I emptied my family's possessions to join the army, and my abstinent superior doted on me.

Chapter 12 Love of Rice Fields

"I never imagined that even though it's almost the 80s, the boxed meals on trains would still be so bad."

The woman followed a refined young man through the door, grumbling all the way, which drew the attention of most of the people in the dining car who looked up at the two of them.

"Damn it, there are no seats left. I told you we should just throw away our takeout and come earlier." The woman looked dejected.

"Comrades, please wait at the door for a moment. You can order first." The food cart server handed them the menu and gestured for them to wait in the corner.

Qian Lai looked up in disgust, only to meet the gazes of the two men sweeping over her.

The man was overjoyed and quickly stepped forward: "Comrade, what a coincidence, we've met again. Don't you think this is a wonderful fate?!"

He looked at Qian Lai, expecting a response.

I never expected to meet such a captivating woman in this small town of Nancheng.

Although she was a bit aloof, she had the right to be!
Lu Ximing excelled academically from a young age, was handsome, and tall, making him the object of many girls' affections.

However, he had grown tired of being the center of attention for years, and now he longed to experience the feeling of pursuing something with all his might.

In his eyes, Qian Lai was now the unattainable beauty he had been searching for all these days.

The more she kept her distance, the more it fueled his desire to conquer her.

He refused to believe that with his outstanding talent and looks, there was any "high ground" he couldn't conquer!
Flower Bud: How come another stroke of good fortune has happened?!

Qian Lai's lips curved mechanically, and he exchanged glances with Hua Rui: I hate him.

"Oh my, you said you didn't recognize her this morning, and now you're holding a child in your arms?!"

The noisy woman followed Lu Ximing closely and approached their table.

Lu Ximing then noticed that the man sitting next to the "high-class beauty" was the father of the child from the wonton stall that morning.

Seeing the child smile at him defiantly, he felt a surge of anger: "Hey comrade, you really know how to enjoy life! We just met this morning, and now you have the nerve to have this girl babysit for you while you eat your fill!"

"Ximing, what's wrong with your eyes? Can't you tell that she's voluntarily taking care of someone else's child?" The woman behind Lu Ximing sneered, her eyes full of hostility towards Qian Lai.

"We're friends. How we get along is none of your business!" Hua Rui retorted angrily.

"We don't care about you. We just want you to make room for us. You're really taking up seats without a care in the world..."

"Excuse me, could you please move away from our table? And please, don't spit when you speak, okay?"

Qiao Muting's tone was cold and stern, but it made Hua Rui burst out laughing.

This seemed to trigger a fuse, and the woman instantly exploded: "How dare you speak like that? You have absolutely no manners."

Glancing at the nearly empty table, he exclaimed as if he had caught someone red-handed, "Everyone, come and see! These people are full but they're still lingering here, completely disregarding whether others are hungry or not. Isn't this taking up public resources? Isn't this selfish?"

"There are children here, is this how you set a good example for them?"

The sound was too loud. Lu Ximing, standing next to him, covered his ears and said, "Yin Xiaonian, keep your voice down. I'm going deaf."

"I want everyone to know."

Lu Ximing leaned closer to her and whispered a reminder: "Don't call out like that, it's beneath your dignity."

Feeling that everyone in the carriage was staring at him and Yin Xiaonian, Lu Ximing felt his face burning.

He immediately explained to Qian Lai, "I'm sorry, sir. My friend has a bit of a temper..."

"Ximing, what are you saying!?"

The man I've always liked is hot and cold towards me, which is bad enough, but when something happens, he not only doesn't help me, but also only considers my feelings.

Yin Xiaonian questioned Lu Ximing in disbelief: "Ximing, whose boyfriend are you? Why don't you help me when others bully me, and instead apologize to the enemy?"

"Who's your boyfriend?! We're just friends." Lu Ximing, afraid that his "goddess" would misunderstand, quickly clarified: "We really are just friends. She insisted on following me all the way to Nancheng, and I couldn't avoid her. Please don't misunderstand, comrade!"

Qian Lai didn't even look up, but Hua Rui bluntly said, "Oh, so you saw a prettier girl and want to switch!"

