Chapter 12

At the border, in the dense woods, Fu Wen and his comrades carried their guns, lay on the ground, hid in the bushes, and aimed into the distance.

It was quiet except for the chirping of birds and the sound of the wind through the trees.

Lin Haocheng, who was lying on the ground next to Fu Wen, whispered, “Captain, will the other party really come?”

Fu Wen kept looking at the sight, his voice steady and deep: “Our people intercepted the intelligence, the other party will meet here.”

Lin Haocheng sighed: “We have been waiting here all night, but the other party has not shown up yet.”

Fu Wen ignored him, his hawk-like eyes fixed on any movement ahead.

“Captain, you obviously don’t have to come for this mission, why did you volunteer to come? Are you… avoiding your sister-in-law?” Lin Haocheng stared at Fu Wen.

Fu Wen, who had been lying on the grass all night without moving at all, stiffened visibly when he heard Lin Haocheng’s question.

Lin Haocheng and Fu Wen were good comrades and brothers who had been through thick and thin together. He dared to say things that others dared not to say in front of Fu Wen.

“Captain, why do you want to marry my sister-in-law? If you are not interested in her, just divorce her as soon as possible. It will be good for you, Xiaohe and Nuannuan as well. I know you want to find a woman to take care of the two children, but you can’t let yourself down.” Lin Haocheng said in a serious tone.

No one knew why Fu Wen married Yan Xi. Fu Wen was too embarrassed to tell the truth, and Yan Xi didn’t tell anyone.

In everyone’s opinion, Fu Wen and Yan Xi are not a good match at all. Fu Wen is muscular and agile, while Yan Xi is fat, and the two of them look awkward when standing together.

Everyone believed that Fu Wen would marry Yan Xi just to find a woman to take care of Fu Caihe and Nuannuan.

However, even Fu Wen, who had a great record in battle, could make mistakes sometimes. Even those in the army had heard about what Yan Xi had done in the compound.

Everyone felt sorry for Fu Wen. How could such a good man marry such a woman!

“We don’t say that we have to marry a beautiful wife, but at least she has to be a decent person, not cause trouble for us, be able to handle things clearly, and be able to take good care of our family and children when we are away defending our country. If she can’t even do these basic things, then what’s the point of marrying her? Don’t you think so, Captain?” Lin Haocheng said again.

Lin Haocheng could see that Fu Wen’s emotions had not been as stable as before since he married Yan Xi, and he would often seem exhausted because of Yan Xi.

Lin Haocheng couldn’t bear to see his good brother being like this because of Yan Xi, and he didn’t want to see Fu Wen, who originally had a bright future, ruin his future because of Yan Xi.

Fu Wen was silent.

It’s not that he hadn’t thought about divorcing Yan Xi. Every time Yan Xi did something ridiculous in the compound, causing unrest in the compound, he had the urge to divorce Yan Xi.

But every time before he even said the word divorce, Yan Xi would cry and say that he touched her when he was saving her, and if he didn’t want her, no man would want a woman who had been touched by another man.

However, he touched her only as a necessary touch to save her. How could he save her if he didn’t touch her skin?

Fu Wen thought of how Fu Caihe and Nuannuan would shrink back in fear every time they saw Yan Xi, and he knew that Yan Xi might not be nice to them.

He could force himself to live in a miserable marriage, but he couldn’t force his two children to do the same.

Fu Wen was extremely determined this time. He would have a good talk with Yan Xi about the divorce when he returned.

Suddenly, Fu Wen saw a figure through the sight.

His expression suddenly changed, and he said in a deep and fast voice: “They are coming!”

Then, the sound of gunfire and bullets rang out in the woods…

…

Yan Xi took a half-hour nap and then started making spicy noodles to be sold tomorrow.

The 55 kilograms of spicy strips made yesterday were sold out in more than five hours. Yan Xi plans to make more today.

But no matter how much she made, she could only make about 60 kilograms. If she made too much, she might not be able to carry it to the town to sell.

It would be great if I had a bicycle. With a bicycle, it would not be a problem to sell a hundred kilograms a day.

Yan Xi silently added “buy a bicycle” to her to-do list.

When Yan Xi was making spicy noodles in the kitchen, she heard a noise coming from the yard.

“Is Sister Yan at home?”

“Yes, she’s in the kitchen.” It was a warm and soft voice.

Then Yan Xi heard someone calling her and walking towards the kitchen.

“Sister-in-law Yan—Sister-in-law Yan—”

“Hey, I’m here!” Yan Xi responded.

Yuan Jingui came over with a smile: “Are you making spicy noodles?”

“Yes.” Yan Xi said.

“I came at a perfect time! The spicy noodles you gave me this morning were so delicious that I can’t forget the taste. I came to you to buy some for my two sons to try.”

“Sure, I sell it for 90 cents per pound at the market.” Yan Xi said with a smile.

“Okay, give me two kilograms.” Yuan Jingui said readily.

The smile on Yan Xi’s face became more intense. She quickly weighed two kilograms for Yuan Jingui and gave her some extra.

She can also be generous to those who are not petty.

“By the way, Sister Yuan, is there any shortcut to go to town besides taking the bus?” Yan Xi asked.

There were only three buses between the compound and the town. If she sold all the spicy noodles early, she couldn’t wait at the bus stop to get back to the compound. It would be a waste of time. Yan Xi then thought of asking Yuan Jingui if there was a shortcut so that she could walk back by herself and lose some weight.

“There are shortcuts. Sometimes the bus is a long time away, so we just walk back. It takes about the same amount of time to walk back as it does to take the bus.”

Yan Xi’s eyes lit up: “Can you draw the route for me?”

“I’ll try.” Yuan Jingui hesitated and said, “There are too many forks in the road, and they are all small roads. I don’t know if you can understand what I drew.”

Yan Xi brought a pen and paper, and Yuan Jingui drew a simple map for her based on her memory.

Yan Xi confirmed the parts that she didn’t understand several times with Yuan Jingui, and finally she roughly knew which way to go.

“If you’re not in a hurry, I’ll take you there tomorrow morning and you’ll understand it better,” said Yuan Jingui.

“Okay, then I’ll trouble you to lead the way, sister-in-law.”

“What’s the trouble? You’re too polite.” Yuan Jingui smiled and waved her hand.

After Yuan Jingui left, Yan Xi noticed the two children who had been standing at the kitchen door. They stared at the spicy noodles on the table, their mouths watering.

Yan Xi had no choice but to cut a small piece of spicy strips for the two children to satisfy their cravings.

“You can only eat this much. It’s not that I won’t let you eat it, but this thing tastes too strong. It’s not good for adults to eat too much, let alone growing kids like you.”