First Night with the Army: The Stoic Big Shot Is Done Pretending

"Call me when you get home, okay?"

Wen Ci reached out and hugged him. "I will."

-

Wen Ci slept exceptionally well on the plane. Huo Jingyuan had given her an eye mask. She leaned against the window after boarding and didn’t wake up until a flight attendant called her.

Most of the other passengers had already deplaned.

Wen Ci left the airport and hailed a taxi. The fare to the Beijing Military District Family Courtyard was eight yuan. She clicked her tongue. ’In the past, I would never have been willing to spend that much.’

Eight yuan.

That was a whole month’s food budget for a single-income family.

The driver asked, "Is your husband a soldier?"

Wen Ci nodded amicably. "Yes."

"In that case, I’ll only charge you seven yuan for this trip. Soldiers protect our country, so you, as a military family member, should enjoy some benefits."

"Huh?"

Wen Ci blinked.

’Military families already get to enjoy benefits at a time like this?!’

"Is this a company policy?"

In the 1980s, the vetting process for taxi drivers was extremely strict, requiring layers of approval from the higher-ups. Both family background and driving skills were essential, and many retired military drivers ended up driving taxis.

"No." The driver shook his head and explained, "My son is also a soldier. He’s stationed up in the Northeast. Being a soldier is a tiring and bitter life."

Wen Ci nodded.

-

Two hours later, the taxi arrived at the Beijing Military Region.

Just as Wen Ci got out of the car, she ran into Su Guilan and Jiang Ye. The two were walking arm in arm, talking and laughing, looking for all the world like a real mother and daughter.

Jiang Ye had sharp eyes and was the first to greet her. "Big Sister."

Wen Ci acted as if she hadn’t heard.

Jiang Ye pulled Su Guilan over to stand in front of Wen Ci, a wide grin on her face. "Big Sister, where are you just getting back from?"

Wen Ci remained silent.

She didn’t even spare Jiang Ye a glance.

Su Guilan frowned. "Your younger sister is asking you a question."

Hearing this, Wen Ci’s gaze shifted to Su Guilan. She gave a slight laugh and a weary shrug. "Since when did you have two daughters?"

That one sentence left Su Guilan speechless.

She knew Wen Ci minded that she still acknowledged Jiang Ye.

But back then, Jiang Ye had just been a baby in swaddling clothes. She knew nothing about being switched. She was an innocent victim, too.

Wen Ci’s tone was distant and cold. "Is there anything else?"

"Come home for dinner tonight."

"I don’t want to."

Jiang Ye slowly lowered her head, asking in a self-reproachful tone, "Big Sister, is it because of me that you don’t want to come home for dinner? I can go stay at my brother’s house."

With her little green-tea speech, she painted herself as a considerate and understanding person.

"Ah Ci, can you please not be like this...?"

"Like what?" Wen Ci’s eyelids drooped slightly. She enunciated every word. "Weren’t you the one who made me marry in her place? I’m clearly your biological daughter, but what about you?"

Jiang Ye cut in, "Aren’t you very satisfied with Huo Jingyuan?"

"Heh!"

At first, the Jiang Family only thought Huo Jingyuan was some grunt soldier in the Northwest. Even with his connection to Old Commander Huo, the influence of a deceased person’s relationships doesn’t amount to much.

It was Wen Ci who admitted she was satisfied.

That was just her good luck.

Wen Ci took a deep breath, slowly exhaling the bitterness in her heart. She said bluntly, "Since we’re laying it all out on the table, I want to cut all ties with the Jiang Family. Let’s pretend we don’t know each other. We don’t need to greet each other when we meet."

Before Su Guilan could react, Jiang Ye covered her mouth, feigning concern but actually fanning the flames. "Big Sister... how could you be so heartless as to say something like that?"

"Ah Ci, you..."

Wen Ci, needing to get it all off her chest, continued, "Do you have any idea what my life was like when I was five? At five years old, there was no one to cook for me. I had to climb onto the stove myself to figure out how to eat. The auntie next door took pity on me and would help me out sometimes."

