At a military social dance party, some people hit it off and started dating on the same day, some left empty-handed, and some were disappointed.

As night fell, those who returned empty-handed simply ate and slept as usual, without any disruption to their lives.

Those who have just started dating are bound to be excited, and they may even toss and turn at night thinking about their new partner, which is a good thing.

Those who are disappointed will feel bad, some will stay up all night making pancakes, and some will even cry half the night.

Fu Jiarong's crying caused her whole family great anxiety. However, after finding out that it was the third son of the Zhai family in the capital who had made her cry, the Fu family, who had just been clamoring to settle scores with him, immediately calmed down and advised her to choose someone else, since there were quite a few excellent military officers at the ball.

But Fu Jiarong refused, saying that she only liked Zhai Qingping and that she wouldn't be interested in any other man, no matter how good he was.

The Fu family had no choice but to offer her advice.

Zhai Qingping was unaware that the Fu family was plotting against him, but he still couldn't sleep.

On one hand, there were the elders' earnest admonitions, and on the other hand, there were Comrade Feng's every smile and frown, along with her aloofness and rejection, all churning in her heart.

At that time, he forced himself to say "excuse me" and left the auditorium on his own, walking all the way back to the military academy, where he was also covered in snow.

But the chill of the wind and snow could not extinguish the feelings that were growing in his heart.

He dialed home, and before he could even begin to speak, his elders immediately noticed and launched into a tirade of scolding. Annoyed, he rudely hung up on them for the first time ever.

For a moment, he even thought of running out of there and finding Comrade Feng to tell her that he didn't care about her background or his own future; he just wanted to be with her!

Fortunately, his feverish mind was restrained by the strict rules and schedule of the military academy. It was late at night, and he couldn't leave the academy. He also vaguely remembered that he didn't know the Feng family's address. Even if he broke military discipline and ran away, he wouldn't find anyone to confide in.

He tossed and turned until midnight, finally making a decision: he would go see her the next day!

It's rare to meet someone who truly moves you in your life, so you should always try to win them over. Even if there are real-world difficulties, working together can often solve them.

As for the possibility that Feng Mingshu refused to work with him to find a solution, the confident third young master of the Zhai family naturally overlooked this possibility.

Having made his decision, Zhai Qingping finally felt sleepy and realized that he was the only one left in the three-person dormitory. However, he didn't care and assumed that Zhou Jinshan's injuries had worsened after his ordeal at the hospital, and Lu Xiangqian was forced to go to the hospital to stay with him and take care of him.

Zhai Qingping's guess was correct at the beginning and the end, but he missed the details in the middle, so he slept well in the second half of the night.

At the hospital.

Not long after Lu Xiangqian started snoring, Zhou Jinshan opened his eyes.

He frowned, his face was pale, and he tried to get out of bed by pushing himself against the bed frame, but he found that he couldn't get any strength at all. Instead, he bumped into things on the bedside table and made a clattering noise.

Lu Xiangqian was awakened by the noise. He opened his eyes and saw Zhou Jinshan rolling off the bed. He immediately jumped up and stopped him: "Old Zhou, don't do anything rash. It's not a reliable way to commit suicide by rolling off the bed."

Zhou Jinshan: "..."

Lu Xiangqian: "Old Zhou, let me tell you, if you're going to commit suicide, you should at least find another place. This bed is too low; you won't die from the fall, at most you'll be crippled..."

Zhou Jinshan: "Shut up, I need to go to the toilet."

Lu Xiangqian: "Oh, so you need to go to the toilet. You should have said so earlier, and I would have carried you there."

Zhou Jinshan's death stare.

Lu Xiangqian withdrew his hand and chuckled, "I haven't even held my wife with this hand yet, and you're not happy about holding you first... Alright, alright, stop glaring at me, I'll go get you a wheelchair."

Fifteen minutes later, it was finally over.

Zhou Jinshan returned to bed, while Lu Xiangqian continued to nag, "Look at you, only my brother is so loyal and takes good care of you. If it were your Comrade Feng, all delicate and pampered, you'd probably have to comfort her to stop her from crying even if you broke your leg..."

Zhou Jinshan coldly interrupted, "I wasn't injured because of her, why would I need her to serve me?"

Lu Xiangqian choked, and angrily retorted, "You weren't injured because of me, so why are you using me so easily?"

"Then count how many times I carried you off the battlefield," Zhou Jinshan said calmly.

"Fine, brother, I admit it. It's all my fault. Even if you marry that Comrade Feng, I'll still serve you the same way!" Lu Xiangqian said, biting his cheek.

"No need."

"Oh, you've finally had a change of heart?"

"I have to take responsibility for the girl I marry, and I will try my best to avoid getting hurt in the future."

Lu Xiangqian: "..."

Lu Xiangqian muttered curses under his breath until he finally fell asleep, still cursing some dog in his dream.

After receiving an IV drip, Zhou Jinshan's fever had subsided considerably, but he still had many wounds on his body, some of which were inflamed, and the pain continued to plague him. However, he tried his best to fall asleep because he knew that sleep was the best way for the body to recover.

He promised to go see her tomorrow, so he must stand up and walk straight to her tomorrow.

Zhou Jinshan opened the now-cold water bottle beside him, took a sip of brown sugar water, and the sweet taste lingered in his mouth, seemingly easing the pain in his body. He slowly fell asleep and dreamed of Comrade Feng, whom he had been missing.

The second floor of the Feng family's small Western-style house.

Feng Mingshu lay on the carved bed, wrapped in a brocade quilt, but he was not very at ease.

She had a dream all night, in which she was being chased by a tiger. Terrified, she fled for her life, crossing mountains, seas, and swamps, but she was no match for the tiger's speed and was knocked to the ground.

She closed her eyes in despair, but instead of waiting for the tiger's sharp teeth to pierce her neck, she felt a tingling, itchy sensation. She opened her eyes and saw the tiger sticking out its tongue and licking her!

The next second, the tiger transformed into the appearance of a bandit. Feng Mingshu was startled awake, sat up abruptly, and gasped for breath, but his body felt limp.

After being startled awake, she couldn't fall back asleep, nor dared to. She stayed awake until dawn before going downstairs.

Not wanting her mother to get up earlier than her, who was already cooking porridge in the kitchen, she turned around when she heard the noise and saw her, her brows furrowing slightly: "Zhuzhu doesn't look well. Did you not sleep well last night? Did you have a nightmare?"

Feng Mingshu's skin was thin and fair, but the dark circles under her eyes were quite noticeable. She didn't expect her mother to notice them so quickly, and she rubbed her eyelids. "Mom, I'm fine. I didn't have any dreams. I was just thinking about going to the neighborhood committee to ask about going to the countryside today, so I couldn't sleep."

That dream was too shameful for her to talk about, so she could only make up other things to avoid the topic.

Of course, going to the neighborhood committee to inquire about the situation was also part of her plan, but it was originally scheduled for after the New Year, and now she plans to do it earlier.

Hearing her answer, Yu Jingqiu paused slightly while stirring the porridge, then smiled and nodded: "After breakfast, Mom will go with you."

Feng Mingshu was overjoyed: "Mom, you agree to let me go to the countryside?"

Yu Jingqiu was naturally unwilling, but she knew her daughter's temperament. She usually seemed mild-mannered, but once she became stubborn, it was impossible to pull her back. So she could only try a different approach: "Let's go ask first, and then decide after we find out the details."

Feng Mingshu thought her mother had agreed, and happily nodded repeatedly, then snuggled up to her and made breakfast together.