Chapter 87 Afraid of being accused of being a spy
The moonlight shone on the cucumber vines in the vegetable patch, and also on Qiao Xingyue and Xie Zhongming.
Xie Zhongming paused in his fanning, his gaze falling on Qiao Xingyue's face, and he tightened his grip on her small hand.
"This matter is not that simple, and I don't know how to explain it to you."
Qiao Xingyue pulled her hand away, her gaze somewhat evasive.
She has always been decisive and straightforward, and there's nothing she's afraid to say.
But if he said the whole thing about time travel out loud, he didn't know how absurd it would sound, so he didn't dare to look at Xie Zhongming anymore. He lowered his head, picked up a branch from the ground, and started drawing circles on the ground.
Xie Zhongming had interrogated countless prisoners and knew that Xingyue's evasive gaze was definitely suspicious, but it was certainly not a sign of any conspiracy or scheming.
She must have some unspeakable secret that she doesn't know how to bring it up.
Under the cover of night, seeing his wife's hesitant expression, he said firmly, "Xingyue, I believe whatever you say."
"You really believe me?"
Qiao Xingyue stopped scribbling on the ground with a branch and looked up abruptly.
From the moment they first met in Shantang Village until she suddenly appeared at the Xie family's house, he had mentioned the matter of spies, and he had mentioned it again later.
In those days, the crackdown on spies was very strict.
Starting today, Qiao Xingyue will remain in the Xie family as his wife, Pang Ya.
When Xie Zhongming returned to the army to apply for marriage, the application report included a background check on Pang Ya. Pang Ya was indeed a country girl who had never attended school and couldn't even write her own name.
Even though she did meet the so-called educated couple who came to the countryside during the years she was driven out of Chadian Village by Zeng Xiuzhu, and they taught her some knowledge, it's really hard to believe that she was proficient in medicine, saved Commander Chen, knew English, and was going to take the college entrance examination.
"Xingyue, there's a division commander in the army named Zhao Guangliang. He, my dad, and Uncle Chen have all become candidates for the next army commander."
“He had a lot of grudges against our family. On the surface, he and my father were comrades-in-arms and colleagues, but in private, he wished our whole family would die.”
“I’m afraid he’ll use this as leverage to treat you like a spy.”
How could Qiao Xingyue not understand the relative importance of this matter?
"Whatever I say, you believe it?" she asked, looking at him.
The moonlight fell into her eyes, reflecting a few sparkling glimmers of water, carrying her tentative gaze.
"letter."
Xie Zhongming nodded firmly.
"I believe anything you say."
Without the slightest hesitation, he nodded, his jaw taut and straight.
His eyes shone like stars in the night sky, fixed firmly on her gaze. He spoke each word clearly and solemnly, "Xingyue, whatever you say, I will believe you."
As soon as he finished speaking, he took her hand again.
The thick calluses on her palms were gently rubbed.
"I believe in your kindness, and I believe you wouldn't do anything to harm this family or the army. I also believe that you must have some unspeakable reason for suddenly transforming from a chubby girl into the capable Xingyue."
Xie Zhongming's determined gaze dispelled Qiao Xingyue's doubts. "Then I'll tell you. Don't say I'm talking nonsense. Otherwise, I won't believe you anymore."
Then, she said decisively:
"Actually, my name is Qiao Xingyue, not Fatty."
"Of course, I'm also from Chadian Village, the fat girl who drank the veterinary drug Zeng Xiuzhu gave her and slept with you."
"It sounds a bit absurd, but I am actually a woman from the new era of the 21st century. I read a lot of books when I was young, went to medical school, pursued a medical doctorate, and also studied abroad."
"It's the 1970s now, and the 21st century will be fifty years from now."
“In our time, unlike now, there were no state-owned enterprises or state-owned restaurants everywhere. There was no “destroy the four olds” mentality. There were private enterprises everywhere, and everyone could do business freely. The economy was booming.”
Speaking of the prosperity of later generations, Qiao Xingyue suddenly missed the cars, airplanes, and high-speed trains of that era.
She really wants to eat fried chicken, Sichuan hot pot, snail rice noodles, milk tea, salmon, sushi, steak, and Chaoshan beef hot pot... so many things she wants to eat.
Speaking of her excitement, she gestured with the branch in her hand, "Back then, we didn't need to write or send letters. Everyone had a mobile phone. Mobile phones could access the internet, watch TikTok, and make phone calls and video chats with relatives thousands or tens of thousands of kilometers away, or even on the other side of the world."
She continued:
"My family is actually quite well-off. My family is similar to your mom's family. My parents, my brothers, and my grandparents all dote on me. I am the only girl in the family."
