Chapter 49.1

Jiang Nian asked, “What way?”

Lu Yu replied, “Tonight, I’ll tidy up the bedding and move it to the dormitory. From now on, I’ll have my meals at home, but I’ll stay at the dormitory at night. This way, we can avoid all these troubles, and you can focus on your work here at the family quarters.”

After saying this, Lu Yu put the dishes on the plate, carried the meal, and started to leave.

Jiang Nian watched Lu Yu’s tall figure leave. When he mentioned moving to the dormitory, she didn’t know if she felt more relieved staying at the family quarters or more guilty towards Lu Yu. At that moment, she felt like an unwelcome intruder, displacing the rightful owner.

During the meal, neither of them spoke.

Lu Yu went back to the unit after eating, while Jiang Nian returned to her room to continue embroidering. After a while, she lost interest, set aside her work, and lay down on the bed, staring at the dark ceiling. She slapped her face lightly, trying hard not to think about Lu Yu.

Jiang Nian didn’t stop embroidering until it was nearly dark, then she went to the kitchen to cook. Just as she finished cutting the vegetables, Lu Yu returned. Song Bai accompanied him, and upon entering, Song Bai called out, “Sister-in-law.”

Jiang Nian walked out of the kitchen, pulled the yard’s light cord, smiled at Song Bai, then looked at Lu Yu. “The food will be ready soon.”

Lu Yu nodded. “I’ll go move my things first, and then come back to eat.”

Jiang Nian pursed her lips and didn’t say anything. Before entering the house, Lu Yu glanced at Jiang Nian and said to Song Bai, “Help me carry the bedding.”

He walked towards Jiang Nian, looked down at the woman so close by, with her head down. He resisted the urge to reach out and pat her head. “Song Bai and I will share a dormitory. I’ll help you with bathwater every night and dispose of it in the morning.”

“I’m going to move my things.”

With that, Lu Yu turned and left.

Song Bai came out first with the bedding. When he saw Jiang Nian in the yard, her eyes sparkled beautifully under the warm yellow light, and her skin had a warm hue.

He smiled at Jiang Nian. “Sister-in-law, what are you planning to cook later?”

Jiang Nian chuckled. “I’ll stir-fry a couple more dishes and make some scallion pancakes. Wait until you and Lu Yu are done.”

A smile graced Song Bai’s handsome face. “Then I’m in for a treat tonight.”

Lu Yu didn’t have many things to move, and with Song Bai’s help, they finished quickly. On the way, they met the wives of soldiers and comrades who were passing by. They asked Lu Yu and Song Bai what they were doing with the stuff. Lu Yu said, “I’m moving to the dormitory.”

Song Bai followed, “We’ll be sharing a dormitory.”

When Lu Yu suddenly suggested moving to the dormitory, Song Bai guessed the reason behind it. Someone in the family quarters must have been gossiping.

When they returned from the dormitory, Jiang Nian’s pancakes were ready, a plate of vegetables was out of the pot, and she had cooked vinegar-braised cabbage, spicy shredded potatoes, and onion salad. The scallion pancakes were especially delicious, and she had also made tofu soup.

Lu Yu and Song Bai smelled the delicious aroma as soon as they entered. They washed their hands by the well, then Jiang Nian brought the food out from the kitchen.

Jiang Nian had a pancake, drank some soup, and ate quite a bit of the dishes. When she was almost full, she looked up to see Lu Yu and Song Bai almost done with their second bowl of soup. She had made twelve pancakes, and the two of them had nearly finished them all.

Lu Yu looked at Jiang Nian. “Are you done eating?”

Jiang Nian shook her head repeatedly. “I’m full.”

There was one pancake left, which Lu Yu and Song Bai shared. They also finished the second bowl of soup.

Putting down his chopsticks, Song Bai said quietly, “Sister-in-law, your cooking is really delicious. Even the food at state-run restaurants can’t compare to your cooking.”

