Chapter 14

One had to admit—Han Heping really knew how to handle Wu Guizhi.

After her dramatic outburst in the morning, Wu Guizhi hadn’t come to bother Su Ruo again, even though she was likely fuming inside while Su Ruo quietly packed up in the room. Given her temperament, she was probably hating this daughter-in-law to the core by now, but somehow she managed to hold back.

Han Zecheng had gone ahead to the brigade and commune to take care of the household registration for Su Ruo and Guoguo. Meanwhile, Su Ruo was in the room with Guoguo, sorting and packing their things.

She was only halfway done when someone unexpected showed up—Wu Jiaoyan, who should’ve been at work.

Wu Jiaoyan glanced around the room, then asked, “Second sister-in-law, need a hand? I took the whole day off from the team to come help you pack.”

Su Ruo didn’t know why, but she just didn’t feel the same kind of closeness to Wu Jiaoyan as she did with her eldest sister-in-law, Liu Xiumei. In fact, the moment she saw her, there was an unexplainable urge to send her away.

It was probably because the look in her eyes was just too shifty—like she was always scheming something.

Su Ruo smiled politely. “Third sister-in-law, that’s very kind of you, but it’s just some simple packing. I should be fine on my own.”

But Wu Jiaoyan wouldn’t take the hint. “Oh come on, Second Sister-in-law, no need to be so polite! There’s so much stuff and time’s tight. Of course you need help! Don’t treat me like an outsider.”

As she spoke, she started glancing all around the room. Then, without even asking, she reached out and opened the wardrobe.

Su Ruo: …

She might look easygoing on the surface, but because of her past with her stepmother and Su Jia, she had her guard up high. She absolutely hated it when people came into her room and started rummaging around without permission.

Still, she reminded herself that everyone had different personalities and habits.

Plus, since she’d lost her memory, it wouldn’t be wise to speak too harshly just based on a gut feeling. So she simply said, a bit coldly, “Third sister-in-law, I keep my things organized and I prefer to pack them one at a time. If you help, I’m afraid it’ll just mess things up and make it harder for me to sort later.”

Wu Jiaoyan clearly wasn’t happy.

But she had thick skin. She didn’t give up that easily.

She pulled her hand back and said with a smile, “Then I’ll just sit and keep you company. If you need help lifting something heavy, I’ll give you a hand.”

Su Ruo nearly facepalmed.

She’d lost her memory—who knew what kind of private or even embarrassing things might pop up while packing? Whether valuable or personal, having an outsider hovering around made her uncomfortable.

And this third sister-in-law was clingier than a piece of gum on your shoe.

She glanced over and noticed that Wu Jiaoyan’s eyes weren’t on her at all—they were darting around the room, clearly looking for something. That told her all she needed to know.

Fine.

She picked up a box of milk candies from the table. There were still a few left inside. Handing them to Wu Jiaoyan, she said, “Third sister-in-law, I just found these while packing. There are lots of kids in the family, and I wasn’t planning to bring these along. I was going to give them to the children later, but since you’re here, why don’t you take them and hand them out? Once I’m done packing and if there’s anything I can’t take, I’ll call you again.”

At that moment, Guoguo piped up smartly, “Mama, why don’t I go get Sister Qiu and Laibao to come here?”

He’d been quietly observing the whole time, but now saw his chance to step in.

Wu Jiaoyan hurriedly grabbed the milk candies and quickly said, “Oh no, no need for that! If all the kids come in, they’ll just make a mess. I’ll take these to them. You go on packing, Second Sister-in-law. If you need anything, just call me.”

And with that, she rushed out—as if afraid that Guoguo might beat her to it.

Guoguo blinked as he watched her retreating figure. Su Ruo looked at his little expression and couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Han Zecheng was a soldier.

The commune and the brigade naturally wouldn’t cause trouble for someone who had contributed and sacrificed for the nation’s defense, so the process of transferring the household registration was handled quickly and smoothly.

Once everything was done, he came back to pick up Su Ruo and headed with her to the school.

Since Su Ruo was pretending to have a sore throat and couldn’t talk, it was hard to explain the situation to Guoguo. So, they left him at home to play with Han Laiqiu and Han Laibao.

Their vehicle stopped outside the school. It was just the end of class, and the playground was full of students jumping rope or kicking shuttlecocks. But the moment they spotted their teacher—Su laoshi—arriving with a tall man in military uniform, the sharp-eyed kids stopped playing, turning curious eyes toward them.

As the two walked toward the principal’s office, students they passed shyly or excitedly greeted Su Ruo, calling out “Su laoshi” while stealing glances at the man beside her.

They were just children, so Su Ruo wasn’t worried about her cover being blown. Still, she felt a bit self-conscious. After all, she had once been a student too, and now she was here as a “married woman” under all this attention—it was a little awkward. But she forced herself to stay calm and just smiled at the kids and nodded politely.

The students lit up at their teacher’s rare smile.

Right in front of the principal’s office, a tall, slender young man with refined features stepped out of the room. He seemed surprised to see Su Ruo, and even more taken aback when he noticed the uniformed man standing beside her.

But he quickly looked away from Han Zecheng and turned to Su Ruo. “Su laoshi, I thought you were sick. What brings you here today? Are you feeling better?”

Su Ruo could see the kindness and concern in his eyes.

From the sound of it, they used to have a pretty good relationship.

