Chapter 39 (1/2)

Chapter 39 – Dog Meat

The look on Shen Yu’s pale face haunted Tang Can. His heart throbbed in pain, as if someone had pinched it. A bitter taste rose in his mouth. However, there was nothing that he could say that could explain things to her.

Xiao Qiu was ignorant to the chaos that he caused by his statement. Ahead of them was a tollbooth, so he slowed the car down to a stop. After the car passed the booth and got up to speed on the highway, he didn’t pick up that thread of conversation again. He focused on driving the car.

Shen Yu retracted her gaze and seemed to be tired. Tang Can watched as she closed her eyes to go back to sleep. He noticed that she had a set of long and thick eyelashes. They caught his eye and he stared at them, mesmerized. For a moment, he felt like he was lost in them.

By the time they got back to Changsha, it was already dark. Xiao Qiu was exhausted after driving the car for the whole day. After parking the car in the assigned lot next to the military district’s guest house, he blurted out, “So tired!”. The young soldier jumped out of the car and in his haste he forgot to take out the vehicle’s keys.

As Commander Jin grabbed the keys, he turned towards Tang Can and said, “I know Xiao Qiu’s a little rough, but he really is a good fella. Other than his poor ability to keep a handle on his mouth, he’s good in all other aspects He’s a model soldier, but I feel like he’s wasting his talents staying with me. If you feel like he’d be a good successor for you, please take him into your service!”

Tang Can smiled slightly but declined to say anything in response. When he saw the enthusiastic look on Commander Jin’s face, he commented, “I’ll think about your proposal”.

Commander Jin let out a sigh of relief and turned to smile at Shen Yu. “Reporter Shen, you must be exhausted! You should go to your room and get some rest!”

Shen Yu smiled and nodded her head at the older man.

Commander Jin left before the other two and made sure to lock the dar. Shen Yu glanced at Tang Can for a moment before she walked towards the guest house. Tang Can caught up with her in a couple of steps. “Let me bring you to the infirmary to treat your injuries! I want to make sure they’re healing well!”

Shen Yu had long forgotten she had gotten wounded on her hand. Had Xiao Qiu not said his previous statement, she would have felt grateful towards Tang Can for being so protective over her. With the memory of Xiao Qiu’s stinging words prickling into her, she merely looked at Tang Can coldly.

In the infirmary, the cuts on her hand were carefully treated again. Zhang Fei showed up before Shen Yu could go back to her own room. The female soldier hollered at Tang Can, scolding him for disappearing with Shen Yu without a word and making her worry while they were gone.

Since they didn’t have a good relationship, Shen Yu gladly took the opportunity to leave for her room. She had no desire to ask for more trouble from the female soldier.

While walking back to her room, Shen Yu suddenly thought about Wheaty. She made a detour and went to the dog’s kennel. Unfortunately, the dog was nowhere to be seen. Frightened, she ran over to Mazha to find out what had happened.

With an apologetic expression on his face, the male soldier said, “We don’t know where Wheaty went!” His eyes were shifty, and he avoided directly looking at her.

Shen Yu didn’t believe what he said but there was no use. The dog was clearly gone. In her heart, she hoped that the dog had temporarily run off and that she could find Wheaty again. She vowed to start looking for her tomorrow.

As she walked back to her room, she met Zhang Fei in the hallway. The female soldier was carrying something as she entered Tang Can’s room. Shen Yu caught a whiff of dog meat in the air.

Shen Yu had no desire to meddle in the relationship between the two but for some reason, she didn’t move from her spot. She stood there, staring at Tang Can’s room.

Shortly thereafter, Zhang Fei came out again and looked angry. Her hands still held the bowl that she had been holding previously. Shen Yu could hear her mutter under her breath “so he doesn’t want to eat…”. When the female soldier noticed her standing in the hallway, she grimaced and yelled, “What are you looking at?” before she started to stomp away from Shen Yu.

Reflexively, Shen Yu chased down Zhang Fei. When she caught up with the female soldier, she asked, “What are you holding?”