Chapter 17 The Demeanor of an Empress

Chapter Seventeen: The Demeanor of an Empress

Li Yue stared at the two men, momentarily lost in thought.

Ling Jianwei glanced at her, then nodded slightly to Song Zhicheng and said with great poise, "Then we'll go first. Be careful on your way."

After saying that, he stretched out his long arm, patted Li Yue's back, and pushed her into the car.

A few minutes later, the car was driving on the road. The man remained silent, and the atmosphere inside the car became inexplicably tense and frozen. Li Yue, sitting in the passenger seat, cautiously stole glances at him. She saw him focused on driving, his expression slightly tense, looking cold and aloof, making him unapproachable.

But perhaps he didn't have any thoughts at all, and she was just overthinking it.

So Li Yue steeled herself, thinking that even if she really had mistaken Ling Jianwei for Song Zhicheng, what did it matter if she hugged him first? To ease the tension, she pretended nothing was wrong and asked, "What are you going to buy?"

Ling Jianwei glanced at her: "Is there anything you want to buy?"

Li Yue said, "I don't have anything to buy. Aren't you the one who wants to buy something?"

Ling Jianwei remained expressionless: "If I hadn't said that, would you have come with me?"

"They actually fooled her..." Li Yue snorted and turned to look out the window.

She hummed and turned her head away, and Ling Jianwei suppressed a nameless anger. Although she was unsure of herself, she needed to remain calm, especially in situations like this. The man gritted his teeth: "It's lunchtime. What do you want for lunch?"

Li Yue said, "Whatever."

"Want some roast duck? I haven't had it in ages."

"Can."

At that famous roast duck restaurant, the two ordered roast duck, and he asked, "What about staple food? What would you like to eat?"

Li Yue said, "Noodles with soybean paste."

He replied, "Who eats noodles with soybean paste outside? If you want some, I'll take you to your great-uncle's house next time."

"Okay, then I want to eat rice."

When the roast duck was served, Ling Jianwei helped her wrap the sliced ​​duck meat with shredded radish, bean sprouts, and other vegetables in dough, then rolled it up and handed it to her.

"Eat it with sauce," he said.

Li Yue took it and thanked her.

The duck skin was roasted until it was shiny and golden brown, very crispy, and the duck meat was also delicious. Li Yue ate to her heart's content.

Ling Jianwei never mentioned the senior student, but just kept rolling up roast duck for her and occasionally gave her a faint smile.

This made Li Yue feel as if he had the demeanor of an empress. If she were to date him, no matter how many childhood friends or senior brothers his partner might have, he wouldn't care at all, because this was his home.

No, no, that's not right.

Li Yue frowned and shook her head. She was overthinking things. He didn't have any particular feelings for her, so why would he care? Besides, she had already explained before that he wasn't the type to dwell on this. It was she who couldn't let go.

Yes, yes, it's because she hasn't let go.

Ling Jianwei looked over: "What's wrong?"

Li Yue said, "Nothing much, I just think it tastes good."

He couldn't help but scoff, "Pathetic."

After finishing her meal, Ling Jianwei said she had to go back to the compound because the old man might need the car.

Li Yue said, "Then I'll take the bus home."

But he still insisted on taking her to the gate of the family compound before turning back into the compound.

Walking along the road in the family compound, Li Yue savored the memory of when she got out of the car. He had said he would come again tomorrow at noon and take her to her great-uncle's house for noodles with soybean paste.

It's dinner time again... Come to think of it, it seems like every time Ling Jianwei comes over, it's to ask her to have dinner. But wouldn't it be better for him to stay home and have dinner with his parents? He doesn't have many days off anyway; spending time with his parents is more important.

This strange... man.

Gu Yanmei was chatting with someone at the convenience store when she saw her and rushed over, followed by a rapid-fire barrage of words:

"Li Yue, what exactly is going on between you and Deputy Battalion Commander Ling?"

"They were all asking me that just now."

“They’re still here. Song Zhicheng is also asking me about your relationship.”

"You're now surrounded by admirers."

...

Li Yue was both amused and exasperated after hearing this: "You're talking so fast, how am I supposed to answer?"

“The situation is a bit chaotic right now. I think Song Zhicheng was obviously jealous when he saw Deputy Battalion Commander Ling just now. He clearly has feelings for you.”

Li Yue was speechless: "I have no relationship with Deputy Battalion Commander Ling, and it's impossible for me to be with Song Zhicheng either. I think you do have feelings for Song Zhicheng."

Gu Yanmei said, "What good are my ideas? Everyone's eyes and hearts are on you."

Li Yue sighed, "Forget it, I'm not in the mood to talk about this right now."

Gu Yanmei didn't understand, and Li Yue couldn't explain it too clearly to her, since she couldn't reveal the history.

-

The next day, Ling Jianwei did indeed come over, but unlike before, there was a man sitting in the car.

They got out of the car together. Li Yue heard the car and went out. She looked up at the strange man. His clothes and demeanor made him look like a calm young cadre. He seemed to be a few years older than Ling Jianwei.

