First Night with the Army: The Stoic Big Shot Is Done Pretending

"No, it’s fine." Yu Qing shook her head.

She knew Su Wanqing had taken the morning off. If she went back to the dormitory to rest, she’d probably be disturbed and unable to sleep. Her eyes were filled with fatigue. "I’ll go rest in the on-call room at noon."

Her day shift was until two o’clock.

Wen Ci nodded. "Well, if you need anything, just let me know."

-

Meanwhile, Huo Jingyuan had just arrived at the military base when Xue Li ran up to him, panting, and teased cheekily, "Mr. Huo hasn’t been late in ten years. What happened this morning?"

"None of your damn business."

Huo Jingyuan’s lips quirked. He was clearly in a very good mood.

The Youth League Secretary quietly remarked, "Look at him, so damn pleased with himself. The wild joy of an old virgin."

Huo Jingyuan: "..."

The corner of his mouth twitched. With a look of utter exasperation, he kicked the Youth League Secretary. "You just had to open your mouth, didn’t you? Think you’re so great for getting married early? Think you’re hot stuff for having a kid?"

The Youth League Secretary and Huo Jingyuan were old friends. He knew Huo Jingyuan was just lashing out from embarrassment. Laughing, he patted the dust off his trousers. "Damn right it’s great. Go have one yourself if you’ve got what it takes."

"Piss off."

The Secretary slung an arm over Huo Jingyuan’s shoulders. "Come with me to the hospital this afternoon. I have an appointment. Besides, it’s about time you formally introduced me to your wife."

"Uh..."

Huo Jingyuan hesitated. He had just agreed to Wen Ci’s three rules that morning. With a troubled look, he said, "Do we really have to meet at the hospital? You can meet her over dinner at my place tonight." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"But wouldn’t it be convenient?"

Huo Jingyuan told the Secretary about the three rules he’d agreed to with Wen Ci that morning. The Secretary had married young and was considered the regiment’s resident expert on relationship matters.

When the Secretary finished listening, he sucked in a sharp breath. He looked at Huo Jingyuan seriously and asked, "How much does your wife actually look like her picture?"

He had seen a photo of Huo Jingyuan’s wife in the household register that had been mailed from Beijing not long ago. Fair-skinned and beautiful, she looked like a pampered little princess raised in a greenhouse.

Xue Li immediately piped up, "She looks like an angel!"

The Secretary’s expression grew even more solemn. "Hardly anyone in the entire Northwest Military Region knows you’re married," he warned. "And your wife is a nurse at the hospital. You need to stake your claim."

"Stake my claim?"

"Use my doctor’s appointment as an excuse to go to the hospital and pick her up from work."

"But I promised her."

"No ’buts’ about it. Picking your wife up from work is a husband’s duty. The worst that happens is you have to sweet-talk her a little when you get home tonight. Women are easy to win over."

Huo Jingyuan fell into thoughtful silence. He felt the Secretary had a point. Besides, his three rules with Wen Ci didn’t specify any penalties for breaking them.

-

After working for two hours, Wen Ci was passing the first-floor outpatient clinic when she saw a man in a hospital wheelchair. He was by himself against a wall, his foot wrapped in thick bandages, with no one to accompany him.

She walked over, smiling gently. "Do you need any help?"

At the sound of her voice, the man in the wheelchair slowly looked up. A faint ripple stirred in his dejected eyes, and his lifeless demeanor seemed to gain a spark of vitality.

"I’m a nurse here at the Military Region Hospital. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"I..."

Before the man could say anything, another man in a dark green military uniform came running back, shouting, "Zhang Mu, Doctor Su took the day off! I’ll bring you back again tomorrow."

"What happened to your leg?" Wen Ci asked, curious.

Zhang Mu quickly explained, "I’m not crippled! It’s just a minor injury, nothing serious. I’ll be out of this wheelchair and back on my feet in a month at most."

Hearing the eagerness in his clarification, Wen Ci’s eyes crinkled in a smile. The man in the wheelchair had clear eyes that held a hint of endearing foolishness.

He looked just like a 21st-century college student.

"I meant, how did you get injured?"

Suddenly, Zhang Mu’s face flushed bright red. He hung his head and stammered, unable to get the words out. "I... I... I was..."

"Him? He accidentally threw a grenade at his own feet during training," his friend chimed in, a slight smile on his face.

Wen Ci: "..."

’The explosive charge in training grenades is different from live ones; they aren’t life-threatening. A period of recovery would be enough. Still, his luck was really... something else.’

Zhang Mu’s face was beet red with embarrassment. He tugged on his buddy’s sleeve and hissed through gritted teeth, "Wu, can you shut your damn mouth?"

Nearby, Xue Li had come to the hospital to pick up medicine for a comrade. When he saw the boss’s wife in the first-floor outpatient clinic, her eyes crinkling as she smiled at another man, alarm bells immediately went off in his head.

The Northwest Military Region was a bona fide wolf pack. Aside from the female soldiers working the switchboard, the only other women around were the single female doctors at the hospital. The men often faked sickness just for a chance to see a pretty face.

’The boss’s wife wasn’t a doctor, but she was gorgeous. If Boss Huo didn’t stake his claim...’

He forgot all about the medicine, turned on his heel, and sprinted back to the base.

When he reached the shooting range, Huo Jingyuan was recording the new recruits’ scores. Hearing Xue Li gasping, he shot him a sideways glance. "What is it."

The shooting range was several kilometers from the hospital, and Xue Li had run the entire way at a full sprint. The last time he’d run that fast was during Devil’s Week.

"Yes," Xue Li said, taking a deep breath to steady himself. His expression was grave. "Brother Huo, you need to stake your claim, and soon."

"Hm?"

Huo Jingyuan stopped writing. He looked up at Xue Li, his brow furrowed slightly. "Weren’t you getting medicine for Old Wang?"

"Your wife is beautiful. She’s getting a lot of attention at the hospital."

He said no more, but Huo Jingyuan understood the implication.

-

The sun began to set. Wen Ci glanced at the clock; she had ten minutes left on her shift. As quitting time drew near, the night shift nurses were already arriving to take over.

Yu Qing came out of the on-call room, yawning. Overhearing a group of nurses discussing who the most handsome man in the Northwest Military Region was, she walked over to Wen Ci.

"Have you guys heard about the Living Yama in the Northwest Military Region?"

"I have. One of my patients is always complaining about the Living Yama. Just how savage does a guy have to be to earn a nickname like that?"

Keep in mind, this was the 1980s, and people’s mindsets were generally more traditional. The term "Living Yama" alone was enough to strike fear into their hearts.

Yu Qing spoke up slowly. "They say this Living Yama is decisive and uncompromising, completely impartial. He’s not just a commander, but also the captain of the Northwest’s special operations team."

Wen Ci sucked in a sharp breath.

’Why does that description sound so much like Huo Jingyuan?’

Suddenly, Yu Qing seemed to recall that Wen Ci was married. She looked at her and asked in a casual tone, "Wen Ci, where does your husband serve?"

"What? Nurse Wen is actually married?!"

"Wen Ci looks like she’s barely out of her teens! How is she married already?!"

Hearing this, the other nurses stared with wide eyes.

Wen Ci was a bit embarrassed by the "young girl" comment. She was just about to speak when she noticed Yu Qing staring as if she’d seen a ghost. Wen Ci followed her gaze.

Huo Jingyuan was standing at the hospital entrance in civilian clothes. He had a tall, commanding presence. The man’s expression was frosty, but his eyes were locked directly on Wen Ci.