Chapter 3418: Combustion (7)

When Zhu Yi, who was lying on the hospital bed, heard Ning Shu say such impassioned things with a completely deadpan face, he rolled his eyes hard enough to see the ceiling.

“Keep pretending. I heard the political commissar’s daughter is a real beauty. You’re really not the least bit anxious?”

Zhu Yi was bored out of his mind lying in bed, so he wanted to entertain himself by stirring up trouble.

Of course, he had to build his joy on another person’s misery.

Ning Shu shoved an apple into Zhu Yi’s mouth. “Try being a little kinder. Quit rubbing salt in other people’s wounds. Too bad your leg’s just broken—shame it didn’t snap right off.”

Zhu Yi: …

She was literally getting joy from his pain too.

Groups of people came in waves to visit Song Yi—some bringing flowers, others fruit.

Word must’ve gotten out about something, and they were all rushing to cozy up to him in advance.

However, all the fruit was quickly devoured by his squad members.

These beasts under Song Yi’s command had brought only a scarce amount of fruits when visiting their superior, only to eat everything he received before leaving.

One even joked loudly that there was enough fruit in their squad commander’s room to last a whole year.

Song Yi remained expressionless. If he weren’t bedridden, he would’ve kicked each one of them out personally.

Male friendship often boiled down to carrying guns together, serving time together, visiting brothels together, splitting loot together, and… dabbling in homoerotic bonding.

Song Yi shared a strong brotherhood with these subordinates of his.

However, after he steadily rose through the ranks and stopped taking on field missions, his men would be reassigned to other squads and scattered apart.

Some had been so disheartened and disappointed by him that they chose to transfer to entirely different divisions.

After Song Yi got married, most of them didn’t even recognize him anymore.

Ning Shu sat down in the chair beside Song Yi’s hospital bed, peeled an orange, and casually asked, “Are you really going to marry Wu Xianrou?”

She asked it so calmly, yet it made all the men nearby fall silent. Their gazes turned towards Ning Shu and Song Yi.

Song Yi froze for a moment, then gave a slight laugh and shook his head. “Where are you even hearing this from?”

“Sir, it’s already all over the compound,” Zhu Yi piped up, running his mouth. “Even the political commissar mentioned it before. Not sure if he was joking or not, though.”

Song Yi shook his head. “Where did these ridiculous rumors come from? I’m someone who can’t even be sure I’ll survive the next day. The political commissar would never give his daughter to me. Don’t go around spreading nonsense.”

Song Yi never spoke carelessly about things that weren’t certain.

Ning Shu handed the peeled orange to Song Yi. He accepted it and thanked her.

“To be honest, this thing’s basically set in stone. From what I’ve heard, the political commissar’s daughter has already been back in the country for a while. Looks like you two are definitely getting married.” Ning Shu started peeling another orange for herself as she spoke.

Zhu Yi jumped in. “She’s even studied abroad. Could a girl like that really put up with the loneliness of being a military wife?”

Zhu Yi added, “For guys like us, the kind of woman we marry has to know how to look at the bigger picture.”

“To see the bigger picture—as in, to look at your philandering ways and still stay indifferent?” one of the men teased him.

“If I had a wife, I wouldn’t go chasing after other women,” Zhu Yi replied.

Ning Shu smacked her lips. The orange was really sweet.

After finishing it and setting the peel aside, she said mildly, “From what I know, Miss Wu is the kind of girl who floats above the mundane world. She’s never suffered a day in her life.”

“So you’re saying she’s basically some celestial consort?” Zhu Yi asked with interest, though his tone turned slightly sarcastic as he added, “How do you know so much about Miss Wu?”

Ning Shu gave Zhu Yi a sidelong glance.

Zhu Yi shrugged. “Come on, keep going.”

Ning Shu continued, “Girls who’ve never had to worry about food or clothes tend to put more value on love. They enjoy romance. If our squad commander really does marry Miss Wu, he’s going to need to spend a lot of time with her—pampering her, doting on her, loving her with all his heart. He’ll need to play along with all her whims.”

He’d need to become someone who lived for love, through and through.

Song Yi rubbed the space between his brows. “Who said the political commissar is giving his daughter to me? The deal’s not even half done yet, and you’re already talking like it’s settled. If Miss Wu heard you guys, she’d probably come looking to fight me.”

Just as Song Yi finished speaking, the door to the hospital room swung open suddenly, and everyone instinctively turned to look at the doorway.

A girl stood in the doorway. She wasn’t very tall, and her soft hair had a slight wave to it.

Her large eyes sparkled with a natural liveliness.

She looked like a beautiful, delicate porcelain doll—someone you couldn’t help but want to protect, someone who deserved the very best the world had to offer.

“Which one of you is Song Yi?”

Wu Xianrou stood at the entrance. Her gaze swept over the room.

Her father had told her Song Yi was injured. When she spotted Zhu Yi, she frowned.

He was shifty-eyed and rat-faced.

Was this the guy her dad was trying to force her to marry?

Eye-searing.

She ignored Zhu Yi entirely and turned to the other injured man. Hmm. Ugly too.

Her gaze finally landed on the actual Song Yi. “You’re Song Yi.”

She walked into the room and came to a stop beside his bed, looking him up and down.

Of everyone here, he was the only one even remotely decent-looking.

Song Yi, after all, was known as the face of the entire squad.

“Yes, I’m Song Yi,” he replied, having more or less figured out who this girl was.

“Then I’ll say this straight. I’m not going to marry you. Even if my dad forces me, I will not marry some brute in uniform,” Wu Xianrou said bluntly.

She had no filter whatsoever.

The words brute in uniform made every man in the room frown.

Ning Shu popped a piece of orange into her mouth while watching Wu Xianrou closely.

Girls like her were clearly the type who’d been carefully sheltered by their families. They were untouched by the world’s cruelty or darkness. It was as if pain and hardship simply didn’t exist in their universe.

Compared to Wu Xianrou, Wu Jing seemed like a hideous butcher with blood all over her hands.

But some things in this world had to be done. Someone had to lose their innocence so the majority could be kept safe and whole.

Ning Shu chuckled quietly to herself and said to Song Yi, “Sir, seems like the young miss isn’t interested in you.”

The moment he saw Wu Xianrou, Ning Shu more or less understood why Song Yi liked her.

People always wanted what they didn’t have.

Song Yi had spent his life wading through a hail of bullets, surrounded by blood and death.

And Wu Xianrou was pure and beautiful—peaceful and gentle. She probably represented everything Song Yi longed for deep down.

He and Wu Jing were the same kind of people, living the same kind of life. Putting the two of them together would make them feel like staring into a mirror that reflected their own bloody, mission-oriented existence.

There was a reason why people said comrades weren’t suited to be spouses.

Ning Shu had made the comment about Wu Xianrou not liking Song Yi on purpose. Sure enough, the others jumped in to egg him on.

“Sir, you’d better work hard to win Miss Wu over!”

“Make her fall head over heels for your combat boots!”

“…”

Wu Xianrou rubbed her ears, unable to stand the noise.

Especially when these brutes opened their mouths while slapping things for emphasis.

Absolutely no manners. This was a hospital room, for crying out loud.

If this was the quality of Song Yi’s subordinates, he probably wasn’t much better himself.

He’d been with these men for years. He should know them so well that he could tell what kind of crap they were about to pull just from the way they stuck their butts out.

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