"And another thing."

Wen Ci’s eyes grew red as her mind filled with childhood memories. Her early life had been so bitter she had even thought about jumping into a river to end it all.

"She clearly knew the truth about being switched at birth back in junior high, but she kept it a secret, using her monthly allowance to support her biological parents.

They’d take the money and go out to eat at restaurants in the county town, while I was at home chewing on tree bark!"

In the sixties and seventies, every household needed ration tickets to buy anything. When the Wen Family parents had money, they would take Wen Yaozu out to eat.

She survived by growing and eating snake gourds.

Snake gourds grow quickly, but they have little flavor and no nutrition.

Wen Ci spent her entire adolescence living on snake gourds. In the whole family, only young Wen Yaozu felt sorry for her, secretly hiding bits of meat behind their parents’ backs to give her a taste of something better.

Jiang Ye retorted, "No, I didn’t! I didn’t know!"

"Your biological parents have a ledger. It clearly records the amount of money you gave them, and even the surplus they saved!"

Jiang Ye’s expression grew frantic. She had just returned to the Jiang Family and had only enjoyed two days of being the young miss. Her eyes reddened as she shook her head, completely at a loss.

"It’s not like that, it’s not! I was being threatened, too."

"Threatened?" Wen Ci sneered, her gaze as sharp and cold as ice. "Threatened that if you didn’t give them money, they would expose your identity as the fake young miss?"

"No..."

Jiang Ye’s mind was a mess. She was worried she’d slip up in her panic and say something that would make it impossible for her to ever return to the Jiang Family. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at the surrounding crowd of onlookers.

Mr. Jiang, as a minister in the military region, was constantly being watched by many people. Whenever a crowd gathered, Mrs. Jiang would get stage fright and leave.

Listening to her daughter’s grievances, Su Guilan’s tears fell instantly. She pounded her own chest in remorse. She knew her daughter had suffered a lot in the countryside.

But she never knew she had suffered this much.

The Wen Family had deliberately neglected her, refusing to give her food.

"Ah Ci..."

Wen Ci felt nothing as she watched the tears on her mother’s face. Noticing the crowd of onlookers growing, she said indifferently, "I’m leaving. Don’t let this affect your husband’s military position."

Cutting ties was one thing, but she couldn’t forget her obligations. After all, Huo Jingyuan’s childhood friend’s nephew was still relying on Minister Jiang.

She had to remember the favor.

-

On the way home, Wen Ci’s mood lightened considerably.

She had said her harsh words and didn’t care how Mrs. Jiang felt. Ultimately, her own well-being was what mattered most.

In the courtyard, Wen Yaozu was practicing kicking a shuttlecock. With his chubby body, he was already looking disoriented after just a couple of kicks.

As soon as Wen Ci reached the doorway, Wen Yaozu’s voice rang out, "Sis, you’re finally back! I missed you guys."

Wen Yaozu ran to the door and, seeing his sister was alone, asked in confusion, "Sis, how come you’re back by yourself? Where’s my brother-in-law?"

Wen Ci looked at the shuttlecock in his hand. "What are you doing?"

"Training my Spiritual Power."

Wen Yaozu blinked at her, rubbed his hands together, and asked, "Where’s my brother-in-law? Didn’t he come back with you?"

"He didn’t. I told him to stay in Hangzhou a couple more days to spend time with his elders."

"Oh." Wen Yaozu didn’t seem disappointed. He suddenly noticed his sister was only carrying a bag and his eyes widened. "Then, Sis, does that mean you didn’t bring the computer back?"

"Nope."

"But I already told all my friends at school that I was going to learn how to use a computer and become the first elementary school student in our county to ever touch one."

Wen Ci was speechless.

Wait a minute.

Wen Ci tilted her head, her face full of confusion. "How did you get in touch with your friends from school?"

Wen Yaozu was an elementary school student, and the public bus back to the county usually didn’t allow him to ride alone. Besides, she had just spoken with Wen Yaozu yesterday.

"On the phone!"

"Your school has a landline?"

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