Chapter 4: Ye Qing’s Fighting Spirit

Leading the group was a young man wearing glasses. When he saw the commotion, he shouted loudly: “What’s going on here? What is everyone doing? This is a public place—do you all want to be publicly criticized?”

The old woman grabbed the young man’s hand as if she had just found her savior. “Little Comrade, please help us reason this out. She stepped on my grandson! Look, his foot is completely squashed. I asked her to pay for the medical expenses—isn’t that fair?”

“We’re military family members. We’re heading to join my son’s unit right now. How can we be bullied on the way there? Look, this is our Introduction Letter.”

As she spoke, she pulled out an Introduction Letter and handed it to the young man. After reading it, his expression immediately changed.

He turned to look at Ye Qing. “You stepped on someone—what do you have to say for yourself? They’re military family members!”

Ye Qing let out a laugh, clearly outraged. “So being a military family member makes someone special? Military family members still have to act reasonably, don’t they? That boy deliberately stuck out his foot to trip me, and I accidentally stepped on him. I even got tripped and fell! Who’s going to compensate me?”

“Speaking of military families, I’ll just say this: the men out there defending the country at the border work hard. They are the most admirable people. But as family members of soldiers, shouldn’t we be careful not to tarnish their reputation? I’m also a military family member. Everyone here saw what happened just now. It’s easy to tell who was right and who was wrong. You shouldn’t only listen to one side of the story, should you?”

The man who had his seat taken earlier stood up. “Yes! This comrade is absolutely right! We all saw it. That kid was being naughty—he stuck out his foot to trip her and ended up getting stepped on.”

“Comrade, while we do respect military families, if a military family member brings shame to a soldier, shouldn’t they also be punished? Her child took my seat and wouldn’t let me sit down. You should judge fairly.”

As he spoke, he pulled out his train ticket to show the young man.

The young man looked at the ticket and then at the seat, and his brows furrowed. “Ma’am, it really does look like this is someone else’s seat.”

With others nearby echoing the complaint, Ye Qing also took out her Introduction Letter. When the young man saw that Ye Qing was also a military family member, traveling with her child to join the army, the old woman finally stopped arguing. She picked up the boy in defeat and no longer tangled with Ye Qing.

Outside, the sky had darkened. The lights inside the train were now all on. Nannan leaned listlessly against Ye Qing and fell asleep.

Ye Qing leaned back and dozed off as well.

But she didn’t dare fall fully asleep. Both the village chief and the commune cadre had warned her: trains weren’t safe. She had to stay alert at all times.

Early the next morning, that group of young soldiers wearing red armbands came by again to inspect the passengers. When they saw Ye Qing’s Introduction Letter, they didn’t make things difficult for her.

Instead, a woman with ear-length short hair sat down beside her and said: “It’s still another three days and two nights on this train from here. I’ll watch the child for you—why don’t you get some sleep?”

Seeing that Ye Qing didn’t trust her, the woman pulled out her own documents and showed them to her. “I heard yesterday that you’re a military family member. My partner is a soldier over there too. I’ve been there. Conditions are rough. Since you’re bringing such a young child, you need to be mentally prepared.”

Inside the envelope were not only a letter and an Introduction Letter, but also a photograph. A man sat on horseback, a large saber slung over his shoulder—imposing and dignified.

Ye Qing smiled and said: “Your partner looks so impressive!”

The woman gave a small smile. “To tell the truth, this time I’m going over and don’t plan to come back. The movements in the city are too intense. It’s more peaceful in the army.”

“But my mom didn’t want me to go, so I secretly joined their group and got on the train.” she added, pulling out a Red Book from her pocket and handing it to Ye Qing.

“Now you can trust me, right? My name is Sun Min. My partner serves as a Battalion Commander in the 3rd Battalion of the 7th Regiment. His name is Guo Feng. Maybe he even knows your partner.”

Ye Qing smiled at her. Not bad—now she had a companion for the journey.

“Sheesh, what’s your partner’s name? What’s his position? Maybe I know him too—I’ve been over there several times.” the woman chatted warmly with Ye Qing.

