Super Soldier in the City
Chapter 147: Planning Your Life

Chapter 147: Chapter 147: Planning Your Life

"Alright, I promise you," Li Yifei and Ye Yunzhu looked at each other for a full minute before he finally relented. In his life, only Ye Yunzhu could pressure him into agreeing to something with such a dominant approach. Even if it were a woman like Su Mengxin, if she forced him to do something, he still wouldn’t do it. Childhood sentiment made it impossible for Li Yifei to steel his heart and refuse Ye Yunzhu, and his reluctance to get involved in romantic affairs was mainly because he reserved this unique emotional space for Ye Yunzhu.

"Then it’s settled! We’ll go and register tomorrow," Ye Yunzhu said, causing Li Yifei to smile wryly again, "What now? Was your agreement just now against your will?"

Li Yifei immediately shook his head, then said earnestly, "Yunzhu, since I’ve promised you, I won’t back out, but feelings are feelings, and marriage is marriage. Marriage is truly for a lifetime, and I don’t know if we can truly adapt to each other’s lives, so I... hope we can seriously address our issues, instead of being rash. This is being responsible to you, as well as to myself. Do you want us to get married, only to end up quarreling every day because our personalities don’t match, and part with broken hearts in the end?"

As a township chief, although Ye Yunzhu’s path had been laid out by her family, her abilities were beyond doubt. Normally, she was capable of making swift, correct decisions. Today, it was only because she saw Li Yifei after so many years that she was so stirred up, thus forcing Li Yifei into a corner. But evidently, she fully understood that what Li Yifei said was completely correct.

"Then what do you suggest?" Ye Yunzhu counter-questioned Li Yifei.

Li Yifei lit another cigarette, took a few puffs, and said, "I think we should do this: we can date normally and get to know each other again. In a sober state, we can think carefully whether we’re truly suitable for each other, and then make such a decision. How does that sound?"

Ye Yunzhu faced Li Yifei, her eyes unblinking, and asked, "So how long do you think would be appropriate?"

"There’s no specific time limit for this. It could be a year, a half, or even just a month. As soon as you’re sure you really want to marry me, I’ll marry you."

"Fine! Let’s do that," Ye Yunzhu agreed very readily this time.

From what Li Yifei said, she understood completely. Li Yifei didn’t agree immediately because he wanted her to calm down, not both of them. Just from this point alone, Li Yifei hadn’t changed; he still cared for her as much as ever, not wanting her to get hurt.

Seeing Ye Yunzhu’s response, Li Yifei smiled. His first love, after so many years, was no longer as unreasonable as she was when they were children.

"Right, I’m going back tomorrow. Can you help me deal with my job situation? By the way, since you’re transitioning from the military, why haven’t they arranged a job for you?"

Li Yifei replied, "I didn’t accept it."

"So you were a soldier, not an official?"

"Yeah, just a soldier." Even though the Flying Hawk Squad had a high status, in the squad, Li Yifei was only a Deputy Captain, so he couldn’t really be considered much of an official.

"No wonder. But that’s fine, too. It’s normal to receive placement after military service. If there were already arrangements for you, it would be harder for me to intervene. Now, since you haven’t received placement, I can use that as an excuse to find you a position in the township. As long as you work hard, you can be promoted to Principal Rank in two or three years. Then, I’ll pave the way for you. I believe that within ten years, before you turn thirty-five, I can get you to the level of Municipal Bureau Chief."

When Li Yifei saw how seriously Ye Yunzhu was planning for him, he got a fright and hurriedly said, "No, no, I don’t want to become an official. You don’t have to worry about my job."

Ye Yunzhu’s brows furrowed and she said, "So you don’t want to be an official. Do you want to do business then? That’s not bad either. Official-business collusion—we could go in that direction. As long as my career goes smoothly, it would be easy for you to make money. I’ll look into it and see what’s good to do now, something that won’t attract criticism and can make your business prosper."

Li Yifei was somewhat amused and exasperated, saying, "Yunzhu, can we not do it like when we were kids, where whatever I did, you had it all planned out for me?"

"I haven’t planned anything for you, I’m just helping you plan your life," she replied.

"I’m already an adult man. I have my own ideas, things I like. I want to have control over how I do them."

Ye Yunzhu looked determinedly at Li Yifei and said, "Fine, I promise you. Whatever you want to do, you do it. Is that okay?"

Li Yifei breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Good."

Ye Yunzhu immediately followed up, asking, "So, what is it that you want to do? Can you tell me now?"

As a member of the Flying Hawk Squad, Li Yifei’s rank was directly that of a senior colonel. In ordinary units, he could have easily been a brigade-level officer. If he were to transition to Mile City, his position would be at least that of the Municipal Bureau Chief. But he didn’t want that because he found the idea of being an official boring.

As for doing business, Li Yifei didn’t actually lack money. When he transitioned from the military, he received a substantial settlement, and over the years of carrying out missions, the bonuses he got, along with some additional off-the-book earnings, amounted to even more. All these years, he had amassed a fortune; although he wouldn’t claim to have hundreds of millions, a few tens of millions were definitely there. With that much money, Li Yifei could live comfortably for the rest of his life without having to toil over a business.

