Chapter 61: Going with You
All in all, Xie Huaizheng’s relationship with Liu Guifang seemed a bit close, but not in the way one is close to family or friends.
Xie Huaizheng appeared to treat Liu Guifang very well, even with respect.
In all the time she’d known Xie Huaizheng, she had rarely sensed these things from him.
Even back then, when he was smoking, she could sense his irrepressible sorrow.
’What’s going on?’
"That curious?" The man shot her a look as he turned the steering wheel.
"Mhm, I’m curious about everything about you," Su Zhaozhao said with a grin. Her voice was soft and very pleasant to listen to.
It was almost as if she were whispering sweet nothings.
But Xie Huaizheng knew Su Zhaozhao was just a little liar.
She was just curious about his secrets.
"You really want to know, huh?" He let out a soft chuckle, his tone laced with a lazy drawl.
"I do," Su Zhaozhao said, looking at Xie Huaizheng with eager eyes.
"Then take a guess."
’Guess my foot!’
She had been quite curious, but after what Xie Huaizheng said, she forcefully suppressed her curiosity.
"Forget it. If you don’t want to say, I won’t force you."
’It was never mentioned in the novel, so it probably isn’t that important.’
’Even if it is important, I can’t just force Xie Huaizheng to tell me if he doesn’t want to.’
Xie Huaizheng watched as Su Zhaozhao turned her head to look out the window, seemingly a little angry.
A smirk touched his thin lips. He couldn’t help but laugh, a little wickedly.
But teasing Su Zhaozhao and watching her get all puffed up with anger was quite fun.
It was probably because he felt that the usual Su Zhaozhao was always calm and smart, constantly smiling, as if she were perpetually good-tempered.
But he knew it was all an act.
He liked seeing this other side of her, the side where she didn’t have to put on a facade and could just be herself.
But in truth, there was another reason: he didn’t really want to tell Su Zhaozhao about it.
It was part of his past, the dark side of it.
He didn’t want anyone else to know, and he especially didn’t want Su Zhaozhao to know.
Thinking back on that memory—the blood, the bodies of his comrades, the feeling of being on the verge of death...
Xie Huaizheng’s thin lips pressed together. In the dim play of light and shadow, the man’s face was shrouded in darkness, his expression unreadable.
Back in her room, Su Zhaozhao immediately entered her space. Seeing the growing pile of supplies, she figured she could continue selling them for a while longer.
But after some thought, Su Zhaozhao decided against going to the market anymore.
The market was for individual customers, and the purchase quantities were too small.
She felt like she’d never make big money that way.
’I should find places like the military district’s elementary school cafeteria, which can buy a lot at once. Or maybe the military hospital?’
But that would have to wait a couple of days. The day’s ordeal had left her utterly exhausted.
She drank some spiritual spring water, washed up, and then put a facial mask on her face.
In the end, she was so tired she fell asleep just like that.
The next day, Su Zhaozhao didn’t drag herself out of bed until noon.
She changed her clothes and went to the military base canteen for a meal.
Although she could also eat at the hospital, it was clear that the food there wasn’t to Su Zhaozhao’s liking.
The base’s canteen was much more her style.
Today, she ordered pork and cabbage dumplings as her main dish, got two side dishes, and sat down in a corner to eat.
Just then, a group of soldiers finished their training, so the canteen was quite crowded.
Su Zhaozhao sat in a corner, originally hoping to avoid attention, but she was a young, beautiful woman.
Many young soldiers couldn’t help but let their gazes fall on her.
Su Zhaozhao was wearing a white dress today, with a matching white chiffon blouse over it.
The clothes were from her space. Although the material was from her own era, the colors and style were simple and low-key, so they wouldn’t arouse suspicion.
Su Zhaozhao thought her outfit was very modest and basically showed no skin.
What she didn’t expect was that her outfit today gave off a fresh and refined aura.
A loosely tied braid fell over her shoulder, with stray strands of hair falling naturally on either side of her cheeks.
Dressed all in white, she had an ethereal air about her, like a beauty who had stepped out of a classical painting.
But Su Zhaozhao didn’t notice the gazes of others; she was focused on chowing down.
She had to go to the hospital later. Every patient’s condition and treatment progress was different each day.
So every day brought new things to take care of.
She had taken their money, so it was only right that she help solve their problems.
Of course, among them, the most serious case was Jiang Shulan.
She was constantly reviewing Jiang Shulan’s case and thinking of how to advance his treatment.
To that end, she had even brought two apples for Jiang Shulan.
As she was eating, someone came up to her table. Su Zhaozhao looked up to see a very young soldier.
"Comrade, may I sit across from you to eat?" he asked her with a shy smile.
"Of course—"
"No, you may not." A cold voice cut Su Zhaozhao off.
Su Zhaozhao immediately looked to the side.
It was Xie Huaizheng.
She had no idea when he had appeared, but now, Xie Huaizheng sat down directly across from her.
The young soldier saw Xie Huaizheng and bolted like a mouse seeing a cat.
Su Zhaozhao didn’t even have a chance to apologize.
Xie Huaizheng’s icy gaze swept over the surrounding crowd. The soldiers who had been nursing a small crush on Su Zhaozhao instantly lost all interest.
’Well, she’s Cold-faced Yama Xie Huaizheng’s woman. Who would dare make a move?’
"Is that Camp Commander Xie’s fiancée?" someone asked.
"Yeah. I didn’t expect her to be so beautiful. See, I told you! Why would Camp Commander Xie pass up Jiang Manzhi from the arts troupe? Because his fiancée is even prettier."
"Seriously, her whole vibe is great too. She looks like the type who can sing and dance. Sigh, if only I could find a great beauty like that to be my wife..."
...
At that moment, Jiang Manzhi also arrived at the canteen with her friends.
Those words reached Jiang Manzhi’s ears, and she began to tremble all over with anger.
And when those people saw Jiang Manzhi appear, they stopped talking and scurried away.
Xu Fengxia was furious. "Manzhi, did you hear what they were saying? It’s infuriating!"
"Exactly," Liu Ranran chimed in. "How could you possibly lose out to Xie Huaizheng’s fiancée?"
"Enough, don’t talk about it." Jiang Manzhi’s face was pale, and she bit down hard on her lip.
It was as if only by doing so could she keep from feeling too miserable.
’I can’t take this anymore,’ Jiang Manzhi thought. ’To think I’ve loved Xie Huaizheng for so many years, a love so well-known to everyone.’
’And in the end, it has all become a joke.’
’How am I any worse than Su Zhaozhao?’
Watching Su Zhaozhao and Xie Huaizheng chatting and laughing together, Jiang Manzhi felt she couldn’t stay on this base any longer.
’I’ll just tell my parents to arrange a transfer back to Beijing.’
Meanwhile, Su Zhaozhao was smiling at Xie Huaizheng. "Fancy seeing you here. We meet again."
"From now on, don’t come to the canteen when it’s this crowded. Come a little earlier," Xie Huaizheng reminded her.
’Especially not when you’re eating alone.’
When he arrived just now, he had seen quite a few men staring at her.
He knew what it meant when a man stared at a woman like that.
"Okay."
’I don’t usually come at this time anyway; it’s too crowded.’
’It’s just that I was so tired yesterday, I slept in a little.’
She lowered her gaze and focused on her food.
Xie Huaizheng noticed that Su Zhaozhao was always very serious whenever she ate.
Watching her made him feel like eating more, too.
"Are you going to the hospital later?" Xie Huaizheng asked her.
Su Zhaozhao nodded. "Yes. I’ll go see Jiang Shulan first."
"I’ll go with you," Xie Huaizheng said.