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

Chapter 7: Chapter 7: He’s Lying

The image she had spent so many years building up for Xie Huaizheng was gone in an instant.

For Xie Huaizheng’s sake, she was willing to stay in the Northwest Military Region forever, even though she’d had many chances to go to Beijing that she never took.

Just being a little closer to Xie Huaizheng meant she could be with him.

But to her surprise, Xie Huaizheng actually had a fiancée.

And she had never even seen this woman in Beijing!

"Alright, so you believe me now that Huai Zheng is my fiancé, right?" Su Zhaozhao’s hand was linked with Xie Huaizheng’s arm, her posture exuding the air of the rightful wife.

’Actually, she didn’t enjoy this kind of drama over fighting for a man. For Su Zhaozhao, what was hers was hers; there was no point in snatching something that wasn’t.’

’But she needed the male lead now, so she had no other choice.’

’In any case, even if Xie Huaizheng didn’t end up with her, there was no way he would end up with the girl in front of them.’

"I believe you," Jiang Manzhi said.

Su Zhaozhao was hugging Xie Huaizheng so intimately and he wasn’t even struggling. What was there not to believe?

After speaking, Jiang Manzhi immediately turned and fled, not even staying to eat her meal.

Her companions all chased after her.

Once they were all gone, Xie Huaizheng shot a look at Su Zhaozhao.

The girl wasn’t just hugging his arm; she was pressing her body tightly against him.

Her small, soft body carried the scent of jasmine.

Her braided pigtails swayed as she moved, brushing against his arm and making it feel itchy.

It made Xie Huaizheng feel inexplicably agitated. He couldn’t help but push her away. "Watch yourself. Don’t overdo the act."

Hearing this, Su Zhaozhao looked up at him and smiled. "What act? This is a genuine display of my feelings."

"Did you just get here to eat? What a coincidence, running into you here."

Her eyes curved into crescents, showing no sign of annoyance.

’This girl is seriously thick-skinned.’

’But her temper with him was a little *too* good.’

’Could it just be because he was her fiancé?’

’But this was just an arrangement made by their elders, and nothing was set in stone yet. She actually dared to run all the way here to find him.’

’Wasn’t she worried he might be a bad person?’

Xie Huaizheng ignored her and walked toward the food service window.

But to his surprise, Su Zhaozhao followed him.

"I had the braised pork and the potato and eggplant today. They were both delicious," Su Zhaozhao praised sincerely, even giving a thumbs-up to the cook behind the counter.

The cook, happy to receive the compliment, added an extra half-scoop of meat to Xie Huaizheng’s bowl.

Xie Huaizheng sat down to eat, and Su Zhaozhao sat down in front of him.

As for Xiao Yuanming and the others, they had left long ago, afraid of interrupting Su Zhaozhao and Xie Huaizheng’s conversation.

Xie Huaizheng stared at the girl’s smiling face and couldn’t help but frown.

"Go back home when you’ve had your fun," he said.

The smile on Su Zhaozhao’s face vanished. She said aggrievedly, "Are you trying to send me away?"

"You’re not suited for a place like this. And it’s not safe for you to keep living alone in the guest house."

"Then let’s get married sooner. You can apply for family housing, and then I can live next to you and you can protect me."

"We’re not compatible," Xie Huaizheng said.

He looked at the girl’s delicate appearance—her petite, soft frame, her fresh and tender look—she was best suited to be pampered in a city.

’With him? He barely returned home once a year, and the conditions in the Northwest were so harsh. After a while, she probably wouldn’t be able to stand it.’

He’d heard of similar situations and didn’t want things to end in an embarrassing mess for both of them.

’He really is the male lead,’ Su Zhaozhao thought. ’Maybe only the female lead can move his heart.’

’She was just a villainous supporting character. Even after being so proactive, Xie Huaizheng still didn’t like her.’

"What’s not compatible? Xie Huaizheng, our families are well-matched, and we have a childhood engagement. Are you such a coward that you can’t even give it a try?"

Coward?

