Chapter 42.1

In the depths of winter, though everyone was bundled up tightly, the distinct figures and heights of men and women still stood out, making it easy to tell that Qin Qingman and Huang Wanqing were girls at a glance.

Kaoshan Village was not far from the division headquarters, and they had taken a car to get there. Qin Qingman and Huang Wanqing only wore scarves, leaving their heads bare, allowing everyone to admire their beautiful faces.

A female medical assistant, who had secretly admired Wei Ling for a year, nudged the person beside her and asked in a low voice, “Which one is it?”

The girl who was nudged replied with a blank expression, “It doesn’t matter which one it is. We can’t compare to them, and there’s no point in trying!”

Both fell silent.

The other girls nearby who had overheard the conversation also fell into silence.

Indeed, whether it was Qin Qingman or Huang Wanqing, both had gentle and elegant looks, exuding a refined scholarly air that set them apart from the girls in the military camp. They clearly weren’t Wei Ling’s type to begin with.

With this conclusion, the girls who had come with a twinge of jealousy felt a sense of peace.

This was the explanation they found easiest to accept.

Wei Ling and Qin Qingman had no idea what was on the minds of the onlookers. When they arrived at the Colonel’s office, Wei Ling first put down the child, Chuchu, whom he was holding, straightened his clothes, and then knocked on the door.

Wang Chengping, who had been waiting in the office for half the day, grudgingly allowed Wei Ling to enter.

Wei Ling and his companions had made quite a show of their arrival, and Wang Chengping had been watching them from the office window, observing the little parade with a pounding headache as he contemplated how best to handle the situation.

“Colonel.”

As soon as Wei Ling entered the office, he saluted Wang Chengping.

Wang Chengping, though exasperated, returned the salute and then, with a stern expression, walked out of the office and shouted to the crowd who were pretending to pass by, “All battalions, prepare for training. Begin in five minutes.”

The onlookers scattered like birds and beasts.

Inside, they all wailed silently.

All they wanted was to watch some drama, but the Colonel was ruthless, ordering additional training in such cold weather. How could they survive this!

But no matter their inner grievances, military orders had to be obeyed.

Colonels, lieutenant colonels, and battalion commissars from each unit scrambled to assemble their people for additional training. Within five minutes, Wei Ling and the others, still shut in the office, could already hear the loud voices of the soldiers training outside.

Qin Qingman felt admiration and respect.

“Colonel, this is Comrade Qin Qingman, my wife, and this is Comrade Huang Wanqing.” Wei Ling formally introduced the two women to Wang Chengping. Last night, he had already met with Wang Chengping to explain Huang Wanqing’s unexpected situation, and now it was time to resolve things.

“Greetings, Comrades.”

Wang Chengping, working to maintain a calm demeanor, treated both Qin Qingman and Huang Wanqing with equal respect.

He felt a twinge of guilt toward the two young women. Whether it was Qin Qingman or Huang Wanqing, he knew they were innocent in all this. But with the situation already set in stone, Wang Chengping felt like an old father making amends on behalf of his son (Wei Ling). He especially felt bad for Huang Wanqing; at least Qin Qingman was married to Wei Ling, so she hadn’t lost anything.

“Good day, Sir.”

Qin Qingman and Huang Wanqing replied to Wang Chengping in unison.

“Comrades, please, sit, let’s sit down and talk.” Wang Chengping invited them, doing his best to treat both Qin Qingman and Huang Wanqing equally as he directed them to a sofa nearby.

As Wei Ling stood stiffly nearby, Wang Chengping couldn’t resist giving him a light kick.

This little kick, however, did not go unnoticed by the smallest in the group, Chuchu.

At only five years old, Chuchu, with his stunted growth from poor nutrition, was about the size of a three-year-old. Standing beside the others, he was almost invisible, and Wang Chengping, who was entirely focused on Qin Qingman and Huang Wanqing, hadn’t noticed him at first.

“Uncle, why did you kick my Brother-in-law?” Chuchu, who felt bold when standing by Qin Qingman and Wei Ling, couldn’t help but question Wang Chengping, feeling sorry for the kicked Wei Ling.

Wang Chengping finally looked down, noticing Chuchu. The little boy, small and short, reminded him of his own grandson, though he was startled to see such a tiny child boldly questioning him with a defiant expression.

Chuchu’s sudden comment lightened the strange tension in the room.

Wang Chengping crouched down to be at eye level with Chuchu and replied, with a stern but sincere expression, “Your Brother-in-law made a mistake, so he deserved a little kick.” It was also a subtle way to defend Wei Ling.

“Oh.” Chuchu nodded, half-understanding.

Though he didn’t quite know what mistake Wei Ling had made.

With Chuchu’s interruption, Wang Chengping found himself more at ease as he looked toward Huang Wanqing. He began by expressing his concern over the danger she had encountered at the train station, and then introduced her in a serious tone, “Comrade Huang Wanqing, this is Wei Ling, your intended match.”

Wang Chengping had thought things through and decided there was no need to hide the truth; honesty was the best approach to resolve the issue.

Huang Wanqing, who had felt comforted and secure with Qin Qingman by her side, was suddenly taken aback by Wang Chengping’s words. Her face went pale, and she looked at Wei Ling in terror, waving her hands and repeatedly denying, “No, no, no! He’s not my match! I don’t have a match!”

Her words left both Wang Chengping and Wei Ling stunned.

Wei Ling’s gaze shifted to Qin Qingman’s face.

Understanding that it was her turn to clarify things, Qin Qingman stepped forward and recounted the situation from beginning to end. Once she finished, both Wei Ling and Wang Chengping were silent.

“I’ll make the call.”

After a long moment, Wang Chengping finally came back to himself, looking very serious.

