Chapter 16 Please help me find a solution. I want to marry Yiyi.

“But when it comes to personal feelings, just forget it. A real man knows when to pick things up and when to let them go—don’t do things that make everyone lose face.”

Cen Bowen thought to himself, So Gu Chengze already knows I went to see Song Yiyi yesterday?

With every sentence Gu Chengze spoke, Cen Bowen’s face grew darker. His relationship with Song Yiyi while still meddling in another woman’s family affairs had been the subject of endless gossip in the compound lately. People said he was “eating from the bowl while eyeing the pot,” ruining his image, and lacking moral character.

Last time, Cen Bowen had promised Cen Yue he’d settle the rumors quickly. Who could’ve expected something else to happen so soon after? Cen Yue had already made him a negative example, scolding him at several meetings and even ordering him to write self-reflection reports.

Yesterday at noon, when his little uncle came back from outside—apparently in a bad mood from someone else’s doing—Cen Bowen had been caught in the crossfire. Cen Yue even gave him a final ultimatum: If you can’t resolve this within three days, prepare for disciplinary action.

At the time, they were alone in the office, and Cen Bowen explained to his little uncle that he would coax Song Yiyi, and once his mother arrived and the engagement was settled, everything would be fine. But upon hearing that, Cen Yue’s expression turned even colder.

That night during training, Cen Bowen was inexplicably punished with a ten-kilometer weighted run. It wasn’t just embarrassing—it nearly killed him. His little uncle knew perfectly well he hadn’t been resting well recently!

Cen Bowen didn’t take the thick wad of bills Gu Chengze handed him, so Gu shoved it directly into his hand. When Gu Chengze turned to leave, Cen Bowen called after him, “Da—Gu Deputy Regiment Commander.” He had almost said “Big Brother” but changed it.

Gu Chengze turned back. Cen Bowen’s throat felt dry, but he still couldn’t help voicing his grievance: “Deputy Regiment Commander Gu, you just got back, you don’t know the whole story. I was just—”

Gu Chengze cut him off, “We’re all men here, Cen Bowen. Be open and aboveboard.”

This time, without waiting for a reply, Gu Chengze left.

Cen Bowen stood rooted to the spot, his expression unusually grim. Several comrades who had been waiting for him wore mixed expressions—they had overheard the entire conversation.

When it comes to understanding men, men understand best.

One comrade walked up, patted his shoulder, and said, “Bowen, brother, I’ll say something you won’t like—Even if you like both, one is bound to weigh more than the other. Careful you don’t end up picking sesame seeds and losing the watermelon.”

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Song Yiyi knew nothing of this. To avoid Cen Bowen, she had been getting up early several days in a row. But now that Gu Chengze was back, she allowed herself the luxury of sleeping in.

When she woke and opened her door, Gu Chengze was standing at the square table, holding a bowl of porridge. Seeing her, he smiled, “Awake? Go wash up—your big brother made your favorite savory porridge.”

Song Yiyi thought she and the original “her” were alike in at least one way—taste in food. Aside from fried dough sticks and soy milk, she preferred savory breakfasts. She could eat salty porridge or noodles, but didn’t like overly sweet breakfasts. She liked sweets, but was picky—strawberry cake was fine, mille-feuille or cookies not so much. She liked fruit tea, disliked milk tea, and didn’t like drinking milk.

The night before, Gu Chengze had pickled some soy-sauce cucumbers, which paired perfectly with rice.

“Once you’re full, come with me to the station,” Gu Chengze broke the silence first.

Song Yiyi gave a reluctant, “Oh.”

Her reaction made Gu Chengze’s lips curve upward. “It’s not like Mom and Dad are going to eat you. Why the sudden reluctance?”

He was just making small talk.

Song Yiyi had no good answer, so she simply shoveled more food into her mouth.

The porridge was delicious—she ate two small bowls in one go.

By the time they left the compound, she realized she was a bit overfull, and halfway there she even let out a hiccup.

Gu Chengze handed her the water flask he’d brought, “Have a sip.” He had already anticipated this scene when she went for her second bowl earlier.

When they passed the bulletin board, a noisy crowd blocked their path. Gu Chengze told Song Yiyi to stand aside and went forward to take a look.

Soon, one of the military wives spotted Song Yiyi and called out, “Yiyi! Come quick, your name’s on the commendation letter!”

Confused, Song Yiyi walked over under everyone’s gaze.

One literate military wife was already explaining to the others: “This is a thank-you letter from the Public Security Bureau—they’re praising the military district for helping them catch a major tomb-robbing gang yesterday!”

“They even singled out Commissar Cen and visiting Regiment Commander Zhang.”

“And look, they specially commended Comrade Song Yiyi!”

“Yiyi, you even helped catch tomb robbers yesterday? No wonder Auntie invited you over for a chat and couldn’t find you—you were out making contributions!”

Song Yiyi: “…”

She could hardly admit she wasn’t even sure what had happened. But she had indeed helped Cen Yue. Could it be Cen Yue who mentioned her?

She waved it off, “Just a small thing, really—if the sisters here saw it, I’m sure they’d help too.”

Her calm confidence made Gu Chengze, who had been about to shield her from the crowd, pause in his step, a strange light in his eyes.

The wives were very warm, and Song Yiyi chatted with them for a while before finding Gu Chengze in the crowd.

“Brother, let’s go.”

Gu Chengze’s gaze was deep. “Alright.”

Once outside the compound, Song Yiyi, half to herself and half to him, said, “The commendation letter says there’s also a two-hundred-yuan reward. Do I get a share of that?”

Gu Chengze chuckled, “Little money-grubber.”

Thanks to this little incident, Song Yiyi’s reputation in the compound became even better.

Especially since the compound even used her as a role model, praising her several times and encouraging military spouses to learn from Comrade Song Yiyi.
The men in the compound would privately tell their own wives to spend more time with Song Yiyi—after all, she was someone personally commended by the commander.

Cen Bowen had heard all of this too, even though everyone deliberately avoided talking about it in front of him out of consideration.
It only made him feel even worse.

That evening, when he went to see Kang Ying, Cen Bowen was distracted and ended up pouring scalding hot water onto Kang Ying’s hand.
It was water he had just fetched from the boiler room, and it instantly burned a layer of skin off her hand.

Kang Ying hadn’t been doing well lately either.
In her previous life, with Cen Bowen there to catch her, she never experienced the pain of a broken leg.
But in this life, she had gotten the full experience—plus several abrasions on her body, leaving her in so much pain that she couldn’t sleep night after night.

On top of that, after framing her sister-in-law, Kang Qiang had been making a scene at home, threatening their parents that if they didn’t kick her out, he and his wife would set up their own household.
Shockingly, their parents sided with Kang Qiang and were really planning to make her move out!
And they knew perfectly well she had nowhere to go!

Although Cen Bowen came to visit every day, he was there in body but not in spirit, and he ignored her subtle attempts at affection.

She told Cen Bowen that her family wanted to kick her out.
Not only did he refuse to stand up for her, but he even told her that once she recovered, she should apologize to her sister-in-law!

Why should she apologize?
That woman had clearly stolen her home, stolen her brother, and stolen her parents’ affection.

Full of resentment—and now with a freshly burned hand—she heard Cen Bowen tell her that he was feeling miserable because Song Yiyi was ignoring him now.

Cen Bowen even said:

“Yingzi, help me think of a way. I want to marry Yiyi. I want to marry her.”