Chapter 36.1

The next morning, Wen Nuan got up early and made some dry food suitable for the journey. She also packed some twisted fritters and walnut crisps for Li Daxiang and Gu Qinglan to take with them.

Additionally, General Xu arranged for a female comrade from the propaganda department to accompany them, saying that it would be good for the two women to have some company on the road.

Since there were three people, Wen Nuan prepared more food, ensuring that everyone had their share.

Besides the dry food, she also prepared some snacks to satisfy the cravings of the two young women during the journey. Gu Qinglan hadn’t yet eaten the candied hawthorn sticks that she had previously bought in town, keeping two of them aside.

Wen Nuan helped her pack them into the bag and secretly slipped 20 yuan into it, just in case of emergencies.

Before Li Daxiang came to the family quarters, he stopped by the hospital to pick up Gu Qinghan and bring him back.

Gu Qinghan, who had been waiting all morning at the hospital, thought that it would be his wife coming to get him, but to his surprise, it was Li Daxiang who showed up instead.

Wen Nuan was likely busy at home—preparing things for Gu Qinglan.

Seeing the sullen look on Gu Qinghan’s face, Li Daxiang assumed that he was angry about what had happened to Gu Qinglan and didn’t dare to speak much to him.

However, when Li Daxiang heard from Gu Qinghan that Gu Qinglan had been harassed in the countryside, his own temper flared. He wished he could fly over there immediately to teach that bastard a lesson.

Meanwhile, Wen Nuan hadn’t expected Gu Qinghan to return home so soon. She was surprised and delighted to see him, she smiled and said, “I was just thinking of finishing packing and then heading to the hospital to see you. I didn’t expect you to come back so early!”

Gu Qinghan put away his belongings from his hospital stay into the room—his face full of displeasure.

Wen Nuan poured a cup of water for Li Daxiang and then followed Gu Qinghan inside the room to explain. “This morning I was preparing some food for Qinglan. I thought you said you wouldn’t be discharged until noon, so I planned to go after I finished everything.”

Seeing that he didn’t respond, Wen Nuan walked over, tugged at his sleeve, and softly said, “Qinghan, don’t be mad, okay? I was wrong.”

Gu Qinghan looked at the slender white fingers on his green military uniform, and his heart softened, but he still turned his head away and asked, “When are Qinglan and the others leaving?”

“They’re leaving soon. Right now, they’re waiting for the female comrade from the propaganda department to go over to General Xu’s assistant to get some documents. Once everything is confirmed, Qinglan’s household registration will be directly transferred here.”

Then, Wen Nuan tilted her head slightly, looking up at Gu Qinghan from below, smiling as she asked, “Qinghan, are you not angry anymore?”

When the man remained silent, Wen Nuan hooked her finger around his long index finger and gave him a sincere look: “Don’t be mad, don’t be mad. After Qinglan and the others leave, I’ll make it up to you.”

‘This man—there really wasn’t a single unappealing angle on him.’

How could he still look so handsome from this angle too?!

Suddenly, Wen Nuan straightened up, and then stood on her tiptoes, unable to resist planting a loving kiss on his still-stern face. “Qinghan, you’re really good-looking.”

Gu Qinghan didn’t expect Wen Nuan to do something like that out of nowhere.

His whole body stiffened, and instinctively, he wrapped his arms tightly around her.

Just one smile from her seemed to make everything else insignificant.

Gu Qinghan’s chest felt a mixture of sourness and numbness, but also a hint of sweetness. In a hoarse voice, he said, “You can’t do this in the future.”

Wen Nuan smiled and teased: “How domineering.”

“But I promise you, from now on, I’ll always put you first.”

Gu Qinghan’s expression clearly showed that he didn’t believe her, but he remained silent.

After a while, they heard footsteps outside the courtyard, and he said, “It might be the female comrade from the propaganda department. Let’s go out and have a look.”

Wen Nuan thought he might give her a loving kiss before they left the room, at least something before stepping out. But instead, he simply opened the door, leaving her feeling a little stifled.

