When Lu Jiang was not at the military base, Jiang Xiaoyue often came to visit Feng Qingxue, bringing gifts for Xibao. She never came empty-handed.
She was frank and generous, and was really well-liked within the cultural troupe. Sometimes she would bring Yang Fengying or Fang Ning along, which showed her excellent ability to forge friendships. Her close friends were all of exemplary character.
As time passed, Feng Qingxue became close with Yang Fengying.
One day, just as they were leaving after a visit, Sang Hong arrived with a soldier that Feng Qingxue did not know.
She didn’t recognize him in the sense that she didn’t know his name, though she had seen him before.
He appeared to be in his thirties, but he was surely under thirty. However, the harsh conditions here made everyone look aged, with ruddy faces accented by high-altitude blush.
"Sister-in-law!" Sang Hong cheerfully said, "This is our camp commander, Qiao Desheng. He’s come to ask you for a favor."
"What can I do for Commander Qiao?" Feng Qingxue offered them seats and prepared a bowl of malt essence for each of them. "Xiao Sang, regarding the matter you mentioned, Xibao’s father has spoken to me. I’ll keep an eye out for you, don’t worry."
Sang Hong’s eyes lit up. The matter he was referring to was for Feng Qingxue to find him a wife.
"Thank you, sister-in-law, thank you," Sang Hong expressed his gratitude excitedly like a child.
It seemed that getting married was quite important to them.
Feng Qingxue then asked what Qiao Desheng needed her for. After coughing awkwardly twice, he reluctantly said, "I was hoping you could set me up with Fang Ning from the cultural troupe. I’d like to meet and get to know her."
The incidents that transpired a few days ago had resulted in numerous people being severely disciplined. Qiao Desheng was terrified that the letter he wrote to Fang Ning would be discovered. The timing was too coincidental; the night after he sent the letter, trouble arose the next morning. Fang Ning, cautious by nature, had no chance to destroy the letter. Fortunately, Fang Ning was safe, but he still felt tremendously guilty.
In truth, he didn’t write anything particularly romantic in the letter. Since Fang Ning didn’t know who he was, he simply told her that he wanted to arrange an introduction through the army’s leadership and humbly asked for her consent. He promised to take action as soon as she agreed.
He wanted to follow established social conventions and have a matchmaker set them up, but somehow, impetuously, he wrote and gave that letter to Fang Ning.
If anything had happened as a result, he would be too guilty to live. Dying a thousand or ten thousand times would not be enough to atone for his mistake.
The regulations regarding interaction between men and women are stricter nowadays. The army prohibited soldiers from approaching the residences and rehearsal spaces of the cultural troupe, so Qiao Desheng couldn’t meet or approach Fang Ning. Left with a deep sense of remorse and guilt, he chose to seek Feng Qingxue’s help for a chance to apologize to Fang Ning and confess his feelings.
Feng Qingxue was the only person apart from the parties involved who knew the situation. Although she was not clear why he had chosen to die, his readiness to take responsibility was proof that he was a real man.
"I’ll first ask Fang Ning if she is okay with it. If she agrees, I will introduce you," she replied.
Qiao Desheng didn’t expect Feng Qingxue to agree so readily. He quickly nodded, saying, "Absolutely, absolutely, you can’t force Fang Ning to do anything she doesn’t agree to. Thank you, sister-in-law, thank you sister-in-law!"
... It’s now the tenth Chapter. I won’t post anymore tonight. As usual, feel free to vote for the story. It’s already eight-thirty, goodness me! I still haven’t updated the story over there and bad luck keeps coming my way today.