Chapter 34

Su Ye decisively stepped forward, interrupting the peaceful and beautiful moment.

She pulled the book from Gu Xiangqian’s hands, smiling as she asked, “I heard from Xingdou that you don’t remember things anymore. Gu Xiangqian, do you still recognize me?”

Gu Xiangqian looked up. Upon seeing her, a faint ripple appeared in his deep, dark eyes.

“I recognize you.”

He stood up and extended his hand, inviting her, “Please, make yourself at home. I’ll get you something to drink.”

Su Ye sat down on the sofa by the bookshelf, watching Gu Xiangqian’s figure move away. Her mind was filled with thoughts of his tall and elegant frame, the light tan from a month without sun, and the way he buttoned his shirt—it was damn sexy.

She quickly apologized, “Xiangqian, I misunderstood you that day at the hospital. I didn’t know that you didn’t remember anything.”

To bend and stretch is the mark of a true hero. What’s a divorce application? She didn’t even remember it. Without the freedom to love, it wasn’t real freedom…

After a month apart, Gu Xiangqian had lost weight but had become more mature and masculine. His thick, dark hair, resolute gaze, and upright posture all made Su Ye feel captivated.

In the hot summer, he wore a white shirt, the buttons tightly fastened, giving off an air of something that could only be admired from a distance, making one only want to strip it off with their own hands.

Gu Xiangqian rummaged through the cabinet for a bag of coffee beans, patiently grinding them into powder with a hand-held grinder. The pure white coffee cup was filled with hot water, the delicate porcelain handle gripped by his hand, his even, strong fingers complementing the cup’s body.

As he lifted his hand to place the coffee beans back in the cabinet, his shirt slightly lifted, revealing hard leather and a hint of abdominal muscles.

Su Ye rested her chin in her hands, admiring the scene, her gaze deepening.

Although people always said that Gu Xiangqian came from a good family, Su Ye had never paid attention to it. She had never imagined that a man who couldn’t afford to eat meat would once live such a privileged life.

She had made decisions so hastily before, never considering if, in the future, she would regret not having enough to eat. Did Gu Xiangqian seem like the kind of man who would casually divorce and move on?

The mist rose, and the room was filled with the fragrance of coffee. Gu Xiangqian handed a cup of coffee to Su Ye, and after a moment, he turned his hand in the other direction to take it back.

He said, “Sorry, Su Ye, I forgot that you can’t have caffeine.”

Both coffee and chocolate contain caffeine.

The words caused Su Ye to cough violently. She had once tested Gu Xiangqian with chocolate in the hospital.

How did he know about this? Did Gu Xiangqian realize that she actually knew he had lost his memory?

Driven by a strong instinct for survival, Su Ye hurriedly took the coffee and drank it. “How could that be? I can drink it. I actually really like it… Don’t say anymore.”

Gu Xiangqian’s cold expression rarely softened with a smile. “Is that so?”

“But I looked through my old diaries, and it said you couldn’t eat chocolate, and also—”

Su Ye never imagined that she would be caught by her own diary. How could Gu Xiangqian have written down such trivial details?

Survival instincts can awaken one’s hidden potential. With no change in her face or heart, Su Ye said, “I was just kidding you. It’s not that I can’t eat it, I just don’t like it. But you like it… I can tolerate things you like.”

Her bold and passionate confession led the topic down a dead-end. Even Gu Xiangqian couldn’t handle what Su Ye said.

Without a word, Gu Xiangqian removed the coffee in front of Su Ye and replaced it with tea.

He gazed at Su Ye, and after careful consideration, said, “When you were at the hospital, you told me to file for divorce and write an application. I’ve thought it over. If you truly want a divorce, I’ll respect your decision—”

Su Ye didn’t want a divorce now, she was still fired up and didn’t want to think about what it would be like after they separated.

She shook her head. “I only said that out of anger, you blockhead! That night I took a train home and waited all night, yet you didn’t even call to comfort me! Even if you were blind and had lost your memory, your mouth should still work fine!”

As soon as Ning Xingdou entered the door, he heard this and couldn’t help but chuckle, turning his head to suppress his laughter. He had never seen such a scene before.

He said to both of them, “I’ll head back first, I have work to report this afternoon. Xiangqian, hurry up too.”

After finishing a cup of red tea, Su Ye asked Gu Xiangqian, “Why didn’t you come home last night? I specially made braised pork for you.”

Gu Xiangqian seemed a bit unaccustomed to such close intimacy. He patiently pushed Su Ye back to her original position and said slowly, “I didn’t arrive back in C city until midnight last night. I didn’t want to disturb you, so I came here to sort out some old things.”

