51: Chapter 51: Desk Mate 2_1 51: Chapter 51: Desk Mate 2_1 “Isn’t it legal to get married at the age of eighteen?” He Zhilan asked back.
Tan Heqian nodded and mumbled, “That’s true, but…” He didn’t finish the rest of his sentence, instead shifting the topic onto Zhilan’s husband, a soldier.
“How did you meet your husband?
How long has he been a soldier?
Does he come home rarely?
And won’t it be tough for you afterward?” he asked.
“We’ve known each other since we were very young, he joined the military through connections when he was fifteen,” answered Zhilan, unwilling to reveal to Tan Heqian that she was He Teng’s child bride.
The identity of a child bride wasn’t something she cherished.
“You two grew up together then?” Tan Heqian asked, seemingly envious.
“You could say that,” replied Zhilan, finding it somehow not so bad to be misunderstood by him.
Growing up as a child bride or as childhood friends were the same, but the latter sounded more pleasing and enviable.
“Ah, I never had such good fortune as your husband.
I had to follow my parents and move house quite often since I was very young, so I never had a chance to foster a childhood sweetheart,” regretted Tan Heqian.
“As a child, we moved every three or five years.
I got to know a lot of classmates and neighbors, but each move meant losing some old friends and having to make new ones.”
“Did you move every three to five years?
Don’t tell me your parents were in debt and moving frequently to avoid creditors?” Zhilan joked.
Tan Heqian wasn’t surprised at all.
“I knew you would ask that.
No, we moved frequently because my dad’s job required him to.”
Zhilan knew it wasn’t so.
Tan Heqian didn’t seem to lack money, and he wasn’t a child from a poor family.
His manner of speaking also let Zhilan know he had a good upbringing, which also implied that his parents were well-educated.
Distracted from their first university lecture, Zhilan and Tan Heqian secretly chatted merrily, even exchanging their dormitory phone numbers.
Zhilan didn’t think much of it, considering Tan Heqian to be a good and trustworthy friend.
She was simply thinking that having an extra friend provides an extra layer of security when living away from home.
Coming back to the dormitory, the first thing Zhilan noticed was a new full-length mirror on the dormitory wall.
And currently, Gu En was in front it, judging outfits all of which still had their price tags attached.
Wang Bingbing and Huang Cai were laying on their beds, silently focused on their books, so only Gu En was humming some unknown tune while preening in the mirror.
On hearing the door open, Gu En looked through the mirror and turned around once she saw Zhilan.
She shook the three outfits in her hand at Zhilan by the door, asking, “Which of these three do you think looks best?”
“Whichever one you like is the best.
Why are you asking me?” Zhilan didn’t give an answer.
When Gu En asked this question, Wang Bingbing and Huang Cai, lying on their beds, both humphed, seemingly a bit displeased.
Zhilan guessed that Gu En probably asked them the same question earlier, and they both had given an answer.
However, Gu En didn’t take their advice.
“I notice that all the clothes you wear look good, so I believe your taste must be different from that of the unsophisticated bumpkins from the countryside.
That’s why I trust your judgment and asked you.” Gu En patiently explained, in an uncharacteristically good mood.