An 80s female translator was spoiled rotten by a rough and jealous man.

Chapter 352 "Fierce and Cold"

At noon, while Meng Youyou, Jiang Fu, and Dou Peng were waiting for the elevator in the waiting hall, Dou Peng started a conversation: "What are your plans for the National Day holiday?"

"Go home to be with my parents, ideally I could just laze around at home." Jiang Fu shrugged: "But I'll most likely be forced to go on blind dates."

Dou Peng smiled in agreement and turned to ask, "Yoyo, what about you?"

Meng Youyou looked up and met Jiang Fu's gaze. She saw a faint "I was just being nosy" in Jiang Fu's eyes, and then answered softly, "Nothing special, just like Jiang Jiang, going back to my hometown for a few days."

"Back to Hangzhou?" Dou Peng's voice rose half an octave: "What a coincidence, I..."

Before they could finish speaking, the elevator arrived with a ding, and the metal doors in front of them slid open to the sides, revealing two tall men inside.

The moment they stepped into the sedan chair side by side, Meng Youyou caught a glimpse of blatant schadenfreude on Jiang Fu's face out of the corner of her eye.

Dou Peng was a very good man, and he understood human relationships. When he saw the two leaders, he was the first to greet them: "Battalion Commander Huo, Company Commander Zhan, good afternoon. Are you going to the canteen for lunch?"

Huo Qingshan glanced at him indifferently, then nodded slightly in response, his attitude neither warm nor cold.

That one look sent a chill down Dou Peng's spine. He didn't know why Battalion Commander Huo always looked at him like that. It wasn't the first or second time. The previous times, Dou Peng racked his brains trying to figure out if he had made a mistake at work or if he had inadvertently offended his superior. ... He couldn't think of anything!
He had even observed carefully whether Battalion Commander Huo treated others the same way. Was he overthinking it? Dou Peng found a few reference points, such as Haozi, who worked in the same office as him and joined the company at the same time last year. However, after comparing them over ten days to half a month, Dou Peng found that although Battalion Commander Huo's attitude towards others was not exactly warm, there was no significant difference in general, but there was no special treatment directed at him... He couldn't quite put his finger on what it felt like, but it was probably a kind of subtle hostility.

Dou Peng thought it over and over, but he still felt that he was probably overthinking things. Why would anyone be hostile to him for no reason?
Zhan You was a very warm person, and replied with a smile, "Yes, you're going to eat too, right?"

The group nodded in response with smiles on their faces.

After that, neither side continued the conversation. It was just a perfunctory formality anyway, and any further conversation would have been pointless. After all, they rarely interacted directly at work and were not familiar with each other, especially Battalion Commander Huo, who was naturally aloof, with only a few expressions on his face and an imposing aura that created a sense of distance. Moreover, he had only recently returned to the unit, and many of his colleagues didn't know him well.

In short, most of the younger, less experienced people in the office building were quite intimidated by him, feeling that he must be a formidable and difficult person to get along with. Without understanding his temperament and character, they dared not say anything rashly. Even Jiang Fu, who talked about him behind his back in front of her good friends, was one thing, but when she actually met him in person, she still had to be obedient.

Dou Peng quietly moved two steps to the right, next to Meng Youyou, and continued the conversation he hadn't finished earlier: "I did my undergraduate studies in Hangzhou, and coincidentally, one of my college roommates is getting married during the National Day holiday, so I have to go to the wedding. When are you leaving?"

“If our schedules match, we can buy tickets for the same bullet train and plane. It’ll be less boring to have company on the journey.” He lowered his voice slightly, mindful that there were other people in the elevator and that it wouldn’t be appropriate to be too loud, but he didn’t care too much. After all, chatting about holiday plans among colleagues is a trivial matter.

Meng Youyou looked up at the interior wall of the carriage directly in front of her. The metallic texture reflected the light, and she just met a pair of dark eyes fixed on her on the wall, as if they had been waiting for a long time. She casually looked away and answered the question from the person next to her: "It's not confirmed yet. I'll check the tickets in a couple of days and let you know."

