Chapter 20.1

The sun had set behind the mountains.  

The orange-red evening glow was stunning, casting a warm light over the rolling sea of clouds, and the entire sky transformed into a soft warmth.

In the past, Tian Mi thought that the deliberately slow and stagnant shots of the male and female leads locking eyes in TV dramas were an exaggerated technique.  

But when a man in a straight-backed military uniform walked through the crowd, stepping on the delicate rays of sunset, and approached her step by step, she truly felt that at that moment, apart from him, the whole world lost its color.  

“Tian Mi, comrade?”  

The deep voice brought Tian Mi back from her daze. She looked up at the man who stood right in front of her, only a step away, and stammered, “Lou Luhui, comrade?”  

“It’s me!” What had once been a stunning glimpse now had a connection, and even Lou Luhui felt that the fate was wonderfully indescribable.  

“What a coincidence! How come you’re here?” It was quite awkward—an unprecedented awkwardness. Tian Mi had never expected to suddenly see the “male bodhisattva.”  

“It’s not a coincidence; I’m here to pick you up.”  

“Pick me up?” Tian Mi was astonished.  

Only upon seeing him in person did she realize that Lou Luhui in the photo didn’t exhibit half of his charm.  

He was taller than she had guessed, dressed in a well-fitting military uniform, and he wasn’t wearing a military cap. His exposed facial features were perfect and flawless, with his extremely short buzz cut making his sharp eyebrows and eyes seem even more imposing. Below his proud nose was a thin, chiseled lip that looked particularly cold and aloof when he wasn’t smiling.  

He was a man of great presence and a sense of pressure.  

Lou Luhui nodded. “Yes, I came to pick you up. Sorry, Comrade Tian, I was delayed by a task.”  

“No need to apologize,” Tian Mi said, pressing her red lips together, lowering her long lashes to avoid his dark and deep gaze.  

So… was she being pursued? Was it the blatant kind? Who said that men in this era were conservative?  

Right, she had just slept on the train for an entire afternoon. Did her face have any imprints?  

And it seemed she hadn’t washed her face; would she look a bit disheveled?  

Suddenly feeling quite self-conscious, Tian Mi raised her hand to smooth her hair, trying to make herself look a bit more refined.  

But unexpectedly, a strong gust of wind blew, causing her thick long hair to tousle and stick all over her face.  

Great, very refined!  

Who said that? Long flowing hair doesn’t necessarily belong to a Xiaolongnü^[1]Fictional female protagonist of the wuxia novel The Return of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong. In the novel, her physical appearances is described as follows: “skin as white as snow, beautiful … Continue reading; it could also belong to a Mei Chaofeng^[2]A character in the wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong.Known as the Iron Corpse (鐵屍) due to her dark complexion and rigid appearance.!  

Lou Luhui didn’t pick up on the girl’s embarrassment; he took a step forward and quietly asked, “Do you want to get on the train first? It’s cold outside.”  

“…Okay.”  

“Where is your seat?” Back on the train, the other few people in the carriage had returned.  

Tian Mi felt it was awkward to bring someone in, so she stood at the door to ask.  

The train had heating, and Lou Luhui held his military coat in one hand while carrying a suitcase in the other, raising his chin as he said, “Next to you.”  

Tian Mi instinctively followed his gaze and saw several people in the next carriage peering over.  

She paused for a moment, seemingly remembering something, and suddenly turned back.  

Sure enough, the three people in her carriage who were pretending to be busy were also sneaking glances at her and Lou Luhui.  

When they saw Tian Mi look over, a few of them displayed awkward smiles. Among them, the middle-aged woman sleeping in the upper bunk of Tian Mi’s seat joked, “Oh, what are you doing standing at the door? Come in quickly, Xiao Tian. Is this your partner? He’s really handsome! You two look great together; just standing here makes people feel good!”  

“…” Tian Mi didn’t know how to respond to this.  

According to her nature, there was no need to explain her personal matters to others.

But the people at this time were exceptionally warm and genuine, with no boundaries between individuals.

For instance, the woman who just spoke, claiming to be Li Aijuan, was the women’s director of a certain commune and had even received an award for her individual excellence. On the first day of the journey, she rambled on, sharing all her personal information, including the bizarre secret about how her little yellow dog had gotten pregnant by the neighbor’s dog, whom she despised.

Lou Luhui noticed Tian Mi’s embarrassment and proactively said, “Not a partner; I’m her Gege^[3]Older brother. Term used to refer to an older male. Not limited to a biological relationship.  I’m here to pick her up.”

“Gege? Really? You don’t look like it at all. Could you be a romantic Gege?” The woman grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds and started cracking them, her gaze bouncing back and forth between the two. By the end, she amused herself and burst into laughter.

