Chapter 23 If you like me, let's get married...
After saying that, Qi Donghan left without even looking at Meng Yingying's expression.
However, as Meng Yingying watched his retreating figure, she always felt that he was fleeing in panic.
Don't be late!
"You have to be there before nine o'clock!"
Meng Yingying imitated Qi Donghan's way of speaking. After she finished, she frowned and looked puzzled. "Why do I feel like he's angry too?"
"wrong."
Why is he angry?
He was the one who first used those words to doubt her, saying things like, "Don't invite men into your room casually."
Is she really that casual?
If she hadn't seen that "Qi Xiaoer" was a good person, she wouldn't have invited him in.
Meng Yingying was a little angry and wanted to curse, but when she looked down, she saw that she was holding money in one hand and food in the other.
They're taking both food and money.
Ultimately, they were too embarrassed to scold him.
After all, one is bound to be obligated to those who pay the bills.
Meng Yingying pursed her lips, turned and went into the house. She placed the aluminum lunchbox on the table, opened it and saw that it contained pork and cabbage stew with vermicelli. A layer of oil floated on top, the vermicelli was translucent, the cabbage was sweet, and the pork belly was stir-fried with sugar. A domineering meaty aroma hit her nose.
Just smelling the aroma made Meng Yingying feel like she had a kitten inside her, making her itch to eat it. She couldn't resist picking up her chopsticks and taking a bite.
The moment it entered her mouth, it was so hot that she nearly bit her tongue.
Meng Yingying immediately put down her chopsticks. She was a little puzzled. The state-run restaurant was actually not close to the guesthouse where the team was stationed.
How did "Qi Xiaoer" manage to carry this pork and cabbage stew with vermicelli all this way? It's still piping hot!
You know, the key to good pork and cabbage stew with glass noodles is the heat and the wok hei (the smoky aroma imparted by the hot wok). If that dissipates, it won't taste good.
Meng Yingying thought it was an accident. She touched the steamed buns, rolls, and dumplings again, and they were all warm, even scalding hot.
He probably carried this all the way here in his arms.
Otherwise, given the temperature at the end of April, it would probably have cooled down by now.
Thinking of this, Meng Yingying looked at the table full of food and felt a pang of regret.
Perhaps she shouldn't have been angry before.
They shouldn't have angered Qi Donghan to the point of driving him away.
*
As Qi Donghan walked out of the guesthouse, he realized that his attitude had been a bit fierce, and that he had said the wrong thing first.
In the end, he left with a cold face.
He did have some regrets, and he lingered at the entrance of the team's guesthouse for a while.
He didn't see Meng Yingying come out to look for him.
Frustrated, Qi Donghan kicked the stone pillar at the door and waited for a while longer, but Meng Yingying still didn't come out. He stood downstairs looking out the window for a long time.
I ran to the staff at the guesthouse, borrowed a notebook and pen, and wrote three words in a flamboyant style: "I'm sorry."
He immediately bent down and slipped the object into the crack of the door to Meng Yingying's room. Before Meng Yingying could notice, he quickly left.
This time, he's really gone.
Meng Yingying was eating while lying on the table. It was the first time she had experienced how good it was to be stationed at the team. All kinds of food were readily available and could even be delivered to her room.
The pork and cabbage stew with glass noodles on the table smelled incredibly delicious. Dipping white steamed buns into the soup, each inch of the honeycomb-like buns soaked up the broth. Biting into them was savory, hot, and fragrant, with the rich aroma of pork fat and the sweet taste of cabbage—it was simply heavenly.
If it weren't for the fear of gaining weight.
Meng Yingying really wished she could eat them all up.
Unfortunately, after eating one steamed bun dipped in vermicelli soup, she didn't dare to eat any more.
He patted the fat on his waist, but managed to resist the urge. He put away the remaining food, planning to ask the staff at the guesthouse canteen to reheat it tomorrow.
Just as she was tidying up, she noticed something coming through the crack in the door out of the corner of her eye.
