Upon hearing Chen Shouwangâs words, the basket in Hualingâs hand slipped from her grasp, causing the round potatoes to roll out. She dumbly stared at Chen Shouwang and said, "Youâre on the replacement list?"
She wasnât new to being a military spouse and knew what that signified. This meant that Chen Shouwang was going to be retired and transferred back to civilian life.
Hualing felt a bit panicked. She thought the same as Chen Shouwang: what can he do after retiring? He has no skills. What will he do when he transitions back to civilian life?
His family back home was all looking up to him. She and his child were not yet even one year old, and everything depended on his paycheck for survival. If he retired, with no allowances or other subsidies, what would they eat?
"Is it finalized?" Hualing pressed her hand against her chest and asked.
"It hasnât been announced yet, but Iâm on the list!" Chen Shouwang replied, feeling dejected.
Seeing him like this made Hualing feel a surge of anger. Heâs not even forty and heâs being forced to retire. Why? Isnât it because of his own blemishes?
A person without achievements, of course, people donât want him occupying a vice platoon leaderâs position. Since he hasnât been contributing and heâs reached this age, they might as well free up the position for someone elseâs opportunity!
"Do you feel relieved now?" Thinking of those past matters, Hualing couldnât help but sneer.
"What?" Chen Shouwang raised his head.
"Chen Shouwang, if back then you could have controlled yourself, would you be facing retirement today? Itâs all your own doing, your own fault. Look at yourself, is your heart at ease? Do you regret it?" Hualing said coldly, "Without that incident, youâd have been promoted to a company commander, and there wouldnât be this mess."
Her heart was indeed ice cold. They were barely making it with the allowance, and now even that was gone. Would she have to rely on her measly salary alone in the future?
Seeing her sarcasm, Chen Shouwangâs face turned pale, and he murmured, "It was so long ago, and youâre still bringing it up..."
"And so what if it was long ago? Does that mean I should forget? Let me tell you, Chen Shouwang, I havenât divorced you for the sake of our child. Do you think I wonât remember the things youâve done? I, Hualing, will remember for the rest of my life that you once wronged me!" Hualing growled in a low voice.
Chen Shouwang lowered his head, clutching his hair, unable to refute.
Seeing this, Hualing felt another wave of irritation, stood up, and paced back and forth in the living room.
Suddenly, she recalled what Cheng Su said to her last year about using family connections to do something, or perhaps find a position in another unit, suggesting it could be a way out.
Thinking of this settled her heart a bit, though she wondered why Cheng Su had mentioned it last year. Did she know something already?
"Who finalized the list? Qi Taiguo?" Hualing asked again.
Chen Shouwang, upset as he was, was startled by her words. He nodded: "It was handled by him."
"No wonder!" Hualing slapped her thigh.
No wonder Cheng Su brought up the retirement matters out of nowhere last year. Probably, she had already learned from Qi Taiguo that Chen Shouwangâs name would be on this yearâs replacement list, which is why she indirectly mentioned it to her.
Really, it would have been better if she had just told her back then instead of being secretive about it.
"What is it?" Chen Shouwang asked, noticing her strange expression.
"Nothing." Hualing glanced at him, thinking that people have their reasons for not saying everything, and thereâs no point in blaming them. However, this matter needs resolving, so she asked, "Do you have any ideas or plans?"