Chapter 6: Matchmaking

In the army, Shen Yunhe sat in his office, expressionless, listening to the phone call. Grandpa Shen’s loud voice came from the other end of the line.

“Stinky kid, let my granddaughter-in-law take the call!”

“She went out.”

Every time Grandpa Shen called to speak with his granddaughter-in-law, Shen Yunhe always came up with various excuses to avoid it. Over time, Grandpa Shen started to grow suspicious.

“Stinky kid, did you make my granddaughter-in-law so mad that she went back to her parents’ house? Are you afraid I’ll be angry and you don’t want to tell me?”

Shen Yunhe furrowed his brows in worry. He had kept the divorce a secret for more than a year, all because he was afraid of making his grandfather angry. The old man had poor health, and if his anger caused any harm, it would be a huge problem for him.

“Grandpa, I’ll come home in a few days. I’ll tell you everything then.”

Grandpa Shen could tell that something was wrong between the couple. They had probably had a fight, and his granddaughter-in-law had gone back to her parents’ house in anger. He never would have imagined that they had divorced.

After hanging up, Shen Yunhe put on his military cap and walked out of the office. His comrade, Wang Jianguo, walked toward him.

“Commander Shen, how about coming to my place tonight for a drink?”

“Alright,” Shen Yunhe agreed. Now that he was a lonely man, he was fine with eating anywhere.

That evening, Shen Yunhe brought a bottle of good wine from home and walked to Wang Jianguo’s house. After knocking on the door, Wang Jianguo opened it with a smile and welcomed him in.

“Commander Shen, you’re here! Come on in!”

Shen Yunhe sat on the couch and chatted with Wang Jianguo. Wang Jianguo’s wife, Tian Wenjing, came out of the kitchen carrying some dishes.

“Commander Shen is here!”

Shen Yunhe nodded and turned to continue his conversation with Wang Jianguo when a knocking sound came from the door.

Tian Wenjing walked over to open it, and standing outside was Liu Juan. Ever since Shen Yunhe’s divorce, Liu Juan had been trying to insert herself into his life. Shen Yunhe had ignored her, which led Liu Juan to approach Tian Wenjing, hoping that she could act as a matchmaker.

Tian Wenjing’s mother didn’t have a job, so she introduced Liu Juan to her father’s factory as a female worker. Tian Wenjing was very grateful to her and agreed, which led to today’s dinner invitation.

“Sister-in-law!”

Liu Juan raised a hand to flick a strand of hair behind her ear. Tian Wenjing could tell that Liu Juan had dressed up on purpose for today—her hair was half-tied, her lips painted with lipstick, and she wore a white floral dress with leather shoes.

“You’re here, come on in!”

Liu Juan, thinking of Shen Yunhe sitting inside, blushed in embarrassment. She tidied her hair and walked into the room, looking at Shen Yunhe, who was sitting on the couch drinking.

“Brother Shen.”

Shen Yunhe’s eyes flashed with disgust when he heard Liu Juan’s voice. Ever since the divorce, Liu Juan had relentlessly pursued him, causing him a great deal of trouble. If it weren’t for the military uniform he was wearing, he would have kicked her out long ago.

It seemed that today’s dinner had been specially arranged by Liu Juan. A wave of disgust washed over him, and his stomach churned. He suddenly stood up.

“Captain Wang, I have something to do. I’ll head back now!”

He took large strides toward the door, and Liu Juan nervously followed him. Wang Jianguo, with a face full of anger, walked up to Tian Wenjing and questioned her.

“What’s going on here? How did Liu Juan get here?”

Tian Wenjing, feeling uneasy, explained.

“Liu Juan likes Commander Shen and wanted me to be her matchmaker. I thought they were a good match, so I agreed to help her and asked you to invite Commander Shen here. But now, it looks like he got so upset that he left right away.”

Wang Jianguo scolded Tian Wenjing.