She thought she'd encountered a thief, so she immediately put down her aluminum lunchbox and ran over to check. However, when she saw a piece of white paper on the ground…
Meng Yingying was still a little puzzled. She squatted down and picked it up. When she saw the three words "I'm sorry" written on it in a flamboyant style, she was surprised.
She instantly realized who had left it there.
Meng Yingying subconsciously opened the door and looked down the corridor for a while, but didn't see anyone. She then ran to the window and looked outside.
All that could be seen was Qi Donghan's back, extremely upright and heroic. He seemed to have noticed something and turned around to look.
Their eyes met.
No, it should be said that they are too far away.
Qi Donghan could only see a person standing at the window, waving. The person was tall and had long arms, like a majestic mountain. Even if Meng Yingying wanted to ignore him, it would be difficult.
Meng Yingying pursed her lips and murmured, "Qi Xiaoer, I forgive you."
Qi Jia.
After Qi Donghan left, Chen Xiulan felt extremely uneasy. "I always felt that your troupe leader was on Meng Yingying's side. What will you do if Meng Yingying really stays in the art troupe?"
Qi Changming packed his things, preparing to go to his uncle's house to hide again, but when he heard his mother Chen Xiulan's words, he paused, "No, we have already broken off the engagement, and she has received the compensation."
"She won't do that again."
Chen Xiulan sneered, "That's your own wishful thinking. What if she takes the money and then comes to your father, asking him to force you two to fulfill your marriage agreement?"
Qi Changming instinctively wanted to say, "Impossible."
"She couldn't possibly go back on her word like that."
"You're so naive. You think people are so simple. You don't know that women who really want to get married will stop at nothing."
"Also, your father will be back in three days. If you can't handle Ye Yingtao," Chen Xiulan said calmly, "then you'd better be prepared to marry Meng Yingying."
She had barely finished speaking when the phone rang.
Qi Changming didn't dare answer; he even sneaked back home wearing a hat. So Chen Xiulan answered, saying "Hello" as she did so.
It was Qi Zhenguo's voice on the other end: "I'll be back the day after tomorrow at the latest."
Upon hearing this, Chen Xiulan's heart tightened. "Why is it ahead of schedule?"
Qi Zhenguo then admitted, "I didn't go on a business trip; I went to visit Baichuan."
"We rushed as fast as we could but still couldn't catch up. We only went to his grave to visit him, but we didn't see Meng Yingying. I heard from his third uncle that she has already arrived in Heilongjiang Province. You go to the garrison here and ask Changming to see if Yingying has arrived in the next few days."
Upon hearing this, Chen Xiulan practically gritted her teeth. "Qi Zhenguo, are you lying to me? You lied to me that you went on a business trip, but actually you went to pick up Meng Yingying?"
Why go to visit Meng Baichuan? It's just because they're worried that Meng Baichuan is dead and that Meng Yingying, a girl, will be bullied in the village.
In addition, she had to travel a long distance, from Hunan Province to Heilongjiang Province, which is more than a thousand kilometers away.
Qi Zhenguo was also worried; she was a woman.
Before his death, Meng Baichuan entrusted Meng Yingying to his care. Naturally, he couldn't just stand by and watch Meng Yingying be left without anyone to take care of her.
That's why he secretly ran away to Mengjiatun without telling his family. However, his timing was unfortunate; Meng Baichuan was gone, and Meng Yingying had left.
Qi Zhenguo could only take a bottle of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) to Meng Baichuan's grave. He drank three cups of liquor with Meng Baichuan, and poured the rest of the liquor on the grave.
He lit three more cigarettes, placed them on the grave, and watched them burn out little by little.
Qi Zhenguo then wiped his wet eyes and said, "Chuanzi, don't worry, your daughter is my daughter."
"I will definitely treat her as my own child."
After saying this, Qi Zhenguo left, bought a ticket, and prepared to return. Before going back, he called his family, asking them to keep an eye on Meng Yingying's movements.
