Chapter 040

The meal was ready, and the family sat around the table to eat.

The wooden table had grown even more worn with time, with a few familiar home-cooked dishes placed on it.

No one spoke at the table, except for the occasional “ah-ah” sounds coming from the little baby in the east room.

The third child had been born for several months now, but Meng Li had hardly looked at him.

She still had a bit of affection for Tang Yuan’er, developed through their daily interactions, but for this newborn, she felt little attachment.

She had only glanced at him a few times and played with him briefly.

The baby was the precious treasure of Gu Huijuan and the apple of the Cheng family’s eye. Meng Li dared not touch him too much, afraid of being disliked.

After dinner, Meng Li didn’t leave and stayed for the night.

Other than chatting with Grandma Cheng for a bit, she spent the rest of the time lying down to sleep, with nothing else to do.

At night, the alley was quiet. The lights in every house were off, and not a sound could be heard.

Suddenly, the door to the west room creaked open. Luo Yongmei tiptoed out of the room and waited by the shadow wall near the main gate.

She twisted her braid as she waited for a while until Shao Jun from the east room arrived.

The two of them didn’t leave but stood quietly by the shadow wall, speaking softly to each other.

Luo Yongmei spoke in a hushed tone, “Everyone’s asleep, right?”

Shao Jun lowered his voice as well, “It’s so late, they should all be asleep by now.”

Luo Yongmei pursed her lips in the dim light, tugged at her braid a little, as though holding back a deep breath, and whispered again, “What’s going on? How did she get to join the army? What’s her biological father like? Didn’t the higher-ups investigate? How could she pass the political review like this?”

Shao Jun was also troubled by the matter, “Who knows how they do things.”

Luo Yongmei was speechless, “She’s even a girl. She’s been out there for years, mixing with people—how did no one ever find out?”

Shao Jun, however, wasn’t as shocked. He simply said, “With her lousy character, who would ever think she’s a girl? She might look like one, but when it comes to fighting, she’s got no regard for her life—definitely doesn’t act like a girl.”

Luo Yongmei felt increasingly frustrated, her heart tightening. “Did you see how smug she looked tonight? Deliberately wearing her military uniform to show off. I can’t swallow this anger. Why is it that a clean and upright family like ours can’t join the army, but she can?”

Shao Jun also felt a heavy knot in his chest. Earlier in the evening, he had seen Meng Li proudly parading around in her military uniform in the yard, even deliberately asking why he and Luo Yongmei hadn’t left. Just thinking about it made him feel sick. He and Luo Yongmei had already prepared to join the army, but who could have known such a twist would happen?

They had both expected to watch Meng Li be sent down to the countryside in disgrace, but instead, the situation had turned out completely opposite. How could they swallow this bitterness?

His face burned with anger, and his heart felt stifled with frustration.

When it came to not being able to join the army, they could hardly blame anyone else—it was just that their family didn’t have enough powerful connections.

What had seemed like a sure thing turned out to be nothing but empty promises when it came down to it.

After holding his breath for a while, Shao Jun spoke up, “Let’s go to the Revolutionary Committee tomorrow and report the true situation. I don’t believe that if they investigate Meng Li’s background thoroughly, they’ll still let her join the army.”

Luo Yongmei felt a surge of confidence and nodded seriously. “Mm.”

After comforting each other and easing their minds, the two of them went back home to sleep.

The next morning, after breakfast, they set out together, as planned, toward the Revolutionary Committee.

Upon arriving at the committee, they asked to report anonymously. They sat down with Director Hu and said, “At 32 Zhima Hutong, there’s a person named Meng Li who was approved to enlist in the military. But from what we know, her father once made right-wing remarks and is still undergoing reeducation. How can someone from such a background be allowed to join our People’s Liberation Army? We hope the organization will investigate thoroughly to ensure our Party’s purity is not tarnished.”

Director Hu listened carefully, furrowing his brows. “Is that so?”

Shao Jun and Luo Yongmei’s expressions were more serious than his. “Of course. We’re only doing this for the good of the organization, which is why we came to report it.”

Director Hu nodded slowly. “Alright, we’ll look into this. If this situation proves to be true, we will report it and make sure that unsuitable individuals don’t join our Party’s ranks.”

Shao Jun nodded. “Thank you for your help, Director Hu.”

Director Hu was polite in return. “It’s our duty to do this, to accept reports from the public and investigate the facts.”

Shao Jun and Luo Yongmei left the Revolutionary Committee with a sense of relief, their hearts much lighter.

Shao Jun laughed, saying, “Just wait and see. Let’s see how long she can keep showing off, but after a few days in the army, that military uniform will be stripped off her.”

Luo Yongmei’s face was full of righteous indignation. “She shouldn’t have worn it for even a single day!”

Shao Jun didn’t mind. “Let her gloat for a couple of days. It’ll be worse for her later.”

Luo Yongmei nodded. “We’ll just wait and watch.”

With everything they could do already done, Shao Jun and Luo Yongmei felt a sense of relief and went home, waiting for the day when Meng Li would be stripped of her military uniform.

As for them, they were still bound to go down to the countryside, but there was no rush. Every extra day they could stay was one they would take.

A few days later, Meng Li packed her things and headed to the military for her reporting. She left directly from the school, and the ones accompanying her were Zhou Nan and Jin Bei.

Since the day she had received her military uniform, Ji Chen had not come back to the school.

When they arrived at the gate of the military district, Meng Li suddenly remembered something and turned to Zhou Nan and Jin Bei. “We don’t know when we’ll meet again, so let me ask you directly—did you two already know I’m not a man?”

