Recently, Qin Fang hasn’t been in a good mood.

The reason is that Han Zhen keeps talking about how cute his daughter is every day, which annoys Qin Fang so much that he feels irritated every time he sees Han Zhen.

Why?

He hasn’t even had his wedding night yet, and this guy already has kids.

It’s one thing to have kids, but he’s constantly bragging about them in front of him.

How can that not be infuriating?

Today, as soon as it was time to leave his post, Qin Fang hurriedly walked away, and he was walking fast.

He arrived at the stables and immediately got on his horse, with Kun Shi following closely behind, also getting on a horse.

Kun Shi was puzzled. “Is the Lord in a hurry today?”

“Giddy up!” Qin Fang shouted, and Wu Shu seemed to sense his urgency, galloping out of the stables.

The border was dusty, and since Wu Shu was running fast, it kicked up clouds of dust.

Han Zhen was following closely behind and only saw Wu Shu’s tail swaying in the dust.

He didn’t understand why they couldn’t walk together like usual.

Why was Qin Fang walking alone today?

Han Zhen patted Wu Jiang’s back. “Let’s go, we’ll catch up.”

Kun Shi said from behind Qin Fang, “Sir, Centurion Han is catching up.”

Upon hearing this, Qin Fang didn’t even bother to look back.

He told Wu Shuo, “Good Wu Shuo, run faster and shake off that fool behind us.”

Wu Shuo accelerated, and soon they pulled away from Han Zhen.

Han Zhen saw Qin Fang getting further away and couldn’t help but shout, “Qin Fang, wait up… Qin Fang…”

However, Qin Fang couldn’t hear him, and even if he did, he would pretend not to.

After a while, they arrived at the family quarters.

If it were any other day, Qin Fang would slow down, but today he had Wu Shuo run straight to the door.

The Thousand-Man Barracks(Captain) has fewer people, and the streets are wide, so there wouldn’t be any children playing on the street, allowing Qin Fang to feel at ease.

Unlike the Hundred-Man Barracks(Centurion), where the courtyards are small and children love to play on the street outside.

Once Qin Fang arrived home, he let out a sigh of relief.

“Sir has returned.” Uncle Hong came out to the door and hurried over to take the horse.

Qin Fang handed him the reins. “I’m back. Did anything happen at home today?”

Uncle Hong replied, “Madam went to the countryside today and brought back cauliflower, corn, and watermelons. The watermelon, called a big fruit, is really good to eat, very sweet, with red flesh inside.”

Qin Fang couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows upon hearing this.

He recalled the last time Yang Haiyan went to the countryside; she got bitten by a snake and was so frightened her eyes turned red.

Did she dare to go to the countryside again?

It seemed the allure of the ripe vegetables and fruits was very strong for her; otherwise, she wouldn’t risk being bitten by a snake to go.

Once Qin Fang entered the main courtyard, Aunt Yu, who was guarding the door, saw him and shouted inside, “Sir has returned.”

Qin Fang thought to himself that if his wife was doing something bad inside, Aunt Yu’s shout would serve as a warning.

When Yang Haiyan heard Qin Fang was back, she had Granny Lian notify Aunt Fan to prepare the dishes.

She came out of the room and saw that Qin Fang was still sweating, so she took out a handkerchief to help him.

The fragrant scent of the handkerchief wafted past his nose.

He inhaled that fragrance and lowered his gaze to Yang Haiyan, thinking about Han Zhen’s smug expression.

He felt somewhat tempted.

Especially since his wife looked so beautiful, with her fair, rosy face, long eyelashes, and sparkling eyes, along with a waist he could easily grip.

He felt his mouth getting a bit dry, but before he knew it, he acted quickly, wrapping his arms around her waist, looking like a rogue in broad daylight.

Yang Haiyan, unaware of his thoughts, wiped his sweat and asked, “Why did you come back so early today? Usually, you would still wait a little longer.”

Qin Fang pressed his lips together, looking at her without saying a word.

Today, he hurried back to avoid Han Zhen; usually, he would have been slowed down by him.

Seeing him not speaking, Yang Haiyan felt his fiery gaze on her and thought something might be wrong.

She looked down and checked herself carefully, finding nothing amiss, and asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

Qin Fang looked at her, tightening his grip around her waist, and finally said, “There are five months left.”

Yang Haiyan was puzzled. “Five months until what?”

Seeing that she seemed to have forgotten their promise from eighteen years ago, he couldn’t help but feel a bit aggrieved.

He reminded her in a deep voice, “In five months, it will be New Year’s.”

Yang Haiyan: “…”

She didn’t know how to describe her feelings.

It was only August; who thinks about the New Year in August?

Even if one wanted to prepare new clothes for the New Year, that would usually happen in October or December!

So Yang Haiyan suspected that Qin Fang had taken some wrong medicine.

She looked at him suspiciously and finally reached out to touch his forehead, but he didn’t have a fever. “Did something stimulate you? Why are you suddenly talking about the New Year?”

Qin Fang—hearing her words, realized she had forgotten; it was pitiful that he had remembered for two whole years.

It was too unfair.

Therefore, he wouldn’t allow her to forget: “You haven’t been stimulated; in five months, you’ll be eighteen.”

Yang Haiyan—upon hearing this, didn’t know what to say.

In ancient times, a twenty-year-old virgin was considered a fragile matter.

