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

Huo Jingyuan’s gaze was as cold as frost. He glanced at Jiang Ye and, seeing her approach, spoke slowly, "While I’ve never hit a woman, if you take another step closer, I might just break my own rule."

Hearing Huo Jingyuan’s cold voice, Jiang Ye froze. She looked at him with aggrieved eyes and said, "What’s so good about Wen Ci? Back in the village, she was probably..."

Before she could finish, Huo Jingyuan struck.

Hitting a woman was an incredibly unmanly thing to do.

But Huo Jingyuan couldn’t tolerate it. Jiang Ye was slandering his wife right to his face. If he just stood by and took that, he wouldn’t be a man.

Jiang Ye, having been slapped, stared at Huo Jingyuan with wide eyes. She immediately clutched her right cheek. "You... you actually hit me?"

In her mind, Huo Jingyuan was a polite and dignified high-ranking officer. She never imagined that this great, upstanding man would actually hit a woman!

Huo Jingyuan chuckled coldly. "You spread rumors about my wife right in front of me, and you expect me to be magnanimous?"

「On the other side.」

Wen Ci noticed the sky was dark and the temperature was dropping. She hadn’t dressed warmly when she left, and the chilly wind made her want to hurry back and cuddle with a certain human furnace.

"Then I’ll wait for the little ones at home tomorrow."

Xiang Qin offered her the kerosene lamp in her hand. "Wen Ci, the road is dark. Take this lamp so you can see better on your way back."

Wen Ci refused. "There’s no need."

Her vision was crystal clear even in the dark.

A few children waved at Wen Ci, calling out obediently, "See you tomorrow, pretty lady!"

"See you tomorrow."

On the way home, Wen Ci felt the cold wind and couldn’t help but quicken her pace. The Northwest Region had no streetlights, but the sky above was dotted with countless stars.

In later generations, pollution was so severe you couldn’t see any stars in the city. Only in the countryside, with its pristine air quality, could you see them twinkle.

When Wen Ci reached the courtyard, she saw the iron gate was wide open and frowned. She clearly remembered closing it before she left, just not locking it.

Suddenly, the sound of soft sobbing reached her ears.

Jiang Ye was clutching her face, tears streaming from her eyes as she roared hysterically, "What right do you have to hit me? I was telling the truth! Wen Ci is a prize in the eyes of the old men in the village! She’s just..."

"Want another slap?"

Wen Ci walked in slowly. The light from the house illuminated the clear handprint on Jiang Ye’s face. From just those few words, she understood the purpose of her visit.

To drive a wedge between her and Huo Jingyuan.

However, Jiang Ye was indeed telling the truth. The original owner of this body had been a prize in the eyes of the old men in their impoverished mountain village. When she was eighteen, her adoptive parents had tried more than once to sell her to an old man as a wife.

But the original Wen Ci got lucky. Police were stationed in the village to crack down on hooligans.

In the eighties, the crime of "hooliganism" was taken extremely seriously. Getting caught meant getting a bullet, with no chance to make excuses. That’s how the original Wen Ci escaped that fate.

"You’re back?"

Huo Jingyuan’s gaze fell upon Wen Ci, the iciness in his eyes melting away considerably. He spoke in a low voice, "You’re still here? Are you planning on staying?"

"Can I?"

Huo Jingyuan: "..."

’I have never met someone so shameless.’

Jiang Ye lowered her gaze, but her eyes held a new layer of jealousy as she looked at Wen Ci. ’Even if I can’t have an outstanding man like Huo Jingyuan...’

’...Wen Ci shouldn’t even dream of getting him!’

A gust of frigid wind howled past, lifting the hem of Jiang Ye’s dress. Goosebumps erupted all over her skin as a chill spread from the depths of her heart through her entire body.

Wen Ci thought for a moment, then turned, went back into the house, and returned with a jacket for Jiang Ye. She spoke slowly, "Whatever your reason for coming to the Northwest, now that you’re a teacher, you should focus on nurturing the nation’s future generation. Use your knowledge to tell the children about the vast world outside."

Most of the children who grew up in the Northwest Military Region followed in their fathers’ footsteps, becoming soldiers when they came of age. The world outside is vast and boundless.

’She hoped the children could go out and see the world.’