Chapter 9

“What did you say?” Xu Wen suspected that he was sleepwalking.

No matter how difficult something is, it will be much easier the second time you say it. Lu Yuanzheng spoke again with less shyness and more trepidation: "I say, are you willing to marry me?"

Xu asked: “???”

She shuddered and suddenly became a little more sober.

Is it so exciting so early in the morning?

She casually hung her bag on the tombstone and looked around. Green grass was swaying in the earth-brown grave, and the densely packed green tombstones were like a silent crowd of onlookers.

It feels absurd.

The first time in two lifetimes that someone proposed to me was in a grave? !

Xu Wen blinked, looked left and right, but still felt it was unreal, so he asked Lu Yuanzheng: "Why do you suddenly want to marry me?"

Lu Yuanzheng hesitated for a moment before deciding to tell the truth: "I have heard some rumors about you in the commune these past two days. I am responsible for the incident." He pointed to the pond on the hillside, "and the incident that day as well."

Seeing the obvious guilt on his face, Xu Wen sighed softly, unable to tell whether he was disappointed or relieved.

She shook her head. "Thank you for taking responsibility. However, I refuse."

Lu Yuanzheng was not surprised and spoke again: "I know that as a man with a child, and a man who is away from home all year round, it is really unfair for you to marry me. But I heard some things about you these days."

It's not that he is gossiping, it's mainly because every production team is talking about Xu Wen and him. Even if he doesn't want to listen, he can't help but have neighbors come to him and make indirect comments.

He paused, and considered his words: "I heard that your family is currently having some housing difficulties. The reason you hide here to take a shower every day is because..."

Xu Wen crossed his arms and interrupted him defensively: "How do you know I take a shower here every day?"

Lu Yuanzheng: "..."

His face suddenly turned red. "Don't get me wrong! I'm not following you and I'm not a hooligan. This pond originally belonged to my family... but later it was abandoned because the government didn't want it because of its bad location. I had the habit of getting up early in the army, and I couldn't change it after returning. I wanted to go fishing whenever I had nothing to do, and every time I came..."

He pointed to the flock of sheep grazing not far away and said, "When I saw those sheep, I knew it was you."

But he was not in a hurry to leave, for fear that the same thing as last time would happen again. He would stand here for a while, and only leave quietly after she finished washing and came over the hill.

Probably due to his profession, Lu Yuanzheng stood straight, but now he was at a loss, just like a student being scolded in the teacher's office.

Xu Wen curled his lower lip, "Don't get excited, I believe you!"

Being interrupted by Xu Wen, Lu Yuanzheng suddenly forgot where he was and what he wanted to say next. He awkwardly raised his hand to touch the back of his head and smiled.

Seeing that he was really nervous, Xu Wen narrowed his eyes and asked him, "What else did you hear from me?"

Xu Wen was good-looking to begin with, and when she smiled like that, she looked like a flower swaying in the spring breeze, pleasing to the eyes.

Lu Yuanzheng blushed and looked away. His mind was a little blank. He felt even more nervous than when he was being lectured by his superiors. He didn't know where to put his hands and feet for a moment. He straightened his back out of habit, with his hands vertically pressed against his trouser seams in a standard military posture. His tone was dry as if he was reporting: "I also heard that your sister-in-law is pregnant and that you are looking for a partner."

"Then you are well-informed." Xu Wen curled his lips, not meaning to mock, but just sighing at the power of word of mouth.

Lu Yuanzheng cleared his throat. His palms, which usually kept his hand dry and steady while holding the gun even when surrounded by enemies, were now sticky.

He rubbed his hands on his clothes and rubbed his fingers at the corners of his eyes. "Anyway, you're being talked about because of me. Marrying me can calm the rumors to a certain extent. It can also solve some of your life problems. I have five rooms. You can keep one for Dongsheng and take care of the rest. It can also solve your problem of inconvenient bathing. It's not safe here in the wild after all. Besides, it's getting cold in a few days and you'll easily catch a cold if you bathe outside."

