AYLS – Chapter 11 Investigation

Lin Qiao didn’t know that besides her eyeing the supplies belonging to the original heroine, Comrade Su Weizhen, there were also others keeping a close watch.

Li Ermei, who had previously quarreled with her, had been crouching by her own courtyard gate, peeking outside. When she saw Su Weizhen ride past her door on a bicycle, she revealed a look of disdain, then hurried inside to complain to her husband:

“That Su Weizhen is coming back so late again. Who knows what kind of shady business she’s up to out there? Don’t the leaders of our military district care at all?”

Instructor Chen only cast her a glance, then continued reading his newspaper and studying.

As a young cadre who had graduated from a military academy, Instructor Chen truly looked down on his own wife. But he couldn’t help it—his parents and brothers back in the village had insisted he marry quickly. They were afraid that once he became a cadre, he might choose a wife from a better family background and stop treating his hometown as home. So, they arranged it for him.

At the time, he thought, fine, let it be. Since they already made the decision, and he didn’t have anyone he liked anyway—marriage was marriage, whoever it was with didn’t matter much. So, he married her.

Of course, back then, he also thought she looked acceptable—at least not unpleasant to the eye. He himself was average-looking, so he figured marrying a wife like this was already good enough. He should be content.

It was only after the marriage that he realized appearance wasn’t important at all—personality was everything.

This wasn’t a wife brought home—this was a household-wrecker. Take recently, for example. First, she kept stirring up trouble with Xu Yuanzheng’s wife, and now these past two days, she’s been complaining in front of him about Gu Huayuan’s fiancée.

Their regiment was stationed in Suiyuan County, consisting of only three battalions. The other two battalions were far away and had little contact. He, Xu Yuanzheng, and Gu Huayuan were all in the same battalion, each serving as cadres of three different companies.

Was his wife trying to pit him against the entire battalion?

Instructor Chen was only twenty-five or twenty-six, but after just two short years of marriage, he looked as if he were already in his thirties.

Seeing that he remained silent, Li Ermei grew unhappy. “Why don’t you say something? Tell me, where do you think all that stuff in her house comes from?”

“What does that have to do with me? I’m busy every day, I don’t have time for this. Besides, didn’t she get assigned to a county-level job? Maybe she’s just working overtime. Why do you care so much?”

Hearing this, Li Ermei became agitated. “What do you mean by that? Are you saying just because I didn’t get assigned a job, and she did, that she’s more capable? Are you looking down on me?”

Truthfully, he did look down on her—but Instructor Chen dared not say so aloud, afraid it would stir up another quarrel.

“That’s not it. I’m just busy these days. I’m going back to the office to work overtime.”

Saying this, he walked out.

Li Ermei’s face twisted with anger. “Then when are you going to fetch water for me? There’s no water at home!”

“Can’t you get it yourself?” Instructor Chen put on his hat and left with a bewildered look.

Li Ermei: “……” But even Commander Gu fetches water for his fiancée.

He even brings her meals every single day.

Li Ermei was furious. Back when she had first come to live with the troops, her family had no food, so she also ate at the canteen. But her husband never brought her meals. Unfamiliar with the place, she had to find her own food, making quite a few embarrassing mistakes.

Compared to others, the gap was infuriating.

And Lin Qiao? She was simply the second most hated person in her life.

The one she hated most, of course, was Su Weizhen. They were both army wives from the countryside, and even though Commander Xu hadn’t shown her much care either, Su Weizhen had somehow managed to find a job. On top of that, she came home every day with a pile of good food. While her own family was still eating watery vegetable mush, Su Weizhen’s household was already having dumplings. Their homes were close, so she could smell it every day.

Li Ermei never thought it was because she herself was useless—everyone was living this way. So, it had to be that Su Weizhen was up to something shady. Otherwise, where would all that food come from?

“Just wait, one of these days I’ll catch her red-handed.”

…

Gu Huayuan didn’t come by that night, nor did he come in the morning. Breakfast was instead delivered by a young soldier from the company. Lin Qiao, who had been planning to complain to him about the mosquitoes and bugs in the house, was a little disappointed.

But when she heard he had gone into the county, her mood lifted again.

This time, Gu Huayuan had gone with several cadres from the engineering company.

