Chapter 2794: Affairs Between Men and Women
Tan Shuangxi followed the voice through the crowd until he spotted the speaker—Yang Zhaodi from his own village. She and her mother, Zhang Lai'er, had immigrated from Shandong several years ago. He had encountered them a few times when returning to the village during holidays. Strictly speaking, they were merely acquaintances, but seeing a familiar face at this moment still filled him with genuine pleasure.
Yang Zhaodi looked completely different from the local girls. Though only thirteen or fourteen years old, she had nearly caught up to Tan Shuangxi's height. She wore a large straw hat and a faded Year One Type training uniform—attire that marked her at a glance as a farm worker. The face beneath the straw hat wasn't the deep brown of local girls from years of sun exposure, but rather a pleasing honey color. Tan Shuangxi's heart stirred involuntarily—in less than two years, this little girl had blossomed into quite a beauty!
Yang Zhaodi remained oblivious to Tan Shuangxi's thoughts, feeling only the joy of encountering someone she knew. She squeezed through the crowd to grab his sleeve, shaking it excitedly as her large, luminous eyes scanned his face and figure.
"It really is you! We even made bets on whether we'd run into you!"
"What are you doing here? No school?" Tan Shuangxi's gaze slipped over the girl several times. She had developed remarkably well! Especially...
"I already graduated from higher primary school!" Yang Zhaodi said excitedly. "Didn't pass the middle school exam, so I enrolled in agricultural technology night school. Now I'm at Nanbao Tropical Crops Farm. Today, all the farm staff got the day off to welcome you back."
"What about your father and mother? Did they move to Nanbao too?" Tan Shuangxi was somewhat surprised, since both of Yang Zhaodi's parents worked under Manya Iron and Steel Complex. Their income was considerably higher than what one could earn on the farm.
"They'd never come here!" Yang Zhaodi made a comical face. "They're heading north soon. Heard they're going to Foshan—to build an even bigger steel plant!"
"Really?" Tan Shuangxi was taken aback. He wasn't surprised to hear they were going to Foshan, but that the family was about to separate while Yang Zhaodi grinned so carelessly, like a flower in the sun. Besides, a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl working alone in a strange place—how could her parents possibly feel at ease about that?
"And your brother?" He remembered Yang Zhaodi had a brother.
"He was originally going to Danzhou. But later someone talked him out of it..." Yang Zhaodi lowered her voice and glanced around before whispering, "I'm only telling you this because we're close. Never go to Danzhou for recruitment work. No matter how high the wages are. There are lots of work injuries."
"Really?!" Tan Shuangxi was startled—not long ago, his company had received a soldier discharged due to injury. His letter had mentioned going to Danzhou for recruitment work.
"More than at the steel plant?"
"Hmm... I'm not supposed to say." Yang Zhaodi glanced around again. "Brother Shuangxi, you absolutely must not go talking about this outside."
"I know, I know. We understand discipline! This stays between us. So where did your brother end up going?"
"He's also preparing to go to Foshan. The chief said the Foshan side is launching all sorts of projects. I just don't know if it's safe there or not..."
Tan Shuangxi immediately offered reassurance: "Foshan was recovered peacefully—there wasn't any fighting at all. The National Army is still garrisoned there. It's very safe..." A thought suddenly struck him. "What about your house on the Manya side?"
"We rented it to new immigrants." Yang Zhaodi grinned. "They came from the mainland, and we're going to the mainland. Quite amusing, isn't it?"
Tan Shuangxi suddenly realized she must have something else important to say. He stopped talking and waited, watching her. His heart began to race—nervous and a little expectant.
Yang Zhaodi abandoned her previous ease with words. She opened her mouth but said nothing. Watching her expression, caught between wanting to speak and holding back, Tan Shuangxi's heart nearly leapt from his chest. Charging a hilltop under Ming artillery fire in Chaozhou, raiding Guilin under cover of night in Guangxi—neither had made him this nervous.
"Brother Shuangxi, I wanted to ask..." Yang Zhaodi grew shy, her voice dwindling smaller and smaller. "Little Brother Li from our village, the one also in your battalion—my fellow Shandong countryman. I didn't see him? Did I miss him somehow?"
It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured straight through Tan Shuangxi's heart. For a long moment he couldn't recover, his mouth stammering uselessly without forming coherent words. Seeing his expression twist into something awkward and pained, Yang Zhaodi's face spasmed. Involuntarily, her hand flew to cover her mouth. Panic flickered in her eyes. Tears threatened to fall.
Fortunately, by then Tan Shuangxi had managed to conceal his loss of composure. He hastened to say: "He—he's still alive. Just got poked here a bit..." He gestured at his own abdomen.
"...But he's fine. Had surgery. He's still recuperating in the hospital in Hong Kong. Heavy injuries take at least a month or two to heal no matter what. He'll be back in a few days." Having finished, he quickly pointed toward the moving column, indicating he needed to catch up with his unit. Then he hurried away. As he ran, he cursed silently in his heart: Pretty boys always have it good. Hurt that badly and still has women pining for him. Why couldn't that knife have gone a bit lower?
