Since telling Guo Yungang about her background, Li Weiwen had cast aside fear or timidity, choosing instead to face with courage whatever might come, whether open or hidden stares, whispered comments and even various official investigations. Yet, no trouble came after Chinese New Year. After the Lantern Festival, those who had gone home for the festival came back to the base. A breath of spring wind brushed the face, signalling that the group for seasonal migration was on its way back as well. During this period, the company commander had never come to see her again. Of course she knew that anyone who learned of her background would naturally keep their distance. But the expected result stirred no emotional waves in her. She simply carried on with her work diligently. However, there was one piece of good news for Li Weiwen. Not long after Li Weibing and Lin Feng came back from their home visits for Chinese New Year, she discovered that Li Weibing was already two months pregnant. The news filled her with both joy and anxiety. She couldn't help blaming herself for not discovering Li Weibing's pregnancy sooner, knowing that the first three months of pregnancy were the most delicate. Any mishap in those months could have led to a risk of miscarriage and the mere thought of the hardships Li Weibing had endured on the road made her shudder. Fortunately, Lei Weibing had come back safely. Li Weiwen was determined to do everything in her power to help her to bring the baby safely into the world. This was her own niece or nephew.
The seasonal migration team finally returned the base. During that period, Instructor Zhang and his wife, Xu Yumei, had gone home for Chinese New Year to visit his family. Although she had worried that some accident might occur and felt sorry toward the leaders of first and third platoons had taken part in the seasonal migration, everything turned out smoothly. The team came back safely and the lite at the base was just as before. This allowed her to breathe a long sigh of relief. The couple had always enjoyed excellent relations with everyone. Unlike the company commander, who sometimes put on a stern expression before the troops, Instructor Zhang was always smiling and patiently helping everyone through their thoughts and concerns. Xu Yumei was a friend, like an elder sister, to everyone. Whenever someone needed something mended or sewn, they knew they could always count on Sister Xu without fail.
After discussing with the company commander, Instructor Zhang decided to have a celebration party for the entire company. Among all the soldiers, the most excited was Liu Yun. She didn't have seen Guo Yungang for nearly six months, whose heart was flooded with an uncontrollable longing for him. So the moment she returned, she went straight to the company headquarters to pour out to him all the sufferings of her lovesickness.
"Commander Guo, what did you have been doing these past six months? Do you have missed me...your little sister?"
Guo Yungang said nothing, continuing to read the file in his hands. Without the slightest hint of embarrassment, Liu Yun poured him a glass of water and then poured one for herself. She continued:
"This time during the migration, we didn't go to the herders over in Inner Mongolia. Instead, we went to a certain brother regiment's farm. Last year they had a great harvest, with plenty of fodder. This time we went there, eating well and living comfortably, unlike last time when we stayed in the yurt. It was a pity that you weren't the one leading us this time. Oh, we even had braised pork belly once and made dumplings another time."
When she finished, she leaned over his desk to look at the file in his hands. It was about sending the personnel from various outpost companies to Lanzhou to attend a three-month training course on how to control and prevent desertification. The purpose of this course was to teach both military personnel and civilians how to work together to combat the spread of desert sands. Each company was required to send two persons for this course. After reading this, Liu Yun's eyes lit up and said cheerfully:
"Commander Guo, who do you decide to send? Why don't we just go together to Lanzhou? I have never been there before."
"As for who will go, I need to discuss it with Instructor Zhang. Besides, do you have nothing else to do? If you're free, you can go to the kitchen and help Sister Xu and the others prepare the dinner for tonight's party."
"You always do this, finding an excuse to send me away. Okay, I go now. I won't bother you."
Saying this, she cast a shy glance at Guo Yungang who didn't even look up, and then walked out of the company office with full of sweetness in her smile.
After dinner, three campfires were lit, one for each platoon. Although the girls officially belonged to the first platoon, to liven up the atmosphere, they were evenly assigned to the different platoons. Naturally, Li Weiwen sat with Li Weibing. To her surprise, she found both Guo Yungang and Liu Yun were also seated around the same campfires. In addition to chatting, everyone was expected to perform something. Liu Yun was the first one to step graciously into the center and put on a performance for the crowd, a talent Li Weiwen felt she could never match. For her, facing such a large crowd was daunting; let alone performing, even speaking would make her flustered. Almost every girl took a turn to perform and even Li Weibing stepped forward to sing a song. Suddenly, someone shouted:
"Among the girls, there is still one who didn't have performed yet. Li Weiwen, please give us a performance."
At once, every eye turned toward Li Weiwen and a few people even joined in to egg her on. Hearing this, she was so startled that she stammered:
"I...no...no...I....can...I can't...I really can't."
Li Weibing quickly stepped in to shield her and said:
"You can't bully my sister like this. You all know she is shy. Besides, apart from brewing you all herbal decoctions, she really can't do anything else. So please let her alone. I will sing another folk tune from my hometown instead."
