Chapter 13 – Qin Muhan Was Sent to the Countryside

He Cuizhi naturally did not want Qin Muhan to be sent to the countryside.

If Qin Lie had not survived, then with the An family’s assets, going to the countryside would have been a safer and better option than joining the military. But now that there was no chance of touching the An family’s assets, all of the Qin family’s connections were in the military—what future could the countryside possibly offer!

Having been with Qin Zhao for so many years, she knew exactly how to persuade him. But what He Cuizhi did not expect was that, after all her painstaking efforts—performing every trick in the book to make Qin Zhao less insistent—her son himself was charging headlong down the path of going to the countryside.

Early the next morning, he went to keep watch near the Xie family home. When he saw Xie Yutang and Qi Beiguo looking sweet and affectionate, he absentmindedly followed them all the way to the train station.

Just as the two of them were about to board the train, he rushed forward to stop Xie Yutang, crying bitterly and begging in agony.

“Yutang, I beg you, don’t marry him! I regret it, I shouldn’t have treated you that way before. Clearly… clearly I’ve always loved you!”

“I can’t lose you, Yutang. Don’t marry him—marry me instead. I can marry you too!”

He caused such a scene at the train station, involving Xie Yutang’s reputation, that Qi Beiguo naturally could not tolerate it in silence.

At that time, the train station was packed with people organizing mass link-ups, and it happened to be a place full of hot-blooded youths.

As a result, Qin Muhan was “judged” on the spot. A large crowd of Red Armbands escorted him away from the train station. He didn’t even need to register at the Educated Youth Office—Qin Muhan was exiled directly, under the charge of “disrespecting revolutionary soldiers and harassing military family members”!

The place he was exiled to was, coincidentally, a place An Minghua was familiar with—it was the very place where she had been exiled in the novel.

Now, of the path once shared by three people, only Qin Muhan was left to walk it alone.

……

Hengshi was a small coastal city surrounded on three sides by the sea and backed by a mountain range.

The 106th Regiment, where Qin Lie was stationed, was based there.

It took fifteen long hours on the train from the provincial capital to Hengshi. Along the way to the military camp, An Minghua sniffed the air at the tip of her nose and felt quite cheerful.

“Qin Lie, what kind of house do we have in the family compound? A small single-story house or a tube-shaped apartment building?”

“If I had to choose between the two, I’d still prefer the small single-story house. Cooking in a tube-shaped building means going outside, and I don’t like that.”

“Ping’an, do you like small single-story houses with courtyards? It doesn’t matter if the courtyard isn’t big. Daddy can set up a few wooden frames, and we can fill some baskets with soil and plant some scallions!”

Ping’an responded enthusiastically: “Mom, we can also plant garlic!”

“Garlic won’t grow garlic bulbs, only garlic sprouts—but that’s okay, we can stir-fry the sprouts with eggs!”

Qin Lie replied helplessly: “There are no apartment buildings in the family compound, only rows of identical single-story houses. Each one has three main rooms surrounded by courtyard walls. As for planting vegetables—back then, the regiment commander’s wife managed to secure a plot of land behind the houses and had it allocated for the families. Regardless of rank, every household gets two mu of land. Whatever you want to plant, it’s up to you.”

“Why didn’t you say so earlier?” An Minghua said, entirely unreasonable. “You made me guess for so long!”

“Yes, it’s my fault.” Qin Lie admitted readily, a quick smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he looked at An Minghua. Sure enough, when he saw her look away, slightly uncomfortable, his smile deepened.

“Let’s go. We’ll stay at the guesthouse for now. The approval for the family compound should be through, but we’ll need to tidy it up first.”

This brief exchange, with the three of them chatting and laughing at the entrance of the military camp, nearly made the young soldiers on guard duty pop their eyeballs out.

Another fairy-like sister-in-law had arrived—though they welcomed her warmly, they felt nothing in their hearts. But! Deputy Company Commander Qin actually smiled so gently? Who had ever seen that!

It wasn’t that Deputy Company Commander Qin didn’t know how to smile—he could smile—but who dared to witness him smile? In the 106th Regiment, there was an unshakable saying: If Deputy Company Commander Qin smiles, your fate hangs in the balance.

And now, he was smiling at his wife—

The young soldier standing at attention wore a stern expression, but mentally he racked his brain for the right word. Finally, he found one: Deputy Company Commander Qin’s smile at his wife was just too… radiant!

No matter what they thought inwardly, as they watched Qin Lie approach with his wife and child, the young soldiers stood straight and saluted solemnly.

Qin Lie came to a halt and returned the salute.

An Minghua noticed that the moment Qin Lie straightened his expression and returned the salute with seriousness, he seemed to transform entirely.

Rather, it was the moment he stepped inside the military base—he changed.

He was still the same person, walking in the same way, but once he was two meters away from her, there wasn’t a trace of a smile on his face. His whole being was filled with a cold severity that warned others to keep their distance.

It wasn’t until they entered the guesthouse and checked into their room that the man returned to her side, clinging close again.

An Minghua knew what was going on, but that didn’t stop her from making a scene. “Why are you so close to me now? Weren’t you standing two meters away earlier? I thought once we entered your base camp, your true colors would show, and you’d start abusing me and our child!”

Qin Lie let out a low laugh, completely enamored with the vivid liveliness in her eyes and expression. “My true colors are showing, yes—but I could never bear to mistreat you.”

“Come on, let’s go eat first. After the meal, I’ll go check where our assigned house is.”

He had submitted the application for family accompaniment long ago—it should have been approved by now.

The food at the guesthouse was quite delicious. An Minghua realized that, in this era, whether it was the food on the train or the meals at the guesthouse, the flavors were all excellent.

And they were affordable, too—far from the deeply ingrained impression she had from the modern times, where food was both overpriced and unappetizing.

After the meal, An Minghua took Ping’an back to the room to rest, while Qin Lie went out alone.

He first headed to the Regiment Commander’s office.

His entire presence exuded strength and discipline. The iron-blooded middle-aged man inside had his head down, busy with paperwork. When he heard those familiar footsteps, he looked up.

“Well now, our First-Class Merit winner is back!”