So, You’re the Henpecked One? 51

Chapter 51

After the manager left, Chu Xihuan, who had been dazed for a long time, finally looked up and saw her mother and sister looking at her with worried expressions.

Chu Xihuan forced a smile. “What’s wrong? It’s fine. She wants to go out and make a name for herself. I should support her.”

Ye Liuxiang was speechless.

Chu Ningyi was speechless.

That’s not what you said when Cao Jing did this.

Chu Ningyi couldn’t help but say, “Little sister, are you jinxed when it comes to the army?” Otherwise, why did both of them run off to join the army?

Chu Xihuan was speechless.

She was rendered speechless by her second sister’s words.

“You’re not going to give up on her, are you?” Chu Ningyi asked with some worry. After all, that was what Cao Jing had done, and her little sister had given up on her without any hesitation or mercy.

Actually, compared to Cao Jing, she still preferred Lin Zhao as her sister-in-law.

“Why would I give up on her?” Chu Xihuan looked at her with some confusion, then had a sudden realization and forced a wry smile. “She’s different from Cao Jing.”

Although they had both run off to join the army without a word, Cao Jing had done it out of her own cowardly nature to escape, while Lin Zhao…

Chu Xihuan slowly lowered her gaze. Lin Zhao had done it because she loved her too much and couldn’t accept her “betrayal and deception” for a moment, so she had run away.

The fault was hers, not Lin Zhao’s.

Hearing her say this, Chu Ningyi sighed in relief, but at the same time, thinking of another matter, her heart couldn’t help but be suspended.

Little sister wouldn’t give up on Lin Zhao because of this, but the biggest problem now was Lin Zhao. Was Lin Zhao still willing to accept her little sister?

If she wasn’t willing… and her little sister couldn’t let go…

Chu Ningyi’s heart ached. She felt that it was even more heartbreaking than the stories she wrote.

Chu Xihuan said no more. Since she now knew where Lin Zhao was, she didn’t want to stay here for too long. “I’m going back first,” she said softly.

Lin Zhao had hastily chosen to join the army and hadn’t brought anything with her. It was already getting a little chilly in the early autumn, and the border was even colder than here. If she didn’t have enough winter clothes to keep warm, what would she do if she caught a cold? She had to hurry back and prepare some things to send to Lin Zhao.

Since Lin Zhao had already passed the selection, there was no room for change. Otherwise, she would become a deserter.

Chu Xihuan sighed softly in her heart. Perhaps her second sister was right. She might be jinxed when it comes to the army.

Ye Liuxiang and Chu Ningyi watched her leave. Chu Ningyi couldn’t help but say, “Little sister won’t do anything foolish, will she?”

At her words, Ye Liuxiang gave her an annoyed look. “She won’t do anything foolish even if you do!”

Did she think everyone was as easy to bully and as unable to think things through as her?

Chu Ningyi pouted quietly. “Mother, you’re looking down on me.”

Ye Liuxiang stood up and pinched her soft cheek. “This is a mother’s clear understanding of you.”

Chu Ningyi was speechless.

**

After leaving the Chu residence, Chu Xihuan went straight to her and Lin Zhao’s small home. She opened the wardrobe and packed Lin Zhao’s clothes, three sets for spring, summer, and autumn, and four sets for winter, into two large, bulging bundles.

And since Lin Zhao was away from home, although she would be in the army most of the time, she couldn’t be without money. Chu Xihuan found a money pouch she had embroidered herself and put some money in it. Then, she packed some of her own clothes, planning to follow her mother’s merchant caravan to the border to see if she could catch up with Lin Zhao’s main force.

Ye Liuxiang and Chu Ningyi, who had learned of Chu Xihuan’s plan, were speechless.

Chu Ningyi turned to look at Ye Liuxiang. “Mother, you said that little sister wouldn’t do anything foolish.”

The dignified and gentle expression on Ye Liuxiang’s face was almost unable to be maintained. She gritted her teeth slightly. “Can this be called foolish?”

She was just going to deliver some clothes. She wasn’t going to live there for a long time!

However, when Chu Xihuan spent most of her time at the border for the next year, Ye Liuxiang was so angry her face was almost black. She had originally thought that this little daughter of hers was the one she had to worry about the least, but she had turned out to be the most troublesome!

Even Chu Xuanzhuang, whose attitude toward Lin Zhao had already softened a little, had a dark face all day because of this matter. The most he said every day was that he had been right to not agree to their marriage back then! Look at what a mess it was now!

However, although Chu Xihuan spent a lot of time at the border, she had not met Lin Zhao once. She knew very well that since Lin Zhao had been so determined to avoid her by joining the army, it was clear that she did not want to see her. So no matter what she brought for Lin Zhao, it was always passed on through others.

And Lin Zhao, when she received the first package from her family, she knew that Chu Xihuan must have known that she was in the army. Apart from her, she had no other family who could send her things.

Her teammates couldn’t help but make envious sounds when they saw that she had received such a large package from her family so soon after she had set off, especially since not only were there clothes, but also a lot of snacks. There were even two large strings of bright red candied haws, which looked extremely tempting.

