Reborn in the 70s: Pampered by Regiment Commander-Chapter 81 - 75 Exposed! (Asking for Pink)

The second watch had come.

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Seeing who it was, Luo Xiaoqiong’s legs shivered nervously. Lin Chuxia pinched and pushed her hard, causing her to snap out of it and quickly get up. In three or two steps, she ran over and said, "Captain Zeng, hello!"

"Comrade Luo Xiaoqiong, hello." Zeng Meili smiled at her, "Your house seems quite lively today. I hadn’t planned on coming over, but since my earlier visits went smoothly, I decided to drop by."

"Have you... have you had dinner yet?" After asking, Luo Xiaoqiong immediately wanted to smack her own mouth, but fortunately, Zhao Qiliang timely interjected, "Lieutenant Zeng, hello!"

"Zhao Qiliang?" Zeng Meili blinked her big eyes uncertainly. "What are you doing here? Oh yes, aren’t you supposed to be off getting engaged? Could it be..." She pointed at Luo Xiaoqiong and looked incredulous.

Zhao Qiliang, slightly embarrassed, smiled, "Captain Zeng, today is my engagement party with Xiaoqiong. Please, have a seat and join us for a celebratory drink. We will accompany you to the rest of the home visits later."

Zeng Meili cheerfully agreed, "Very well, very well, an early arrival is better than perfect timing; I’ll sit down to enjoy a celebratory drink before I go." She then looked back at Liu Yuqiang and Yang Xiaohui, who were silently standing behind her, "What do you think?"

Liu Yuqiang quickly said, "We will follow Chief Zeng’s arrangement." After speaking, he nudged the bewildered Yang Xiaohui with his elbow, "What’s the matter?" Yang Xiaohui reflexively asked.

"Chief Zeng said we’re having a celebratory drink here before leaving," he explained.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Yang Xiaohui nodded continuously, smiling apologetically at Zeng Meili, "I was just calculating which house to visit next, how long it might take, and roughly what time we’d be able to return this evening."

Zeng Meili pulled out ten kilograms’ worth of food coupons and handed them to Zhao Qiliang, "Here, take this to your mother-in-law. If she refuses, we’ll leave right away."

Fat Auntie, who had heard the news and come over, unable to get a word in, promptly stepped forward: "Chief Zeng, you can’t be so polite. With such joyful occasions, the more people who celebrate, the more blessings the children receive. There’s no way we can accept your food coupons." As she spoke, she snatched the food coupons from Zhao Qiliang’s hand and stuffed them back into Zeng Meili’s hand.

"Comrade Zeng, our family’s Hongqi is also in the army. From that perspective, you are indeed comrades-in-arms. Coming to a comrade’s home for a celebratory drink, how could you speak like this?" Luo Gangshun, meritoriously the team secretary, spoke with elevated register, even though he too became slightly incoherent in his excitement.

"Sis, let’s also go and greet them," Lin Chuxia said as she pulled Zhao Qihui to stand up. After all, they both had participated in the selection, so it was proper for them to greet at this time.

The main reason was that she had always had a question in her mind. Since the person had come to her doorstep, she certainly wanted to present herself clearly. Not going before was merely because the timing hadn’t been right—today’s host was Luo Xiaoqiong, and she couldn’t just steal the spotlight without any grace, right?

Before she and Zhao Qihui could get close, her beloved aunt had already pulled Zhao Qiyan over, "Captain Zeng, you remember our Qiyan, right?"

"Of course, of course." Zeng Meili smiled. "Xiao Zhao is good in literature."

"Yes! Yes!" Lin Xiaohua’s facial muscles trembled with excitement as she pushed Zhao Qiyan forward towards Zeng Meili, inadvertently bumping the actual person of honor, Luo Xiaoqiong, to the side.

Zhao Qiliang apologetically smiled at Luo Xiaoqiong and lowered his voice, "That’s just her temperament, don’t take it to heart."

"I know." Luo Xiaoqiong nodded towards the spot by Zhao Qiyan’s feet and lowered her own voice, "The problem is, she isn’t wearing stilts today."

Zhao Qiliang’s lips twitched. Seeing Qihui and Chuxia had somehow moved beside him, he said, "You two are also in the selection, go ahead and greet her."

"Chuxia..." Luo Xiaoqiong looked apologetic, "In my excitement and panic, I forgot about you..." She then leaned in and whispered a few words to her, and Chuxia nodded with a smile.

Just then, Zeng Meili, annoyed by Lin Xiaohua, happened to glance at Chuxia and waved her over with a surprised smile, "Lin Chuxia, you’re here too! Great, that saves me the trip. Let’s do both of your home visits together. By the way, are your parents here too?"

Although she had anticipated this, Chuxia was still somewhat stunned to have it confirmed so suddenly. She pointed at her nose, "Captain Zeng means that I... I’ve also been selected?"

"With the acceptance letters already issued, you’re asking me?" Zeng Meili chuckled and shook her head, "Not visiting your village to conduct a home visit, and you lose so much confidence?"

Alright then, she really had been replaced! In a flash, Chuxia was overwhelmed by a mix of emotions. In this era, this damn deceptive era, it wasn’t treating her fairly!