She had only thought of this question that evening when she was back home, preparing to sleep after receiving her military uniform.

Luo Yongmei’s father had noticed that Meng Li was wearing a women’s military uniform, yet Zhou Nan and Jin Bei seemed completely unbothered by it.

After thinking it over, Meng Li could only come to one conclusion.

The reason was simple—they must have already known she was a woman, so they weren’t surprised to see her in a women’s uniform.

Seeing that she brought it up, Zhou Nan exaggeratedly let out a sigh of relief. “Ah, finally, we don’t have to pretend we didn’t know.”

Jin Bei laughed from the side. “Third Master, you really can keep a secret, you’ve been fooling us for so long.”

Meng Li looked at the two of them. “Now that it’s out in the open, can we still be brothers?”

Zhou Nan’s expression turned serious. “What do you mean by that? Brothers are brothers for life, regardless of gender.”

Jin Bei chimed in, “Exactly. We don’t care whether you’re a man or a woman. We didn’t say anything because we were worried about your pride. Now that we’re all going our separate ways, there’s no harm in saying it.”

Meng Li took a deep breath, walked over, and gave Zhou Nan a hug, then hugged Jin Bei.

Afterward, she stepped back, stood still, and looked at them. “I really want to thank you both. Thank you for taking care of me all this time.”

If it weren’t for these few people, Meng Li truly couldn’t imagine what her life after crossing over would have been like.

She probably would have lived in darkness, with no light in sight.

Zhou Nan and Jin Bei were still smiling. “No need to be so polite between brothers.”

Meng Li raised the corners of her mouth. “Mm, remember to write to me. When I come back, we’ll still be good brothers.”

Zhou Nan and Jin Bei both thought to themselves that once they were settled in the countryside, whether or not they could return was still uncertain.

But they didn’t voice any pessimistic thoughts. They nodded at Meng Li. “We’ll always be brothers.”

After the farewell, Meng Li grabbed her bundle and headed toward the military district gate. With every three steps she took, she looked back twice.

Although she knew they would meet again, it was still hard to leave.

Everyone was heading down their own paths, and who knew if they would ever gather together again.

In a few years, or even ten years, no one knew what they would all become.

Meng Li entered the military district, and Zhou Nan and Jin Bei waved their hands until they were tired, then turned and walked away.

A few days later, they registered and were sent to the countryside, heading together to the mountainous regions of Sichuan.

After Meng Li reported to the army, she was immediately placed in the new recruit battalion to undergo three months of basic training.

After the three months of basic training, she would be assigned to a specific post, depending on the organization’s arrangements.

Meng Li was a bit apprehensive about the new recruit training because she knew it would be extremely tough and exhausting.

The military training in college seemed like child’s play compared to this.

However, fortunately for her, being a woman meant the training intensity would be slightly lower.

When the training actually began, she realized her body was able to handle it.

Every morning at six o’clock, the wake-up call rang, and she quickly got up, tidied herself, and hurried to line up for a run.

After breakfast, they gathered for training, with no other activities.

By the time the training ended in the evening and she returned to the dormitory, Meng Li still had enough energy to read for another ten minutes.

To the other girls in the dorm, Meng Li was practically a physical powerhouse.

She hadn’t expected this either, but after some thought, it made sense. After all, this body wasn’t originally hers. The original owner had managed to become the boss of the Alley kids largely due to her physical strength and fighting skills.

To become good at fighting, the original owner had spent a lot of time training this body.

During training, Meng Li gradually realized that her recruitment into the army was likely due to her exceptional physical fitness. The recruiters must have seen her as a rare talent, making an exception to accept her.

Within just a few days, while the other girls in her group were struggling and nearly collapsing from exhaustion, Meng Li had already adapted with ease.

She quickly grasped the structure of basic training. In the early stages, aside from learning military rules and regulations, most of the drills focused on fundamentals—standing at attention, lining up, marching, saluting, shifting stances, walking in formation, and simple exercises like removing and putting on hats, squatting, and standing up.

In between these drills, there were also activities like the three-kilometer cross-country run, training on the parallel bars, the pommel horse, and other physical exercises.

Once the formation drills were done, the focus shifted to individual military skills and platoon-level drills.

In the later stages, the focus shifted to consolidation training and assessments.

These three months were incredibly tough, and naturally, some people couldn’t handle the pressure and ended up deserting halfway through.

Those who couldn’t bear the high-intensity physical training had no choice but to pack up and leave.

After a week of new recruit training, the instructors gave everyone a night off.

After dinner, they were free to do as they wished and didn’t have to line up for any more drills.

Meng Li stayed in the dorm for a while after dinner, listening to her roommates complaining and moaning together.

The new recruit dormitory was crowded, with several bunk beds stacked up—seven or eight in total, each occupied by someone.

Meng Li sat at a small table by the window, reading for a while. But the noise in the dorm was too much for her, so she took her book and decided to step outside.

She went alone to the playground, found a quiet spot, and sat down to continue reading.

The summer evening was still hot, but the breeze that blew through the treetops and past her ears brought a bit of coolness.

She flipped through the pages of her book, listening to the sound of the paper rustling.

Engrossed in her reading, she was suddenly distracted by the sight of a red bean popsicle.

Meng Li blinked in surprise, following the popsicle with her gaze. When her eyes lifted, she froze for a moment. Standing before her was Ji Chen, someone she hadn’t seen for over half a month.

The young man was wearing a military uniform, looking even more spirited and fit than before.

He stood against the light, his body casting a shadow, but the curve of his lips and the outline of his eyes were especially clear.