Commander Xu was leading the team, mainly to negotiate with the local cement factory about supplying cement.

Because they were going to build a dam, and the amount of material needed was enormous. Although headquarters would continuously transport supplies to them, the local area also had to provide support.

The two commanders sat together in the vehicle, discussing the matter at hand. Sitting beside them was Commander Xu’s wife, Su Weizhen.

Right now, Su Weizhen was staring at Gu Huayuan, her eyes full of confusion.

Ever since last night, she had been mulling over this business about Gu Huayuan having a fiancée.

Because she went out early and came back late every day, she didn’t interact much with others. It wasn’t until Xu Yuanzheng mentioned it last night that she learned—Gu Huayuan actually had a fiancée, and she had even come to the army.

Her jaw had nearly dropped in shock at the time.

Because in the storyline she remembered, Gu Huayuan never had a wife—not until the day he sacrificed his life.

Could it be that the book had simply glossed over the details?

But Gu Huayuan’s death was still years away. If he had a fiancée, surely he would have gotten married within those years. How could there be no mention of her at all?

That’s right—Su Weizhen had come from the future. You could even call it transmigrating into a novel. The book was a memoir, and the main character of that memoir was her current husband, Xu Yuanzheng.

Naturally, the book recorded Xu Yuanzheng’s entire life.

As a member of the Construction Corps in the 1960s, his life was extremely tough. From a soldier, through the hard times, then divorce and remarriage. He even went through war, before finally retiring and becoming a construction businessman.

Su Weizhen had admired this deeply. Who would have thought that a family heirloom jade pendant would actually bring her here, into Xu Yuanzheng’s hometown village? She had immediately seized the chance to marry him and then followed him as an army wife.

After reading the memoir, she had been especially impressed by Gu Huayuan. No one knew it yet, but he hadn’t come from an ordinary family. His father was a general.

General Gu, in the future, would become Xu Yuanzheng’s great benefactor.

When Gu Huayuan sacrificed himself, Xu Yuanzheng had been the closest to him, so he entrusted his personal effects to him. Later, Xu Yuanzheng delivered them to General Gu, who was then undergoing rural re-education.

When General Gu was rehabilitated and reinstated, he gave Xu Yuanzheng great support.

So after coming here, Su Weizhen had always encouraged Xu Yuanzheng to get closer to Gu Huayuan. She had even planned, when the time was right, to remind Xu Yuanzheng to save Gu Huayuan’s life—thus sparing him from sacrifice, while still ensuring Xu Yuanzheng’s rise.

But now, something had gone wrong.

Could this be the butterfly effect?

Su Weizhen felt a little panicked.

As someone from the future, her advantage lay in knowing exactly what was supposed to happen. But now that things had shifted, it meant that many other events could also deviate.

So she very much wanted to know whether this fiancée was someone who had suddenly appeared, or if she had always been there.

She even began to suspect—could this fiancée, like herself, also be a transmigrator?

It wasn’t impossible.

After some thought, she cautiously asked, “Commander Gu, how long have you been engaged to your fiancée? When are you going to let us have some wedding candy?”

Gu Huayuan had been chatting with Xu Yuanzheng, but when he heard this, he replied, “We were promised to each other as children. It’s just that we lived too far apart, so we hadn’t met much. I plan to marry once we’ve gotten to know each other better. I won’t keep everyone waiting long.”

Su Weizhen was utterly stunned. So it had been arranged since childhood? Then that meant this person really did exist in the original timeline? How completely unreasonable! If he had a wife, why had there been no mention of her at all when he died? Could it be that Gu Huayuan and his wife had a terrible relationship?

Xu Yuanzheng just laughed, “I knew it—you wouldn’t wait long. Aren’t you already preparing the wedding house? Tell me, who else here is as particular as you? Not even married yet, and you’re building bathrooms and toilets. Old Gu, aren’t you spoiling her a bit too much?”

Su Weizhen: “…”

Gu Huayuan was indifferent. “It’s mostly me who wants to build it. She just arrived—what does she know? Inside the house, outside the house, I’m the one making the calls.” In truth, he hadn’t really wanted to, but hadn’t someone made a fuss that they couldn’t live without a proper toilet?

