Chapter 22

Xu Zhao: "I'll buy some motion sickness medicine later. I think I'll feel better after taking it."

Jiang Leyun was not affected much. The child was very curious and kept leaning on the car window to look at the scenery outside.

After entering the state-owned restaurant, Zhang Xiangqian teased the child with a smile: "Boy, what did you see?"

Jiang Leyun held the cup and drank water: "There's nothing fun here. It's far worse than our home. It's shabby and not pretty at all."

Mingjiang City is a coastal city close to the provincial capital. The city is relatively well developed, with many factories and well-developed sea and land transportation. Compared with the small county town in front of them, children who have lived in big cities since childhood naturally look down on it.

Zhang Xiangqian was immediately happy: "Where are you from?"

Jiang Leyun: "Have you ever been to Mingjiang City?"

Zhang Xiangqian: "I haven't been there, but I've heard that your place is close to the sea, so there are a lot of delicious seafood, unlike my hometown, where there are only small fish and shrimps in the river, which don't taste as good as seafood."

His hometown is an inland city, not near the sea. He had stayed in a coastal city for a period of time when he was on a mission before. At that time, he thought seafood was delicious and ate it every day. Now he hasn't eaten it for a long time and misses it a little.

Zhang Xiangqian poured himself a glass of water and began to scare the children: "This is just a small broken county town, how can it be compared with a big city? When you arrive at the army, you must be mentally prepared. The army is even worse than the county town. You live in the mountains, there are many mosquitoes, which are bigger than your fingers and bite you very painfully. There are also snakes. You have to grow crops on your own. It takes a long time to go out by car to buy things. Are you scared? Do you want to go home?"

It's boring to use the method of sowing discord on children.

Jiang Huihan and Xu Zhao watched silently without saying a word, letting the child answer himself. They also wanted to know what the child was thinking.

Jiang Leyun's face turned pale, and he shook his head and said, "Don't be afraid, I'll be wherever my sister is, and I want to be with my sister."

Well, actually he was still a little scared of snakes, but when he thought of his brother-in-law being there, he felt that there was nothing to be afraid of. His brother-in-law was so powerful that he could drive away the bad guys. It was just a small snake.

He glanced at Xu Zhao who was sitting opposite him. He added, "And brother-in-law, we are a family, and a family should be together. I won't listen to you, Uncle Zhang, you are too mean."

Zhang Xiangqian: "Hey, how am I the bad guy? I just asked you if you wanted to go home. What kind of vision do you have? Your brother-in-law and I are of the same generation. You should call me Brother Zhang or Brother Xiangqian. The generations cannot be mixed up. Do you understand?"

Zhang Xiangqian felt depressed after being confronted by a kid who was less than ten years old.

Is he that old? He is only two years older than Xu Zhao. This little brat is very good at treating people differently.

Jiang Leyun gave Zhang Xiangqian a look of disdain, saying that he shouldn't call him brother.

Zhang Xiangqian stroked the little guy's hair very hard, which made Jiang Leyun so angry that he slapped his hand away and moved away from him.

"Oh, no, you call him brother-in-law. Did I hear you right? Are you two married?"

Zhang Xiangqian opened his eyes wide, opened his mouth wide enough to fit an egg, and stared at Xu Zhao blankly, his face full of disbelief and amazement.

It's exposed. The child calls Xu Zhao brother-in-law and says they have no relationship.

Only a few days had passed, and after a trip to Mingjiang City, Xu Zhao had already solved the most important issue in his life. With such speed and efficiency, even he had to admit defeat.

A few days ago, the political commissar was still worried about Xu Zhao's marriage and kept saying that he wanted to introduce him to a girl. Now that everything is fine, the political commissar should be very pleased, as Xu Zhao brought the juicy little cabbage back to his nest by himself.

Xu Zhao pursed his lips and said, "If your ears are not feeling well, go see a doctor. The hospital happens to be on the same street, not far away."

Not answering means acquiescence. Zhang Xiangqian expressed disbelief, his eyes widened: "You are actually married!?"

Comrade Xu Zhao, who had difficulty getting married, actually solved this major life event silently. It's amazing!

This was much faster than when he got married. He and his wife met through an introduction in their hometown. At first, his wife looked down on him, thinking that soldiers were away from home most of the year, and if something happened at home, he would not have time to go home.

Fortunately, his mother gave him a fairly handsome face. Later, after his persistent pursuit, his wife agreed to date him and he finally won her heart.

It took him and his wife more than a year from the time they met to the time they got married. During that time, his wife once thought of breaking up, but he coaxed her and made promises before he finally convinced her to marry him.

Look at this guy Xu Zhao. He found such a young and beautiful wife in just one week, and she was willing to follow him to join the army. It's really frustrating to compare yourself with her.

I used to be able to show off the warmth of my family in front of Xu Zhao, but now it’s gone.

Zhang Xiangqian's voice was a little loud, and the customers in the restaurant couldn't help but look at him. When they saw two soldiers at the table, they lowered their heads and continued eating.

The corner of Jiang Huihan's mouth twitched involuntarily. Zhang Xiangqian looked incredulous, as if Xu Zhao was the unfaithful man who abandoned him.

