bullying

"What are the conditions?" Zhiwei asked, suppressing her pounding heart.

“You have to show your value,” Zhu Liji said. “From what you just said, you also brought a sister with you, which means you’ll have two more portions of rations. But my military camp is small and food is scarce. As for the future, it can’t compare to running a shop. Unfortunately, I can’t afford to support an idle person.”

"So, young lady, I'm afraid I'll have to make you do this. It would be best if you did the work of two people, so that your existence would have some meaning."

"I think I can do it." Zhu Liji shrugged, casually uttering these irritating words, which in turn gave people a sense of lingering fear.

Ha, he's probably getting revenge for refusing to work as a private chef in Lingnan back then.

Zhiwei was speechless, his face full of black lines.

mean.

Despite her inner turmoil, she had to force a smile for the sake of making a living. Zhiwei thought of Shao Zhao, and the promise she made to Zhu Mingyu when they parted flashed through her mind.

She had to survive.

In these chaotic times, human life is as worthless as grass, easily blown away by the wind. What could she possibly do?

Zhiwei raised her eyebrows, sniffed, and smiled, her lips curving upwards as brightly as a persimmon blossom that had overexerted itself.

"What kind of request do you think this is? This is simply my duty." Zhiwei knelt and moved forward, bowing deeply. "Thank you so much for taking me in, my benefactor!"

——

"Sister, is this where we'll end up tonight?" Shao Zhao asked, hiding behind Zhi Wei and carefully avoiding the gleaming silver weapons.

"I feel like there's a lot of yin energy here. I wonder if I'll encounter ghosts at night..." The naive girl was seeing military equipment for the first time. She said she was scared, but her eyes kept wandering around.

I guess he found it novel, because his mouth was wide open.

"Change your clothes, you're going to help out later."

Zhiwei's reaction was much calmer. She handed over the men's rough clothes she had just received from the steward's office and made sure to wrap them tightly around her chest while changing.

This place was supposed to be an armory, but in reality it was just a camp filled with miscellaneous items. Zhiwei found a relatively clean spot, spread out her bedding, and that was finally a place to stay.

Perhaps we should feel fortunate.

Although the armory was rather large, it was quiet and peaceful.

There were no women in the military camp, and this was the only place where they could still have some privacy. Jiang Qin arranged this accommodation for the two of them, which was truly considerate.

Zhiwei wiped her body with a handkerchief for a while, and even changed her ladylike hairstyle. If you didn't pay attention, she really did look like a man.

While Shao Zhao was still getting ready, Zhiwei patted her shoulder to indicate that there was no need to rush, and then strode off to find the kitchen.

Li Mingjing was right; there weren't many cooks in the kitchen, and even with Zhiwei and the other two dedicated to providing meals, there were only about ten people.

Zhiwei remembered that the army had nearly a thousand men, so they were indeed short-handed.

However, I also heard that the army's diet consists mainly of dry rations, which saves them the trouble of steaming rice or cooking porridge.

Zhiwei rolled up her sleeves, revealing an unwashed pot in front of her. Before her hand could even touch the pot, a man snatched it away.

"New here?" The man was burly, looking to be around thirty years old. His leg injury didn't seem to affect his agility. He picked up the pot quickly, and upon seeing that the person in front of him was short, he immediately frowned.

"Bamboo pole." The man made no attempt to hide the disgust in his eyes.

"What can you do with your skinny frame? Damn it, you've brought me all sorts of sluts these days..." The man continued cursing, and no one dared to refute him. He must be the one in charge of the kitchen.

“My surname is Zhang, this is my territory, understand?” Zhang Xingzhong pushed past Zhiwei and spat out a mouthful of phlegm.

The phlegm landed squarely on Zhiwei's hand; the sticky yellow liquid was a string of thick, murky snot bubbles.

“You…” Zhiwei’s eyes widened, her anger rising.

"Damn, you pretty boy dare to glare at me, huh!" Zhang Xingzhong patted the stove again. "Don't you want to live like this anymore? I'll arrange all the work here."

"With your pathetic physique, even if I assign you more tasks, can you handle it?" Zhang Xingzhong approached Zhiwei, meeting her bright eyes, and playfully pinched her soft skin. "How did you sneak in? Did you sell your ass?"

“That’s true, women, they’re only capable of so much, but they can actually do some things.” Zhang Xingzhong lowered his voice and chuckled lewdly, in a voice only Zhiwei could hear. “Why don’t you come with me, and I can guarantee you a living.”

A pot of oil was heating up beside her, and the rising steam filled Zhiwei's nostrils.

The thick, fleshy muscles sagged on the thug's face, rising and falling, creating wrinkles in the skin of the person in front of him.

Zhiwei raised her hand, and Zhang Xingzhong emitted a sharp, piercing sound—

"Damn it, are you out of your mind?" Zhang Xingzhong clutched his hoof, which was scalded red by the hot oil, and shouted as he searched for water to calm himself down.

"Master, there's water here!" A sharp-eyed henchman quickly filled a basin with cold water from the water vat. Zhang Xingzhong winced in pain and slammed his hand into the basin with a "bang."

"You're finished, girl, really finished." Veins bulging on his face, Zhang Xingzhong raised his other hand and pointed directly at Zhiwei.

Zhiwei remained standing there, not putting down the spatula in her hand.

"You think it's not hot enough?" she said coldly.

"You're asking for it!"

"You bitch!" Seeing the impending crisis, Zhang Xingzhong's henchman reached out and forcefully snatched the spatula from Zhiwei's hand.

In the ensuing stalemate, hot oil was poured onto the stove, producing plumes of white steam.

The shovel was finally pushed to the ground.

The henchman laughed triumphantly and raised his hand to slap him.

