Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Making Zhou Lixiao Write a Pledge Jiang Zhenni returned to her room and dawdled as she opened her suitcase, taking out the bedsheets she had brought from home. She couldn’t stand the yellowed white sheets the guesthouse had washed, or the patches of peeling paint on the wall beside the bed. Sitting on the made bed, she studied the peeling wall and wondered whether she should bother Zhou Lixiao to find some newspaper and paste over it. With the paint coming off like that, she’d lie awake worrying it would fall onto the bed. Jiang Mingyue came over wearing a pale green dress. She had let her hair down and put a white barrette on top of her head. It looked as though she had taken care to dress up. Jiang Zhenni glanced at her, then went back to staring at the peeling patches. With her hands behind her back, Jiang Mingyue turned around once. Then she looked at Jiang Zhenni’s suitcase and said, a little enviously, “Your godmother really treats you well. She prepared such a huge suitcase for you, and packed it with so many clothes, too.” Jiang Zhenni turned around and looked at her quietly. “Really?” “Of course. Look, the suitcase I brought isn’t even a third the size of yours, and I only brought a few sets of clothes…” Before Jiang Mingyue could finish, Jiang Zhenni got up and headed outside. Jiang Mingyue hurried after her. “Where are you going?” Jiang Zhenni said nothing. She walked straight to Jiang Mingyue’s room, kicked the door open, and went in. Before Jiang Mingyue could react, Jiang Zhenni had already picked up her open suitcase from the floor and shaken it hard. A small pearl-white purse fell out. Jiang Mingyue tried to snatch it back, but Jiang Zhenni was quicker. She grabbed it, unzipped it, and pulled out a wad of cash and ration coupons. Then she looked at Jiang Mingyue with scorn. “My mother packed a whole suitcase of clothes for me, but gave you all the money and ration coupons in the house. Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?” Jiang Mingyue’s face went pale. “Godmother was afraid you’d waste the money, so she didn’t give it to you… What are you doing?!” She shrieked as she watched Jiang Zhenni take all the ten-yuan notes, then more than half of the ration coupons. “Jiang Zhenni, those are mine!” Jiang Zhenni couldn’t be bothered to answer. She threw the remaining small bills and a few ration coupons at Jiang Mingyue’s face. “I told you not to provoke me. You just wouldn’t listen!” She left with the money and ration coupons, satisfied—but her heart felt so heavy she wanted to cry. They were her real parents, yet everything had changed ever since Jiang Mingyue came along. She didn’t want to get married, but her parents were forcing her. She didn’t want to come suffer in the border regions, either. She packed everything she could bring into her suitcase, and her mother scolded her for being spoiled and unable to bear even a little hardship. Meanwhile, Jiang Mingyue had put on an act, saying she was here to work and build herself up, not to enjoy herself, so she should travel light. Her mother had immediately felt sorry for her and stuffed all the money and ration coupons in the house into Jiang Mingyue’s hands. Jiang Zhenni blinked, forcing down the frustration in her chest and the tears in her eyes. She gave the money and ration coupons in her hand a little shake. She couldn’t change the story’s plot, but she could be good to herself. She looked up and saw Zhou Lixiao standing not far away, hands behind his back, watching her quietly. Jiang Zhenni stuffed the money haphazardly into her dress pocket, blinked hard to hold back the tears about to spill, and walked calmly toward him. As the Special Operations Battalion’s Battalion Commander, Zhou Lixiao had not only unusually sharp instincts, but excellent eyesight as well. Even from a distance, he could see that Jiang Zhenni was upset. When she came closer, he immediately noticed the moisture in her beautiful eyes and the faint redness at their corners. Zhou Lixiao raised an eyebrow. “Have you been crying?” Jiang Zhenni shot him a reproachful look. “No. Did you need something?” Zhou Lixiao didn’t press her. He tightened his grip on the marriage application behind his back. “I’m going to submit the marriage application. I came to ask what you think first. If you have no objections, I’ll go find a leader to sign and stamp it now.” In fact, Political Commissar Jiao Guoliang had already been preparing to sign and stamp the application. That was simply how marriage applications were handled now. As long as the woman brought her political review form, even if the couple were meeting for the first time, the marriage was as good as settled. If she didn’t agree, the process would never have reached the political review stage. Zhou Lixiao had stopped the political commissar because he wanted to ask Jiang Zhenni himself and respect her choice. Jiang Zhenni lowered her eyes and fell silent. In her