Xu Wen’s eyes widened.

Does this mean that if she marries him, the house will belong to her? Even if her family members live in it, it's fine?

Her eyes speak.

Lu Yuanzheng easily understood what she hadn't said, nodded with a smile, and continued: "I also have an allowance every month, and I don't have much to spend on other days, so this is more than enough for you to go to school."

"It sounds perfect!" Xu Wen exclaimed.

This is the ideal life for many lesbians.

Lu Yuanzheng: "..."

He shook his head. "Under normal circumstances, I'm certainly not an ideal match. I'm older than you, I have a child and I'm often away from home. Maybe the next time we meet, it will be our last."

Xu Wen was so young and beautiful, there were a lot of young men in the commune who liked her, any of them were better than him, including the comrade with glasses that night.

Xu Wen admitted that she was a little moved.

Everything Lu Yuanzheng said hit her spot.

Let her have freedom in her own room, bathing and going to school.

But Lu Yuanzheng's words didn't sound like a proposal, but more like a deal.

Since it is a transaction, it should be fair that there is give and take.

Xu Wen shook his head: "This is so unfair to you." There is only giving and no reward.

"Actually, I have a request. If possible, I hope you can help me take care of Dongsheng after I return to work. Don't worry, it won't delay your schooling. You can leave him at my uncle's house."

He came back this time just to settle Dongsheng. He wanted to entrust both the house and Dongsheng to his uncle's family, but he didn't expect such an accident like Xu Wen to happen.

Speaking of Dongsheng, Xu Wen thought of a question: "When did Dongsheng's mother die?"

Dongsheng seems to have no impression of his mother.

"When Shengdong was born."

"Difficult labor?"

Lu Yuanzheng shook his head, "Gunshot wound. The situation was a bit dangerous at the time, and only one of the child and the adult could be saved. Dongsheng's mother strongly requested to save the child, and she performed a cesarean section without anesthesia. After Dongsheng was born, she only had time to take a look at him before she passed away."

"Ah!" Xu Wen exclaimed, and felt sorry for Dongsheng again. It turned out that he had no mother since he was born, and it turned out that Dongsheng's mother was so great.

Lu Yuanzheng nodded.

"I'm sorry!" Xu Wen felt a little guilty that he shouldn't have brought up this topic.

Lu Yuanzheng shook his head, "Dongsheng is a posthumous child."

Xu Wen said "oh", then reacted and looked at Lu Yuanzheng in amazement.

If she remembered correctly, a posthumous child basically meant that the father of the child had died during the mother's pregnancy.

Xu asked: “???”

The amount of information was a bit too much for her to process.

Dongsheng is a posthumous child. His mother died when he gave birth to him. So what is the relationship between Lu Yuanzheng and Dongsheng?

"Dongsheng's full name is Li Zheng, and his father's name is Li Huainian, who was my comrade-in-arms. He died while covering the retreat of the main force." Lu Yuanzheng explained, and after thinking for a moment, he added, "Whether you agree to marry me or not, please keep it a secret. I don't want others to talk about him, and I don't want him to live in the mercy of others. After he comes back, I will claim that he is my son to everyone because I hope he can grow up healthy and happy like an ordinary child."

Xu Wen nodded.

Xiao Dongsheng was actually an orphan since birth.

I suddenly felt pity for this child. This child is so pitiful.

She praised him sincerely: "You are also great. You sacrificed so much for him."

According to this statement, Lu Yuanzheng is still an unmarried young man. You know, if he brings Dongsheng with him and claims that he is his biological son, many eligible women will stay away from him.

Lu Yuanzheng shook his head, "What kind of sacrifice am I? For us, returning safely from the battlefield is a victory. Everything else is trivial. Besides..." He raised his eyelids and glanced at Xu Wen, "Before this, I had no plans to start a family."

"There are still wars in peacetime? Why do you change your mind now?" Xu Wen raised his head, "According to what you said, marrying me doesn't seem to be good for you."

