Hello, Comrade. I'm Here to Marry You!

Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Takeout for Her

Now that he had been upfront with Jiang Manzhi, he knew he needed to keep his distance.

But with Zhang Jingshu here, having a meal together was unavoidable.

At the appointed time, Xie Huaizheng drove to the guesthouse and took Jiang Manzhi and Zhang Jingshu to a restaurant in a nearby small town.

The moment Jiang Manzhi saw Xie Huaizheng, she stared at him unblinkingly, her expression filled with sorrow.

Xie Huaizheng nodded at her, then turned to Zhang Jingshu. "Auntie, let’s go. I’ll take you to an authentic Northwestern restaurant."

"Wonderful. The last time I was here was a few years ago, and I was in such a rush. I’m not familiar with the area at all, so we’ll be counting on you, Huai Zheng."

After speaking, Zhang Jingshu glanced at Jiang Manzhi. Seeing her daughter’s composed expression, she let out a small sigh of relief.

’I hope my daughter won’t be foolish about this sort of thing again.’

’But today, Jiang Manzhi does seem a bit more composed.’

Once they were in the car, Zhang Jingshu asked, "What about your fiancée? Aren’t you inviting her?"

"There’s no need. She’s busy," Xie Huaizheng lied smoothly.

He hadn’t invited Su Zhaozhao because he felt it would be inappropriate.

For one, he was worried it would upset Jiang Manzhi. For another, bringing Su Zhaozhao along would feel too much like a formal meeting with elders.

That girl Su Zhaozhao was so brazen and tended to run her mouth; it would be bad if word of this got back to his family.

While he wasn’t overly concerned with saving face, he still needed to be cautious when it came to a lifelong commitment like marriage.

Zhang Jingshu didn’t press the matter. She just smiled. ’Xie Huaizheng probably doesn’t know I’ve already met his fiancée, does he?’

In fact, even though she was Jiang Manzhi’s mother and had started with a bias against Su Zhaozhao, she had come to like the young woman’s personality.

She knew Huang Jiqin would definitely like her, too.

Zhang Jingshu made small talk with Xie Huaizheng.

Jiang Manzhi, however, simply turned to gaze silently at the scenery outside the window.

In the past, she had always cherished her time with Xie Huaizheng, trying to talk to him as much as possible.

After Su Zhaozhao appeared, she had been heartbroken, but she still would have initiated conversation whenever she saw him.

But now... ’My heart is dead,’ Jiang Manzhi thought. ’And even if it isn’t, I must completely crush any lingering hope.’

She knew Xie Huaizheng didn’t care about her.

When a man doesn’t care about a woman, he will remain unmoved, no matter how beautiful or sad she is.

Any further enthusiasm from her would only annoy him.

The restaurant was in the town next to the military base. It was a local-run place that primarily served regional specialties.

It was inexpensive, delicious, and the ingredients were always fresh.

There were chewy noodles, Big Plate Chicken, roasted lamb skewers, grilled buns, and more.

Xie Huaizheng began ordering as soon as they sat down.

As he ordered, his thoughts drifted to Su Zhaozhao back at the guesthouse. For some reason, the thought of enjoying such a feast without her made him feel a pang of guilt.

’Su Zhaozhao’s family doesn’t seem very well-off. She gets so excited just eating in the canteen, as if she’s never had anything tasty before.’

’I’ll get some lamb skewers to go and bring them back for her when we’re done.’

...

Meanwhile, Su Zhaozhao had finished a tour of the city and bought a few things.

She bought a belt and a dress shirt for Xie Huaizheng.

’Well... I have money now,’ she thought. ’And if I want to win over the male lead, I have to cater to his interests.’

’Might as well, since I’m here.’

She had also bought a small gift for Xiao Yuanming.

And something for Chief Liu and his wife.

They were all people who had helped her.

After finishing her shopping, Su Zhaozhao boarded the bus to head back.

The three-hour ride was quite long.

As Su Zhaozhao sat on the jolting bus, she started to feel a little carsick. Fortunately, she had some motion sickness medicine in her personal space. After taking it, she drifted into a groggy sleep.

Soon, rain began to fall from the sky, coming down harder and harder.

Su Zhaozhao was woken by the sound of the downpour. She looked out at the darkness beyond the window, a sense of unease creeping into her heart.

Rain was scarce in the Northwest, and a downpour this heavy was extremely rare.

Moreover, the road they were on wasn’t a modern paved road, but a gravel one.

Such a road was manageable in clear weather, but it was currently raining, and raining hard.

As a result, the road had turned into a muddy mess.

This caused the bus to sway even more violently as it traveled.

Next to Su Zhaozhao sat a woman holding a child who looked to be about two or three years old.

The child, clearly uncomfortable with the ride, was wailing, and the woman was trying to soothe him.

Seeing this, Su Zhaozhao took a few lemon-flavored candies from her bag and offered them to the woman.

"He’s probably just uncomfortable from the ride. Maybe this will help."

The woman looked at the bright yellow candies, thanked her, and accepted them.

She unwrapped one and popped it into the child’s mouth.

The little boy instantly fell quiet, curiously savoring the candy in his mouth.

The woman beside her started to chat. "I had some free time today, so I took my son into the city. Just my luck to run into a storm like this, right? It’s pretty frightening."

’Judging by her accent, she’s probably from the north, too.’ Downpours were indeed uncommon up north.

But Su Zhaozhao was a southerner and had spent time in Shencheng City, so she was long used to this kind of torrential rain.

In a place like that, heavy rain was common and not considered particularly dangerous.

But here, Su Zhaozhao couldn’t shake the feeling that it was dangerous.

Thankfully, the driver seemed cautious, too, and had slowed the bus down.

Su Zhaozhao could only chat with the woman to distract herself. "Is your husband stationed at the military base, too?"

"He is! Yours, too?"

Su Zhaozhao nodded. ’Even though I’m not married to Xie Huaizheng yet, he still counts as my man... right?’

They were about to say more when, in the next instant, the bus’s tires skidded, sinking into a mud pit on the side of the road.

Being a large bus, this sudden event destabilized its center of gravity. The vehicle swayed violently before tipping over onto its side.

Su Zhaozhao reacted in a flash, desperately grabbing the seatback in front of her to keep inertia from flinging her out of the vehicle.

The buses in this era had no seatbelts; this was her only option.

’If I get thrown out, I’m dead.’

As she did, she reached over to help the woman beside her shield the child in her arms.

The cabin erupted in screams as luggage was sent flying everywhere.

The bus slammed hard onto the ground amid the sound of shattering glass.

Then, everything went still.

At eight o’clock that evening, Xie Huaizheng finished his meal, surprised to find it was pouring rain.

He parked the car at the guesthouse first and brought the food upstairs.

Zhang Jingshu smiled at Xie Huaizheng. "You and Zhaozhao seem to get along quite well."

"Zhaozhao?" Xie Huaizheng paused. The familiar name made it sound as if Zhang Jingshu knew Su Zhaozhao well.

"I’m staying in the room right next to hers. What a coincidence, isn’t it?" Zhang Jingshu explained with a smile. "Do you need me to take that to her for you?"

Xie Huaizheng shook his head. "No, it’s fine. I’ll go find her myself."

But as Xie Huaizheng was heading for the stairs, Yu Huijun called out, "Are you looking for that young lady? She went out this afternoon and hasn’t returned."