Meanwhile, Huo Yingjie was living a very comfortable life. His girlfriend sent him some roasted wild pine nuts.
The flavor was just right, leaving a lingering fragrance on the lips and teeth, and making one feel even sweeter inside.
When his colleague Zhou Yuanchao returned from outside, he saw that Huo Yingjie, who was usually as serious as an old man, was actually squinting his eyes, smiling, and moving his mouth from time to time. He knew that this kid was secretly eating pine nuts again.
"Huo Yingjie, grab a handful for me!" Zhou Yuanchao was filled with envy and jealousy!
Huo Yingjie only gave him a handful when he first received the package, and he never got to eat those pine nuts again. He wanted to sneak some, since there were quite a lot, but before he could steal them, Huo Yingjie, that old fox, somehow found a lock and hid them inside the cabinet.
Huo Yingjie simply turned his back, ignoring everything!
"You value romance over friendship!" Zhou Yuanchao muttered, shaking his head. "It's just pine nuts! It's been almost a month, and you still haven't finished them!"
Huo Yingjie remained silent until he finished eating the pine nuts in his hand and poured the shells into the trash can. Only then did he look directly at Zhou Yuanchao and slowly say, "If I let you grab a handful, you'll lose a pound!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuanchao blushed.
Huo Yingjie wasn't without reason. When he received the pine nuts, he let him grab them himself. He'd loved snacks since he was little, and with his big, thick hands, he could easily scoop out a handful and leave a deep dent.
"Hehe, I just have big hands!" Zhou Yuanchao said awkwardly. "You give me some to eat first, and when I go back to Mongolia for vacation, I'll bring you some top-quality beef jerky. Is that alright?"
"No way!" Huo Yingjie refused. He didn't like snacks, and if he were to eat any, it would only be the snacks that Tian Tian gave him.
Just a few days later, Huo Yingjie received another letter from He Tiantian, and surprisingly, it also contained a black and white photograph.
Two braids, sparse bangs, big, watery eyes with a smile at the corners, a pert little nose, a small mouth, and a slender neck.
Huo Yingjie reached out and gently touched the shadow imprinted on the photograph, saying, "So beautiful!"
If possible, he would like to bring He Tiantian back from Qijia Village right now.
However, things took a slight turn, and he hadn't made any arrangements yet. He Tiantian was his biggest weakness, so he couldn't call her back.
With this photo, Huo Yingjie felt closer to the girl he loved.
I keep it close to my body in my wallet, carry it with me at all times, and look at it every day.
That day, Zhou Yuanchao rushed in from outside and asked, "Huo Yingjie, aren't we good brothers?"
Huo Yingjie remained unsmiling and coldly replied, "If you think so, then it is!"
"Since you put it that way, then I consider us good brothers. Your girlfriend sent me photos, why didn't you show them to me?" Zhou Yuanchao, fueled by hormones, asked angrily, accusing Huo Yingjie of his shameless behavior of prioritizing women over friends!
"There's no need!" Huo Yingjie said succinctly. Why should he show his girlfriend to others?
It seems like Director Liu from the logistics department is going through early menopause! How come the entire weapons research institute knows about this only three days after he received his girlfriend's photos?
"How can it be unnecessary, Huo Yingjie? We're inseparable brothers. As the saying goes, brothers are like limbs, women are like clothes. How can you abandon your good brother for a woman and treat me like a stranger?" Zhou Yuanchao intensified his accusations against Huo Yingjie.
Huo Yingjie casually remarked, "Losing limbs doesn't kill you, but I've never seen anyone go around naked."
“You…” Zhou Yuanchao was deeply hurt. “I never want to be your brother again.”
Zhou Yuanchao didn't see the photo. He grabbed his lunchbox and ran to the canteen, turning his grief into strength and eating two extra bowls of rice.
Huo Yingjie shook off the goosebumps on his body. Luckily, he knew this man liked women, otherwise Huo Yingjie would never have shared a room with him.
Huo Yingjie touched his face. He was so handsome; what if he took a fancy to him? That would be terrible!
A few days later, Huo Yingjie received another letter and package from He Tiantian.
Huo Yingjie's letters and packages arrived very frequently, and rumors began circulating throughout the weapons research institute that Huo Yingjie's young girlfriend was no ordinary person and could obtain many sought-after items.
Pine nuts can be eaten without any processing.
But dried wild rabbits weren't an option, so we took them directly to the kitchen and had the head chef cook them. Huo Yingjie treated the entire department to a meal. Two dried wild rabbits, stir-fried with potatoes, made a whole big bowl of it.
After enjoying the delicious rabbit, Zhou Yuanchao, in front of his colleagues, asked ingratiatingly, "Brother, does your wife have any other sisters? I'm not any less handsome than you, and I'm even stronger than you. Could you introduce me to some of them?"
Huo Yingjie chuckled, pointed to his head, and said, "This is exactly what you're missing! Here, take this rabbit head!"
"Big brother, it's one thing if you don't introduce me, but you even said I'm brainless." Zhou Yuanchao was dissatisfied, but his chopsticks didn't stop, picking up a rabbit head and leg. Although the head was not small, there was no meat. He wasn't stupid.
Everyone burst into laughter. It was quite amusing that Huo Yingjie and Zhou Yuanchao, two people with completely different personalities, had become good friends and even lived together.
After lunch, Huo Yingjie started switching shifts with others and worked overtime. Huo Yingjie was intelligent, and his ingenious ideas often helped everyone open up new avenues and avoid many pitfalls. Therefore, despite his aloof personality, Huo Yingjie was well-liked in the weapons research institute.
Director Liu, who had personally read Huo Yingjie's correspondence, especially loved the deep affection between the two. Ah, youth is truly wonderful! He was always exceptionally enthusiastic whenever he saw Huo Yingjie!
Those gossipy eyes seemed to want to dig up every secret about Huo Yingjie.
However, Huo Yingjie has been very busy lately, working overtime for three consecutive weekends.
When Director Liu, the confidante, heard about it, she specifically asked Huo Yingjie to find out what was going on.
"Yingjie, you're an outstanding colleague in our department. Although the workload is usually heavy, your health is also very important. You need to balance work and rest to be efficient. You can't keep working overtime all the time," Director Liu said earnestly. Oh my, if her daughter weren't so young, she might have already taken this handsome young man home to be her son-in-law.
Huo Yingjie took out a piece of paper with an application on it and said, "Director Liu, you misunderstood. I was not working overtime, but requesting leave. I have eleven days of leave at the end of the year, plus the three days I requested, for a total of two weeks of leave. Please approve it."
Director Liu suddenly realized that Huo Yingjie's girlfriend, who was a sent-down youth, had gone home for the Spring Festival holiday, and the young man probably couldn't wait.
"Oh, I see. So, are you planning to leave three days early, or come three days later after the New Year?" Director Liu asked, taking out his notebook to make a note. Special talents of the country always receive preferential treatment.
******
I highly recommend Ba Pi's "Reborn Military Wife's Guide." The moment Er Chun closed her eyes, she told herself that if there were an afterlife, she wanted to say: "Greetings, Commander, but please stay far away from me." The story is captivating and not to be missed. Ba Pi is a master of historical fiction! (To be continued.)
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