Yan Ye thought for a moment and declined, “Sister-in-law, I’m a bit busy right now and can’t make the time.”

“Just leave whatever you brought at the guard post—I’ll have someone pick it up later.” 

Holding the receiver, Liu Ye glanced at Zheng Jiaojiao and Xu Xiaoyue standing beside her.  

“Alright. I just wanted to introduce them to you, but it seems I’ve picked a bad time.”  

She paused, then added, “Do you have any small gifts lying around? It wouldn’t do to send them back empty-handed.”  

Yan Ye grunted in acknowledgment and pulled open his desk drawer, where several kraft-paper notebooks lay neatly stacked.  

He casually pulled one out, then after a moment’s thought, grabbed a book from the shelf.

Liu Ye hung up and turned to the two girls with an apologetic smile. “What unfortunate timing. He’s so busy today he can’t even spare a moment for us.”

On the surface, Xu Xiaoyue remained calm, but inside, she was secretly thrilled. Heaven hadn’t forgotten her after all.

Yan Ye’s execution was swift. Before long, a soldier was sent over. Seeing the three people standing outside, he saluted first, then said:

“This must be sister-in-law. Regiment Commander Yan said the notebook is for Comrade Zheng.”

“As for the book…”

He looked at Xu Xiaoyue as he spoke, hesitating slightly.

Liu Ye frowned and reached out to take both the notebook and the book.

The kraft-covered notebook felt heavy in the hand. As for the book, its cover had large bold words:

“Iron Fist Strike — Crushing Treachery with Thunderous Force.”

Zheng Jiaojiao couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter. The mocking smile on her face was impossible to hide. She had actually worried it might be something valuable—turns out it was just this kind of book.

Xu Xiaoyue’s almond-shaped eyes lowered, her bright red lips pressed tightly together.

Her soft, delicate hands twisted the hem of her clothes over and over. Her slender waist, barely the width of a hand, made her whole figure look frail and pitiable.

Xu Xiaoyue fell silent…

She knew from the original story that this iron-blooded officer, her little uncle, disliked her—but she hadn’t expected him to dislike her this much.

Liu Ye’s face turned pale, then flushed. She looked at the soldier and gave an awkward laugh.

“This book was meant for Old Yan. I probably misspoke when I asked Yan Ye to bring it.”

Zheng Jiaojiao’s face turned cold. She said nothing.

The soldier, though unsure why Commander Yan would have him bring this book, still felt the need to explain himself when he heard Liu Ye’s comment.

“Sister-in-law, I’m not making this up. Commander Yan said it himself. Oh, and he asked me to tell you he’ll be coming back this weekend.”

After that, the soldier’s eyes swept over Xu Xiaoyue, and for some reason, his ears turned red.

He’d always thought the women in the cultural troupe were pretty enough to turn heads, but seeing this woman today—now he understood what it meant to be truly stunning.

Xu Xiaoyue took the book from Liu Ye and forced a smile. Her slender fingers clutched it tightly.

She hadn’t even recovered from the blow of that book, and now she had to hear that Yan Ye might come home at any moment.

Blow after blow—at this point, Xu Xiaoyue couldn’t even tell which piece of news was worse.

Meanwhile.

“Commander Yan, sister-in-law brought you some good stuff again!” Wang Jianhua burst through the door, loud as ever, striding in boldly.

He placed the parcel in his hands onto the man’s desk and sat down carelessly.

“Good thing I saw Xiao Zhang on my way to the mess hall carrying all this. Asked him and found out it was from sister-in-law for you.”

“Hurry and open it—I can already smell it.” Wang Jianhua spoke while nudging Yan Ye to get moving.

The army’s mess hall wasn’t terrible, but it definitely wasn’t good either. Wang Jianhua’s taste buds had just about given up.

“In the old days, Yu the Great passed his home three times without entering. Now we have Commander Yan—you don’t even show your face when your sister-in-law comes to the base. I heard from Xiao Zhang she brought two girls with her, too.”

“One of them—drop-dead gorgeous. Xiao Zhang couldn’t stop talking about how slim her waist was, how long her legs were, how pretty her face was.”

“Xiao Zhang’s feelings were written all over his face. Just from a couple of comments, he turned beet red. Looks like it’s love at first sight.”

Yan Ye let out a mocking laugh, as if he had expected this all along—turning down his sister-in-law’s request to bring people in was clearly the right call.

It had only been a brief encounter, and yet those two had already started winning people over. Truly, a masterful move.

Seeing that Yan Ye didn’t react, Wang Jianhua continued,

“But if you ask me, the one who really deserves the title of slim waist, long legs, and an unforgettable face—has to be that Xiao Xiaoyue you saved twice.”

At the mention of her, Yan Ye’s dark eyes flicked toward him.

“Xiao Xiaoyue? Since when were you two so close?”

A chill ran down Wang Jianhua’s back—his instincts told him this was dangerous territory. He quickly explained,

“It’s just that last time, thanks to you, we ended up at the same table for dinner.”

Wang Jianhua thought to himself—his hunch was right. If there wasn’t something fishy between these two, he’d reverse his name and read it backwards.

With any other female comrade, Yan Ye’s personality wouldn’t have allowed even a flicker of interest.

Who would’ve thought that Yan Ye—the cold-as-ice man known as “Demon Yan”—would one day catch feelings like an iron tree suddenly blooming, or an abandoned house catching fire.

Wang Jianhua subtly studied his expression. Yep, he was hooked, even if he hadn’t realized it yet.

Thinking of how Comrade Xu treated their Commander Yan, it was clear—trouble was coming for their regiment commander.

Wang Jianhua lowered his head, hiding the gloating in his eyes.

Yan Ye shot a glance at the man in front of him and said flatly,

“Anything else?”

Picking up on the dismissal in his tone, Wang Jianhua pouted, eyes still glued to the spiced beef on the desk. When Yan Ye wasn’t looking, he tore off a large chunk before finally leaving.

Once the office door closed and he confirmed no one was around, Yan Ye slid his chair over, opened a drawer on the other side, and carefully took out a handkerchief.

If Wang Jianhua had seen it, he’d definitely have teased him—who would’ve guessed their cold-blooded regiment commander had such a secret soft side?

The handkerchief was embroidered with jasmine—clearly something only a young girl would use.

As for how it ended up there, it was the day Xu Xiaoyue had left in a hurry, accidentally leaving it behind on the bench.

Thinking back to her attitude that day, Yan Ye’s dark eyes dimmed. His large hand twisted and turned the handkerchief, almost as if he were holding the person.

He pressed a hand to his forehead, starting to wonder—had that reckless, ungrateful Comrade Xu drugged him somehow?

Otherwise, why had she been on his mind nonstop these past few days?

That pair of mischievous, wandering hands. That faint, lingering scent.

He hadn’t even had the chance to ask her name. She bolted like she’d seen a ghost.

In all his 27 years of life, having been chased by countless young women in the military, this was the first time Yan Ye had ever doubted himself.

“Xu Xiaoyue,” he muttered through clenched teeth.

His large palm crumpled the handkerchief beyond recognition, waiting for this nameless fire in his chest to burn itself out.

…

Meanwhile, Xu Xiaoyue sneezed hard on her way home.

She rubbed her nose, eyelids twitching nonstop.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that she had forgotten something really important today…