Chapter 303

Zhong Heyang was eating. When he heard his wife's words, he nodded and said, "I only listen to your sister-in-law, so you have to be nice to her."

Zhong Xuexi was so embarrassed that she looked at the ribs in the bowl and suddenly felt that they were not delicious anymore.

"By the way, I received a call from my second sister this morning."

Li Guixiang immediately asked: "What did she say to you?"

"Aren't I going to marry Xiuyuan soon? My second sister wants to come back to attend our wedding."

Zhong Xuexi was a little worried. "But once she comes back, Wei Zhihe will definitely know about it, and then it will be troublesome, so I advised her not to come back."

Lin Ziqiu pursed her lips and said, "That being said, is it true that my second sister will have to stay away from him forever and never be able to return home?"

"Siyu's disease has no cure yet. I would like to go over and help Yuan'er, but she always tells me that she doesn't want me to go."

Li Guixiang was worried about her two great-grandchildren, and felt bad for her granddaughter who was alone with two children outside. "Damn Wei Zhihe, a beast like him should be arrested!"

Zhong Heyang put down his chopsticks, his eyes filled with a solemn murderous look, "Grandma, wait a little longer, he can't escape."

Not only Wei Zhihe, but the entire Ruan family, he wants to uproot it.

It also requires timing.

Li Guixiang couldn't help but wipe away her tears. "After Xuexi gets married, I will go to the capital. No matter what, it's good for me to help her take care of the child."

"Grandma, don't rush this. Second sister didn't want you to go because she knew you weren't used to the life there. Let's discuss it together when the time comes."

Zhong Xuexi comforted her, "Besides, Wei Zhihe hasn't found my second sister for such a long time. Maybe he has been keeping an eye on our house. If you really go there, he might even know where my second sister lives now."

This is why Zhong Xueyuan refused to call the military compound.

Usually she either contacts Zhong Xuexi or Ruan Qing.

But most of the time, it was Ruan Qing who contacted her first, and the location of each call was different, because she was afraid that Wei Zhihe would find out something.

"You're right." Li Guixiang sighed, "When will this kind of life end?"

Zhong Xuexi patted her grandmother's hand and said, "Don't be sad. Nian Nian and the others must miss you very much. Come with me to school tomorrow and call my second sister and the others."

Li Guixiang felt better now.

-

A dim light bulb swung on the beam, and the warm yellow light filled the small bedroom.

Lin Ziqiu lay on her side on the bed, her fingers unconsciously twisting around the corner of the quilt. She hesitated for a long time before she whispered about Zhong Xueyuan.

"How about after Xuexi gets married, I'll take Grandma and the Zhao family on a long trip together, saying that we're going to accompany Xuexi and her family on their honeymoon."

In this day and age, the concept of a honeymoon is not common. After marriage, most newlyweds simply start their normal family life without much awareness of setting aside time and money for a honeymoon.

"Honeymoon?" Even Zhong Heyang had never heard of this word.

Lin Ziqiu turned over and faced him, "Yes, it's just the two newlyweds choosing a place to go out for fun after their wedding."

Zhong Heyang found this very interesting. "We haven't had our honeymoon yet. Where do you want to go the most? I'll take you there sometime."

Lin Ziqiu pushed him and said, "I'm telling you something serious. It's not just my second sister who wants to go home. The two children haven't seen their great-grandmother for such a long time. They must want to come back too."

Zhong Heyang reached out and gently stroked the hair by her ears, and said gently: "I'm talking about serious matters."

Lin Ziqiu blushed a little embarrassedly, "This... let's talk about our business later. Besides, you are at a critical moment now. You have already asked for leave to go to Su City. It's not good to ask for leave so frequently."

Seeing his wife thinking so much about him, Zhong Heyang felt a little guilty, "I wronged you by marrying me."

When he thought about the fact that he had refused to marry her, Zhong Heyang couldn't help but shudder.

It’s hard to imagine what Lin Ziqiu would have faced if she hadn’t married him.

In this era, a woman’s reputation is too important. A woman who is abandoned by her fiancé may find it difficult to remarry.

She was helpless at the time. If she really went back to the Li family's den of wolves, he couldn't imagine what Lin Dahai would do to her.

Even being beaten was considered a light punishment.

Maybe he would just marry her off to some random man.

You can also get some betrothal money.

Zhong Heyang couldn't help but hug Lin Ziqiu in his arms, "Whatever you want to do in the future, just go ahead and do it. I'll take care of anything. I'll always be your most reliable supporter."