She didn’t mean any harm; she simply loved being in the spotlight, gossiping, and making some adult jokes.

Tian Mi plopped down on the bunk, picked up the book on the bedside, and decided to continue exercising the virtue of silence.

Lou Luhui glanced at the little girl, a hint of amusement flickering in his eyes. He wasn’t the type to discuss personal matters with strangers either, so he merely nodded at the woman.

Then, he shifted his gaze to another middle-aged man.

The man looked to be in his forties or fifties, wearing a brand new but ill-fitting Zhongshan suit. His shiny bald head had only a few stubborn strands of sparse hair remaining around the edges.

He occupied the lower bunk, directly opposite Tian Mi’s. Others might not have noticed, but having seen too much filth, Lou Luhui noticed that the man’s gaze had wandered over to the little girl twice within just a short span.

It was the kind of look a man gives when he’s interested in a woman—subtle enough to indicate he lacked the courage to act on it.

But it was also enough to be loathsome.

Lou Luhui had originally planned to just glance at the girl’s cabin environment and then leave, allowing Tian Mi ample space while he kept an eye out next door.

After all, he had come to pick her up out of genuine intent; it was something he wanted to do from his heart, and he didn’t wish to put any pressure on the girl or demand any promises or gratitude in return.

But at that moment, he changed his mind!  

Lou Luhui took a long stride, placing himself in front of the middle-aged man.

He was tall, and as he entered, he even tilted his head handsomely to avoid bumping into anything.

Once he stood in the cabin, the already cramped space felt even tighter.

“Is something wrong, comrade?” The middle-aged man was flustered.

Lou Luhui kept his eyes lowered, scrutinizing the man without rushing to speak, letting his eyelids slowly frost over with coldness.

It wasn’t until everyone in the cabin felt uncomfortable that he finally spoke, his voice light yet unexpectedly chilling: “Comrade, my seat is in the next carriage. Would it be convenient for you to change seats?”

The middle-aged man wanted to respond defiantly that it was inconvenient, but when his gaze met the soldier’s knowing and fierce eyes, he ultimately didn’t have the courage to say anything in rebuttal. He nodded and awkwardly got off his bunk, saying, “Sure, very convenient! Here to serve the people!”

As he spoke, the man wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and hurriedly got down from his bunk.

At that moment, he didn’t care about his normally well-kept hairstyle; he scrambled to gather his belongings, not even zipping his bag, and rushed out as if escaping.

“Pah! He should’ve left a long time ago, full of lewd thoughts. If you ask me, someone with such filthy eyes should be dragged out and dealt with!” Although Li Aijuan didn’t know many big words, her forty to fifty years of life experience told her she had seen all kinds of things.

After saying this, she cheerfully looked at the soldier bending over to make the bed and praised, “Well done, young man! Power comes from the barrel of a gun. Against such people, we need to be ruthless; see, now he’s scared!”

Saying this, she turned and grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds from her bundle, insisting on giving them to Lou Luhui as encouragement.

Tian Mi, sitting by the bunk, picked up her book to hide her amused expression.

Oh my, a cool guy over 1.9 meters tall, sitting with his legs crossed and munching sunflower seeds with his aunt—it was simply too beautiful! She could picture it vividly.  

Lou Luhui stood tall, the little girl’s naive attempts to conceal her feelings were all clearly seen by him.

Seeing her relax, a smile appeared in his eyes. He didn’t refuse Li Aijuan’s enthusiasm, thanked her, and reached out to take the sunflower seeds, placing them in his pocket.

Upon seeing this, Li Aijuan’s smile widened even more. “Oh? You two really are siblings?”

Lou Luhui smoothed out the bedding before sitting down. Hearing her, he instinctively glanced at the girl still holding the book to her face, pretending to study seriously, and casually asked, “Do we not look like siblings?”

Li Aijuan didn’t notice that this was a meaningless exchange, shaking her head in denial. “Not at all! Not even a bit.”

Lou Luhui curled his lips but didn’t say anything further.

Clearly, Li Aijuan didn’t need him to speak, as she continued talking to herself: “If you two really were siblings, one would look like the father and the other like the mother, but you both are good-looking! By the way, young man, are you dating anyone? If not, how about I introduce you to some nice girls? I know some good ones.”

Cough, cough. Tian Mi was drinking water when she heard this familiar line and nearly choked.

Lou Luhui immediately stood up and walked over, bending down to take the cup from the little girl’s hand. His empty hand moved slightly, but in the end, he didn’t help her pat her back. He only asked worriedly when she stopped coughing, “How are you? Do you need some water to help?”

Tian Mi’s fair little face turned red, partly from coughing and partly from embarrassment.

Yes, it was pure embarrassment.

