Zhou Cheng received the package brought back to Beijing by Kang Wei and the others on the morning of the third day of the New Year.

Although the items had been delivered to his workplace earlier, Zhou Cheng was assigned to a mission. Kang Wei and Shao Guangrong returned to Beijing on the evening of January 25th. When Kang Wei tried to deliver the items on the 26th, he couldn’t meet Zhou Cheng in person.

Zhou Cheng had no holiday leave during this New Year period. He had been busy from the end of the lunar year until the third day of the New Year before he could finally catch his breath. From the twenty-eighth day of the last lunar month until the third day of the New Year, he had been inseparable from the senior leader, without a moment of free time.

With Zhou Cheng constantly by the senior leader’s side, who would dare to interrupt by saying “Captain Zhou, your partner sent you something”?

No matter how important anything else was, it had to wait until after work – those were the rules of his unit.

When Zhou Cheng finally opened the package, what had Xia Xiaolan sent?

There was a wool coat, though Zhou Cheng didn’t know that Kang Wei and Shao Guangrong had received them too. He couldn’t have been happier. There was also a package of mountain yams. Yunan Province produced excellent Iron Club mountain yams, and after hearing they were very nutritious – Liu Yong had been eating them since his injury – Xia Xiaolan had sent Zhou Cheng a large package.

Since it wasn’t being tossed around through the postal service, with Kang Wei and Shao Guangrong serving as “delivery men” who could ensure the yams reached Zhou Cheng as quickly as possible, Xia Xiaolan had felt confident sending them.

However, she hadn’t anticipated Zhou Cheng’s closed work environment – even though Kang Wei delivered it to the unit’s entrance, he still couldn’t meet Zhou Cheng.

Zhou Cheng’s heart ached when he opened the package. The carefully selected Iron Club mountain yams had spoiled by at least half due to being sealed without ventilation for too long. The spoiled yams were inedible, and Zhou Cheng stared at them for a long while.

Besides the clothes and yams, there was also a letter for Zhou Cheng.

The letter detailed everything that happened after Kang Wei arrived in Shangdu – the Zhu family’s scheme and how the Yangcheng thugs had been dealt with. Xia Xiaolan also asked how she should properly thank Shao Guangrong and Kang Wei without being impolite.

Zhou Cheng read and reread his wife’s letter. He was interested in every little detail of Xia Xiaolan’s life, but why did she keep mentioning other people’s names? Especially Shao Guangrong – why had he gone to Shangdu with Kang Wei?

Zhou Cheng had half a day off this year. Though he couldn’t go far, he could at least visit home.

He called in his subordinate: “Did you mail the things I asked you to send?”

“Report: They’ve been mailed to Yunan Province as per your instructions.”

The subordinate had become quite wary of Captain Zhou and was probably now the only person in the entire unit who knew about Zhou Cheng’s relationship status. Before mailing the items, Zhou Cheng had calculated the timing – when the package arrived, it was unclear whether Xia Xiaolan would be at Grandmother Yu’s house in Shangdu or if it would need to be forwarded to the countryside in Anqing County.

The subordinate thought to himself that Captain Zhou had found a partner from rural Yunan Province.

He wondered what kind of woman could have captivated Captain Zhou – not just within their unit, but even throughout their entire system, no one could match Zhou Cheng’s conditions. A young officer who was also good-looking, there were often rumors in the unit about various leaders’ daughters having their eyes on Captain Zhou, or leaders’ nieces insisting they would marry no one but him.

It annoyed Captain Zhou so much that he issued an order: whenever young women came looking for him at the unit, they were to be told he wasn’t there!

Captain Zhou’s popularity with women frustrated Old Fang from next door. At thirty years old and still unmarried, he had once declared that his future wife would be better than Zhou Cheng’s partner. Unfortunately, Old Fang lacked Zhou Cheng’s promise and youth – the leaders’ daughters wouldn’t even look at him… Old Fang had quieted down for a while, but when Zhou Cheng announced he had a partner, Old Fang became anxious again.

Now Old Fang no longer insisted on finding a wife better than Zhou Cheng’s partner. His new goal was to get married before Zhou Cheng. Zhou Cheng would only turn 21 this year and couldn’t marry until he was at least 22 in 1985. According to Old Fang’s calculations, if he moved quickly enough, he could not only get married before Zhou Cheng but also have children earlier, gaining an advantage in the next generation that would lead to advantages in everything else.

