Girl, There's Something Wrong With You - Chapter 12

Returning to his bedroom, Cui Xiaoniang pounced on him, grabbing him and sniffing around.

“You smell like Xing Yuanzhi!” she accused loudly, as if passing judgment.

“After dinner, I took a walk with her,” Cheng Jinyang explained. “I must have picked it up then.”

“Oh, you even went out to eat!” Cui Jinqi pretended to have just found out, puffing her cheeks in feigned anger like a pufferfish.

Cheng Jinyang pinched her cheeks, forcing the air out of her mouth.

“Don’t make a fuss. We just went to check out a restaurant. If it’s good, we’ll bring everyone next time.”

“So, was it good?” Miss Qingqing asked with a smile. “How does it compare to my cooking?”

“Well…” Cheng Jinyang suddenly felt a sense of crisis and, driven by his survival instinct, replied seriously, “The taste was acceptable, but in terms of knife skills and cooking techniques, it can’t compare to your expertise. Some ingredients are rare and not usually found in homemade dishes, offering a unique flavor.”

“Is that so? I’ll have to check it out next time,” Chu Qingqing squinted.

“And where’s Yuanzhi?” Cheng Jinyang looked around the bedroom. “She came back before me, but I don’t see her.”

“She went to the bathroom as soon as she came in and hasn’t come out yet,” Miss Qingqing answered. “We all had to go to the bathroom next door.”

“Really?” Cheng Jinyang nodded, thinking about what to do next.

Ah Zhi had already asked him to propose marriage. He couldn’t let everyone know about it, or Miss Wang would react unpredictably, and Cui Xiaoniang and Qingqing would definitely rebel.

Of course, he couldn’t hide it forever. If they didn’t know about each other, he could manage the timing and keep them in the dark.

But given their current team dynamics, everyone knew each other too well. Miss Wang might fake a smile outside, but she didn’t even bother pretending in the team (probably because it was too exhausting), so managing the timing was nearly impossible.

How about running away?

Take everyone to fly overseas and fake a plane crash and strand them on a deserted island, throw away all the etiquette and morality, and cook the raw rice to make it a done deal first. A few months later, when you see the fishing boats returning to the mainland, it will be a done deal and everyone might just accept it.

Thinking of this, he texted his cousin Cheng Yuexian, asking if there were any deserted islands in the East China Sea. Ideally, it should be scenic, with a pleasant climate, abundant water, and food, and no fishermen nearby.

This time, it took Cheng Yuexian several minutes to reply: “Don’t do anything drastic, it’s not a bad thing…”

Cheng Jinyang: ?

A moment later, another message popped up on the screen: “Never mind, Huaiyan and I are coming to see you.”

Wait, what exactly did you misunderstand?

“Let’s talk in the clan leader’s office,” he quickly typed back.

In the clan leader’s office, Cheng Huaiyan silently handed a decree to Cheng Jinyang and said:

“This just arrived. The court wants you to be a Sima.”

Cheng Jinyang was dumbfounded:

“What do you mean by ‘make me a Sima’? Do I have to change my surname?”

“Not to the surname Sima,” Cheng Yuexian quickly explained. “It’s a military position. The full title is ‘Xiaoqi Army’s Subordinate Jingkou Brigade Separate Unit Sima.'”

“Oh.” Cheng Jinyang thought his cousin’s way of speaking was unreliable, starting with “The court wants you to be a Sima.” He almost thought he was being asked to marry a princess!

After roughly reading the decree, Cheng Jinyang asked again, “What kind of military position is this separate unit Sima?”

“Oh, this separate unit Sima means you lead a unit independently,” Cheng Yuexian explained. “The Xiaoqi Army is currently led by Xi Daohui, with each brigade managed by a military colonel, and each unit by a military Sima. But the separate unit Sima has no set number, probably because they are considering letting us recruit soldiers in Jingkou, so…”

“Wait.” Cheng Jinyang tried to understand. “The Xiaoqi Army has regiments, and regiments have units…”

“The Sima Army commands 1,000 men,” Cheng Huaiyan said. “Separate Sima units are counted differently.”

“Oh, I understand!” Cheng Jinyang quickly grasped it, thinking to himself that his cousin’s explanations were unreliable. He had merely asked about military ranks, and he started explaining the entire military system.

Who could remember all that?

“Xiaoqi, Shenwu, Feixiong, and Longxiang are the four largest field armies of the empire, responsible for the defense of the northern, eastern, southern, and western regions, respectively,” Cheng Yuexian explained from the beginning, unaware of his internal grumbling. “Currently, the Xiaoqi Army is responsible for the Jianghuai defense line.”

“Below the Xiaoqi Army, the largest operational unit is a brigade, overseen by a Military Colonel. A brigade typically consists of 3,000 to 9,000 men, varying according to specific needs, and is tasked with independent military operations.”

“Below the brigade is a unit, overseen by an Army Sima. A unit usually comprises about 800 to 1,000 men, depending on the type of troops. For instance, in a mechanized combat brigade, there might be infantry units, reconnaissance units, artillery units, engineering units, support units, etc. The military units are highly modular, coordinating to complete brigade missions.”

“Of course, separate Sima units are exceptions. Their tasks are often more flexible and mobile, so they are not part of any brigade-level organization and have no personnel limits.”

“Previously, the Xiaoqi Army did not have a branch in Jingkou. This means that the central government is actually sending you to Jingkou to recruit soldiers from the northern refugees and form a small-scale army. Your position as a separate Sima is essentially a ‘temporary authorization’ granted by the central government to legally recruit troops.”

After a long silence, having roughly understood, Cheng Jinyang asked, “So you mean, the court neither provides men nor money, just gives me the title of separate Sima to recruit strong men from the northern refugee camp in Jingkou?”

“Yes,” Cheng Huaiyan added, “However, using our family’s resources, the army you raise will essentially be your private army.”

“Like Su Zigao’s refugee army?” Cheng Jinyang asked again.

“Exactly,” Cheng Yuexian nodded. “Nominally, you only answer to the Xiaoqi Army, meaning you have to follow Xi Daohui’s orders.”

“However, since this army’s personnel and finances are independent of the Xiaoqi Army, you can actually ignore him. We have that leverage.”

“I see,” Cheng Jinyang thought, realizing that Zhongshu Yu considered he couldn’t defeat the refugee army, so he granted him the authority to recruit a private army to force his hand.

“Jinyang, what do you think?” Cheng Yuexian asked seriously. “Strictly speaking, this edict is not an order but a request. If we don’t plan to comply, we can simply send a clan member to Jingkou and symbolically recruit a few hundred men to get by. You really don’t need to consider fleeing overseas right now…”

Cheng Jinyang: ……….

“That was just a joke; I don’t plan to flee now,” he laughed, changing the subject. Then he pondered and asked, “If I go to Jingkou to recruit soldiers, will it require a lot of resources?”

“A lot,” Cheng Huaiyan replied.

Brother Huaiyan, of course I know forming an army burns money. I’m asking exactly how much!

Cheng Jinyang ignored him and turned his gaze to Cheng Yuexian.

“It depends on the scale. If you genuinely want to raise an army, the resources consumed will be substantial,” Cheng Yuexian replied. “However, we are an established military family; we can divert resources meant for training Tianluo to Jingkou.”

“More importantly, this is an opportunity given by the court,” she said seriously. “If we miss this, we might not have such a chance again.”