Chapter 22: Commander Fu, Troubled by Love

Li Jingze was nearly going crazy from not being able to find Li Moli.

“Third Brother, didn’t you go out to look for Moli? Why are you back so soon?”

He had just been in the living room discussing with their father whether they should head to the Li family in Heli Village the next day to look for Moli.

When he saw Li Jingyou suddenly run out, he thought he was urgently going to find Li Moli. But seeing him return with Li Zhi, his expression immediately fell.

Li Jingyou replied coolly, “She’ll come back once she runs out of money.”

Li Jingze’s voice was agitated. “Third Brother, Moli isn’t that kind of person.”

“She’s at the Lu family’s place, deliberately hiding and avoiding us.”
As the police captain, Li Jingyou could easily find someone if he really wanted to—it just depended on whether he was willing.

“Then why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“I figured you were idle and could use something to do.”

Li Jingze retorted, “When was I ever idle? I have work too. I even took several days off just to find Moli.”

He felt his third brother was being too biased. Ever since Li Zhi came back, his eyes were only on her.

Moli running away from home was a big deal, yet he didn’t even seem to care.

Their parents had asked them to treat Li Zhi and Moli equally, but Third Brother clearly wasn’t doing that.

Li Yongge spoke up, “Enough, stop arguing. Go to the Lu family’s place and bring Moli back. We have such a big house—why is she squeezing into a few small rooms with another big family?”

“I’ll go now,” Li Jingze said and walked out the door.

“Li Zhi, have you eaten yet? Are you still hungry? There’s food on the table. Want me to heat it up for you?”

“I already ate outside. I’ll go upstairs first.”

Li Jingze went to the Lu family’s place, only to come up empty-handed again.

The Lu family said Li Moli and Lu Jiaxin had gone to a neighboring city for a trip and wouldn’t be back for a few days.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yufeng had returned to the army early to avoid a blind date arranged by his family.

Avoiding it for now was still better than facing it.

Lately, his family had been making all sorts of nourishing food to help build up his health.

Since he wasn’t exercising much, he started running at night on the base.

While jogging, he suddenly spotted Fu Tingzhou.
“Old Fu? What are you doing here?”

“Came back early.”

Fu Tingzhou was running quite fast.

Zhou Yufeng picked up his pace and chased after him, panting heavily once he caught up.
“Old Fu, wait up! Don’t you still have two more days off? Shouldn’t you be guarding your little Miss Li at the library?”

Fu Tingzhou slowed down. “Don’t talk nonsense. She’s not interested in me like that.”

“How do you know? Did you confess and get rejected? Heartbroken?”

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Tell me about it. Let me help you analyze it. Two heads are better than one. The person involved is often too close to see clearly.”

Fu Tingzhou didn’t stop running until he finished fifty laps, dripping in sweat.

He lay down on the grass, propping his head up with one hand as he looked at the moon in the sky.

He told Zhou Yufeng what he’d overheard that night.

After hearing it, Zhou Yufeng didn’t think it was that big of a deal. “You’re giving up just because of that? Old Fu, you’ve changed. The Fu Tingzhou I know could complete any tough mission. Even when the enemy held the high ground, you found a way to take it. Are you saying a girl is harder to win over than a battlefield advantage?”

Fu Tingzhou replied a bit deflated, “It’s different. Being overly persistent only makes people annoyed.”

Though he said that, he wasn’t willing to give up just yet.
He still wanted to try again. Only if Li Zhi rejected him face-to-face would he truly give up.
But who knew when he’d get the chance to see her again?

“You’re just too impatient. Comrade Li Zhi was just hurt by a military man. She’s probably avoiding soldiers altogether right now. She’s not going to fall for another so quickly. You need to use the ‘slow boil’ method. Didn’t you learn about prolonged warfare?”

“What prolonged warfare? Let me hear it too.”
Suddenly, another person lay down beside them.

It was one of their close buddies, He Cheng—true to his name, an honest and straightforward guy. He never played mind games and always spoke bluntly.