Su Ye’s heart suddenly sank. So, there was no separation after all. Gu Xiangqian was still the same quiet and gentle Gu Xiangqian from before.

She leaned over and grabbed Gu Xiangqian’s hand. “Let’s go back now? It’s almost time for lunch, and there’s nothing to eat here. Let’s go back to the military compound.”

Gu Xiangqian slightly furrowed his brow and subtly withdrew his hand.

Su Ye didn’t mind. He was a man, give him some time to digest things. After a little awkwardness, it would pass. She urged him to hurry up and pack so they could go home.

The two of them took the bus back to the military compound.

On the bus, Su Ye asked Gu Xiangqian, “I heard from Xingdou that our big house was donated, right?”

At times like this, having such a large fixed asset was not necessarily a good thing. Although Su Ye had secretly imagined trading the house for food when she first arrived, dreaming of doing something big with it.

There were plenty of examples of selling houses for food during times of famine, theoretically, it worked, but Su Ye had only thought about it briefly. Safety was more important than a house.

Gu Xiangqian sat up straight, his back rigid, looking at Su Ye as she got closer. He frowned slightly, feeling uncomfortable, and turned his head away, speaking in a tone that was somewhat distant.

“We donated it, but the books inside weren’t donated. I’m just here to sort out some old things.”

Su Ye nodded in approval, “It’s good that it’s donated. We have a house provided by the military, though it’s small, it’s enough for us. You don’t care much about material things, and I know that.”

If they lived in a large mansion, Gu Xiangqian might still feel awkward. But back in the small room at the military compound, it would be close quarters, and even if he didn’t remember everything, their feelings would surely warm up quickly. Just thinking about it made Su Ye imagine how exciting their evenings would be.

Gu Xiangqian, hearing this, unexpectedly looked at Su Ye for a long while before finally averting his gaze.

Back at the military compound.

After returning, Su Ye went to Grandma Zhou’s vegetable garden and picked a few fresh cucumbers. She had intended to ask Gu Xiangqian to wash the vegetables and cook, but after thinking about it, she decided to do it herself.

The small house in the military compound was assigned to Gu Xiangqian after his promotion to deputy commander, so it might feel unfamiliar to him.

“Feel free to look around and see if anything jogs your memory. That book Chairman’s Quotations was the one you liked to flip through the most recently.”

Gu Xiangqian gave a brief reply, “Hmm,” in acknowledgment.

Su Ye stir-fried some vegetables and then braised the Dongpo pork from last night, placing it on the table.

As she looked up, she noticed that Gu Xiangqian had opened the drawer and was seriously reading a document. At this moment, Su Ye’s heart skipped a beat.

Gu Xiangqian carefully finished reading the divorce application Su Ye had written, and a half-smile appeared on his face.

“You’ve already written the application?”

Su Ye didn’t understand how Gu Xiangqian managed to find it so quickly. After half a day, she felt like her face had swollen several times.

She decisively tore up the report. “Don’t read it, it’s not important. Come eat.”

Su Ye washed the chopsticks with hot water, dried them, and handed them to Gu Xiangqian.

“Eat, the food at the hospital probably wasn’t great, and you’ve lost a lot of weight these past few days.”

Su Ye’s cooking was delicious. She had grown up during times of abundance and had tasted many good dishes, but now, she particularly understood the value of pork. She had worked hard to perfect her cooking skills.

The braised pork was tender, fragrant, and sweet. She had generously used enough meat, and it was stewed to be fatty but not greasy, making it especially appetizing—certainly a flavor the hospital couldn’t provide. Gu Xiangqian ate three large bowls of rice in one go.

After eating and drinking his fill, Su Ye went to prepare lessons.

Gu Xiangqian looked around the small space. Personal items were scattered everywhere, making the place feel uncomfortable, and he couldn’t help but start cleaning up.

After tidying up, Gu Xiangqian went out to join the assembly and report back to his unit.

After a nap, Su Ye took out the meat ration coupons. She used one jin and three liang of tickets to get one jin of pork belly and one jin of pork bones from the canteen.

When Chef Yang saw Su Ye, he smiled and asked, “I heard that Xiangqian came back yesterday?”

The older people in the entire unit treated Gu Xiangqian like family, and he was particularly liked by the middle-aged and elderly. As soon as anything happened, everyone knew about it.

Chef Yang handed Su Ye a meat-filled bun. “Give this to Xiangqian to help him regain his strength. He always comes to the canteen for a bun like this when he returns to the unit.”

But this time, he forgot to come and eat. Chef Yang thought it must be because he was too badly injured.

Thinking this, he picked out some bone pieces without meat and added them to the pork bones before sending them to Su Ye. “Take this and make some soup for him. It’s not easy for him to come back every time in one piece.”

