Zhang Chaoqian was as excited as Columbus discovering the New World, with golden light practically shooting from his eyes as he dashed towards the dormitory.
With a loud bang, he kicked the door open, startling the two guys who had been lounging on their beds into jumping up.
"Chaoqian, damn you! Are you trying to scare us to death?" Cheng Yue started cursing as soon as he opened his mouth.
Zhang Chaoqian, completely absorbed in the explosive news he brought, paid no mind to Cheng Yue’s curses, "Cheng Yue, guess who I just ran into at the school gate?"
"An Hao?" Cheng Yue guessed casually.
"Half right, guess again!"
"Half?" Li Zhi, seeing Zhang Chaoqian this excited, was certain there had to be gossip; otherwise, the kid would never be this thrilled, "I got it, it must be Teacher Yan, right?"
"Pah, pah, pah! Don’t smear Teacher Yan. Look at your pig brains, I bet you could guess all day and still not get it right. I’ll just tell you straight, just now I saw a soldier holding An Hao in his arms. You should have seen how quiet and well-behaved An Hao was in his embrace... tsk, tsk, tsk... How can you call her ’Little Hot Pepper’? She’s clearly as gentle as water, right?"
"Holy shit! Cheng Yue, your love rival! Your love rival has appeared! Weren’t you going to duel him? Let’s go, let’s have a look!" Li Zhi suddenly got as excited as if he had drunk two kilos of ’dog blood’ and sprang down from the top bunk.
"Love rival?" Cheng Yue punched his pillow, "I’m freaking the most miserable! My love rival turns out to be her husband!"
"Never mind that. Hurry up, or the guy might walk away."
"Let’s go!" Cheng Yue grabbed his coat, threw it on, and bolted from the dorm.
Unfortunately, he was out of luck.
By the time he got to the school gate, there was no sign of the love rival, let alone his shadow.
"Too late, huh? Next time. I’ll tell you right away if I see him again."
Cheng Yue shook his head and, staring at the empty gate, gritted his teeth, "I’m going to challenge her husband through An Hao!"
"You’ve got nerve!" Zhang Chaoqian was thoroughly impressed, down to his very bones, with Cheng Yue’s guts.
"Great, then we’ll just wait to see Cheng Yue getting knocked around by An Hao’s husband!" Li Zhi said with a grin, "I really don’t know where you get your confidence from, thinking you can actually send a challenge to someone? "
Cheng Yue, without a word, turned and walked away.
Ever since Yan Ye told him that An Hao looked down on him because he was inferior to Qin Jian, the thought had become an obsession in his heart.
He hoped that through this contest, he could find a legitimate reason to prove that An Hao’s disinterest in him wasn’t because he was less than Qin Jian, but because Qin Jian had simply gotten ahead of him.
If Qin Jian wasn’t around, An Hao would definitely like him.
.................................
Qin Jian’s unexpected return took An Hao by surprise.
Not only was An Hao surprised, but Ning Yibin and Zhang Yun also found it incredibly unbelievable.
At dinner, the table was laden with abundant, delicious dishes.
The family gathered around it, cheerfully enjoying the meal, with Ning Yibin occasionally inquiring about Qin Jian’s military life.
"I heard you were injured in the disaster relief efforts a while back, and it took over a month to recover?"
"Ah? You were injured? Why didn’t you write to me about it? How come you didn’t tell me either, Mom and Dad?" An Hao, upon hearing of Qin Jian’s injury, looked visibly worried.
"It’s nothing serious. Just a minor injury, and it’s long since healed," Qin Jian gestured to An Hao not to worry too much, but because of this incident, he had, in fact, benefited from the misfortune.