"Okay." Dou Peng kindly reminded him, "There are a lot of people traveling during the National Day holiday, and tickets are hard to buy. If you wait any longer, you'll probably have to hurry."

"it is good."

Standing in the corner, Zhan You stole a glance at their battalion commander's face, then quickly looked away, silently lamenting how he always seemed to run into these thorny situations.
Zhan You consciously glanced at the other corner across the diagonal. He saw Comrade Jiang, who seemed to be engrossed in playing on his phone and whose presence was as inconspicuous as his own, almost unable to hide his excitement. His gossipy and jubilant smile was hard to suppress, a real-life example of someone who loves to watch the drama unfold.

Zhan You: "..."

Fortunately, the elevator came down to the first floor and the doors opened, and Zhan You breathed a sigh of relief.

But the battle was far from over. When they arrived at the canteen, the two groups lined up at different windows. The line at the office window was shorter and faster. After getting their food, the three of them, who all worked in the same office, naturally sat down to eat together.

Seeing their battalion commander carrying his meal tray about to head in that direction, Zhan You seized the opportunity to slip away halfway and randomly chose an empty seat next to one of the soldiers in his company. He was really afraid that he would have indigestion from this meal and waste the braised pork that his chef had cooked so well at noon.

The three of them were having their meal as usual, chatting occasionally about things in the office, and the atmosphere was harmonious and relaxed, until a man with an "incompatible aura" suddenly joined them, breaking the atmosphere.

This "incompatibility" was Dou Peng's subjective assessment. In his view, Battalion Commander Huo wasn't familiar with any of the three of them. Jiang Fu was slightly better, having worked there longer than the other two. As for Meng Youyou and himself, their relationship with Battalion Commander Huo was extremely superficial. Aside from a polite, distant nod when they bumped into each other in the office building, they had virtually no other interaction. If one had to rank their closeness, he would be slightly better, since he was male and naturally had a weaker sense of boundaries. Besides, he and Battalion Commander Huo had at least played two basketball games together.

Meng Youyou and Jiang Fu sat side by side on one side, while Dou Peng sat directly opposite Meng Youyou. Huo Qingshan placed the plate on the empty seat to Meng Youyou's left and sat down without saying a word.

At this moment, in this situation, Dou Peng really couldn't understand why this big leader had gotten himself into this mess and insisted on sitting with them. There's a saying, "If you don't click, a word is too much," and another saying, "If it's not your circle, don't force it!"

Didn't this officer realize that the three of them had fallen silent ever since he sat down? Didn't he feel embarrassed? How did someone so lacking in tact get to this position? Was it purely due to his muscular physique?
The four of them ate in silence. Dou Peng had tried to speak several times to lighten the mood, but each time he met Battalion Commander Huo's cold, unfathomable eyes, he swallowed his words. Jiang Fu, on the other hand, maintained the best quality of a bystander, silently observing. As for Meng Youyou, she was doing it on purpose; she wanted to see what kind of trouble this man was up to. Therefore, she had to remain calm and composed, not letting herself panic.

Meng Youyou picked up a piece of shredded potato with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth, but unexpectedly bit into a small grain of salt that hadn't been cooked through. It was extremely salty, so she hurriedly lowered her head to drink the soup.

Most people drink soup by lifting the bowl to their lips, but Meng Youyou does things differently. She likes to tilt her head down, lean forward, and reach for the rim of the soup bowl, bringing her mouth to the edge and sucking the soup up—in Jiang Fu's words, their dog drinks soup that way too. This incredibly vivid description infuriated Meng Youyou at the time, but these quirky little habits she had developed since childhood were already ingrained in her and she couldn't change them.

The girl's movements were a bit exaggerated. She had her hair tied in a low ponytail today, and a strand of hair that was originally draped over her shoulder slipped down as she lowered her head. Meng Youyou didn't notice this at first, but a hand from the man beside her caught the strand of hair that was about to fall into the soup bowl, drawing Meng Youyou's head to look, and that's when she noticed it.