Li Yue's first thought was: Could this be his brother?

Thinking of this, my steps seemed to become a little heavier.

The man, however, had a warm and polite demeanor. Looking at Li Yue, he said, "You must be Li Yue, just as Jian Wei described."

With a worried heart, Li Yue nodded and said, "Hello."

Ling Jianwei walked over and introduced, "This is my childhood friend, Shao Jiashu."

Hearing this, Li Yue felt relieved and quickly greeted him again, "Hello, hello."

Ling Jianwei said, "He went back to the compound yesterday, and we happened to run into each other. We agreed to go to my great-uncle's house for noodles with soybean paste at noon."

Shao Jiashu smiled and said, "I haven't had the Zha Jiang Mian (noodles with soybean paste) from my maternal grandfather's house for many years, and I've been thinking about it ever since."

Ling Jianwei opened the passenger door: "Get in the car first, we'll talk later."

After chatting in the car, Li Yue learned that Shao Jiashu was two years older than Ling Jianwei, was already married with children, and was currently working for a district government.

No wonder he has a bit of an old-fashioned cadre vibe.

However, Li Yue was unaware that when the two of them met in the compound yesterday, Shao Jiashu teased Ling Jianwei: "I've heard that you finally brought a girl to the compound. When will I have a chance to see her and see if she's as pretty as they say?"

Ling Jianwei curled the corners of her mouth: "How so, even more beautiful than the rumors suggest?"

What else can I say? Congratulations!

"It's too early to offer congratulations."

Shao Jiashu asked, puzzled, "What, you haven't won them over yet?"

"No rush, it's just a long-term battle. That girl is quite hard to win over."

Not only do men occasionally appear around her, but more importantly, she seems genuinely uninterested in that kind of thing. After each meeting, she rushes home, and once home, she never looks back.

Not a trace of lingering affection can be seen.

His vacation was more than halfway over. In short, the main reason the camp was willing to give him such a long vacation was that they hoped he could go home and resolve his personal issues. Otherwise, they would have recalled him to the camp long ago.

It now seems that we can only fight a protracted war.

Shao Jiashu laughed and said, "Otherwise, I'll introduce you to that girl and give you some advice."

Ling Jianwei shook his head: "I can meet with you, but I won't offer any advice."

...

When we arrived at my great-uncle's house, the old man joked, "In the blink of an eye, the sapling has grown into a big tree. I remember you used to like to come over with Jianwei for meals, but I haven't seen you come over in the past few years."

Shao Jiashu said, "These past few years have been busy with work, and my family has been in chaos. My two children are a year and a half apart, and the younger one is still breastfeeding. They've been keeping me very busy, so I really haven't had time to visit you."

Upon hearing this, the great-uncle immediately exclaimed, "You have two children now! Look at you, you're about the same age, yet Jianwei is still all alone."

Shao Jiashu laughed and said, "No rush, good things come to those who wait. I still have high hopes for the deputy battalion commander."

They were talking about this topic, and Li Yue, who never liked to interrupt, took a small water bottle with a long spout to feed the sparrows water.

Grandpa was busy in the kitchen, and Ling Jianwei was helping him. Shao Jiashu suddenly came out, sat on a chair under the porch, and asked, "Xiao Li, how long have you known Jianwei?"

Li Yue turned around: "Just about twenty days."

"Do you know him?" he continued with a smile.

Li Yue shook her head: "I don't know enough about it yet."

Shao Jiashu glanced at the busy people in the kitchen and said in a low voice, "It's good that you don't know him. He seems arrogant, but he's been a shy kid since he was a child and doesn't know how to interact with girls."

"Huh?" Li Yue looked at him in confusion.

"You don't believe me, but what I'm saying is true. Later, he went to military school and joined the army. He basically only interacted with men. He didn't have the opportunity to have normal conversations with girls, let alone any skills in pursuing girls or dating."

"But I can't tell," Li Yue murmured.

"Can't tell? He's just pretending very well." Shao Jiashu continued with a smile. "I bet if he met a girl he liked, she would remain completely unaware as long as he didn't confess his feelings."

Li Yue said blankly, "Oh, is that so?"

Shao Jiashu: "Of course, that's why I said it's a troublesome thing for this childhood friend to find a partner. He has high standards and isn't proactive or bold enough. I'm worried for him."

"Who are you worried about?" Ling Jianwei walked over. "What are you talking about?"

Shao Jiashu said, "I'm worried for you. I already have two kids."

Ling Jianwei's gaze was sharp. He glanced at Li Yue's calm, awkward, and smiling expression and couldn't help but frown.

"Don't listen to his nonsense. Although he's a proper cadre now, back in the compound, he was the most unreliable one. He exaggerated and bragged without thinking."

Before Li Yue could react, Shao Jiashu interrupted, "Hey, hey, hey, where did I exaggerate? Where did I brag? Wasn't it you who said we should fight a war of attrition?"

When his maternal grandfather called him over to do something, Ling Jianwei coldly retorted, "What protracted war? It's a slow and steady battle."

Li Yue: "..."

A note from the author:

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