The 8 o’clock train arrived in Quancheng at 10.
When Chen Mianmian woke up, Zhao Lingcheng was bent over, using a tissue to wipe the drool at the corner of her mouth.
Seeing her open her eyes, he froze for a moment, then with a look of disgust tossed the saliva-soaked tissue away.
On the table sat a cup of soy milk, warm to just the right temperature, and half a steamed bun.
People can get tired of eating too many biscuits, but buns never get old.
Besides, winter wheat is grown in the Northwest, and the wheat seeds have to lie dormant in the field for three months, absorbing nutrients before sprouting and heading. It gives off a particularly rich wheat aroma—something you can’t understand if you’ve never tasted it.
No wonder Zhao Lingcheng didn’t believe her at first.
The Chen Mianmian he knew was like a beast of burden; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to pull off the ‘living Lei Feng’ act.
He was flipping through a notebook, obviously having already read it.
His eyes were tinged with faint blue shadows, fine lines around them—signs of last night’s overtime work.
Because of the fine lines and thin eyelids, his eyes appeared especially clear and sharp, but merciless.
She lifted the soy milk, and he said, “So, not only do you help out at the canteen every day, washing dishes, cleaning, and dealing with leftovers, you’ve actually read books—especially foreign language textbooks—and you even manage to run home once a week?”
In the story, the female supporting character would walk home once a week, catching a few blind fish on the way.
Chen Jinhui had a wide social circle, and the money for drinking and meat came from her earnings.
In this era, in a military restricted zone, she absolutely could not expose her true identity.
Otherwise, she would be treated as a spy.
Especially with people like Zhao Lingcheng and Zhao Hui, whose vigilance was extremely high.
Moreover, the female supporting character’s toughness made Chen Mianmian’s actions plausible, so she said, “I guess I’m a genius. Otherwise, go ask around the Hexi Corridor—who’s better at catching blind fish than me?”
She had another point that could convince Zhao Lingcheng. Chewing on a piece of steamed bun, patting her belly, she said, “Niuniu will be a genius too.”
Zhao Lingcheng might not believe it now, but this lie could last two or three years.
Because in the story, Niuniu had never been to school and learned to read only by relying on Chen Jinhui’s son, Chen Dabao’s books.
The first time she met Zhao Lingcheng, she was reciting the value of pi from Chen Dabao’s math textbook.
She memorized as many digits as were printed on the last page of the mathematics textbook.
Zhao Lingcheng immediately took her to the hospital for a blood test.
As long as Chen Mianmian put her heart into educating Niuniu, she would become even better than in the book.
But she found it a bit strange because Zhao Lingcheng seemed to have no doubts and sincerely said, “Looks like I misunderstood you.”
He added, “The translation is excellent—no, it’s clear and straightforward, very good.”
Actually, he was finally convinced of what his grandfather had said: the girls born on this land were not naturally ignorant.
Just like his grandfather’s little sister—so smart, so outstanding—yet only worth a sack of millet.
Since he believed that, Chen Mianmian naturally had to regain some dignity; otherwise, she’d seem way too easygoing.
Gently stroking her belly, she said, “You misunderstood me—you should apologize.”
Zhao Lingcheng always felt that everything about his ex-wife was off, but he couldn’t pinpoint the problem.
Her translation was indeed excellent.
He said sincerely, “I sincerely apologize for the pesticide translation. Sorry.”
Chen Mianmian raised an eyebrow.
“Not sincere enough—I won’t accept it.”
Zhao Lingcheng had to intensify his tone.
“Sorry. Is that sincere enough?”
This man was always grouchy, so Chen Mianmian had to teach him a lesson.
“No, your attitude is still not sincere enough.”
Zhao Lingcheng frowned.
“Little Chen, you weren’t like this before.”
Before, for the sake of making money, she wouldn’t argue, just silently cooked and cleaned, trying to curry favor with him through actions.
Now she’s not working to make money, she’s lazy, and she’s got a temper?
Chen Mianmian thought of the poor female supporting character and sneered, “I’m not helping Chen Jinhui swindle your money—why should I be afraid of you?”
Then she suddenly stretched her neck forward, “If your attitude doesn’t improve, I’ll take Niuniu away and go work as a translator at the steel factory.”
Not only had her temper grown, was she planning to hit him?
Zhao Lingcheng instinctively dodged.
Tall as he was, duang—his head hit the edge of the top bunk.
Holding the back of his head, he bent over, wiping his face with a few twitches, looking a bit aggrieved.
Chen Mianmian almost laughed herself to death.
Before the train stopped, she swallowed the last bite of bun, a little surprised by her own appetite.
If Niuniu ate like this, she’d be a chubby baby sooner or later.
Only after getting off the train did she understand why Zhao Lingcheng had brought two small mats.
This was the independent train station, where motorcycles were parked for the soldiers of the special base to use.
