As soon as Wu Sicheng led An Moxue into the cafeteria, everyone inside turned their gazes toward An Moxue, some with curiosity, some with scrutiny, and some with hostility.
Following the hostile gaze, An Moxue saw several women who were clearly dressed up. She gave Wu Sicheng a playful look. Wu Sicheng was feeling extremely helpless at the moment. He didn't know if he, a fish in the mud, could be spared by An Moxue.
He gently tugged at An Moxue's arm, and An Moxue tilted her head slightly, asking, "What's wrong?"
"When those ugly women come along, don't you dare wrong yourself. They're just a bunch of overconfident ugly women who think they can get a good life with their so-called beauty."
"The consequences you mentioned?"
"I'll cover it."
As they were talking, the two of them walked into the cafeteria.
An Moxue wore a perfect professional smile, which made everyone who saw her feel her sincerity and enthusiasm. She nodded slightly to those who were watching her and those who walked by, greeting them.
Before Wu Sicheng could lead the way, she walked half a step ahead of him to Fu Shanyue's table. Wu Sicheng quickly moved a chair for her, and she sat down naturally. Everyone present could tell that this kind of behavior was a common occurrence between the two of them.
The women nearby were even more furious at the sight of the two of them, wishing they could skin her alive. But she acted as if she hadn't seen anything and calmly sat down.
Wu Sicheng introduced them, "Let's all get to know each other. This is my girlfriend, An Moxue. Moxue, this is Fu Shanyue and his wife Wenrou, and their daughter Fu Yuanyuan. This is Liu Cheng and his wife Wang Ying, and the lady next to them is Bai Moli from the cultural troupe."
There were only a few people sitting at the table. After Wu Sicheng finished introducing them, An Moxue took out a box of chocolates from her handbag, handed it to Fu Yuanyuan, and smiled at her, saying, "A little gift for the little one."
Fu Yuanyuan glanced at her father, and seeing him nod, she took the chocolate and said sweetly to An Moxue, "Thank you, Aunt An, thank you, Uncle Wu."
Wu Sicheng patted her head and sat down next to her, while An Moxue sat next to Bai Moli.
Bai Moli suppressed a smile and asked, "What does Comrade An do? He's buying imported chocolates right away."
An Moxue answered frankly, "Sent-down youth!"
Bai Moli's exaggerated voice rang out: "How could that be? Aren't all educated youth supposed to work in the fields, exposed to the wind, sun, and rain, and become dark and thin? You don't look like that at all! You're more like someone whose fair and delicate hands never lift a finger. You're not going to go to the countryside to avoid labor, are you? That's not right!"
An Moxue followed up with her question, "How do you know? You've been to the countryside?"
She replied proudly, "How could that be? I'm from a performing arts troupe, rehearsing every day and busy performing for troops."
"Never been there, so it's all hearsay! That's just nonsense."
"What did you say?"
"Great people say that you have no right to speak without practice. You've never been a sent-down youth, yet you know they were all dark-skinned and ugly. As for me, well, I can't help it. I'm naturally beautiful; the more I tan, the fairer I become. It's a gift from my parents, the kind you can only envy! Look at yourself, you're sheltered from the wind and rain every day, and you're still so dark. All that makeup can't cover it up. Don't be discouraged. Go to the Overseas Chinese Store, don't be stingy, buy some imported skincare products. Maybe that will help!"
Before she could say anything, Wu Sicheng said, "When I met Mo Xue, she was like this. Ten years have passed, and she's still the same. Comrade Bai, you really shouldn't compare yourself to her. Mo Xue was named an outstanding educated youth of the province in her first year in the countryside, and it was even reported to the central government. She's naturally beautiful, which is exactly what she is. It's a gift from her parents that others can only envy."
Bai Moli was dumbfounded and didn't know what to say.
Wu Sicheng's words silenced the women who were hostile towards An Moxue, leaving them even angrier with nowhere to vent their anger.
After seeing the real person, they couldn't help but feel inferior. With her looks and temperament, she was far superior to them. What did they have to compete with?
However, I was still unwilling to give up and couldn't let her have her way.
A round-faced girl at a table behind An Moxue asked with a smile, "So Comrade An hasn't returned to the city yet? Otherwise, why would you say you're an educated youth? How come you were so eager but didn't get a spot to return to the city? Even if you didn't get one, you can still go back to the city if you pass the college entrance exam. You didn't do poorly in your studies and failed the exam, did you? Or did you not even dare to take the exam?" Everyone who heard her said it was sarcastic and mean.
An Moxue turned around and looked at her with a smile. "Comrade, you know so much, it's like you can read my mind. But what can I do? I'm perfectly healthy, there's no such disgusting thing in my stomach at all! I'm sorry!" After saying that, she even clasped her hands in a fist salute, as sincere as could be.
"You!" The round-faced woman was so angry that she could only utter this one word, glaring fiercely at An Moxue. How could she not be angry when she was compared to a tapeworm?
She turned off the engine, and someone immediately chimed in, "Comrade An, you still haven't told us why you couldn't return to the city? If you don't work hard, you'll be holding Commander Wu back. That won't do. A man's career is so important!" They were practically saying she wasn't worthy.
"Oh? Really? Cheng, show these to your good comrades and let them learn from them. It's always good to be humble, but you must be positive and proactive in your work." An Moxue said, taking out all the honorary certificates she had received since going to the countryside and handing them to Wu Sicheng.
Wu Sicheng took it and looked at it. Goodness, this guy came prepared!
Wu Sicheng handed a stack of certificates to Liu Cheng across from him and said, "Political Commissar Liu, please pass them around so everyone can see them. Be careful not to damage them. Each one is genuinely earned, and some of them are even related to our unit."
After handing over the certificate, Wu Sicheng silently noted down the names of the troublemakers his comrades had brought and added them to his list of those he would not associate with. At that moment, they were unaware that because of their intentional or unintentional actions, they had lost Wu Sicheng as a comrade.
Liu Cheng took the certificates and looked at them one by one. He was more and more shocked as he looked at them, especially when he saw the money donated to their troops, as well as the certificates issued to his comrades for helping them and for completing the mission of capturing the enemy with his comrades. He could recall the time of each of the events, and he had more than ten such certificates in his hand.
He handed the certificate to his wife, who then passed it to Bai Moli. In this way, the certificates spread throughout the cafeteria, and everyone who saw them was shocked. It was remarkable for an ordinary person to have even one certificate, yet she had so many. It was an incredible thing.
Gasps of breath echoed throughout the mess hall, and every soldier who saw it looked at An Moxue with admiration.
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