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

During his meeting with the fifth woman, Xue Li finally couldn’t take it anymore. He confessed he had a girlfriend and declared he would bring her home that very noon.

Mrs. Xue didn’t believe him at all, but after his silver-tongued persuasion, she finally, tentatively, took him at his word.

When no one answered from inside the house, Xue Li reached in to open the courtyard gate, then stood in the middle of the yard and called out, "Doctor Yu, I’m here to pick you up!"

After a moment, Xue Li frowned and muttered to himself, ’They should be home. Did they already go to the state-run restaurant to eat?’

On the train, their diet had consisted entirely of the instant noodles Wen Ci had brought along.

Eating it once or twice was fine, but too many instant noodles would make anyone miserable.

Besides, state-run restaurants could only be found in large provincial capitals.

Suddenly, the second-floor bedroom window slid open. A sleepy-looking Yu Qing stood there and called down, "Keep it down. I’ll be right there."

There were rooms both upstairs and downstairs, but Yu Qing didn’t dare stay in such a large house by herself, so she shared a big bed with Wen Ci. It made her feel safer.

"Oh, right." Xue Li immediately clapped a hand over his mouth.

A few moments later, Yu Qing came downstairs, her eyes still heavy with sleep. She had combed her hair and spoke in a soft voice, "Wen Ci is sleeping. Let’s be quiet."

Wen Ci had barely slept during the nights on the old-fashioned train. Now that she knew Mr. Huo was out of danger, the weight on her heart had finally been lifted.

Su Guilan stood outside the gate.

She was hesitant, a feeling of resistance welling up inside her.

When Xue Li and Yu Qing came out, he caught sight of the middle-aged woman at the gate. Frowning in confusion, he asked, "And who is this?"

"She’s Wen Ci’s mother."

Hearing this, Yu Qing’s gaze turned strange as she looked Su Guilan up and down. ’So I finally get to meet the woman who abandoned her own flesh and blood!’

’We’re both women.’

Yu Qing couldn’t fathom how anyone could treat their own child that way. ’After all, that child is a piece of her own flesh.’

Yu Qing spoke slowly, her tone measured. "Wen Ci is asleep. I hope you won’t be disturbing her, ma’am."

She deliberately stressed the last word.

As she spoke, Yu Qing pulled the courtyard gate shut again.

Although Xue Li could be a bit dense, even he could detect the passive-aggressive tone in Doctor Yu’s voice. He frowned and whispered, "That woman is her biological mother. Don’t you think you’re being a little harsh?"

"What’s harsh about it?"

Xue Li wisely kept his mouth shut. He opened the passenger-side door and then glanced at Su Guilan. "Well, ma’am, we’ll be on our way then."

Su Guilan nodded.

Her gaze drifted toward the second-floor bedroom, a hint of maternal affection appearing in her eyes. Perhaps it was just as her son had said.

Finding Wen Ci and bringing her back from that poor mountain village had given her hope, but that hope was shattered when she had to let Wen Ci marry a soldier posted in the distant Northwest in her adopted daughter’s place.

Su Guilan’s eyes welled with tears.

But this wasn’t what she had originally intended.

’Wen Ci grew up in the countryside; she never received a proper education. For someone with her background, marrying Huo Jingyuan was an incredible stroke of luck.’

Just then, a passing neighbor recognized Su Guilan and asked with a smile, "Oh, are your daughter and Old Commander Huo’s grandson back?"

Su Guilan concealed her emotions. Very few people knew that Huo Jingyuan was seriously injured. After all, Old Commander Huo had influential proteges all over the country; the news had to be kept under wraps.

"Yes, the children are on leave and came back to visit."

"You’re so lucky."

·

In the car, Xue Li kept his hands on the steering wheel, but his eyes kept darting uncontrollably toward Yu Qing. "Doctor Yu," he asked curiously, "did you dress up for this?"

"Mhm."

’Earlier, Wen Ci had suggested she make an effort. Even if she was just a fake girlfriend, it was still a first visit. She had to make a good impression.’

Suddenly, Yu Qing remembered something. "We should stop by a department store and buy something to bring with us," she said with a gentle smile. "It wouldn’t be right to show up empty-handed."

"That’ll be too expensive!"

Yu Qing looked at Xue Li and blinked. "What are you thinking about? I’m pretending to be your girlfriend for *your* sake. Of course *you’re* the one paying."

’The main reason is that I don’t have much money,’ she thought. ’Since Beijing is the Capital, things are bound to be expensive. Better to let Xue Li pay for the gifts.’

When they passed a department store, Xue Li bought one of the most popular gift sets of the era. As Yu Qing watched him pay, she could feel her eyes stinging with shock at the price.

’A hundred yuan for just that!’

’That was several months’ salary for her.’

Xue Li noticed Yu Qing’s mood seemed off. "Doctor Yu, what’s wrong?" he asked. "You suddenly seem down."

"It’s nothing."

Yu Qing let out a long sigh.

She had been mentally prepared, but the prices in the Capital still shocked her. "By the way," she said, "you can’t call me Doctor Yu anymore. You have to call me Yu Qing."

’’Doctor Yu’ sounds too formal, not like a couple who are actually in love.’

"Isn’t ’Yu Qing’ a bit too formal?"

"It is a little."

Xue Li asked tentatively, "How about I call you Ah Qing? Or Qingqing?"

Hearing Xue Li say those names, Yu Qing’s skin crawled.

No man besides her own father had ever called her so intimately. "How about just ’Comrade Yu Qing’?" she suggested. "If your parents ask, just say it fits with our culture in the Northwest."

Hearing this, Xue Li pursed his lips and muttered under his breath, "At that point, ’Doctor Yu’ would sound more affectionate."

"What was that?" Yu Qing hadn’t heard him clearly.

"Nothing."

Xue Li quickly changed the subject.

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the Xue Family Mansion. It was the Xue Family’s ancestral home, and thanks to their superb medical skills, the house hadn’t been confiscated during the political turmoil of previous years.

And so, it had been preserved.

As she stepped into the Xue Family Mansion, Yu Qing was greeted by the scent of various medicinal herbs. She sniffed the air, her eyes gradually lighting up. "I smell old ginseng."

The word "ginseng" reminded Xue Li of something. He leaned closer to Yu Qing and whispered, "If my parents offer you ginseng, you have to accept it. We can take it back for Mr. Huo to help with his recovery."

"Huh? They’d give me ginseng?"

"Mhm," Xue Li replied.

His mother loved to give ginseng as a gift.

She had given away ten-year, hundred-year, and even several-hundred-year-old roots before!

The Xue Family Mansion was far larger than the apartments allocated by the military. One had to pass through a small foyer to reach the main hall.

"You must be my sister-in-law?"

Suddenly, a little kid appeared in Yu Qing’s line of sight. The boy, dressed in a tunic suit and holding a medical text, asked with surprising vigor.

Xue Li looked at the little kid. "None of your business."

’After being away for years, he had come back to find this little brother, whom he’d barely seen, was exceptionally clingy. The kid was always hovering around, and it was just plain annoying.’

Yu Qing jabbed Xue Li with her elbow and said irritably, "How can you talk to a child like that?"

"Exactly," Xue Chongsui chimed in.

He then promptly introduced himself. "Greetings, sister-in-law. I am my brother’s full biological younger brother. My name is Xue Chongsui. The ’Chong’ is from the phrase for ’lofty mountains,’ and the ’Sui’ is from the phrase ’many happy returns of the day’."