Chapter 30

Lin Qingping looked at him with a face full of resentment: “Is it funny? Why do you look so surprised? Are you happy that I have it now, that you don’t have to do it anymore? If not, then why are you suddenly smiling when just a moment ago there wasn’t even a trace of a smile on your face?”

Gu Juncheng found it even more amusing seeing her like this, but he suppressed his laughter. “Lin Qingping, I really didn’t see that coming!”

“Didn’t see what?” Lin Qingping scrunched her face.

“I didn’t see that you were a…” He stopped midway, not continuing the sentence. Turning his head, he saw the medicine on the table. His tone suddenly became stern. “Did you take your medicine?”

Lin Qingping: “…”

“Wait! Why are you suddenly going to your bed?”

“Lin Qingping, don’t think you can fool me just by pretending to sleep!”

“Lin Qingping! Get up and take your medicine!”

Lin Qingping, buried under the blanket, muffled her voice from beneath it: “I just didn’t take it tonight…”

“How many more times are you going to skip it?” His voice carried a note of sternness again. “Get out!”

Lin Qingping sluggishly crawled out from the blanket, and by the time she did, he was already standing by the bed, like an iron tower, frowning heavily.

Lin Qingping reached out and covered his entire face. “Don’t be angry! It’s not nice when you get angry! It doesn’t look good at all!”

He paused, then peeled her hand away. “Take your medicine first.”

Lin Qingping glared at him. “Isn’t it your fault that I forgot to take the medicine? You happened to come back just then, and I was too busy being happy.”

He nearly laughed in anger, shoving the medicine into her mouth and giving her some water to drink. “You’re really good at shifting the blame.”

“It’s your fault!” Lin Qingping drank the water and then lay back down into the blanket, looking listless. “Let’s sleep. It’s pointless.”

Gu Juncheng couldn’t help but laugh. “What do you mean by ‘pointless’? Do you have to do that one thing to find it interesting?”

Lin Qingping turned over, her eyes shining as she remembered a meme from decades later: If you mention this, I’m not sleepy anymore, but so what?

“Look at your expression!” Gu Juncheng couldn’t help but remark. “Alright, go to sleep!”

Lin Qingping snorted and turned over to sleep. Gu Juncheng also lay down, but they still had separate blankets.

Lin Qingping was still feeling down in her heart when she suddenly heard his voice in the darkness. “Isn’t it cold tonight?”

“It’s cold.” Lin Qingping replied quietly. “I’ve been more sensitive to the cold these past few days.”

Then she heard a heavy exhale behind her, as if filled with helplessness. Immediately after, a pair of arms reached into her blanket, and she was pulled into a warm embrace.

“Since it’s cold, why didn’t you come over earlier?” He nudged her foot with his, which was indeed cold.

Lin Qingping’s fingers began poking at his chest muscles one by one, muttering: “I was just… worried I’d fall asleep and lose control…”

Gu Juncheng was clearly taken aback by her words. He paused for a moment, both angry and amused. “Lin Qingping, can you be a bit more modest?”

“Am I not modest enough? What do you want me to do?” Her fingers quietly slipped under his shirt, feeling the firm muscles beneath.

“Stop messing around. Go to sleep.” He grabbed her hand.

Lin Qingping, feeling uncomfortable, bit his shoulder. She found that his shoulder muscle was also hard, and couldn’t help but complain: “I can’t even bite it!”

“That, didn’t even hurt me, but be careful not to break your own teeth!” He pressed the back of her head gently. “Be good, stay honest, alright?”

Lin Qingping didn’t respond. 

Gu Juncheng started asking her about what she had done during the day, whether she felt bored being alone.

She answered his questions one by one.

As they chatted, Lin Qingping didn’t realize when she had fallen asleep.

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The next morning, Lin Qingping faintly heard the sound of a military trumpet, but she just couldn’t wake up. When she finally got up, his presence was no longer in the room.