But she had no memory of him and didn’t want to risk saying the wrong thing, so she simply smiled and pointed to her throat.

The young man froze.

What he didn’t know was that Su Ruo used to rarely smile, and when she did, it was faint and tinged with sadness.

A bright, dazzling smile like this was almost unheard of from her.

So when she smiled like that, it was like a beam of sunshine straight to his heart, and he was momentarily dazed.

Su Ruo, thinking he didn’t understand, turned toward Han Zecheng, silently asking him to step in.

But Han Zecheng’s face had already gone cold.

Su Ruo didn’t understand men.

But Han Zecheng was a man—and he immediately caught the admiration in the young man’s eyes.

Especially the way his gaze lingered when Su Ruo smiled. That look was practically lovestruck.

He wasn’t happy. He wanted to grab Su Ruo and walk away on the spot. But he knew that even if they left, it wouldn’t make him feel any better.

So he just stood there, face expressionless, and asked stiffly, “And you are?”

The young man was stunned.

So was Su Ruo.

Wasn’t this the moment he should politely explain that she had a sore throat and couldn’t speak?

Why did he sound like he was interrogating someone?

And didn’t he realize how intimidating he looked and sounded right now?

The young man had no idea what was going on. After a moment of awkward silence, he pulled himself together. He already had a vague idea that Su Ruo’s husband was a soldier, so he guessed this man’s identity right away. Though he felt a pang of disappointment, he quickly composed himself and introduced himself, “Comrade, my name is Zheng Shuo. I’m a colleague of Teacher Su, and I teach math to her class… And you are?”

“I’m Teacher Su’s spouse.”

Han Zecheng said concisely, “Teacher Su’s throat is a bit uncomfortable and she can’t talk much. This is Teacher Zheng. We have something to discuss with the principal, let’s talk later.”

After saying that, he took hold of Su Ruo’s wrist and walked straight toward the principal’s office door.

This…

Teacher Zheng hadn’t even finished speaking when the door to the principal’s office was already being knocked on.

Su Ruo didn’t know what was up with Han Zecheng either, so she just turned back and gave Teacher Zheng an awkward smile, as a way of saying goodbye.

Han Zecheng tightened his grip on her hand, making her suck in a cold breath and almost cry out in pain.

What’s wrong with this guy?

….

Teacher Zheng had just come out of the principal’s office and hadn’t even closed the door, so the old principal inside had already heard the noise outside.

Just as Han Zecheng raised his hand to knock, the old principal was already up, calling them in.

As soon as the two entered and closed the door behind them, the old principal walked over to greet them and asked them to sit down.

Su Ruo also put the encounter with Teacher Zheng behind her.

The old principal said, “Teacher Su, Zecheng, you’re here?”

Then he added, “Didn’t you say Teacher Su was sick? Why didn’t she rest at home instead of coming out? If there’s anything to do, just let Zecheng handle it.”

He was the old principal of the commune elementary school.

Han Zecheng had studied at the commune elementary school before, and the old principal had taught him, so he was also his former teacher.

Han Zecheng smiled and said, “Principal Qu, I brought Teacher Su here to resign and also to say goodbye.”

“Teacher Su plans to take the college entrance exam, and there’s not much time left. So during this visit, we discussed it and decided to help her register as a military dependent. That way, she can go with me to the base and focus on preparing for the exam.”

The old principal was a bit surprised and looked at Su Ruo.

He had known she wanted to take the college entrance exam, but hadn’t expected her to suddenly resign and move with the military at this time.

Su Ruo smiled and nodded affirmatively at him.

Han Zecheng explained, “Teacher Su caught a chill and her throat is hoarse, so she can’t speak much.”

Su Ruo gave an apologetic smile again.

Principal Qu said, “Ah, a cold and probably a bit of heat as well.”

He knew a little about the Han family’s situation.

Thinking of that, he also understood her decision to go with the military.

He shook his head and sighed, saying, “Well, this arrangement is good. It allows your family to be reunited, and Teacher Su can properly prepare for the exam. It’s the best choice. Even though the students and teachers at our school really like Teacher Su, and as the principal I’d selfishly love for her to stay, truthfully, she should’ve gone with you a long time ago.”

As he spoke, some sadness appeared on his face. Probably to cover it up, he quickly got up and went to the desk at the back to fetch a stack of books. He placed them on the desk in front of Han Zecheng and Su Ruo, and said, “I remember hearing Teacher Su mention wanting to take the exam, and it just so happens that I still have a few old high school textbooks and reference books at home. I sorted them out—see if you need them. If so, take them to study. It’s a token of my support.”

Su Ruo was quite surprised.

She flipped through the stack and found textbooks from the 1960s on algebra and Chinese language. Though she had lost five years of memory, she still remembered that during her time in middle school, the textbooks were limited to “Foundations of Industry” and “Foundations of Agriculture”—none of these college entrance exam materials. It was probably still the same now.

Much of her foundational knowledge had been self-taught with books given to her by Aunt Yuan.

And now, she didn’t have any review materials at all. These decades-old textbooks were difficult to find, so Principal Qu’s books were incredibly valuable.

Su Ruo’s nose turned a little sore.

She hadn’t expected this old principal, whom she didn’t even remember, to treat her so kindly. Moved, she almost spoke out, but Han Zecheng gave her hand a squeeze, and she swallowed her words. She simply nodded toward the principal and very quietly said, “Thank you.”