—o—o—o—

Meanwhile, Li Daxiang and Gu Qinglan were already prepared. The little one, Lele, seemed to sense that Gu Qinglan was leaving for a few days, as she had woken up very early and clung to her all morning.

Gu Qinglan came out of the small room, holding Lele in her arms. She kissed Lele on the head and said, “Auntie has to go take care of something, be a good girl, and wait for Auntie to come back. I’ll bring you something yummy when I return.”

Upon hearing the word “yummy” Lele wrapped her arms around Gu Qinglan’s neck, rubbed her fuzzy little head against her, and let out an “ahh,” as if in response.

Gu Qinglan handed Lele over to Wen Nuan and said, “Sister-in-law, we’re ready to leave.”

Wen Nuan took the child, smoothed her hair, and then walked over to the Eight Immortals table. “These are all the dry rations I prepared for you. Eat them on the road, and once everything is settled, come back quickly, alright?”

Last night, Wen Nuan had specifically told her that the female comrade from the propaganda department had arranged by General Xu to investigate the matter concerning the village chief’s nephew. If the situation was confirmed to be true, Gu Qinglan would officially join the Northern Military District as a soldier.

“Got it, thank you, sister-in-law!” Gu Qinglan’s mood was visibly different from the previous days—her face was now bright with a cheerful smile.

On the other corner, Gu Qinghan was instructing Li Daxiang about some matters. The two tall men looked extremely serious, and there was a hint of anger in their expressions, though they managed to keep it under control.

The two chatted for a while, and in the end, Gu Qinghan patted Li Daxiang on the shoulder, saying, “Daxiang, I’ll leave this matter to you. Thank you for handling it.”

Li Daxiang saluted, “I guarantee the mission will be completed.”

Gu Qinghan nodded and said, “Then go quickly and come back soon. You can depart now.”

The little one, Lele, didn’t quite understand what was happening, but when she saw Gu Qinglan and Li Daxiang get into the car, she waved her little hand to say goodbye to them.

However, as soon as the car drove off and disappeared from sight, Lele suddenly burst into tears.

Wen Nuan listened to the sound of the child’s wailing, which was loud enough to almost bring the roof down. She tried to comfort her for a long time but to no avail. In frustration, she handed the sobbing child to Gu Qinghan and said, “I’ll go wash your hospital clothes. You deal with her—she’s got quite the temper now.”

Gu Qinghan, holding the tear-streaked little one, was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He leaned in close to her ear and whispered softly, “Your mom is throwing a tantrum again. Come on, Daddy will take you outside to build a snowman.”

With that, he carried her out to the courtyard, grabbed two small shovels, and started preparing to build a snowman.

The little one, who had been crying miserably just moments ago, stopped as soon as Gu Qinghan took her outside into the courtyard.

Wen Nuan had just found Gu Qinghan’s clothes when she realized that she no longer heard the child crying.

Wen Nuan took out the two pieces of clothing and underwear that needed washing. She noticed a hole in one of Gu Qinghan’s undershirts, so she mended it before throwing it into his enamel basin. She added some hot water and then carried it to the kitchen to wash.

As Wen Nuan glanced out through the kitchen’s glass window, she was surprised to see that the little one had indeed stopped crying. Lele was holding a small shovel, busily shoveling snow in the courtyard.

Lele had already started learning how to walk and could occasionally stand on her own for a bit. Now she stood in the courtyard, slightly bent over, digging up the snow with her tiny shovel.

Over the past few days, with Gu Qinghan in the hospital, it was Gu Qinglan who cleared the snow in the yard. However, her efforts weren’t quite as thorough as Wen Nuan’s husband’s work would have been, and some snow remained in patches, mixed with mud, making it far from pristine white.

But Lele didn’t mind at all. She happily dug around with her little shovel, making a mess of the snow, even piling it on her own feet.

She then yelled loudly, insisting that Gu Qinghan clean the snow off her feet before she would be satisfied.

Wen Nuan left them to it. After washing Gu Qinghan’s clothes, she hung them on the rack by the stove to dry.

Knowing that her husband would be returning to the team in the afternoon, Wen Nuan started preparing lunch early.

