Beside the Eight Immortals Table.
Seeing that Lu Ze had misunderstood her, Yu Yao spoke frankly and explained her thoughts to Lu Ze in detail.
“The person I was betrothed to by the Lu family is Lu Yunqi, it has nothing to do with you. I know you agreed to the arranged marriage back then to help me.”
“Now that my household registration has been processed, once I pass the recruitment exam, I won’t need to go back to Baihe Brigade. You don’t need to sacrifice your marriage to help me anymore; this is not a responsibility you should bear.”
So, she didn't regret it.
I'm just worried about him.
Lu Ze said, "We've already held a wedding banquet. In my heart, you are my wife. Whether we have a marriage certificate or not, it won't change that fact."
Yu Yao hadn't expected him to be so responsible.
Given Lu Ze's abilities and popularity, marrying a wife from a good family with a good background would be a piece of cake.
This engagement won't be of much help to him; on the contrary, it will be more beneficial to her.
But she can't be so selfish.
She hadn't thought things through before; she was only concerned with leaving Baihe Brigade and the Yu family, without considering Lu Ze's situation.
What if he has someone he likes on the island? Wouldn't she be ruining his marriage?
There is still room for maneuver if we stop now.
“Lu Ze, you don’t need to be so responsible. If you’re only doing this out of gratitude, it’s enough that you brought me out of Baihe Brigade.”
"There's no need to jeopardize your marriage. If you have a gay friend you like, you can still win her back before we get married."
Yu Yao tried to persuade Lu Ze.
Lu Ze only noticed the last sentence.
His dark eyes looked at her, his tone serious.
"I don't have a comrade I like."
"For the past 27 years, my love life has been a complete blank."
"You are the first lesbian to enter my life besides my family. Only you, no one else."
Yu Yao felt uncomfortable under his gaze.
The way he said that, if you didn't know better, you'd think he was confessing his love.
And those phoenix eyes of his—how can someone's eyes be so affectionate even when they're speaking?
Even though she knew he was just saying he didn't have anyone he liked and didn't mean anything else, her heart still shamefully started racing.
Yu Yao looked away and continued, "There's something I need to make clear first. If you have no objections, then let's get married."
Lu Ze's voice was deep: "You speak."
"I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to relationships. If you choose to marry me, you must maintain a proper distance from other women. If—and I mean if—you meet a woman you like in the future, you can tell me, and we can part ways amicably. Don't worry about me clinging to you. Do you have any objections to that?"
Yu Yao originally wanted to say that to be her man, one must be pure in body and mind and abide by male virtues, but considering that their relationship had not yet reached that point, she changed her words.
As long as the meaning is conveyed, that's fine.
She didn't ask him to earn a lot of money, nor did she ask him to treat her well.
What she asked for was surprisingly simple.
It's just loyalty.
"Yu Yao, wait for me for half a minute."
After saying that, Lu Ze went into the bedroom.
Soldiers have a very strict sense of time. If they say half a minute, they really only need half a minute.
When he came out, Yu Yao noticed that he had changed out of his training clothes and put on a clean military uniform and a military cap.
Yu Yao opened her mouth as if to say that there was no need to be so formal.
But when she met his serious gaze, she chose to remain silent.
Lu Ze saluted her.
"Comrade Yu Yao, I solemnly promise you that I will be as loyal to you as I am to the country."
"Without harming national interests, I will do my best to be good to you, protect you, respect you, and cherish you."
Yu Yao was stunned.
The bittersweet feeling that welled up from the bottom of her heart was something she had never experienced before, after losing both her parents and failing to stand up against her uncles who came to seize the family property, and being driven to an orphanage.
This is the first time someone has expressed their willingness to be good to her in such a solemn and selfless manner.
Seeing that she didn't speak, Lu Ze felt nervous. He pursed his thin lips and asked again, "Comrade Yu Yao, are you willing to become my revolutionary partner and spend the rest of your life with me?"
Yu Yao looked at him without saying a word.
It was as if he was thinking, or as if he was making a decision.
Just when Lu Ze thought she wouldn't speak, Yu Yao hesitated for a moment, nodded, and said, "Okay!"
Aunt Ge and Sun Yu came to deliver things to them. They noticed that the door to the main room was not closed, and they were about to call for help when they reached the door.
Hearing their conversation, the two exchanged a glance.
They tacitly left the things at the door and left.
Even after walking quite a distance out of the courtyard, Sun Yu still couldn't hide her shock. "I never expected that someone as aloof and arrogant as Commander Lu would actually say sweet nothings, and say them so fluently."
Aunt Ge smiled with relief: "Yu'er has had a hard life since she was little, but she has finally met someone who truly cares for her. The best days are yet to come."
Lu Ze and Yu Yao, who were in the main room, were unaware that the two had been there.
After Yu Yao agreed, Lu Ze led her into the room and unlocked the desk drawer with a key.
Then he took out two square rosewood boxes, opened them, placed them on the desk, and pushed them in front of her.
"This is what I've saved up over the years, it's all for you."
Yu Yao looked down and her heart skipped a beat.
On the left, the box was filled to the brim with a bunch of colorful gems.
These gems vary in size, from the smallest being the size of a fingernail to the largest being the size of a walnut.
She recognized only jade; she didn't recognize any other gemstones.
The box on the right looks much more normal, but of course, this "normal" is in comparison to the box on the left.
At the bottom is the passbook, and above it are neatly stacked stacks of money and bills.
The money was all in large units, not a single penny. It was bundled together with yellow rubber bands, each bundle containing a hundred dollars. There were at least seven or eight bundles of it.
There were many types of coupons, including grain coupons, industrial coupons, meat coupons, cloth coupons, oil coupons, etc.
They even have menstrual tickets.
Seeing Yu Yao's gaze fall on the menstrual ticket, Lu Ze's expression became somewhat unnatural. "The menstrual ticket was exchanged for me by Sister-in-law Sun Yu before I came back. She said it's very important for women."
Having a menstrual coupon meant you could go to the supply and marketing cooperative to get a menstrual belt, which was just as important as a meat coupon for women who had their period every month.
Yu Yao was so surprised by the amount of money and tickets that she couldn't stop smiling.
"Why are there so many?"
Seeing the light in her eyes, Lu Ze couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth into a smile.
“I joined the army after graduating from military academy in my teens, and I lived and ate on the island. Back then, there weren’t even supply and marketing cooperatives on the island. I had money and coupons but nowhere to spend them, so I saved up this much year after year. In addition to what the army gave me, my grandfather and his family would also send me money. I saved all my coupons and money except for food.”
The military families in the compound knew he had a lot of credits, so they would borrow them from him when they needed to entertain guests or run errands, and return them to him when they received their credits.
I bought a lot but used very little, and over the past ten years or so, I've unknowingly accumulated so much.
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