Chapter 8: 8. Chapter 8: Saved Someone on a Whim

Chapter 8: Saving Someone on a Whim

The river was very wide. The water on both sides was calm, but the current in the middle was swift.

The group of teenagers wanted to go over and save the person, but their stamina simply wouldn't allow it.

Just as they were a dozen meters away from reaching the person who had fallen into the water, the rapids blocked their path.

These boys were gradually becoming exhausted.

"Hui-ge, I'm so tired!"

"I don't think I can swim any further either."

The two younger boys spoke up first.

The boy leading the way, watching the person drift away not far in front of him while being unable to take another step forward, slapped the surface of the water in frustration.

"We did our best."

His brothers had come out to play with him; he couldn't let anything happen to them.

Xu Guohui turned around, just about to lead his friends back to the shore, when he saw a real "white streak in the waves"!

"Holy crap!" He couldn't help but blurt out a curse.

"Isn't that 'Dumb-egg'?"

The others were also stunned.

The person swimming at such high speed, seemingly completely unaffected by the current and the rapids, wasn't that the very same "Dumb-egg" that Mao-dan had just said didn't even know what swimming was?

How was she so capable?

Mao-dan, on the shore, was also dumbfounded.

Dumb-egg could actually swim? And she swam so fast?

Mao-dan’s pride as a young man was crushed to pieces by Jiang Tang, who was speeding through the water.

Jiang Tang had already passed Xu Hui and the others, chased forward for about twenty meters, and grabbed the drowning person.

He Wenxun still had some consciousness left.

Upon realizing he was being rescued, he began to flail about, grabbing at his savior like a drowning man clutching at a straw.

Jiang Tang had only just learned to swim and this was her first time saving someone; she had no experience.

She didn't know what to do.

In the distance, Xu Hui saw this and shouted loudly for her to wrap her arm around He Wenxun’s neck and drag him back from behind.

Jiang Tang didn't hear him clearly.

But seeing the gesture of them holding their necks, she frowned.

She circled behind He Wenxun, raised her elbow, and with one clean, swift chop, knocked him unconscious.

The people in the distance...

Maybe this Dumb-egg really did have something wrong with her brain.

Jiang Tang didn't know they were looking down on her; she was just following the movements she had seen them demonstrate.

But then again, these children sure knew a lot!

It was much easier after knocking him out.

With one arm hooked around He Wenxun’s neck to keep his face above water, and her other hand and feet kicking rapidly, she reached the shore before long.

"Holy crap, this Dumb-egg is going to be my big sister from now on."

One of Xu Hui’s friends spoke up.

Xu Hui was also impressed to the point of prostration.

Seeing that she had already dragged the person past them, they quickly swam toward the shore as well.

They tried their best to speed up, but they couldn't catch up to Jiang Tang.

By the time they were exhausted, Jiang Tang had already dumped He Wenxun on the bank.

Mao-dan ran over in three or four steps, imitating the scenes from comic books, and reached out to check He Wenxun’s nose and mouth.

"He’s actually still alive!"

He was stunned.

Dumb-egg had clearly been choking the guy by the neck while swimming all that way, so how was he still breathing?

Jiang Tang saw Mao-dan staring at her blankly, and she blinked.

"Big brother..."

Mao-dan turned to look at Xu Hui and the others in the water.

Jiang Tang lifted her feet to leave, picking up her reeds to head off.

It was getting late; she still had to go home to weave a fence for her vegetable patch and dig the soil to plant vegetables.

"Hey, Dumb... ah, no... comrade..."

Seeing Jiang Tang about to leave, Mao-dan hurriedly called out to her, "You're just leaving?"

Jiang Tang turned back, puzzled. "Do you want to help me carry the reeds?"

Mao-dan...

Jiang Tang left the riverside and carried the large bundle of reeds back to the family quarters.

She had learned to swim today; she would definitely tell Lu Changzheng all about it when she saw him tonight.

At the camp.

Lu Changzheng took the appointment letter from his superior and gave a solemn military salute.

The old commander nodded slightly, his gaze filled with affection. "I heard your partner has arrived. When will you be submitting your marriage application?"

"Commander..."

Lu Changzheng had long expected this day would come.

Jiang Tang couldn't live in the family quarters without a proper status...

If he didn't submit the marriage application soon, he would be committing a breach of principle.

Lu Changzheng thought for a moment and replied cautiously, "I will write it when I get back."

"You kid, you must remember that you are no longer just a battalion commander; you need to be even more mindful of your every action."

The old commander liked Lu Changzheng very much.

For this subordinate who was excellent in every aspect, he didn't want him to make even the slightest mistake.

"Please rest assured, Commander."

Lu Changzheng saluted, then turned and walked out of the office.

On the way, he ran into Wu Yong from the neighboring battalion. He came up and patted Lu Changzheng on the arm. "What’s the word? Double happiness is coming; when are you going to treat your brothers to a drink?"

The first happiness was the promotion; the second, naturally, was the marriage.

Lu Changzheng glanced at Wu Yong beside him. "Do you think I’d short you a drink?"

"I’m holding you to that!"

"I won't short you."

The two walked out while talking.

At the family quarters.

Jiang Tang arrived home with the reeds, and her clothes had already dried.

She knocked on the gate of the neighboring Political Commissar Xu’s house.

"Sister-in-law, Sister-in-law."

Zhang Hongying wasn't teaching today; she was inside taking care of her child. Hearing Jiang Tang’s voice, she walked out.

"Little Jiang, come in quickly."

Zhang Hongying smiled and walked up to her.

Jiang Tang also revealed a smile.

Her social interactions were all learned from others; she did whatever she saw others doing.

The original memories of this body didn't leave much behind, so the little ginseng had to start by imitating others to learn how to be human.

Things like knocking before entering or greeting people—she had seen Lu Changzheng do them, so she kept them in her heart.

Arriving next door, she stood obediently and greeted Zhang Hongying before stating her purpose.

"I want to see how this fence is woven."

She wanted to weave a fence to enclose her vegetable patch, but she couldn't do it without a model.

However, once she understood it, she would be like a veteran who had done it a thousand times.

Zhang Hongying thought it was something else, and she laughed when she heard Jiang Tang’s request.

"Take a look, there’s nothing special about a fence."

As she spoke, she teased Jiang Tang, saying that Lu Changzheng had truly married the right person.

"I’ve never seen a girl as capable as you, Little Jiang."

Squatting by the fence, Jiang Tang watched how the fence turned corners and how the reeds were woven together until she understood it clearly. She stood up to thank her.

She prepared to go back to her own house to work.

Just as she stepped out of Zhang Hongying’s house, she was stopped by a group of people.

"Dumb-egg, Dumb-egg!"

Mao-dan’s voice was exceptionally loud.

It was precisely because Jiang Tang remembered his tone that she stopped in her tracks when Mao-dan called out, tilting her head slightly to look at the group of people rushing over.

Zhang Hongying also came out of her courtyard.

"These children, what kind of way is that to address someone?" As a primary school teacher, she frowned immediately upon seeing her students being so impolite.

The brats who had rushed over in a flurry all wilted the moment they saw their teacher.

They stood obediently to the side, not daring to say a word.

He Wenxun walked out from the crowd, his eyes lighting up visibly when he saw Jiang Tang.

"Is this the comrade who saved me from the water?"

(End of chapter)