“Not at all! Not at all! Haha!” Ge Junjian was easygoing, letting out a loud chuckle. To prevent Qin Yirou from thinking that he was only making a hasty courteous remark, Ge Junjian sighed and said, “You don’t have to see me like I’m all posh and ritzy. People like us from the Special Forces have slept everywhere. There’s no bed when we got deployed to the wilderness. The sky’s our room and the earth’s our bed! Heh, I’m used to it!”
Ge Junjian was not asking for sympathy from Qin Yirou. He was just trying to convey that he was not someone spoiled and would complain just because the living condition here was poorer.
“Officer Ge, you’re a man with stories.” Qin Yirou smiled, her expression was no longer as stiff as it had been.
Ge Junjian’s friendliness rubbed off on her, eliminating the pressure from Qin Yirou.
“Ay, that’s true. People coming up to our age are all packed with stories!” Ge Junjian’s smile grew smaller, as if recalling a certain sorrowful past.
“Yeah.” Qin Yirou rubbed her hands together. Although they were standing in the front yard, the breeze outside of the house was still making one shiver.
“Officer Ge, let’s head inside. The wind’s so strong. Ah, I’ve overlooked the fact it’s so cold, hosting you guys and making you all play chess in the yard and shivering in the wind! Come on, let’s go inside quickly!” Qin Yirou said promptly when she remembered that Ge Junjian and Si Yi had carried stools and the foldable table outside for a round of Chinese chess.
It was not really that frosty out there and the outside of Zhang Meihua’s house was lit. When they were playing chess just now, Ge Junjian had actually forgotten that they were outside in the wintry breeze.
Now that Qin Yirou reminded him, however, he felt the chill instantly and nodded. “Yeah, yeah, let’s. Haha. The game just now was interesting, I’ve totally forgotten that I was numb in the cold! I’m really old now! Haha!”
As Ge Junjian spoke, he helped Qin Yirou bring the table and chairs into the house. He was a virtuous man. When Qin Yirou was cleaning up and about to carry the heavier items into the house, he rushed to move them for her.
It made Qin Yirou feel good about Ge Junjian as a person.
It was still early in the night. Yun Jian and Si Yi had brought Yun Zhu to the shop again while Zhang Meihua had gone square dancing at Xinjiang Town’s community hall after cleaning up.
Square dancing was trending and gaining momentum during this period of time.
Qin Laiqian and their family were already snuggly in bed. They were not ones to stay up for Lunar New Year as sleeping late was detrimental to health. As vigilant about health as they were, they had gone to sleep a long time ago.
Without no one around and nothing to do since Si Yi, Yun Jian, and Yun Zhu were not around, and Yun Yi had retired to his room, Qin Yirou fetched herself a chair and chatted with Ge Junjian in the house.
They talked about life and their past experiences. Qin Yirou and Ge Junjian were both people who had lived well past half of their lifetime, so there was definitely a lot of experience to share.
As questions flowed, it was revealed that Ge Junjian had divorced. Enlisted in the military, he could hardly spend time at home with his wife and child. His wife could not take it and got together with another man.
He was left with his son now, but his son studied abroad and did not come back even during Lunar New Year. Even when it was Lunar New Year’s Eve where families reunited, Ge Junjian was indifferent about going home.
He would be the only one in the large empty mansion anyway had he gone back. To return to a house like that, he would rather stay in the military.