Chapter 35: The Girl's Inner Voice

  In the north, March is still chilly and cold.

  By a gently flowing brook, Dai'er squatted on the rocks by the water's edge, with a large pile of clothes beside her and a smooth wooden stick on the other side. She was scrubbing the clothes vigorously on a flat bluestone, occasionally picking up the stick to beat them a few times.

  About ten to twenty meters away from where she was standing, there was a square-shaped pool of water about one square meter in size. Even in winter, this pool never froze over. At the bottom of the pool, a fist-sized spring bubbled up day and night, shooting out a column of water. Strings of crystal-clear bubbles emerged from the spring, laughing all the way as they rose from the bottom of the pool to the surface, creating ripples on the calm water's surface from time to time.

  The clear spring in the pool overflows from a gap on the edge of the pool after exceeding a certain height, and flows down along the winding waterway to the mountain, and the converging streams form the small stream where Dai Er is now standing.

  She has been here for a while, and most of the clothes on the ground have already been washed, just need to soak them for a while longer.

  She glanced around and saw that there was no one else nearby, so Daisy quietly pulled out a piece of clothing from the bottom of the unwashed laundry.

  The black-green combat uniform, the sturdy cotton fabric material made of special warfare clothing, was covered with dried black bloodstains, dyeing the entire garment a dazzling dark red.

  Dai'er carefully put the clothes into the creek water, gently rubbing them. As she moved, the bloodstains on the clothes gradually dissolved into the creek water, dyeing a large area of the creek water red. As the creek water flowed and spread out, it slowly faded away until it was completely gone.

  The spring water in winter is warmer than well water or river water, but compared to the gentle breeze blowing weather, it's still much colder. Dài ěr's hands would freeze red in a short while, yet she continued to put her hands in and out of the creek water with a faint white mist, constantly breaking the calm surface of the water.

  Perhaps feeling the cold, Dai'er finally took her hands out of the water and put them to her mouth to warm them up, then she rubbed them vigorously together before putting them back in the water to continue.

  At last, the special warfare uniform was washed clean of bloodstains under Dài ěr's efforts and restored to its original neat appearance. Dài ěr held up her hands, carefully admiring it, and as she looked at the clothes, it seemed as if she saw Qín Yáng wearing them in battle.

  "This is what Big Brother Qin treasures most, I must restore it to its original state for him!" Dai'er thought.

  Qin Yang cherished this piece of clothing, she knew that, although she didn't know why he attached so much importance to such a strange-looking garment, but as long as he liked it, she would try to accept it. So when she saw Qin Yang take off the clothes and prepare to wash them himself, she quietly took them over and washed them for him.

  "What are you looking at so intently?" Xiao Yue suddenly appeared behind Dai Er, laughing and shouting.

  Xiao Yue's sudden shout scared Dai Er so much that she almost threw her clothes into the creek. She quickly stuffed them into the washed clothes and picked up another piece of clothing to wash in the water.

  "I can see everything now!"

  Xiao Yue spoke slowly and deliberately, watching Dai Er's expression as she did so.

  "What did you see?" As expected, as soon as the words came out, Dai'er's face turned red all the way to the base of her neck, and even her laundry movements became a bit distorted.

  "What's that?!"

  Xiao Yue playfully squatted down beside him, intentionally teasing her: "Look, your face is red, your hands are shaking, it seems I was right!"

  Dai'er couldn't bear it anymore and turned around to scold with a smile: "You little devil, you're the one who talks too much!"

  "It's supposed to be!" Xiao Yue was insistent and wouldn't let up.

  Dai'er stretched out her icy hand towards Xiao Yue's neck and said: "You dare to talk back, watch me freeze you to death!"

  "Help! Dye sister murdered!"

  Xiao Yue jumped up and ran out. Dai Er stood up and chased after her. The two of them laughed as they circled around the stones by the creek, running in circles.

  The sunset stretched the shadows of two people very, very long...

  Qin Yang opened his eyes from a dream, came to himself, and sat up. Looking out the window, a strand of sunset came through the thin clouds, casting a patch of golden light on the headboard.

  "Oh, it seems I've slept for quite a while!" Qin Yang thought to himself as he got out of bed and stretched his arms, tensing the muscles in his body. He arched his back in a languid stretch, causing his joints to crackle with a crisp popping sound.

  "Comfortable!" Qin Yang murmured with his eyes narrowed.