"Smack!" A loud, forceful slap landed squarely on the face of the man in front of Zhiwei.

The expected eroticism did not materialize. Zhiwei lowered her wrist, and before her stood a strange man.

The man was tall and strong, and his dimples added to his approachable appearance.

"Sun Wei, get out of my way! I'm going to teach this girl a lesson today!" Zhang Xingzhong's hands cooled down, intending to vent his anger himself.

Sun Wei, as if he hadn't heard Zhang Xingzhong's words, still stood in front of Zhiwei: "Old Zhang, you've just been promoted, just like me, you're now a full-fledged official. There's nothing wrong with establishing authority, but don't forget that you were scolded a few days ago for making a mistake while drinking. If you cause trouble again today, there might be other punishments."

"And you, Xiao Deng. I haven't even asked you for an explanation for being late to work the other day. What's wrong? Are you still confused?" Sun Wei's voice was deep and penetrating, and everyone stopped what they were doing upon hearing it.

"You're lucky today, someone's protecting you. If I catch you again, you're in big trouble," Zhang Xingzhong said to Zhiwei, then shook his head at Sun Wei. "Blinded by beauty."

"Disperse, disperse!" Zhang Xingzhong waved his hand, dismissing the crowd of onlookers.

——

Outside the barracks, Zhiwei, her face flushed, still looked terrified, huddled in a ball. Sun Wei followed her out and, seeing that Zhiwei was distracted, brought her a bowl of water.

Zhiwei was like a fish out of water, dying, his throat already parched, and he gulped down the whole bowl of water.

"Now you know how scary it is?" Sun Wei glanced at Zhiwei's eyes as she gradually came to her senses and chuckled.

“I’ve hardly ever seen a man, let alone a woman, dare to challenge Zhang Xingzhong.” Sun Wei pouted, seemingly recalling Zhiwei’s “heroic figure,” but then laughed out loud, “I thought she was a heroine, but it turns out she’s just a little girl putting on an act.”

Sun Wei pointed to the tears that had spilled from Zhiwei's lips: "She really is easily frightened."

"Are you men so easily scared? How many men have gone to the battlefield and ended up wetting themselves in fear?"

“Anyone who bullies a girl just because they have some strength is no good.” Zhiwei slapped Sun Wei’s finger away and licked away the tears from her lips.

"Salty?" Sun Weike was not swayed by Zhiwei's words, but instead became curious about the taste of tears.

Zhiwei frowned and glanced at the strange person: "Sour, more sour than a bottle of vinegar!"

"You're lying to me."

"You're sick!" Zhiwei rolled her eyes. She was already in a bad mood, and now she had lost her patience even more. "Don't you know what tears taste like? Are you even human? Have you never cried before?"

Or maybe she could get an onion, squeeze some juice, and put it on his face so he could taste it.

"A man doesn't easily shed tears. I'm sorry, I've never cried in my life." Seeing that Zhiwei had recovered some of her spirits, Sun Wei had achieved his goal and stopped teasing her.

"I apologize to you on behalf of Lao Zhang for what happened earlier." Sun Wei helped Zhiwei up from the ground. "Men in the army often have loose tongues and may speak crudely, but he's really not a bad person."

"When Old Zhang was in good health in his younger days, he followed General Li all over the country to fight for the country. Later, his legs were crippled and he became despondent. He was unwilling to leave General Li, so he was willing to lower his rank and become a cook."

"What he hated most in his life was those who were incompetent yet held positions of power." As Sun Wei spoke, he changed his original flippancy, straightened his back, and his expression even showed a hint of admiration.

His Adam's apple bobbed up and down, as if some emotion was still stuck in Sun Wei's chest, but Zhiwei could not know it.

Zhiwei subconsciously clenched her fist, a movement that Sun Wei caught. He quickly added, "But I didn't mean you were incompetent."

"I know." Zhiwei raised her shoulder; she wasn't that sensitive.

"I was just wondering, why did you help me?"

Helping her would bring her no benefit whatsoever; on the contrary, it would only incur Zhang Xingzhong's wrath. Given that they were just strangers, Zhiwei didn't believe that Sun Wei would be a chivalrous knight who would not expect anything in return.

Sun Wei didn't try to brush it off. He smiled and said, "Because you look a lot like an old friend of mine."

"An old friend?" Zhiwei repeated.

"Yes, an... old friend."

“Weren’t you curious why I helped you? It’s because you two are alike.” Sun Wei narrowed his eyes, his dimples curving upwards. “But she’s much prettier than you, but just like you, she has a bad temper and is a born haggard old woman.”

I'm so sorry! You're so kind, you even saved this old hag!

Sun Wei was still talking.

"Seeing you reminds me of her, and I just... can't bear to see her suffer." Sun Wei's ears were half-closed, probably because Zhiwei was a stranger, which allowed him to speak his heartfelt words.

"So you came here for..." Zhiwei keenly caught the gossip.

Sun Wei's face flushed slightly: "I came to the army to make a name for myself, and that will give her more confidence." Sun Wei scratched the back of his head, "It seems I've gone a bit off-topic."

Zhiwei nodded, then shook her head: "It's alright, it's alright."

After all, she too had experienced the pangs of first love in her youth.

"In short, I know it's not easy for you to be a woman, and this commotion today will only make things harder for you in the future."

"I'm not afraid of hard work." Zhiwei pouted and glanced around the tent. "I just want to tell those who say I can't do it that I can, more than anyone else!"

She can do everything a man can do, and besides, she's always been a master chef.

“Since you’re so confident, I have a good idea that can help you break Zhang Xingzhong’s trap.” Zhiwei’s confidence made Sun Weidu raise his eyebrows.

He leaned close to Zhiwei's ear and whispered something, his expression subtle.

Zhiwei was taken aback: "That's it?"