“You—what were you thinking? Commander Shen has been divorced for more than a year, and Liu Juan has been relentlessly chasing after him. The whole unit knows about it, and everyone’s laughing behind her back. If they were meant to be together, they would have been by now! Why did you even have to play matchmaker?”

“I was just trying to help!” Tian Wenjing was worried about offending Commander Shen and cautiously looked at her husband.

“Jianguo, do you think Commander Shen will cause trouble for you?”

“What? No way! Commander Shen is not like that.” Wang Jianguo scratched his head in frustration.

“Tomorrow, I’ll go apologize to him. But listen to me—stay away from Liu Juan. A woman like her is only going to ruin herself. If you get too close to her, who knows, she might drag me down with her. Understand?”

“Understood, I won’t do it again!”

Tian Wenjing was so scared by her husband that she was at a loss, her mind a blank. In her heart, her husband was the most important person. The entire family relied on his salary to get by. If he lost his job, their family would be left with nothing. She had two children to care for and elderly relatives back home. If Liu Juan caused her husband to lose his job, she would be the sinner for the entire family.

In the family dormitory, Shen Yunhe was walking quickly out the door when Liu Juan anxiously caught up.

“Brother Shen, wait for me, Brother Shen…”

The repeated calls of “Brother Shen” disgusted Shen Yunhe so much that he felt like throwing up. He stopped, turned around with a cold expression, and said,

“Shut up! If you call me ‘Brother Shen’ one more time, I’ll strangle you!”

Liu Juan had been overjoyed when he stopped, but his words made her heart sink.

Three years ago, when Liu Juan had just joined the performance troupe, she had first seen Shen Yunhe at an arts evening. Shen Yunhe, as a leader, had given a speech. On stage, he stood tall in military uniform, with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, long legs, sharp eyebrows, cold eyes, and a high nose bridge. His thin lips gave him a commanding presence, and this man made her heart race. Everything around her seemed to disappear, leaving only the man who made her heart flutter.

At that moment, she made up her mind that she would win him over. At first, she thought, since he was in the military, she could take her time. She planned to get Shen Yunhe’s attention, make him like her, and have him pursue her. She practiced her dance tirelessly and seized every opportunity to perform, hoping he would notice how talented she was. But soon, she realized that Shen Yunhe didn’t care about her at all and didn’t even know who she was.

So she changed her strategy and started approaching him directly, only to find out that he was already married. She became frantic and rushed to the family dormitory to find him, but saw him walk in with another woman. She quickly hid around a corner, glaring at the woman with hatred.

She was so jealous she wished that woman would die. For Shen Yunhe’s sake, she had no choice but to get closer to her. She pretended to be shy in front of that woman, talking about Shen Yunhe as if they were close, trying to make the woman believe she was familiar with him. The woman took the bait, and they fought, which led to their divorce just over a year later.

Liu Juan’s pursuit of Shen Yunhe only became more obsessive. She didn’t care about keeping her dignity anymore. She was afraid that if she didn’t act now, he might marry someone else.

As Shen Yunhe turned to leave, Liu Juan instinctively reached out to grab his hand. Shen Yunhe, disgusted, violently shook her off.

“How could there be such a shameless woman in the performance troupe? I’ll go talk to your troupe leader and ask how they manage their staff!”

“No, you can’t go…” Liu Juan’s face turned pale with fear. If Shen Yunhe reported her, she might be punished by the troupe leader and, in the worst case, kicked out of the troupe.

Shen Yunhe ignored her and marched toward the troupe leader’s office. Liu Juan, crying, chased after him, her makeup smudged and her hair a mess.

“Shen Yunhe, come back! You can’t go, you can’t treat me like this…”

Female soldiers passing by stopped and whispered.

“That woman is still clinging to Commander Shen. It’s a disgrace to all of us female soldiers.”

“She’s so shameless. Even though Commander Shen clearly dislikes her, she’s still chasing after him. How embarrassing!”