Su Ye repeatedly refused, “No need, this time I just want to make him some meat buns to eat. You should keep the buns for yourself, Chef Yang!”

Each bun cost three liang of meat coupons, and pork was so precious. Su Ye didn’t dare to casually accept something so expensive. She was touched as she carried the bag full of food out of the kitchen.

As she was about to leave the canteen, Su Ye noticed Yao Chunyu.

Yao Chunyu came to the canteen surrounded by a group of people, several of whom were unmarried young women. They ordered two meat dishes.

A young officer passing by saw Yao Chunyu and pulled out some meat coupons with a generous gesture, saying, “Add one more, Chunyu, it’s been a long time. You’re looking more spirited!”

Yao Chunyu smiled modestly and didn’t speak.

Several people who hadn’t tasted meat in months watched with envy as this group of young people, who were well-off and generous, ordered.

Military wives in the canteen discussed, “Is this Yao Chunyu? She’s really pretty. I heard this girl is quite capable. She almost went to study in the Soviet Union.”

“Even if she went, it wouldn’t be that impressive. There are plenty of capable people in our compound—those young, successful officers like Gu Xiangqian, all came back after studying in the Soviet Union.”

Someone disagreed, saying, “That’s men, it’s not the same. Comrade Yao is one of the best among women. I heard she and Comrade Gu used to be… what a pity…”

The gossip grew quieter.

He Meimei, passing by with a tray of food, suddenly joined the conversation. She said seriously, “I don’t agree with that. ^[1]“Women can hold up half the sky” is a well-known expression originating from China. It means that women are just as capable as men in contributing to society and achieving great things. … Continue readingWomen can hold up half the sky, so why can’t it be the same?”

“Not to mention anything else, Comrade Gu’s wife is a provincial-level advanced teacher. What’s so pity about that? Is it that Comrade Gu isn’t as advanced as Teacher Su?”

Su Ye couldn’t help but smile, nodding in agreement, “When women are strong, men don’t matter anymore. Stop being so self-deprecating.”

He Meimei couldn’t help but laugh and followed Su Ye out of the canteen.

After returning home, Su Ye cut half of the pork belly into small pieces and minced it into a meat paste. She marinated it with oil, salt, scallions, ginger, soy sauce, egg white, starch, and spices for an hour.

Then, she took out some wheat flour, kneaded a pound of flour, and let it ferment for a while. She rolled it out into thin sheets using a rolling pin. Following Chef Yang’s recipe, she cooked half of the meat filling and left the other half raw. The cooked and raw meat fillings were mixed together and wrapped inside the dough.

She skillfully pinched the soft dough, forming neat pleats, and placed the buns in the steamer.

In the evening, when Gu Xiangqian returned home, he was greeted by a rich aroma.

Su Ye waved at him and said, “You told me before that you always wanted to eat buns after returning to the unit. Today, you can eat to your heart’s content. Wash your hands and come eat!”

She pulled out ten large meat buns from the steamer, each one bigger than Gu Xiangqian’s fist, round and snowy white, with fresh steam rising from them. It was indeed enough to eat to your heart’s content.

As soon as Gu Xiangqian sat down, a large meat bun was shoved into his hand, hot and fresh.

“No, Su Ye… you eat it. I’ve already eaten.” He turned his gaze away.

Had he eaten outside? Su Ye wasn’t going to indulge Gu Xiangqian in this distant habit.

Food from the canteen could never compare to what was made at home.

“It’s not about yours and mine. I made these especially for you,” Su Ye said with a smile as she pressed the bun into his mouth.

She took a bite herself, and as soon as the thin skin broke, the savory meat filling burst out. The taste was rich and fragrant, fresh and delicious. With the pork belly used in the filling, the buns had a delicious oily flavor, and a bit of sauce oozed out.

She satisfied her hunger by eating two, but then she was full. Although Gu Xiangqian ate slowly, he didn’t eat slowly enough—unconsciously, he had already eaten four buns.

As the saying goes, a full stomach leads to other desires. After finishing her meal, Su Ye wiped her hands clean and reached out for Gu Xiangqian.

The man, just back from outside, was wearing a loose branch green short-sleeved shirt. Beneath it, his firm muscles were clearly visible. That young, beautiful body—every day without using it was a day wasted.

Gu Xiangqian gently moved her hand away, cleared his throat, and said seriously, “Comrade Su Ye, I think we still need to get to know each other better. We shouldn’t rush into things.”

Su Ye felt something was off with this statement. After thinking for a moment, thanks to her good memory, she realized—wasn’t this something she had said to Gu Xiangqian before?