The Thirty-Eighth Section of Promised Love

  Zhao Biling heard Liu Mingjiu's words and suddenly sat up straight on the horseback, but her hands changed from holding to grasping and still tightly grasped Liu Mingjiu's waist. With tears in her eyes, she asked urgently: "What reason? Why can't you accept me? You like me, why can't you accept me? Is there something wrong with me that makes it impossible for you to accept?"

  "Bilian, you're fine, you're really fine." Liu Mingjiu naturally felt the change behind her and hurriedly continued to say: "The reason is not with you, but with me. Don't think too much about it, okay? Don't make things difficult for yourself, okay?"

  Zhao Bili's tears had fallen silently on her face with the cold winter wind. After listening to Liu Mingjiu finish speaking, she hastily asked: "You're great, in my eyes, you're better than those university students in Beijing, you're better than those who have returned from abroad. I won't let you say you're not good, is there something wrong with me? What's wrong with me, tell me and I'll change, really. As long as you accept me, okay?"

  Liu Mingjiu had already detected the sobbing in Zhao Bilin's voice, and after grasping the reins with his right hand, he turned sideways on the horse to look at Zhao Bilin's face, which was like a pear blossom that had been rained on but still looked delicate and charming. He gently wiped away her tears with his left hand and continued to speak softly: "Don't cry anymore, it's so cold outside, if you keep crying your face will freeze and won't be pretty. Listen, let's not cry anymore, okay?"

  "It doesn't matter if I'm not pretty, you don't want me anyway, so what's it to you?" Zhao Bi Lin heard Liu Ming Jiu's words that were similar to coaxing a child and couldn't help but laugh through her tears. She looked at him with a melancholic gaze and continued: "Why won't you accept my love for you? Can you tell me the real reason?"

  Liu Mingjiu looked at Zhao Bilin, whose smile still had tears in her eyes. He wiped away her tears with his left hand before continuing: "Don't ask so many whys, I'm not an encyclopedia. In short, promise me that after returning to Beijing, if you meet a man who can provide stability, don't think of me again, okay?"

  "Are you afraid that because you're a soldier, one day you'll die in battle like my father and leave me behind? Zhao Bihua understood Liu Mingjiu's thoughts and also somewhat understood why he refused her. She immediately continued to say: "I believe you won't come to harm, I believe you will always be by my side. You have the ability, many times, no one has taken your life, I believe you won't die, I believe you should also believe in yourself, okay?"

  Liu Mingjiu looked at her determined expression and couldn't help but feel a little moved, but also a bit ridiculous: "In such a dark and chaotic world, human life is not much stronger than grass. I myself can hardly believe in my own survival, don't be foolish, okay? I'm just a low-ranking officer, once the war starts, I'll definitely have to charge into battle, and with charging into battle comes sacrifice, bullets don't have eyes. I really don't want to end up being a burden to you, leaving you a widow to spend your days alone."

  "Pfft." Zhao Bili started with a furrowed brow, but after hearing Liu Mingjiu's last sentence, she couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Pffft, what orphan and widow? You're shameless!"

  Liu Mingjiu looked at his still somewhat childish yet determined face and couldn't help but smile, but immediately stopped and continued to say: "If you really are willing to wait for me, then you must agree to my two requests, okay?"

  Zhao Biling heard his words and turned around, leaning her head on Liu Mingjiu's shoulder from the side. She wrapped her arms tightly around his robust body and said softly with deep feeling: "Say it, don't say two, as long as you ask for it, whether it's 200 or 2,000, I'll do my best to achieve it."

  Liu Mingjiu still gazed at Zhao Bilin with a distant look in his eyes, tightly embracing her: "Firstly, after returning home, study hard and if you're short of money, write to your mother, we'll help you raise funds. You must strive to get into an American or at least a British university, so that in the future you can leave this war-torn country behind. Secondly, before I become a general and can guarantee not letting you become a widow, let's not mention marriage. If during this period, you meet someone better, more suitable, who can give you true security, then go with him, I absolutely won't blame you. We can be siblings. Just these two points, will you promise me?"

  "Why do we have to go abroad? The UK and the US are both very far from China, doesn't that make it harder for us to see each other?" Zhao Biling asked in confusion. She then continued: "If you become a general, can you guarantee that I won't be a widow? I promise you this, you can rest assured, I believe I will never meet a better man than you again."

  Liu Mingjiu looked at her and explained why he had sent her to those two countries: "The UK is a large island, generally speaking, foreign troops find it difficult to land on the British Isles for homeland battles, so relatively speaking, even if the whole world is at war, with the power of that empire, its homeland should still be safer than other countries. The US dominates most of North America, far from other countries, and no country has the strength to easily attack the US mainland and ignite a full-scale war there. None of this matters, I just hope you can live safely in the future, understand?"

  "Isn't Japan also isolated overseas? Japan's strength is said to be not much worse than the British now, right?" Zhao Bihua understood that Liu Mingjiu was more concerned about his own safety, but still raised her doubts.