Xu Zhao picked up the teapot and added half a cup of tea to Jiang Suihan. He raised his eyelids and glanced at Zhang Xiangqian lightly: "What? I can't get married?"

"Not really." Zhang Xiangqian smiled to cover up, picked up the cup and took a sip of tea, then lowered his voice and said, "That's it, you haven't forgotten what the political commissar said, right?"

He blinked hard at Xu Zhao, feeling anxious and wanting to get close to Xu Zhao and shout something in his ear.

The food in Li Province tends to be spicy, and Xu Zhao was afraid that Jiang Suihan wouldn't be able to get used to it, so he specially ordered a bowl of non-spicy rice noodles for her. But even without the spiciness, the side dishes were still a bit spicy.

Seeing that Xu Zhao was so focused on taking care of Jiang Huihan that he didn't even bother to pay attention to him, Zhang Xiangqian couldn't help but mutter in a low voice: "Forget about friendship for the sake of beauty."

The sound was quite loud, Xu Zhao heard it, raised his eyes and asked him: "What?"

Zhang Xiangqian curled his lips and lowered his voice, "I wonder if you have forgotten something important. Last time I told you, the political commissar wanted to introduce you to a girl. It seems that he has already found someone and is waiting for you to come back. You brought a girl back out of the blue without even notifying the political commissar in advance. Don't make things awkward for everyone later."

"Also, Comrade Jiang has come all the way from Mingjiang City. You must explain this to the girl. You can't let Comrade Jiang down. I've already reminded you of this. The rest of how you explain it to the girl is up to you."

"I'm also bored and have nothing to do. I haven't even finished my own affairs, and I'm always thinking about your affairs. With a good brother like me, you'll be happy in your dreams at night."

A few days ago, he overheard that the political commissar intended to introduce his wife's niece to Xu Zhao. This clearly meant that he treated Xu Zhao as his own, and the two families became one family. He was afraid that the political commissar would have some opinions about bringing a young wife home without even saying hello to Xu Zhao.

Alas, he has been worried to death because he is too kind.

Zhang Xiangqian didn't specifically want to hide this from Jiang Huihan. He was doing this for Xu Zhao's own good. He was telling her in a roundabout way that Xu Zhao had no prior knowledge of the political commissar's introduction of a girl to her. He hoped that she would not blindly blame Xu Zhao for the incident.

The four of them were sitting at a table, eating noodles halfway when they suddenly heard such a big piece of news, which was related to themselves. Jiang Huihan was not paying attention and choked.

Xu Zhao handed her a handkerchief. Jiang Huihan took it and wiped her mouth, but her eyes were fixed on him.

Before the two parties spoke, Jiang Leyun, the brother-in-law, could not help but glared at Xu Zhao: "How can you do this! You already have my sister! It turns out that all men are not good. They are greedy, fickle, and fickle. I really misjudged you!"

The little guy puffed his lips, his face full of indignation, with an expression that said, "You are a bad man who has let my sister down."

"Did you hear that? Your brother-in-law said you are not a good person."

Zhang Xiangqian smiled playfully, not afraid of Xu Zhao's cold face at all, and winked at Jiang Leyun, "The idiom is well said. It seems that you have good academic performance. Keep up the good work in the future."

He ignored the trouble and just focused on eating the noodles. The chef in the state-owned restaurant was really good. It was a pity that he didn't live in the county. It was a rare opportunity for him to eat such delicious rice noodles. He would eat one more bowl later since someone was treating him anyway.

Xu Zhao glared at Zhang Xiangqian unhappily. This man was here purely to cause trouble and enjoy watching the fun. However, it was not appropriate to argue with him at this time. There would be plenty of time to settle the score later.

Zhang Xiangqian suddenly felt a chill on his back. He shook his shoulders and drank the soup from the bowl.

Xu Zhao looked a little unnatural, and said with a stiff face: "Listen to my explanation."

Jiang Suihan placed her chopsticks on the bowl and looked like she was listening attentively: "Okay, you talk, I'm listening."

She had doubts about what Zhang Xiangqian said. There must be other things that were overlooked. Although she and Xu Zhao had not known each other for a long time, she believed that he was not the kind of person who was fickle and indecisive.

That's right, she had an inexplicable confidence in him, and her intuition was always accurate.

Jiang Leyun also pricked up his ears unconsciously and glanced at Xu Zhao, wanting to know what he could say.

Xu Zhao touched his nose and felt it was a bit awkward to explain this matter to Jiang Huihan, especially in front of other people and there was a child involved.

However, he could not think too much at this time, for he was worried that if he did not explain it clearly now, when he returned to the army, he would hear some exaggerated stories from other people, and at that time, even a hundred mouths might not be able to explain it clearly.

He did not hide anything: "The political commissar did tell me about this the day I left, but I refused. I told him that my family had arranged a marriage for me and I had no intention of breaking the contract."

"This trip was originally to fulfill the engagement. After the matter was made clear, the political commissar did not mention it again. Don't listen to Zhang Xiangqian's nonsense. He just wants to get involved in everything, just to prevent chaos in the world."