Lin Zhao held the large pile of things, ignored the envious sounds of her teammates, and silently returned to her tent.

Although she had already told herself to think less about Chu Xihuan, when she came into contact with her things, her heart would still beat faster, and even her nose would sting, and she would want to cry.

She opened the package. Inside were many of her clothes, neatly folded. Several sets had been made for her by Chu Xihuan herself. In the past, she had always been very careful when she wore them, afraid of scratching or dirtying them.

She bit her lip, desperately holding back the tears that were about to fall. She felt that Chu Xihuan was really so detestable. Why was she suddenly sending her these things now? What was she trying to do?

Did she still see her as her wife?

But if she did, why had she deceived her for so long back then?

She sniffled and organized the clothes. Soon, she found a money pouch and a letter hidden in the clothes.

Lin Zhao’s heart suddenly beat faster.

She ignored the money pouch and picked up the envelope first. She opened it and took out the letter inside. Lin Zhao read it word by word. Chu Xihuan had actually explained the whole story to her in the letter and had also admitted to deliberately hiding it from her.

After reading the letter, Lin Zhao raised her hand and wiped her tears with her sleeve, her nose still stuffy and uncomfortable, and the anger in her chest grew instead of subsiding.

In her opinion, the reason Chu Xihuan was willing to say these things was only because she had exposed her lies. If she had never known, Chu Xihuan would have hidden it from her for the rest of her life.

She had never seen her as an equal!

Just then, a teammate came in. Seeing her reading a letter, he couldn’t help but be surprised. “You can read!” As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed that something was wrong with Lin Zhao’s appearance. He choked and finally said awkwardly, “Are you homesick?”

Crying like this, with both eyes red, she looked quite pitiful.

Lin Zhao turned her back and hummed in a muffled voice, not wanting anyone to see her now.

Seeing her like this, the teammate smiled awkwardly. “That’s good. If we have any letters from home in the future, we can ask you to help us read them. By the way, I have something to do, so I’ll be leaving first.”

With that, he quickly ran out, unable to stay any longer.

Once again, she was the only one left in the tent. Lin Zhao put the letter away, then opened the money pouch. Inside were some small change she could use on a daily basis, as well as some silver and gold leaves for larger expenses. In total, it was at least twenty liang.

Lin Zhao sniffled, not understanding what Chu Xihuan was doing.

It was always the soldiers who sent money home. Why was she sending so much money to her in the army?

Lin Zhao also put the money away, thinking angrily that she would not spend Chu Xihuan’s money!

Chu Xihuan was just trying to coax her now. Did that erase the fact that she had deceived her in the past?

Lin Zhao didn’t touch the money, and she even gave all the snacks that had been sent with it to her teammates, forcing herself to be strong.

However, she soon didn’t have much time to think about her and Chu Xihuan. As their training intensity increased, Lin Zhao just wanted to sleep like the dead after every training session. Later, after receiving another package from Chu Xihuan, Lin Zhao borrowed some paper and a brush from the army doctor and angrily wrote a letter to Chu Xihuan, basically saying that they were over and that she should stop sending her things!

Since Chu Xihuan had only married her in a fit of pique, and she had originally had someone she liked, then she was just an extra person. Wasn’t it good that she had left?

Just the thought of how much she had liked Chu Xihuan in the past, and that she had married her because of someone else, made Lin Zhao’s mind go blank with anger. She just hated that she hadn’t rushed up and wished them a happy life together when she had seen them entangled!

After her letter was sent, Lin Zhao did not receive any more things from Chu Xihuan. But soon, she didn’t even have time to care about this matter. As the border war broke out, the days of living on the edge of a knife made Lin Zhao go from vomiting at the sight of killing to almost seeing red. As long as she didn’t die, she would desperately earn military merits.

Since she had already come to this place, if she didn’t die on the battlefield, if she returned alive and still had nothing to show for it when she faced Chu Xihuan and the others, then it would be better to just kill her.

Her reckless attitude shocked many people, and even her teammates were driven to be as crazy as her. Their team became the most ferocious and reckless team on the battlefield. Every time military merits were calculated, their team always had the most.

It took Lin Zhao one year to go from an unknown soldier to a Decurion. From a Decurion to a Centurion, it took a full two years, and this was a position she had painstakingly earned with countless battle merits.

Any higher, for a person like her with no support behind her, was already impossible.

They had won this war. When the enemy country sued for peace, Lin Zhao let the army doctor bandage her injured arm and couldn’t help but let out a relaxed smile.

She didn’t know about others, but she didn’t think anyone liked to live on the edge of a knife every day.

“Smiling so happily?” Seeing her like this, the army doctor also couldn’t help but say with a smile.

“Mm,” Lin Zhao replied. “Now that the war has subsided, I think my application for discharge should be much easier to pass.”

“You’re going to be discharged already?” The army doctor was surprised. In her opinion, Lin Zhao was still very young and had a chance to go even higher.

Lin Zhao nodded, her thoughts drifting.

It’s been three years. Perhaps I should go back and see what has changed.

**

Author’s Note:

Zhaozhao: [Crying][Crying] Three years!

Xixi: You know that too. [Rolling Eyes][Rolling Eyes]