Chapter 27.2

“Comrade Ruan, are you adjusting well?”

As expected of someone who does ideological work, Xu Zhu’s words were as pleasant as a spring breeze. Unlike Xie Yanzhao, whose fierce expression could scare children.

The same goes for dealing with new recruits, one plays the good guy and the other plays the bad guy.

As a result, the two of them have become a well-known ironclad duo in the military.

Ruan Mingfu nodded. “It’s not bad.”

“Comrade Ruan, if you need anything, make sure to tell me,” Xu Zhu said earnestly, patting his chest. “I’ll take care of it for you.”

Xie Yanzhao glanced at him.

Ruan Mingfu was amused by his expression. “Comrade Xu, thank you.”

“Ah, don’t mention it,” Xu Zhu began to speak again, but Xie Yanzhao cut in, “Are you very idle?”

Xu Zhu replied, “Yes.”

Since he was on the train and had nothing else to do, of course he was idle.

Xie Yanzhao: “…”

The train sped along, and the carriage fell silent. The Lin siblings were lying on the lower bunk, already fast asleep.

Ruan Mingfu’s eyes were wide awake.

She had slept in the morning and was feeling quite energetic now.

Xie Yanzhao sat next to her.

They were so close that even a slight movement would bring their bodies into contact.

Xu Zhu did not leave.

He was surrounded by strangers in his compartment, with no one to talk to, making it quite boring.

At that moment, Gu Qingsong walked in from outside, looking very dejected, as if he had suffered a great blow. He was holding a pile of documents. Ruan Mingfu glanced behind him, his teacher had not returned.

Curious, Ruan Mingfu asked, “What’s wrong? Did you get scolded?”

Gu Qingsong: “…”

He feels bitter.

He had been scolded thoroughly by his teacher, and now his goddess was asking him what happened.

If it were anyone else, he would have scolded them back. But since it was Ruan Mingfu asking, Gu Qingsong responded gruffly, “…It’s nothing.”

Gu Qingsong was on the verge of tears. He hardly looked like someone who was fine.

Ruan Mingfu did not press further.

Adults all have their own struggles and deal with them privately in their own corners.

She understood.

Ruan Mingfu chose not to speak anymore.

The carriage fell silent again, so she decided to close her eyes and rest.

She didn’t know how much time had passed, but she woke up again as the train passed through another tunnel.

Ruan Mingfu found herself lying on Xie Yanzhao’s chest. No wonder she hadn’t felt the bumps, she had a human cushion. She slightly turned her head and met Xie Yanzhao’s dark eyes.

“Did I fall asleep again?”

Ruan Mingfu got up from Xie Yanzhao’s chest.

He responded lightly, looking at his watch. “It’s four o’clock.”

Only two hours had passed?!

Ruan Mingfu touched her head, experiencing for the first time how time can drag on.

She looked over at Gu Qingsong, who was hunched over a small desk, working hard. “Comrade Gu, do you have any books with you?”

Gu Qingsong looked up, but before he could respond, a sarcastic voice interrupted.

“What’s a stinking intellectual doing reading books? Such a capitalist attitude.”

Lin Anguo crossed his arms and coldly stared at Ruan Mingfu.

“Comrade, have I offended you in any way?”

Ruan Mingfu didn’t consider herself a particularly patient person, so why was she being targeted like this repeatedly?

“You’re a descendant of capitalists,” Lin Anguo continued angrily when Ruan Mingfu dared to retort, “You’re class enemies to us workers and farmers!”

Ruan Mingfu’s delicate eyebrows furrowed.

“Comrade, did you not check the material of your own clothes before making such remarks?” Ruan Mingfu retorted without mercy. “Compared to me, you’re even more like a capitalist. Besides, where did you hear that I am a descendant of capitalists?”

Gu Qingsong was about to stand up to mediate but was taken aback by Ruan Mingfu’s barrage of words.

“Just because you live on Haining Road!”

“Living on Haining Road makes me a capitalist?” Ruan Mingfu’s eyes grew colder. “Wearing such fine clothes yourself is simply indulging in luxury. You’re the biggest threat to the people!”

Lin Anguo was no match for Ruan Mingfu’s sharp tongue and was soon rendered speechless.

Ruan Mingfu looked at him disdainfully.

That one glance further provoked him.

Lin Anguo stood up abruptly. “You damn slut, I’m going to beat you up!”

Xie Yanzhao quickly blocked Lin Anguo’s fist and, in a few moves, had him restrained with his hands behind his back. “Try saying another word.”

Lin Anguo clearly heard the threat in those words.

“You… you’re all in cahoots. I’ll report you!”

The mention of reporting made Ruan Mingfu think of the G Committee, and she felt a flash of disgust in her eyes.

“Let go of my brother,” Lin Anle said urgently, watching the scene unfold but afraid to approach due to Xie Yanzhao’s intimidation.

Xu Zhu smiled.

“Comrade, do you know what the penalty is for slandering military families?”

Gu Qingsong and the Lin siblings were stunned by this.

Military families? They were actually military families!

Gu Qingsong obediently stepped aside, his urge to mediate fading away.