“Fine, that’s the spirit. Women aren’t like before, you know. They’re running households now. If you spoil her too much, she’ll end up bossing you around.” Xu Yuanzheng spoke carelessly, not even considering that his wife was sitting right beside him. Like most men here, his focus was all on work. As for the household, the only expectation was that the wife handled everything.

Su Weizhen felt a mix of emotions.

She was angry at Xu Yuanzheng’s lack of tenderness, but also worried that the plot was now running wildly out of control.

Then again, maybe she was just scaring herself. Perhaps they would divorce later.

Divorce wasn’t uncommon here. Life was so harsh, plenty of people came and then left.

In fact, in the memoir, Xu Yuanzheng’s first wife had divorced him because she couldn’t bear the hardship. If not for her golden finger and her education, which had allowed her to find work here, she herself wouldn’t have lasted either.

Su Weizhen reflected that she had originally planned to introduce a suitable partner to Gu Huayuan once she knew him better. But now, that chance was gone.

She still wanted to learn more about Lin Qiao, but unfortunately, Gu Huayuan diverted the topic. He didn’t want his fiancée to become the subject of idle gossip.

So, the conversation shifted back to the matter of repairing the dam.

After that, she couldn’t get a word in.

When two men started talking about work, they spoke at length, leaving no room for anyone else.

When the truck arrived in the county town, Gu Huayuan unloaded his bicycle from the back. He and Xu Yuanzheng agreed to meet later at the state-run restaurant before parting ways.

Suiyuan County’s town wasn’t big, but though small, it still had all the essential facilities.

For example, the post office.

The first place Gu Huayuan headed was the post office. He queued up to make a phone call—dialing the provincial public security bureau in the city where Yuan’an County was located.

There, he had an old classmate from his days at the military academy.

“Old Gu, what made you think of calling me? Just look at that—it’s been ages since we last talked.”

“Been busy with construction projects. Aren’t you busy too?”

“That’s for sure. We haven’t had a single idle day these past few years. There may not be bandits anymore, but there are still plenty of petty thieves. And every now and then, we even catch a spy or two.”

Gu Huayuan laughed. “Well, this is a place where heroes like you can really put your skills to use. If you had nothing to do, you’d probably feel restless.”

“That’s true enough. But what about you? Are you really planning to spend your whole life in the Corps? Back then, you were one of our academy’s top graduates.”

“For now, I’ll stick with it. Serving the nation’s construction—no matter where, it’s all the same.” Gu Huayuan added, “Oh, by the way, I’m about to get married.”

Hearing that, the man on the other end grew excited and quickly asked what kind of woman it was who had managed to capture Comrade Gu Huayuan.

“A childhood betrothal.”

“Haha, so you’re the traditional type after all.”

“Don’t tease me. I actually called because I have a favor to ask. My fiancée and I were separated for many years. We only reunited not long ago. She’s been through a lot of hardship…”

Then, he went on to explain Lin Qiao’s life in a capitalist household.

“She rarely talks about her past, but I can see she’s never truly happy. I want to understand more about what she’s been through, so I can comfort her. Otherwise, married life will just feel stifling. Help me look into it. Oh, and if you can manage to get hold of an old photo of her, that would be even better. She mentioned once that she wanted something to keep as a memento. Back then, she worked as a servant—of course, the family had photos, but none would have been given to her. I figure after all these years, there should still be some left. The family has fled, but the photos should remain.”

“That’s no problem at all. But won’t your wife be upset if she finds out I was digging into her past, thinking I was investigating her?”

“How could she? I’m the one in charge at home. Would she dare?”

“Oh my, oh my—listen to you, Old Gu, so domineering. If I’d known your wife was from our area earlier, I would’ve helped look after her a bit.”

“Then why wouldn’t I have brought her over sooner myself?” Gu Huayuan chuckled. He reminded his classmate to keep it discreet, to avoid any misunderstandings. In their line of work, every move could stir unnecessary speculation. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone out of his way to make the call from outside.

“I understand, we all understand—don’t worry.” The other man practically thumped his chest in reassurance. He said Gu had never asked him for anything before, so this rare request was one he would handle perfectly. If he found a photo, he’d send it over right away.

Once the matter was settled, Gu Huayuan finally hung up the phone, put on his hat, and walked out of the post office.