Chapter 58 Obedience

The trivial things she observed... all seemed to confirm Zhiyi's words.

"I...I just feel sorry for you doing farm work...if you..."

Zhou Anping's voice was muffled and nasal.

“I know,” Nan Zhiyi patted her hand, “but look at me now, isn’t it good? I have a place to shelter from the wind and rain, people who care about me, and I’m learning to live a good life. Compared to going to the countryside, this is already a blessing from God.”

yes…

Zhou Anping recalled that Zhiyi had lost her job and her brother had broken their engagement... so Zhiyi had no choice but to go to the countryside...

Going to the countryside, how terrible…

Compared to his brother Zhou Zhengping's retreat and cowardice, Gu Xiao's sense of responsibility is like a towering mountain!

He dared to marry her despite Zhiyi's family background, protected her and helped her settle down in the military camp, and even volunteered to do chores in private...

Then think of Gu Xiao's flawless face and his upright, pine-like figure...

Zhou Anping suddenly turned to the side, excitedly exclaiming, "Zhiyi! I've figured it out! Marrying Fifth Brother is a great deal! Absolutely a great deal! He's rich, has his own allowance, and is incredibly handsome! He's eight hundred times better than my brother!"

She became more and more excited as she spoke, "Although Fifth Brother is cold and aloof on the outside, he's actually quite warm towards you! My God! Zhiyi! You've won over the heart of the unattainable beauty that so many girls in our compound would never even dare to dream of! You're amazing! You're so amazing, sister!"

She grabbed Nan Zhiyi's arm and shook it.

? ?

Nan Zhiyi was startled by her sudden change of attitude: "Shh! You changed your expression too quickly! Keep your voice down! Fifth Brother might hear you!"

Zhou Anping then lowered his voice, leaned closer sneakily, and asked with a burning desire for gossip, "Tell me quickly! What's it like to marry Fifth Brother?"

Nan Zhiyi's face flushed, feeling both shy and embarrassed.

"What...how did it feel? It was alright..."

Zhou Anping persistently leaned close to her ear and pressed her for details, "Especially... um... those...?"

Nan Zhiyi quickly covered Zhou Anping's mouth: "Zhou Anping! You...you shut up! Don't ask!"

"Please tell me, sister!"

"I won't tell!"

The two wrestled together in the darkness, their laughter muffled under the covers, until they were completely exhausted and finally fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, the two of them groggily got up, and it was already past noon.

On the small square table, two steamed buns, a dish of pickled vegetables, and millet porridge warming by the stove were covered with a gauze cover.

Gu Xiao also left a note, written in a strong and vigorous hand: "I have something to do at noon and won't be back. Take good care of Anping."

Zhou Anping lifted the veil and exclaimed in admiration, "Fifth Brother is really something! He even remembered to save breakfast for us! This man is reliable!"

She picked up the steamed bun and took a bite.

Nan Zhiyi yawned, glanced at her sideways, and teased, "Miss Zhou, your face changes so quickly! Last night you were angrily saying that Fifth Brother was cold and didn't take good care of me, and today you're praising him?"

Zhou Anping chuckled and nudged Nan Zhiyi's shoulder: "Things change! After my discerning eye, Fifth Brother is a good person to get along with! He deserves praise!"

She finished her steamed bun in a few bites and urged Nan Zhiyi, "Eat quickly, eat quickly, and then take me for a walk. I've never been here before!"

After getting ready, Nan Zhiyi took Zhou Anping to the military camp, where they strolled from the soldiers' club to the service center.

Zhou Anping looked around curiously, and finally bought a bag of White Rabbit milk candy and stuffed it into Nan Zhiyi's hand: "Here, this is on my food bill!"

The two chatted and laughed as they carried their things back home.

As soon as I reached the entrance of the courtyard, I saw Zhou Zhengping standing there, his face ashen.

"Brother?" Zhou Anping's smile froze instantly, and he subconsciously shrank back behind Nan Zhiyi.

Zhou Zhengping rushed over upon hearing the news, sweat pouring down his forehead.

He first nodded to Nan Zhiyi, then immediately turned his gaze to Zhou Anping, his anger barely contained: "Zhou Anping! You've really grown some guts! You dare to come here without saying a word? Do you know how worried your mother is at home?"

Upon hearing this, Nan Zhiyi's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly opened the courtyard gate: "Let's go inside and talk... This residential compound is drafty, even the smallest thing can spread throughout the whole place."

She didn't want to become the new topic of conversation.

The three entered the living room, where the atmosphere was tense.

Zhou Zhengping stared at Zhou Anping and said sternly, "Why did you run away from home? Why did you leave without saying goodbye? Do you know how much your family has been looking for you!"

Zhou Anping was also full of grievances, but she didn't want to admit her mistake, so she stuck her neck out and her eyes were red.

"Anyway, Mom doesn't care about me, her daughter! It's better that I'm lost! It'll save her from having anything to do with me!"

"Nonsense! How could Mom not care about you?"

"She just doesn't care! She's only thinking about marrying into a wealthier family!"

Standing to the side, Nan Zhiyi pieced together the reason why Zhou Anping had suddenly come from the siblings' heated conversation.

Sure enough, Zhou Zhengping's next words confirmed her guess:

"The blind date Mom arranged for you, what was wrong with the other person's conditions? You ran away without even meeting him? Do you know how much effort Mom put into it?!"

"What a waste of effort?" Zhou Anping was like a firecracker that had been lit, so angry he wanted to jump up. "What a waste of effort to push me into a fire pit?! That Liu something? Liu Shoucheng? A widowed man with two children in tow, a whole twelve years older than me! Just because his father is the newly transferred military political commissar?! Is my mother crazy?! To curry favor with the Liu family, she'd even give away her own daughter like a piece of merchandise?!"

Zhou Anping was so angry that he trembled all over, and tears welled up in his eyes.

Nan Zhiyi gasped.

Political Commissar Liu? That's a rank no lower than Chief of Staff Zhou's father. Aunt Song, in her eagerness to climb the social ladder, actually arranged such a relationship for Anping, a beautiful young woman in her early twenties?

No wonder Anping ran away!

Zhou Zhengping was also taken aback by his sister's accusations, his expression shifting, clearly indicating that he did not entirely agree with his mother's arrangements.

"You...you're giving up your job in the performing arts troupe? You're giving up your future?"

“I took three days off!” Zhou Anping retorted defiantly. “You don’t need to worry about it!”

As the older brother, Zhou Zhengping might feel sorry for his sister, but he was even more furious at her willful and reckless behavior: "Even if... even if it's not suitable, you can't just leave like this!"

"Why can't I?!" Zhou Anping's tears finally fell. "At least Zhiyi is here, and there are still people who genuinely care about me! It's a hundred times better than that family that only cared about power and used me as a bargaining chip!"

The room was deathly silent.

Zhou Zhengping looked at his sister, who was in tears, and then at Nan Zhiyi, who was holding her sister with a complicated expression.

After a long silence, he sighed, "You have three days off, so I'll take you home tomorrow afternoon. You should apologize to Mom properly."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Anping burst into tears even more fiercely, "What am I supposed to apologize for! It's clearly Mom who's in the wrong. Is power really that important? First, she made you marry Wang Lili, and then she made me marry a widower!"

Zhou Zhengping said sternly, "Anping, can't you listen to me?!"