She reheated the soup she had stewed the previous night and put it on the stove to warm up again.

The meat at home was running low, as Wen Nuan had been preparing a meat dish for Gu Qinghan with almost every meal while he was in the hospital. Now, they had to be more conservative with their portions.

Still, she took out a piece of pork, minced it, and made a dish of steamed eggs with minced meat.

It was perfect timing since Lele especially loved steamed eggs. When mixed with rice, she could eat more than half a bowl, which made feeding her much easier.

Gu Qinghan would sometimes help Lele move the snow around, occasionally glancing up at the kitchen to see Wen Nuan’s busy figure inside.

This kind of simple life filled him with a sense of comfort and peace.

—o—o—o—

When Wen Nuan finished preparing lunch, she stepped outside into the courtyard and saw that the big and little pair had already built a small snowman. It seemed that Gu Qinghan found the snow in their yard a bit dirty, so he went outside to fetch some cleaner snow.

Just as Lele was about to stretch out her tiny shovel to flatten the snowman she had just helped build, Wen Nuan called out to them, “Lunch is ready. Come wash your hands first.”

But it was too late—the little snowman had already fallen victim to Lele’s “destructive” touch.

With a single smack from her shovel, half of it collapsed. Upon hearing Wen Nuan’s voice, both father and daughter turned their heads in unison, smiling at her.

At that moment, Wen Nuan couldn’t help but notice how identical their look was.

Gu Qinghan smiled as he was lifting Lele up with one arm and brushing the snow off her: “I was going to show your Mommy the snowman Daddy made, but look at you—you went and smashed it.”

Lele wriggled in his arms, laughing loudly, her little feet kicking playfully.

It was obvious she had done it on purpose!

Wen Nuan’s heart softened at the sight of them, and she chuckled, “This little baby is such a troublemaker these days.”

Lele heard Wen Nuan talking about her and stretched out her arms, wanting her mother to hold her, but Gu Qinghan tightened his grip on her and carried her toward the house. “Look at how dirty your hands are. Wash them first, then Mommy will hold you.”

The little one, realizing she was being scolded, purposely wiped her dirty hands on Gu Qinghan’s uniform and even gave his shoulder a playful slap, pouting her lips as she mumbled in protest.

Wen Nuan couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the scene.

She smiled at Gu Qinghan and said, “See? I told you, your daughter’s got quite the temper now! I have no idea who she takes after! You should say something to her.”

After Gu Qinglan and the others had left, Lele had been crying non-stop, and no amount of coaxing seemed to work. She had never been so difficult to comfort before.

Thankfully, Gu Qinghan had taken her outside to build a snowman; otherwise, it was hard to say when she would have stopped crying.

Now, holding Lele in his arms, Gu Qinghan brought her to the enamel basin that Wen Nuan had prepared. He washed her dirty little hands and then gave her a light pat on her bottom. “Be good from now on…” he said gently.

He then glanced at Wen Nuan and smiled, “I’ve scolded her. You can hold her now while I wash my hands.”

Wen Nuan stood there, speechless for a moment.

‘Well, that could count as a scolding, I supposed.’

Lele, however, showed no signs of realizing she had been reprimanded. After Wen Nuan placed her in her special highchair, she saw the food on the table and clapped her hands excitedly.

She stretched out her arms, trying to grab the food with her hands.

Wen Nuan was quick to react, pulling the dish of steamed eggs with minced meat slightly out of her reach and handing Lele a spoon. “Don’t use your hands. Use the spoon.”

Lele, still not quite used to using utensils, clumsily jabbed the spoon into her metal bowl, making a few sharp stabs while letting out some loud noises.

“What are you so impatient for? Wait for your daddy to finish washing his hands, then we’ll all eat together.” Wen Nuan said with a laugh.

Still, she scooped a bit of the steamed egg into Lele’s bowl and mixed it with the rice, making it easier for her to eat.

Gu Qinghan walked over and, breaking the usual routine of sitting on Lele’s left while Wen Nuan sat on the right, this time, he sat down right next to Wen Nuan—close by her side.