“Sir, Comrade Huang Wanqing is innocent; she was only deceived.” Qin Qingman interjected, firmly standing by Huang Wanqing.

“I know. Don’t worry, I’ll explain everything truthfully.”

Wang Chengping picked up the office phone and dialed, feeling a sense of relief as he did so. Discovering that Huang Wanqing was not the intended match for Wei Ling was the best outcome for both Wei Ling and Qin Qingman.

The call went through several channels before finally reaching Wei Ling’s father.

As soon as he heard the voice of his old comrade, Wang Chengping relayed everything in a straightforward manner: how Huang Wanqing’s cousin had secretly swapped her assignment to a rural area, deceiving Huang Wanqing into coming to Baicheng under the false pretense of a match. He even mentioned the incident where Huang Wanqing encountered danger at the Baicheng train station.

Wei Yongyi was stunned by Wang Chengping’s report, finding it almost impossible to believe.

He couldn’t imagine that the daughter of his well-behaved, obedient comrade could have done such a thing.

“Lao Wei, the facts are in front of us. Whether you want to believe it or not, you have to face the truth.” Wang Chengping added, unable to resist poking fun at his old friend. “Tsk tsk, old comrade, it seems your judgment isn’t what it used to be.”

He was still upset with his friend for agreeing to have Wei Ling transferred to a remote border area.

This place was freezing and isolated, a far cry from the opportunities and resources available in the capital.

Hearing Wang Chengping’s words, Wei Yongyi understood that his friend was voicing his frustration on Wei Ling’s behalf.

But he truly had his own difficulties that he couldn’t express.

Back then, Wei Ling had requested the transfer to the border of his own accord, which had nothing to do with Wei Yongyi. By the time he found out, it was already a done deal. The brat had even boarded the train with his belongings before Wei Yongyi received so much as a letter. If not for the note left behind, he might have thought Wei Ling had run away from home.

Thinking of this, Wei Yongyi gave a bitter smile, gripping the phone a bit tighter. “Lao Wang, I’ll get to the bottom of this. But in the meantime, look after Comrade Huang Wanqing for me, would you? After all, the girl traveled all this way to Baicheng. Maybe… maybe she and Wei Ling could at least spend some time together, see if they…”

Though Qin Qingman hadn’t hidden that Huang Wanqing had come all the way here for her neighbor back home, Wang Chengping decided to keep this detail from Wei Yongyi out of consideration for the girl’s reputation.

Hearing his old friend still trying to arrange a match, Wang Chengping immediately interrupted, growing anxious.

“Lao Wei, take a break from matchmaking. Your Wei Ling doesn’t need you to arrange anything from afar—he’s already chosen a girl for himself. They’re legally married now.”

“What?!”

The sound of chaos erupted from the other end of the line as Wei Yongyi knocked over his enamel mug, spilling tea across his desk. He sat there, wide-eyed, stunned by what Wang Chengping had just said.

Unwilling to get tangled further in the situation, Wang Chengping signaled to Wei Ling and handed him the phone.

This call was a special privilege—typically, only a Colonel or political commissar would have such access. Today, Wei Ling was getting a rare taste of a high-level officer’s privileges.

Taking the phone, Wei Ling calmly greeted, “Dad.”

The moment he heard Wei Ling’s voice, Wei Yongyi’s anger surged. “Wei Ling, what’s going on? Is what your Uncle Wang said true? Did you really get married? Who is this girl? What’s her background?”

A torrent of questions burst from Wei Yongyi.

Wei Ling waited for his father to finish, then replied, “I registered my marriage yesterday. My wife’s name is Qin Qingman, from Kaoshan Village near our station. I pursued her; we fell in love freely.”

That last phrase, “freely in love.” left Wei Yongyi momentarily speechless on the other end of the line.

As a father, he had always wanted the best for his son. But if this was truly what his son wanted, there wasn’t much he could say.

After a long pause, Wei Yongyi finally said, “When you’re on leave, bring her home to meet the family. We’ll have a proper meal together. Don’t treat her poorly.”

He was open-minded and never believed in arranging his children’s marriages.

In fact, the idea of setting Wei Ling up with a match had been his wife’s idea. During a recent gathering with old friends, everyone had talked about their children’s marriages, and Wei Ling was the only one left unmarried. Remembering how he had been posted on the border for a year, Wei Ling’s mother realized she hadn’t given enough thought to her son’s happiness. So, she came home and discussed it with him, and together they arranged to find a suitable match for Wei Ling.

They thought it would be good to find someone from the capital, someone with whom Wei Ling would have similar habits and shared experiences.

And Wei Yongyi did have an old comrade who had a daughter, someone he had met a few times. She was educated, well-mannered, and their families were both open to a union. That was how he and his wife ended up setting up this whole arrangement.

But as it turned out, destiny had plans of its own.

The daughter of his old friend might have verbally agreed to meet Wei Ling, but she hadn’t been truly interested. Meanwhile, Wei Ling had gone and fallen in love on his own, quietly getting married to someone he met in the borderlands.

With a sigh, Wei Yongyi hung up the phone.

At the same time, he knew he had to have a serious conversation with his old comrade. If the man’s daughter, Gao Yefang, wasn’t interested in a match with Wei Ling, she should have just said so—no one was going to force her. Instead, not wanting to go to Baicheng herself, she had secretly encouraged her little cousin, Huang Wanqing, to take her place for both the blind date and her countryside assignment. This led to Huang Wanqing encountering danger the moment she arrived in Baicheng. Had she not been saved in time, the Huang family would surely have blamed the Wei family for the mishap.

In that moment, Wei Yongyi felt extreme dissatisfaction with his old comrade’s daughter, Gao Yefang.

She was already twenty-four—how could she stoop to such deceit?

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