Chapter 187: Chapter 185: Because He Is My Husband

Happy times always fly by, and in the blink of an eye, it was time for Su Tang to leave Beijing and return to the Northwest.

The train station was bustling with people coming and going. A stirring march played over the loudspeakers, but it couldn’t drown out the sorrow of parting.

Lu Xiao gripped Su Tang’s hand tightly, the pad of his thumb stroking the back of her hand again and again. His eyes were filled with reluctance to let her go.

"Be careful on the journey. Send me a telegram as soon as you get home."

His voice was low, with an almost imperceptible hoarseness. "I’ve put food and drinks for the trip in your carry-on bag. Be sure to eat when you’re hungry. Don’t try to save it."

Su Tang’s heart ached, but she forced a smile.

"I know, Mr. Lu. You’ve reminded me a hundred times already. I’m not a child; I can take care of myself. You have to eat on time in Beijing, too. Don’t forget everything once you get busy."

"Mm."

Lu Xiao replied, but his gaze seemed glued to her, as if he could never get enough of looking at her.

"I’ll take good care of our family. I’ll be waiting for you to come back."

Su Tang tucked the photo of Cheng’an she was holding into his hand and wrapped her arms around his waist, unwilling to part.

The day had felt so short, as if it had passed in the blink of an eye.

Seeing that the departure time was approaching, Su Tang bit her lip and pulled her hand away. "I... I should get on the train."

With that, she turned and walked away. Only when Lu Xiao was out of sight did her eyes begin to redden.

’It’s okay. Just a little longer, and we’ll be reunited as husband and wife.’

Just as she was about to walk toward the train car, a figure suddenly blocked her path.

It was Zhao Peng.

His face wore an expression of feigned concern, but his eyes were shifty.

"Leaving so soon?"

"Sigh. Ma’am, there’s something I’m not sure I should say..."

Su Tang frowned, a flicker of wariness rising within her. "Comrade Zhao, just say what’s on your mind." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Zhao Peng pretended to hesitate, lowering his voice. "Ma’am, it must not be easy for you, going back to raise a child all by yourself... There are some things that Mr. Lu might be hiding from you. I just think you’re a good person, and I can’t bear to see you kept in the dark..."

"Lu Xiao isn’t exactly alone here in Beijing. A lot of the female soldiers from the song and dance troupe..."

The noisy chatter of the crowd seemed to fall silent for a moment at his words.

But Su Tang was unexpectedly calm.

She looked calmly at Zhao Peng, who wore a "this is for your own good" expression.

"Comrade Zhao, thank you for your concern. However, I know my own husband better than anyone. I know what kind of person Lu Xiao is; I can judge for myself.

"He’s out there defending our country, he pours his heart and soul into caring for me and our child, and he sends every penny he earns back home. His heart is completely devoted to our little family."

She paused, her gaze turning sharp.

"But you, Comrade Zhao, instead of spending your time worrying about baseless matters between a husband and wife, you should focus more on your own work and life.

"Spreading rumors and stirring up trouble—that’s not how a soldier should behave.

"I don’t believe a single word you’ve said. And even if, for the sake of argument, some shameless person did try to throw themselves at him..."

Su Tang’s tone was resolute. "I trust Lu Xiao to handle it more cleanly and decisively than you can possibly imagine. Because he is Lu Xiao, my husband."

Her speech left Zhao Peng flushed with shame. The faint, curious glances from those nearby made him wish the ground would swallow him whole.

He had intended to cause trouble for Lu Xiao, hoping to make the couple fight. He never expected Su Tang to be so formidable, stripping him bare and leaving him without a shred of dignity in just a few sentences.

"You... You just can’t appreciate a kind gesture!"

After struggling for a moment, Zhao Peng could only squeeze out that single resentful sentence before dejectedly turning and disappearing into the crowd.

Su Tang scoffed. She and Lu Xiao had been through so much together. If she could be so easily swayed by someone trying to stir up trouble, then all their shared experiences would have been for nothing.

The train whistle blew, and it slowly began to move.

