“Ouch.”
Yaya flinched and shrank back toward Huo Jiusi. “Little Devil, I think I hit someone.”
Huo Jiusi shielded Yaya. “Don’t be scared. I’m here.”
Soon, a woman came over to them. When she saw the two of them, she frowned with clear disgust. “Whose kids are these? How did you get in?”
“Grandpa brought me.”
After answering the woman, Yaya gave her a little bow and apologized sincerely. “Auntie, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you.”
“Didn’t mean to? I think you little brat did it on purpose.”
The woman wasn’t about to let it go. She turned around and showed Yaya the wet snow stain on her coat. “Look at this—you’ve ruined my clothes.”
“I’m sorry,” Yaya apologized again.
“Sorry? That’s it?”
If Ling Hang were here, he would have recognized this woman as the military newspaper reporter Liu Xiaojie who had just interviewed him.
Liu Xiaojie had recently been transferred here. Her family had pulled every string they could to help her land a high-status match. She’d initially set her sights on Yue Mingyuan—so young, already a combat hero, and the son of General Yue—but then she found out he was already married.
After that, she decided Ling Hang wasn’t a bad option either. Plus, since Ling Hang and Yue Mingyuan grew up together, she could get close to Ling Hang while keeping an eye on Yue Mingyuan’s situation.
After all, people got divorced. She was pretty and talented, and she was confident she could conquer them with her charm.
“And what do you want?” Huo Jiusi pulled Yaya behind him, shielding her completely, and gave Liu Xiaojie a cold stare.
Liu Xiaojie had already hit a dead end with Ling Hang and was feeling frustrated. Getting hit by Yaya’s snowball was just the last straw, so she took all her anger out on the little girl.
“You hit me, and now you’re acting all high and mighty? So rude.”
Liu Xiaojie glanced at the stain on her coat. “What rotten luck. I just washed and ironed this yesterday.”
On top of that, she’d even made a few small alterations to accentuate her waist.
But Yue Mingyuan had slipped away, and Ling Hang was as dense as a block of wood. She’d made her interest so obvious, yet not only did he not appreciate it, he’d even given her the cold shoulder—as if she were the one taking advantage of him.
If it weren’t for his decent family background and his looks, she wouldn’t have bothered with him at all.
“I have fifty yuan here to compensate you.” Huo Jiusi pulled a crisp fifty-yuan bill from his pocket and held it out to Liu Xiaojie. “Is that enough? If not, name your price.”
Liu Xiaojie swallowed hard, staring at the fifty yuan right in front of her face. She was tempted to snatch it.
Her salary was decent compared to the average person, but every time she got paid, her mom would take more than half, saying she was saving it for her.
And there were so many things she wanted to buy—the department store was always full of pretty clothes, shoes, and all kinds of cosmetics. Her money never stretched far enough. She’d just had her eye on a pair of little leather boots and was short on cash.
“A hundred!”
Liu Xiaojie figured that if this kid could so easily pull out fifty, then a hundred was probably no big deal either.
Huo Jiusi didn’t waste any words. He pulled out a hundred-yuan bill from his pocket and handed it to Liu Xiaojie. “There. Is that enough now?”
“That’s more like it.”
Liu Xiaojie reached out to take the money, but Yaya beat her to it and grabbed Huo Jiusi’s hand back. “That’s too much!”
Seeing Yaya puff up her little cheeks in anger, Huo Jiusi knew she was upset. He patted her little face. “Yaya, we got this auntie’s clothes dirty. It’s only right that we compensate her.”
“Be good, okay?”
With his back to Liu Xiaojie, Huo Jiusi winked at Yaya, signaling her to let go.
Yaya didn’t know what Huo Jiusi was planning, but knowing him, he was definitely not the type to take a loss.
“Okay.”
Yaya let go, and Huo Jiusi turned around and handed the money to Liu Xiaojie.
Liu Xiaojie took the cash and didn’t forget to threaten them. “You two gave this to me willingly—I didn’t ask for it. When you get home, don’t you dare tattle, got it?”
“Otherwise, I’ll have someone lock you up!”
Huo Jiusi played along perfectly, putting on a frightened look and waving his hands frantically. “Auntie, we’ll be good. Please don’t have anyone arrest us.”
After Liu Xiaojie was out of sight, Huo Jiusi asked Yaya, “Yaya, do you still want to keep playing?”
Yaya had originally wanted to build a snowman, but after the trouble she’d caused, she wasn’t in the mood anymore. She shook her head. “No.”
“Yaya, can you cry?” Huo Jiusi crouched down and brushed the snow off Yaya’s gloves.
Yaya blinked. “I can’t.”
“Then think of something sad.”
Yaya tried hard to recall sad memories from the past. Soon her eyes turned red, and big teardrops fell like plump pearls rolling down her little face.
Huo Jiusi immediately regretted it. Seeing Yaya cry felt like a sharp knife twisting in his heart.
But since they were putting on a show, they had to see it through. He held Yaya’s little hand and shook it gently. “Yaya, cry a little louder.”
Yaya guessed what Huo Jiusi was up to and obediently started sobbing louder.
They were playing right behind Yue Guohuai’s office building. Yue Guohuai had been in the middle of a discussion with others when he suddenly heard a child crying and rushed out in a flash.
Huo Jiusi was carrying Yaya on his back as they walked back. Yue Guohuai scooped Yaya into his arms and softly soothed her. “Don’t cry, my little treasure. What happened, huh? Tell Grandpa.”
Yaya threw her arms around Yue Guohuai’s neck, crying so hard she could barely catch her breath, just repeating over and over, “Grandpa, Grandpa…”
Yue Guohuai’s heart was breaking. He looked at Huo Jiusi. “Jiusi, tell me—what happened? Did Yaya fall? What is it?”
“Yaya and I were playing snowball fights over there. She accidentally hit an auntie. The auntie got really mean with us. Yaya apologized, but she wouldn’t let it go—she called Yaya an ill-mannered little brat and demanded compensation. I gave her fifty, but she wanted a hundred.”
“Yaya’s probably missing Aunt Ye. That’s why she’s crying so hard.”
Huo Jiusi didn’t exaggerate a single thing. He simply laid out the facts clearly and didn’t even say Yaya was crying because of Liu Xiaojie—just that she missed Ye Zhiqiu.
But Yue Guohuai and the others who had rushed over weren’t going to see it that way. When they saw Yue Guohuai’s face darken, one person quickly asked, “Jiusi, do you remember what that woman looked like?”
“There’s no way someone like that exists in our military headquarters! We have to find her and punish her severely! If she treats children like this, imagine how she’d treat ordinary folks out there!”
“She’s an auntie with long hair, and she had a camera hanging around her neck.”
Huo Jiusi thought for a moment. “Oh, right—I saw that auntie at the training ground earlier. She was interviewing Uncle Ling.”
With so many clues, it didn’t take long to zero in on the target.
And Liu Xiaojie had no idea she’d offended the wrong people. She was happily taking the afternoon off, planning to go shopping.
