Chapter 106 The Path You Chose, You Must Finish It Even If You Cry

The smiles on Ling Huanwu and Qiao Hui's faces, which had been chatting and laughing, froze, replaced by expressions of utter disbelief.

The villagers who had been scattering all stopped and looked at Zhou Jiuzhen, whose face was flushed red. They could hardly believe their ears and their eyes were wide open.

Zhou Jiuzhen felt the sharp, piercing gazes around him, but what bothered him even more was Ling Huanwu's expression, which looked as if she had swallowed a fly and found it hard to swallow.

Was his confession really that unmoving?

He had copied down a lot of these love confessions to girls from Political Commissar Hao, and he had memorized them all these days, even reciting them in his dreams.

I heard that Political Commissar Hao's wife was moved by these sweet words back then.

"I am the plow that tills the land, and you are the soft soil. In this life, I just want to cultivate the furrows and ridges of love in your 'land'."

"I want to be like the wild grass on the ridge of the field with you, no matter the drought or flood, clinging tightly to your 'good land', and you can't be pulled away even if you try."

Zhou Jiuzhen recited several love quotes with great vigor, almost sending Ling Huanwu away. She was so embarrassed that she wanted to find a hole to crawl into and hide.

The villagers, who had just been listening with shocked expressions, suddenly burst into laughter, exclaiming "What a great place!" and "What a wonderful land!" Ling Huanwu's lips twitched, and she instinctively turned and ran away.

"Hey, Comrade Ling, you... why did you run away..."

Zhou Jiuzhen glared at Qiao Hui, whose face was embarrassed, and took a long stride to chase after Ling Huanwu's back.

Zhou Shuyao, who was just thinking about slipping his wife an apology note, and Qin Jinshen, who had also written a love poem and was planning to confess his feelings in a secluded corner, were both stunned by Zhou Jiuzhen's straightforward actions.

They felt like their ears were going to burst, because they had heard such foul language.

What normal girl would listen to such cheesy pickup lines?

Song Yaoyao, who had been hiding in the corner secretly eating, trembled with anger as she heard Zhou Jiuzhen's words. She held the pig's trotter in her hand, but said nonchalantly, "So what if Zhou Jiuzhen is capable? He still can't have children. I gave birth to triplets! She'll have no one to take care of her in her old age, but I have three sons to support me..."

"And that scoundrel Zhou Shuyao, I'll make sure my three children don't recognize him anymore!"

As she spoke, tears streamed down her face, and the pig's trotter in her hand instantly lost its flavor.

As Zhao Jingxiang passed by the corner of the wall, he saw the "foolish sister-in-law" he had tricked into coming home hiding in the corner like a rat in a ditch, stealing food.

He initially intended to pretend he didn't see her and walk past, but the next second he saw Song Yaoyao clutching her stomach and collapsing to the ground in agony, letting out a piercing scream, "Help...help me, Shuyao, I'm going into labor..."

This shout stopped Zhou Shuyao, who was outside holding a small essay and about to chase after Ling Huanwu, in his tracks.

Hearing the noise, the women in the family compound rushed to the back of the production team's stone house and saw Song Yaoyao curled up on the dry grass, clutching her stomach, her body already soaked.

"What a disaster, Zhou the Second! Your wife is about to give birth, come quick!"

"Hurry and find a midwife..."

"She's carrying triplets. A midwife can't handle that. She needs to be taken to a hospital in the city!"

Several women hurriedly put the person on a cart and pulled them out.

Zhou Shuyao's eyes were bloodshot. He lifted his foot to leave, but Wang Guihua grabbed him.

"Where do you think you're going? That's your wife. Even if you're divorced, you can't abandon the child. Go and call Granny Wang, the midwife from the village, over here!"

Zhou Shuyao stood motionless, and when he looked at Wang Guihua, tears suddenly streamed down his face. "Mother, I don't want a child. I only want Huanwu. If my older brother succeeds in confessing his love today, my whole life will have been wasted!"

