PWE – Chapter 145

After taking a few steps, Xiao Wange suddenly turned her head and looked toward a distant haystack.

When she saw a corner of clothing peeking out from behind the haystack, she frowned slightly, her expression darkening.

That Long Yan had appeared again.

Only this time, he seemed to have no intention of coming out to see her and Zhaozhao.

She glanced once more at the haystack, then looked in the direction Zhan Zeyan had left.

In fact, earlier she had worried that Long Yan might harm Zhan Zeyan—afraid that Long Yan, being ruthless, might do something to him.

But vaguely, she also felt that Long Yan could not harm Zhan Zeyan.

She didn’t know why she had this feeling, but she trusted her intuition. She felt that Long Yan seemed to fear Zhan Zeyan, as if there were some power on Zhan Zeyan that Long Yan could not withstand.

Even so, just in case, she had quietly placed a talisman on Zhan Zeyan. With that talisman, at the very least, if Zhan Zeyan ever encountered mortal danger, his life could be preserved.

Withdrawing her gaze, Xiao Wange held Zhaozhao’s small hand and quickened her pace.

And after staying behind the haystack for a while, Long Yan transformed into a wisp of white mist and vanished.

……

Zhan Zeyan returned to the army two days later.

After first reporting the mission to his superiors, he went back to his dormitory.

He was currently living in a single room. Although it wasn’t large, it was clean and tidy, with everything he needed.

He took out the meat sauce Wange had prepared for him from his bag and was about to take it along with his mess tin to the canteen to get food, when there was a knock on the door.

Zhan Zeyan paused.

He put the items down and went to open the door.

Outside stood Qiu Haiyang, dressed in a green military uniform, standing straight and tall.

Seeing Zhan Zeyan inside, he immediately saluted. “Regimental Commander.”

The moment Zhan Zeyan saw him, he thought of how this man had gone to the village and bullied his wife.

If his wife had only been an ordinary woman, if she hadn’t been so capable, Qiu Haiyang’s scheme might well have succeeded.

Thinking of the vile things Qiu Haiyang had done, Zhan Zeyan’s expression cooled further as he said flatly, “What is it?”

Seeing Zhan Zeyan’s indifferent face, Qiu Haiyang clenched his fist slightly, his gaze darkening.

After a brief silence, he suddenly spoke with a look of remorse. “Regimental Commander, I heard you went home this time. I assume you… already know what I did to sister-in-law before. Commander, I was momentarily led astray back then. I was instigated by that woman Bai Caixuan, and that’s why I committed such a mistake. Commander, I hope you and sister-in-law won’t stay angry, and that you won’t hold it against me.”

He spoke very sincerely, as if he truly recognized his wrongdoing.

But Zhan Zeyan only gave him a cold glance and said indifferently, “I can be magnanimous about other things. But not about this.”

At those words, Qiu Haiyang clenched his hand again.

Still, he did not give up or turn away. Taking a deep breath, he continued, “I know how deeply you care about sister-in-law, and I know you won’t forgive me easily. But Commander, I truly know I was wrong. I really—”

“Is there anything else? If not, then get out,” Zhan Zeyan cut him off, unwilling to listen to any more of Qiu Haiyang’s hypocritical words.

He could tell that Qiu Haiyang was not truly remorseful. Someone genuinely repentant would not look like this.

Qiu Haiyang’s brow twitched almost imperceptibly.

He wanted to say something more, but before the words left his mouth, Zhan Zeyan slammed the door shut with a bang.

The door hit Qiu Haiyang on the nose, and he hissed in pain.

Stepping back two paces, he stared at the tightly closed door, gritted his teeth, and his face grew gloomy.

He stood there for a full two minutes. Seeing that the person inside had no intention of acknowledging him again, he finally turned and left in quick strides.

As he headed back to his own dormitory, he ran into Qiao Yizhi at the entrance.

Qiao Yizhi was holding two mess tins, clearly waiting for him.

Seeing him return, she smiled. “Haiyang, you’re back. I’ve already gotten the food. Let’s eat together.”

The smile on Qiao Yizhi’s face carried gentleness and affection. Qiu Haiyang was the man she liked, and just seeing his face made her feel happy.

Qiu Haiyang frowned slightly, his gaze sweeping over her as he said coolly, “Xiao Yi, we’re not married yet, so don’t keep coming here to look for me. If you do, people will start talking.”

At the moment, he didn’t want to deal with Qiao Yizhi. But he also couldn’t bring himself to bluntly drive her away—after all, he still needed to make use of her.

Qiao Yizhi stiffened at his words.

She looked at him blankly and bit her lip. “But we’re dating. You’re my boyfriend. Isn’t it fine for me to come eat a meal with you? As long as I don’t stay overnight, people won’t say anything.”

After a pause, she glanced at his unhappy expression and continued, “Or is it that you don’t want to see me, Haiyang? You don’t want to eat with me?”

