Chapter 19: Captain, my sister-in-law is here, come here quickly.

At night, with Doubao between them, Lin Suisui already had a hard time sleeping. Now, being asked to sleep alone with Huo Changzheng on two single beds pushed together—basically sharing a bed—was something she definitely couldn’t do.

“You sleep. I already told Qianqian I’d go to her place after dinner,” Lin Suisui said, not waiting for any reaction from Huo Changzheng. She opened the door and walked out.

With a loud “bang,” the door shut behind her. Huo Changzheng stared at the closed door and gave a self-deprecating smile.

Once outside, Lin Suisui walked quickly, nearly breaking into a run. She knew Huo Changzheng didn’t have any inappropriate thoughts about her, but even just being alone with him made her nervous—let alone lying in the same bed, even if they stayed on opposite sides. It still didn’t feel right.

Since Cheng Hao was home, she couldn’t bother Fang Qianqian either. In the end, she slowly wandered back to her old house, hoping to tidy up a bit. But there wasn’t a single piece of furniture in the place, and with nothing to clean or organize, she eventually got sleepy. She sat down by the wall, hugged her knees, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

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“Lin Suisui, just how far are you willing to go to get what you want?” Huo Changzheng’s face was unnaturally flushed, and he looked at her with a disgusted gaze. “If this is what you wanted, then I’ll give it to you.”

He reached out and pulled her into his arms, then lowered his head and kissed her fiercely.

It wasn’t a kiss—it was more like a bite. She could even taste blood in her mouth.

At the moment her body was torn apart, it felt like her heart was too. Tears silently rolled down from the corners of her eyes, one after another.

Feeling something wet against the back of her hand, she suddenly opened her eyes and stared at the unfamiliar house around her. It took her a moment to realize she had just had a dream—of something that had happened long ago.

She reached up and wiped her tears, muttering to herself, “It’s been so many years already. What’s there to cry about? Lin Suisui, you’ve already ‘died’ once. These things don’t matter anymore.”

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Doubao finished school at 4:30 in the afternoon. Lin Suisui arrived at 4:00 and waited at the gate for about ten minutes before seeing him being led out by his teacher.

“Mommy!” Doubao spotted her immediately, let go of the teacher’s hand, and ran toward her.

“Doubao!” Lin Suisui picked him up and asked, “Did you have fun at school today?”

“Yes!” Doubao nodded hard. “I didn’t cry at all. But I still missed Mommy.”

This little guy really knew how to talk—he showed how strong he was, and at the same time, melted his mother’s heart.

Sure enough, Lin Suisui beamed at his words. “Doubao is amazing! Keep it up tomorrow.”

“Thank you for taking care of Doubao today,” Lin Suisui said to the teacher.

“No need to be so polite,” the teacher said with a smile. “Doubao is a very smart child. The other kids love being around him. Some of the children who were still having a hard time adjusting to nursery school started playing along with him and forgot all about crying for their moms.”

“Wow, our Doubao is that impressive?” Lin Suisui said proudly upon hearing her son being praised. “We’re going to the cafeteria later—I’ll get you a big chicken leg.”

It was a little early to head to the cafeteria, but Lin Suisui didn’t feel like making a trip back to the dorm only to leave again. So she brought Doubao along to wait for dinner service to start.

“Doubao, let’s go sit over there and wait.”

As they entered the cafeteria and headed toward the seating area, a distressed voice caught her attention.

“Old Li, I’m really sorry. I have to rush back home immediately. Can you find someone to cover my meal-serving shift for a few days?” Huang Shuilan said apologetically to the bald man across from her.

“No problem, go back home. I’ll sort things out here,” Li Changlong reassured her. “It’s a sad occasion, but since you’re going back, stay a few more days. I’ve got this covered.”

“Thank you so much. I’ll get going now,” Huang Shuilan said, then turned and hurried off.

Lin Suisui didn’t know what had happened to Huang Shuilan, but she realized her position was now temporarily vacant. Thinking about how she had been looking for work, this seemed like a great opportunity—even just as a temp.

“Hello!”

Just as Li Changlong turned around, he saw Lin Suisui standing in front of him, looking a bit nervous.

As Deputy Commander Huo’s wife, Lin Suisui had been the subject of a lot of talk lately, so he recognized her immediately and smiled, asking, “Are you here for food? It’s not quite time yet.”

“No,” Lin Suisui mustered her courage. “I just overheard that Sister Huang is heading home, and the cafeteria needs someone to help serve food. I wanted to ask if I could do it.”

Li Changlong hadn’t expected her to volunteer like this. But since they were indeed short-handed, he nodded. “Sure, but it’s just for ten days or so. Once Shuilan returns, we won’t be able to keep you on.”

“I understand.” Lin Suisui hadn’t expected it to go this smoothly. She thanked him repeatedly. “Thank you. I’ll do my best!”

“Alright,” said Li Changlong. “Come with me now, and I’ll explain how to serve the food.”

“Okay.” Lin Suisui was about to follow when she remembered Doubao and turned to check on him—only to see him waving at her, saying, “Mommy, go ahead. I’ll sit right here and wait, I won’t go anywhere.”

Seeing how well-behaved he was, Li Changlong couldn’t help but praise him. “Suisui, you really have a great son. So young, yet so mature.”

“He really is easy to take care of,” Lin Suisui replied proudly. She might be modest about praise for herself, but when it came to her son, she had every reason to be proud.

Serving food was actually pretty simple. First, collect the meal tickets, then weigh the food according to the ticket, and finally serve it into the customer’s container.

Because the cafeteria only operated at set times and served a lot of people, there were five service windows. Missing one person really did slow things down and could delay the soldiers’ meals.

Soon, the cafeteria opened, and people began coming in to eat.

Lin Suisui welcomed her first “customer,” a young soldier. After he ordered, she took his ticket, verified it, weighed the food, and served it into his lunchbox. Just like that, she completed her first task.

It wasn’t difficult—her only fear had been nervousness. But now that she had taken the first step, things went more smoothly. Her speed picked up as she gained confidence.

“I’ll have stir-fried pork with green peppers, and…” Fang Weiguo was in the middle of ordering when he caught sight of the new food server out of the corner of his eye and froze. After a pause, he finally reacted, “Sister-in-law? What are you doing here?”

Lin Suisui hadn’t noticed Fang Weiguo earlier. Now, she smiled and replied, “Sister Huang went back to her hometown, so I’m filling in for a few days.”

“Oh, I see. I heard Doubao started nursery school. It’s good that you’ve got something to do now…” he trailed off, then suddenly thought of something and shouted, “Commander! Sister-in-law is here—come over!”

Lin Suisui: “…”