“Regiment Commander?”  

The train policemen exchanged glances, their faces filled with astonishment.  

After all, Shen Huaichuan looked no older than twenty-five or twenty-six.  

How could someone so young already be a regiment commander?  

“Absolutely, no doubt about it!”  

Qin Shi, the orderly soldier, thumped his chest proudly.  

“Our regiment commander has earned several first-class merits! And this mission was completed flawlessly—another second-class merit is practically guaranteed…”  

“Stone!”  

Shen Huaichuan kicked Qin Shi lightly, his dark eyes frosty.  

Qin Shi shrank his neck and scratched his head sheepishly.  

Shen Huaichuan turned and saluted the train policemen sharply, then nudged the thief, who was tied up like a dumpling on the ground, with the tip of his boot.  

“Comrades, this is the last of the thieves. We’ll leave them in your hands. We have another mission, so we’ll take our leave.”  

His tone was polite, but his voice carried an icy edge.  

Without waiting for a response, he grabbed the backpack slung over the chair and strode off, as if the entire incident had nothing to do with him.  

The train policemen were in awe of this skilled soldier and wanted to talk to him more, but they hesitated, only managing to stammer out repeated “thank yous.”  

Then Shen Huaichuan suddenly remembered the handkerchief in his hand. Frowning in distaste, he held it out.  

“Oh, right. This lost item—please make sure to return it to its owner.”  

The chief train policeman took the handkerchief and thought for a moment.  

“I believe this belongs to the female comrade in Seat 156C, Carriage 3. She didn’t leave a phone number or address—probably thought she wouldn’t get her things back and gave up.”  

Shen Huaichuan glanced at the “💩” peeking out from the handkerchief, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly. Just as he was about to speak, an eager voice suddenly cut in—  

Young train policeman Lei Ming squeezed forward, clutching a slip of paper, his eyes shining.  

“I just passed Carriage 3 and saw a torn sleeve and this note under Seat 156C. It must belong to that female comrade! There’s an address and phone number here—it’s the military family quarters in Haizi Bay, G City! That’s near where my uncle lives! Hand it over to me—I’ll contact her. Maybe I can reach her!”  

The other team members rarely saw Lei Ming so enthusiastic and teased him.  

“Wow, Young Master Lei, when did you become so helpful? Could it be you’ve taken a liking to that female comrade? When she was arguing in the carriage earlier, your eyes were practically glued to her…”  

“Heh…”  

Lei Ming scratched his head but didn’t deny it.  

He had seen everything when that girl was arguing with the older woman. She was quick-witted and sharp-tongued, lively as a lark, and he had been instantly captivated.  

At twenty-two years old, this was the first time he had ever felt his heart flutter. Maybe this was what they called love at first sight?  

Amidst the playful laughter of his colleagues, Lei Ming, blushing, was about to tuck the note into his pocket when suddenly—it was snatched from his fingers.  

By none other than the regiment commander who had been in such a hurry to leave earlier.  

Lei Ming’s expression darkened instantly. “Comrade Shen, what’s the meaning of this?”  

Qin Shi stared at the note, confused. “Commander, isn’t this your handwriting?”  

Shen Huaichuan didn’t answer. His face was stern, his fingers gripping the note so tightly his knuckles turned white. He looked at Lei Ming coldly.  

“My apologies, comrade. I’ll return this myself.”  

His gaze was sharp, like a blade tempered in fire. Lei Ming instinctively took half a step back, a little intimidated.  

But the thought of the girl who had captured his heart at first sight steeled his resolve.  

“With all due respect, Regiment Commander Shen, this is our duty as train policemen. How can we hand it over to you? There are rules—unless it’s someone particularly close to you, otherwise…”  

Before he could finish, Shen Huaichuan had already tucked the note into his chest pocket and replied coolly:  

“She’s my wife. Does that count as close enough?”

……  

At the next stop, Shen Huaichuan got off the train.  

Normally, after completing a mission—even with backup—he would escort the targets back to the military district himself.  

But this time was different. He disembarked early, leaving the handover to Qin Shi.  

Qin Shi listened carefully to his instructions.  

Watching Shen Huaichuan stride briskly into the twilight, his figure soon disappearing, he couldn’t help muttering to himself:  

“The commander has a wife? Who? Since when? How come I didn’t know?”  

“Achoo!”

Zhou Qiqi, who was being talked about, sneezed violently. Staring at the dark road ahead, she wrinkled her nose in frustration.  

She was so unlucky!  

She had actually lost the note with the address and phone number!  

After some thought, she realized it must have fallen out during her argument with that woman earlier.  

She was in unfamiliar territory, and her original plan had been to find a payphone after getting off the train and call the military unit to send someone to pick her up.  

Now? That plan was completely ruined.

Luckily, she had glanced at the note twice and roughly remembered the address.

She asked for directions at the bus stop and took a bus toward the outskirts of the city. Then, she flagged down an ox cart on the road to hitch a ride part of the way.  

But when it came to the last stretch, her memory got fuzzy. She wandered around in circles until nightfall.  

The old man driving the ox cart had already gone home.  