“My family originally had hundreds of millions of assets waiting for me to inherit, but they were all very supportive of my studying medicine.”
“I was so dedicated to my medical career that once I performed several surgeries in a row and stood in front of the operating table for more than 30 hours. When I woke up, I found myself feeling hot and restless, and I really wanted to grab a man and sleep with him.”
"My memory of how we ended up sleeping together is very vague."
"It was several days later when Zeng Xiuzhu woke me up with a broom, and I realized that I had been transported to this difficult era."
“Zeng Xiuzhu said that I got a marriage certificate with someone else. I don’t even remember how we took our wedding photos. Zeng Xiuzhu has been hiding the marriage certificate and won’t let me see it.”
"She's probably afraid I'll go to the military base to find you, so she won't let me know your name."
Qiao Xingyue spoke at length, until her throat became dry.
After saying that, she looked at Xie Zhongming, her palms sweating, "Don't these words sound absurd, like you're talking nonsense?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she carefully observed Xie Zhongming's reaction.
Xie Zhongming listened quietly the whole time without saying a word, which shocked him so much that he could hardly contain his astonishment.
He stared at her blankly, his Adam's apple bobbing, unable to utter a word for a long time.
The lights are voice-activated; they turn on when someone gets close.
A plane can travel a thousand miles in two hours, and a high-speed rail can connect cities and provinces in an hour? Can we meet remotely via mobile phone? Does every household own a car?
These words sounded even more incredible than the most outlandish combat plans ever heard in the military.
Qiao Xingyue patted the back of his hand, her palm resting on it. "Xie Zhongming, don't you believe what I'm saying? Don't you think it's absurd?"
The warmth from the back of his hand brought Xie Zhongming back to his senses.
For some reason, Qiao Xingyue felt a little panicked for the first time: Could it be that Xie Zhongming thought she was talking nonsense? How could Xie Zhongming believe such a ridiculous thing she said?
But given the suspicion of being a spy, and the fact that she was already married to him, she really should be honest with him.
"Xie Zhongming, what if that Zhao something-liang, our dad's nemesis, really arrests me as a spy?"
She had just brought An'an and Ningning back to their ancestral home, and many good days awaited her.
Xie Zhongming instinctively tightened his grip on her hand, only to meet the trepidation and sincerity in her eyes—a vulnerability he had never seen in her before.
The shock slowly subsided.
Instead, there is gentleness and heartache.
He gripped her hand tighter. "It's not absurd. I believe you."
Seeing the disbelief in her eyes, he repeated himself, his tone as solemn as if he were making a solemn pledge, "I said I would believe anything you say. No matter where you come from, you are my wife, Xie Zhongming's wife. Zhao Guangliang has indeed been causing trouble for our Xie family. If he dares to arrest you as a spy, I will definitely protect you."
He added, "If someone asks you why you went from being an illiterate chubby girl in Chadian Village to being so skilled in medicine, you can say, as you did before, that you later met a couple who knew medicine and came to the countryside, and you learned from them."
He needs to be careful about this.
The two sat on small stools in the yard for a while.
When they carried the small stool back to the main room, An'an and Ningning were already asleep on the straw mat on the floor.
They slept soundly on the small pillows that Huang Guilan had brought.
As soon as they entered the room, Xie Zhongming and Qiao Xingyue heard that An'an had been having a dream while she was asleep, and she was laughing in her dream.
It should be a sweet dream!
Huang Guilan made a shushing gesture. "Shh, keep your voices down. I told the two kids to go inside to sleep, but they insisted on waiting for their parents and fell asleep while they were waiting. Xingyue, Zhongming, you two go upstairs to sleep. I'll stay here with An'an and Ningning tonight."
In the hot summer, the straw mats laid in the main room are much cooler than those on the second floor.
Huang Guilan was about to lie down on the straw mat with her two children to sleep, but Qiao Xingyue said, "Mom, I'm afraid An'an and Ningning will wake up and not see me, and they'll start crying again. I'll sleep on this mat and take care of them. An'an and Ningning are restless sleepers, and it gets chilly in the middle of the night, so I'll have to cover them with blankets. If their stomachs get cold, they'll probably have stomach aches the next day."
Without saying a word, Xie Zhongming spread another roll of straw mat that was standing in the corner next to An An and Ning Ning's mat. "Mom, Xingyue and I will stay here to take care of An An and Ning Ning. You and Dad should go back to your room and sleep."
That night, Qiao Xingyue and Xie Zhongming lay on either side of An Anning.
The family of four slept on two mats spread out in the main room of the Xie family's house.