Even Zhou Cheng’s colleagues knew about Old Fang’s enthusiastic pursuit of blind dates. The good thing was that Old Fang no longer needed to be particular about his potential match’s family background. Without comparing himself to Zhou Cheng, Old Fang was still a promising young officer in the unit. The matches introduced to him might not be senior leaders’ daughters, but at least they’d be the daughters of junior officers, right?

At least they couldn’t be worse than Captain Zhou’s partner’s conditions.

Fortunately, Zhou Cheng didn’t know what his subordinate was thinking. If he had, he would have made him run 20 laps around the field until he was exhausted like a dead dog, then pulled him aside to educate him: “Whose wife are you saying has poor conditions?”

Zhou Cheng changed into the new coat his wife had sent at the unit, admiring himself in the mirror, very satisfied with Xia Xiaolan’s taste in clothes.

It was a pity he only had half a day off. Otherwise, he could have suddenly appeared before his wife wearing this outfit – clothes make the man just as the saddle makes the horse – would Xiaolan like him even more?

After carefully selecting the good yams, Zhou Cheng drove a Jeep home.

When he arrived, he found Kang Wei there, sitting properly with his hands together on the sofa, listening to Guan Hui’e lecture!

“Brother Cheng, you’re back?”

The joy on Kang Wei’s face was about to overflow.

Kang Wei had no choice. Zhou Cheng’s return was his salvation!

Some big mouth had leaked the news to Guan Hui’e, but instead of looking for the gossip-spreading Shao Guangrong, she went straight for Kang Wei. Guan Hui’e called Kang Wei’s mother, saying Zhou Cheng had no holiday and the New Year would be meaningless, and Kang Wei’s mother immediately lent her son to Guan Hui’e.

Kang Wei had managed to hide at his grandmother’s for the first and second days of the New Year, but by the third day he couldn’t avoid it anymore and had to come to the Zhou household to eat Aunt Guan’s “loving dinner.”

A trap was still a trap. Guan Hui’e gave Kang Wei no chance to escape, immediately asking about “that girl from Yunan.” She said Zhou Cheng had gone out with Kang Wei, and now all of Beijing knew Zhou Cheng had found a partner in Yunan, yet his family knew nothing – it made Guan Hui’e question if she was even his real mother!

Kang Wei smiled apologetically but wouldn’t admit to anything.

When asked for specific details about Xia Xiaolan, he just played dumb.

Unlike Shao Guangrong who couldn’t keep his mouth shut, if Zhou Cheng hadn’t told his family, he must have his reasons. How could Kang Wei act as a messenger?

Guan Hui’e, neither hitting nor scolding him, began talking about Kang Wei’s childhood – how he used to refuse to leave the Zhou house, how she bathed him, how she even washed the sheets when he wet the bed… Kang Wei wished he could find a crack in the floor to crawl into!

Thankfully, Zhou Cheng returned at the crucial moment! Just as Kang Wei felt he was about to betray the organization’s trust and become a traitor, Zhou Cheng descended like a deity – no, Brother Cheng came home wearing the wool coat carefully chosen by his future sister-in-law!

Somehow, the coat on Brother Cheng looked even better.

Zhou Cheng also noticed the coat Kang Wei was wearing, obviously wheedled by his wife – she was just too kind-hearted.

“Mom, did you invite Little Wei for dinner?”

With her son’s unexpected return, Guan Hui’e was naturally happy. She first told the household helper to add more dishes for dinner, then noticed that Zhou Cheng and Kang Wei were wearing similar coats. Guan Hui’e felt something was off, but before she could speak, Zhou Cheng brought the yams to the kitchen.

Guan Hui’e followed him to the kitchen and looked at the large package of still-muddy yams, somewhat confused:

“Where did these come from? Did your unit give them out?”

Zhou Cheng glanced at his mother and said very casually: “Your daughter-in-law sent them, where else would they be from? I’ll have Aunt Zeng cook some to try tonight. Aunt Zeng, just wash off the mud and steam a few…”

Zhou Cheng was still very seriously instructing how the yams should be cooked as if he’d brought home precious bird’s nest or shark fin soup.

Guan Hui’e’s mind couldn’t process anything else, just that phrase “your daughter-in-law sent them” echoing in her head.

So he was admitting it?!