Xia Zhe stood at the side and lowered his head, not looking at Zheng Yuan and not paying attention to what she was saying.
Zheng Yuan walked to Xia Zhe’s side smilingly. She closed the distance between them such that she was almost leaning against Xia Zhe, and he took a step back silently.
“Oh, so I see,” Zheng Yuan said.
Zhuang Hua hurriedly grabbed Xia Zhe and said to him, “Oh… about that… I still have something to discuss with you. Come, let’s go over there.”
Xia Zhe was pulled away by Zhuang Hua in a chaotic manner, leaving Zheng Yuan on her own in a state of confusion.
“Well… Zhang Yong and I have to go and settle some matters in our teams. See you later, Deputy Commander Zheng.” Zhao Wu and Zhang Yong saluted and ran back to their respective teams.
Zheng Yuan clenched her fists and looked with enmity in the directions where Xia Zhe and the others had left. She then turned back to look at Xia Zhe’s tent.
“Qiao Mei… I will take revenge for all of this!” Zheng Yuan said softly.
Qiao Mei sneezed inside the tent.
“Achoo! Achoo!” Qiao Mei rubbed her nose.
“I wonder who’s scolding me behind my back…” Qiao Mei tidied up her things in the tent and then picked up Xia Zhe’s dirty clothes with the intent to wash them.
Using the plants in the surroundings, Qiao Mei detected a small stream about five kilometers away. It was not a very big place, but it would be useful enough for her to wash her clothes and other stuff.
The clothes that she brought were all intended to be worn in the capital. Now that she was among the troops, it was quite inappropriate for her to wear these clothes. She also had to change her current set of clothes as she was covered in dust and dirt and she really could not stand it anymore.
Qiao Mei put everything in a cloth bag and wanted to check if there were any bicycles nearby that she could borrow. Otherwise, she could only go on foot.
When Zheng Yuan saw Qiao Mei walking out of the tent, she quickly stopped Qiao Mei.
“Hey! Where are you going?” Zheng Yuan asked rudely.
“Comrade, I want to go and wash my clothes.” Qiao Mei looked at Zheng Yuan and assumed that she was part of the troops. Her uniform was different from the other ordinary soldiers. which meant that she should be of a similar rank to Zhang Yong and the others.
“The water supply in the camp is so scarce now, yet you still want to wash clothes?” Zheng Yuan looked at Qiao Mei in disdain.
Qiao Mei did not know how she had offended this woman in front of her and why this woman had such a bad attitude towards her. On her end, Zheng Yuan thought badly of Qiao Mei for wanting to waste the camp’s water source.
“I’m just going nearby to look around and try my luck.” Qiao Mei had to speak in a nice tone out of concern for Xia Zhe’s reputation.
“Nearby? We’ve searched everywhere but there’s no water source. Where are you going to find it? If you lose your way, it’ll only cause trouble for Xia Zhe,” Zheng Yuan said to Qiao Mei as she rolled her eyes.
Xia Zhe? The other soldiers all referred to Xia Zhe as big brother or Commander Xia. Even Zhang Yong, Zhao Wu and Zhuang Hua rarely called Xia Zhe by his full name. What right did this woman have to call him that?
Qiao Mei only knew that her grandfather had been in the army when she was young, but her grandfather had not taught her anything about army ranks and positions, so Qiao Mei could not make out Zheng Yuan’s rank from the epaulets on her shoulders.
“I know the way and can find my way back,” Qiao Mei said as she prepared to walk out.
Zheng Yuan reached out to stop Qiao Mei and said, “No, you can’t go!”
Qiao Mei looked at the woman in front of her. She was quite pretty and tall, and could be considered to be good-looking. Could it be that this woman liked Xia Zhe?
“Sure,” Qiao Mei agreed readily.
If she was not allowed to go and find the water source, then she would go out another day. This was the army and she did not want to cause trouble for Xia Zhe. As for the relationship between this woman and Xia Zhe, although she believed that Xia Zhe would not do anything to betray her, it did not stop her from feeling very angry at the moment.
Zheng Yuan did not expect Qiao Mei to be so compliant and to go directly back to the tent. She watched in a daze as Qiao Mei left.
Initially, she thought that this village woman would be shrewish and domineering. She did not expect her to be so timid and weak. However, it was a good thing if this village woman was so obedient since it would only make things easier for her.
Zheng Yuan stared at the tent door and gave a purposeful smile.
“Just you wait. I’m going to give it to you,” Zheng Yuan muttered softly.