Chapter 100: The Will to Fight (1.3)

One hundred chapters, heh. A perfect completion.

As Brother Li said, the story has been getting watery. In truth, it is not really; it is just that life in the barracks is hard to write about, and while writing it I did feel it dragging, so these past few days I deliberately kept to three updates a day. Besides, in a book of several million words, one cannot keep clinging to the main thread forever. Side plots and detailed descriptions, I think, are not really a problem. Of course, I should thank Brother Li, the devoted reader, for the reminder. Since the current material was written last month, I have been revising it every day, and in the writing ahead I will pay attention to this issue.

Long Fei said with a somewhat serious expression, “I heard you’re about to leave the army and be reassigned to civilian life, is that right?”

As soon as that was mentioned, Wu Song seemed to deflate a little, and said somewhat dejectedly, “Yeah.”

“From the way you say it, it sounds like you don’t really want to go,” Long Fei said.

“Who would be willing to leave the barracks? After all these years here, you grow attached to it. Besides, someone like me, if I really went back to civilian life, what could I even do? I know my own temperament well enough. I’m terrible at handling people and relationships, and because I’m too straightforward I’ve offended a lot of people. Otherwise I wouldn’t have ended up being reassigned. That’s still while I’m in the army. If I went out into society, I’d probably offend even more people. By then I might really struggle just to make a living,” Wu Song sighed, his tone somewhat lost.

Long Fei paused. It seemed this fellow understood himself quite well, with some real self-awareness. So he smiled and said, “A proper man like you could never fall that low. What I admire most is your honesty. Tell you what—if that day ever really comes, you can follow me from then on. I’ll make sure you have no worries about your future. At the very least, getting you a wife and a happy little family will be no problem.”

“Really?” Wu Song had never regarded Long Fei as an ordinary student; he had always taken him to be a distant relative of Luo Hongli. Now that he had Long Fei’s approval, he was thrilled beyond measure. Thinking of how Luo Hongli had come out of the military compound of the capital’s garrison command, how could Long Fei’s relative be anything ordinary? If he were truly far beneath that standard, would Luo Hongli have gone out of his way to accommodate him?

“Of course it’s true,” Long Fei said gravely.

“To be honest, I’m almost thirty now. My parents were born in the countryside, and my younger brothers and sisters are all married already. I’m the only one still single, hehe.” Wu Song let out a sigh.

Long Fei laughed. “Being single is great. Damn right it is. A bachelor can drink, a bachelor can smoke, and the benefits of being single—there are too many to count!”

He sang the words in a Shaanxi opera style, and it carried a distinctive flavor.

Ever since the last time she had quietly stood on a certain balcony and watched Long Fei leave, Ye Qian had not slept peacefully once. Of course, it was not because she feared being kidnapped again; before Long Fei appeared, she had slept just fine.

Going to school each day was still bearable, with classmates keeping her company, so she did not feel irritated. But every day when school ended and she returned home, time seemed to slow to a crawl. Especially at night, when she lay down early in bed, even if she counted sheep to one hundred thousand, her eyes still remained wide open, completely sleepless.

At such times Ye Qian would get up from bed, take out her phone, and stare at Long Fei’s number. She really wanted to call him and curse him out, but again and again she abandoned the idea. She simply wanted to see whether Long Fei, with Liu Ruoyi by his side, would be so happy he forgot all about her. So silently, she had begun to contend with him.

A week passed like this.

Ye Wentian seemed less busy lately. In any case, he was at home every day, and over the course of the week he personally came to school three times to pick up Ye Qian. In the past, that would have been nearly impossible. Yet Ye Qian paid no attention to such details. Her mind was filled with Long Fei’s shadow. Even when she slept at night, she might unconsciously mutter curses at him until dawn.

Missing someone is painful. Missing someone who, in turn, ignores you is even more painful.

Fortunately, Ye Qian still had one thing to do: she dutifully brewed her herbal medicine every day. Only the matter of enhancing her figure could still stir even a small spark of interest in her. Whenever she was bored, she would daydream and tell herself that she absolutely had to keep taking the medicine; when Long Fei returned home from the army, her chest would surely have grown enormous, bigger even than Fengjie’s. She could already imagine the astonished, lascivious look in Long Fei’s eyes, and it would be absolutely classic. And she had already decided that by then, even if Long Fei turned around and chased after her, no matter how sweetly he spoke, she would never let him touch her, hmph.

Ye Qian’s changes were seen by Ye Wentian and his wife, and they were anxious in their hearts. Qi Yufei asked Ye Qian several times, but Ye Qian refused to say anything. So even if Qi Yufei could guess part of the story, she could not bring herself to expose it. She also knew that Ye Wentian had always been quite concerned about his daughter’s marriage. Even if Ye Qian did not like the young man from the Bai family at all, Ye Wentian remained deeply invested in the matter, and from the look of it, there was even a hint of coercion.

Once again, Ye Wentian drove to the gate of Capital University. School had not yet let out. Ye Wentian took out a cigarette and lit it, then said to the two middle-aged men in the back, “It’s been nearly a week since Little Six went to Japan, hasn’t it? Still no news at all?”

The two men looked at each other. The older one on the right answered cautiously, “Yes, no news. However, I think—”

“I want definite news! Those good-for-nothings. I sent so many men with him, and they can’t even handle something like this? I really raised them for nothing!” Ye Wentian said angrily, exhaling a thick plume of smoke.

The two men did not dare make a sound. They both lowered their heads. They had followed Ye Wentian for many years and were among the very few who knew his true background. They were also his most loyal subordinates. Since the last time they had witnessed Ye Wentian instantaneously kill three Japanese experts, their loyalty had been joined by a great deal of awe.