Lu Yu glanced at Song Bai and kicked him under the table. “Clear the table.”

They stood up to tidy the table. Lu Yu asked Song Bai to leave first, but Song Bai was still reluctant to leave. Finally, under Lu Yu’s stern gaze, he greeted Jiang Nian and left. Lu Yu washed the dishes, heated water again, and brought it to Jiang Nian, who was sitting on the bed.

“Lock the door tonight. If someone knocks on the door, don’t open it without saying anything. If it’s urgent, call Commander Song next door. He’ll come to the dormitory to find me.”

Jiang Nian nodded lightly, “Alright.”

“Also,” Lu Yu cleared his throat and glanced at Jiang Nian’s bed, “Make sure to cover yourself with the blanket at night. It’s not very cold now, but it gets chilly by nightfall.”

Jiang Nian’s heart trembled, looking at Lu Yu’s cold and handsome face. Suddenly, she felt a sense of reluctance.

She smiled faintly, “I will.”

After Lu Yu left, Jiang Nian quickly took a shower and crawled into bed. Whether it was because she knew Lu Yu wouldn’t be there at night or for some other reason, Jiang Nian found herself unable to sleep again. She felt the house was eerily empty, and it wasn’t until midnight that she slowly drifted off, only to be awakened by footsteps the next morning.

Jiang Nian was stunned for a moment, got up, and pulled back the curtains. She saw Lu Yu fetching water in the yard, with the courtyard gate left open.

Without thinking, she knew Lu Yu had climbed over the wall again and left the courtyard gate open.

By the time Jiang Nian got up, Lu Yu had already prepared the meal. After freshening up, she sat on a stool, planning to wake up earlier the next morning.

After breakfast, Lu Yu went to the regiment. Jiang Nian and Feng Mei carried baskets to the vegetable plot to work. They rushed back by noon to prepare lunch, but Lu Yu still hadn’t returned. Jiang Nian ran to the wall and stood on a stump, looking towards Feng Mei’s courtyard. “Sister Feng, has Commander Song returned?”

Just as she finished speaking, Commander Song came out wearing a coat, holding a bowl. Spotting Jiang Nian peeking over the wall, he chuckled, “‘Hey, why are you copying Meizi and lurking by the wall?”

Jiang Nian: …

Feng Mei leaned out of the kitchen window, “Why are you gossiping? Just say if you’ve seen Deputy Commander Lu.”

Commander Song said to Jiang Nian, “As soon as he came out, he went to the vegetable plot.”

“Thank you, Commander Song.”

Jiang Nian jumped down from the stump, quickly packed the food into an aluminum lunchbox, and headed towards the vegetable plot. However, as she turned the corner along the shaded path, she saw Tang Ze and Sun Ying walking towards her.

The two seemed to be in conversation. Tang Ze smiled, while Sun Ying pursed her lips in silence.

To be honest, Jiang Nian felt quite complicated seeing Sun Ying now.

Previously, she had always thought of Sun Ying as the female lead of her story, the woman who possessed all the highlights and perfectly complemented the male lead Lu Yu in every aspect. She had even tried to matchmake them, feeling that Sun Ying deserved the best in life, including Lu Yu. But after dreaming of the subsequent plot that night, Jiang Nian’s goodwill towards Sun Ying had disappeared in an instant.

She had no right to judge Sun Ying, much less speak ill of her. It was just that seeing Sun Ying again made Jiang Nian feel uneasy, especially when she thought of the relationship between Lu Yu and Sun Ying in the book.

Initially, Jiang Nian had only intended to nod and greet them before leaving, but Tang Ze stopped her. “Younger Sister, is Deputy Commander Lu at home?”

Sun Ying, carrying a black shoulder bag with a white blouse dotted with black circles inside, draped with a gardenia-colored coat, with two braids tied with small flowers, perfectly groomed. Sun Ying looked at Jiang Nian, her charming beauty spot under her right eye, her voice pleasant, “Hello, can you take me to see Deputy Commander Lu? I need to talk to him about something.”