Of course, this quick and abrupt action attracted attention beyond just Meng Youyou. Dou Peng, sitting opposite them, watched as Battalion Commander Huo patiently held up the hair of his unfamiliar young female subordinate until she finished her soup. He gently placed his hand behind her neck and released it, even straightening her slightly turned-up shirt collar as he passed her neck before withdrawing his hand. All these small actions occurred so naturally, almost as if they were perfectly legitimate acts of kindness. And Meng Youyou? Her superior held her hair, yet she showed no discomfort whatsoever. She slowly drank several sips of soup before leisurely raising her head. Then, when the male superior straightened her shirt collar, his fingers brushing against the skin of her neck, she showed no sign of discomfort whatsoever.

As Dou Peng stared in disbelief, the man diagonally opposite him glanced over nonchalantly. It was that same look again. Dou Peng felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He finally understood what that look meant. Dou Peng's ex-girlfriend was a big fan of the movie "Pride and Prejudice." During their relationship, she had dragged him to watch the movie several times. The male protagonist, Darcy, had that same look in his eyes when he saw Elizabeth's suitors—a look that was a mix of possessiveness and disdain for the opponent's overestimation of his abilities.

Of course, Dou Peng could sense that the person in front of him was intentionally controlling the aggressiveness of his gaze. It was much gentler than Darcy's undisguised sharpness, as if it was enough to achieve the goal. The intensity was just right, enough to effectively repel the enemy without being too unfriendly or ruthless, so as not to make the person too embarrassed. It was a matter of knowing when to stop.

Dou Peng looked at Jiang Fu again. When she saw him looking over, she quickly lowered her eyes and stared at the food on her plate to avoid his gaze. Goodness, now Dou Peng understood everything. Judging from Jiang Fu's reaction, the intimacy between the two of them was much closer than he had imagined, and it had been going on for quite some time.

So, out of everyone present, he was the only clown kept in the dark—he went around trying to curry favor with the guy's girlfriend every day, and she just gave him the cold shoulder. She was really generous.

Once a person suddenly turns a corner, a multitude of blind spots in their perspective come to the surface—Dou Peng recalled the first time he saw that sinister look on Battalion Commander Huo's face. It was in the locker room of the basketball court, where he and his roommate Haozi were sitting on a bench outside changing their sneakers. Haozi put his arm around his shoulder and said, "I asked Sister Jiang Fu, and Meng Meinu doesn't have a boyfriend. You still have a chance, kid. Don't be a coward, go for it!"

"Do you know... what type of guy she likes?" Dou Peng asked somewhat embarrassedly.

Haozi laughed: "Hey! I actually found the answer for you. Sister Jiang Fu said that Miss Meng likes handsome guys. She looks at faces, and secondly she likes abs. If you have some free time recently, go to the gym a few more times and work out more to improve. Cater to her preferences, and you'll achieve twice the result with half the effort."

"Actually, I think you fit her ideal type quite well. With a little more effort, it's not impossible," Haozi concluded, not forgetting to "extort" a bit at the end: "Anyway, I've been working myself to the bone for your lifelong happiness. If this works out, you'd better treat me to a few more meals!"

"It's not even close to being a done deal yet," Dou Peng said, scratching his head and laughing. "I'll try my best..."

Halfway through their conversation, the door to one of the changing cubicles was suddenly pushed open, not with a heavy force, but not light either. A man in a black basketball uniform with a stern face walked out, his sharp gaze sweeping over the two of them in turn. Dou Peng immediately felt that the man lingered on him for significantly longer than on Haozi.

Without uttering a word, the man walked straight out of the changing room. Once the footsteps had faded and the room had warmed up a bit, Dou Peng slowly asked the person next to him, "Who was that just now? He looks a bit unfamiliar. He looked..." Dou Peng hesitated for a moment before refraining from saying the last part of his comment. In this place, one couldn't just say whatever came to mind.

Some people, no matter where they go or what clothes they wear, can be recognized as extraordinary at a glance, without needing to exchange a few words.

"Don't you know?" Haozi's voice unconsciously lowered a few decibels: "The battalion commander of the Second Battalion who just returned to the unit last week, I heard he was seriously injured in a mission last year and was in a coma for a year. He only recently recovered and came back. In our camp, he is the youngest to be promoted to battalion commander. He must be very capable."

