AYLS – Chapter 100

At the training ground, Gu Huayuan was training with Zhang Tuo. The two of them had fought each other since childhood. As they grew up, they didn’t fight much, but they still trained together occasionally.

Later, Zhang Tuo stayed in the capital to get married, while Gu Huayuan went to the frontlines. Their gap gradually widened. Now, whenever Gu Huayuan didn’t hold back, Zhang Tuo always ended up being the one pressed down in the fight.

At this moment, Zhang Tuo couldn’t even counter Gu Huayuan’s punches. He quickly called a stop. “Shitou, stop, stop! Let’s not compete, I’m not fighting you anymore.”

Gu Huayuan immediately felt bored. “Since when did you become like this?”

“I could ask you the same thing. I thought you came to comfort me, but you actually went all out.”

“Who said I came to comfort you? I’m not that free.”

Gu Huayuan took off his vest and wiped the sweat from his forehead, still feeling annoyed.

He had assumed that in Lin Qiao’s heart, he was indispensable. After all, she always liked sticking to him. She even gave up the comfortable life in the capital to come suffer alongside him here.

But now, she seemed to care more about a bunch of soybeans than him…

The contrast was too stark. Even though Gu Huayuan considered himself calm and rational, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of bitterness creeping up inside him.

Of course, he wouldn’t admit this embarrassing feeling to Zhang Tuo.

Zhang Tuo asked, “Honestly, are you troubled by something?”

Gu Huayuan, protective of his pride, replied seriously, “Impossible. I’m fine. It’s just that training was light today, so I came to practice with you. How about you? Today I heard from my wife about your wife—when are you planning to go back?”

The mention of Li Yan immediately perked up Zhang Tuo’s ears. “What did she say?”

“Nothing much. Just that she seems quite interested in farming, treating those soybean seedlings like friends, taking care of them meticulously every day, even talking to them.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Tuo felt an even sharper pang of bitterness. “She’d rather invest her feelings in soybeans than…”

Thinking about their two years of marriage, he realized they could almost count the number of times they had spoken to each other.

Gu Huayuan asked, “So when are you going back? You can’t keep this up forever. Even though I have my issues with your wife, I don’t agree with you dragging this out. If there’s a problem, just solve it.”

Hearing himself say this, he felt a bit hypocritical. He couldn’t figure out Lin Qiao’s thoughts either, yet he hadn’t mentioned it…

“Forget it, I won’t talk about you. You handle it however you want.”

Zhang Tuo was silent for a moment, then asked, “Shitou, what would you do if your wife didn’t love you?”

“Impossible,” Gu Huayuan immediately refuted. “Don’t say nonsense.”

“I’m talking hypothetically, hypothetically!”

“Even then, impossible.”

“…” Zhang Tuo felt frustrated, rolled his eyes, and sat on the ground looking up at the sky. “But Li Yan doesn’t love me. How am I supposed to live like this?”

Having never experienced the bitterness of love himself, Gu Huayuan thought Zhang Tuo was just whining. “Whether she loves you or not, you chose to get married. Talking about it now is too late. Either make her like you, or muddle through. I think the latter is more realistic—if she were meant to like you, she would have already.”

Zhang Tuo said, “What about you and Lin Qiao? Didn’t you marry for love? A marriage without love…”

Speaking of himself and Lin Qiao, Gu Huayuan felt confident. “That was an exception. Who would have thought we could fall in love at first sight?”

Zhang Tuo: “…”

“I mean it,” Gu Huayuan sat down beside him. “Think it over. Don’t keep torturing yourself. Put more focus on your career instead. Stop dwelling on love and emotions.”

Zhang Tuo wiped his eyes, removing the dampness at the corners.

…

Lin Qiao, feeling that Gu Huayuan was being unreasonable, had been in a bad mood toward him for several days and even complained to Su Weizhen about how men often say one thing but mean another.

Su Weizhen, however, just looked at Lin Qiao feeling completely exasperated.