In fact, she had come several times before but was always stopped by the military guard outside. Deputy Commander Lu had never seen her. Every time she left disappointed. If it weren’t for Captain Tang helping her sign this time, she would have left disappointed again.

Now that she was inside, if Jiang Nian refused to take her to see Lu Yu and the military wives passing by heard about it, the entire family quarters might spread rumors the next day. They might say that the sister-in-law had destroyed Deputy Commander Lu’s marriage and barred a comrade who wanted to see him from entering.

Jiang Nian hated being put in such a position where she had to agree.

She nodded, “Follow me.”

With that, she led the way ahead.

Seeing the cold indifference hidden in Jiang Nian’s eyes, Sun Ying pursed her lips, lowered her head, and her displeasure was evident. She followed Jiang Nian and Tang Ze, harboring some resentment towards Jiang Nian. It hadn’t started this way, but since that incident at the hospital when Deputy Commander Lu scolded her for a needle injection, she had harbored some resentment towards Jiang Nian.

No one had ever said anything bad about her from childhood to adulthood. Even her parents were exceptionally fond of her.

This was the first time she had tripped up in front of someone.

“Are you a nurse at the county hospital?” Tang Ze occasionally glanced at Sun Ying, finally remembering where he had seen her before. It was in November, during the winter, when a soldier in the camp accidentally fell and injured his head. Tang Ze took her to the county hospital, where she bandaged the soldier’s wound.

Sun Ying didn’t expect the other person to know about her work and didn’t hide it. “Yes.”

The two chatted casually in the back and arrived at the vegetable plot in no time. There, Jiang Nian immediately spotted Lu Yu, who had already finished planting seedlings. The man wore a work vest over his military jacket, neatly folded on the ground.

Tang Ze pointed to Lu Yu, “That’s Deputy Commander Lu.”

“Lu Yu.”

Jiang Nian called out.

Following Tang Ze’s direction, Sun Ying saw Lu Yu standing in the distance. The man was tall and straight, with a commanding presence. His figure was just like in her dreams, but what struck her was the smile on his handsome face as he turned to look at Jiang Nian. It was a tender smile tinged with a hint of indulgence she had never seen in her dreams.

Sun Ying unconsciously looked at Jiang Nian standing at the edge of the field. Her face gradually tightened.

“It’s time to eat.” Jiang Nian held the aluminum lunchbox and saw Lu Yu’s forehead beaded with sweat. “I brought water. Wash your face and have a drink.”

“Okay.”

Lu Yu bent down, bowed his back, and took the water poured from the thermos by Jiang Nian to wash his face and then took a big gulp of water.

Watching the scene of the two of them together, Sun Ying felt they didn’t look like brother-in-law and sister-in-law but more like a loving couple.

Sun Ying’s fingers tightened around the strap of her shoulder bag. In her dreams, Lu Yu had never smiled so gently before. She looked at Lu Yu and walked forward.

She whispered, “Deputy Commander Lu.”

Lu Yui continued washing his face without stopping, his tone changing from earlier warmth to cold indifference. “I have no connection with this female comrade.” He stood up, wiping the water from his eyes with his arm, his gaze icy and merciless. “So please don’t keep coming to the barracks to find me. Otherwise, I’ll go to the hospital to tell your leaders how you’ve been affecting and troubling me.”

He spoke without any mercy.

Jiang Nian was stunned for a moment and looked at Lu Yu in surprise.

Sun Ying’s beautiful eyes immediately welled up with tears, gathering pitifully in her eye sockets. Her tears threatened to fall, making the small red mole below her right eye appear even more enchanting and seductive. The author seemed to have concentrated all the beauty of women on the main character, Sun Ying, and Sun Ying herself had displayed it to the fullest extent.