Zhou Yufeng said, “It’s nothing, just used prolonged warfare as an analogy. Didn’t you have a tough enough training today? Why are you running again?”

He Cheng replied, “Heard you two were night-running on the field. I was bored on base, so I came looking for you.”

“The whole unit is talking about Commander Lu’s wedding,” he continued. “Word is his fiancée is coming soon to break off the engagement. People are saying that even though he left the wedding to take a girl to the hospital, she still insisted on breaking it off. They say she’s too narrow-minded to be a military wife.”

Zhou Yufeng noticed Fu Tingzhou’s face getting darker and gave He Cheng a subtle elbow.
“Ahem—maybe ease up on the commentary.”

Fu Tingzhou turned to glare at him coldly. “He Cheng, if you haven’t endured someone’s pain, don’t judge their choices. The woman was the one who got hurt. She’s been let down too many times. The wedding was just the final straw. She did nothing wrong.”

He Cheng scratched his head in confusion. “If the woman’s not wrong, then it’s all Lu Yanzhi’s fault? But everyone says he didn’t do anything wrong. Most people are on his side. I also think he didn’t do anything wrong.”

Fu Tingzhou said, “Judging just by that one incident, no one’s necessarily at fault. If they’re not suitable, it’s better to end it and cut losses early.”

Zhou Yufeng added, “Speaking of which, I was there that day, with many other comrades. We actually suggested he stay and finish the wedding while we took the kid to the hospital. But Lin Xuewei insisted she was scared and wanted him to go with her—said if the child was seriously ill, she wanted her to at least see him one last time, so she wouldn’t die with regrets.”

“As for what exactly happened between them… we don’t know. So stop spreading rumors.”

Lin Xuewei also lived in the family compound. With her husband gone, she and her daughter had only each other. The other military wives looked out for them.

In cases without a clear right or wrong, people naturally sided with someone they knew or someone more vulnerable.

Everyone thought Lin Xuewei, a single mother working while raising a child, had it pretty rough.

“All right, I get it,” He Cheng said. “I was just sharing what I’d heard. I won’t repeat it. I’m not good with words anyway, I might say something wrong—hehe.”

Zhou Yufeng said, “You’re not bad with words, you’re just blunt. Have you finished the book I gave you?”

“Yeah, but… I don’t think it helped much.”

“It definitely helped. I’ll find you a different one.”

He Cheng groaned, “What? More reading? I get dizzy looking at words.”

“The more you read, the less dizzy you’ll be. We need to face challenges head-on.”

“Speaking of challenges—how’s your blind date going? Did you conquer it yet?”

“Oh wow, He Cheng, you’ve changed! Getting sneaky with your questions now.”

“You’re overthinking it. I’m genuinely curious—just wondering if you’ll be the first of us three to find a partner.”

They were all nearing thirty and still unmarried.

Zhou Yufeng smirked mysteriously. “It definitely won’t be me. My bet’s on Old Fu.”

He Cheng grabbed his shoulder nervously and shook him. “You mean Fu? He… he has someone? What about Comrade Ruxue?”

Fu Tingzhou suddenly asked, “Who’s that?”

Zhou Yufeng was stunned. “What? You don’t know Qin Ruxue? Chief of Staff Qin’s daughter? Star performer in the art troupe? She’s liked you for ages, and you don’t even know her name?”

Fu Tingzhou replied, “I vaguely know her surname is Qin. Didn’t know her name.”

He Cheng asked nervously, “So who is it then? Is she prettier than Comrade Ruxue? More talented?”

“Don’t listen to Zhou’s nonsense. She’s not interested in me.”

Even He Cheng found it unbelievable. “What? There’s actually a woman out there who’s not into you?”

Most of the women in the art troupe dreamed of dating Fu Tingzhou. Even the vice commander’s daughter, Qin Ruxue, was crazy about him.

And yet someone actually didn’t like him? Were they blind or what?