Chapter 101 The Capital! Here we come!
"Attention passengers, the next stop is the final destination of this train, Beijing Capital International Airport..."
A clear and articulate female voice came through the radio.
The train slowed down, and outside the window, rows of gray buildings replaced the rolling fields.
On the wide road, brand-new "Jiefang" trucks and boxy "Volga" cars were running, and even more so, there were hordes of bicycles.
People dressed in blue, gray, and military green uniforms hurried along, their faces displaying a kind of vigor and confidence that island residents lacked and that belonged to big cities.
"We've arrived in the capital."
Qin Lie looked out the window and said in a low voice.
Jiang Wu held her sleeping son Qin Zhan in her arms and nodded.
This is where they will live in the future.
A larger and more complex stage.
With a clatter, the train finally came to a stop.
Qin Lie, carrying his daughter Qin Zhao in one arm and two large packages in the other, was the first to get off the car.
A wave of heat, mixed with the smell of coal smoke and the scents of countless people, swept over me.
The platform was packed with people, and the noise was deafening.
The diverse accents, the clatter of luggage, and the cries of children intertwine to create a vibrant symphony that belongs to this era.
Holding her son, Jiang Wu followed behind Qin Lie, barely managing to find her footing in the crowded throng.
Qin Lie shielded her and the child behind him, his sharp eyes quickly searching through the crowd at the exit.
Soon, he saw a middle-aged man wearing a crisp military uniform with two bars and three stars on his shoulders.
Beside the man stood a woman wearing a polyester dress and sporting fashionable curls.
"Big brother! Big sister-in-law!"
Qin Lie called out in that direction.
The man looked over upon hearing the sound, a smile appearing on his face, and quickly walked over.
"Ah Lie, you must be tired from your journey."
The person who arrived was Qin Lie's elder brother, Qin Zheng.
He looked seven or eight years older than Qin Lie, and their faces were somewhat similar, but he had a more composed and reserved demeanor, exuding the authority of someone who had long held a high position.
The woman beside him, Song Liyun, Qin Lie's sister-in-law, also came over.
Her gaze did not immediately fall on Qin Lie or the child, but instead subtly swept over Jiang Wu.
When she saw Jiang Wu wearing the most common dress on the island and the ordinary cloth shoes on her feet, a fleeting but undisguised look of disdain flashed in her eyes.
"This must be your sister-in-law?" Song Liyun put on a polite smile. "Oh dear, you must be exhausted after such a long train ride. Judging from your physique, you've never traveled far from home. Our capital city is much larger and more diverse than your small town."
Her words sounded like concern, but the subtle sense of superiority between the lines felt like a needle, making one feel uncomfortable.
"Hello, sister-in-law." Jiang Wu, holding the child, nodded politely but not humbly, without saying anything more.
"Brother, this is your nephew Qin Zhan, and this is your niece Qin Zhao." Qin Lie seemed oblivious to the implication in Song Liyun's words, and presented his daughter to Qin Zheng as if she were a treasure.
Looking at the exquisitely beautiful little figure, Qin Zheng's usually serious face softened with a rare gentleness.
"Okay, okay, looks like you."
"What's so good about looking like me?" Song Liyun scoffed softly from the side. She reached out and pinched Qin Zhao's little face affectionately. "It's better for a girl to look like her mother. Oh my, this little face is just like your sister-in-law's. It's just a pity that she didn't inherit the fair skin from our Qin family."
Jiang Wu's eyes turned cold.
Qin Lie frowned as well, and he was about to speak.
“Sister-in-law, you’re joking,” Jiang Wu said first, her voice calm. “The child is still young and growing fast, changing every day. But no matter who she looks like, she is Qin Lie’s and my child, and we love her dearly.”
Song Liyun's smile froze for a moment. She hadn't expected this seemingly gentle and weak country woman to have such a sharp tongue.
"Let's go, Mom and Dad are still waiting at home." Qin Zheng interrupted the undercurrent of their confrontation at the right time, taking a large package from Qin Lie's hand. "The car is just outside."
A jeep with white military license plates, bearing the number "212," was parked in the most conspicuous spot outside the station.
The guard opened the car door, and the group got in one by one.
The jeep smoothly merged into the traffic and drove west along the wide Chang'an Avenue.
The red palace walls and golden glazed tiles shimmered in the sunlight.
Neat rows of poplar trees line both sides of the road, casting dappled shadows.
It was the first time Qin Zhao had seen so many novel things, and his big, dark eyes darted around curiously.
"This is Tiananmen Square, and that's the Monument to the People's Heroes," Qin Lie said softly, holding his daughter.
"Ah Lie, you've come back with a new rank and position, which is a great honor for the Qin family." Qin Zheng glanced at Qin Lie in the rearview mirror as he drove. "However, the capital is a dangerous place, and the operations department is full of talented people. In the future, you should observe and think more before you act, and don't act recklessly like you did in the lower-ranking troops."
"I understand, brother." Qin Lie nodded.
“And your sister-in-law,” Song Liyun spoke up again, as if she had suddenly remembered something, “I heard that you were the one who single-handedly sailed the boat into the typhoon to rescue A-Lie?”
"Mm," Jiang Wu replied faintly.
"Oh my, that's amazing!" Song Liyun exclaimed exaggeratedly. "I really can't understand it. How did you, a woman, get such courage? When the girls in our courtyard heard about you, they all thought it was a fairy tale. They even made a bet that you must be big and burly, like a man, but who would have thought..."
She looked Jiang Wu up and down, then shook her head. "I didn't expect her to be so thin and frail. Sometimes, when luck comes, you just can't stop it."
The meaning behind those words couldn't be clearer.
She didn't believe Jiang Wu had any real skills at all; she just thought that Jiang Wu was lucky to have saved Qin Lie.
Qin Lie's face darkened completely.
“Sister-in-law, Jiang Wu is my wife and the mother of my child. I know what she has done for me. I hope you can respect her as well.”
His voice wasn't loud, but every word carried an undeniable warning.
The atmosphere inside the car instantly plummeted to freezing point.
Song Liyun's face flushed red and then turned pale. She never expected that Qin Lie would embarrass her to her face for the sake of this country woman.
She wanted to say something more, but the jeep suddenly turned and slowed down.
A large compound with a sign that read "Military Management Zone" and soldiers on guard appeared before everyone's eyes.
Just as the jeep was about to drive through the gate, Qin Lie's gaze inadvertently swept over a black Volga parked on the side of the road.
That license plate number looks familiar.
His pupils contracted slightly.
They are from the Lu family.
How did they get here?
An ominous premonition rose in Qin Lie's heart.
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