“She left five days ago. According to her train ticket, she should have arrived long ago. Go to the garrison and tell Changming in person to keep an eye on Meng Yingying.”
"I'll meet that kid when I get back. If there are no problems, I'll have them get their marriage certificate."
These words were like a knife hanging over my head.
Chen Xiulan was furious, but she couldn't yell or say anything, because if she opened her mouth, she would give herself away.
Meng Yingying has already arrived, and it turns out they have secretly broken off their engagement with her.
Chen Xiulan took a deep breath, suppressing her temper, and said, "Come back first."
"I haven't settled accounts with you for going to see Meng Baichuan behind my back."
"Chuanzi is dead. I'm going to see what happened to him!" Qi Zhenguo was getting angry and immediately yelled into the phone, "I told you to go see if Meng Yingying has arrived yet, are you going or not?"
Seeing him lose his temper, Chen Xiulan could only swallow her anger and say, "Go, go, I'll go right now."
She hung up the phone immediately.
She was so angry that she trembled for a while before she forced herself to calm down. "You heard it too, how much your father values Meng Baichuan. He even secretly ran to Xiangxi without telling our whole family. I don't think he went to see Meng Baichuan. He went there because he was afraid something would happen to Meng Yingying, so he went to pick her up."
Qi Changming remained silent, pondering what to do.
"Still spacing out? Your father's intention is to pressure you and Meng Yingying into getting married as soon as he gets back."
“Changming, I know your father very well. He values relationships. Even if you and Meng Yingying break off your engagement, he will still let you marry Meng Yingying.”
He sacrificed his own son to fulfill the promise he made years ago.
This is the real Qi Zhenguo; he's utterly stubborn and incorrigible.
"So, you have to get your marriage certificate before your dad comes back."
With whom?
Qi Changming asked a question.
"Ye Yingtao".
Chen Xiulan almost reflexively uttered these words, "Now that the news of your annulment has spread, your Aunt Wang and the others know about it. Originally, they also had a daughter of marriageable age. I was thinking that if you married your Aunt Wang's daughter, and you went to work at the Civil Affairs Bureau in the future, your Aunt Wang's husband, as the director of the Civil Affairs Bureau, would definitely help you as a son-in-law."
"But that's no longer possible."
Once word got out that Qi Changming had a childhood betrothal, almost every family with good financial standing refused to marry him off.
These days, girls aren't worth much, but girls from well-off families are still valuable.
Qi Changming was getting impatient with all this. "Is my marriage just a bargaining chip in your eyes?"
"You keep telling me to marry someone with good prospects, but don't you realize that if you actually married a woman with good prospects, could you handle it?"
Seeing that she had gone to great lengths to consider her son's future, yet the other party was still resisting her, Chen Xiulan couldn't help but feel a surge of sorrow. "You heartless wretch! Who am I doing this for? I'm just hoping you can get rid of Meng Yingying as soon as possible so you can marry a good wife who can be a great help to you in the future."
"If it weren't for you, would I have gone to such lengths to be a bad person?"
Qi Changming regretted his words as soon as he finished speaking. Seeing his mother like this, he wanted to apologize, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
All I could leave behind was a hasty sentence.
"I'm going to find Ye Yingtao."
Now that he had a clear head, he realized that if his father came back from Xiangxi, it would mean that he and Meng Yingying had broken off their engagement.
His father would also force him to marry Meng Yingying.
Cherry leaves became his must-have item.
Besides, he never disliked Ye Yingtao.
Seeing that her son had finally come to his senses and went to find Ye Yingtao, Chen Xiulan's anger subsided a bit. "Go ahead, coax her well. Women love to say sweet words, so say a few more."
"It's never a bad thing to make more promises."
It's unclear whether Qi Changming listened or not; when he came out, he stood outside for quite a while.
He checked the time: 4:30. If the performing arts soldiers didn't have a performance that night, they wouldn't go to the dance studio to practice.
I can get off work around six o'clock.
