In short, after their reunion, Li Hongmei frequently showed off her affection in front of Zhou Zhixin. Zhou Zhixin had no choice but to endure it all. Honestly, Li Hongmei had done nothing wrong back then; for the month-plus of attentive care she provided, Zhou Zhixin owed her a favor.
Zhou Zhixin wanted to talk to Zhao Yunxiang about Li Hongmei this afternoon, but he didn't know where to start. He had a hunch that if Zhao Yunxiang knew that Li Hongmei had been pursuing him, she might bring up the word divorce again.
Zhou Zhixin was terrified that Zhao Yunxiang would ask for a divorce. Whenever he thought about how Zhao Yunxiang no longer cared about him, he felt a pang of pain in his heart. His Yunxiang had suffered for him for so many years, and now that he had some ability and could let Yunxiang enjoy some happiness, how could he bear to let her be sad again?
So, in fact, men's intuition is sometimes just as good as women's. Zhao Yunxiang disliked Li Hongmei the moment she saw her. Perhaps it was because Li Hongmei's attitude was a bit condescending, or perhaps Zhao Yunxiang sensed a peculiar attitude towards Zhou Zhixin. Regardless, for Zhao Yunxiang, if she knew that Zhou Zhixin and Li Hongmei had had an "ambiguous" relationship, she would never let it go.
Li Hongmei came to see Zhou Zhixin today and she did have something to do.
When Li Hongmei was making rounds in the morning, she heard Xu Heizi talking about something. Thinking that this matter might be useful to Zhou Zhixin, she came to him.
"Captain Zhou, this is what Xu Heizi gave me this morning. He brought it out from that place. I thought it might be useful to you, so I brought it to you." Li Hongmei carefully took out a plastic bag the size of a book from a paper bag in her hand.
Li Hongmei, mindful of the military's confidentiality regulations, spoke vaguely of the small valley as "that place." Zhou Zhixin's rural wife probably wouldn't have thought of this, right? Li Hongmei couldn't help but think of Zhao Yunxiang.
The dynamics between women are strange. Zhao Yunxiang is Zhou Zhixin's wife, and Li Hongmei is his admirer. The moment Li Hongmei saw Zhao Yunxiang, she couldn't help but compare herself to her. Appearance? They both seemed to have their merits, but Zhao Yunxiang's skin was much smoother and she looked much younger. In this respect, Li Hongmei lost.
Comparing education? Li Hongmei knew that many women in rural areas were uneducated. Perhaps Zhou Zhixin's wife was one of them? She, Li Hongmei, was a high school graduate. In that era, only recommended workers, peasants, and soldiers could get university degrees. Obviously, Zhao Yunxiang wasn't one of them. In this respect, Li Hongmei felt she was better than Zhao Yunxiang.
Comparing abilities? This is Li Hongmei's strong point. Li Hongmei is a military doctor, while Zhao Yunxiang is just a military wife who doesn't even seem to have a job. In this regard, Li Hongmei believes that she is much better than Zhao Yunxiang.
More virtuous? Li Hongmei is good at both housework and cooking, and she believes she is no worse than Zhao Yunxiang.
Comparing sentiments? A woman from the countryside? Did she understand Shakespeare? Did she understand love? Li Hongmei couldn't help but curl her lips.
Just as Li Hongmei was lost in thought, Zhou Zhixin took the plastic bag from her hand. Through the transparent plastic bag, Zhou Zhixin could see a lush green weed inside.
That’s right, it’s a green weed!
It had been five days since Xu Heizi was injured. Normally, a blade of grass would wither in less than twenty-four hours after leaving the soil.
If Li Hongmei had taken out a piece of dead grass today, Zhou Zhixin wouldn't have thought it was a big deal. After all, the laws of nature were in place. Without soil and water, grass would wither sooner or later.
But what Li Hongmei brought was actually a lush green grass? Fresh and tender. If it weren't for Li Hongmei's serious expression, Zhou Zhixin really wanted to ask: Did you just pull this out of the vegetable garden outside to trick me?
The grass resembled a mimosa plant. However, Zhou Zhixin's impression of a mimosa plant was of one that spread out like an umbrella. The plant Li Hongmei brought had a single, straight stem, flanked by tiny leaves, resembling a single leaf. However, this leaf was larger than the entire plant. Zhou Zhixin measured it with his finger outside the plastic bag and found it to be about the same size as his palm.
Zhou Zhixin had never seen this kind of grass before. However, he was not a botanist. Perhaps... botanists could recognize the origin of this little grass? Zhou Zhixin thought so.
What surprised Zhou Zhixin most was that, after more than a hundred hours out of the soil, this little grass showed no signs of withering. Just by looking at its appearance, one could sense its vibrant vitality. Grass that wouldn't wither even without the soil, and that had been brought from that valley, was definitely a strange thing, wasn't it? Or was it... that this species of grass was incredibly resilient, able to thrive even without soil or water?
Zhou Zhixin brought the plastic bag close to his eyes and looked at it over and over again, but he couldn't figure out what was hidden.
"Comrade Li Hongmei, thank you for your diligence and responsibility in your work. I already know about this matter. After work, I will go to the regiment commander and the political commissar to report this matter. Don't worry, I will report your efforts to the leaders." Seeing that the naked eye could not see the abnormality of the grass, Zhou Zhixin had to pin his hopes on scientific and technological means. Zhou Zhixin's plan was to let the regiment commander and the political commissar report this strange thing to the leaders above, and then naturally someone would arrange to send the grass to a botanist for identification or send it to the laboratory for testing. It was not something he could decide.
Honestly, the squad that entered the valley that day was essentially wiped out. They hadn't encountered a single enemy, yet the squad members suddenly began slaughtering each other. It was a terrifying sight! If something like that had happened on a battlefield, with tens of thousands of troops slaughtering each other, Zhou Zhixin felt a headache just thinking about it.
Before he could fully grasp the cause of what had happened in the valley, Zhou Zhixin felt he couldn't let it go. After all, sometimes, a seemingly insignificant incident could become the key to victory. This was a lesson Zhou Zhixin had learned from countless trials and tribulations in the military.
Li Hongmei had come to report the clue out of goodwill, and Zhou Zhixin didn't want to be too ruthless. So Zhou Zhixin promised Li Hongmei that if the herb was truly useful, he would definitely not hide her contribution. After all, in the military, the importance of military merit is self-evident.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
