They're just trying to trick you.
I heard it? Who told you that?
A large, muscular figure, always by my side, listening to and observing my recent words and actions, slowly surfaced in my mind. A chill ran through me. Little Li, I treated you like a son, and you betrayed me!
“Not good.” My tone was icy. I followed my father’s instructions and was no longer willing to beat around the bush. “My dating is none of your business. I don’t like you either. Please take away the spy you planted next to me. From this moment on, this person has been expelled from the military.”
He stood very close to me, his back slightly hunched. I moved away a little, and he would take half a step forward, keeping the same distance from me, always maintaining a distance of only twenty centimeters.
When we're backed to the very end, is he going to "slam" me down? I sneered: "Don't play the domineering CEO game, I don't fall for that."
"Are you unwilling to accept me because of my illness, or because you still love Gao Chen?"
His words immediately angered me, even though his tone was gentler than ever before and carried no accusation. I just couldn't stand it: "It's not because of your illness, and it's not because of Gao Chen. Don't you understand that I don't like you?"
"You just don't want to admit it, you think it's shameful to like me, right?"
It was so dark in the shed that I couldn't see his expression at all, and he probably couldn't see mine either, but that didn't stop me from rolling my eyes: "Your delusions are getting worse and worse."
He chuckled softly. "Think about it, aren't you trapped in a cocoon? The cocoon's name is 'It's shameful to like Yu Zhongjian.' You entered this cocoon the moment we met, and you still can't break free. So even if I'm good to you, even if everyone supports you being with me, even if you've clearly fallen for me, you still don't dare to break free and step out. Because you've always been prejudiced against me, thinking that a mentally ill person doesn't deserve to be near you. Although you hide it well, you can't fool me or your own heart. Of course, I understand; admitting prejudice is one of the hardest things in the world."
I don't know what he's talking about, but every word he says makes me uncomfortable, very uncomfortable, and I don't want to listen anymore: "Please stop living in your delusions, I really don't like you."
“Alright.” His voice didn’t sound disappointed at all; instead, it became even gentler. “I won’t force you, but you have to recognize your situation. You can’t get married. No one will marry you except me.”
"Bullshit!" I blurted out, then suddenly realized what I meant. "What do you mean? Are you trying to sabotage all my blind dates by pulling strings behind the scenes?"
"Hmm." He admitted it, he actually admitted it so openly, and continued to provoke me: "If it's someone I know, I'll have a good talk with him. If it's a stranger, I'll probably use some extreme measures."
I laughed angrily: "Haha, threatening me? Great, congratulations on taking your brain to another level of 'flipped' thinking. We've known each other for so long, you must know what kind of person I am, right? Even if you kill every man in the world, if I don't want to be with you, no one can force me to give in!"
“I know.” He spoke gently and softly. “Of course I know what kind of person you are, so I’m just saying it to you, telling you what I want to do, but I may not have time to do it.”
Just venting? I still don't understand: "What are you even talking about?"
“I have to go. I’m going back to the north before dawn. The situation there is much worse than on the western front. I won’t be able to see you for a long time, maybe even…” He paused, then reached out and touched my right arm. “The brace is off. Does it still hurt? Don’t forget to go to the Wolf Smoke Base to get the rivets next year.”
Even what? You should finish what you're saying! I instantly changed my mind, not having time to argue with him anymore, and asked urgently, "It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt, what's wrong with the northern front? Is the zombie horde bigger and more numerous than the western front? Didn't General Shen say the situation was alright?"
“That was a message from six months ago.” He sighed very softly. “Qi Aifeng, do you believe me?”
"Believe in what?"
"Trust me, I won't let the zombie horde move even a kilometer south."
Of course I believe he has that ability! But why did he ask? And why did I sense a hint of tragedy in his voice?
"I believe you," I said firmly. "Not only will you prevent the zombie horde from moving even a kilometer south, but you will also return unscathed, leading your army to a safe victory."
He held my arm without letting go, then moved it down my forearm to my right hand, giving it a very light touch: "I just wanted to see you before I left. The helicopter is waiting five kilometers away. I have to go now."