Left with no choice, she had to walk the rest of the way on foot.  

She trudged for nearly two hours, her feet completely numb.  

Just when she was about to lose hope, a large cluster of houses finally appeared ahead. At the entrance stood a massive red five-pointed star with the words “August 1st” emblazoned on it.  

This was the place!

Zhou Qiqi immediately perked up and rushed over, handing Shen Huaichuan’s military ID to the sentry at the gate.  

The sentry made a phone call and informed her that Regiment Commander Shen wasn’t here, but they would call someone from the military family quarters to come fetch her first.  

“That’s great, thank you!”

Finally seeing a glimmer of hope, Zhou Qiqi happily sat down in the guardhouse to wait.  

Before long, she heard hurried footsteps and a loud, boisterous female voice.  

“She’s really here? Wonderful! Regiment Commander Shen said he was filing a marriage report—I didn’t expect his wife to arrive so soon!”

“It’s fine if the commander isn’t here—I know his wife well! I’ll take her to stay at my place first!”

At first, Zhou Qiqi was delighted by the warm welcome.  

But as she listened, her expression gradually darkened.  

“You rotten brat—it’s YOU?!”

The wooden door creaked open, and the moment their eyes met, sparks flew.  

Talk about enemies crossing paths!

That’s right—the person who came to “welcome” her was none other than the nasty woman from the train.  

The woman planted her hands on her hips, her eyes practically spitting fire.  

She could never forget what happened on the train—Zhou Qiqi had turned her into the laughingstock of the entire carriage with just a few words, and the train police had even searched her luggage for ages!

She looked Zhou Qiqi up and down with undisguised disdain, curling her lip.  

“She claims she’s Regiment Commander Shen Huaichuan’s wife? Impossible!” 

She knew Shen Huaichuan’s fiancée—her name was Lin Yao, a distant niece of her husband’s.  

The two had been betrothed since childhood.  

The Lin family was a prestigious medical family, and Lin Yao had studied medicine. Their wedding had been delayed because of her schooling.  

This year, Lin Yao’s internship at the provincial military hospital was about to end, and both families were eager for them to marry.  

Earlier this year, Lin Yao’s mother had called her, asking her to help push the marriage forward. She had worked hard on it, whispering plenty of “pillow talk” to her husband.  

She had finally managed to persuade Shen Huaichuan to go get the marriage certificate with Lin Yao—so how could this imposter show up now, claiming to be his wife?!  

Lin Yao was a college-educated city girl—tall, wearing a plaid skirt and a bow, the picture of elegance.  

How could this short, frumpy country bumpkin compare?!

Absolutely ridiculous!

Feeling smug, the woman raised her voice. “Comrade guard, don’t believe her! She’s probably a fraud!” 

She then launched into a heavily embellished retelling of what happened on the train.  

In her version, she was the good Samaritan, while Zhou Qiqi—unhappy about losing her belongings—had taken her anger out on her, acting like a shameless shrew.  

After another scornful glance at Zhou Qiqi, she declared with absolute certainty, “There’s no way she’s Regiment Commander Shen’s wife!”  

The guard was baffled. “But… she has Commander Shen’s military ID.”

That threw the woman off for a second, but she quickly recovered. “I’ve got it! Not only is she a fraud—she’s also a thief! That ID must’ve been stolen too!”

Now everything made sense. The woman had convinced herself, adamantly insisting that Zhou Qiqi was a thieving liar who had come to the military base with ulterior motives.  

The guard was torn. The woman sounded so sure, but Zhou Qiq didn’t seem like a bad person. He could only press her further.  

“Comrade, do you have a marriage certificate? Or is there anyone else who can vouch for you?”

This was a military zone. If she couldn’t provide either, they’d have no choice but to detain her for questioning.  

A marriage certificate?  

Zhou Qiqi really didn’t have one.  

And aside from the two of them, no one in the entire military district knew about her marriage to Shen Huaichuan.  

She wanted to explain but didn’t know how. All she could do was shake her head.  

This was exactly what the woman had been waiting for. She immediately started clamoring for the security office to lock Zhou Qiqi in a dark room for interrogation.  

“Who knows—she might even be a spy!”

Zhou Qiqi curled up pitifully on the guardhouse bench, her lashes fluttering as she fought back tears.  

After walking for two hours, she was starving, thirsty, and exhausted, with no energy left to argue.  

Then, footsteps approached again, and a tall shadow loomed over her.  

Assuming it was someone coming to arrest her, she pouted and muttered weakly:  

“I’m really not lying… I am Shen Huaichuan’s wife! Shen Huaichuan is my husband!”

“You—”

Hearing that voice, Zhou Qiqi suddenly looked up.  

A strikingly handsome man stood over her, his chiseled features sharp and imposing.  

Backlit by the light, his broad shoulders cut a razor-sharp silhouette, as if slicing through the noise around them. The world seemed to shrink until it held only the two of them.  

A cold glint flickered in his eyes—along with something else, something deeper and harder to define.  

It was him.

Zhou Qiqi’s heart pounded wildly out of control.