Lu Cheng wouldn’t indulge his whims: “You’re already five years old; kids your age wash themselves.”

He had been the one washing Lu Haici before, as he was usually away on missions.

Now that he was back, he wanted to spend more time with his son and help him bathe.

He hadn’t expected Lu Haici to be so delicate now.

“That’s not true,” Lu Haici protested. “Ji Yang is also five, and his mommy washes him.”

Don’t think he didn’t know; he could see everything while standing in the courtyard.

Five-year-olds, with no sense of modesty, often stripped down in the yard.

was wearing a training suit, lying neatly on the bed with a thin blanket covering her.

She had her back turned to them.

Lu Cheng said to Lu Haici, “Your mom is tired today, so don’t bother her later. Just sleep by yourself.”

Lu Cheng actually agreed with having his son sleep there; what Lin Qingqing didn’t know was that if it were just Lu Cheng and her in the room, he would feel nervous.

He still remembered their wedding day, when Lin Qingqing had looked so beautiful.

Lu Haici nodded obediently, “Okay, Dad.”

He crawled into bed, feeling content.

Lin Qingqing had promised to wash his hair, so he was in a good mood.

After a while, Lu Cheng finished showering and entered the bedroom.

He found Lu Haici already tucked in bed, watching Lin Qingqing with wide eyes.

He sat down beside Lu Haici and asked, “What are you looking at?”

“Mom is so pretty,” Lu Haici said, his little voice filled with admiration.

Lu Cheng couldn’t help but smile at his son’s innocent words. “Yes, she is.”

As they sat together, the atmosphere felt warm and cozy.

Lu Cheng couldn’t help but reach out and gently ruffle Lu Haici’s hair. “You should get some sleep too; you have school tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Lu Haici replied, snuggling deeper into the covers.

He felt a sense of security knowing that his parents were nearby.

Lu Cheng then turned to Lin Qingqing, who was pretending to be asleep.

He admired her for a moment, appreciating how hard she worked for their family.

Feeling a bit mischievous, he leaned closer and whispered, “You’re not really asleep, are you?”

Lin Qingqing turned slightly and opened her eyes. “Maybe I am,” she teased, a playful smile on her lips.

He chuckled softly, “You’re a terrible liar. I can see your eyes.”

She laughed, and for a moment, they both felt a sense of connection, the worries of the day fading away.

“Let’s just enjoy this moment,” Lin Qingqing said softly.

“Yeah,” Lu Cheng agreed, leaning back on the bed and letting himself relax.

As the room settled into a comfortable silence, the family felt a sense of warmth enveloping them, a perfect end to a busy day.

Wanting to consummate their marriage, she was refused by him on the grounds of needing to travel.

If now there was no Lu Haici and Lin Qingqing suddenly had to consummate the marriage again, would he agree… or would he agree?

With a little light bulb present now, Lu Cheng didn’t have to think too much.

When Lu Haici heard his father’s words, he obediently said, “Dad, don’t worry, I won’t disturb Mom.”

Lu Cheng still believed in his son: “Then you go to sleep first. Dad will come back after taking a shower.”

“Okay.”

As soon as Lu Cheng left the room, Lin Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief; she had been so tense.

She didn’t dare to move around, fearing that Lu Haici would notice she was pretending to sleep and expose her.

Lu Cheng showered quickly; he was back in less than half an hour.

The room still looked the same as when he had left.

Lin Qingqing was still lying on her side pretending to sleep, while Lu Haici lay awake staring at the ceiling.

When he saw Lu Cheng come in, Lu Haici shushed him, “Dad, be quiet, don’t wake up Mom.”

He was trying to be so careful.

“Okay.” Lu Cheng replied, then got into bed.

As soon as he got onto the bed, it creaked loudly.

It wasn’t that the bed was of poor quality; it was just a wooden bed, so it made that noise when someone sat down.

Fortunately, this single bed was one meter wide, and now two beds were put together, making it two meters wide.

Even if the three of them slept on it, it was still quite spacious.

However, after Lu Cheng lay down, Lin Qingqing became even more reluctant to move; she was careful with every breath.

The more nervous Lin Qingqing felt, the less she could sleep.

She started counting sheep in her mind, but the more she counted, the more awake she became.

After some time, she finally heard Lu Cheng’s soft breathing, and she gradually relaxed because Lu Cheng had fallen asleep.

Thank heavens.

To be honest, Lin Qingqing didn’t like men who snored.

However, Lu Cheng’s snoring was acceptable; it was a very light snore, almost like a slightly heavier breath.

He must have been really tired, having worked on missions for half a month, then coming back and busy renovating the house until midnight, and then getting up early in the morning.

Even a deity would be exhausted.

The Next Day

Lin Qingqing woke up to the sound of the whistle blowing, it was six-thirty.

Perhaps she had gotten used to waking up at this time after a few days, especially since there were no events scheduled for New Year’s Eve, so she went to bed early and naturally woke up early the next day.

However, when she got up, she didn’t see Lu Cheng.