Five kilometers away... How did he get here without a car? Did he run? His unusual behavior made me uneasy. When he tried to let go, I grabbed him instead. "Is there some danger? Why are you acting so strangely? Don't scare me, okay?"
He pulled his hand away from mine: "There's no danger, don't overthink it. Stay home and don't overwork yourself. Eat fruit every day."
He was about to leave when I grabbed his clothes, reenacting the scene from the day the capital demanded compensation: "No, no, you can't leave until you explain things to me clearly."
"To be clear, I'm going to the northern front to fight zombies. I'll come see you after I'm done."
The calmer and more composed he was, the more panicked I became. Recalling what had happened on the western front, I immediately imagined a whole host of crises he would encounter on the northern front: "What if we can't finish them off? What if you run into bad survivors? What if you die?"
"Can't you say something auspicious?" He tapped my head. "I won't die. Even if I do, Gao Chen will take over. No problem."
For someone who is always confident to the point of arrogance to say "even if" is unusual in itself. When I heard "succession," I simply couldn't stand it and blurted out, "I'll go with you!"
"Nonsense!" This time he didn't hold back and started to pry my hands off. "Let go, the helicopter has been waiting for too long."
"No, I want to go with you!"
He paused for a moment: "Are you worried about me or about Gao Chen?"
I snapped, "Why do you keep bringing him up! I don't want to hear his name."
He laughed: "So you're worried about me? How about you promise me one thing, and I promise I'll come back alive to see you?"
"What's up?"
"Admit that you like me."
"...What if I don't admit it?"
"Then forget it."
This annoying, unsettling, and utterly irritating man—I really wish I could drag him out right now and have a good fight with him, even if I lose, I'd accept it. I've wanted to beat him up for months!
He pushed me to the point of tears: "Are you trying to trick me?"
"Hmm." He surprisingly admitted it again, "I wanted to trick you, to give you something nice to hear before you go to war, because..."
He finally managed to pry my fingers apart, and raised his arm as if to tap my forehead again, but in the end he just gently tapped my forehead: "I've liked you for a long time, Qi Aifeng."
It's hard to describe how I feel at this moment, and it's hard to explain my behavior. I burst into tears, inexplicably bursting into tears.
How strange, how unbelievable! After hearing his words, which sounded like whispers in my sleep, I felt neither sweetness, nor elation, nor satisfaction, nor emotion, nor annoyance, nor hatred. My heart was filled with a sour, astringent, and painful feeling. Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably.
I didn't want it to flow; I felt it wasn't my intention, but I couldn't control it. The floodgates of tears seemed to have been breached, completely disobeying my brain's commands, and I sobbed uncontrollably.
He seemed stunned for a moment before hurriedly patting his chest, then his pockets, and finally wiping my face haphazardly with his sleeve: "Why are you crying? Is being liked by me such a scary thing? If you don't want to accept it, then you don't have to. I won't force you."
I was still crying and couldn't speak. He sighed helplessly and said, "It won't interfere with your blind date, okay? Don't cry anymore, I really have to go."
"I...I...I'll go with you..." Even though I was completely exhausted from all the smoking, I still insisted on making my decision.
"I was just kidding you. There's no danger on the northern front. The situation is just as General Shen said. I was just trying to trick you."
"You...you're a...bastard."
He wiped away my tears again and pushed my cheek with his thumb: "This time I plan to finish the battle in one go within two months. I can't be distracted and sneak out, so don't drive Li Tonggu away. He is the only person the helicopter pilot knows. I also want to know your news on the northern front."
My tears kept flowing: "You...you can't do this! You won't let me go, and you're making me feel burdened. You're such a jerk!"
"Qi Aifeng." He cupped my cheeks with both hands, squeezing the flesh of my face together. "Look at me."
What are you looking at in the dark?
I'm not an innocent little girl, and his actions startled me. That gesture of cupping her face in his hands—could it be that he was going to… like in the novels, gently lick the tears on her face or kiss her reddened eyes?
Ugh! If Yu Zhongjian dares to suck my cheek or kiss my eyelid, I'll chase him to the ends of the earth and kill him!
I panicked and tried to struggle away, but when I exerted force, my head and neck almost separated; he was holding me tightly.
