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As Chen Shuyun cried, she spoke through her tears. Su Ying had been an orphan in her past life, never having experienced familial love, so she had always made decisions on her own. But in this moment, she could truly feel Chen Shuyun’s love for her.
She gently hugged her.
“Mom, it’s okay. I’m not that sick. Even if I do get married, it’s not like we’ll just rely on someone else to support us. I just need a job—I’ll earn money and take care of you.”
The two of them talked heart-to-heart all afternoon in their tiny home. Su Ying finally accepted Chen Shuyun as her mother. And Chen Shuyun realized that her daughter had grown up. She was no longer reckless and impulsive—she now thought things through and made plans for herself.
Meanwhile, as soon as Commissar Ye and Director Du returned to the military housing complex, they went straight to Gu Jinghong’s house.
The moment they entered, they saw the orderly squatting on the floor, cleaning up spilled food while muttering under his breath.
“You’re already in this condition. Having someone take care of you is a blessing, so why such a bad temper? I know you were a war hero, but you’re bedridden now—you can’t keep treating people like this. I was just following orders to take care of you. Why do you keep taking it out on me? You think I want to be here getting yelled at every day? No one else is willing to come look after you. You can’t even control your own bodily functions—it takes real courage to care for someone like that!”
Commissar Ye had a fiery temper. The moment he heard this, he rushed over and kicked the orderly hard.
“What the hell did you just say?! You’re complaining about him? He’s a national hero! Who the hell do you think you are to look down on him?!”
The orderly, Li Weimin, was knocked to the ground. Only then did he notice who had entered, and he scrambled to his feet to salute.
“Commissar, Director.”
Commissar Ye looked like he was about to explode. He glared at Li Weimin as though he wanted to kick him a few more times. Ungrateful bastard—had he already forgotten how the commander once saved him? What a disgraceful ingrate.
Director Du also frowned and gave Li Weimin a cold look.
“Li Weimin, what happened this time? Did you make the commander angry again?”
Li Weimin was only 23, still a young guy. And to be fair, he felt wronged too.
“I really don’t know what happened. I was feeding him lunch when he suddenly got angry and knocked the food tray over with his head. I know he has a bad temper, so I tried coaxing him with some water. But he even knocked that over—it spilled all over me.”
His clothes were indeed soaked—he probably wasn’t lying.
Director Du waved his hand.
“Alright, leave us for now.”
Once Li Weimin had left, both Director Du and Commissar Ye sighed heavily as they looked toward Gu Jinghong, who was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling.
What could they do? They could only try to coax him.
Director Du forced a stiff smile, bent down, and respectfully said,
“Commander, what’s wrong? Why the temper? Did Li Weimin do something to upset you?”
Gu Jinghong closed his eyes slightly and replied in a low voice,
“Don’t send him here again. And you don’t need to come either.”
Commissar Ye bent down too.
“Commander, you’re just upset. The general already gave strict orders—we must take good care of you no matter what. He’ll even come visit you when he gets a chance. The top hospital in the capital has assembled a team of specialists to examine your case. There’s definitely hope—you can’t give up.”
Gu Jinghong tilted his head slightly. The veins on his long neck were bulging, showing how unstable his emotions were.
“You should go. There’s no need to keep visiting me.”
Commissar Ye pulled out Su Ying’s photo from his pocket and held it in front of Gu Jinghong.
“Commander, this is the girl. Look, she’s beautiful, young, and literate. We visited her home too—everything checked out. What do you think…”
“I said I’m not—”
Gu Jinghong suddenly opened his eyes and shouted, but the moment he caught a glimpse of the photo, his voice halted mid-sentence. He slowly tilted his head and stared intently at the picture.
In the photo, the girl had her hair tied back in a ponytail, wore a floral blouse and blue pants. She stood gracefully. Her skin was fair, her features delicate and refined. Her cute appearance carried a trace of allure.
Seeing Gu Jinghong’s reaction, Commissar Ye and Director Du exchanged glances—and both saw a smile in the other’s eyes. Looks like the commander liked this girl.
Well then, no matter how excessive her requests were, they’d find a way to fulfill them. It was rare for the commander to show interest in someone.
If Su Ying didn’t actually have any medical training, they’d simply assign her to the hospital’s finance department. She could count money, right? She had passed the college entrance exam, so math shouldn’t be an issue. And working in hospital accounting technically counted as a medical role too.
With that decided, they quickly made arrangements to secure Su Ying’s job and move forward with the wedding. They were genuinely worried that if things continued like this, the commander might try to take his own life. His mental state was dangerously unstable.
This was a man who had once made great contributions to the country—he couldn’t be allowed to die such a miserable death.
“Commander, how about we set the wedding date soon?”
Gu Jinghong snapped out of his daze and looked at them for a long moment before finally saying nothing—his silence was tacit approval.
He had seen this girl before, at the hospital. What had caught his eye then were her fearless eyes. That moment had stayed with him. Maybe it was loneliness—or maybe it was selfishness—but he wanted someone by his side.
Su Ying had originally planned to recover for a bit before going back to wait outside the pharmaceutical factory. Maybe if she got lucky, she’d run into the director. And if she got even luckier, maybe he’d give her a chance.
This time, she brought a big tea mug and two large steamed buns. She was confident she could last longer than before.
She didn’t really pin her hopes on Commissar Ye’s group. She still had to hustle for a job on her own.
But just as she opened her door full of determination, she found two men standing outside. No car, no uniforms—just the two of them.
“Comrade Su Ying, we’ve agreed to all your conditions and everything’s prepared. You can report to the municipal hospital tomorrow. We’re here today to discuss the details of the wedding.”
Su Ying’s mouth fell slightly open as she blankly stared at the two middle-aged men. They were probably only in their forties, but both were balding and looked older than their age.
Chen Shuyun stood behind Su Ying, also looking lost—was this really happening? Were they actually getting married?
“Comrade Chen Shuyun, we’d like to discuss the wedding arrangements with you.”
Being directly addressed made Chen Shuyun even more flustered. She turned to Su Ying, waiting for her daughter to make the decision.
Su Ying finally let out a long-held breath. Since things had come this far, there was no point in backing out now.
“Alright, let’s talk.”
As they welcomed the men inside, neighbors from the courtyard peered over and whispered to each other.
“Looks like they’re marrying off their daughter? But didn’t they just move in recently? How come someone’s already come to propose?”
“Well, that girl is really pretty. Didn’t you notice how the boys from next door have been staring at her? I even saw one of them buy her a soda yesterday—but she didn’t accept it.”