  Liu Mingjiu shook his head helplessly and continued to watch her explain why she couldn't let her choose Japan: "Those monkeys on the island in the east, relying on their military power, won't take us Chinese people seriously. If you go to their country, you'll definitely get treated like that in Western restaurants. Moreover, that country has been eyeing our Central Plains for a long time, from the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, to recently taking over Qingdao from Germany, occupying Taiwan, and controlling Fujian. Sooner or later, they won't be satisfied with just small gains and will launch an all-out war against our country. Do you think if you go to Japan, they'll let you quietly hide on their soil? We can do anything, but we can't be traitors, we can't forget the great righteousness of our nation. You agree, right?"

  Zhao Biling's infatuated and admiring eyes were fully focused on the man she loved, without any reservation. After listening to him finish speaking, she softly said: "You've never been abroad either, how do you know so much? But what you said is true, I'll listen to you, strive to get into a school in England or America."

  "Haha, it seems that next time Lin'er comes back, you little brat will have to change your mouth and call me Grandpa. Zuo Zhenyuan gave his warhorse to Liu Mingjiu and Zhao Bilin, and he himself had no choice but to ride a warhorse of a guard. Looking at the time, after all, Liu Mingjiu had just taken over as the general inspector of the six towns, and there were still many things that needed him to take care of, so he urged his horse to catch up, but unexpectedly saw Liu Mingjiu use his left hand to put his arm around Zhao Bilin's waist and pull her into his embrace."

  Liu Mingjiu had just pulled Zhao Bilin into his own arms, smelling her girlish breath and enjoying the first real tenderness he had experienced since coming to this era. Hearing Zuo Zhenyuan's sudden words, he hastily released his left hand that was embracing Zhao Bilin, looking at Zuo Zhenyuan and the guards and deputy officers following him with some shyness, but no longer speaking.

  Instead, Zhao Bili lightly let out a soft cry: "Uncle, don't talk nonsense, how can you be like this?"

  "Haha, look, look, you're embarrassed again? Isn't your father telling the truth? The two of you have been making a big deal about this for days, and it's all over our 18th team and even the whole Jianchang. You both are just pretending not to notice, but we can see right through it. Now that you've finally opened up, what's there to be embarrassed about? One talented man, one beautiful woman, haha, looks like my days as a father-in-law won't be too long!

  Left Zhenyuan looked at his adopted daughter and got more and more excited, but suddenly, the war horse was made uncomfortable by his movements and let out a loud whinny. Left Zhenyuan didn't know that the horse was just reacting to his unstable movements, and thought it was responding to his words: "Hey, look, even the horse is cheering us on, haha!"

  Soon, the crowd behind also followed. Liu Mingjiu and Zhao Bilin looked at each other with deep affection, no longer caring about others around them. Liu Mingjiu tightly grasped Zhao Bilin's delicate, weak, and extremely tender small hands. At first, Zhao Bilin struggled a bit due to the surrounding crowd, but after seeing Liu Mingjiu's deep gaze, he stopped struggling and allowed his deeply loved man to hold his hand in front of the following crowd.

  "Hey, they're holding hands already? Big sister, let go, haha!" Zhao Bizhen saw the two of them sitting on horseback with their arms around each other, and even when people came over, they didn't let go, so she was the first to start teasing.

  Zhao Li heard Zhao Bi Zhen making a fuss again, and before she finished speaking, he lightly slapped her shoulder with one palm: "What are you shouting about? Won't you also have to pull people's hands in the future? Next year you'll also have to go to Beijing for school, be careful that your older sister remembers your grudge and doesn't bother with you."

  "Big sister wouldn't, huh? Is that right, big sister?" Zhao Bichen was startled by her mother's sudden pat, but immediately pouted and looked at Zhao Bilin with a questioning expression.

  Zhao Bili glanced at her sister, her face even redder but she refused to say a word. Zhao Taiyu also caught up at this time and upon seeing the scene, immediately shouted loudly at Liu Mingjiu: "Ninth Brother, ah no, it should be Brother-in-law now? This time when I graduate, you won't have any reason not to let me follow you to join the army, right? Haha. Brother-in-law, Brother-in-law, haha."

  "Wait until you've graduated and mastered your martial arts, then we'll talk. But if you continue to follow them and shout wildly, even after you graduate, I won't take you in." Liu Mingjiu saw that his loved one had been driven by these people to the point where her face was redder than a ripe apple.

  The crowd made another round of jokes, and Liu Mingjiu finally helped Zhao Bilin onto the horse-drawn carriage with a canopy, whispering in her ear: "Remember our agreement, don't suffer for yourself."

  Zhao Bili nodded slightly and replied to him: "Don't worry, I will work hard to take the exam in the UK or the US. You should also work hard, my future General Liu."

  The crowd on the side saw the two expressions and started booing again, and the two could only let go of their hands. In a burst of laughter and applause, Zhao Bihua stepped onto the road back to Beijing. When her carriage disappeared into the distance on the main road, the crowd finally rode back to Jianchang County. Afterwards, Liu Mingjiu and Zuo Zhenyuan chatted for a few words, returned the horse to him, and went back to his own home. Calling Han Zhen, the two horses quickly left the North Gate and galloped towards the Linglong Tower.