Lin Ziqiu was a little confused by his sudden sentimentality, but thinking of the college entrance examination in the near future, she didn't know how to tell Zhong Heyang for a moment. Once the admission letter comes, she will definitely leave here. She will go to college, while Zhong Heyang will stay in the army.

They were destined to live apart.

Lin Ziqiu bit her lower lip and tried to avoid the question, "I...I'm sleepy."

Zhong Heyang lowered his head and kissed her forehead, "Okay, let's sleep together."

-

It was just daybreak and the morning mist had not yet dissipated, but Jiang Shen was already waiting downstairs for someone. Many people passing by looked at him sideways, thinking that the leader had come to visit his mother.

But almost no one dared to come up and chat with him. They just greeted him from a distance and left.

Zhong Xueyuan led the child downstairs, and when she raised her eyes, she met the man's deep eyes.

She hastily looked away, "Sorry to have kept you waiting!"

"Good morning, Uncle Jiang!"

Zhong Niannian called him sweetly, and Jiang Shen's originally cold face became a little warmer. He leaned down and hugged her, "Have you had breakfast?"

"I've eaten it!"

As she spoke, she took out an aluminum lunch box from her bag and stuffed it into Jiang Shen's arms. "My mother made buns this morning. This is yours."

Jiang Shen looked at Zhong Xueyuan with a little surprise.

When Zhong Xueyuan thought about how she almost failed to make the buns, she was a little embarrassed and warned the other party in advance, "I'm not very good at making pasta... The taste may not be as good as the ones made in the cafeteria..."

Zhong Niannian praised enthusiastically: "No way! Mom's cooking is the best!"

“You!”

Zhong Xueyuan felt a little embarrassed by the praise and just wanted to end the topic quickly.

Her original intention was to ask the other party to help pick them up and drop them off, and she had nothing to repay him. She still remembered that Zhong's mother mentioned that Jiang Shen liked to eat buns the most, so she got up early and tried to make some.

It's just that her cooking skills were inherited from her grandmother Li Guixiang. After she married into the Ruan family, the whole family mostly ate in the army canteen and rarely cooked, so she basically had no chance to practice her cooking skills.

Everyone has his or her strengths, and she tried to learn them seriously, but her performance was just mediocre. However, the Ruan family made a big fuss about the fact that her cooking was not delicious.

Later on, she even attributed the problem to her laziness.

They said she was wasting food on purpose.

Wei Zhihe never defended her once and tacitly allowed his parents to throw such unreasonable mud at him.

So what is love?

The so-called love that Wei Zhihe always talked about was clearly a joke.

Jiang Shen didn't say anything. He carried the two children into the car and put the aluminum lunch box that Zhong Niannian gave him into his army green shoulder bag.

Zhong Xueyuan didn't dare to sit in the passenger seat, so she sat in the back with her two children.

The sound of the car's engine startled the sparrows on the sycamore tree. The man's deep voice mixed with the click of gear shifting said, "Hold on tight."

In the back seat, Zhong Niannian leaned on the back of the front seat and squeezed her head to the front, "Uncle Jiang, will you and mom come pick us up after school?"

Zhong Xueyuan hurriedly tugged at her daughter's clothes, "Don't move, be careful not to bump into Chief Jiang."

But Zhong Niannian refused to sit down, so Zhong Xueyuan had to reach out and hug her. She accidentally touched Jiang Shen's arm, and she was so frightened that she retracted her hand as if she had been electrocuted.

The pair of stern eyebrows in the rearview mirror seemed to bend slightly. As the jeep rolled over the bumpy gravel road, his deliberately soft voice came, "Who would Xiao Nian Nian like to pick up?"

The little girl showed an innocent smile, and her voice like a silver bell touched people's hearts, "I like them all!"

At such a young age, she has learned to be fair, "I would be even happier if Uncle Jiang and my mother came to pick us up together."

Jiang Shen glanced at her sideways and said jokingly, "Little rascal."

Seeing her daughter happily talking to Jiang Shen, Zhong Xueyuan felt a little worried.

Even if Jiang's mother wanted to bring them together, neither she nor Jiang Shen had any feelings for each other.

What she was worried about was that over time, the two children would develop feelings and dependence on Jiang Shen.

But all good things in life must come to an end, let alone a person like Jiang Shen. It is impossible for him to protect two children all his life.