"Don't move."
The darkness before my eyes wasn't darkness at all; it was his face suddenly leaning down, something brushing against my lips with lightning speed. By the time I realized what was happening, the shed was empty.
"Ah! That guy surnamed Yu!" I took off chasing after him, but the shed was empty, and he was nowhere to be seen.
"Yu Zhongjian! Bastard! Bastard! Yu Zhongjian!" I didn't know which direction he fled from, so I ran around in circles and shouted it all over again.
There's no limit to how embarrassing things can get. Something even more embarrassing than crying your eyes out in front of Yu Zhongjian is being cornered outside the vegetable shed in the middle of the night by a group of people with flashlights and candles. And even more embarrassing is that they all kept asking me why I was calling Yu Zhongjian's name at the vegetable shed in the middle of the night—was I missing him so much I couldn't sleep?
I was speechless, especially when I saw my parents' "stubborn people deserve to be slapped in the face" expressions. I couldn't say a word.
The next day, the news spread throughout the entire team. No matter which group I went to work in, I was met with a wave of malicious snickers and teasing. Team members, intimidated by my powerful aura, would chuckle behind my back. People like Han Bo, Zhou Yi, and Xiao Hei would openly ridicule me, mocking me for being lovesick and obsessed with Yu Zhongjian.
I returned home with a sullen face, went straight upstairs to my room, and saw Liu Meili, whose belly had finally developed a small bump, half-lying on the bed, holding a children's book and vividly reciting: "The little tadpole saw a turtle swimming in the water, chased after it, and called out, 'Mommy, Mommy...'"
I replied, "That bastard said, I'm not your mother, your mother is a big-mouthed toad!"
Liu Meili rolled her eyes at me: "Why are you using such vulgar language? I'm doing prenatal education!"
I snorted and sat down by her bedside: "She's not even fully grown yet, what kind of prenatal education are you talking about!"
“What do you know? A six-month-old fetus has all the necessary growth and can hear everything. We need to create an environment of truth, goodness and beauty for him.”
"Truth, goodness, and beauty?" I sneered. "With a mother like you who talks such a big mouth, how good can you be? Spreading my story as a joke around, do you really think I can't do anything about it right now?"
Liu Meili shrank back guiltily: "It wasn't just me who heard it last night, everyone heard and saw it, so why do you say it was me who spread it? I only told Yingjun, and I even warned him not to tell anyone."
I stared at her coldly: "Your husband turned around and told Han Bo, and he didn't forget to add that no one should tell. Then Han Bo told Zhou Yi, and Zhou Yi told his teammates. Just this one scandal you two created has completely ruined my reputation!"
Liu Meili chuckled awkwardly: "It's not that serious. Everyone knows that President Yu is fond of you. Your sleepwalking out and calling out to him a few times is just proof that you are mutually attracted. It has nothing to do with your reputation."
"Bullshit! What mutual affection? I'm clearly burning with rage and filled with boundless hatred!"
Liu Meili hurriedly covered her stomach: "Oh, baby, be good! Godmother is naughty, godmother is a little rascal! We won't listen to her nonsense! Actually, a fart is a cute gas that makes a sound..."
I'm not obsessed; Liu Meili is. How could she be so reckless during her pregnancy? Doesn't she consider that she'll eventually give birth? Once her belly is empty, I'll never let that big-mouthed woman get away with it!
I couldn't get back at her, nor could I stop the spread of rumors. When I went out, I ran into a wall of flesh that I couldn't push, couldn't beat, and couldn't get rid of no matter how much I cursed. I was so angry that my heart ached.
"You've overheard my conversation with Liu Meili, now you can go tattle on me!"
Li Tonggu stood expressionless and motionless, neither uttering a sound nor looking at me, but he followed me whenever I moved. It could be said that, except for personal hygiene and sleeping, I was always within his sight, openly eavesdropping and monitoring my every move, his perversion even greater than before.
I no longer sympathize with him. He and Yu Zhongjian are both perverts at heart.