“Let’s eat. No need to wait any longer, Lele must be hungry by now.” Gu Qinghan said as he picked up the chopsticks.

He scooped a large spoonful of the steamed egg for Wen Nuan, the smooth, jiggly texture of the egg wobbling like pudding as it landed in her bowl, looking tender and delicious.

Wen Nuan glanced at the large piece of steamed egg in her bowl, then looked at Gu Qinghan, saying, “You should eat more. You’ll be heading back to the team soon. How can you go without a full stomach?”

Wen Nuan scooped another spoonful of food and placed it into his bowl.

The little one saw this, threw away the small spoon she had been holding, and said “Ah!” twice at Wen Nuan—clearly wanting the spoon she had just used to scoop the eggs.

Wen Nuan was about to give her a different spoon, but Gu Qinghan had already picked up the spoon the little one had just thrown away from the table and put it back in Lele’s hand.

“Don’t spoil her. Eat.”

Wen Nuan glanced at Lele, who looked a little wronged. She didn’t spoil her either and took the spoon from her hand to feed her a small bite of food.

However, the little one seemed a bit upset and took quite a while to finish her meal.

After they were full and satisfied, Gu Qinghan cleared the dishes.

When he finished washing the dishes, he suddenly came over and said to Wen Nuan. “Have Lele take a nap earlier.”

Wen Nuan had originally planned to take the child over to Sister Guihua’s place to get some new soles for her shoes.

But after seeing Lele yawning several times after the meal, she remembered that Lele had woken up early that day. So, she took her back to the room.

The little one must have been really tired. She had woken up early and cried for a while. After drinking some milk, she soon fell fast asleep.

Wen Nuan herself, having eaten a full meal, also felt drowsy. She adjusted her position and planned to take a nap as well.

But in the next moment, she was suddenly lifted up by the man who had been sitting by the bed reading some documents.

Startled, she let out a cry: “You scared me!”

Wen Nuan lightly hit the man’s firm arm, instinctively glancing at the child on the bed. After confirming that she was still sleeping soundly, she lowered her voice and scolded, “Why didn’t you say anything? What are you up to?”

Feeling the world spin, Wen Nuan was carried by Gu Qinghan from the bed and out of the room, heading toward the small bedroom.

Realizing this was the room Gu Qinglan usually slept in, she suddenly became nervous and wrapped her arms tightly around Gu Qinghan’s neck. “Maybe we shouldn’t do it here?”

“Are you sure you want to do it over there? Aren’t you afraid of waking up Lele?”

Gu Qinghan carried her into the small room, then used his foot to nudge the door closed. Luckily, he didn’t apply much force, so it only shut loosely.

Wen Nuan then noticed that the bedding, which originally belonged to Gu Qinglan, had been completely replaced with Gu Qinghan’s old blankets.

When Gu Qinghan placed her down on the still slightly cool bed, Wen Nuan lightly hit his chest twice. But she didn’t dare to use too much force, worried that his body hadn’t fully recovered. “Aren’t you supposed to return to the team this afternoon? Look at the scorching sun! Why are you not ashamed!”

Gu Qinghan flipped over and pressed her beneath him, looking down at Wen Nuan’s flushed face, then kissed her firmly on the lips. “Weren’t you the one who said you owed me a proper ‘compensation’? Now you’re trying to back out?”

As he spoke, his broad, warm hand skillfully slipped under her clothes, the rough pads of his fingers brushing against Wen Nuan’s back, making her shiver slightly.

Wen Nuan bit her lip, trying not to let out any strange sounds, her large watery eyes looking at Gu Qinghan in disbelief. “I said I’d make you something delicious tonight to compensate you. You pervert, what are you thinking?!”

Gu Qinghan’s eyes darkened, and he lowered his head to her chest, murmuring something indistinct as he gazed at her soft, snowy skin.

Wen Nuan couldn’t think of anything else, only managing a low curse before her words were swallowed up by the intense kiss between them.

—o—o—o—

Lucia: Sometimes I forget that Lele is only 9-10 months old T^T