Xia Zhe took out a few tattered dollar notes from his pocket and placed them in Qiao Mei’s hands one by one. “I’ve given you all my money every month. I borrowed this from Zhao Wu and the others. Take it, in case you need to buy things on the way.”
Qiao Mei actually had a lot of money in her bag, but she felt a sense of warmth when she saw Xia Zhe giving her the money and telling her seriously to use it to buy things she needed on the way.
Qiao Mei took out a small square handkerchief and wrapped up the money. “Don’t worry, I won’t go hungry.”
After thinking about it, Xia Zhe still felt worried and when he packed for Qiao Mei, he put in all the useful army supplies that he could think of. When the soldiers in the cookhouse knew that Qiao Mei was leaving, they all came to see her.
“Sister-in-law, here are some dried vegetables that we made ourselves. You can eat it on the way!”
“And me! Sister-in-law, I secretly brought this waxed sausage from home. There’s not much left though, if you don’t mind!”
“And me, and me!”
“Sister-in-law, take these steamed buns with you!”
Everyone spoke one after another and there were so many gifts that Qiao Mei could barely hold them all in her arms. When Xia Zhe saw this scene, he could not believe that these soldiers were actually all such enthusiastic people.
Usually, Xia Zhe was unsmiling and looked very serious. Everyone felt that Xia Zhe was very fierce, and given that his combat skills were top-notch, no one dared to provoke him and they did not dare to speak when they saw him. They even nicknamed Xia Zhe the “Living King of Hell” because he was especially strict and ruthless when it came to training soldiers. However, all the soldiers who were trained by him would turn out to be very capable.
“Alright, alright, I can’t take so much with me. I’ll just take the steamed buns. You can all bring back the rest of the things. I’m just going to the capital and will reach there very quickly. Don’t worry!” Qiao Mei shouted above the noise.
Everyone was relieved to hear that.
“Alright, you can all go back now,” Xia Zhe said.
Seeing that Commander Xia had given an order, everyone took their things and went back. Only the squad leader said smugly on the way, “See, my steamed buns are the most useful. Hahahahaha!”
Qiao Mei looked at the departing soldiers and felt a little reluctant to part with them. After being together for so many days, she already had some feelings for them.
Xia Zhe said darkly, “Come back here. Stop looking.”
Qiao Mei placed a pile of steamed buns beside her backpack.
“Everyone is so warm-hearted,” Qiao Mei said to Xia Zhe with a smile.
From everyone’s behavior, it was obvious that Qiao Mei had been well liked by everyone during this period of time. There were even many people who privately talked about finding a wife like Qiao Mei, who was beautiful, kind and an exceptional cook.
The next morning, Xia Zhe sent Qiao Mei to the car. As the railway was damaged by the earthquake, they could only travel by cars. The ride would be bumpy and Xia Zhe was worried about Qiao Mei going to the capital on her own.
This car was an internal transport vehicle. Other than transporting equipment, there were also three other army comrades sent to the capital to report back on this mission. Xia Zhe was less worried, knowing that Qiao Mei would be traveling with them.
After arriving in the capital, they would stop the car by the roadside for Qiao Mei to get off. Xia Zhe had already called his aunt in advance to inform her of the exact location.
After a bumpy ride for a whole day, they arrived at the capital. Xia Zhe’s aunt was already waiting at the meeting location.
The other guys helped Qiao Mei out of the car and she waved towards the back. “Goodbye! Thank you!”
As soon as Xia Fang saw Qiao Mei, she knew that this girl was Xiao Zhe’s wife. A beautiful girl who came down from a military vehicle could not be the wrong guess.
With her fair skin, lively eyes and slender figure, it was no wonder that Xiao Zhe did not inform his family and just got married straight away.
If his aunt knew what Qiao Mei looked like in the past, she might have a new understanding of Xia Zhe.
Qiao Mei carried her bag and looked around. She immediately saw Xia Zhe’s aunt, Xia Fang, who looked about 40 years old. One look and she could tell that Xia Fang was a lady from a wealthy family as she had a very elegant aura.
“Hello, are you Xia Zhe’s aunt?” Qiao Mei asked daintily.
“Yes, I’m Xia Zhe’s aunt. My name is Xia Fang. You must be exhausted. Come, let’s go back to my house,” Xia Fang said as she quickly took the backpack from Qiao Mei’s shoulders.
“Aunt, let me do it,” Qiao Mei said.
“It’s alright, let’s go home.” Xia Fang carried the backpack and took the bus home with Qiao Mei.