Chapter 25: “You Don’t Even Have a Wife, So You Wouldn’t Understand”

Ling Hansong paused for a moment, then quickly smiled. “Commissar’s sister-in-law’s younger sister, right? Is there something I can help you with?”

Ge Hongxia lowered her head and shuffled forward slowly.

She first glanced at Xiao Zheng but said nothing.

Xiao Zheng was baffled.

Seeing him standing there like a statue, Ge Hongxia grew a little embarrassed and annoyed. This man not only beats his wife but has no social awareness at all—thank goodness I didn’t marry him!

Left with no choice, she took out what she’d been hiding behind her back and, in front of Xiao Zheng, held out a jar of pickled vegetables to Ling Hansong.

“D-Director Ling, my sister asked me to give this to you. She said… said you live alone and don’t have anyone to cook for you. You must be tired of cafeteria food… This kind of pickle is a specialty from our hometown, very refreshing…”

Ling Hansong felt a headache coming on.

The moment Ge Hongxia stopped him, he had a bad feeling. Not long ago, Yu Baoshan had discreetly hinted that he wanted to pair him up with Ge Hongxia.

But Ling Hansong wasn’t interested.

Ge Hongxia was decent, sure—but she didn’t meet his criteria for a wife at all.

So he had already politely but firmly declined.

After that, Yu Baoshan never brought it up again, and Ling Hansong assumed the matter was settled.

“Uh…” Ling Hansong thought for a moment, then said, “I appreciate the Commissar’s sister-in-law’s kindness, but I live in the single officers’ dormitory. My roommate’s got a greedy mouth—if I take this back, he’ll steal it all within three days. I’d better not accept it. Please thank her for me.”

“Huh?”

Ge Hongxia hadn’t expected him to refuse. He seemed so much more approachable than Deputy Division Commander Xiao, and when she gave food to Xiao before under the same pretense, he always accepted it.

But Ling Hansong had already grabbed Xiao Zheng and walked away, not giving her any time to react.

Once they were a good distance away, Xiao Zheng asked, “That Commissar’s sister-in-law’s younger sister giving you pickles—don’t you think she’s got something else in mind?”

“You noticed too?” Ling Hansong sighed. “Commissar Yu talked to me before, said he wanted to match me with his wife’s younger sister. But I just don’t think we’re suitable.”

Xiao Zheng said nothing.

He remembered how, when Ge Hongxia first arrived, she’d done the same—bringing him things under various excuses. Back then, he hadn’t thought much of it. He really believed it was Ge Hongying showing him kindness, so he accepted a batch of steamed buns once and even went to the Yu family’s place for dinner at her invitation.

But looking back now, something didn’t sit right.

But I’m a married man—with a kid, even…

“Crap!” Xiao Zheng suddenly exclaimed, stopping in his tracks.

Ling Hansong looked confused. “What’s wrong?”

Xiao Zheng glanced back toward home, a cold sweat breaking out on his back.

No wonder his wife had asked him a few days ago, out of the blue, “If we got divorced, would you marry Ge Hongxia?” She must have sensed something.

Ling Hansong asked, “Well? What is it?”

Xiao Zheng let out a long sigh. “You don’t even have a wife, so you wouldn’t understand.”

Ling Hansong: “…” Sometimes, he really wanted to punch someone.

—

Elsewhere, Ge Hongxia stood in place for a long time after Ling Hansong left.

She felt incredibly disappointed.

Compared to the feelings she’d slowly developed for Xiao Zheng only after Ge Hongying constantly talked him up, she had liked Ling Hansong at first sight.

He was kind, approachable, knowledgeable, and handsome—everything she had ever imagined in a husband.

The less someone has, the more they yearn for it.

Ge Hongxia had never had an education, so she was especially drawn to someone educated like Ling Hansong.

—

After two days of work, the cellar and toilet were both complete.

Families from the Courtyard came to visit.

They didn’t care much about the toilet, but the cellar fascinated them. Many started discussing how they wanted one too.

Soon, a trend of digging cellars swept through the entire Courtyard.

The soldiers from the engineering unit were swamped with requests.

Wen Xueman was a bit of an outlier—she didn’t dig a cellar, only had a toilet installed.

An Huan was delighted to find someone with similar priorities and shared her blueprint with Wen Xueman, even telling her where to buy materials.

This sudden surge of construction gave Ge Hongying a new target for her complaints. “It’s all her fault! She started this trend! Now the whole Courtyard is turning bourgeois!”

Yu Baoshan had a headache listening to this. He didn’t understand why Ge Hongying was so against An Huan when they weren’t even rivals. If anything, building a good relationship with Xiao Zheng and An Huan would be mutually beneficial.

“What’s so bourgeois about digging a cellar? Every household in my hometown has one!” Yu Baoshan snapped, shaking his newspaper.

Ge Hongying choked on her own words, then got even angrier. “You’re the Commissar! You should be handling this sort of thing. Instead, you’re speaking up for her? Your thinking is the problem!”

Yu Baoshan slammed the newspaper on the table and stood up. “You’re getting more unreasonable with age! And about Hongxia—I already told you, Ling Hansong’s not interested. Yet you keep pushing her onto him. What if she ruins her reputation? Who will you cry to then?”

With that, he turned and went into his room.

Ge Hongying’s chest heaved with rage.

She realized she and Yu Baoshan had been arguing constantly lately.

This man always took the outsider’s side and had nothing but disdain for her.

Ge Hongying ground her teeth.

She wasn’t some housewife dependent on a man.

She had power in her own hands.

The next day, Ge Hongying went to work at the Women’s Federation. She glanced at a personnel file on her desk, then picked up the phone.

“This military family member recommended by the Organization Department can’t be accepted. Her family background is problematic…”