Chapter 24

Chapter 24

On the way there, the jeep chased the runners; on the way back, the runners chased the jeep. The Wild Wolves led the way, with the Bayonets trailing behind, and on Yuan Biao’s clunker of a jeep, a huge wild boar was strapped on top.

Feng Xia didn’t run at the front this time. She kept glancing up at the wild boar, a smile on her face, her dimples sweet and charming.

Just now, when Xu Tian brought out the chocolate, Yuan Biao’s face darkened. In the end, he couldn’t help it and told Feng Xia straight up that he’d allocate twenty pounds of pork to her. The mess cook would make it, and she could pick it up tomorrow. As for the rest, it would likely be confiscated.

Feng Xia was quite satisfied with this outcome. Even though it was only twenty pounds, that was twenty pounds of braised pork—fragrant, delicious braised pork made by the mess cook! Compared to that, Xu Tian's maybe-a-few-chocolate-bars offer didn't seem as tempting.

At least they'd held onto the girl. Yuan Biao breathed a sigh of relief. This kid was young and flighty, and he was genuinely afraid Xu Tian might lure her away.

After four hours of grueling travel, they returned to the base at two in the afternoon, wrapping up today's field training without a hitch.

The only pain in the ass was that damn Xu Tian, who, before leaving, tempted Feng Xia to come visit the Wild Wolves sometime, saying their food wasn’t bad either.

Feng Xia's eyes lit up as she nodded eagerly, her little topknots bouncing, making her look even cuter. Beside her, Yuan Biao’s face was as dark as a pot: “Come train hand-to-hand with me tomorrow at six.”

“Can't, Captain. I gotta go to school tomorrow,” Feng Xia said crisply, which struck Yuan Biao like a thunderbolt. He’d forgotten—this kid still had to attend school. Yuan Biao waved his hand weakly, shooing her away.

Feng Xia blinked her big eyes, staring at Yuan Biao expectantly. His face grew even darker, and he roared, “The hell you think I'd stiff you on a few pounds of meat? Get the hell out! Go to the mess tomorrow and eat your damn meat. If you don't scram now, you'll be eating air tomorrow!”

Only then did Feng Xia turn away satisfied, leaving Yuan Biao fuming like a dragon, his chest seething with rage.

At this hour, the mess hall probably had nothing left to eat. Feng Xia planned to head straight back to Old Lady Wu’s place. She was covered in mud and grass, looking a total mess. More importantly, she'd scored some little treasures and couldn’t wait to enjoy them properly.

Before she even reached the courtyard, she saw a crowd gathered around it from afar—lots of people, noisy voices.

Feng Xia raised an eyebrow and peered inside. Well, well, what a coincidence—familiar faces. At the center were a few girls, the same ones in plaid skirts from the mess hall that day. Today, they wore green military uniforms. Tian Guihua stood behind them, saying something. Old Lady Wu stood at the door, her face lined and weathered, looking stern and cold.

“Auntie, look how hard Aunt Guihua and Dabao have it—a widow and her child. Your family’s been stewing meat; just give Dabao a bowl. We need to help the poor working people! You can't be a capitalist running dog,” said the lead girl, the same one who’d called out to Feng Xia that day. She lectured Old Lady Wu with righteous indignation. A crowd of onlookers gathered, but Old Lady Wu’s cold personality meant she had few friends, and no one stepped in to help.

Tian Guihua wept bitterly, her voice dripping with sorrow: “Aunt Wu, my Dabao doesn’t know any better. He’s young, lost his father early, and I, his useless mother, haven’t even let him taste meat. Last time, your girl beat up my son, and we didn’t say anything. But the kid’s weak—look how thin he’s gotten. I’m just begging for a bowl of soup. Auntie, have pity on us mother and son!”

Her sob story made Aunt Wu look like a heartless landlord. Zhao Dabao had nearly been beaten to death by Feng Xia last time, and now he really did look thinner. He'd probably been eating and sleeping like crap. Feng Xia watched coldly—perfect timing. The kid ate like a pig before, now he's slimming down.

