As soon as the words left her mouth, Qian Duoduo realized what she’d done, and instantly had the urge to bite her own tongue.
Why did I have to say it out loud? Wouldn’t it have been fine to just praise him in my heart?
Qian Duoduo’s cheeks warmed. She felt both annoyed and embarrassed, lowering her gaze and biting her lip in discomfort.
Half a step away, Lu Qiming probably hadn’t expected this girl to blurt out such words, either.
He paused for about two seconds, then nodded and replied calmly, “Thank you for the compliment.”
The atmosphere grew a bit delicate.
Qian Duoduo’s eyes darted around. Not long after, she quickly changed the topic, saying, “You looked pretty tired just now, why don’t you sit down and rest?” As she spoke, she shifted her body to the side, making space next to her.
“No, thank you.” Lu Qiming declined softly, “I worked up quite a sweat earlier. I’ll just stand.”
Hearing this, Qian Duoduo felt compelled to stand up as well.
Lu Qiming said, “Ms. Qian, please sit.”
Qian Duoduo felt awkward. She thought, With you, such a big guy, standing in front of me, how could I possibly sit comfortably?
If someone saw this, they’d think I was some arrogant influencer, bullying a PLA Comrade who’s here to serve the people.
“This chair is a bit hard. If I sit too long it gets uncomfortable, so standing for a bit is a nice break,” Qian Duoduo said, making up an excuse with a straight face. After a brief pause, she asked the man opposite her, “Lu Captain, where are you headed now?”
“Back to the office building,” Lu Qiming replied. “I still have work to do.”
“Oh,” Qian Duoduo nodded.
“And you?” Lu Qiming’s gaze dropped, lingering on her flushed, delicate face.
“I don’t know, maybe I’ll go back to the dormitory and get some more sleep…” Qian Duoduo thought for a moment, then continued, “Just now, Commissar Xue told me I can use my card to enter and exit the camp directly. Does that mean I don’t need to check in with you anymore?”
“No need to check in,” Lu Qiming said calmly. “Your personal information has already been entered into the system. Your PLA Card is your pass.”
“That’s great. I was worried before that once I moved in, I wouldn’t be able to leave…” Qian Duoduo muttered, the corners of her mouth lifting into a smile. “Being able to come and go freely makes life so much more convenient.”
Her smile was gentle and soft, dimples forming in her cheeks, and it was infectious.
Lu Qiming’s gaze unconsciously softened as he replied, “The modern military is much more humane now. You all represent local enterprises and government, coming here to offer comfort to the troops. Naturally, we’ll do our best to make sure your daily life is well provided for. Freedom, convenience, a good living experience and comfort— those are the basics.”
“Alright.” Qian Duoduo shrugged, half-joking. “Seems like I was the one out of touch, and I had a lot of misunderstandings about you guys before.”
“It’s normal to have misunderstandings if you haven’t had much contact,” Lu Qiming said. “You’ll be staying in the camp for a while, so I hope this experience will change some of your views.”
“My views have already changed a lot,” Qian Duoduo said with a bright smile.
Lu Qiming asked, “Like what?”
Qian Duoduo counted on her fingers, “For example, I used to think your military life was really tough, but now I see the camp environment is great, with modern facilities everywhere. Everyone’s neat and tidy, well dressed. And I thought you all were cut off from the outside world, probably closed off and repressed, but now I see you’re all just normal people, laughing and joking, and not that different from us civilians…”
At this point, she suddenly paused, eyes widening as she lowered her voice, “Especially your biggest leader. With that high rank and all his years of experience, I thought he’d have a real air of authority, but he’s so approachable! He never stopped smiling earlier, he was really friendly.”
Meeting those bright, sparkling eyes, Lu Qiming couldn’t help but smile, his tone light and casual: “You mean Commander Xiao?”
Qian Duoduo nodded, her voice barely above a whisper, “Mm, him.”
“Comrade Xiao has a lively personality and likes sports. When he has free time, he even joins us for basketball games,” Lu Qiming said. “Every afternoon from 4:30 to 6:00 is our regular physical training time, and all the officers and soldiers participate. You’ll probably get a chance to see Comrade Xiao’s Three-Step Layup yourself.”
