Chapter 72: Cheng Mo’s Love at First Sight
In this era, most people were quite decent, especially near the military region. You rarely found any bad people.
Su Zhaozhao let her guard down.
She turned and walked into the guest house.
She wanted to return to her room, enter her space, and take a bath with the spiritual spring water.
After just one day without it, Su Zhaozhao already felt a little strange. It felt like regular water just didn’t have the same effect as the spiritual spring water.
Inside her space, Su Zhaozhao looked at the potatoes sprouting from the black soil, her mind already racing with ideas for what to do with them.
’Potato chips, french fries... and I can sell the fresh ones, too.’
’I’ll run over to the military region’s elementary school tomorrow.’
’She figured the chef there would definitely need them.’
’If I can find a few more major customers like that,’ she thought, ’I could make a lot of money.’
In addition, the number of basic necessities in the space had increased.
The supplies here were like a small warehouse, piled high with all sorts of things she needed.
There were clothes of various styles, and the amount of skincare products, cosmetics, and accessories had also grown.
On top of that, there were now a lot more snacks.
’This is wonderful. In the space, I don’t have to worry about food or clothing at all.’
Su Zhaozhao tore open a pack of spicy pickled chicken feet. The numbingly spicy flavor made her lips tingle and burn.
She took a sip of the clear, sweet spiritual spring water, and in that instant, Su Zhaozhao felt like she had been brought back to life.
「Meanwhile.」
Cheng Mo left the guest house and hurried off to find Xie Huaizheng.
’That girl I just saw outside was absolutely gorgeous,’ he thought.
’She was dressed very simply, but when someone’s that beautiful, it has nothing to do with their clothes.’
’And she seemed so sweet!’
’I smiled at her, and she politely smiled right back.’
’She’s so damn adorable. I really want to get to know her.’
’But I’m worried she might already have a boyfriend. It would be bad to be too forward.’
’After all, you could tell just by looking at her clothes and her air that she was definitely from the city.’
’For her to come all the way out here, there’s only one possibility: she’s here to visit family or a boyfriend.’
’I just don’t know if she’s here to see her brother, or her boyfriend.’
’I’ll ask Xie Huaizheng about it later.’
When he met up with Xie Huaizheng, Xie Huaizheng took him to a restaurant. It was a tiny little place, nothing like the ones in Beijing.
But it wasn’t as if Cheng Mo couldn’t rough it.
"Cheng Mo, are you crazy? Coming all this way? Aren’t you supposed to be working?" Xie Huaizheng had only found out today that Cheng Mo was in West State, and only because Cheng Mo had called him.
He had only asked him to investigate Su Zhaozhao; he never expected the man to show up in person.
"You’re about to get married, and I haven’t even met my sister-in-law yet. Of course I had to come and see what she looks like," Cheng Mo said with a grin.
"Was that really necessary?" Xie Huaizheng shot him a cold glance. "You clearly have too much time on your hands."
"And another thing—who’s your sister-in-law? Am I your little brother?"
In reality, they were only a few months apart in age, but because of that small difference, Cheng Mo had always styled himself as Xie Huaizheng’s older brother.
They had grown up in the same military compound, roughhousing and bickering since childhood. After they grew up, however, their relationship had actually become quite good.
"What’s the matter? Is your sweetheart shy?" Cheng Mo couldn’t resist teasing him. "But hey, even an ’ugly bride’ has to meet the in-laws eventually..."
The words were barely out of Cheng Mo’s mouth when Xie Huaizheng kicked him squarely in the leg.
He hadn’t held back at all. The pain made Cheng Mo clutch his leg, and he could barely hold back the tears that welled up in his eyes.
"OW, OW, OW! Xie Huaizheng, you bastard! I came all the way from Beijing to see you, and you treat me like one of your soldiers? My skin isn’t as thick as theirs! I can’t take a kick like that."
"Then you can just shut the hell up," Xie Huaizheng said coldly, taking a sip of tea. "If you don’t know how to speak properly, then don’t speak at all."
’How dare he call Su Zhaozhao an "ugly bride"?’
An image of her face, blooming with a smile, surfaced in his mind. She always liked to stare at him with those pitiful, puppy-dog eyes.
’If a girl like her was ugly, then there were no beautiful girls left in the world.’
Cheng Mo, however, thought Xie Huaizheng was just upset about him jokingly acting as the in-law. He couldn’t help but sigh. "Man, that temper of yours. You’re not even that close with your own parents, but I’ve never seen you get this physical even when I joke about them."
"I used my foot," Xie Huaizheng corrected him, picking up his tea and taking a sip.
Cheng Mo sighed. ’Fine, whatever. Xie Huaizheng was really something else... getting so serious he had to correct a tiny detail like that.’
But Cheng Mo wasn’t particularly bothered.
"I only took a few days off, so I have to leave tomorrow afternoon. Huai Zheng, come on, let me meet this girl of yours. I’m really curious. What kind of woman could make you suddenly want to get married?"
They had always thought that the most suitable match for Xie Huaizheng in their circle was Jiang Manzhi.
Coincidentally, Jiang Manzhi was also in the Northwest Military Region, so everyone assumed that if they saw each other often enough, something would blossom between them.
But unexpectedly, after all these years, Xie Huaizheng hadn’t given Jiang Manzhi so much as a second glance.
But now, Su Zhaozhao had appeared, and Xie Huaizheng suddenly announced he was getting married. It was making him die of curiosity.
"You want to meet her?" Xie Huaizheng slanted a look at him, his tone carrying a distinct chill.
"Of course! I can help you check her out. Even your parents said they’ve never met this girl. How could you fall for her at first sight?"
’Love at first sight?’
For a moment, Xie Huaizheng found he couldn’t refute it.
At first, he really didn’t have feelings for her. But later, he wasn’t sure how it happened, but as they spent more time together, she had unknowingly found her way into his heart.
’But letting Cheng Mo meet Su Zhaozhao?’
’With Cheng Mo’s motor mouth, would he scare Zhaozhao?’
’Then again, Zhaozhao is smart, a sweet-talker, and pretty thick-skinned. Maybe she could even chat up a storm with Cheng Mo.’
Xie Huaizheng furrowed his brow, then chugged a glass of water to suppress the irritation rising within him.
’Has my possessiveness over Su Zhaozhao really gotten this strong?’
’So strong that I don’t even want her to interact with other men...’
"Oh, by the way, Huai Zheng, I ran into this absolutely stunning girl at the guest house today. Her skin was fair and radiant, her cheeks were rosy, and she had these big, dark eyes and a super sweet smile. Seriously, even in Beijing, I’ve never seen a girl that beautiful. She doesn’t look like she’s from West State, so she’s probably here visiting family or something. Can you help me find out who she is?"
Hearing this, Xie Huaizheng paused.
"Describe her in more detail."
"She looked like a fairy, even more beautiful than Manzhi. You’d never forget her if you saw her once. Have you seen her?" Cheng Mo asked.
He had been completely smitten at first sight.
After twenty-six years of being single, his heart was starting to stir.
From Cheng Mo’s description, Xie Huaizheng was almost certain it was Su Zhaozhao.
He didn’t answer the question. Instead, he said, "Tomorrow, I’ll introduce you to Zhaozhao."