Through the smoke, Ye Wentian saw Ye Qian appear at the school gate, looking somewhat lonely and solitary. Suddenly he felt a trace of guilt in his heart. Flicking the cigarette butt out the window, he quickly turned on the car’s air purification system to clear the smoke, then opened the window and waved to Ye Qian. Just moments ago he had been full of anger, yet when facing his daughter, he smiled with incomparable kindness.

Ye Qian gave a faint smile, though it was somewhat forced. In fact, over this week she had hardly smiled at all, and had completely changed her old habit of going everywhere with Fengjie, Li Yan, and the others. Now she preferred to sit quietly alone.

Ever since Ye Qian had disbanded the Red-Pink Legion, Fengjie and the other girls had been somewhat resentful. They often came to persuade her to rebuild it, saying that everyone still wanted Ye Qian to lead the group. The result, of course, was that Ye Qian cursed them soundly. They did not know that she was already upset enough as it was; how could she still have the mood to play at running some club? The old Ye Qian had once enjoyed nothing more than fighting and bullying people, but the current Ye Qian was certainly not like that.

And because Long Fei had left, Chen Xin had increased his pursuit of Ye Qian. Yet his efforts achieved no effect at all. Ye Qian no longer flared up at him as before; she simply ignored him directly. This left the usually self-confident Chen Xin deeply displeased. The cruelest and most direct way to reject someone is not to say no, but to ignore them entirely. You are clearly standing right before her, yet she can treat you as though you do not exist. That feeling is unbearable.

After getting into the car, Ye Wentian drove personally, and as he drove he smiled and said, “Xiaoqian, why have you been so unhappy lately? Can’t you tell Dad what’s wrong?”

“Do I look that unhappy? No, I’m fine,” Ye Qian said with a faint smile, then immediately let it fade. In her heart she thought, How could I tell you? If I do, wouldn’t you just scold me again?

Thinking of the man from the capital whom she had never met but to whom she was engaged, Bai Yaowu, and then of Long Fei, Ye Qian felt an urge to find Long Fei right then and there, slap him a few times, and curse him for not knowing what was good for him.

“Damn it, I’ve got a question I want to ask you,” Ye Qian finally could not hold back after Ye Wentian had tried to comfort her several times, and she said softly.

As long as Ye Qian spoke, Ye Wentian felt happy. Otherwise, if she sat in gloom and said nothing at all, he would feel unbearably oppressed. Hearing her ask that, he hurriedly smiled and said, “All right. Ask whatever you want. Dad will answer you seriously.”

“Really?” Ye Qian’s eyes lit up.

Ye Wentian smiled. “Of course. You’re our little princess. Who would dare lie to you?”

“Fine, then tell me—why did you marry Mommy?” Ye Qian stared at Ye Wentian. She could not read his expression, but she did notice the slight startle in his body. It seemed the question had struck a sore point.

“Of course it was because I loved her.” With a sigh, Ye Wentian seemed to have many words he had never found a place to speak. He thought of many things from twenty years ago. Compared with that other man, he did not know who had truly won and who had truly lost. Now Qi Yufei had become his wife, and at least in the eyes of others they were a proper married couple, with the three of them living happily together. But was this really his victory?

Ye Wentian could now feel that Qi Yufei truly loved him, yet he also knew that Qi Yufei’s heart could never hold only one man. Still, he never thought that made her any less good, or any less perfect. In his eyes, among all the women in the world, only Qi Yufei was truly perfect. In his eyes and in his heart, there had always been only one woman: Qi Yufei.

“Really?” Ye Qian smiled faintly. Of course she believed Ye Wentian’s words, but she still could not help asking.

Ye Wentian said very seriously, “Really.”

“Then what do you think is the most important reason for two people to marry?”

“Love.” Ye Wentian could not help but smile. He finally understood what was on Ye Qian’s mind. Before Ye Qian could continue, he went on, “But Xiaoqian, you must understand that this world is not as perfect as we imagine. People who love each other do not necessarily grow old together, and those who marry are not necessarily truly in love. Of course, even without love, they may still be happy. So happiness and love are both things that are hard to define and even harder to explain clearly. Do you understand?”

Ye Qian said a little dejectedly, “I don’t.”

“Not understanding is good. If you don’t understand, you won’t be hurt or heartbroken. You’ll understand when you’re older. You’re still young now, so there’s no rush.” Ye Wentian sighed.

Father and daughter fell silent, each lost in thought.

Suddenly, Ye Wentian pulled the car over and said to the two men in back, “Xiao Si, you drive. Take Xiaoqian home.”

The man on the right hurriedly climbed out from the back seat. Ye Wentian also got out of the car.

“Dad, what’s wrong?” Ye Qian asked anxiously, glancing behind them. All she could see was the road; nothing else was there.

Ye Wentian smiled. “Nothing. I’m waiting here for a few friends. You go back first.”

He gave Xiao Si a look, and the latter slid into the driver’s seat, then turned his head and nodded to Ye Wentian, lowering his voice. “Master, be careful.”

The car sped away like an arrow. Far off, Ye Wentian saw a black Santana coming down the road toward them, with no license plate. Although the car was moving quickly, he could still clearly see three people inside. They were all staring warily at Ye Wentian, who stood smiling in the middle of the road to welcome them.

“Those dog bastards again. Hmph!” Ye Wentian cursed inwardly. In truth, he did not want to kill people, yet over all these years he had still killed many. Thinking back twenty years, how young he had been then. How many of the capital’s young masters had never been taught a lesson by him? But most of those fellows were now either high-ranking officials or had perhaps reformed their ways.

Killing was not Ye Wentian’s specialty, but he was certainly no amateur. Just as he had never been some business genius, yet could still manage his affairs so successfully.

He clenched his fist, his bones crackling. In that instant, battle intent blazed fiercely in Ye Wentian’s eyes.