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

When Zhu Jing saw Wen Ci, she greeted her warmly. She grabbed an egg from the side and offered it to Wen Ci, chuckling, "Here, have an egg."

Wen Ci waved her hand, refusing. "I couldn’t possibly, Sister Jing."

’The cafeteria at the Northwest Military Region only gives out free eggs on Monday mornings. It’s not Monday, so I can’t take Sister Jing’s egg.’

Zhu Jing explained, "This egg is from the free-range chickens my husband’s family raises. It’s not a cafeteria egg. They’re especially nutritious."

Hearing Zhu Jing’s words reminded Wen Ci that Sister Jing’s husband was from Li Family Village. The village wasn’t far from the Northwest Military Region and was home to about a hundred families.

Wen Ci shook her head, still refusing. "You should give it to your little monkey."

’Sister Jing’s son, her little monkey, just started second grade. He’s so small and thin, and kids need all the nutrition they can get when they’re growing. The free-range egg should be saved for him.’

"My little monkey has his own." With that, she pressed the egg into Wen Ci’s hand, then ladled a bowl of porridge and grabbed two steamed buns, handing everything to her. A blissful smile spread across her face. "I have a salary now. I can give my boy a boiled egg every day."

Before, her family had to scrape by on her husband’s salary alone.

But now, as the head cook in the military region’s cafeteria, she earned her own salary—one that was even higher than her husband’s.

Seeing that she couldn’t refuse, Wen Ci gave Zhu Jing a warm smile and said slowly, "Well, thank you, Sister Jing."

After breakfast, Wen Ci went to the hospital. She was about to head upstairs to change for her shift when she ran into Yu Qing and the nurse she had been chatting with the day before.

Their eyes were glinting with gossip.

Yu Qing took the initiative and asked, "Comrade Wen Ci, is that Living Yama next door really your husband?"

"Um..." Wen Ci hesitated, unsure whether to admit it, when Xue Li’s excited voice cut in. "Yes! That’s her! The Living Yama is her husband!"

"..." Wen Ci was speechless. "You’re always in the middle of things, aren’t you?"

Xue Li just grinned.

He had come to the hospital yesterday to pick up medicine for a comrade but didn’t make it in time. By the time his shift was over, only the night-shift doctors and nurses were on duty, and they didn’t know what had been prescribed during the day.

So he had to come back to get the medicine after morning training ended.

Wen Ci nodded, finally admitting it. "My husband is Huo Jingyuan."

’It wasn’t something worth hiding. She just didn’t want to cause a stir. After all, Huo Jingyuan was a colonel in the Northwest.’

Suddenly, Su Wanqing walked past. Her previously listless eyes instantly lit up when she saw Xue Li. She grabbed his arm and asked, "Captain Xue, do you know who Brother Huo’s wife is?"

When he didn’t answer, Su Wanqing pressed on, "Aren’t you Brother Huo’s comrade-in-arms? You must know who his wife is, right?"

Instantly, all eyes fell on Wen Ci. No one dared to speak without a cue from her.

Seeing this, Yu Qing quickly tried to break the tension. "Our shift is starting. We should get to work."

Wen Ci’s gaze lingered on Su Wanqing for a moment. ’So she’s the one who came back from abroad for Huo Jingyuan.’ Wen Ci looked away and asked nonchalantly, "And what good would it do to know who his wife is?"

"Useful? Of course it’s useful. Brother Huo and I are childhood sweethearts. He must have only married her to fulfill Grandpa Huo’s dying wish.

I’m going to convince them to divorce."

Wen Ci: "..."

’Some "convincing" that would be.’ 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

’If it were the original Wen Ci—uneducated, raised in the countryside, with a timid and insecure personality—she might have actually chosen to divorce when faced with a woman as brazenly direct about her feelings as Su Wanqing.’

’But she wasn’t the original.’

Wen Ci lazily raised her eyelids. Her dark eyes settled on Su Wanqing as she calmly and deliberately said, "So, Doctor Su, are you going to convince *me* to get a divorce?"