Zheng Yuan looked at the crowd dispersing around her and became even more angry.

“As if I’m the god of plague. Everyone is avoiding me!” Zheng Yuan muttered softly.

She quickly walked back to her tent and looked at the food in the mess tin. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She decided to just throw the food away and not eat it. She would rather starve to death than eat what that woman made.

“It’s all that woman’s fault. If not for her, why would Xia Zhe have a change of heart!” Zheng Yuan clenched her fists and looked outside with hatred.

All this while, as Xia Zhe was the battalion commander and she was the deputy battalion commander, they often interacted with each other at work. Everyone used to joked in private that they were a match made in heaven and that they might as well report that they were going to get married.

Zheng Yuan’s father was also Xia Zhe’s mentor, so he was especially attentive to Xia Zhe. Also, Xia Zhe’s mentor was very willing to let Xia Zhe take care of his daughter, so Zheng Yuan always thought that she would marry Xia Zhe one day and become Mrs. Xia.

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. Xia Zhe only went back to visit his relatives once and actually got married behind everyone’s backs. Furthermore, the other party was a village girl with no background at all, which made Zheng Yuan even angrier.

“If it wasn’t for her, Xia Zhe would definitely be mine. She must have seduced Xia Zhe. Otherwise, Xia Zhe wouldn’t have changed his mind,” Zheng Yuan said firmly.

After pondering for a while, she suddenly thought of something. Qiao Mei was pregnant? Then, as long as the child was gone, Xia Zhe would then be with her! A marriage could always end in divorce!

Zheng Yuan’s eyes lit up. She had thought of a brilliant plan that would definitely make Xia Zhe fall in love with her again.

However, all of this was just Zheng Yuan’s illusion.

After the meal, many soldiers packed their things and prepared to take a short rest in the afternoon before they took over the work from the backup rescue troops tomorrow. They were all exhausted from carrying out the search and rescue missions day and night for the past few days.

Qiao Mei sat in the tent and let Xia Zhe lie on her lap. She patiently massaged his head to help relieve his fatigue.

“What does Grandpa do every day now?” Xia Zhe asked Qiao Mei as he looked at her.

Originally, Xia Zhe’s feelings towards Qiao Qiang were quite complicated. At first, he was very grateful to Qiao Qiang for saving his grandfather’s life back in those days. However, after what happened between him and Qiao Mei, he had found it impossible not to blame it on Qiao Qiang.

But now, he was just filled with gratitude. If he had missed out on such a nice girl like Qiao Mei, he would never be able to find another person like her. He was grateful to Qiao Qiang for being willing to leave his granddaughter in his care.

How could he not love this woman who would do anything to save him?

“Speaking of grandfather, he goes to the village square to chat with different people every day. Otherwise, he helps to take care of the children that my mother had with her current husband,” Qiao Mei said as she massaged his head.

“Huh? Doesn’t Grandpa think that it’s hard work? It’s not an easy task to take care of children,” Xia Zhe asked.

At the mention of her family, Qiao Mei showed a rare tender smile.

“The children are quite obedient and they all help out at home. They should be going to school in a few days’ time.” Then Qiao Mei continued, “It’s not lively at home with only grandfather and me, so having the children around helps to relieve grandfather’s boredom.”

“That’s good. It’s alright as long as Grandpa doesn’t get too tired. What about Qiao Zhuang? Is he still bullying you?” Xia Zhe held Qiao Mei’s hand and asked.

“Huh? Qiao Zhuang? How do you know about this family?” Qiao Mei looked at Xia Zhe in confusion.

Xia Zhe told Qiao Mei everything that he had heard when he made his way back the last time and happened to eavesdrop on Qiao Mei and Qiao Qiang.

At the mention of the pendant, Qiao Mei immediately covered her chest nervously.

“I can’t give you the pendant! It’s already mine! Don’t even think about taking it back!” Qiao Mei widened her eyes and stared at Xia Zhe nervously.

This pendant had such an impressive superpower and Qiao Mei would never want to lose this energy. No matter what, she would not let Xia Zhe take it away.

Even if Xia Zhe thought that she was a greedy person, she would not let him take it away!

Xia Zhe did not think too much about it, nor did he think that Qiao Mei was a greedy person. He thought that Qiao Mei saw it as a token of love from him, so she could not bear to return it to him. Moreover, this pendant would have been meant for her.

“This is the pendant that my grandma left behind for me. Now it belongs to you.” Xia Zhe smiled at Qiao Mei.