It was a rainy day on a day off, so the outdoor basketball court was unusable and everyone gathered in the indoor venue. Due to limited space, the players had to be grouped together before being divided into teams for the game. Dou Peng and Huo Qingshan were not on the same team, and he still remembered that he didn't score a single point that afternoon, not even touching the rim.

He was so badly beaten that he questioned his very existence. After all, he was a key member of his high school and college basketball teams. It was true these soldiers were physically strong, but he shouldn't have been utterly humiliated like this. Dou Peng, who had been running around the court that afternoon, drenched in sweat, saw the slogan printed on the basketball court wall: "Friendship First, Competition Second." He genuinely felt that this slogan should be written backwards when applied to their opponents!

Looking back now, Dou Peng recalls the fierce way Captain Huo of the opposing team intercepted the ball from him. He would never believe that there wasn't a trace of personal emotion involved.

No wonder, it turns out everything has a trace, but... who could have imagined it?
So, these two had already secretly made their move back then? This guy was quick on his feet, getting there in just one week after returning? Sigh, no wonder he managed to get to this position at such a young age! — He must have some extraordinary abilities, Dou Peng thought in hindsight.

However, the more he thought about it, the more terrifying it seemed... Dou Peng couldn't stay there any longer. He felt utterly ashamed, ate a few mouthfuls of food without any appetite, and then made up an excuse to leave.

After Dou Peng left the cafeteria, Meng Youyou stared straight ahead and muttered to herself, "Hmm~ Old fox! Very wicked!"

Huo Qingshan had already finished his food and didn't respond to her comments. He simply silently picked out the "mountain of carrot shreds" that the girl had piled up on the corner of her plate, quickly ate it with a few bites, and then got up and left. Actually, he had a lot of things he wanted to say to her, but considering that there were many people in the canteen and her friends were nearby, Huo Qingshan wasn't the kind of person who would talk about love regardless of the occasion or others.

After the two men left one after the other, Jiang Fu finally didn't have to pretend anymore. She excitedly nudged Meng Youyou's arm and said, "I really think your Battalion Commander Huo is quite cunning. He kills without shedding blood! He eliminates a potential rival in love with ease and without lifting a finger."

"I'm really worried about you, sister. With all your cunning schemes, do you think you can outmaneuver him?" Jiang Fu sighed.

Meng Youyou: "..."

A few minutes later, a message popped up on his phone: Huo Qingshan: [Comrade Youyou, don't delay other fine young people in our unit from pursuing their true love.]
Meng Youyou: [?]
Meng Youyou: [What? They haven't even told me anything yet! Am I supposed to actively reject them?]
Meng Youyou: [And the way you said it makes me sound like a two-timing scumbag!]
Huo Qingshan: [How about we go public?]
Meng Youyou didn't reply. I wonder where she is right now. I guess she went to the convenience store with her roommates after lunch to buy some colorful sparkling water drinks.

Late September marks the end of the summer schedule, and the lunch break is half an hour longer than in the winter schedule.

Huo Qingshan inserted the key and opened the door. The single apartment was well-lit, with the midday sun making the room bright. An envelope lay quietly on the desk, its surface covered with many creases from being crumpled, which somewhat ruined the original beauty of the cherry blossom pattern on the cover.

After the man approached, he did not hesitate for a moment. He picked up the envelope on the table, turned around and strode to the trash can in the living room area. He had a dark black lighter in his hand, lit it, and burned the letter in one go. The flames quickly covered the entire envelope, including the thick stack of letters inside.

Huo Qingshan stared intently at the thin, gauze-like ashes drifting into the trash can, his eyes dark and deep, like the ocean.

Some things, once discovered, have no better fate than to remain hidden from the world forever.

One should not be soft-hearted. Since one has done something bad, one might as well go all the way and use any means necessary, but one should not leave any handle for oneself.

The phone in his pocket suddenly rang. Huo Qingshan tossed aside the piece of paper he was holding, now burned to a mere scrap of paper, and pulled it out to read. "No rush," he said, "this matter needs careful consideration. Let's take it slow and see how I feel."
An eye for an eye; that person holds a grudge.