Ye Qing looked at her and replied: “His name is Qin Ye. He’s the Regiment Commander of the 6th Regiment.”

Sun Min’s eyes widened instantly. She stared at Ye Qing in disbelief and said: “You… you’re that rural wife of Regiment Commander Qin? Everyone says…”

Realizing she’d said too much, she quickly covered her mouth.

“What do they say?” Ye Qing was genuinely curious about her own reputation over there, but unfortunately, Sun Min refused to say another word no matter what.

Ye Qing didn’t press her. She closed her eyes and began thinking about the plot in the book.

This woman had been mentioned in the novel too, though only briefly. What Ye Qing remembered most was: this woman had a bright, outgoing personality and got along with everyone naturally.

Now that she met her, that seemed entirely true.

The female lead in the book was named Li Lan—a Reincarnator, the niece of a Brigade Commander’s wife, and a nurse at the Military Hospital. After the Original Owner’s death, she was introduced to the male lead, Qin Ye. From then on, she and Qin Ye raised Nannan together.

She treated Nannan as if she were her own, and because of that, she earned praise throughout the military compound. Qin Ye also grew to respect and love her more and more.

However, when Nannan turned seven, the female lead became pregnant—and shortly after that, Nannan accidentally drowned.

Li Lan cried so hard she nearly miscarried. She was rushed to the hospital to save the baby and barely regained her composure. Because of this incident, Qin Ye’s affection for her only deepened. They became a model couple in the military community.

Later, she bore Qin Ye a son and a daughter, finally earning the approval of Qin Ye’s parents and followed him back to Beijing to enjoy the life of a wealthy military wife.

As for Ye Qing—the “shadow on the wall”—the entire book mentioned her in less than twenty words.

Ye Qing opened her eyes.

Back when the drowning happened, the comments section under that chapter had exploded—over 99+ comments. Some readers said it was just an accident caused by a playful child, while others claimed that Li Lan had deliberately pushed Nannan into the water, calling the female lead a manipulative witch.

Ye Qing didn’t judge—but now, she quietly became more cautious. She didn’t want to harm others, but she didn’t want to be harmed, either.

The train finally pulled into the station at Xitian. Outside the exit stood a young soldier, holding up a sign that read:

“Welcoming Military Family Member Ye Qing”—six large characters.

In this era, not many people could read, so he was the only one holding up a sign, making him stand out immediately. Ye Qing spotted him right away.

Holding Nannan, she walked up to him and asked: “Excuse me, are you here to pick up Ye Qing?”

Before the young soldier could answer, Sun Min suddenly bounced over excitedly. “Gao Hao! Haha, so it’s you! I was wondering who’d think of something like this.”

Gao Hao was stunned to see her. “You… aren’t you from Deputy Battalion Commander Guo’s family in the 3rd Battalion? Uh… what was your name again?”

Sun Min, ever the cheerful one, grinned. “I’m Sun Min! Aiya, how many times have I told you, and you still can’t remember!”

She quickly introduced Ye Qing: “Let me introduce you. This is Ye Qing, the wife of Regiment Commander Qin—Qin Ye. Huh? Didn’t she say she hadn’t called the regiment in advance? How come you’re here to meet her?”

Gao Hao stood at attention and gave Ye Qing a military salute. “Hello, Sister-in-law! I’m Gao Hao, Regiment Commander Qin’s orderly. Heh, the Commander is out on a mission and hasn’t returned yet. The Commander received a call from the local office and told me to come pick you up. Please come with me.”

As he spoke, he pulled a military ID from his chest pocket and handed it to Ye Qing. “The Commander said the local officials mentioned you’re a cautious person, so he asked me to show you this. Don’t worry—I’m not a bad guy.”

It turned out that after Ye Qing left, the commune had indeed contacted the regiment. Once they learned what train she’d be on and its arrival time, they sent Gao Hao to meet her.

Only after seeing his military ID did Ye Qing and Sun Min get in the military vehicle.

But the car didn’t start right away. Gao Hao explained that he was waiting for one more person.

Not long after, that old woman was seen walking toward them again, this time leading her grandson and a pregnant daughter-in-law.