Realizing this, Zhong Xueyuan forcibly hugged her daughter back and said, "Don't disturb the chief's driving. Sit tight. Look how well behaved your brother is."

Seeing that her mother’s expression was a little serious, Zhong Niannian didn’t dare to be naughty anymore and sat down obediently.

After arriving at the school, Zhong Niannian held her brother's hand and walked into the school.

A classmate called out to them, "Zhong Niannian, is the man who drove you there your new father?"

When her father was mentioned, Zhong Niannian's face immediately turned serious, "No! Don't talk nonsense!"

"What about your own father? Does he not want you anymore?"

Zhong Niannian had been resentful in her heart that her father had not come to see her and her brother for so long. Now she was like a little hedgehog with its fur standing on end, and her voice was sharp.

"No way! My dad wouldn't abandon me and my brother!"

Another short boy next to him immediately said, "Teacher Gao said your parents are divorced. It must be because your mom gave birth to a stupid brother like you that he doesn't want you!"

"My brother is not a fool!"

What Zhong Niannian can't stand the most is other people saying bad things about her brother.

"He can't even speak, he is a fool! Idiot, idiot!"

The two boys pointed at the brother and sister and laughed at them. Zhong Niannian clenched her fists and rushed forward to punch them each.

"Zhong Niannian, you are an unwanted wild child, and you dare to hit me! Do you want to die?"

The boy who got beaten became furious and raised his fist to fight back.

The three of them were fighting. Seeing his sister being bullied, Zhong Siyu stopped being stunned and rushed over with a brick nearby.

-

The car turned past the gray brick wall of the art troupe and the sound of piano music from rehearsal drifted over.

When they were almost at the main entrance, Zhong Xueyuan straightened her back suddenly, "Jiang... Commander Jiang, just stop here, I'll walk over by myself."

Her voice was so thin that it almost blended into the hum of the engine.

Jiang Shen glanced at her through the rearview mirror, understood her concerns, and parked the car next to her.

Zhong Xueyuan whispered a thank you and reached out to open the car door, but her wrist was stopped by a warm touch.

Jiang Shen originally wanted to help her open the car door, but his palm only touched it for half a second before he immediately let go, his Adam's apple moving on his collar, "Wait for me here at 5pm."

His face remained stern as he added, "Let's take the child home together."

The sycamore leaves rustled outside the car window. Zhong Xueyuan smelled the faint scent of camphor from his cuffs, mixed with the scent of jeep leather, which created a dizzying sweetness in her eyes in the early spring morning breeze.

The sound of a military bugle for morning exercises came from afar. Zhong Xueyuan came back to her senses, and her hot cheeks flushed.

She nodded nervously and got out of the car in a hurry.

Jiang Shen withdrew his gaze, reversed and turned the car around neatly. The sound of the jeep's engine startled the sparrows on the sycamore tree.

Zhong Xueyuan stood where she was, looking up at the taillights of a jeep flashing at the entrance of the alley in the distance, like red plum blossoms quietly blooming in the dark night.

"Yan'er, did you see that? The person who just got off that car was Zhong Xueyuan, right? That car belonged to Chief Jiang!"

The person who spoke was Du Yingying, a female comrade from the art troupe.

Wang Yan looked in the direction she pointed, and saw Zhong Xueyuan hurriedly walking into the art troupe. She looked puzzled, "No way, don't talk nonsense."

Du Yingying curled her lips, crossed her arms over her chest, and said with disdain, "I saw it clearly. I don't know how Zhong Xueyuan, a divorced woman with a child, got lucky enough to hook up with the leader!"

"It's really a vixen! Ugh!"

Wang Yan didn't want to cause trouble, so she pulled her arm and said, "Keep your voice down, she's coming over here, be careful so she can hear you..."

"What are you afraid of! She dares to do shameless things, is she afraid of what others say?"

Du Yingying disagrees.

Wang Yan choked and was about to speak when Zhong Xueyuan came over and scared her into silence.

Du Yingying was not afraid of getting into trouble. She had a seemingly enthusiastic smile on her face, but her tone was full of sourness. "Hey, Zhong Xueyuan, no wonder you didn't ride a bike today. It turns out you had a special car to pick you up. That must be Chief Jiang's car, right? What's your relationship with him?"

Hearing this, Zhong Xueyuan's heart skipped a beat and a trace of panic flashed across her face, but she quickly calmed down and smiled politely, "It's nothing special, I just took a ride along the way."