  After resting, his physical strength was fully restored. He opened up his horse stance in the tent and threw a set of vigorous tiger-fist punches, then suddenly flew up into the air with a double-leg kick that flashed like lightning, forming a beautiful triple kick. Then he turned around and landed lightly on the ground.

  "Good!"

  A burst of applause came from outside the door.

  Qin Yang withdrew his move and turned around to see Zhao Dengyu lift the tent door and walk in, followed by He Jishu and Wang Changhai. All three of them had smiles on their faces.

  "Brother Zhao, Old He, Captain Wang, you're all here!" Qin Yang hastily offered them seats.

  There was only one stool in the tent, Zhao Dengyu sat on the stool, He Jiyuan and Wang Changhai sat on two horse saddles, and Qin Yang sat on the bed.

  After sitting down, Zhao Dengyu looked Qin Yang up and down before speaking: "Qin Yang, we owe you one this time. If it weren't for you, the 109th would have suffered heavy losses!"

  Qin Yang knew that Zhao Dengyu was referring to the special operations battalion attacking the high ground of Mengzi Ridge and helping He Jiguo, Wang Changhai and others defend their positions. He hastily waved his hand and said: "Brother Zhao, you're being too polite, I'm also a member of the 29th Army now, fighting is what we should do!"

  "Yes, yes, Old Zhao, you're being a bit too polite!" He Jikun was quite close to Qin Yang, so he also helped him speak.

  Zhao Dengyu saw that Qin Yang was unwilling to take credit, and he didn't force the issue, so he dropped the subject. The four of them chatted intimately, as fellow soldiers they naturally had a lot in common, so their conversation became more and more harmonious.

  From Zhao Dengyu's words, Qin Yang gradually learned about many things that he could not touch in this era, which were things he had never considered before, but now he knew, and naturally the development plan for the future would also change accordingly.

  He did not intend to change the course of history, but that does not mean he would do nothing.

  A few people chatted and laughed, and soon the sun set.

  Dai'er lifted the tent flap, carrying Qin Yang's clothes as she walked in. Seeing Zhao Dengyu and the others, her face turned red, and she stood there, unsure whether to go forward or backward.

  Although at the moment of life and death, Dai'er can say without hesitation that she will accompany Qin Yang to death, but that is just a special actual recklessness. When returning to normal circumstances, Dai'er becomes that shy girl again.

  Dai'er's movement startled several people in the tent, and everyone turned their heads to look.

  Zhao Dengyu took a look at Dai'er's hand holding Qin Yang's clothes, turned his head to look at Qin Yang, and revealed an expression that said he understood everything.

  Qin Yang was so angry and amused at the same time that he didn't know whether to laugh or cry!

  Dai'er saw everyone staring at her and hastily walked towards the door: "Zhao Zongchang, you all chat, I'll be back in a while!"

  The three of them stood up one after another. Zhao Dengyu smiled and said, "We've finished talking, it's time to go back. You guys can keep chatting, haha!"

  Three people didn't wait for Dai Er to say anything and had already walked out.

  The room fell silent, and Dai'er could hear her own heartbeat and Qin Yang's gentle breathing. He stood at the door with his head down, forgetting whether to enter or not!

  Qin Yang saw Dai'er standing at the door, hugging her clothes and staring blankly, so he walked over, stretched out his hand in front of her eyes and shook it: "Hey, what are you thinking about, being so absorbed?"

  Dai'er came back to her senses, holding the clothes and walking to Qin Yang's bed, putting the washed and dried special forces uniform on the bed, silently staring at Qin Yang.

  Qin Yang glanced at the neatly stacked special warfare uniform, only to remember that his clothes had been missing since he woke up, and unexpectedly, Dai'er had taken them to wash.

  On such a cold day, Dai'er squatted by the creek, her hands frozen red and numb from the icy water, and she felt a bit heartbroken. He walked over, gently embracing Dai'er in his arms, lovingly patting her back: "Silly girl, don't do this again, just take good care of yourself, Qin Ge will take care of himself!"

  Buried in Qin Yang's arms, Dai'er slightly closed her eyes. Although she knew Qin Yang only treated her as a little sister, she still liked this safe and warm feeling.

  Two people did not speak, each immersed in different feelings!...

  ————————————————————————————————————————————

  Today is chapter 3, friends who like it are welcome to collect and recommend, everyone's support is the driving force for me to write hehe!