The saying goes, "When you have too many lice, you don't feel the itch," so my anger subsided after two days. Now that things have come to this, I can't explain my behavior that night no matter how hard I try. Telling them that Yu Zhongjian came over in the middle of the night would be even worse; who knows what kind of scandalous scene they'd turn the vegetable shed into!
These past few days, whenever I see a vegetable stall, I unconsciously touch my lips, a touch of melancholy in my eyes. Yu Zhongjian has completely dropped his pretense, no longer hiding his lust for me, and I can't quite describe how I feel. Not repulsed, not disgusted, but not exactly happy either. If I had to sum it up, it would probably be mostly resentment.
I think this person is too clever, skilled at laying the groundwork and adept at creating momentum. He's been using his eyes, actions, and behavior to tell me, and everyone else, that he likes me for a long time, but he never says it aloud. I have a short temper, and when I get annoyed by this atmosphere, I want to force him to say it so I can reject him directly. But he's so good at holding back; he either creates ambiguity or beats around the bush, just won't tell the truth, making me suspicious and uncertain. Sometimes I think he loves me to death, and other times I think I'm mistaken.
He watched as Gao Chen and I gradually fell in love, never trying to compete for her. He said Gao Chen was "too perfect," but that wasn't really slander. Until the last night at Jinyingshan, he said he "couldn't listen anymore." I couldn't tell if he was speaking up to ruin my relationship with Gao Chen, or simply because he didn't want me to be caught in a love triangle.
With his "love rival" gone, he finally confessed his feelings. But before confessing, he had to say something that made me uncomfortable—what prejudice? If I had prejudice, would I have let him stay in our team for so long? Doesn't this imply that I was just using him? And now I have to admit that I like him. We've known each other for so long, and my feelings for him have gone from friendship to familial affection. How much more do you want from me?
This man is cunning and manipulative; I'm not willing to fall into his trap like this. Does it have to be him if it's not Gao Chen? I'm not willing to accept it.
The young man from Huaicheng has no chance. If all else fails, I'll go to the capital and see what happens. There are plenty of men there; he can't ruin it.
In early November, the new inpatient building for veterans was topped out, and the reconstruction of the artificial lake and basketball court in the back garden was completed. The family brought out all the fresh ingredients and held a celebratory feast at the construction site. There were no firecrackers, so a few men fired guns instead, creating a lively and festive atmosphere.
Li Tonggu and I pushed the handcart, delivering beer to our group of teammates one by one—there weren't enough tables and chairs, so they all ate while squatting on the ground. After delivering a few beers, Li Tonggu abandoned the cart and ran off.
The whirring of a helicopter echoed from the west. I curled my lip in disdain. Off to report on work again, going back once a week without getting tired. I work from sunrise to sunset every day, diligently repeating the same tasks, and I never discuss Yu Zhongjian with anyone. If anyone tries to discuss him, I'll glare at them. What's there to report?
He came back half an hour later, stood in front of me scratching his head, and said, "A woman asked if you want to go. If you do, then leave."
"Huh?" I was completely confused. "What are you talking about?"
"I rescued a woman, and that person asked me if I wanted to go. If I did, I would take a plane."
I pondered for a while, holding the handlebars, and then slowly said, "Did the driver tell you that Boss Yu rescued a female survivor on the northern front, and that the two of them have an ambiguous relationship, and that he wants me to catch them in the act now?"
Little Li scratched his head again: "What's 'ambiguous'? He just said there's a woman over there and asked you to go."
"What do I care? I'm not going!"
I pushed the cart away, feeling utterly disdainful. I couldn't believe Yu Zhongjian would resort to such a tactic—it was too idiotic and low-level! Did he think that just because he mentioned having a woman with him, I'd get jealous and rush over to see him? We have no relationship whatsoever, why would I be jealous! Even if Yu Zhongjian had ten or eight women around him, I wouldn't be jealous!
After walking a few steps, Li Tonggu overtook me: "Then I'll go and tell him to leave."
"Wait a minute."
Li Tonggu turned around, and I snorted loudly: "Yu Zhongjian dares to insult my intelligence like this, it's too much! I've decided to personally expose his clumsy lies, reveal his sinister intentions, and teach him to behave properly in the future."
Li Tonggu looked confused: "Should we go or not?"
"……go."
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