That brought another round of laughter and calls of encouragement. Li Weibing, calm and confident, went on to sing a lilting Jiangnan folk song. The melody floated over the campfire, drawing waves of applause and shouts of praise. As soon as she finished, a woman's voice rang out:
"Li Weibing, you can't keep protecting your sister like this. Since when does a performer need a stand-in?"
Everyone turned to see it was Liu Yun. At once, those who had just been willing to let Li Weiwen off the hook started to shout again:
"Yes, that's right! We have never once seen Li Weiwen perform for everyone. This time we can't let her get away."
When Liu Yun spoke up, Li Weiwen was honestly taken aback. Apart from helping out when Sister Xu gave birth, she had barely interacted with Liu Yun before, and hardly even exchanged a few words. Just moments ago, Li Weibing's performance had clearly made the crowd ready to let her off the hook but Liu Yun deliberately stirred them up again. Now the chorus of voices around the circle was rising in unison:
"Come on, just one! Give us one! Li Weiwen! Li Weiwen!"
This shouting only made Li Weiwen more nervous. Li Weibing realized her earlier attempt to help had been wasted. If she stepped in again, it would only make things awkward. She gave her sister a sympathetic glance. Sitting beside Li Weibing, Li Weiwen kept her head down, at a loss, twisting the corner of her cotton coat between her fingers. At that time, Liu Yun's voice rang out again:
"Li Weiwen, we all have asked for your performance like this. If you still refuse to perform, aren't you just rejecting the whole group's goodwill?"
Hearing this, Li Weibing leaned close and whispered to Li Weiwen:
"In that case, just recite a passage from Chairman Mao's Quotations?"
Unable to refuse, Li Weiwen had no choice but to stand up. Keeping her head down, she slowly inched a small step closer to the campfire. Her fingers kept twisting the corner of her cotton coat as she began to recite in a voice so low it was almost swallowed by the crackle of the fire:
"Gre...great...great..."
The whole circle fell completely silence, everyone straining their ears to catch what she was reciting.
"Hey, speak up! None of us can hear you." came Liu Yun's voice again.
"All right, don't make it hard for her." another voice cut in, " So, I'll sing a song for everyone on her behalf. We'll count it as hers."
Everyone turned around and saw the voice was from Commander Guo. The crowd erupted in cheers but Liu Yun froze in surprise. Even Instructor Zhang, seated at another campfire, looked taken aback. They both knew Guo Yungang a lot. Ever since returning from the Korean War, he had never sung a single song. Back then, a teacher from the cradle kindergarten on horseback had discovered his beautiful voice and taught him many songs. But, unfortunately, that teacher had been killed during the war. When Guo Yungang heard this news, he swore he would never lift his voice in song again. But now he suddenly decided to sing a song to shield Li Weiwen from the spotlight. Instructor Zhang merely frowned slightly but didn't say anything. Liu Yun, however, was so surprised that she shot to her feet and shouting:
"Commander Guo, how can you break your vow and sing again?"
Guo Yungang glanced at her without a word, then stepped to the center of the circle. Looking over at Li Weiwen standing on the other side, he said:
"Li Weiwen, I will sing a song on your behalf. But remember, you owe me one. You will have to pay back me someday."
As soon as Guo Yungang announced he was going to sing, everyone, including those gathered around the other two campfires, became quiet, waiting for his song. However, no one had expected him to say something like that beforehand, which caught everyone by surprise.
Liu Yun was filled with blazing anger. She had always felt a pang of jealousy toward Li Weiwen's medical skills, which were clearly superior to her own. Moreover, she had long noticed how timid Li Weiwen was—always hiding behind Li Weibing and never daring to show herself in public. She had wanted to find an opportunity to embarrass her here, without hesitation, insisting she perform, not caring how awkward or unfair it might be. What truly fuelled her fury, however, was the company commander's reaction. Not only did he unexpectedly step in to shield Li Weiwen—breaking his usual strict stance on group activities—but he completely ignored Liu Yun's own questions and presence. His obvious favoritism, capped by that pointed comment in Li Weiwen's defense, felt like a slap in the face. Her jealousy flared into full-blown rage. She said:
"It is really unexpected that our company commander would break his vow to perform just to protect our great Doctor Li. If he's going to do a good deed, he should go all the way. So why say that Doctor Li owes him something in return? Could Commander Guo tell us what Doctor Li is supposed to pay back? How is she supposed to pay back? We are all curious, aren't we?" Then she shouted to the crowd, " Don't you all want to know these?"
Although most people didn't understand why Commander Guo's singing would be considered breaking a vow, it was clear the atmosphere had turned tense. Nobody knew what exactly was going on but everyone waited eagerly to see what would happen next. Commander Guo replied:
"Liu Yun, your curiosity is a bit too much. What Li Weiwen owes me and how she will pay back it, is the business between the two of us. It's not your business."
Hearing this, the crowd was even more shocked. Liu Yun looked at Guo Yungang in disbelief and then glanced at Li Weiwen who was also staring at him, stunned. Suddenly, Guo Yungang walked over to Li Weiwen, firmly pulled her into his arms without giving her a chance to refuse, leaned down and kissed her deeply.