Chapter 188: Gifts

Opportunities are for those who are prepared. Like Gu Zhenhua, he was always prepared. Not only did he excel in everything in the army, but he also worked exceptionally hard at home.

He made Lin Xiangnan feel ashamed of herself.

It was almost time for lights out, but Gu Zhenhua was still at his desk, writing diligently. Lin Xiangnan yawned repeatedly.

“Are you having trouble with something? Do you want me to take a look? We can go to sleep after that.”

Lin Xiangnan wasn’t boasting. She truly had the ability, and she often helped Gu Zhenhua with his studies.

“It’s not a professional problem. It’s our self-criticism reports.” Gu Zhenhua replied.

“Didn’t you write your self-criticism report yesterday?” Lin Xiangnan asked curiously, “Do you need to write a lot?”

The incident with Captain Wang had caused a big stir. He was criticized and demoted, and others were also affected.

Everyone had to self-reflect and make amends.

Gu Zhenhua said with a grievance, “Those roughnecks copied too much. I can only rewrite one today.”

Most of the people in their unit joined the army at the age of fifteen or sixteen, their education levels were generally low, and they were all roughnecks.

They had no problem with military exercises or competitions, but when it came to writing reports, they all froze.

They didn’t dare to copy from Political Commissar Xu or the battalion commander, so they only targeted Gu Zhenhua.

Each person copied one or two paragraphs, and they pieced together a report. While copying, they didn’t hesitate to curse at old Wang.

After seeing the results of everyone’s copying, Gu Zhenhua cursed at them and went home to rewrite.

Gu Zhenhua’s previous report had already been self-critical enough. Lin Xiangnan was curious how he would write this report.

“Are you done writing? Let me see it when you’re finished.”

“Just in time, you can help me take a look and see if there’s anything I haven’t done well.”

Gu Zhenhua wasn’t perfunctory about this matter. He looked at Lin Xiangnan eagerly, wanting to hear about his shortcomings so he could correct them.

To be honest, even Lin Xiangnan, who was picky, thought Gu Zhenhua had done a great job.

But Gu Zhenhua still found many points to criticize himself in the report. He felt that he had made too little progress in this marriage.

“How come you’re talking about self-improvement when you’re examining your personal conduct?” Lin Xiangnan was puzzled, “Didn’t you discuss your interactions with other female comrades in the previous version? How did you make such a big leap?”

“Everyone could copy the previous version. They can’t copy this one.” Gu Zhenhua said proudly, “Whose progress can be as great as yours?”

He said it lightly, but Gu Zhenhua was quite anxious.

This report actually expressed his true feelings.

Lin Xiangnan was too smart and progressed too fast. He was genuinely afraid that he wouldn’t be able to catch up.

Gu Zhenhua said softly, “One of the main reasons why Luo Caixia got a divorce was because she learned a lot after coming to the city and progressed very quickly. But Captain Wang couldn’t keep up.”

Speaking of this, Lin Xiangnan became excited and said with disdain, “He didn’t just fail to keep up. Luo Caixia’s thinking has already become modernized, while Captain Wang’s mind is still filled with old-fashioned ideas, like he hasn’t been liberated yet.”

“You’re right.”

Lin Xiangnan couldn’t help but praise him, “I didn’t expect you to think this way. Everyone else says that Captain Wang was bewitched by a vixen outside and insisted on getting a divorce, and they feel sorry for Luo Caixia. But the truth is, Luo Caixia was the one who wanted the divorce.”

In retrospect, it was indeed because Captain Wang couldn’t keep up with Luo Caixia’s progress that led to their eventual separation.

Moving forward was the right thing to do. The mistake was Captain Wang, who was stuck in his ways.

Thinking about her punctured bicycle, Lin Xiangnan was filled with resentment.

Although she had eventually gotten revenge, it was still annoying to be involved in trouble for no reason. As a result, Captain Wang didn’t discipline his son much, and he just tried to smooth things over.

“Also, his son, Wang Hu, is also a result of Captain Wang’s spoiling. If the child was more considerate, Luo Caixia wouldn’t be so disappointed and insist on getting a divorce. He doesn’t even look at himself and still teaches his child wrong things.”

Gu Zhenhua said seriously, “Then I’ll write that down. As a father, you should set a good example for your child.”

Seeing his serious face, Lin Xiangnan couldn’t help but feel happy. She held his face and said, “You don’t need to. You’ve already done a great job. How can Captain Wang compare to you?”

“I need to, I need to. There are still many things I haven’t done well.” Gu Zhenhua said, “This time I’m going to self-reflect and self-criticize, and I’m going to learn from those older brothers.”

Not only did they report on paper, but they also gathered together in private to talk about it.

No matter how their lives were at home, they would definitely write grandiloquently in their reports. Even in private conversations, they all portrayed themselves as good men.

When you’re out and about, your identity is what you make it.

As long as you don’t do like Captain Wang and expose your family’s dirty laundry everywhere, outsiders won’t find out.

Gu Zhenhua was stunned by these older brothers.

The standard of a good man was raised infinitely.

According to that standard, Gu Zhenhua found a bunch of flaws in himself.

When he got home, Lin Xiangnan received a bouquet of wildflowers.

“I picked them on the way back. For you.”

Lin Xiangnan was surprised when she received the flowers. Gu Zhenhua was a good husband who stayed at home, but he wasn’t usually so romantic.

“These flowers are beautiful.”

“Then I’ll pick some for you next time I come back.” Gu Zhenhua said happily.

After a few days, he ran out of wildflowers to pick, so he gave Lin Xiangnan a shiny little hair clip.

The hair clip was a trendy style, but Lin Xiangnan’s drawer was never short of these little accessories.

Gu Zhenhua used to only turn over all his money to Lin Xiangnan. He let her buy whatever she wanted and rarely gave her these little trinkets. Because his way of buying things wasn’t as wild as Lin Xiangnan’s, and the things he bought weren’t as good as hers.

Now Lin Xiangnan was suspicious. Holding the hair clip, she pressed him, “Come clean. Have you been doing something wrong lately?”

“I haven’t done anything wrong?” Gu Zhenhua looked confused.

Lin Xiangnan looked at him suspiciously, squinting her eyes.

Although she didn’t know what Gu Zhenhua had done wrong, she put on this posture, and Gu Zhenhua would definitely not be able to resist and would confess.

“You don’t like the hair clip?”

“I like it. But why are you suddenly giving me this?”

Gu Zhenhua answered honestly, “The battalion commander said that on special days, you should give gifts.”

“Are there any special days these days?” Lin Xiangnan racked her brains.

“Tomorrow is the July 1st Party Anniversary.”

“Ah?”

“I hope our revolutionary friendship will last forever.” Gu Zhenhua declared seriously. Lin Xiangnan was progressing rapidly, and he wanted to catch up. It would take time, but he could use these little details to impress Lin Xiangnan, make her stay for him, and buy time for his progress.