Volume One, Chapter 10: Discussing the Engagement with Fu Juechuan

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Ye Qiaoqiao retorted, “What do I have to be afraid of going out? Besides, you’ve got it wrong—it was me who broke off the engagement, not that I was abandoned.”

Li Lele didn’t believe it. “Zhou Cong is such a great catch, and you broke off the engagement? What a joke.”

“A scumbag cheating on me—what good is he no matter how good the conditions? If you like him, Li Lele, you can have him. I can even set you two up.” Ye Qiaoqiao, having been helped down by Fu Juechuan, steadied herself by holding him and focused entirely on arguing with Li Lele.

Li Lele looked doubtful. “Are you serious? He cheated?”

“What would I gain by lying? Don’t you think you’re so smart? Go ask those who were there that day.” Ye Qiaoqiao didn’t want to waste words with her.

She then turned with a smile to Fu Juechuan. “Brother Fu, thank you for bringing me here. It’s my fault—I accidentally twisted my ankle.”

“Take care of the injury first; everything else is trivial.”

“Sit down first. I’ll go get some medicinal wine.”

After Fu Juechuan helped her sit in a chair, he quickly went inside to find the military doctor for medicine.

The military doctor looked at him curiously. “What’s wrong? Your last injury still not healed?”

“This time it’s not me who’s hurt,” Fu Juechuan explained briefly. “Miss Ye twisted her ankle.”

Hearing it involved a young lady, the doctor glanced at him with interest. “Oh? The usually aloof Fu King of Soldiers showing some chivalry? Have you taken a liking to her?”

“I’ll take this tiger bone wine,” Fu Juechuan said, “and please prepare some anti-swelling ointment.”

Ignoring the doctor’s teasing, Fu Juechuan grabbed the bottle of tiger bone wine that had been aging for many years—the best remedy for sprains and bruises.

“Tsk, I could have guessed even if you hadn’t said anything.” The doctor, always eager for gossip, thought about Ye Qiaoqiao and the recent rumors surrounding the Ye family. Now that Fu Juechuan was involved, there was bound to be more to come.

Fu Juechuan returned to Ye Qiaoqiao with the medicine.

There were still many people in the clinic’s outpatient room. Ye Qiaoqiao saw Fu Juechuan kneel and lift her foot to apply the medicine, his movements natural and without any sign of disdain.

“Brother Fu, why are you the one treating my injury?”

“I just want to check on your sprained ankle,” Fu Juechuan said, sounding sincere.

“Ah?”

“Army Doctor Lu will apply the ointment later.” Fu Juechuan’s hand was already holding Ye Qiaoqiao’s foot, feeling the smooth, warm skin. He casually called out, “Army Doctor Lu, right?”

Army Doctor Lu came to the door and watched Fu Juechuan’s actions, clicking his tongue. “Hmm.”

This young man still wouldn’t admit he had feelings for the girl, showing no sign of it, yet he was afraid to hurt her even when setting the bones.

With a crack, Fu Juechuan straightened her ankle.

Ye Qiaoqiao realized what had happened belatedly, lowered her eyes to look at him, her eyes red, and said, “I… I’m not in pain!”

“Hm, a little pain and it’ll get better.” Before applying the medicine, Fu Juechuan warned her, “I’ll use the medicinal wine now, so I have to press hard for it to work.”

Ye Qiaoqiao watched his large hand vigorously massage her swollen ankle, the pain making her tremble all over. Not wanting to lose face, she gritted her teeth and endured it.

Soon, sweat broke out on her body.

“Bear with it. If you don’t massage it out, it’ll swell up like a steamed bun in the coming days,” Fu Juechuan said, oblivious.

“All right,” Ye Qiaoqiao bit her lip and agreed.

Li Lele watched and grew increasingly suspicious.

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“I say, Ye Qiaoqiao... you don’t mean... you’ve taken a fancy to the lieutenant in front of you, do you?” Li Lele’s father was the second-in-command in the military district, ranking one level below Commander Ye.

This made Li Lele’s standing in the military compound lower than Ye Qiaoqiao’s.

That was why Li Lele couldn’t stand Ye Qiaoqiao.

“What’s it to you?” Ye Qiaoqiao didn’t want to discuss her family affairs with outsiders.

In her past life, she had suffered because she cared too much about others’ opinions.

Those in the military compound who disliked her would never be satisfied no matter what she did, so why should she care?

“Then it must be true,” Li Lele said, showing she was truly Ye Qiaoqiao’s nemesis.

She knew Ye Qiaoqiao well.

“Hey, what’s your name?” Li Lele said, switching to a warning tone. “Don’t be fooled by Ye Qiaoqiao’s looks—she’s not a nice person. She’s spoiled and arrogant. I advise you not to spend too much time with her, or else you’ll get tangled up and won’t be able to pull away.”

