Zhang Yi was taken aback for a moment, his eyes slightly moist. “The battalion commander is ill. Once he recovers, he’ll definitely come to see everyone.”  

The villagers quickly expressed their concern, offering whatever they could, but Zhang Yi politely declined each gesture.  

Xia Zhi silently observed the scene. The fact that the people held Lu Beiting in such high regard proved he was truly a good officer in their eyes. How could she bear to let such a man spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair?  

Taking a deep breath, Xia Zhi suddenly felt a sense of relief. “Zhang Yi, let’s go back.”  

Just as they turned to leave, they heard a commotion nearby.  

“Hey, young lady, how are you calculating the change? You shorted me by five li!”  

At a vegetable stall, an older woman clutched her purchases in one hand and counted the change in the other. Realizing the mistake, she immediately began scolding Hao Liping.  

Who knew if this was intentional or not?  

“Ah, sorry, sorry! I’ll make it up to you right away!” Flustered, Hao Liping hurriedly fumbled for the correct change, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.  

The more panicked she became, the more her calculations fell apart. It took her a long time to finally hand over the correct amount.  

“Sorry, sorry!” Hao Liping apologized, her eyes reddening with grievance..  

The woman inspected her vegetables, then grabbed the scale to weigh them herself. Her face darkened instantly. She tossed the vegetables back onto the stall and pointed an accusing finger at Hao Liping.  

“Hey, this isn’t right either—the weight is off! Young lady, do you even know how to sell vegetables? What kind of mess is this? Forget it, I don’t want them anymore. What a waste of time!”  

Other customers nearby, seeing this, promptly put down their selections. If the prices and weights were all wrong, who would dare buy anything?  

Watching her customers walk away one by one, Hao Liping’s eyes welled up with tears. It was just selling vegetables—why were there so many rules?  

“What’s going on?” Gu Yunshen rushed over upon hearing the noise. Seeing the vegetables scattered haphazardly, some even damaged, he frowned.  

The moment Hao Liping saw Gu Yunshen, she burst into tears. “Wuwuwu… So what if I miscalculated a few li? Was it necessary for them to be so harsh?”  

In her past life, she had never dealt with such trivial amounts. Larger sums were no problem, but these fractions of cents—who could keep track?  

Gu Yunshen sighed as Hao Liping sobbed uncontrollably, noticing the disapproving looks from the surrounding crowd. He quickly tried to calm her. “Alright, alright, I’ll handle it.”  

Helpless, he tidied up the stall and began calling out to attract customers. When he turned his head, he spotted Xia Zhi standing not far away, and his words caught in his throat.  

Back when Xia Zhi sold vegetables, he had never bothered to check on her. Sometimes, even when they came to the market together, he would finish his own errands and go straight home.  

Now that he thought about it, Xia Zhi had been far less trouble than Hao Liping. How could Hao Liping mess up something as simple as selling vegetables?  

Noticing Gu Yunshen’s sudden silence, Hao Liping followed his gaze—and saw Xia Zhi standing nearby.  

So Xia Zhi had witnessed her entire embarrassing display?  

Xia Zhi, observing Hao Liping’s expression, couldn’t resist walking over with a mocking smile. “That’s right, I saw everything. Hao Liping, if you can’t even do basic math, how do you expect to sell vegetables? Maybe you should just go home and farm instead.  

Oh wait—no, even farming would be too generous. You might as well go home, laze around, and live as a useless waste.”  

“You—!” Hao Liping stomped her foot in fury.  

Xia Zhi raised an eyebrow, her smile dripping with disdain as she shook her head. “Tsk, tsk.”  

Then, without another word, she walked past the two with Zhang Yi in tow.

Hao Liping watched as Zhang Yi carried a full load on his back and in his hands, her eyes instantly turning green with envy.  

How could Xia Zhi afford to buy so many things? And she even bought chickens! If raised properly, they could be slaughtered and eaten later.  

At the thought, Hao Liping couldn’t help but swallow hard. She tugged at Gu Yunshen’s arm. “Yunshen, let’s buy some chickens too!”  

Gu Yunshen frowned. “Liping, we still have so many vegetables left to sell. How can we afford chickens?”  

The little money they had made from selling vegetables wasn’t even enough to cover the travel expenses, let alone buy poultry.  

Hao Liping bit her lower lip in frustration.  

Gu Yunshen patted her back soothingly. “Liping, you’re a good girl. You understand our situation, right? Look at Xia Zhi—she spends money recklessly. Even if Lu Beiting has savings, she’ll squander them all sooner or later.”  

As he comforted Hao Liping, he also reassured himself—thank goodness he hadn’t married a spendthrift like Xia Zhi. With her spending habits, they’d have been bankrupt in no time.  

Hearing Gu Yunshen compare her favorably to Xia Zhi, Hao Liping blushed and swayed shyly. “Yunshen, don’t worry. I’d never be as wasteful as her!”  

The corners of Gu Yunshen’s lips curled slightly. “Mmm, I knew you were the sensible one. You’ve always said I’ll get into university someday. When that happens, I’ll treat you even better—I’ll buy you more things than Xia Zhi could ever dream of.”  

With just a few words, he had Hao Liping beaming with delight.  

…

Meanwhile, Xia Zhi returned to the truck and waited for the others to finish their shopping. Once everyone was back, the group set off for home.  

Hao Liping and Gu Yunshen, after finally selling all their vegetables, rushed back—only to find that Uncle Liu’s ox cart was already gone.  

“Yunshen, what do we do now? It’s almost dark—are we stuck here?”  

Hao Liping clung to his arm, then whispered in his ear, “Yunshen, there’s an inn in town. Maybe we could…”  

She gave him a meaningful look. Gu Yunshen immediately understood what she was hinting at—after all, their first time had been in an inn too.  

But he didn’t agree right away, instead hesitating. “Liping, I don’t have enough money for that.”  

“I do!” Seeing his reluctance waver, Hao Liping immediately latched onto his arm and confidently led him toward the inn.  

In her past life, she had been a widow for decades. This time, she was determined to enjoy herself.  

Ignoring the strange looks from passersby, the two embraced intimately as they checked into a room.  

…

Back at the military base, Xia Zhi and Zhang Yi returned together, followed by Xu Rufeng.  

Hearing the commotion at the door, Lu Beiting instinctively glanced outside—just in time to see Xia Zhi smiling at Xu Rufeng as she took the chicken coop from him.  

“Thank you, Squad Leader Xu. I only have a few candies to offer in return—I hope you don’t mind.”  

“Not at all, thank you.” Xu Rufeng accepted them with a warm smile, his eyes lingering on her fondly.  

Lu Beiting’s chest tightened as he watched Xia Zhi hand the candies to Xu Rufeng. Seeing the other man’s infatuated expression only made him more irritable.  

Perhaps it was the agitation, but his throat suddenly seized, sending him into a violent coughing fit.  

Cough! Cough! Cough—!

The noise quickly drew everyone’s attention.