Recalling that Lu Cheng had said they needed to gather within fifteen minutes after the six-thirty whistle, and then come back for breakfast at eight, she thought about what delicious food she could prepare that morning.

Entering the kitchen, Lin Qingqing looked at the ingredients and the leftovers from the day before.

the Good Corn Flour: Because they didn’t finish it for breakfast yesterday, she decided to make(zhajiangmian, a noodle dish with fermented soybean paste), especially since they had doubanjiang (fermented broad bean paste) at home.

With limited ingredients, her morning zhajiangmian would consist of doubanjiang, shredded cucumber, shredded carrot, and poached eggs.

But with the flavorful doubanjiang, that was enough.

Lin Qingqing freshened up and then returned to the kitchen to make the noodles.

She didn’t have the energy to make long, round noodles, so she made knife-cut noodles, cutting them one by one but making them a bit thinner.

In fact, knife-cut noodles have a great chewy texture.

By the time she finished cutting the noodles, it was already past seven.

She put both pots on the stove: one for boiling noodles and the other for stir-frying the doubanjiang.

Before stir-frying the doubanjiang, she adjusted it.

She scooped out three tablespoons of doubanjiang, knowing that for zhajiangmian, the doubanjiang should be slightly sweet for better flavor.

This particular doubanjiang wasn’t very sweet, so she added half a tablespoon of sugar, followed by a tablespoon of cooking wine.

The cooking wine was brought over by someone two days ago when they came for dinner; it was drinkable but could also be used for cooking.

Then she heated oil in the pan, sautéed some green onions, and added the adjusted doubanjiang, stirring it over low heat until the doubanjiang released its oil.

Afterward, she placed the noodles in a bowl, added the shredded cucumber and shredded carrot, and topped it off with the doubanjiang.

Looking at the time, it was already 7:40.

She realized she still needed to add some protein for a nutritious meal, so she poached three eggs.

Unlike some adults who only remember to provide nutrition for the children, Lin Qingqing believed that both she and Lu Cheng needed to nourish themselves.

---

Training Ground

The soldiers gathered at 6:45 AM for training until 7:45 AM, followed by a fifteen-minute break, and they would be dismissed at eight o’clock.

There was also an hour set aside for meals, which not only provided them with food but also accounted for the need to rest; they couldn’t eat immediately after training, and they couldn’t train right after eating.

Therefore, this one-and-a-half-hour period included their rest time as well.

Of course, soldiers didn’t only train every day.

Aside from training, they also attended lectures, which covered various battlefield scenarios and response strategies.

If they only trained without understanding plans or strategies, no matter how fit they were, it wouldn’t be of much use.

Lu Cheng did not train with the soldiers; that was a matter for the lower ranks.

At Lu Cheng’s level, making decisions was more important than engaging in combat.

However, he still trained every morning with several battalion and regiment commanders.

As they would say, one couldn’t let themselves be outperformed by new recruits.

At this moment, Lu Cheng sat on the ground resting.

He glanced at the time; as soon as it turned eight, he got up.

Seeing Lu Cheng rise, the others followed suit. One of them said, “Old Lu, listen to me…”

“Today, the cafeteria has brown sugar steamed buns. We need to hurry to the cafeteria to grab some, or they will definitely be gone.”

The one speaking was Deputy Commander Qiu of the Independent Regiment.

In their Independent Regiment, there was one commander, two deputy commanders, one chief of staff, and two deputy chiefs of staff.

Lu Cheng said, “I’m not going. I’m going home to eat.”

“Those who have married are different,” the deputy chief of staff teased. “I heard that Little Lu’s wife is a great cook, no wonder Little Lu keeps checking the time today.”

Among these people, Lu Cheng was the youngest.

Since the deputy commander and Lu Cheng were of the same rank, he called Lu Cheng “Old Lu,” but the regiment commander and the political deputy chief of staff were much older than Lu Cheng and had seen him rise, so they were used to calling him “Little Lu.”

Lu Cheng was discussing Lin Qingqing with men for the first time; he wasn’t quite used to it, but he replied honestly, “Her cooking is indeed very good, so she’s going to work in the cooking class of the Third Company starting tomorrow.”

“Oh, that’s great!” said the chief of staff. “Little Lu is doing the right thing. Good cooks should be recommended to their own regiment, not pushed to the big cafeteria. If they go to the big cafeteria, aren’t they benefiting others?”

Some officers at the battalion level and above liked to eat in the big cafeteria, but since the Independent Regiment was not managed by the division or brigade, the officers in the Independent Regiment preferred to dine in their own companies.

The regiment commander said, “Then how about we go to the cooking class of the Third Company for lunch together tomorrow?”

Deputy Commander Qiu replied, “Why not just go in the morning?”

The regiment commander explained, “You don’t understand. What can you eat in the morning? If you want good food, you definitely have to go at noon.”

Lu Cheng ignored their discussion; he had already walked ahead, as he was very hungry.

The chief of staff remarked, “Look at Little Lu’s anxious appearance; it’s definitely a good idea to go to the cooking class of the Third Company for lunch tomorrow.”