“Li Lele, if you don’t have anything nice to say, just shut up,” Ye Qiaoqiao snapped. She only spoke to Li Lele because in her past life, Li Lele had never thrown her under the bus.

Yet, as expected, this person remained her adversary, always eager to see her fail.

Ye Qiaoqiao felt uneasy inside.

She didn’t know what Fu Juechuan thought of her.

She glanced subtly at him.

Fu Juechuan paused his actions, looked up at Li Lele, his dark eyes radiating authority. “Are you the one spreading rumors about Miss Ye?”

“I know what you’ve heard comes from Xu Zhengqing and his group.”

“But you don’t know that not a word from Xu Zhengqing is true. You’ve been deceived.”

“In a few days, the reconnaissance bureau will issue an announcement.”

“Impossible!” Li Lele jumped up angrily, nearly knocking over an IV drip. She recalled Xu Zhengqing telling her all this when no one else was around. If trouble erupted and Xu Zhengqing denied it, she would definitely be held accountable.

Seeing Fu Juechuan remain calm as if he were just making casual remarks only fueled her frustration.

“I don’t believe it.” Li Lele said this partly to save face.

“I will find him to clarify the facts,” Fu Juechuan said calmly.

“Ye Qiaoqiao was abandoned. You’re just trying to snag a better match!” Li Lele sneered.

“She wasn’t abandoned. She saw through the scumbag’s true colors and kicked him out,” Fu Juechuan replied and then ignored her.

Li Lele was furious at being ignored by Fu Juechuan.

She looked at Ye Qiaoqiao and Fu Juechuan, then sneered, “Actually, I was wrong. You two are a perfect match.”

“You’re just a lowly lieutenant, so arrogant—aren’t you afraid of getting beaten? You and Ye Qiaoqiao belong together: a willful heiress who was ‘abandoned.’ If not you two, then who else?”

Li Lele thought bitterly that Ye Qiaoqiao wouldn’t marry a rising business tycoon but this low-ranking officer. For Ye Qiaoqiao to climb to Commander Ye’s level was impossible—at best, it would take forty years, when she was sixty.

Unlike her fiancé, a major!

He outranked Ye Qiaoqiao’s man by three ranks.

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Moreover, her fiancé came from a military family.

Li Lele could hardly wait for Ye Qiaoqiao to marry down to Fu Juechuan, so she’d be ridiculed by all the other girls in the compound!

“Li Lele, I know you dislike me and are deliberately causing trouble,” Ye Qiaoqiao said, defending Fu Juechuan.

“You can bother me all you want, but don’t trouble Brother Fu. He’s just kindly helping me with the medicine.”

Fu Juechuan’s sidelong glance was full of her protecting him.

Li Lele, wanting Ye Qiaoqiao to marry beneath herself, rolled her eyes at their closeness. She wasn’t foolish enough to ruin things for them now.

Once Ye Qiaoqiao married this low-ranking officer, she would forever be beneath Li Lele in marriage. Hmph!

Unaware of Li Lele’s thoughts, Ye Qiaoqiao breathed a sigh of relief once Li Lele left. She really didn’t like wasting words.

“Brother Fu, sorry for troubling you,” Ye Qiaoqiao lowered her head and apologized.

Fu Juechuan looked down, his expression unreadable.

“It’s not your fault. She came looking for trouble herself. There are plenty like her. Don’t be soft-hearted,” Fu Juechuan said.

Seeing that he didn’t take Li Lele’s words to heart, Ye Qiaoqiao finally relaxed.

Still, she felt a bit guilty.

After finishing the treatment and applying the ointment, she invited Fu Juechuan to dinner.

“Next time. I still have matters in the company. When you see Zhou Cong next time, bring someone with you so you don’t get hurt again,” Fu Juechuan paused before finishing, then turned to ask Army Doctor Lu for a wheelchair.

Ye Qiaoqiao didn’t notice anything unusual, thinking Fu Juechuan was simply concerned for her.

However, Zhou Cong had been scarce lately, and with Jiang Yao still confined, Zhou Cong was bound to lose his temper.

After Fu Juechuan wheeled her back, he strode away.

Ye Qiaoqiao planned to stay home for now, not going out, focusing instead on writing a proposal.

After all, she needed to prepare in advance to target the Zhou family’s business.

—

At the same time, Commander Ye suddenly remembered he hadn’t yet discussed the engagement with Fu Juechuan.

“Xie Wu, where is Fu Juechuan now?” Commander Ye asked.

“Commander, Lieutenant Fu is carrying out field training,” Xie Wu replied.

The northern part of the military compound was a vast forested area used regularly for soldier training.

“Let’s go see him.”