Yuanzheng had also told her about the transfer plans. Her heart sank immediately because, in Xu Yuanzheng’s memoirs, Gu Huayuan had died while serving at the border unit. And it was because he had been transferred there with Xu Yuanzheng that the two had become closest. At that time, his personal effects were handed over to Xu Yuanzheng.

These past few days, Su Weizhen had been living a rather carefree life here. She had thought that her arrival might have caused a butterfly effect, changing everything.

But unexpectedly, what was bound to happen still happened.

In the following days, whenever she looked at Lin Qiao, she really wanted to have a proper talk with her.

It was just that she didn’t know how to start.

How could she stop him? There was no reason to force him not to go, and even if she tried, he certainly wouldn’t listen.

“Lin Qiao, if you don’t want him to go to the border, why not just convince Gu Huayuan not to go? Military transfers should depend on one’s own willingness, right?”

Lin Qiao, still feeling frustrated, replied, “Why would I stop him? He wants to go, and if I stop him, he won’t be happy. Besides, being a soldier means following orders. It’s like if I want to do something but someone forbids me, I’d be annoyed too.”

Su Weizhen, worried, asked, “Aren’t you afraid the border troops are dangerous?”

“…I guess not,” Lin Qiao touched her head, but then she remembered that Su Weizhen was the female lead—so her anxiety made her wonder: could Gu Huayuan actually be in danger?

“Do you think Gu Huayuan will be in serious danger?”

Su Weizhen said, “I just think border troops aren’t as safe as here.”

“That scared me,” Lin Qiao patted her chest. “Even if it’s dangerous, if someone wants to go, I can’t stop him. He definitely wouldn’t agree.”

“He’s willing to leave me here alone just to go there, hmph,” Lin Qiao muttered, still frustrated.

Su Weizhen sighed, knowing she couldn’t stop him. From her understanding of soldiers—especially those who had truly served in this special era—none would refuse to go to the front line.

She didn’t even doubt that, even if Gu Huayuan knew he had a high chance of dying, he would still choose to go to the border.

Perhaps she would just have to worry more on her own when the time came.

Although Su Weizhen didn’t say that Gu Huayuan was definitely in danger, Lin Qiao still had doubts in her heart. Later, she asked Fat Cat about Gu Huayuan’s future. She had always thought he would live a good life—smart and capable as he was, how could he not?

So she hadn’t asked before, fearing that asking would upset her, like thinking about him marrying another woman in the future.

But now, her fear outweighed caution.

Fat Cat, of course, knew that in the original plot, Su Weizhen had indeed changed Gu Huayuan’s fate and prevented his death, with the Gu family’s later assistance.

However, Fat Cat had already planned to disrupt that plot, letting Gu Huayuan die.

Of course, it wouldn’t tell Lin Qiao its plan, nor that Gu Huayuan originally would have died but was saved by Su Weizhen.

It only told Lin Qiao that Gu Huayuan wouldn’t die—otherwise, he wouldn’t be a player’s romance target.

“In the original story, Gu Huayuan was also one of the female lead’s and Xu Yuanzheng’s ‘cheat codes’. Cheat codes usually last a long time; they’re not cannon fodder.”

“Don’t lie to me,” Lin Qiao pouted. “If you lie, I’ll go on a hunger strike immediately.”

Fat Cat shrugged. “There’s no benefit in lying. If he died, you wouldn’t complete the romance mission, and the game would be over for both of us. I’m not stupid enough to choose a cannon fodder who’s going to die.”

It only needed to harvest enough negative energy, like extreme despair—it didn’t care whether the player went on a hunger strike or not.

After all, in the game, the best possible ending for the player was to die in despair.

Lin Qiao didn’t know these settings. From previous threats, she could clearly feel that Fat Cat was afraid of her dying, so she didn’t think too much.

“Good, then. You can’t let anything happen to Gu Huayuan. This game setting really does him a disservice.”

Fat Cat tentatively asked, “Player, he’s just a character in the game. You’re not actually developing feelings for him, are you?”