Qian Duoduo was skeptical: “Comrade Xiao is about my dad’s age, and he can still do a Three-Step Layup? I don’t really know basketball, but I know the basics.”
Lu Qiming: “You don’t believe it?”
Qian Duoduo thought for a moment, then shook her head, “I believe he likes sports, but at his age, he can’t possibly be that skilled…”
Lu Qiming tilted his neck slightly, a hint of interest in his eyes, his tone mild: “Ms. Qian, want to make a bet with me?”
A look of confusion appeared on Qian Duoduo’s fair face: “A bet? On what?”
“Let’s bet on whether Comrade Xiao can do a Three-Step Layup,” Lu Qiming said. “If you win, I’ll cover your meals for a week. If you lose, you cover mine. How about it?”
As soon as he finished,
She thought this PLA Comrade was too honest, not even thinking to make the bet in his own favor, so she kindly advised, “Lu Captain, I’m an outsider, my Canteen Card is topped up by your unit, I don’t pay a cent. But your staff have to pay real money themselves. Betting on mess hall meals, don’t you think you’re losing out?”
“The state subsidizes the mess hall. For each meal, we pay a little out of pocket,” he told her, “It’s not expensive, I can afford it.”
Alright then.
After hearing that, Qian Duoduo thought, Well, what’s there not to agree to?
I’m new here anyway, a little bet is just for fun.
“Sure,” Qian Duoduo agreed. “I’ll bet with you.”
“Perfect. This afternoon, we have an internal basketball game, and Commander Xiao is the substitute on my team,” Lu Qiming said. “4:30 p.m., indoor Basketball Hall to the right of the shooting range. Ms. Qian, be sure to come.”
“Okay. Don’t worry, Lu Captain, I’ll definitely be there on time,” Qian Duoduo said.
“I’ll be waiting for you.”
They chatted a bit more, casually.
After a while, Lu Qiming checked the time and got ready to leave.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed some broken eggshells on the bench behind Qian Duoduo.
“The eggs I gave you, you just finished them?” Lu Qiming frowned slightly, turning to Qian Duoduo.
“Yeah,” Qian Duoduo answered honestly. “I was at the Welcome Ceremony in the Comprehensive Building earlier, didn’t have time to eat until now.”
Lu Qiming didn’t say anything more. He bent down and picked up the eggshells, gathering them in his palm.
From this angle, Qian Duoduo couldn’t see his expression, just the sharp lines of his profile and his hands as he picked up the shells.
His fingers were long and elegant, palm lines clear.
Looking at those strong, capable hands, Qian Duoduo was momentarily dazed, her mind flashing back to the scene just minutes ago— how he’d moved like a wild animal on the hunt, scaling a ten-meter wall in a flash…
She snapped back to reality.
“I put the eggshells here after I finished eating, planning to throw them away when I left,” realizing he was helping her clean up, Qian Duoduo blushed, embarrassed. “I can do it myself…”
Lu Qiming moved his arm lightly, blocking her hand as she tried to grab the eggshells.
“You’re a girl, you shouldn’t always eat cold things,” he said, not even looking up. “It’s not good for your health.”
“I don’t eat cold stuff that often…” Qian Duoduo replied offhandedly, then paused, looking at him with her dark eyes. “But, thank you for your concern, Lu Captain.”
At her words, Lu Qiming’s movements paused for a moment. Then he straightened up, unhurried, and looked at her. “Ms. Qian, you’re our guest. It’s only right for me to look after you as the host.”
Qian Duoduo smiled, “Goodbye, Lu Captain. See you this afternoon.”
“Alright, see you this afternoon.”
After saying goodbye, Qian Duoduo turned and left.
Lu Qiming watched her walk away for a moment, then looked away and tossed the eggshells into the trash bin beside the training field.
He took a few steps, recalling that soft, gentle “see you this afternoon.”
Unconsciously, Lu Qiming’s lips curled into a faint smile.