"Chief... Chief Zeng, you... you... you mean, our Chuxia can... can also join the army like Xiaoqiong?" Zhao Yulan, who had come over unknowingly, asked excitedly, her lips quivering as she struggled to complete her sentence.

Zeng Meili smiled and nodded, "Yes, you are Chuxia’s mother, right?"

"Yes, yes, yes, I am Chuxia’s mother, Comrade Zeng. Our Chuxia hasn’t received an acceptance letter," Zhao Yulan stated promptly.

"Really? Was Chuxia actually replaced by someone?"

"It must be just like that, you tell me, do our common folks have any way out?"

"Yes, it was lucky that this happened, otherwise, wouldn’t it be nothing but being replaced?"

"This child is blessed, to have this exposed at this time, it’s a great fortune indeed!"

"Exactly, Chuxia is quite fortunate."

"Baohe and Yulan are blessed, having good intentions brings good rewards!"

"......"

At this moment, guests from the village along with the elders and youngsters of Zhao’s house also gathered around, chattering and discussing.

Listening to the discussions, Meili Zeng’s brows furrowed tightly, she pulled out the delivery receipt and pointed at the signature on it, "Isn’t this signature yours?"

Chuxia took it and glanced at it, instantly enlightened, no wonder Meili Zeng had said earlier, "You become so unconfident when I don’t come to your village for a home visit?" She had only been thinking about the replacement issue and hadn’t realized it then.

It turned out, the other party had used another girl with the same name to replace her! If it weren’t for today’s coincidental meeting, she might have really been obliviously replaced, wouldn’t she?

That’s right, Meili Zeng had mentioned when she entered, she originally didn’t plan to visit Luo Xiaoqiong’s house..., Chuxia broke out in a cold sweat, it was truly too close a call! "This address isn’t my home, are there two Lin Chuxias competing?"

"Two?" Meili Zeng shook her head, "There is only one named Lin Chuxia. I remember this clearly and would not make a mistake."

She had already realized what the problem was, the other party definitely used the time she and Liang Xiangyang were out of the office to switch Lin Chuxia’s details.

Thus, the final draft of the enlistment notice, though sealed, was still tampered with—the details inside were fake from the get-go!

The nature of this matter was too wicked!

Especially, being exposed in front of so many people, would the common folks ever trust them again in the future?

Meili Zeng turned around looking for Liu Yuqiang and Yang Xiaohui, but found that the two had been squeezed somewhere unknown, so she had to suppress her anger and smile at Chuxia, "Lin Chuxia, this matter, we will definitely get you justice!"

"Thank you, Captain Zeng!"

Meili Zeng apologetically looked towards Luo Gangshun and Fat Auntie, "Uncle Luo, Aunt Luo, I will have to pass on today’s feast, I must go back immediately to investigate this matter thoroughly."

"We need to investigate the matter, but we also need to eat," Fat Auntie said as she pulled her toward the main table, "Having a meal won’t waste much time, Chuxia is like my own daughter, if you can get Chuxia justice, then you are a benefactor to both our families. You must have a meal today no matter what."

Luo Gangshun said, "Exactly, exactly. Today is a day of double celebration, defining who was sabotaging is important, but not letting the saboteur succeed is even more crucial!"

"Comrade Zeng!" Lin Baohe finally squeezed through, and with a "plop", he knelt down, causing Meili Zeng to hurriedly pull him up, "You must be Chuxia’s father, please don’t do this, we were at fault here, you really shouldn’t do this." At this time, the person who would do this was clear to her without even thinking.

"For the great favor you did for our Chuxia, I am grateful. Even when being careful, it’s hard to prevent someone with bad intentions from acting, we owe thanks to you for today..." Though emotional, Lin Baohe, remarkably, did not stutter.

As things stood now, Chuxia’s selection was as sure as nails. Old Master Zhao, Old Lady Zhao, along with Zhao Yushan and his wife Zhao Yuying, also squeezed over to express their utmost gratitude to Meili Zeng, making her even more apologetic.

Originally, both Lin Chuxia and Luo Xiaoqiong were specially recruited, and reflecting back, she also broke out in cold sweat thinking if she had followed Liang Xiangyang’s order today and not conducted a home visit for Luo Xiaoqiong and Lin Chuxia, then the day of uncovering the truth would have been when the new recruits arrived at the new recruits’ camp.

What a huge joke that would have been!

This Red Flag Commune had been way too audacious. If it weren’t for the fact that she recognized what Lin Chuxia looked like, this matter might very well have been covered up; thinking of this, she couldn’t stay another minute.

However, she knew clearly that resolving this matter, just by herself, might take some time. If someone dared to do this, they naturally made thorough preparations.

So, what she needed to do next, was to report this matter higher up, and have people come to assist her in investigating this thoroughly.

The impact of this matter was too harmful, if not handled properly, future recruitment drives, no matter how fair, would struggle to gain the public’s trust! They couldn’t become the army’s sinners!

"Squad Leader Zhao, I need to trouble you for help temporarily." At this point, the only person she could trust was Zhao Qiliang, so she had no choice but to seek his assistance. (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to recommend and vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)