She remembered that Gu Juncheng had asked her what she had done the previous day and whether she felt bored being alone. To be honest, in this time with no phones or computers, she wasn’t really bored.

A heavy snow had fallen overnight, and outside, everything was covered in white, dazzlingly bright. She spent the whole morning in the room, sketching fashion designs.

In the few days she had been here, she feared that Du Gen and Gu Youlian must be getting anxious. When she returned, she needed to have something to show them.

In the afternoon, the sound of children playing grew louder outside. There were family members accompanying the military, and she wasn’t sure which family’s child it was, but the child was playing a snowball fight.

Lin Qingping walked outside and, sure enough, saw a few children playing joyfully, snowballs flying back and forth. Then, out of nowhere, she was hit by a snowball. 

“Chen Lei, you little rascal, what are you throwing around? Apologize right now!” A woman’s loud voice rang out.

Then, from some corner, a voice called out: “Sorry.” and the group of children scattered, leaving Lin Qingping still unsure of what had just happened.

“You’re Commander Gu’s partner, aren’t you?” A woman in her late twenties, who had just yelled at the children, walked over with a smile.

Lin Qingping smiled back. “Yes, hello.”

“My name is Lei Sufang. Our family’s Old Chen is very familiar with Commander Gu. I heard you arrived and didn’t want to disturb you, so I’ve been waiting for the right moment to come over and talk. Are you free now? Would you like to come over to my place for a bit? Several of the other family members are there chatting!”

The woman warmly invited her.

“Sure!” Lin Qingping agreed readily.

Lei Sufang was with the military, living in the Family Residential Compound with a permanent residence. It was different from Lin Qingping’s situation, where she was staying in a Temporary Dormitory. Lin Qingping couldn’t help but feel a little envious. But who could she blame for this? Only herself.

In fact, in her past life, Gu Juncheng had mentioned the possibility of her accompanying him with the military, but she had rejected it. At that time, she didn’t like Gu Juncheng at all and even found the military life boring compared to the vibrant outside world. There was no way she would have agreed back then. 

Lei Sufang led Lin Qingping into the room, and sure enough, the room was full of people chatting. There were sunflower seeds, peanuts, and various snacks on the table, making the atmosphere lively. Lei Sufang introduced Lin Qingping to everyone, and they were all very warm and friendly. Soon enough, Lin Qingping was sitting with the others, eating sunflower seeds and listening to gossip.

Having just arrived, Lin Qingping didn’t know much about the people there, so she took some time to figure out who was who, then settled into the role of quietly eating seeds and listening to the gossip. The gossip in the Military Unit was far purer than what she would hear in a village. There was nothing too chaotic, just stories about which child had been naughty and what trouble they had gotten into.

As they chatted, the conversation somehow shifted to the topic of injuries. Someone mentioned that a certain woman hadn’t come to chat today because her husband had suffered a minor injury during training. This led the other women to start talking about various types of injuries. Then, they looked at Lin Qingping and said: “Your Commander Gu also got hurt once.”

“Ah?” Lin Qingping asked, her face full of surprise.

“You didn’t know?” The others seemed even more surprised than she was.

“Well, how long has she been married to Commander Gu? Of course, she wouldn’t know! Commander Gu probably didn’t tell her!” Lei Sufang chimed in, defending her. The others nodded in agreement. “Men don’t like to tell us when they get hurt.”

Lin Qingping felt uneasy. She really didn’t want to hear about injuries. In her past life, Gu Juncheng had sacrificed his life when he was so young, and this topic was a painful thorn in her heart. She made an excuse to go to the restroom, leaving for quite some time.

When she finally returned, intending to excuse herself and leave, she overheard them still talking about the injuries. She vaguely heard the word “Gu.” and then it seemed like they were discussing how the injury was difficult to talk about. There was a sigh, and it seemed like they were saying something about how men couldn’t accept it…

Lin Qingping was struck by a sudden, thunderous shock.