Xie Huaizheng’s chopsticks, which had been shoveling food, paused. He looked up, his gaze fixing on Su Zhaozhao with a hint of danger. "What did you say?"

’She could say anything else about him, but call him a coward?’

In his entire life, no one had ever said that to him.

"I said, you should consider me, Camp Commander Xie. We’re both of marriageable age, and we have a childhood engagement. Are you really not going to think about it?"

"Are you... in some kind of trouble?" Xie Huaizheng paused, then asked.

’Ha, he really is smart!’

"It’s like this: if we don’t get married, my stepmother is going to force me to marry another man."

"Isn’t that fine? You can get married."

"It does sound good. His family all work at the meat packing plant, so they’re quite rich and never short on meat. But, he’s already in his thirties and a two-hundred-pound fatty. With my small frame, if we got married, what if he crushes me when he’s on top of—"

"Su Zhaozhao!" Xie Huaizheng couldn’t help but snap, cutting her off.

’How can such a young girl speak so improperly?’

’How could she say something like that? Shameless!’

’Saying such things in a place like the mess hall?’

Su Zhaozhao felt she had no choice. She knew Xie Huaizheng had always suspected she had ulterior motives.

No matter how pure and innocent she tried to appear, he didn’t believe her at all.

’So, she had to say things like this. Surely, Xie Huaizheng wouldn’t still suspect her under these circumstances, right?’

After quickly finishing his food, Xie Huaizheng packed up his mess kit and left.

Su Zhaozhao followed at his heels. "So, what about it?"

"Impossible. I’ll call your parents and have them bring you home."

"No! If you really call home, I’m dead." Su Zhaozhao said quickly, "If they find out I came looking for you, they’ll kill me."

"Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on them. They won’t dare."

Seeing Xie Huaizheng’s resolute stance, Su Zhaozhao’s heart went cold.

’It seems this male lead is unreliable too.’

’In that case, she’d have to consider her own escape route and then just run away and start anew.’

It wasn’t that she absolutely had to marry him. She just felt that getting married would save a lot of trouble. Relying on herself alone was always more troublesome.

In her past life, she had been a relatively diligent person, always taking on tasks proactively and striving to climb the ladder.

But now that she had been inexplicably transmigrated into a book, she was already very annoyed. And they wanted her to struggle and strive?

’No thanks.’

Who knew if she would suddenly transmigrate back one day? All her hard work here would have just been a dream.

Xie Huaizheng had been heading back to his dormitory, but unexpectedly, Su Zhaozhao followed him the whole way.

A young, beautiful girl like her drew the gazes of all the soldiers along the way.

She didn’t care, but Xie Huaizheng just felt a headache coming on. "How long are you going to follow me?"

"I’ll stop following you if you agree to my proposal."

"I’ll walk you back." Xie Huaizheng turned and headed toward the guest house.

Su Zhaozhao smiled and followed him.

The guest house was five hundred meters from the military base. This area was outside the base’s jurisdiction and had a more lively, civilian atmosphere.

Some people would even set up stalls to sell things here.

A woman was buying vegetables at one of the stalls.

When Xie Huaizheng saw the woman, he paused and called out, "Aunt Yun."

"Oh, Little Xie, what are you doing out here?" The woman was all smiles, her gaze falling on Su Zhaozhao. "And this is..."

"She’s the granddaughter of my grandfather’s comrade-in-arms. She’s just here for a visit."

Seeing Xie Huaizheng explain so hastily, Su Zhaozhao couldn’t help but frown.

’Was it so hard to just say ’fiancée’?’

The woman’s gaze fell on Su Zhaozhao, and she smiled. Su Zhaozhao politely nodded back at her.

"Since you’re here for a visit, you should come to our house for dinner some day."

"Okay! Thank you, Aunt Yun," Su Zhaozhao answered before Xie Huaizheng could.

She ignored the man’s icy glare.

"Three pounds in total. Six cents," the stall vendor said.

"Is it that much?" Aunt Yun frowned, but still prepared to pay.

But Su Zhaozhao walked up, took her hand, and stopped her from taking out her money. "He’s lying."