"Lu Ximing! You hypocrite!" Yin Xiaonian was even more furious after hearing Hua Rui's words. "Don't forget, your job still depends on my dad."

These words were tantamount to a direct slap in the face to this "prodigy." He abruptly shook off the other person's grasping hand, and said furiously, "Yin Xiaonian, you're so young, don't act like a shrew!"

shrew!

She was devoted to him, but he called her a shrew!

She wasn't exactly the daughter of a super-rich family, but she was the apple of the eye of the director of the municipal tax bureau's office.

She was always the center of attention and adored by everyone. But she was the only one who ever indulged Lu Ximing.

But he could never give me a sense of security. Every time we argued, he never took my side, let alone protected me.

Yin Xiaonian suddenly felt that she had given all her sincerity to the wrong person.

"Lu Ximing, you used to be just like this, relentlessly pursuing me. Now you're turning your back on me?..."

Lu Ximing felt like he was suffocating from anger!
How could she distort the truth and make baseless accusations against herself? Especially in front of her goddess.

Just as he was about to explain, he heard the waiter behind him say, "Excuse me, gentlemen, the last dish was packed up... You won't have to wait any longer."

There's no food left!
Yin Xiaonian was even more displeased.

After all that trouble, she's now even out of lunch. She's furious!
She vented her anger directly on Qian Lai: "Are you happy now? You have such a naturally seductive face, all you know is how to seduce men. Seducing one isn't enough, you even have your eyes on other women's men. No wonder you didn't leave after you finished eating, you just like to 'eat what's in your bowl while eyeing what's in the pot,' you're shameless!"

Hearing that she was being insulted, Qian Lai could no longer remain indifferent. Her expression turned cold as she said, "Don't think that just because you like someone, every woman in the world wants to take him! Besides, you've seen it yourself. Which woman with someone like him by her side would be interested in any other Tom, Dick, or Harry?" She moved her face closer to Qiao Muting.

Qiao Muting was startled and straightened his back.

The two exchanged a knowing smile: "Have you ever heard the saying, 'If the flowers bloom, the butterflies will come'? Everyone yearns for beauty, what's wrong with flowers? Only dung beetles love excrement, treating it like a treasure! They're willing to fawn over it!"

After pausing and exchanging a glance with Hua Rui, who was desperately suppressing a smile, she added, "I heard you're out of food. Here's some leftover vegetable soup, you can have it!"

"You, you, you..." Yin Xiaonian understood; she was being insulted as a dung beetle who loved dung balls. She was so angry she didn't know how to retort.

As the three adults and two children stood up, Lu Ximing reached out to pull Qian Lai, wanting to explain things properly, but was completely blocked by Qiao Muting's large frame.

Seeing the man, who was half a head taller than him, blocking his way, Lu Ximing couldn't help but feel annoyed: "Comrade, please move aside. I'd like to get to know this lady, why are you blocking our way?"

"Can't you really see that she doesn't want to get to know you?" Qiao Muting retorted firmly.

He could only dodge while saying to Qian Lai, "Comrade, I really have nothing to do with her, don't misunderstand me. Where is your seat? I'll come find you in a bit."

"Didn't you hear what he said, or didn't you understand it?" Qian Lai said. "I really don't want to associate with people casually, so please stop bothering me." After saying that, she handed Wenquan to Qiao Muting and turned to leave.

Qiao Muting raised an eyebrow at Lu Ximing, gave a nonchalant and contemptuous smile, and then went out the door.

Hua Rui leaned close to Qian Lai with a mischievous grin and whispered, "Is this Dr. Qiao...to you?"

"Don't make wild guesses. Oh, and I have to ask you something! Don't tell anyone about my affairs, including him." Qian Lai tilted his chin back.

Hua Rui turned around and saw Qiao Muting looking at Qian Lai with tender eyes.

She smiled and nodded.

After lunch, the carbon monoxide poisoning hit hard. Coupled with the fact that she hadn't slept much the night before after chatting all night, Qian Lai became increasingly sleepy.

I found an excuse to hide in my room and had a wonderful long sleep.

Little did I know, I would wake up to something big!
It is expected to be released on Friday. Please take care of me!
Please read along, please vote! Love you all!
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(End of this chapter)