Chapter 3: Family Members

Shen Qingqing hadn't intended to be embarrassed.

But once Jiang Zhixun said that, her palm-sized little face suddenly flared up with heat.

Her ears turned so red they looked as if they might drip blood.

That redness spread all the way down to her neck, hidden by her scarf.

Shen Qingqing hurriedly lowered her head, using the scarf as cover to quietly let out a breath.

She tried to restrain her feelings of shame.

Seeing her beet-red ears, Jiang Zhixun finally realized what he had said.

A look of regret flashed through his eyes.

Mixed with a hint of irritation.

The hand tucked in his trouser pocket tightened and then loosened; in the end, he said nothing and went to get food with his lunch box.

His comrades were also very uncomfortable.

Every single one of them regretted it deeply; if they had known, they wouldn't have come to watch the drama surrounding Jiang Zhixun.

At this moment, they could neither leave nor stay.

Leaving would make the female comrade embarrassed.

Staying... seemed even more awkward!

Lin Zhidong nudged them.

He smiled heartlessly, "Comrade Shen, we'll go get food first and come back to talk to you in a bit."

Without waiting for Shen Qingqing to respond, they slipped away, chasing after Jiang Zhixun.

This man really had no sense of loyalty.

He had almost driven the female comrade to tears, yet he was the one making a quick escape!

With no outsiders present, Shen Qingqing pulled her scarf aside and took large, gasping breaths.

Only then did the surging heat of her shame begin to dissipate.

She had thought Jiang Zhixun would treat her with cold indifference, but she hadn't expected him to make her lose face in front of others.

Shen Qingqing thought she could remain unmoved.

But the reality was that her eyes felt swollen, her nose stung, and she felt so wronged she wanted to cry.

She exhaled several heavy breaths.

Shen Qingqing told herself that once the divorce was finalized, it would be fine.

From now on, she would never see Jiang Zhixun again!

Seeing Shen Qingqing with her head lowered and her fingers pressing against the corners of her eyes.

Lin Zhidong, while getting food, bumped his shoulder against Jiang Zhixun's.

"Your sister didn't cry, did she?"

Jiang Zhixun gave a casual glance.

He answered a different question: "She isn't my sister."

Lin Zhidong's gaze became meaningful.

One moment she is, and the next she isn't—what exactly is he playing at?

"Even if she's not your sister, you can't bully a female comrade. You just haven't met someone like my wife; if you dared talk to her like that, she'd make you kneel on a washboard all night."

Jiang Zhixun's eyes turned cold. "What nonsense are you talking about? Can't even a bit of food shut your mouth?"

Instead of stopping, Lin Zhidong asked the question Jiang Zhixun had been avoiding.

"Have you and that female comrade ever been in a relationship?"

Jiang Zhixun had been transferred to the Great Northwest three years ago.

He was handsome, and he was an incredibly skilled fighter pilot.

The female comrades who liked him could form a line from the Northwest all the way to Beijing.

It was only natural that Comrade Shen liked him.

Over the past few years, Lin Zhidong had witnessed how Jiang Zhixun rejected female comrades.

Lin Zhidong's intuition told him that Jiang Zhixun's attitude toward this Comrade Shen was very abnormal.

It was as if he were deliberately bristling with thorns to prick her.

It didn't seem like enmity; rather, it felt like some sort of entanglement of love and hate.

Meeting Lin Zhidong's suspicious gaze, Jiang Zhixun's thin lips moved slightly, "You have a vivid imagination."

He and Shen Qingqing had a marriage certificate, but it was an arranged marriage; they truly had never been in a relationship.

Jiang Zhixun didn't know why Shen Qingqing had come.

But thinking of the phone call he had received not long ago, he already had a guess.

His mother had told him to have a child with Shen Qingqing.

Jiang Zhixun's expression grew increasingly irritable.

Every decision he had made in his life had followed the arrangements of his elders.

His one and only act of rebellion was applying for the transfer to the Great Northwest.

Three years had passed, and he still hadn't figured out how to handle his marriage with Shen Qingqing.

He had thought they would live their lives living apart, not interfering with one another.

He hadn't expected Shen Qingqing to come chasing after him.

His peace was broken, and the rebellion hidden in his heart quietly reared its head again.

Jiang Zhixun thought to himself that he had to find a way to send Shen Qingqing back to Beijing.

Being well off on their own sides was the best state for them.

"That's not right."

Lin Zhidong slapped his forehead. "If she wasn't your family member, could she have entered this place?"

Jiang Zhixun gave him a cold look.

It was that single look that confirmed the answer for Lin Zhidong. "Comrade Shen really is your family member?"

If she wasn't, why didn't he refute it?

A sister...

A "close" sister is just a sister with different parents and no blood relation!

While stealing glances at Shen Qingqing, Lin Zhidong asked suspiciously.

"You don't care for my boisterous biological sister, and you're so indifferent to someone as beautiful and gentle as Comrade Shen. Old Jiang, do you have some kind of problem?"

Jiang Zhixun gave him a chilling look, and Lin Zhidong stopped casting his gaze toward Shen Qingqing.

He patted Jiang Zhixun's shoulder. "Since she is your family member, be a bit better to her. Comrade Shen is a young woman, traveling all this way from Beijing; who knows how much hardship she's endured."

Jiang Zhixun became even more irritated.

"She's looking for trouble herself; I didn't ask her to come."

Lin Zhidong was choked up for a moment, then shook his head.

"Things are different now than they used to be. If a female comrade doesn't want to live with you, she might even bring up divorce. My wife brings it up several times a year; I don't even dare to make her angry. Look at how long it's been since you've gone home, yet Comrade Shen hasn't blamed you."

"On the contrary, the moment you see her, you give her a cold face. No wonder Comrade Shen would cry."

Lin Zhidong was an experienced man; he could tell the female comrade was truly aggrieved.

He said earnestly, "We won't meddle in your marital affairs, but if you have something to say to Comrade Shen, say it properly. Female comrades are thin-skinned; rein in your temper."

Having said that, he walked away with his lunch box.

He even called his comrades away, not going to the table where Shen Qingqing sat.

Many people had seen the commotion just now.

Jiang Zhixun was already a prominent figure, and many people paid attention to him.

Now, Shen Qingqing had also become the focus of the canteen.

Being stared at, Shen Qingqing felt as if she were sitting on needles, unable to eat her meal.

She had originally intended to discuss the divorce in the canteen, but now she couldn't bring herself to say it.

She packed the leftover steamed buns into her lunch box, intending to return to the guesthouse.

Jiang Zhixun sat down opposite her.

Though his cold, handsome face had suppressed its irritation, the aura of detachment only increased.

"Eat. Once you're finished, I'll take you to the train station."

After saying that, he began to eat on his own.

Due to a habit formed over many years, he ate very quickly.

But it didn't give off a sense of coarseness.

On the contrary, because his looks were so good and his temperament clearly marked him as someone not ordinary, the sight of him eating heartily was actually quite pleasing to the eye.

Back when she was at an age of innocence, Shen Qingqing had also secretly observed the way Jiang Zhixun ate.

At this moment, she did not let her gaze fall on him, her fingers subconsciously picking at the lid of her aluminum lunch box.

"I have something important to discuss with you. When you're finished eating, can you go to the guesthouse with me?"

Jiang Zhixun had to go back to Beijing with her before they could obtain the divorce certificate.

His job was specialized; he couldn't just leave whenever he wanted.

If he didn't go back to Beijing, she would stay here and wear him down.

This time, she absolutely had to get a divorce!

(End of Chapter)