He’d never looked forward to a basketball game so much before. Like wild berries in a forest, yearning for a destined rain.
……
Back in room 406 of the Headquarters Dormitory Building, Qian Duoduo lay flat on her back on the bed.
The width of this single bed was just over 90 centimeters, not spacious at all.
Qian Duoduo stared at the ceiling, absentmindedly scratching the soft sheet with her fingertips, suddenly thinking: This bed is so narrow, I already feel cramped sleeping here— how do those big, burly male comrades in the army manage?
Especially someone as tall as Lu Qiming.
Broad shoulders, long legs, nearly 1.9 meters tall— he probably has to curl up, can’t even stretch his legs straight.
Thinking of this, Qian Duoduo couldn’t help but imagine Lu Qiming curled up on a tiny bed, like a giant quail, and she burst out laughing at her own mental image.
Her thoughts ran wild.
She’d planned to take a nap, but after tossing and turning for a while with no sleepiness, she gave up and picked up her phone to scroll through Weibo and WeChat Moments to kill time.
Ever since signing with her company, Qian Duoduo had handed her Weibo account over to the Official Team to manage.
She rarely logged in to her main account, sometimes even forgetting the password and having to retrieve it using her phone number.
She logged in to her personal homepage with her side account.
The assistant had posted her food videos, and the pinned post had just been changed last night, from the original “Foodie Discovery Collection” to a repost of the “Walk into Mess Squad” Military-Civilian Exchange Activity poster from the People’s Government Office of Southern City.
Qian Duoduo clicked on the image to enlarge it, then casually scrolled through the comments.
Fan @QianDuoduo’sPiggyBank: Front row!!!
Fan @DidQianDuoduoNoticeMeToday: Babe, you haven’t posted any selfies in ages! Pics please! I need spiritual sustenance! [crying] [puppy eyes]
Fan @WhenWillQianDuoduoMarryMe: Beautiful wife, why do you have dark circles in your recent videos? [hug] Don’t work too hard, or we’ll worry about you!
Fan @QianDuoduo’sLegAccessory: Wow, teacher, were you invited to the Military-Civilian Exchange Activity?
Fan @UkuleleBug: Are you leaving the internet for politics? I’ll vote for you in next year’s Village Secretary election! [doge][hehe][applause]
……
Fans and netizens were chatting up a storm.
Qian Duoduo scrolled down, reading the comments, when suddenly her phone rang.
Caller ID: “Zhao Jingxi.”
She picked up.
“Hello?”
“What are you up to?” Zhao Jingxi’s voice sounded lazy and sleepy, clearly just having woken up.
“Lying in the dorm,” Qian Duoduo yawned, stretching, unable to resist complaining to her friend, “You have no idea, this place starts blasting the Wake-up Call and Military Song at six-something in the morning. I was up before 6:30.”
Zhao Jingxi was surprised on the other end: “Why do those soldiers get up so early every day?”
“They say they have to do Morning Exercise, roll call, and then some running,” Qian Duoduo sighed. “It’s so loud, the whole dorm building shakes.”
“Ah…” Zhao Jingxi sounded sympathetic, “They have to do Morning Exercise every day? Guess you can never sleep in again, so sad.”
“Just taking it as a chance to fix my sleep schedule,” Qian Duoduo said with a good attitude, smiling. “Maybe I can finally get rid of my years of staying-up-late habit.”
Zhao Jingxi could only offer moral support: “You got this, babe.”
“Mm.” Qian Duoduo paused, then asked, “So, what did you call me for, Jingxi?”
“I want to go to Sam’s Club this afternoon. Want to come?” Zhao Jingxi asked.
The Sam’s Club Zhao Jingxi mentioned was a membership store headquartered in Arkansas, USA, with branches all over the world. (â‘ )
They sell a lot of imported goods, and their products are known for big sizes—flour and rice sold in ten-kilo bags. The total price is high, but the unit price is cheap, perfect for stocking up at home.
Qian Duoduo thought for a few seconds, then said, “I’m pretty free this afternoon, so I can go with you. But I’ve already bought all my daily necessities, don’t really need anything.”