“Qinqin, Yuan Xin, you two should persuade this auntie too. Look how pitiful Aunt Guihua is!” Hu Na tugged at her two friends, urging them to join in convincing Old Lady Wu.

He Qin frowned. She didn’t want to get involved in this. They were just cultural performers here to entertain the Field Army Corps—why meddle in someone else’s family affairs? That morning at the mess hall, they’d run into Tian Guihua, who’d latched onto Hu Na and chatted for ages, crying about how hard it was as a widow with a child, and how her son had been beaten by some girl with no one to stand up for them.

Hu Na got fired up. She figured out the girl’s description matched the one who’d dismissed her yesterday, and a plan formed in her mind—this time, she’d make that girl pay.

That’s how this absurd scene came about. Yuan Xin was clueless, so when Hu Na told her to chime in, she did. A flash of malice crossed Hu Na's eyes. Her mother was a women’s federation cadre, and her father was a grain bureau section chief—a cushy job. No one had ever made her lose face like that, and today, she was determined to get even.

They kept persuading, Tian Guihua kept crying, and Old Lady Wu remained expressionless, listening as if she were deaf. Feng Xia thought Old Lady Wu was quite a character—if they hadn’t held her back, she’d probably have gone inside and shut the door, ignoring them all. She wasn’t one to care about saving face.

Feng Xia nonchalantly pushed through the crowd. She was filthy, and people quickly moved aside when they saw her. Tian Guihua, seeing Feng Xia all dirty, nearly had a heart attack. Wasn’t she supposed to be out playing on Sunday? Wasn’t she supposed to come back in the afternoon? Damn it, why was she back now?

Tian Guihua, who’d been wailing moments before, scrambled to her feet. Zhao Dabao immediately hid behind his mother, clutching her leg tightly, not daring to look at Feng Xia. He felt the spot where Feng Xia had hit him last time start to ache again, and he began to sob quietly.

Getting these three naive girls to come today was a stroke of luck.

Tian Guihua went to the mess hall every day to cast a wide net—if she could scrounge a meal, great; if she could find a backer, even better. Today was like manna from heaven. She’d embellished her story, and this female student had gotten all riled up, shouting about “democratic society” and “taking charge,” and “not being capitalist lackeys” and “sharing meat with everyone.”

If Tian Guihua hadn't wanted to use these girls to take Old Lady Wu down a peg and show the Field Army families that she was still the tough, unyielding Tian Guihua, she wouldn't have come here to put on this whole song and dance.

But all of this was based on Feng Xia not being home. Now that she was back, Tian Guihua didn’t dare breathe a word.

She knew this girl was trouble. That day, if her Dabao had been a step slower, he’d have been choked to death by this demon. How could she dare to clash with her head-on? As the saying goes, the reckless fear the ruthless. Tian Guihua valued her life.

And afterward, when she went to see Regiment Commander Qian, his hints made it clear that this girl was young and uneducated—if something happened, she might not even serve time. That really scared Tian Guihua.

Feng Xia’s expression was indifferent: “Aunt Guihua, are you here for another bowl of our soup today?”

Tian Guihua stammered, “W-what are you saying? I need to get home and cook. I’ll be going now.” With that, she turned and fled, dragging her son along. Feng Xia didn’t stop her. She swept her gaze coldly over the crowd, and the watching women instinctively stepped back. How could such a little girl be so terrifying!

Now it was Hu Na’s turn to be dumbfounded. Why had everyone run off? Was it just because of a little girl? Did Feng Xia have some incredible background? But from what Tian Guihua had said, she was just a wild country girl! What kind of background could she have?

Feng Xia didn’t even spare these three young women a glance. She pulled open the courtyard gate and was about to go in when Hu Na grabbed her by the shoulder.

“Comrade, how can you be like this? Didn’t you beat up Comrade Zhao Dabao before? Aunt Guihua has it hard as a widow with a child. Instead of helping, you kick her when she’s down. With behavior like that, I'm gonna go talk to your boss.”