Motorcycles nowadays had steel seats, cold and hard, so he brought mats to cushion her butt.
A quartermaster came running over, holding two steel helmets.
“Report!”
Zhao Lingcheng looked back.
“I asked for a new helmet, but these are clearly old ones.”
The quartermaster said, “We couldn’t get new ones, but we cleaned these thoroughly.”
Zhao Lingcheng took the helmets, compared them, gave the cleaner one to Chen Mianmian, and wore the older one himself.
He even took out a handkerchief, dampened it, and carefully wiped the inside again.
Chen Mianmian thought to herself, she hadn’t expected Niuniu’s father to be such a meticulous, ‘delicate little piggy’ type.
That made her a little worried—he was already busy, and with his germaphobia, Niuniu just going to the bathroom might scare him from coming home.
If she wanted him to wash diapers, that would probably never happen.
There were no disposable diapers yet.
Once Niuniu was born, was she supposed to wash diapers?
They were about to set off.
Zhao Lingcheng had to confirm once more, “Are you sure Xu Dagang is involved in corruption?”
Chen Mianmian retorted, “If he’s not corrupt, do you think that’s possible?”
Or rather, all the militiamen were corrupt to some extent, but the Xu brothers were the worst.
Zhao Lingcheng nodded.
“Where’s your first stop? How should I send you?”
Checking his watch: “I have to get to the detention center by noon because the Public Security Bureau releases prisoners at noon.
At noon, I’ll have the Public Security Bureau directly detain Xu Dagang with my guarantee.
That will give you a week to investigate and find evidence.”
The militia now were like future urban management officers—bossy and domineering over street vendors.
The police were part of the same system but independent, hard to manage, so the militia acted tough.
But when it came to the military, especially the secretive units, they were like ants—easy to crush if needed.
That’s why the Xu brothers pulled all sorts of shady tricks to get into the railway system.
Her ex-husband could arrest someone with just a single word—it sounded really cool.
But Chen Mianmian thought for a moment and said, “To avoid alerting the snake, don’t mention corruption yet.
Xu Dagang has a lot of dirty secrets, mostly about women. I know one thing…”
She added, “Let the police do the arrest. You better keep a low profile—he’s armed, and his brother’s already been caught. He’ll be on guard.”
Zhao Lingcheng was speechless.
“My major is Weapon Research, including firearms.
I’ve taken apart and played with more guns than Xu Dagang has eaten buns.”
Chen Mianmian had to nudge him to get on the motorcycle and said, “First, let’s go to the state guesthouse.”
Only after she got on did Zhao Lingcheng arch forward like he’d been electrocuted because his daughter was between them.
This was also the closest he had been to his daughter, if it really was a daughter.
Because Chen Mianmian’s belly was so round, he thought it should feel soft and fluffy.
But to his surprise, it was hard—strongly pushing against him.
Worried about squeezing the baby, he leaned forward while Chen Mianmian stuck out her butt and pressed her face against his back.
Riding with a pregnant woman, of course he went slow—bicycles were faster than him.Chen Mianmian spoke first, “I have three possible locations.One is the Red Flag Reform Farm. Eight years ago, when the farm planted its flag and started construction, Xu Dagang was among the first batch there.Because he could read and write, he became a squad leader of the construction team.”
She continued, “Second is his home in Jianshe Xincun. Third is the Gobi Desert.”
When people embezzle things, they hide them somewhere—like the female supporting character, who hid things in kang holes or the yard.
But Xu Dagang and Xu Cigang were both at the Red Flag Reform Farm, so that was her main suspicion.
Or it might be his hometown or somewhere in the Gobi.
The helmets nowadays had no glass visors, just bare steel shells.
The Northwest was windy and dusty—sand would blow straight into your mouth—and Zhao Lingcheng hated this hellhole.
He didn’t really understand this land and said, “If it’s the Gobi Desert, it might be hard to find, right?”
Chen Mianmian said, “It’s actually easiest to find it in the Gobi Desert.”
Naturally, Zhao Lingcheng asked, “Why?”
Chen Mianmian didn’t answer but said, “When Niuniu is born, you’re going to have to wash diapers.”
Zhao Lingcheng’s body visibly stiffened.
“Why don’t we just buy a washing machine?”
The thought of a child’s dirty diapers was disgusting; he definitely wouldn’t wash them.
A washing machine would work too, so Chen Mianmian asked, “Where can we buy one? How much?”
Zhao Lingcheng said, “In Shen Cheng. You need Foreign Trade Coupons. I saw one for two thousand yuan.”
The Shencheng Friendship Store always stocked foreign trade goods but sold them mainly to foreign consulates or state-run hotels.
Department-level leaders’ families had them, but those were official gifts and couldn’t be taken when they resigned.
Poor Niuniu wasn’t even born yet, and the lazy parents were already scheming over who would wash diapers.