72: Chapter 72 How's Ah Huang been lately?

"Yesterday was no different from usual, except that a woman showed up for the Volunteers' interview."

As soon as Golden Peace spoke, Xu Xueke's brow furrowed; she didn't really want to hear anything related to Ye Qingqing.

"Get to the point. What did Brother Si Yan do when he came?"

Hearing this, Golden Peace realized this little ancestor was looking for Huo Sixian, but Huo Sixian had just given him a beating yesterday.

Golden Peace felt extremely disgruntled, but he didn't dare say anything to Xu Xueke.

He could only recount everything truthfully: "Yesterday, after Captain Huo arrived, he said he wanted to spar with me, and then I was one-sidedly beaten..."

Xu Xueke grew impatient listening to Golden Peace; why did this man act like he couldn't understand what people were saying?

"I mean, before Brother Si Yan arrived yesterday, did anything else happen here?"

Golden Peace was also a bit annoyed; he had no idea what Xu Xueke was trying to achieve.

"It's just that Ye Qingqing passed the interview, so I sparred with her for a bit."

Xu Xueke had been impatient, but upon hearing this, she slammed both hands heavily onto the table beside her.

"What did you say? Say that again!"

Hearing Xu Xueke's words, Golden Peace frowned slightly. "I said, Ye Qingqing passed the interview, and I sparred with her."

Hearing this, Xu Xueke let out a cold snort from her nose.

"Heh."

Then she glanced in Ye Qingqing's direction and turned to leave.

As she walked, she muttered under her breath, "Ye Qingqing, Huo Sixian... Great, those two really do have something going on."

Xu Xueke clenched her fists tightly, her thoughts becoming clearer, and even the way she looked at Ye Qingqing as she turned away had changed.

She gnashed her teeth in hatred for Ye Qingqing.

Ye Qingqing had only been on this Warship for a few days, yet Huo Sixian was always appearing by her side.

At this moment, Xu Xueke was certain that the relationship between Huo Sixian and Ye Qingqing was definitely not simple.

"You, stay here and observe. If there is any interaction between Huo Sixian and Ye Qingqing, you must tell me immediately," Xu Xueke said, turning to one of the bodyguards nearby.

Her tone wasn't pleasant. The bodyguard merely gave Xu Xueke a flat look, his face devoid of expression.

Xu Xueke rolled her eyes at him. "Are you a mute? Don't you even know how to speak?"

The bodyguard looked at Xu Xueke again, feeling speechless inside, and reluctantly let out a grunt of acknowledgement.

He turned and walked away.

Seeing this, Xu Xueke became furious.

"Where are you going!"

As the bodyguard walked, he said a single word: "Surveillance."

Seeing the bodyguard's attitude, Xu Xueke's anger flared up.

She wanted to lash out, but the bodyguard was already gone.

Xu Xueke could only leave with her people, gnashing her teeth.

On the other side, after Xu Xueke left, Golden Peace carefully pondered her words.

Thinking about it this way, Golden Peace suddenly seemed to realize something incredible.

Consequently, the way he looked at Ye Qingqing changed.

The more Golden Peace thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed; yesterday, right after he had seen Ye Qingqing's strength, Huo Sixian had arrived.

Furthermore, the more Golden Peace thought about Ye Qingqing's moves, the more familiar they seemed.

At a glance, they actually bore some resemblance to the way Huo Sixian had attacked yesterday.

Watching Ye Qingqing as she ran, a look of terror suddenly appeared on Golden Peace's face.

In the following days, Golden Peace didn't even dare say a single word to Ye Qingqing.

He was afraid that Ye Qingqing would go back and say something to Huo Sixian, leading to Huo Sixian coming to give him another beating.

Ye Qingqing, naturally, had no idea what Golden Peace was thinking.

She just found it puzzling; Golden Peace's attitude toward her seemed different from how he treated others.

At first, Ye Qingqing simply thought it was because of her gender.

This resulted in her feeling that the tasks Golden Peace assigned her during training were always very light.

Unable to bear it, Ye Qingqing went straight to Golden Peace. "Captain Li, may I ask if you have some dissatisfaction with me?"

Golden Peace's injuries had only just healed; hearing Ye Qingqing's words, he suddenly felt a faint throbbing pain in both eye sockets again.

Not just his eyes—his hands hurt, his feet hurt, his whole body hurt.

Golden Peace quickly explained, "What are you talking about? I treat everyone equally."

Ye Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief. "Captain Li, I know you are fair and just, and that you wouldn't treat me differently just because I'm a woman."

"My usual training and duty assignments should be the same as everyone else's."

Meeting Ye Qingqing's gaze, Golden Peace couldn't help but feel a bit guilty.

But he didn't show it, his mind constantly wondering what Ye Qingqing was really getting at.

"Captain Li, over the last few days, the tasks you've assigned me have been half of what others get."

Only then did Golden Peace understand what Ye Qingqing meant. "Are you sure?"

Looking at Golden Peace, Ye Qingqing suddenly understood.

Golden Peace must have associated this with the day Huo Sixian beat him up.

Ye Qingqing felt somewhat speechless.

Clearly, she and Huo Sixian had no relationship, but Huo Sixian's actions were a blatant attempt to make things difficult for her.

Ye Qingqing took a deep breath and looked at Golden Peace. "Captain Li, I don't know what misunderstanding you have about me, but my original intention in joining the Volunteers was to become stronger."

Ye Qingqing's gaze was incredibly firm, which moved Golden Peace slightly.

He had indeed been treating Ye Qingqing differently over the past few days, but that was out of fear of Huo Sixian.

Facing Ye Qingqing's questioning now, Golden Peace took a deep breath. "Alright, I understand."

Just then, Zuo Yuxing arrived.

A gentle smile hung on his face as he looked at Ye Qingqing.

"Qingqing."

Hearing someone calling her, Ye Qingqing looked in the direction of the voice.

"Officer Zuo, hello."

"How are you adjusting?"

After Zuo Yuxing said this, he looked at Golden Peace again. "What's going on? Did Qingqing do something?"

Now Golden Peace was truly baffled.

First there was Huo Sixian, and now Zuo Yuxing had appeared.

Golden Peace knew Ye Qingqing was beautiful, but he hadn't realized one person could have such influence.

Others might not know Zuo Yuxing's true identity.

But Golden Peace had seen Zuo Yuxing before while on a secret mission.

He... was definitely not just an ordinary soldier.

"Ye Qingqing's performance is very good, and she works hard in her daily training. I was just assigning her tasks."

Zuo Yuxing ignored Golden Peace's words and turned to look at Ye Qingqing.

Ye Qingqing nodded. "Yes, Captain Li is very good."

The subtext was that Golden Peace hadn't made things difficult for her.

Zuo Yuxing smiled slightly. "How has Ah Huang been lately?"