But seeing Qin Fang looking intently at her, as if he would resolutely declare his intentions if she dared to retort, Yang Haiyan sighed, “I remember.”

When Qin Fang heard her say she remembered, he felt reassured.

However, Yang Haiyan was puzzled as to why he suddenly brought this up, so she asked, “Why are you mentioning this all of a sudden? Is there a reason?”

Qin Fang pursed his lips and fell silent again.

Seeing this, Yang Haiyan decided not to press further. “You go to the hall first; I’ll go make you some juice.”

Noticing she wouldn’t ask any more questions, Qin Fang felt a bit anxious.

If she had asked a few more questions, he might have opened up, but now that she didn’t, he felt awkward bringing it up.

So he pulled her along, saying, “I’ll go with you.”

Yang Haiyan replied, “As you wish.”

The two of them went to the kitchen together.

Aunt Fan, seeing them, quickly greeted them: “Sir, Madam, what brings you here?”

Yang Haiyan replied, “I came to make juice and take the watermelon out of the water.” While saying this, she also washed her hands.

Aunt Fan moved the watermelon to the long table, and Yang Haiyan wiped it clean before starting to make the juice.

The process of making watermelon juice was simple: peel and cut the watermelon into pieces, place it in a large bowl, then use a large spoon to press out the juice, filtering it into a clean large soup bowl.

One watermelon yielded a modest amount of juice, but it was enough for them.

Once Yang Haiyan finished the watermelon juice, she said to Qin Fang, “Let’s go eat dinner.”

Qin Fang picked up the watermelon juice, saying, “This is enough for me alone.”

Yang Haiyan was both amused and exasperated. “We can eat watermelon after dinner.”

Aunt Fan took the opportunity to ask, “Madam, is the leftover watermelon still good?”

Yang Haiyan replied, “If everyone doesn’t mind, you can share it.”

Aunt Fan exclaimed, “Oh, we don’t mind at all!”

Who would refuse such delicious watermelon?

Even though the juice had been squeezed out, it was still sweet and juicy.

When they arrived at the dining room, Qin Siya and Qin Shoucheng were already seated, having waited for quite a while.

Upon seeing Qin Fang and Yang Haiyan, Qin Siya asked, “Sister-in-law, where did you go? Why are you just now coming?”

Yang Haiyan explained, “Your elder brother worked hard all day; I went to make him some juice.”

Qin Fang chimed in, “It was made especially for me.” Implying that they shouldn’t drink it.

Qin Siya and Qin Shoucheng could see the large bowl of watermelon juice, but since they had already eaten watermelon in the afternoon, even though their mouths watered, they wouldn’t ask for it.

Yang Haiyan felt helpless. “We can eat watermelon after dinner.” Who could quibble with a twenty-year-old young man?

Qin Siya happily said, “That’s great; we can eat watermelon after dinner.”

So, during dinner, Qin Fang drank all the watermelon juice by himself, savoring every sip.

After the meal, Yang Haiyan cut up another watermelon for everyone.

She only ate one slice, while the rest was quickly devoured by the three siblings from the Qin family.

When it was time for bed, Yang Haiyan felt a bit tired, so she took a bath and climbed into bed, drowsy and ready to sleep.

However, someone else wasn’t ready to sleep.

Qin Fang kept pinching her face with his fingers, persistently interrupting her.

Yang Haiyan caught his hand and asked, “What do you want?”

Having already thought about what he wanted to say while bathing, Qin Fang felt he could finally speak openly since Yang Haiyan had asked.

However, he was only full of complaints: “Recently, Han Zhen has been really annoying.”

Yang Haiyan, initially sleepy, was surprised to hear Qin Fang mention Han Zhen.

She opened her eyes wide, “What’s going on with Han Zhen?”

Qin Fang snorted, “He’s been bothering me every day, talking about his daughter, daughter and daughter; it’s so annoying.”

Yang Haiyan: “……”

Qin Fang continued without waiting for her to speak, “Do you really think children are that troublesome?”

Yang Haiyan: “……”

Qin Fang pressed on, “Do you think our future kids will be just as annoying?”

Yang Haiyan asked, “What are you trying to say?”

Qin Fang was silent for a moment before saying, “I want a child.”

This confession startled Yang Haiyan, making her completely wake up.

She wanted to say that having a child needed to be considered carefully, but before she could say anything, Qin Fang added, “I know we have to wait five months.”

Yang Haiyan was left speechless again. “Carrying a child takes ten months; five months is not enough!”

Qin Fang replied, “That doesn’t count the time after they’re born.” Then he couldn’t help but add, “Our daughter will definitely be prettier than Han Zhen’s.”

Yang Haiyan countered, “What if we can’t have a daughter?”

Qin Fang retorted angrily, “It’s fine. When the child grows up, we can have another.”

Yang Haiyan had no retort left and simply closed her eyes to sleep.

With thoughts of having a child in his mind, Qin Fang began to take action.

The next day after finishing his shift, instead of going home immediately, he went to find Doctor Wang.

Doctor Wang’s clinic stayed open late into the night, so when Qin Fang arrived, Doctor Wang was still there.

Seeing Qin Fang enter, Doctor Wang welcomed him warmly, “Why is Sir Qin here?”

Noticing a young apprentice was present, Qin Fang said to Doctor Wang, “I have a private matter I’d like to consult with you about.”

Upon hearing this, Doctor Wang realized it must be serious and replied cautiously, “Please, Sir Qin, follow me inside.”