The Bairen Grand Stadium had exposed problems with its rough early design and construction during the celebration ceremony for the Second Counter-Encirclement Campaign and the subsequent "Salt Field Cup" rugby matches and regional football leagues. The audience seats were too close to the inner field; the vertical height differential was insufficient; spectators in the rear rows had terribly obstructed views. The bigger problem was the rostrum, built up from packed earth, which lacked any sense of grandeur. Subsequent maintenance proved particularly troublesome as well—there was always danger of collapse after the rainy season.
Taking advantage of this triumphant troops' welcome ceremony, the Senate had approved a budget to reconstruct the Grand Stadium. The stands were converted into a ring of two-story buildings, effectively placing sloped seating atop the first-floor rooftops. The rostrum and its extended wings were raised one floor higher than the surrounding stands.
The center of the rostrum was elevated by an additional half floor, where the speaker's position was arranged. Speaking from there, one could survey the entire field while enjoying the cheers and adoring gazes of the crowd below. On both sides of the speaker were sections of seating. Senators who didn't need to remain at their posts sat upright, doing their best to affect the dignified air of heads of state at an Olympic Opening Ceremony. However, not every Senator preferred the serious and earnest approach. A number of bystander Senators merely made token gestures before launching into quiet gossip.
The content of their gossip centered mainly on "Peace Talks" and the personnel arrangements that would follow. These were the matters Senators cared about most.
Despite all the talk of peace negotiations, true peace had not yet descended. The General Staff was still compiling operational plans, both defensive and offensive.
Although the peace talks hadn't even gotten off the ground, rumors and speculation about them were flying everywhere. From the potential format of negotiations to what new circumstances they might bring—every variety imaginable, too numerous to count. Among them, the most widely spread and intensely discussed was the "Marriage Alliance Theory."
The notion of a "Marriage Alliance" actually had a long history. It had originated when You the Tiger declared in the Officer Club at Nanhai Coffee House: "Want peace talks? Daddy has only one condition! Must marry a princess."
This had originally been merely one of You the Tiger's life ambitions. Unexpectedly, a jest spread further and further, accumulating ever more elaborate details. By now, in addition to claims that "Once peace talks succeed, Chongzhen will select a daughter of the imperial clan to marry President Wen / Secretary of State Ma / Engineer Wang under the title of princess," legends had also emerged that "Chongzhen desires to take Kun women as Imperial Concubines to demonstrate the sincerity of peace negotiations."
Naturally, this wasn't entirely without foundation.
The Monthly Intelligence Summary from the Capital Station had mentioned that the Ming Court had decided to increase the Yue Xiang tax, settling on a general policy of "Suppression." Subsequently, a Feudal Prince had submitted a memorial arguing: The True Kun have lived overseas for generations and returned many years ago yet never submitted a memorial pledging allegiance. Though arrogant and rebellious, they are nonetheless descendants of Huaxia. He requested that the Emperor recruit surrendering Kun even while suppressing them. The Kun Thieves excel at manufacturing instruments, accumulating wealth, and organizing by clever methods—exactly the talents the Celestial Dynasty urgently needs. Suitable places should be selected to settle them. Furthermore, he invited the Emperor to take one or two Kun women into the imperial harem to reassure those coming from overseas.
This memorial, bordering on absurdity, was taken seriously by no one at court, from the Emperor down to his ministers. The Capital Station had simply treated it as raw material, placing it in the Compilation of Memorials of This Month in the report's appendix. Unexpectedly, upon reaching Lingao, it became a sensation instead. Vivid rumors spread claiming that Senate leaders had already reached a preliminary agreement and were preparing to use the method of "Marriage Alliance" to advance "Peace Talks." They even said that the girls to be sent had already been selected. Ranking first among the candidates was Zhang Yunmi. Other names on the list included her close friend Lin Ziqi, Qian Duoduo... Even Zhong Xiaoying, who strictly speaking didn't count as a Little Senator, had somehow become a member of this roster.
For a time, Senator families with daughters above thirteen or fourteen were thrown into panic, rushing to the General Office to "demand an explanation." Xiao Zishan was baffled for quite a while, wondering where on earth this wild speculation had come from. He could only pat his chest and guarantee: "Absolutely no such thing." In the end, he even had Wang Luobin write an article, publishing a piece in Weekly News discussing the peace talks and specifically stating their position on this issue—expressing that there was absolutely no such thing. Only then did the matter gradually subside.
At this moment, in the Senator seating beside the rostrum, someone was expressing indignation on behalf of the Little Senator Zhang who had briefly become a figure of intense interest.
Zhang Berlin asked tentatively: "Chief Secretary Dong, have you heard?"
"Heard what?" Dongmen considered several possibilities in his mind. "That marriage alliance nonsense again? It's all rubbish..."
"I know it's rubbish. I mean her personal situation."
"Understood." Dongmen grasped what he was trying to say. You really never give up, he thought. That thieving heart of yours just won't die.
"I've heard rumors saying Little Zhang... and Mayor Liu have a very close relationship. That kind of close." Zhang Berlin's expression was somewhat strained.
Dongmen understood exactly what kind of "close" he meant. He leaned back slightly: "Where did you hear this?"
"A few days ago, I went into the city to handle some business. In the Great World area. Overheard it from a conversation between two men who seemed to be local cadres."
"So you think the matter is true?"
Zhang Berlin shook his head. "I'm not sure. After all, this is too... too..."
He spoke haltingly, with very little confidence.
(End of Chapter)