Song Zhenbao was worried Xia Zhaoyun wouldn’t take her engagement seriously, so she seized the opportunity to extend another formal invitation in front of everyone—complete with an invitation card!
Xia Zhaoyun took the festive, bright red invitation, which was printed with a design of magpies on a plum branch, and raised an eyebrow.
Song Zhenbao smiled and said, "Comrade Xia Zhaoyun, I was afraid you might think I wasn’t being sincere, so I made a special point of giving you this invitation."
She was from the countryside of Nan Province and had put in considerable effort to master a Beijing accent.
"I made it myself. The design on top was cut from paper, and I colored it by dabbing a sponge in paint. I hope you don’t mind that it’s a bit rustic."
Xia Zhaoyun hummed in acknowledgment. "Alright."
Seeing her agree so readily, Song Zhenbao actually felt a little unsettled. But then she remembered the Zhang Family would be coming, and her anxiety subsided.
So, the second time Huo Tianhao was about to leave, Xia Zhaoyun grabbed the corner of his shirt. "Brother Hao, are you free this weekend?"
The transportation team was massive, with several hundred trucks of various makes and models. Xiahua’s vehicle manufacturing still imitated the Soviets, and many of their core technologies had been copied directly.
Before, the team had technicians sent from the Soviet Union to provide guidance, but after relations between the two countries soured, all of them were recalled.
Before Huo Tianhao joined the team, nearly twenty percent of the vehicles had developed unsolvable malfunctions and were just gathering dust in the warehouse.
He was the one who, quietly and single-handedly, salvaged dozens of those trucks, creating several hundred thousand yuan in assets for the team. It was no surprise, then, that he was appointed as the head technician.
Now, even though Huo Tianhao no longer rode with the convoys, he was busier than ever. He wasn’t just handling the team’s trucks; other units would call on him to help solve problems with their vehicles and machinery that no one else could fix.
The last two times he’d been able to visit the Zhaoyang Clothing Factory were only because he happened to be on business nearby.
Huo Tianhao always had to fight the urge to pull her into his arms, but he was covered in grease and grime. All he could do was watch as his beautiful, fair-skinned, and delicate wife coquettishly tugged on his clothes.
His scalp tingled, and a smile played on his lips. "Even if I’m not free, I’ll make time for you!"
He’d been counting down the days. "Will you come find me this weekend? No, on second thought, I’ll pick you up after work on Saturday. We can take the kids into the city for dinner, then go home. Is there anywhere special you’d like to go?"
Seeing how eager he was, his deep-set eyes practically dancing with fire, Xia Zhaoyun felt a flush of heat spread through her, even though they were only holding hands.
She had always been resistant to physical contact with men, but with him, it felt completely natural and comfortable.
Their first time, however, had happened when she was drunk. It had been completely unexpected, and to her surprise, she hadn’t felt any of her usual psychological barriers.


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