Xu Wen is only 1.66 meters tall and he has to look up even when he is on a long journey. He is so tall!

Lu Yuanzheng nodded, "The country is peaceful, but some parts of the border are still unstable."

This topic involves a lot of confidential information, so Lu Yuanzheng didn't want to talk about it any more and directly answered the next question: "It's enough for me to settle Dongsheng down. I changed my mind because I have a responsibility to you."

He lowered his eyes and looked at Xu Wen, "I still have a month's vacation. So you don't have much time to consider it. Please think about it carefully. If you agree, I will ask a matchmaker to come to your house to propose marriage, and we will hold the wedding before I leave."

Xu Wen shook his head without even thinking: "My family won't agree."

Lu Yuanzheng was stunned for a moment and then he started laughing. The sound coming from his chest was a little low. Xu Wen's face suddenly turned red, and his cheeks felt inexplicably hot.

"So you agree? As long as you agree, your parents will leave it to me. I will go to your house to propose marriage tomorrow."

Xu Wen was caught off guard. He felt so ashamed that his face turned red. His mind went blank and he turned and ran away: "I'll think about it again."

Lu Yuanzheng called her from behind. Hearing his voice, Xu Wen ran faster without listening carefully to what he said.

When I got home, I realized that I not only didn’t take a shower today, but I even forgot about the sheep.

No wonder Lu Yuanzheng kept calling her.

That was the production team's sheep, and she couldn't afford to pay for it if it was lost, so Xu Wen resigned herself to her fate and walked back.

Nearly an hour passed in total.

Lu Yuanzheng got a straw hat from somewhere, with half a piece of dogtail grass sticking out from the corner of his mouth. He leaned lazily against a stone tablet that was half a person's height, looking very calm... herding sheep.

The red floral schoolbag that Xu Wen had dropped earlier was hanging on her body, and the visual effect was a bit indescribable.

His masculine spirit was completely destroyed, and he looked a little funny. He looked like a fool.

Dongsheng appeared out of nowhere and was excitedly picking some grass and chasing the lambs to feed them.

Lu Yuanzheng saw Xu Wen and waved, "Are you here?"

The tone was so familiar, as if meeting an old friend.

Xu Wen curled his lips and muttered quietly, "I don't know if he is thick-skinned or has good mental quality! He is completely different from the one who proposed to me just now. Could he be schizophrenic?"

Lu Yuanzheng: "..."

His ears were trained and his hearing was much better than that of ordinary people, so he could just hear Xu Wen's muttering.

This little girl looks well-educated, but she speaks very bluntly!

He pretended not to hear and asked Xu Wen, "What did you say?"

Xu Wen straightened his face and said seriously, "Thank you for helping me herd the sheep."

Lu Yuanzheng: "..."

This girl is suitable for singing Sichuan Opera.

Lu Yuanzheng handed Xu Wen's flowery schoolbag to her and said, "Go take a shower! I'll keep watch for you."

Xu asked: "..."

I feel more insecure with you around, right?

She hesitated for a moment before taking the cloth bag and thanking him.

Criticisms may be leveled at one, but Lu Yuanzheng is a trustworthy person both as a person and in his career.

Xu Wen admitted that this was the most safe and relaxing time she had ever taken a bath in the wild.

I had just finished washing and was buttoning my clothes when I saw Dongsheng running over, shouting, "Mom, come with me! The bad guys are here to catch you!"

Xu asked: "..."

Wouldn't it be a complete loss if we run with you?

She fastened the remaining buttons in a hurry, not bothering to dry her hair, packed up her dirty clothes and put them in her backpack, and asked Dongsheng who was anxiously waiting for her on the hillside as she walked: "Where did this bad guy come from?"

"The bad guy wearing glasses who sat with you that day."

After Dongsheng finished speaking, Xu Wen also reached the top of the hill and saw Lu Yuanzheng standing with his back to them, blocking Wen Yiming who was pushing a bicycle.