Chapter 96: Invitation to a Meal
"You kid, I can let it slide that you never come home, but you’re getting married? Are you really going to hide something this major from your parents? They’ll be furious if they find out!"
Xie Huaizheng laughed. "Don’t worry, they won’t be. They’ll be ecstatic that I’m even getting married. Would they really worry about me picking the wrong person?"
It was true. Over the past couple of years, as he got older, his parents had grown quite anxious.
They were worried he’d spend all his time at the military base and end up missing his chance at marriage.
"You and your stubborn streak... haha, Old Xie’s boy really is a chip off the old block." Li Jian Country couldn’t help but laugh as he finished speaking.
"Fine, do whatever you want. I won’t interfere," Li Jian Country said. "But you have to let me meet the young woman, don’t you? I’m practically your elder. What, you’re about to get married and I don’t even get to meet her?"
He was genuinely curious what kind of woman could finally make Xie Huaizheng want to settle down.
It hadn’t been long at all. At first, Xie Huaizheng had seemed completely indifferent, and now he was proactively submitting a marriage application.
The background check wasn’t finished yet, so he felt he needed to meet Su Zhaozhao.
Hearing this, Xie Huaizheng frowned.
He did not agree right away.
"Seriously? Xie Huaizheng, you won’t even let me meet the young woman?"
"You’re too intimidating. I’m worried you’ll scare her."
Li Jian Country: "???"
’And you think you’re any better?’ Li Jian Country grumbled to himself.
’He was way better than Xie Huaizheng, wasn’t he?’
Xie Huaizheng was known as the "Cold-faced Yama" on base. At least he’d never been stuck with a nickname like that.
If the girl wasn’t even afraid of Xie Huaizheng, how could she possibly be afraid of him?
Li Jian Country felt that as long as he wasn’t putting on a stern face, he was actually quite pleasant.
"Xie Huaizheng, have your girlfriend come over to my house for dinner. Your aunt will get everything ready. See if you’re free in the next day or two."
"Alright. I’ll ask her. If she’s free, we’ll make it tomorrow night."
Xie Huaizheng agreed immediately.
He knew that if he didn’t let Li Jian Country meet her, the man might hold up his marriage application.
After all, Li Jian Country was the one who had to approve it.
Watching Xie Huaizheng’s retreating figure, Li Jian Country shook his head. He sighed, caught in a dilemma. This was such a huge deal, and Xie Huaizheng wasn’t telling his family.
But he and Xie Guanghua were old friends. When Xie Huaizheng first came here, Xie Guanghua hadn’t said anything to him on the surface.
But he wasn’t an idiot. How could he truly ignore Xie Huaizheng?
He had certainly helped look after him in his daily life.
After some thought, Li Jian Country finally dialed Xie Guanghua’s number.
「The next day.」
Su Zhaozhao slept in.
She decided to give herself the day off.
After getting up and washing, she was about to go get something to eat when she found a bag of breakfast hanging on her doorknob. Su Zhaozhao was a bit confused.
’Who left this here?’
She took it and found a note attached.
"Don’t you dare skip breakfast. It’s bad for you."
Although there was no name, Su Zhaozhao could already picture Xie Huaizheng’s icy face from the energetic, flamboyant handwriting and the bossy tone.
’How thoughtful of him.’
Su Zhaozhao looked at the note.
Then, she took a bite of a steamed bun.
Even though it was cold, Su Zhaozhao ate all of it.
It was a token of Xie Huaizheng’s affection, after all. She’d be letting him down if she didn’t eat it.
After she finished, Su Zhaozhao felt so full she probably wouldn’t even need lunch. She ate an apple as well.
She popped into her space to play for a bit, then slowly made her way to the military district hospital.
Today, Jiang Shulan was doing much better.
As soon as she entered the hospital room, she heard Jiang Shulan laughing and talking with his parents.
When he saw Su Zhaozhao, he greeted her, "Good afternoon, Doctor Su."
"Hello. You look like you’re doing much better."
As she usually did, Su Zhaozhao shared some snacks with them. They were all sorts of things, nothing that looked particularly rare, but they definitely tasted better than anything you could buy in a store.
Jiang Shulan said to Su Zhaozhao, "The doctor told me I can be discharged in another week."
Su Zhaozhao smiled at him. "Congratulations! Well, I have some good news for you, too. My part of your treatment will be wrapping up in the next day or two as well."
Jiang Shulan’s eyes widened in surprise, but his expression quickly fell into disappointment.
"So that means, in the future, I might not see you anymore, Doctor Su?"
"Not necessarily. If you stay around here, you’ll probably see me."
Jiang Shulan smiled. "You’ll be staying in West State?"
"Maybe?" Su Zhaozhao thought for a moment. ’If I marry Xie Huaizheng, I’ll most likely end up staying here, won’t I?’
But truth be told, she still hoped to get out and travel, to see more of the sights this era had to offer.
It was a landscape completely different from her own time.
’For some reason,’ Su Zhaozhao thought, ’it’s probably quite charming in its own way.’
The unique characteristics of a different time, carrying the aesthetic of an era of economic prosperity.
"That’s a shame. I think I’ll be going back to my hometown with my parents then."
Hearing this, Su Zhaozhao was a bit surprised. "You’re going back?"
She was surprised because she’d heard from Xie Huaizheng that the military district had arranged a job for Jiang Shulan. Given his special circumstances, he could have stayed on to do civilian work for the army.
"Yes. My parents are getting older, and this place is pretty far from home. I don’t want to make them worry about me anymore. If I stay home, I can take care of them."
Seeing the gentle light in Jiang Shulan’s eyes as he looked at his parents, Su Zhaozhao breathed an inward sigh of relief.
’This was good. This was very good.’
The fact that Jiang Shulan was thinking about the future meant he had found the will to live.
Su Zhaozhao knew he was on the mend.
People really were like that. One thought could lead to heaven, another to hell.
Back then, if no one had talked him down, his thoughts might have spiraled into a dead end, and he might have chosen to end his life in the most tragic way.
Thankfully, someone had pulled him back from the brink—and that someone wasn’t just her, but those soldiers as well.
As Su Zhaozhao came out of Jiang Shulan’s hospital room, she happened to run into Lin Shumo.
Lin Shumo saw Su Zhaozhao and smiled. "What a coincidence, Zhaozhao."
"Yes, we meet again," Su Zhaozhao said.
"His condition should be stable now?" Lin Shumo glanced at Jiang Shulan’s room.
Su Zhaozhao nodded. "I think it is. His life will only get better from here on out."
She knew she didn’t need to worry about Jiang Shulan’s future.
The army would definitely help him.
Lin Shumo asked, "Does that mean you won’t be coming to the hospital anymore?"
Su Zhaozhao considered it. "Not necessarily. But if I do, I’ll probably have to improve my academic qualifications first, right?"