Ever since she met this man, she felt like she had been acting foolishly.

She reached for the cup, took a sip to ease the dryness in her throat, and hoarsely said, “Thank you!”

After thanking him, Tian Mi didn’t look at Lou Luhui again but instead turned to Li Aijuan, smiling faintly, “Auntie, um… we’re dating.” So please don’t enthusiastically introduce me to anyone else; God knows she had already been forced to hear about dozens of good young men during this four-day journey.

The sudden surprise caused Lou Luhui’s pupils to constrict, and the hand resting beside him instinctively clenched tighter. His fiery gaze was fixed on her.

Li Aijuan was stunned for a moment before suddenly slapping her thigh. “I knew it! You two must be a couple, just started dating, right?”

The man’s gaze seemed to solidify, and Tian Mi shifted uncomfortably, replying softly, “…Yeah.”

“Hey, I knew it! You’re such a lovey-dovey couple; the way you look at each other could almost create threads between you! It’s obvious there’s something going on.” As she spoke, Li Aijuan wore a knowing expression and teased them.

Boom!  

Tian Mi felt like her whole face was on fire. She instinctively looked up, wanting to explain that she had merely helped him out and also saved her ears.

But unexpectedly, she collided with Lou Luhui’s unwavering gaze.

Then, after a few seconds of pause, both of them turned their heads away, blushing furiously.

Tian Mi internally screamed, when did they get so close?  

Auntie, please be quiet!

—

In the 836th Unit.

The weather was cold, but the young people were eager to move around. Since there was little to do in the regiment, many soldiers gathered on the playground to kick a soccer ball.

Surprisingly, in this winter chill of minus twenty degrees Celsius, being active didn’t feel as cold.

Zhou Jianshe was one of those attracted by the lively shouts. After sweating for half an hour on the field, he was pushed off by others waiting for their turn to play.

In the frigid weather, his forehead was covered in sweat under his cap. He didn’t mind much; he simply took off the hat, rubbed it a few times, and let it be.

“Hey? I heard Lao Lou went to pick up Chen Gang’s sister-in-law?”

Hearing this, Zhou Jianshe turned around and, upon seeing who it was, finally understood the probing nature of the previous remarks.

The deputy commander of the Second Regiment, Qian Sheng, was a rural soldier with some small skills, who preferred to find shortcuts. After marrying the daughter of the old commander, he didn’t receive much support and turned his sights on Lao Lou, eager to introduce his sister to him.

Although Zhou Jianshe was from Beijing, where wealth disparities existed everywhere, his family’s conditions were only average. He had never entertained any ulterior motives, which led him to look down on someone like Qian Sheng a bit.

Just as he was about to say a few complimentary words about the sister from Tian Saozi’s family to extinguish Qian Sheng’s little scheme, several more voices came from beside him.

“Lao Lou has gone to pick someone up. Hey, who would have thought the iron tree would blossom? Look at this enthusiasm.”

“Yeah, I thought someone like Lao Lou would be a lifelong bachelor.”

“If I had known Lao Lou liked plump, lucky girls, I would have introduced him long ago.” Someone lamented missing out on a potential match.

“What do you mean?” Someone clueless chimed in.

As soon as this was said, those in the know began to explain: “The girl Lao Lou has his eye on is the sister-in-law of Political Commissar Chen Zheng from the Third Regiment. It’s said she looks a lot like Tian Saozi. Originally, Tian Saozi wanted to find a soldier for her sister, but Lao Lou took a shine to her after seeing her photo.”

A group of officers surrounded each other; out of a dozen or so, only a handful were married, and most were still single.

After hearing this, some had no reaction, as Tian Saozi was not ugly; a few years ago, she was even slim and considered pretty. The key was that she had a good temperament, always cheerful, and had been willing to accompany Chen Gang in this harsh environment for eight years, making her a true model of a good wife and military spouse.

Of course, with all kinds of people, some thought Tian Saozi was suitable as a wife, while others wanted to find a beautiful girl.

These few men let out a huge sigh of relief.

After all, if it weren’t for Lao Luhui’s unique taste and initiative, they might have been the unlucky ones chosen by Tian Saozi.

At that time, out of consideration for Chen Gang’s position, they wouldn’t have been able to refuse outright.

Zhou Jianshe initially wanted to explain a couple of things.

But seeing a group of big fools looking relieved and grateful, he felt a surge of annoyance inside.

So what if she really looked like Tian Saozi? Different people have different preferences; if you don’t like someone, then just don’t like them. Who are they showing such disdain to?

Then Zhou Jianshe began to feel a sense of schadenfreude.

Heh, now they’re grateful to Lao Lou, huh?

When Tian Mi arrives, let’s see if these fools will regret it so much that their insides turn green.