As she finished speaking, her expression turned sorrowful, mist clearly gathering in her eyes.

Qiu Haiyang hated this look of hers most—hated her pretending to be pitiful, hated the way she made it seem as though he were bullying her.

Suppressing the disgust and irritation in his heart, he put an arm around her shoulders and said, “Of course not. I’m just worried people will gossip and ruin your reputation.”

As he spoke, he opened the door and led her inside, his tone softening. “You’re right. We’re dating now. As long as you don’t stay overnight here, people won’t say anything.”

He took the mess tins from her hands. “Next time I’ll go get the food. From now on, you just need to come here on time and eat with me.”

A smile bloomed on Qiao Yizhi’s face, her heart turning sweet again. She nodded. “Okay.”

Ever since that time she met Haiyang at the Qiu family home, they had officially confirmed their relationship.

And in order to be with Haiyang, she had even come to their unit to become a cultural troupe soldier.

In fact, her mother had wanted her to become a doctor. She had studied medicine in school before. But she preferred singing and dancing, so she joined the army as an arts performer.

Because of this, her mother had scolded her many times and had almost disowned her.

Fortunately—fortunately—her mother had eventually compromised. Still, her mother did not want her to be with Qiu Haiyang, saying that he was not a good match for her.

“Oh right, Haiyang,” after taking a few bites, Qiao Yizhi suddenly looked at him and asked gently, “I heard that Regimental Commander Zhan Zeyan has returned. I also heard that he is the husband of Master Xiao. Haiyang, have you gone to see Commander Zhan? Did you tell him about the curse on you?”

Qiu Haiyang paused mid-bite.

His brow furrowed uncontrollably as he tightened his grip on his chopsticks. “I saw him. But the commander is very angry about what I did before. So about the curse…”

“It’s normal for him to be angry. After all, Master Xiao is his wife. It’s only natural for him to treat you coldly to protect her. But Haiyang, you’ve been tormented by that curse these past days—you’ve lost a lot of weight because of it. I think we really need to resolve the curse as soon as possible.”

“I want to resolve it too, but the commander won’t forgive me at all. What can I do?” He had originally planned to mention the curse to Zhan Zeyan and ask him to persuade Xiao Wange to spare him.

But who would have thought Zhan Zeyan would be so heartless—he didn’t even give him the chance to bring up the curse.

“Haiyang, why don’t we go directly to see the master? She’s actually a very kind person. As long as we talk to her properly, I believe she won’t make things difficult for you.” Qiao Yizhi felt that the crux of the matter lay with Xiao Wange. Only if Xiao Wange forgave Qiu Haiyang could the curse be resolved.

After all, the curse had been placed by Xiao Wange herself. Even if they went to Zhan Zeyan, it would still ultimately have to be Xiao Wange who resolved it.

Qiu Haiyang’s face darkened.

He frowned deeply, remained silent for a few seconds, then said, “Let’s talk about it later. Things are busy in the unit right now, and there’s no time to go to that village to find Xiao Wange. I can still endure this curse for now. I won’t die just yet.”

“What’s so busy in the unit right now? It doesn’t seem like there’s much going on. Haiyang, you—”

“Eat. If you don’t, the food will get cold,” Qiu Haiyang interrupted, unwilling to continue the topic.

Seeing how bad his expression had become, Qiao Yizhi pressed her lips together and finally said no more.

But she was truly worried about Haiyang—worried he wouldn’t be able to endure the curse, worried that he… might not make it through the night.

She knew Haiyang didn’t want to go beg the master. She knew he didn’t want to lose face before her.

But no matter how important pride was, it couldn’t be more important than his life. Because of that curse, Haiyang was trapped in nightmares every night. As soon as he fell asleep, he would inevitably have terrifying dreams—and they were so vivid that he was now afraid to sleep at all.

Yet Haiyang was still just an ordinary mortal. How could a mortal go without sleep forever? If he never slept, sooner or later he would exhaust himself to death.

So no matter how afraid of sleeping he was, when exhaustion overtook him, he still had no choice but to sleep.

She lowered her head slightly, silently thinking about what to do.

Since Haiyang was unwilling to go see the master, perhaps she could go in his place.

But just as Qiao Yizhi was about to set out to find Xiao Wange, work came up in the unit.

Because of a sudden mission, her plan to go find Xiao Wange had to be postponed.

……

In the blink of an eye, it was March.

The weather in March began to warm, no longer as cold as before.

And with the warming weather, Zhan Zeyan also brought Xiao Wange some good news.

That day, on the phone, Zhan Zeyan said to Xiao Wange, “Wange, the housing has been approved. In the next couple of days I’ll get the furniture and kitchen supplies arranged. In a few days, you can bring Zhaozhao over.”

At the thought of reuniting with his wife and son, even his voice sounded light and cheerful.