The door to the main room was not closed.
The lights had been off for a long time.
Outside, there was a chorus of frogs croaking and cicadas chirping.
A cool breeze blew in, ruffling the clothes of the family of four.
Qiao Xingyue's gaze passed over the soft hair of her two daughters and landed on Xie Zhongming.
In the darkness, his features were clear and strong, his straight nose cast a faint shadow under the moonlight, and his jawline was sharp. Even when he was lying down, he exuded the calm and composed demeanor of a soldier.
His tall frame took up a lot of space when he lay down on the mat, but he deliberately slept on the edge of the mat, leaving enough space for the mother and her two children, afraid of crowding them.
He looked at her and asked, "Why aren't you asleep yet?"
"Do you really believe what I just told you?" she asked.
Xie Zhongming pondered deeply.
The world is full of wonders.
Three years ago, he and Jiang Beiyang were also involved in a bizarre case that science could not explain.
He believed what Xingyue said.
She and Fatty were completely different people, with different souls.
He didn't answer her question directly. Instead, he stretched out his long arm, reaching past his two daughters, and hooked her hand under her head. He lowered his voice and said, "Xingyue, when we're seventy or eighty years old, we should be able to see the prosperous scenes of the future that you mentioned. When that time comes, will you take me to visit your hometown?"
...
The inner room.
Huang Guilan was so happy she couldn't sleep.
She tossed and turned on her bed, which was covered with a straw mat, unable to sleep, and occasionally burst into laughter.
"How could there be such a coincidence in this world? How could Xingyue be Fatty? I feel like I'm dreaming. Old Xie, I'm afraid that when I wake up tomorrow morning, it will all be a dream. No, I can't sleep."
"It's absolutely true, Xingyue is Zhongming's wife, and An'an and Ningning are our Xie family's granddaughters. Look how excited you are."
Xie Jiang fanned Huang Guilan.
The elderly couple were used to being frugal. Even though there was a fan in the house, Huang Guilan refused to let them turn it on for fear of wasting electricity.
Xie Jiang was worried that she was too hot, so he fanned her gently, saying, "Go to sleep quickly. Tomorrow morning you have to go and tell the eldest and second eldest sons their good news, as well as the third and fifth eldest sons. After that, you have to take Xingyue to the department store to choose furniture. Don't worry about the money, buy as much furniture as Xingyue likes."
Huang Guilan was so excited that she couldn't sleep. "How could I care about the money? I can't wait to buy more for Xingyue. She and An'an and Ningning have suffered so much over the years, and our family has to make it up to them."
...
Xie Zhongming didn't sleep much that night.
Firstly, he and An'an and Ningning finally recognized each other, and Xingyue finally agreed to live with him.
Secondly, Xingyue's identity was a source of great worry for him.
He believed every word Xingyue said.
But what about others?
If Xingyue were to say that she came from 50 years in the future, she would definitely be arrested by the security department.
He barely slept all night.
On weekdays, Xingyue gets up early to make breakfast for the family.
The next day, Xie Zhongming got up before dawn, closed the kitchen door, and quietly kneaded the flour inside.
The kitchen door suddenly creaked open.
Qiao Xingyue's head popped in, "Xie Zhongming, why are you up so early?"
In the large iron pot on the stove, mung bean porridge was bubbling. Xie Zhongming was kneading dough in a wooden basin on the stove. "You should go back to sleep for a while. After breakfast, we'll take An'an and Ningning to the government-run kindergarten together."
This man keeps his word.
Last night, I said that from now on, he would be in charge of all the housework.
He got up early this morning to make breakfast.
Having such a caring and considerate man at home is certainly a good thing.
Afraid of waking An An and Ning Ning, Qiao Xingyue lowered her voice and praised, "A diligent man is the most handsome! He deserves praise, keep up the good work."
If the man does the work, she has to be sweet-talking.
Otherwise, over time, no matter how hard a man works, he will get tired of doing housework every day.
However, people in this era don't usually compliment someone on their looks directly.
Afraid of waking An An Ning Ning, Qiao Xing Yue didn't say anything more. She slowly closed the kitchen door, isolating the sounds of Xie Zhongming making breakfast in the kitchen from the main room.
Inside the main room, An An was sleeping soundly on the straw mat. She sat down and gently stroked the heads of her two children: from now on, her daughters also had a father. If anyone dared to bully them, Xie Zhongming would definitely be the first to rush up to protect the two sisters.
My heart suddenly felt warm.
In the kitchen, Xie Zhongming stopped stirring the porridge in the pot with a large spoon. Had Xingyue just praised him?
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