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

Among the comrades from their batch, Qin Yun and Huo Jingyuan shared a mutual admiration. Their relationship was one of both mentor and friend. And only Huo Jingyuan knew that Qin Yun had a biological younger brother.

"You mean Qin Yun’s brother married his brother’s widow?"

Marrying a brother’s widow was still a relatively common practice in that era. Widows were always the subject of gossip, a situation often resolved if the family was dutiful and had a younger son of marriageable age.

They generally wouldn’t let their daughter-in-law remain a widow.

Huo Jingyuan nodded.

A few years ago, when Qin Jin had just transferred to the Northwest from another military region, Huo Jingyuan had seen that familiar face and immediately guessed his identity.

The commissar’s expression gradually grew solemn. He spoke slowly, "No. She absolutely cannot remain in the Northwest Military Region. I will personally handle getting Qin Jin transferred out."

"There’s no need."

"What do you mean, no need?"

The commissar shot up from his chair, his brow tightly furrowed as he stared at Huo Jingyuan. His eyes blazed with fury as he raged,

"Back then, she took a knife to your heart! You, the Living Yama, were just a hair’s breadth from going down to the underworld to meet the real King Yan. I’m handling Qin Jin’s transfer."

Back then, after Qin Yun’s wife learned that her husband had been killed in action, she repeatedly asked people for details about what happened on the battlefield. That was how she found out Huo Jingyuan had also been in that battle.

Carrying a knife, she found Huo Jingyuan and demanded frantically, "Why wasn’t it you who died? Why?! Give me back my husband’s life!"

As she spoke, the sharp point of the knife plunged toward Huo Jingyuan’s chest.

He didn’t resist at all.

Huo Jingyuan knew his sister-in-law was having a breakdown and needed to vent. Besides, Qin Yun hadn’t just saved him on the battlefield; he had also saved nearly a hundred other soldiers who were deep in enemy territory.

So he willingly became a punching bag for her to vent her grief.

Afterward, when he woke up in the intensive care unit, he learned that his sister-in-law had already left the Northwest.

Huo Jingyuan shook his head. "There’s really no need. Right now is a critical time for Qin Jin’s promotion. If we transfer him out of the Northwest, the last few years of his work will have been for nothing."

Each military region had different criteria for officer promotions, but the one consistent rule was that if a soldier transferred to a different region, they had to serve for several years before becoming eligible for promotion again.

"You—!"

The commissar gritted his teeth, momentarily at a loss for what to say. After a long pause, he let out a heavy sigh. "In that case, you need to make sure your other half is careful."

"I know."

-

At three in the afternoon, Wen Ci stretched. Since she could get off work early, she headed to the doctor’s office. Leaning against the doorframe, she winked at Yu Qing.

"Let’s go, Doctor Yu."

During lulls at work, she had already been picturing herself on stage. ’The water sleeves will flutter all around, but I’ll need drums to go with them.’

’And with drums,’

’the sight of the water sleeves striking the drumheads would be a true visual feast.’

On the way home, Wen Ci saw quite a few new families moving in with their luggage. Yu Qing suddenly asked out of curiosity, "For someone with the Living Yama’s rank, what kind of housing do they assign? How many bedrooms is it?"

"A three-bedroom house," Wen Ci replied.

Yu Qing blinked in disbelief. Although she knew the Living Yama’s military rank was at the regimental commander level, she was still surprised he could be assigned a three-bedroom house.

The surrounding three-bedroom houses were extremely quiet.

"Does no one live around here?" Yu Qing asked.

Wen Ci nodded. "Not yet. I guess it’ll get livelier around here in a month or two."

A few days ago, she had asked Huo Jingyuan why the regiment’s political commissar, who was married, hadn’t moved into a three-bedroom house yet.

Huo Jingyuan told her the commissar hadn’t moved into the three-bedroom house yet because his wife was still living elsewhere, and he didn’t like the idea of an empty home.