Chapter 24 – Breaking Off the Engagement (Part 1)

Fu Tingzhou brought her to an office.

Inside, someone was buried in documents.

Fu Tingzhou knocked lightly. “Knock knock.”

“Commissar Wu.”

When Li Zhi heard he was the political commissar, she was puzzled—wasn’t he supposed to be at a meeting?

Why had the switchboard told her that the commissar was attending a meeting?

Commissar Wu looked up. “Old Fu? What brings you here? Something wrong?”

“This comrade is… your partner? A good match, very well-matched. Hurry up and file a marriage report,” he joked. The commissar was always worrying over the many older, still-single men in the unit.

Fu Tingzhou was excellent in all aspects and won “Outstanding Officer” honors every year, but when it came to marriage, he was a tough case.

He was often used as an excuse by unmarried men over 25 who were being pressured—“Even Commander Fu is 28 and still single, so we’re not in a rush.”

Li Zhi realized he’d misunderstood and quickly explained, “Commissar, I asked Commander Fu to bring me here to see you. I’m Li Zhi, Lu Yanzhi’s fiancée. We spoke on the phone a few days ago—do you remember?”

Only then did Commissar Wu realize he’d made a big mistake. He chuckled awkwardly, “Ah, yes, I remember. So you’re here today to break off the engagement?”

“Yes.”

Commissar Wu said, “I’ve already spoken to Captain Lu. He said he doesn’t want to break it off. I asked him directly—he’s made it clear that he doesn’t want the engagement ended.”

“If I want to break it off, and Lu Yanzhi doesn’t, then it can’t be done?” Li Zhi asked sharply.

Wu Xiangqian replied, “Not necessarily. It depends on the situation. If Captain Lu is seriously at fault and you insist on breaking off the engagement, and mediation fails, then yes, it can be broken off.”

Li Zhi let out a breath of relief. As long as it was possible, that was good. The rope in her bag, meant for a threat of suicide if needed, wouldn’t have to be used.

She didn’t want to be seen as a shrew or unreasonable woman—unless she had no other choice.

Commissar Wu began asking her questions, his tone urging her to reconsider, encouraging her to give Lu Yanzhi another chance…

Fu Tingzhou suddenly said, “Old Wu, I still need to supervise training. I’ll head over now. If you need anything, send someone to find me.”

Though he wanted to stay and see how it turned out, deep down he hoped they would break up, and he didn’t want to be suspected of having selfish motives.

Wu Xiangqian asked, “Is there someone already supervising over there? Do you really have to go? If not too busy, maybe help with the mediation?”

A few office leaders were on leave or off at another military region for training, so they were short-staffed for this kind of emotional counseling work.

But Fu Tingzhou said, “I’m not suitable. I’ll go get Zhou Yufeng for you.”

Wu was puzzled. “You’re Lu’s direct superior—how are you not suitable?”

While regiment commanders weren’t necessarily responsible for their subordinates’ personal relationships, helping mediate these issues did fall under building unit stability—important for morale and training.

Fu Tingzhou glanced at Li Zhi. “The reason? It’s not convenient to say right now.”

The military favored reconciliation over separation. He knew Wu would try to persuade Li Zhi to stay engaged.

But his personal desire was for them not to reconcile—he didn’t want to betray that feeling.

Li Zhi pursed her lips. He was probably avoiding suspicion, since Lu Yanzhi had once mistaken her relationship with him.

If he mediated and things didn’t work out, Lu Yanzhi might twist things and accuse him of having something with her, dragging him down.

She had caused him trouble.

Her eyes were full of apology when she looked at him.

Fu Tingzhou didn’t dare look too long—afraid Commissar Wu would see right through him. Because of that, he missed the look in her eyes.

Had he seen it, he would have realized he misunderstood her.

Wu said, “Ah yes, you’ve always been a quiet one—not suited for reconciliation talks. Go fetch Zhou Yufeng then. I need help here. And get Captain Lu while you’re at it.”

Just then, Zhou Yufeng’s voice came from the doorway. “Commissar, were you looking for me? I’m here.”

He’d come to see the drama, didn’t expect to be assigned work. Came too early—should’ve delayed a bit.