It would take him a little over an hour to get there. With that in mind, Qi Changming didn't hesitate any longer and took bus number seven to the garrison.
He arrived at exactly 5:50. He waited at the entrance for a while and found the guard on duty. "Comrade, could you please call Ye Yingtao over for me?"
"Just tell him I need to see him."
The other person recognized him and nodded knowingly, "Company Commander Qi, please wait a moment."
After shouting, he was shocked to realize that the other person was no longer Company Commander Qi, and he slapped his head in frustration.
Seeing this scene, Qi Changming felt uneasy. When he was stationed in the team, he had always been Qi Donghan's right-hand man because of his above-average physical fitness and his education.
Even when they go out, they are respected.
Now, alas.
Qi Changming didn't even dare to think about it anymore. He was afraid he would regret giving up such a promising future and then break off the engagement.
Meng Yingying, oh Meng Yingying, if only she hadn't come looking for him.
The guard went to the dance troupe's rehearsal room to find Ye Yingtao, who had originally planned to stay and practice a little more.
After all, the arts performance competition was just a few days away, and she didn't want their 101-stationed arts troupe to always come in last place.
Just as Ye Yingtao was getting into it but still couldn't get it right, she angrily kicked off her shoes during the triple spin. "Practice, practice, practice, I practice every day, but I just can't get it right!"
Lin Qiu prepared to comfort her, saying, "Just hang in there."
The guard arrived at that moment, asking, "Is Comrade Ye Yingtao here?"
Hearing someone calling for her outside, Ye Yingtao quickly put her ballet shoes back on and went out. "You were looking for me?"
Seeing Ye Yingtao drenched in sweat, the guard hesitated to meet her gaze and quickly left a message: "Comrade Qi is waiting for you at the door."
Upon hearing this, Ye Yingtao knew who had come to see her.
Lin Qiu ran over playfully and teased Ye Yingtao, "You said you had nothing to do with Company Commander Qi, but even after he retired, he still secretly contacts you. How can you say you have nothing to do with him?"
Instead of being happy, Ye Yingtao was annoyed after hearing this. "I was already planning to break up with him, so why is he coming to me again?"
"So annoying."
Despite her annoyance, Ye Yingtao still didn't want to lose Qi Changming, her friend. As an outsider, she knew better than anyone that having a local friend to help her was a huge advantage.
Thinking of this, Ye Yingtao said to Lin Qiu, "When Officer Xu comes back later, just tell her that my stomach hurts and I'm not feeling well, so I should go back and rest."
Lin Qiu hesitated for a moment, "Isn't this a bit inappropriate?"
"Nothing's wrong, and I'm not lying, I really do have a stomachache."
She was just forcing herself to practice dancing.
After explaining everything, Ye Yingtao ran out. When she got to the door, she saw Qi Changming standing outside the garrison from afar.
To be honest, Qi Changming was quite handsome, with a face as white as jade and refined features, completely different from the rough men who had been training in the team for many years.
Qi Changming's fair complexion and refined appearance gave him the air of a city dweller.
It's a pity that he has now left the team, and even coming back has become a distant dream.
Ye Yingtao sighed softly, perked up, and turned to walk towards Qi Changming with a beaming smile. "Comrade Qi, you were looking for me?"
Seeing her smile, Qi Changming breathed a sigh of relief and said softly, "Yes."
He was a little embarrassed and asked after a while, "Comrade Ye, I wonder if you still like me?"
He actually had a gut feeling; he knew that Ye Yingtao liked him, otherwise she wouldn't have gone to such lengths to create opportunities for them to meet.
When Ye Yingtao heard him ask that, the smile on her face disappeared little by little. "Comrade Qi, why would you ask that?"
Qi Changming looked at her sincerely and said, "If you still like me, let's get married."
In this way, he can completely sever Meng Yingying's desire to marry him.
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Author's Note: The people in the performing arts troupe aren't NPCs; this is where the female protagonist's career will take off. Love you, baby!
One more chapter to come~
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