Chapter 12: Ye Muqi’s Cooking Tastes Good? Is Your Tongue Broken or Something?

Rong Jingchen was on a ten-day leave this time, mainly to handle things with his young wife. The reason he took such a long leave was because he was worried she might throw a tantrum again and delay things—but surprisingly, everything went smoothly and harmoniously.

He had even prepared for the worst: if Ye Muqi didn’t want to go to the military district with him, he’d try to persuade her patiently. He was willing to wait, as long as she stopped making a scene.

Looks like that brush with death finally knocked some sense into her.

Now that the matter with his wife was resolved, the rest of his time off could be spent catching up with his childhood friends.

He called up Feng Shanhui and Lu Yan.

“Rare to see you! Come on, my treat,” Feng Shanhui said as soon as they met, throwing a friendly punch on Rong Jingchen’s shoulder, grinning widely.

“He hardly ever comes back—shouldn’t we be milking him for a meal instead?” Lu Yan joked from behind.

Seeing his two childhood friends, Rong Jingchen couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re right. If Captain Rong is paying, we’d better go for something fancy!” Feng Shanhui said with a laugh, draping an arm over Rong Jingchen’s shoulder.

“Sure,” Rong Jingchen said. Seeing how Feng Shanhui was straining to stay on tiptoe, he didn’t call him out—just gently removed his arm. Whether Feng was tired or not, he was practically leaning his whole body weight on him. “Did you get shorter again?”

“I’m pretty sure you got taller!” Feng Shanhui rolled his eyes.

The three of them were the same height when they were little. But ever since Rong Jingchen joined the military, his height had skyrocketed, making Feng a bit envious—he even considered enlisting just to grow taller.

But… it was way too hard. Just thinking about it made him tired.

Better forget it.

“Hmph! I’m ordering the most expensive stuff today!” Feng Shanhui grumbled dramatically.

So they found a restaurant.

“This place has pretty good food—honestly, not worse than my uncle’s,” Feng said while ordering, praising the place.

His uncle ran a restaurant too, and the three of them used to mooch meals there often. But for some reason, he didn’t take them to his uncle’s place this time.

“Well, if you say it’s good, I’ve got to try it,” Lu Yan said eagerly.

Because Feng came from a family in the food business, he had a picky palate. Anything he said was good had to be genuinely delicious.

“You came back because of Ye Muqi, right?” Lu Yan asked.

Everyone in town knew about Rong Jingchen getting married to Ye Muqi. As his close friends, they knew the backstory even better—and the whole river-jumping incident had drawn even more attention to the situation.

“Yeah,” Rong Jingchen nodded. He never hid anything from his close friends. “I’m planning to take her back to the military base with me this time.”

“???” Feng and Lu looked at each other in shock.

For real?

He’s actually taking Ye Muqi to the military district?

Is he seriously going to settle down with her?

“But why? Weren’t you…” Lu Yan began, but trailed off.

“We’re married now,” Rong Jingchen said calmly. “I can’t just hide in the army forever and leave her here alone.”

She had already tried to drown herself—what if something worse happened next time?

Sure, the marriage had been somewhat forced, but the paperwork was already filed. Getting a divorce wasn’t that simple.

“I didn’t think it through before, and it really wasn’t fair to her,” he added.

Though Ye Muqi’s river stunt was extreme, it reminded him that she was just a young girl. She must’ve endured a lot of gossip this past year. The fact that she didn’t fall ill from holding it in was already impressive.

Feng and Lu fell silent, thinking it over. He had a point.

“It makes sense. Spend some time together—if it still doesn’t work out, then you can figure something out,” Lu Yan said, scratching his head.

Who knows? Maybe after spending time together, they’d find they were compatible.

Plus, Ye Muqi clearly adored Rong Jingchen. She’d treat him well—that much they were sure of.

“But life on base is nothing like home. I just hope that little girl can handle it,” Feng said with a sigh.

Their food arrived, and Feng quickly urged them to dig in.

Rong Jingchen took a bite—it was good. But after tasting Ye Muqi’s cooking, something just felt… missing.

Thinking about her cooking skills, he wasn’t too worried anymore.

“She’s a pretty good cook. Shouldn’t be an issue.”

“Pfft—” Feng froze, then burst into laughter like Rong Jingchen had just cracked a joke.

Rong Jingchen: “?”

“Dude, are you serious? Ye Muqi is a good cook? If my uncle heard you say that, he’d leap out of bed and whack you with a wok!”

“What’s going on? Spill,” Lu Yan asked, intrigued.

“She learned to cook at my uncle’s restaurant, remember? You know why I didn’t take you guys there? Because she made him so mad, he closed up shop and took a break. He said she had no talent for cooking—blew up the kitchen twice!”

“No way!” Lu Yan was shocked. “Is your uncle okay?”

“Yeah, no injuries, thankfully.”

Rong Jingchen: “…”

His mom had also told him that Ye Muqi once burned down their home kitchen. The scorch marks were still on the walls. But… her food tasted great now!

“When did that happen? She cooks really well these days,” Rong Jingchen defended her.

“You sure your taste buds aren’t messed up from army rations?” Feng rolled his eyes. “I haven’t tried her food, but if my uncle had to shut down the place, that says enough. No way she could’ve cooked anything edible.”

Rong Jingchen fell silent.

“Ahem!” Seeing Rong go quiet, Lu Yan kicked Feng under the table.

Feng: “…”

Right! Rong was planning to take her to the army base—what if he scared him out of it?

Better to wreck ten temples than one marriage!

If Rong Jingchen didn’t take her, and she ended up jumping in a river again, he’d be blamed forever!

“O-of course, maybe she’s gotten better since then… Been a long time. Let’s eat! No one’s going home sober tonight!”

…

The get-together finally ended by dusk. Rong Jingchen had a bit to drink and walked home to sober up along the way.

Hmm?

Someone’s following me!

Near home, he suddenly sensed something strange behind him. Instinctively, he switched to combat mode.

He sped up, pretending not to notice. When he felt the person following closely, he spun around, muscles tensing, and pinned the person’s arms behind their back, slamming them against a tree.

“Ah!”

A woman?

Rong Jingchen paused—then released her.

“Ow…” Ye Huihui rubbed her wrists, eyes red with tears from the pain.

She thought her arms were going to snap!

Are all soldiers this alert?

She had overheard the news that Rong was taking Ye Muqi to the base, and she couldn’t sit still. She figured he didn’t really know what kind of person Ye Muqi was, and bringing her along would only make him a laughingstock.

She ran toward his house and saw him returning—then impulsively followed.

But he was way too sharp. She hadn’t followed for more than a few steps before getting caught.

“Who are you? Why are you following me?” Rong asked coldly.

“I…” Ye Huihui shrank back—his eyes were so fierce, like a wolf’s.

But no matter how scared she was, she had to say something. She couldn’t just stand by and watch him take Ye Muqi to the military base.