Su Tang leaned against the window, watching the tall, straight figure on the platform grow smaller and smaller until he was just a tiny black dot. Her heart felt empty.

Having been shot down by Su Tang and feeling that he had lost face among his comrades, Zhao Peng was simmering with a malicious anger he couldn’t swallow.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He blamed it all on Lu Xiao. ’If it weren’t for Lu Xiao, why would I have said those things? How could I have been humiliated by Su Tang like that?’

This malicious anger clouded his judgment.

「A few days later」, under the pretext of training, he cornered Lu Xiao on the training grounds.

"Lu Xiao! Let’s have a go at it! What’s the big deal about being good at assessments? Let’s see what you’re really made of!"

Zhao Peng’s tone was aggressive; he was clearly looking for a fight.

Lu Xiao was instructing new recruits and frowned upon hearing this. "Zhao Peng, this is training time. Don’t mess around."

"What? Are you scared? Scared of losing face in front of your men?"

Zhao Peng deliberately shouted, drawing the attention of many people nearby.

Lu Xiao’s gaze turned cold. "What’s the challenge?"

"An obstacle course race! Whoever loses has to call the other ’Grandpa’!"

Zhao Peng pointed to a particularly difficult obstacle course nearby.

Lu Xiao wanted to refuse such a pointless bet, but seeing Zhao Peng’s unrelenting expression, he knew that if he didn’t put him in his place today, there would be more trouble later.

He nodded. "Fine. The bet is unnecessary, but we can have a friendly match."

The two of them took their places at the starting line.

When the whistle blew, Zhao Peng shot off like an arrow from a bow. He started out strong, almost keeping pace with Lu Xiao.

But he was impatient and impetuous, focused only on winning, and his form suffered.

While going over a high wall, he rushed, his foot slipped, and he failed to vault over completely. He lost his balance and, with a miserable cry, fell hard from the nearly two-meter-high barrier!

A sharp CRACK, accompanied by Zhao Peng’s heart-wrenching scream, echoed as his lower leg bent at a horribly unnatural angle.

The training ground instantly erupted into chaos.

The medic arrived quickly and gave a preliminary diagnosis: a very severe fracture of the lower leg.

After a detailed examination at the hospital, it was determined that even after healing, he would be left with severe long-term effects, making it impossible for him to continue high-intensity military training.

Lying in the hospital bed, Zhao Peng’s face was ashen.

He could never have imagined that a moment of anger would lead to such disastrous consequences.

Not long after, the military’s decision came down.

Unable to adapt to military life due to his injury, he was to be discharged.

In that moment, all his jealousy, bitterness, and resentment turned into despair and regret.

He had tried to humiliate others by spreading rumors, but in the end, he had completely ruined his own future.

Meanwhile, after this incident, Lu Xiao was temporarily transferred from his classified unit to another high-level unit.

This naturally gave him the opportunity to write letters to Su Tang.

Their correspondence became even more frequent.

In his letters, Lu Xiao briefly mentioned Zhao Peng’s injury and discharge, his tone filled with regret.

When Su Tang received the letter, she was teaching Cheng’an to recognize words.

Although the little one could only stare at her with his big, innocent eyes.

She looked at the letter, raising an eyebrow slightly.

’A training accident?’

She remembered the resentful, malicious look on Zhao Peng’s face at the train station and knew exactly what had happened.

She picked up her pen to reply. She didn’t mention Zhao Peng at all, writing only of trivial matters at home, amusing things their child did, along with the line: "Wicked people get what they deserve; we should just focus on living our own lives well. Cheng’an and I both miss you."

Not long after she sent the letter, she received a reply from Lu Xiao. Tucked inside was a new photograph of him taken in Beijing, with a line of strong handwriting on the back:

"Home is where the heart is. Wait for me to come back."

Su Tang placed the photo on her bedside table. Gazing out the window at the vast Northwest sky, she broke into a gentle smile.

"Cousin, something huge has happened! Look at this! Look, isn’t this that Zhou Rui you mentioned before?"