Whenever she showed such an expression, no one could bear to say anything to her again. They all wished to hold her in the palm of their hand.

Jiang Nian: …

Seriously, just looking at her made her heart ache.

Not just her, Tang Ze also frowned. “Deputy Commander Lu, the female comrade just wants to see you for something, why are you so fierce?”

Lu Yu took the aluminum lunch box from Jiang Nian’s hand and sat directly under the tree. Without even looking at Sun Ying, he said, “I have no connection with her.”

Jiang Nian walked to the opposite side of Lu Yu and hesitated for a moment before whispering, “Maybe she has something important to talk to you about?”

She remembered that Sun Ying had come before New Year’s, but Lu Yu had never met her.

What could be so important that Sun Ying persisted in looking for him from the end of one year to the beginning of another?

Lu Yu lifted his gaze to Jiang Nian. Seeing the curiosity in her eyes, he furrowed his brow and lowered his head again to unscrew the lid. Sun Ying turned to look at Lu Yu under the tree and said plaintively, “I just wanted to ask you, do we know each other from before?”

She reminded him, “We met on the train. Do you remember?”

Lu Yu’s tone remained as cold and indifferent as ever. “You’re mistaken. I was on the train with my sister-in-law. I don’t know anyone else.”

This “anyone else” naturally included Sun Ying.

Sun Ying couldn’t hold back her tears. She had planned to clarify everything with Deputy CommanderbLu alone, one thing at a time, but now that there were others around and Deputy Commander Lu had rebuffed her so coldly, all her anger dissipated in an instant. She recounted a scene she had dreamed about on the train, only to receive such an answer.

In fact, she should have realized earlier that it was just a ridiculous dream of hers.

How did it get involved in reality?

Now, being coldly rejected by Deputy Commander Lu, Sun Ying not only gave up hope but also felt particularly wronged. She covered her mouth and ran back crying. Tang Ze pointed at Lu Yu, “Don’t you know how to be gentle with women?”

After saying this, he chased after Sun Ying.

In fact, when Sun Ying asked if she knew him on the train, Jiang Nian was stunned.

The first meeting of the male and female leads was on the train!

Jiang Nian’s heart skipped a beat, and she turned her head to look at the person who had already run far away, unable to help but sigh: Could it be that Sun Ying has memories from a past life?

“Sister-in-law.”

Jiang Nian’s thoughts were all on Sun Ying, so she didn’t hear Lu Yu calling her until she saw a close-up of his handsome face. She regained her senses, but before she could say anything, she saw Lu Yu raise his hand and touched her forehead: “It’s a little dirty.”

His breath sprayed on her face as he spoke, and their distance was so close that they could almost kiss if they moved a little closer. Thinking back to the day in the kitchen when her lips accidentally brushed against the side of Lu Yu’s face, Jiang Nian’s face turned red again. Feeling the gentle tap on her forehead, she realized what had happened and stepped back two steps, lowering her head and patting her forehead, saying, “It must have been the wind just now.”

Lu Yu looked down to eat, his eyes filled with a smile. “Maybe.”

After Lu Yu finished eating and went to the field, seeing Jiang Nian rolling up her sleeves to come in, he stopped her. “Don’t come over, I’ll be done in a moment. Go back and rest.”

“It’s okay.”

Jiang Nian rolled up her sleeves. “Two people working will be faster.”

In a moment, they finished planting the seedlings. Lu Yu washed his hands clean, shook out his military uniform and put it on, watching Jiang Nian’s reddened face and sweaty forehead. He resisted the impulse to wipe her sweat. “Go back.”

Jiang Nian nodded. “Mm.”

She walked with Lu Yu to the corner, and the two parted ways. When Jiang Nian passed by the military guard office, there was no sign of Sun Ying.

She returned home, washed her face, took a nap, and then continued embroidering. 

When Lu Yu came back in the evening to water the fields, Jiang Nian had finished making dinner after he had finished his work.