"What did you say?"

Wang Guihua's eyes widened in disbelief at what she had just heard. She raised her hand and slapped Zhou Shuyao across the face. "You brat! That's your sister-in-law! How could you have such thoughts about her and abandon your child?"

"I told you back then that Song Yaoyao was a scheming woman and that you shouldn't marry her, but you insisted on marrying her despite your tears and fuss. You chose this path yourself, and now that you have a child, you have to walk it to the end, even if you cry!"

Zhou Shuyao collapsed to the ground as if all his strength had been drained away. The 800-word essay filled with regret and tears slipped from his hand, was swept away by the wind, spun around on the threshing ground, and then drifted away silently...

＊

Under the moonlight, the sea was tranquil and gentle, and the waves softly lapped at the beach, leaving behind rings of lingering traces.

Ling Huanwu had nowhere to escape and was blocked on the beach by the silly goose behind her. She nervously clutched her clothes, at a loss for what to do.

Zhou Jiuzhen's originally smooth hair was blown into a messy and soft state by the sea breeze, which surprisingly softened his usually cold and hard face.

His military green uniform was billowing in the sea breeze, and he clutched a small box wrapped in red silk in his hand, his knuckles white from the force.

He stopped in front of Ling Huanwu's back, his Adam's apple bobbing twice before he managed to say, "It's windy at the beach. Wearing so little, you'll catch a cold."

Ling Huanwu didn't respond. He hurriedly took half a step forward, but the red silk bag slipped from his grasp and fell onto the beach with a "plop," revealing a gold ring with fine marks—the one he had given Ling Huanwu last time, which she had left on the table after moving away.

“We were talking about this at the drying ground just now,” he scratched his head, his forehead still damp with a thin layer of sweat, “I promise you’ll manage all the allowances the army gives you from now on, and you won’t have to worry about anything at home. If you find the family compound too stuffy, I’ll take you to the inland towns every month, and I’ll put a soft pad on the back of the bicycle for you.”

Seeing Ling Huanwu turn around, he hurriedly tried to pick up the ring, but just as his fingertip touched it, a wave crashed over him, and the ring slid half a meter away with the current.

He clicked his tongue, took a couple of steps in his military boots as he chased after the sand, and when he bent over, the belt buckle hurt his lower back. He finally managed to grab the ring, only to find it covered in a layer of sand.

He straightened up, wiped the ring on his trouser leg, then, feeling it wasn't right, carefully wiped it with the hem of his shirt, before kneeling down on one knee on the beach with a thud.

My knees sank into the soft sand, I lost my balance and wobbled, almost falling over.

“Ling Huanwu,” he said, his voice stiffer than when he shouted commands on the training field, yet with a barely perceptible tremor, “marry me. I know I’m in the army most of the year, so I don’t have much time to spend with you, and I don’t have many advantages, but I… I’m a good shot, so I’ll leave you two wild rabbits next time we’re shooting; I’m fast at cross-country running, so if you get tired of walking, I’ll carry you back.”

The sea breeze whipped his words against the rocks. Afraid that Ling Huanwu wouldn't hear him, he suddenly raised his voice, but his throat couldn't hold, and the last few words cracked, turning into a somewhat comical growl.

Ling Huanwu couldn't help but raise her hand to cover her mouth, but her shoulders trembled even more violently.

He hesitated for a moment, then hurriedly handed the ring to her. But his military boots stepped on a seashell, causing him to stumble, and the ring clattered onto the rocks.

He hurriedly picked it up, his fingertips turning red from the pressure, but he still held up the ring, his ears burning red: "Anyway...anyway, I'm yours now. If you nod, everyone in the regiment will have to call you the regimental commander's wife!"

The production team leader, villagers, and a group of villagers who had followed them all along the way, hiding behind a large rock, could no longer help but burst out laughing.