Now he was stuck. Both sides were his good friends. Whether he encouraged staying together or splitting up, he’d offend someone.

What to do?

Maybe he should find an excuse to slip away too.

But Wu walked up to him, slapped a hand on his shoulder like handing him a sacred duty. “Perfect timing. You used to be a counselor. Help me with some emotional mediation. Everyone else in the office is out—I need a hand.”

As Fu Tingzhou left the office, he gave Zhou Yufeng a meaningful look.

Zhou instantly understood and blinked.

He always supported the reasonable side, but also his friends.

Li Zhi wanted to end the engagement and focus on studying for her college entrance exams. Lu Yanzhi dragging things out wasn’t right. A forced relationship never ends well—marriage should be mutual.

Lu Yanzhi had just returned to base and wasn’t scheduled for field training.

He’d anticipated Li Zhi might come to break things off, so he’d made plans—telling the switchboard staff to give excuses: if his fiancée or the commissar called, say they were out.

He had lied to the switchboard operator, saying he and his fiancée had a small fight, she was angry and might show up unreasonably, but he was confident he could win her back—no need to escalate things.

The operator believed him. The military always tried to reconcile rather than split couples. A minor quarrel didn’t seem like a big deal, so she agreed to help him lie.

As soon as Fu Tingzhou left, Li Zhi asked, “Is Lu Yanzhi in the unit today? I had the guard at the gate call the switchboard. They said he went to field training and didn’t know when he’d return. Then I asked for the commissar, and they said he was in a meeting and didn’t know when it would end.”

Li Zhi was being deliberate—she already knew from Fu Tingzhou that Lu Yanzhi had no field training today.

Wu Xiangqian was confused. “Meeting? I haven’t been in any meeting. I’ve been in the office all morning. Has any regiment under us scheduled field training today?”

Zhou Yufeng shook his head. “Nope. Everyone’s doing on-base drills. Old Lu was at the training ground earlier.”

Though he hadn’t seen Li Zhi, the whole training ground had been buzzing that Fu Tingzhou brought in a beautiful, pure-looking woman. She must’ve guessed it was Li Zhi.

Wu frowned, lowered his gaze, and fell deep in thought. If one miscommunication happened, it might’ve been an error—but two? Too much of a coincidence. It looked intentional.

Li Zhi said softly, “Commissar, I think the military is supposed to be a rigorous place. If there’s any major intelligence or communication failure, it could cause serious consequences—it must be corrected promptly.”

Wu’s expression turned serious. “Comrade Li is right. Absolutely. This must be investigated.”

Military communication had to be precise to ensure accurate command and coordination. Any mistake could lead to mission failure or casualties.

Wu couldn’t understand it. The switchboard staff had been professionally trained—how could such a basic mistake happen?

Lu Yanzhi arrived, his handsome face dark as if someone had stolen a million from him.

Fu Tingzhou had practically dragged him over. No wonder he looked sour.

His plan was to avoid her. He thought he’d wait until next leave when her anger had cooled, then slowly win her back.

He hadn’t expected Li Zhi to actually come to the base, and worse, come through Fu Tingzhou and reach Commissar Wu—completely catching him off guard.

Walking into the office, he suppressed his anger and spoke gently, “Li Zhi, why didn’t you discuss this with me before coming? Let’s not break up, okay? What happened on the wedding day was my fault—I’m sorry. I promise it won’t happen again. Let’s try to live well together, alright?”

“No. I don’t want to marry you anymore. I don’t want to live with you. Please cooperate with the breakup. The sooner it’s done, the sooner I can go home.”

“Li Zhi, I already apologized. Why are you still holding onto that one thing? Come outside with me—we’ll talk.”

There were outsiders here. He didn’t want to embarrass himself by pleading in front of everyone.

Lu Yanzhi still wanted to get her back, to save the relationship.

As he spoke, he reached out to grab Li Zhi’s hand.

Li Zhi stepped back to avoid it. “Captain Lu, how about you explain why the switchboard said you were out on field training today and that the commissar was in a meeting?”

Her voice was cold, without a trace of emotion.

Lu Yanzhi’s face froze, jaw clenched tight.