Tears welled up in Bai Xue’s eyes all at once, as if pears battered by rain, not flowers drenched in dew.
"Aunt, you hit me? You hit me! You do nothing to help me with the trouble at hand, instead you hit me!" Bai Xue’s voice was filled with reproach. Yet, encountering the stern and icy gaze from Battalion Commander Bai, she trembled with fright and slowly knelt down in front of her, pulling at the hem of Battalion Commander Bai’s trousers. She sobbed and pleaded, "Aunt, help me, please help me. I don’t want to marry to General Su!"
Battalion Commander Bai did not kick her away, but neither did she respond to her plea.
"There is no other option, Bai Xue, the only path in front of you is to obey the command of the military!" declared Battalion Commander Bai.
Battalion Commander Bai crouched in front of her, leveling her eyes with Bai Xue’s face, she said mockingly, "You brought this upon yourself, Bai Xue. I advised you years ago, to know when to stop, to seize the opportunity while still young, to pick a husband from the well-off and influential admirers, no matter how they would turn out to be, regardless of their future accomplishments. At the very least, you will have basked in glamour and wealth, and be under the shelter of his family’s power. There would be no need to worry about who you might end up with. You didn’t listen! You always fantasized about a man who is young, handsome, talented, and prestigious in every aspect. You came here, you’ve met Colonel Lu, but sadly, destiny didn’t provide you with the opportunity. Haven’t your several years in the art troupe given you enough warning through the incident with Hao Xiaomei last year?"
Upon hearing Hao Xiaomei’s name, Bai Xue shrank back.
Initially, the man had set his sights on her, but she was unwilling. Despite his capabilities and status, his age was too much for her to look past. She ran a secret ticking operation with an admirer from the high-profile community, had him secretly pass along the message to the military leaders and in the end, the object of the man’s interest was switched to Hao Xiaomei.
She could do the same now too!
Bai Xue excitedly grabbed Battalion Commander Bai’s arm, "Aunt, Aunt! Is not the military’s objective to find a wife for General Su? Switching to a different candidate will do! There are so many female soldiers in the art troupe, any one of them will do. It doesn’t have to be me. Forced wedlock yields no sweet fruit, The Commander and General Su will understand, they surely will!"
"Pure fantasy!" on that note, Battalion Commander Bai hastily shook off Bai Xue’s hand from her arm.
She said, how would the military zone leaders have noticed Hao Xiaomei, so it turned out her niece was the one pulling the strings! Hao Xiaomei, back then, was already in a relationship with a man named Zhang Jun from the art troupe, and they were planning to get married.
After Hao Xiaomei married General Wu, Zhang Jun was devastated. He was now only doing menial tasks and never performing on stage again.
Bai Xue was thrown off to the side by Battalion Commander Bai and couldn’t help but burst into tears.
"Quiet!" Battalion Commander Bai bellowed in a low voice, "Do you want the people outside to hear your cries? Do you want the Commander and General Su to know about your unwillingness? Stop dreaming, Bai Xue."
"Aunt, I really don’t want to marry. I truly don’t!" Bai Xue knelt upright, fell down at Battalion Commander Bai’s feet and sobbed uncontrollably, "I will follow your advice, Aunt, I will follow your advice. Once I return to the Capital, I’ll immediately... immediately marry one of those high-ranking admirers of mine. There are quite a few who have expressed their wish to marry me. Please help me, don’t let me marry General Su!"
"There’s no chance left for you, Bai Xue". A trace of pity flickered in Battalion Commander Bai’s eyes, "If it weren’t for this, you could have returned to marry some high-ranking official’s son, but now..."