dream, her husband eventually fell in love with Jiang Mingyue. Then there had been the coldness after the wedding, and the suffocating despair of dying. A dull ache rose in her heart again. She couldn’t change her fate of getting married, so she had to secure the best possible terms for herself in this marriage. She couldn’t let herself end up like she had in the dream, trapped in a cold marriage and dying in pain and despair. Zhou Lixiao didn’t rush her. He quietly watched Jiang Zhenni, head bowed in thought. After considering it for a while, Jiang Zhenni looked up at him, her gaze clear. “After we get married, you won’t get involved with another woman or fall for someone else, will you?” For the first time, shock showed on Zhou Lixiao’s face. He could never have imagined that after thinking it over for so long, Jiang Zhenni would come out with such a startling question. His eyes darkened a little as he stared at her porcelain-pale face. His expression was serious, his tone solemn. “I won’t.” Jiang Zhenni nodded. “All right, then. Let’s get married.” Zhou Lixiao was just about to hand her the application to look over when she continued languidly, “But you have to write me a pledge. If you fall for someone else after we’re married, we’ll divorce. Then all your money and ration coupons will go to me, and you’ll have to compensate me with a large sum of money.” Looking at Jiang Zhenni’s utterly earnest expression, Zhou Lixiao couldn’t help laughing in exasperation. They weren’t even married yet, and she kept bringing up him getting involved with other women after the wedding. Why was she so certain he would fall for someone else once they were married? Still, he had to admit, for all that she looked soft, gentle, and easy to bully, she had quite a few tricks up her sleeve. She knew how to look out for herself. She really was like Xiaotangyuan: white on the outside, dark within. Jiang Zhenni pressed her lips together. Seeing Zhou Lixiao’s faintly raised mouth and his half-amused, half-teasing expression, she made her tone even more serious. “If you’re not willing, forget it. Just write me a letter of proof, and I’ll go home.” “I’m willing! I’ll write it when I go back for the meeting now. I’ll bring it over after we’re done, all right?” Zhou Lixiao agreed at once. He was beginning to find that the girl before him wasn’t just pretty—she was interesting, too. The more he saw of her, the more intriguing she became. He glanced at the time. “I’m off. Wait for me, okay?” Jiang Zhenni watched Zhou Lixiao run off, feeling a little more at ease. Zhou Lixiao was a soldier. Once he signed the pledge, he would definitely pay up. With that money, she could take even better care of herself! And whoever he chose to love had absolutely nothing to do with her! Satisfied and in a better mood, Jiang Zhenni headed back to her room, practically skipping. Jiang Mingyue had originally wanted to run after her and demand the money back, but when she saw Zhou Lixiao standing in the courtyard, she quickly stopped. She leaned by the window and watched the two of them standing in the courtyard, talking about something. She could only see Zhou Lixiao leaning slightly toward Jiang Zhenni, his gaze fixed on her as she spoke. She could tell that Zhou Lixiao liked Jiang Zhenni. Jiang Mingyue clenched her fists, resentment and malice in her eyes. Jiang Zhenni was a useless fool. What made her think she deserved him?! Jiang Mingyue could still do what she had done in Southern Jiangsu: make everyone think Jiang Zhenni was a lazy, selfish, flirtatious fool! Then everyone would be fawning over Jiang Mingyue instead! … At the regiment’s educational meeting that afternoon, Zhou Lixiao didn’t hear a single word. He kept silently calculating how much money he had. He hadn’t spent any of his pay or allowances over the years. When he went home on leave, his grandparents and relatives would stuff red envelopes into his hands, too. He probably had quite a bit. Zhou Lixiao suddenly snapped back to himself. Why was he calculating all that? It was as if he were bound to do something wrong after getting married. He uncapped his fountain pen and wrote the three words “Letter of Guarantee” in large, sweeping strokes in the middle of the letter paper. First Battalion Commander Ma Chao, sitting beside him, glanced over curiously. When he saw the words “Letter of Guarantee,” he was astonished. As soon as they had a break, Ma Chao hurried over. “Were you writing a letter of guarantee just now? Did your unit fail the assessment? Did the Regimental Commander punish you?” Zhou Lixiao covered the writing with his hand and glanced at Ma Chao. “You don’t even have a wife. You wouldn’t understand.” Ma Chao: “…” But that did remind Ma Chao of something. “I’ve never understood this. There are plenty of unmarried men in our regiment, and plenty around the military region, too. So why do they always have to go looking for someone surnamed Zhou? Is there some saying about your surname?”