However, Li Yifei hadn’t touched this money, living off a small salary every month; he found contentment in this simple way of life.

But these were things Li Yifei didn’t want to discuss with Ye Yunzhu. He didn’t want money and power to change the nature of their relationship.

Laughing lightly, Li Yifei said with a smile, "I haven’t decided yet what I want to do."

"How can this be okay? You are already 26 years old, and for a man, this is the perfect time to start a business. No, no, this won’t do. I must help you plan your life. Of course, I’ll still respect your opinion and plan around the things you like. These next few days, you must think hard about what you really want to do. You can’t just waste your life away."

Watching Ye Yunzhu like this, Li Yifei was reminded of the Ye Yunzhu from their childhood when she would set his study schedules without leaving any room for his objections. Now it was the same, only she was planning his life.

The approach was the same, but Li Yifei felt somewhat uneasy. Back then, he found her insistence enjoyable, but now it felt like pressure.

"Ye Yunzhu, there you are! Everyone’s been looking for you," Cao Yingbo strode over with a big smile on his face, giving Li Yifei a glance. Although he found it odd that Ye Yunzhu would be having a private conversation with Li Yifei, he didn’t think too much of it, not considering that Ye Yunzhu, the Township Chief, would have something more than a casual chat with Li Yifei, an utterly ordinary man.

The arrival of Cao Yingbo interrupted the conversation between Li Yifei and Ye Yunzhu, which seemed to annoy Ye Yunzhu somewhat. However, she still responded with a smile, "Yifei and I were just chatting. Is there something you need?"

Cao Yingbo laughed and said, "Without you, our star Township Chief, the conversation just isn’t the same. We can’t have you missing, so we had to bring you back."

"Yeah, our star Township Chief is now the celebrity of our class. You should go and have a nice chat with everyone."

Ye Yunzhu was about to say something else when Li Yifei already added, "As for your work, Chief Ye, you’ll just have to bother yourself more. Let’s go, let’s go."

Ye Yunzhu and Li Yifei always had a tacit understanding. During their high school days, although they were close, they managed to keep their classmates from finding out, with only Su Peng occasionally witnessing them shopping together, suspecting something unusual between them.

Now, Ye Yunzhu immediately understood that Li Yifei didn’t want to reveal their relationship and gave him a white-eyed glance, saying, "Humph, then you better perform well and not disappoint me," before walking forward in her high heels.

The private room had its own karaoke setup, and everyone was gathered there singing. When they saw Ye Yunzhu coming in, Qian Feifei, who was singing, immediately stopped and shouted loudly, "Ye Yunzhu, where did you run off to? It’s your turn to sing a couple of songs now."

Ye Yunzhu smiled graciously and said, "No problem, let’s have a great time singing."

"Wow, Chief Ye is in a good mood today. It’s not often you’re this excited," Qian Feifei said, surprised.

Ye Yunzhu grabbed the microphone and replied, "Is there a problem with me being in a good mood today?"

Qian Feifei immediately responded excitedly, "Of course not. If Chief Ye is happy, that’s more than we could ask for. How could it possibly be a problem?"

The other classmates laughed and applauded. Ye Yunzhu took some time out once every six months to meet with them. Although she was casual, she had never directly grabbed the microphone before.

Su Peng gave Li Yifei a strange look, finding it hard to believe that Li Yifei could rekindle an old flame with Ye Yunzhu. Due to their differing statuses, there was an insurmountable gulf between them. In his youth, he might have believed that love could conquer all, but as years passed working, he realized that idealistic love would crumble before reality. Ye Yunzhu, as a Township Chief with unlimited prospects in her political career, was unlikely to be with someone like Li Yifei again.

So he could only assume that Ye Yunzhu’s reunion with Li Yifei had stirred up old feelings from their youth, but that was merely a momentary excitement. When they both calmed down, it was impossible for them to be together again.

Ye Yunzhu had a beautiful voice, and her singing was captivating. During her school days, she was an active girl who was good at both singing and dancing. In recent years, due to her leadership role, she often had to maintain her image, so such uninhibited singing was rare.

Everyone could sense that Ye Yunzhu’s mood was different from usual, but no one guessed that her mood had anything to do with Li Yifei. Applause burst forth intermittently during her performance, half out of respect for her status, and the other half genuinely for her singing.

"Hey, Li Yifei, do you have any of those cigarettes from last time?" a classmate came over, laughing and asking Li Yifei for a smoke.

Li Yifei took out the cigarettes and said, "Here, take one."

"Really? You didn’t buy them from the overline bridge again, did you?" The classmate was surprised as he took the cigarette and quickly lit one up.

"You guessed right, I bought another pack from there," Li Yifei replied.

"Still that cheap?"

Li Yifei laughed and said, "Cheap they are, but does it still taste the same as before when you smoke?"

In reality, for most smokers, ordinary cigarettes didn’t taste much different. Anything over ten yuan tasted about the same. It was only the real smokers who could discern subtle differences. Smoking expensive cigarettes was often more about showing off than the taste.

Under Li Yifei’s suggestive words, everyone tried them out, all agreeing that these cigarettes tasted different from the last batch, and decided right away that they were counterfeit.