Chapter 6 – The Female Lead Li Lan

He furrowed his brows, his expression suddenly turning stern. “Do you know what the charge is for abusing the family members of active-duty soldiers?”

“That’s a jailable offense!” the man slammed the table in anger, causing the tea mug on the table to jump.

Ye Dazhuang hadn’t thought that far at all. He was startled by the outburst.

“Comrade… I… we didn’t abuse her! She took the family’s money and ran off secretly! We’re also worried about her safety now and just want to find her quickly.”

Su Fang bent down alongside him. “That’s right! That’s right! Comrade, if you know where she went, please tell us. It would put a mother’s heart at ease.”

He looked at the mother and son in front of him. Their clothes weren’t new, but they were presentable, and they didn’t look like people who couldn’t get enough to eat.

Then he thought of Ye Qing and the child. Their clothes were layered with patches upon patches, and especially that child—one glance made it clear the kid was malnourished. And yet they dared say they didn’t abuse them? Did they think he was blind?

No way! People like this needed to be taught a proper lesson.

And so, Ye Dazhuang and Su Fang stood with their heads lowered while being scolded for over an hour. The man only stopped when he was too tired to continue, sat down, took a sip of water, and then waved them off.

“Go on! Go on! If I ever see something like this again, you two are going straight to jail!”

Ye Dazhuang didn’t even dare ask about Ye Qing’s exact whereabouts anymore. He grabbed Su Fang and ran.

Just as they reached the doorway, they were called back again. “Come back! Forgot to tell you—Ye Qing took the child to find her man. Don’t bother thinking about tracking her down. Just go home and live your lives.”

“But… our Qingqing…”

Su Fang didn’t even finish her sentence before Ye Dazhuang dragged her away. “What are you asking for? She might not have been out much, but at least you let her finish high school. She’s not going to lose herself out there!”

But what Su Fang was worried about wasn’t whether Ye Qing would get lost. What she feared was that once Ye Qing found Qin Ye and settled down with him, Qin Ye wouldn’t send money home anymore.

She still couldn’t let it go. She said to Ye Dazhuang: “Dazhuang, once we get home, you need to write Qin Ye a letter. Don’t say much—just mention that we’re worried about Ye Qing and the child, and ask if the two of them made it to the unit safely.”

Ye Dazhuang agreed, a bitter look on his face as he headed toward the hospital.

Revenge was out of the question now. He still had to figure out how to coax Ding Lanhua. Divorce was not an option!

He’d used the money he tricked out of Qin Ye to get married. If he really ended up divorced, he’d be single for the rest of his life.

…

Meanwhile, Ye Qing had already finished dinner and was walking back toward the hostel with Nannan.

Gao Hao had told her that not far southeast from there was the unit’s Supply and Marketing Cooperative, where most daily necessities could be bought.

Then he pointed due south and said: “That’s the Family Compound over there. Next to it is the Public Bathhouse, which is open every evening from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Sister-in-law, you can take the child there for a bath.”

“And every Wednesday, there’s a vehicle that goes to the city. If you can’t find something at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, just write it down. You can go along with the vehicle to the city for shopping. The vehicle stops right outside the Cooperative.”

“From here heading west, past one mountain, there’s a small village. Sometimes the villagers come to trade things. If anyone in the Family Compound needs to set up a heated brick bed or something, they can ask the villagers for help. If you get a chance, you should go take a look. The people there are very simple and kind.”

Ye Qing nodded to show she had remembered everything, and only then did Gao Hao leave.

Sun Min held Nannan’s hand and accompanied Ye Qing back toward the hostel, chatting and teasing Nannan along the way.

“Sister-in-law, this child is so adorable! Not like some of the naughty kids in the Family Compound. If only I could have a child this cute too!”

Ye Qing smiled. “Then you’d better hurry things up with Battalion Commander Guo. Just drooling over it won’t get you anywhere.”

Sun Min pinched Nannan’s little cheek. “She’s just too skinny! If she could gain a bit of weight, she’d be even cuter! And you know what, her face shape takes after you, but those eyes and brows really take after Regiment Commander Qin! The more I look at her, the more beautiful she seems!”

Ye Qing flipped through the original body’s memories. The original Ye Qing didn’t seem to have many impressions of Qin Ye—only a blurry shadow of a tall and upright figure. As for his facial features, she couldn’t recall them at all.

According to the novel’s description, he was supposed to be incredibly handsome—so handsome that it outraged both gods and men—but she really couldn’t imagine what that looked like.

Just then, a woman walked toward them and greeted Sun Min: “Sister-in-law, you’re here to see Battalion Commander Guo again? Is he getting more charming by the day? Haha.”

Sun Min looked up. “Oh my! Isn’t this Sister Lan? Whether Lao Guo’s getting more charming I don’t know, but I can say Sister Lan is definitely getting prettier!”

“Sister Lan, let me introduce you. This is the wife of Regiment Commander Qin, Ye Qing. And this is our Military Hospital’s youngest and prettiest nurse, Li Lan—Sister Lan!”

Li Lan? This was the female lead from the novel?

The book had described Li Lan as 170 cm tall, with a perfect figure and a lovely face—and now seeing her in person, it was true!

Her fair face glowed with a sweet smile, though her beautiful eyes seemed to lack something. When she smiled, her eyes didn’t reflect any real joy, giving a faint sense of falseness.

Li Lan smiled at her. “Hello! I’m Li Lan. I’ve heard for a while that Regiment Commander Qin was married, but I never had the chance to meet his wife. I’m glad to finally meet you!”

Ye Qing nodded at her with a smile and returned the greeting politely.

For some reason, she just couldn’t bring herself to like this woman.

But Li Lan hadn’t done anything to wrong her, and Ye Qing had no intention of treating her as an enemy from the start. Even though in the novel she had a special relationship with both Nannan and Qin Ye, things hadn’t developed to that point yet.

Besides, Ye Qing believed that with her here, she would never allow Nannan to follow the same tragic path as in the book.

But for Li Lan, seeing Ye Qing stirred quite a wave of emotion inside her.

What was going on? In her previous life, Qin Ye’s rural wife had never shown up at all! Back then, when her uncle had offered to introduce her to Qin Ye, he said the rural wife was dead, and Qin Ye had only brought back a daughter.

At the time, her standards were high—how could she possibly take a liking to a military man like Qin Ye? And worse, marrying him meant becoming a stepmother!

Her ideal man had always been the gentle, refined, and talented type—he had to be a university student! So, she got to know a sent-down youth in the village named Li Qiang.

Li Qiang was different from the others. While the rest of them gathered to play cards after work, he always had a few books on his bedside table and read whenever he had free time. Eventually, he was admitted to university.

She had been so happy then, using her own wages to support him through school. Even when her aunt scolded her, she didn’t listen. All she wanted was for Li Qiang to graduate soon and take her to live in the city.

Who would’ve thought that after three years of support, Li Qiang would return from university with a city girl, saying they were truly in love and about to get married, and that Li Lan should never contact him again?

Li Lan felt like the sky had collapsed. She ran to the village in the rain and begged him to take her back. But Li Qiang didn’t even look at her and let her stand in the pouring rain all night. The next morning, he left with the city girl.

Li Lan fell seriously ill after returning, bedridden for a whole month, nearly dying.

By that time, Qin Ye had already risen to a high rank. But before she could grab hold of him, he had already taken his daughter and returned to Beijing.

Only then did she learn just how powerful Qin Ye’s background really was!