salt lakes and deserts.
She asked if it was very desolate here.
He was taken aback for a moment.
There were indeed natural salt lakes in the northwest, still undeveloped.
But he had only ever glanced at them in passing.
The color was quite unique.
So she liked looking at lakes?
As for the desert, he hadn't been there much. It was desolate and bleak, scorching hot when it was hot, freezing cold when it was cold, nothing particularly beautiful about it.
But from the tone of Si Nian's words, he could imagine she was writing with anticipation.
Zhou Yueshen's life here consisted of nothing but training and missions. He had never paid attention to such things.
So now, reading that Si Nian wanted to come, he actually felt a bit happy.
However, his smile soon froze.
That line about not giving him a green hat—no matter how he read it, it sounded off.
Zhou Yueshen's deep eyes narrowed tightly.
It seemed writing letters couldn't really solve the problem.
He should find time to call home.
Originally, he only needed to stay here for a month, but now Zhou Yueshen felt restless.
When he left last time, it was in too much of a hurry, and he had agreed to the higher-ups' request.
If he didn't resolve this issue, they would keep bothering him here.
To avoid causing trouble for his family, Zhou Yueshen chose to come back and settle it.
A month wasn't long.
But now, it felt unexpectedly drawn out to him.
He clutched Si Nian's letter, reading it over and over, but each time he reached that one line, he would skip it directly.
Looking up, the sky was pitch black.
No city felt colder than this one.
But he wanted to tell Si Nian that the northwest was not entirely barren.
Si Nian prepared some braised delicacies and pastries, sending some to the Jiang family, giving some to Second Child to share with his little friends.
Then she found Yu Dong and asked him to help deliver some to Fu Qianqian.
Fu Qianqian was pleasantly surprised and overjoyed to receive the food from Si Nian.
However, her words were critical: "Hmph, she finally has a conscience, knowing to send me something. Although it looks pretty ordinary, since she made it herself, I'll reluctantly accept it."
Her smug expression amused Yu Dong.
He quite liked Fu Qianqian's tsundere attitude.
"Qianqian, I bought two movie tickets for my boss, but he got transferred. The tickets would just go to waste with me. Do you want to go see a movie?"
He casually pulled out the movie tickets he had bought.
Fu Qianqian exclaimed, "Such a good deal!"
Yu Dong quickly nodded.
Fu Qianqian said happily, "Great!"
Yu Dong's heart leaped with joy.
Then he heard her add, "Two tickets are perfect. When I'm on holiday, I'll go find Si Nian, and we can go watch it together!"
Yu Dong: "?"
...
After the holiday, Si Nian returned to school to continue teaching.
Lin's father and Lin's mother, worried about things at home, stayed for a few days and then left.
Second Child proudly showed off his cloth shoes at school.
Because he was the only one in the whole school wearing this pair of shoes.
Mom said they were called something.
Called Grandma's Limited Edition.
The only pair in the entire school.
He was thrilled.
"My grandma made these for me. Listen, they go 'tap-tap-tap' when I walk. Doesn't it sound nice?"
A group of little kids nodded in agreement. "Sounds nice, so fun!"
"Second Brother, can your grandma make me a pair too?"
"No, my grandma already went back home."
"Then Second Brother, can I try them on?"
Zhou Zehan, seeing their pitiful looks, hesitated and said, "Alright, but only to try. You have to give them back to me right away."
The little kids quickly agreed.
The atmosphere here was lively, but fourth grade was different.
The bragged-about limited edition shoes were also worn on Zhou Zedong's feet.
In the city, people mostly wore sneakers or leather shoes, especially at their school. No one had seen kids wearing cloth shoes.
For them, it was a symbol of being poor.
"Such ugly shoes. My grandma told me you were from the countryside, and I didn't believe it. Turns out it's true."
"Hey, bookworm, I'm talking to you. Are you deaf?"
The speaking boy snatched the calligraphy copybook from Zhou Zedong's hands.
Zhou Zedong was a transfer student and had attracted some attention when he arrived.
Because he wasn't enthusiastic like everyone else, always cold and aloof.
His skin was also darker.
But everyone was just curious.
He became infamous for shoving his deskmate.
Everyone thought he was scary.
Now, hearing Li Youcai say this, they all looked at him in surprise.
Zhou Zedong's face darkened. He looked up, staring straight at the boys in front of him, his voice tinged with anger. "Give it back!"
Li Youcai, half a head taller, held the copybook high, taunting him. "Oh, so you're not deaf?"
Zhou Zedong immediately stood up and walked over.
"Don't come closer!" Li Youcai stepped back, making a disgusted face. "My grandma told me your family raises pigs. You must reek of pig manure."
A group of children burst into laughter.
Zhou Zedong clenched his fists until they cracked.
"Come on, crawl between my legs, and I'll give it back to you. How about that?" He pointed between his legs.
"Youcai, isn't that a bit much?"
"What's too much? My grandma said his stepmom works at our school. If he dares disobey me, I'll get his mom fired."