Lin Anguo, restrained, was dazed. “Why didn’t you say you’re military families earlier?”

“Who are you? Why should I tell you?”

 Ruan Mingfu scoffed, her gaze mocking.

Future military families are still military families.

Lin Anle’s eyes widened as she looked at Xu Zhu and Xie Yanzhao. “So… are you military comrades?”

She felt a twinge of regret.

Xie Yanzhao seemed too fierce, not her type. But Xu Zhu, with his refined demeanor, calm temperament, and frequent smile, was a promising soldier. If she were to find someone, it should be someone like him.

No matter how much Lin Anle thought about it, it was useless.

They had already offended them, and they couldn’t bring themselves to smooth things over.

In the end, the Lin siblings found a conductor and changed to another carriage.

With the idiots gone, Ruan Mingfu felt that the entire carriage seemed much cleaner.

Gu Qingsong, however, stared at them with wide eyes and repeatedly asked, “Are you soldiers?”

“Yes.”

Xu Zhu nodded, “Comrade, you must be a university student. What is your major?”

Gu Qingsong awkwardly scratched his head.

“I studied at a university in Beijing City, majoring in foreign languages, and followed my teacher…”

Ruan Mingfu turned away, unable to watch any longer.

Gu Qingsong was exactly like the university students described in later generations—clear-headed yet foolish, with no guile at all. He was easily outwitted by Xu Zhu, who quickly exposed all his secrets.

Not only did he reveal his home address, but he also talked about his siblings and family members.

In the end, Gu Qingsong still naively thought Xu Zhu was the best person in the world and wished he could become his sworn brother.

Ruan Mingfu: “…”

Xu Zhu was truly a talented person. No wonder he could become a political commissar.

“By the way, Comrade Ruan, do you need any books?” Gu Qingsong scratched his head, apologetically saying, “But I only have foreign language books here. I don’t know if you’ll find them useful.”

Gu Qingsong wasn’t really that foolish.

Look, he still considered Ruan Mingfu’s pride.

“It’s okay, I can read them.”

Although Ruan Mingfu was living off her family’s wealth, as the eldest young lady of the Ruan family, she couldn’t lack the necessary status and couldn’t neglect her studies. Language skills were something Mrs. Ruan had arranged for her to learn with several esteemed teachers.

Since the Ruan family’s businesses were spread worldwide and they interacted with people from various countries, even if she didn’t learn everything, mastering several major languages was still very necessary.

Seeing this, Gu Qingsong brought over the few books he had.

Ruan Mingfu took a look. Many of them were reference books, and some were too heavy for her taste. In the end, Ruan Mingfu chose a collection of short stories.

Each story was not long, and the translation was under three thousand words.

The stories were interesting, with a somewhat dark and twisted tone.

Ruan Mingfu settled into a comfortable position and quickly flipped through the pages. Since the collection wasn’t very thick, she finished it in no time.

Gu Qingsong was stunned when she returned the book.

“You’ve finished it?”

There were no Chinese characters in the book, only foreign language text, and she had read it all?

Not only was Gu Qingsong surprised, but Xie Yanzhao and Xu Zhu also looked over in amazement.

Ruan Mingfu nodded.

Gu Qingsong was astonished.

This was a book his teacher had given him to broaden his knowledge. It didn’t even have any annotations, so he had never read it.

Gu Qingsong swallowed hard, “Comrade Ruan, would you mind if I tested you?”

“Comrade Ruan, you’ve studied foreign languages?”

Xu Zhu was genuinely surprised.

He nudged Xie Yanzhao’s arm, his face full of excitement, almost like he wanted to engrave the words “I found a treasure for you” on his face.

Xie Yanzhao ignored him.

In these times, there were very few people who studied foreign languages, so their curiosity was understandable.

Ruan Mingfu had no objection and lifted her delicate chin slightly.

“Go ahead and ask.”

Gu Qingsong casually opened a page and pointed to a story, saying, “Comrade Ruan, what does this story say?”

Xu Zhu leaned in to look.

Seeing the messy characters on the page, none of which he recognized.

Ruan Mingfu glanced at it and recognized the story.

“This one is about a girl with a red hat who, in order to bring food to her grandmother living in the forest, is followed by a wolf. In the end, the girl kills both her grandmother and the wolf.”

“She killed them all?” Xu Zhu was puzzled. What kind of strange plot was this?

Ruan Mingfu continued, “The girl was actually a criminal disguised as a little girl, and the real girl had already died.”

Gu Qingsong checked and confirmed that Ruan Mingfu’s explanation was correct.

He gritted his teeth and turned to another long story, asking, “And what about this one?”

“This one is about a girl who was deceived by human traffickers pretending to be a prince and sold to seven men as a wife,” Ruan Mingfu continued, “She planned to kill all seven men, kill the so-called prince, and then burn down the village.”

Xu Zhu frowned.

What kind of stories were these? Why were they so bloody?

Gu Qingsong scratched his head.

She was right again.

Gu Qingsong, not willing to give up, flipped through several more stories for her, and Ruan Mingfu translated each one accurately. He rubbed his face in disbelief, starting to question his own life.