Lin Qiao immediately refuted, “No way. I’m just a conscientious person. I’m not that silly—knowing I’d have to leave eventually, I wouldn’t go and fall in love. That’s not me.”

“I see. Actually, it’s fine for you to fall in love here. You humans love romance, don’t you? There’s always another one after you’re done.”

“…No, the people here are different from those in the future.”

Fat Cat said, “What’s there to be afraid of? I can erase his memory in the future anyway.”

“You don’t understand. Don’t say random things. Enough, I’m not talking to you.” Lin Qiao cut off the connection, though her ears were still warm.

She mentally scolded Fat Cat—it was so annoying, always tempting her to make mistakes.

Gu Huayuan’s memory couldn’t be erased. How could she bear that?

It would be too painful later.

Even now, thinking about it made her uneasy.

Forget it. Better not to get angry at Gu Huayuan—there would be less and less time together in the future anyway.

That evening, Lin Qiao took the initiative to cook fresh meat congee for Gu Huayuan. The taste wasn’t great, but at least it was homemade.

After a few days of getting the cold shoulder for no reason, Gu Huayuan, though expressionless, had long been annoyed inside.

Now, finally, that fire was put out, and he enjoyed it immensely.

Especially since Lin Qiao sat across from him, looking at him with tenderness, his heart felt even better.

Having had no chance to get close for several days, he planned to have a proper talk with Lin Qiao that night.

After finishing the congee, he smiled and asked, “You seem a little different today. Lin Qiao, are you in a good mood?”

“Nothing special,” Lin Qiao smiled. “I just feel that everyone’s time together is limited. We should cherish our moments together.”

Hearing such unguarded words of affection, Gu Huayuan’s heart melted completely. No wonder there was that saying, ‘Tempered steel turns to tender silk’—people in the past really knew how to describe feelings.

He also reflected on himself—he hadn’t been considerate enough. Lin Qiao thought so thoroughly, yet he still got annoyed over trivial matters.

It really wasn’t right.

He reached out and took Lin Qiao’s hand. “You’re right. We should cherish every day we have together and not fight over things that aren’t worth it.”

Lin Qiao asked, “So you’re not angry that I want to stay here to raise chickens?”

Lin Qiao’s blunt question caught Gu Huayuan off guard. He stiffly replied, “Who said I’m angry about that?”

“Hmph, still won’t admit it.”

“…” Gu Huayuan reflected in his heart. Lin Qiao was being so sincere—he shouldn’t let his pride make her upset again. “Well… maybe a little, but I got over it quickly. You respect my career, so I should respect yours too.”

“That’s not a career, it’s a dream,” Lin Qiao emphasized. “This is the first time in my life I really want to do something meaningful, to leave something behind for myself. I don’t want to come and leave empty-handed, leaving nothing behind. I hope that even if no one remembers me in the future, they can still eat the eggs from these chickens—that way, my time here won’t have been wasted.”

Hearing this, Gu Huayuan smiled. “Who could ever forget Comrade Lin Qiao?”

“…With time, people will forget. This is the first time I’ve had a real dream, and I don’t want to give up halfway.”

Gu Huayuan nodded. “I understand. A life without dreams is empty. I’m glad you’ve found yours. I’ll make it clear—I support Comrade Lin Qiao in achieving her dream. I’ve decided to leave after spring, first arranging things over there so that when you go, you can live properly.”

Hearing Gu Huayuan’s support warmed Lin Qiao’s heart, and her eyes grew misty.

For the first time, she had a dream—and Gu Huayuan was the first person to support her in pursuing it.

She thought that even if she left here for a long time in the future, she would never forget this moment, this person.

She got up and ran over to hug Gu Huayuan. “Gu Huayuan, you’re so good.”

“Just like that?” Gu Huayuan smiled and hugged her back, feeling increasingly guilty for being petty before. Seeing how easily satisfied Lin Qiao was made him realize something.

How could he be upset with such a simple, little girl? And he had even made her angry.

From now on, he would treat Comrade Lin Qiao even better.