Chapter 17: He Shouldn’t Have Let Her Worry

Didn’t he say he’d come back to cook for her and the kids?

“Maybe Dad had a sudden emergency at the army. He was often late when we were at Grandpa’s,” Si Xi’s soft voice rang out.

That’s right, what if there was an emergency?

It wasn’t a big deal if he came back to cook for them anyway, Lin Qingyue quickly let it go.

Looking at the three terribly ugly handmade school bags, Lin Qingyue rested her chin on her hands: “Should I buy you new ones?”

Three school bags would significantly reduce their living expenses for the month.

Sigh, she had to prioritize.

“What’s wrong with them being ugly? They can hold books, that’s all that matters. Why buy new ones?” Lu Yicheng hugged one of the bags, saying proudly, “Did my dad give you money so you could be extravagant?”

“…” Lin Qingyue’s eyes widened. Had this kid changed? Was he not going to oppose her anymore?

Lu Yicheng distributed the bags, keeping the ugliest one for himself, and said domineeringly, “Anyone who dares to laugh at our ugly bags, my brother and I will beat them up!”

“That’s right!” Lu Yiming agreed wholeheartedly.

Lin Qingyue shook her head helplessly: “Okay.”

She got up to cook for the children. By evening, Lu Siyi still hadn’t returned.

The second and third days passed, and Lu Siyi remained absent, with no news.

Lin Qingyue frowned, sensing something was wrong. Even if Lu Siyi didn’t care about her, he should care about the three children. He’d been gone for several days without a word.

School was about to start, and Lu Siyi couldn’t possibly ignore it.

Her heart pounded, a bad feeling growing.

On the fourth day, Lin Qingyue couldn’t wait any longer.

She entrusted the children to Grandma Yu’s care and went to the army to find Lu Siyi.

Even if the army had a lot of missions, he should always have time to make a phone call home, or have someone send a message.

Arriving at the army gate, she saw Lu Siyi’s guard rushing out. She stopped him: “Xiao Zhang, what’s the hurry?”

“Oh, Sister-in-law, why are you here?” Xiao Zhang wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking nervous.

“I’m here to find Lu Siyi. He hasn’t been home for days. Has the army had any urgent missions lately?” Lin Qingyue asked, noticing the guard’s unusual reaction.

Xiao Zhang remained silent, lowering his head.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Qingyue’s bad feeling intensified: “Did something happen to Lu Siyi?”

Seeing he couldn’t hide it any longer, Xiao Zhang said through gritted teeth: “Sister-in-law, I’ll be honest with you. The Chief has been injured for several days. I wanted to call home, but he stopped me, saying he didn’t want to worry the family.”

“He’s been afraid you’d find out he was injured, that’s why he hasn’t come home.”

“Where is he? How serious is it?”

“It’s not serious, but he needs to rest for ten or fifteen days.” Xiao Zhang scratched his head, “The Chief is in the infirmary, Nurse Song is taking care of him.”

“Take me to see him!” Lin Qingyue was anxious. This part wasn’t in the original book.

On the way, she asked the guard about Lu Siyi’s injury. It turned out that during new recruit firearms training, a recruit mishandled a weapon, causing it to discharge and injuring Lu Siyi’s arm.

The wound wasn’t large; he received five stitches at the clinic and had been recovering in the infirmary since.

This idiot, he didn’t even go home to recover from his injury! Lin Qingyue cursed inwardly, quickening her pace.

The infirmary door burst open, and she collided with a female doctor.

The woman sized her up, her eyes full of hostility.

Lin Qingyue didn’t back down, returning the stare. For a moment, sparks flew between them.

“You’re Lu Siyi’s new wife?” Song Mingyi crossed her arms, raising her eyebrows, adopting a confrontational attitude.

As a woman, Lin Qingyue immediately understood Song Mingyi’s intentions.

She liked Lu Siyi and was jealous of her status as Mrs. Lu.

Lin Qingyue smiled, her tone sarcastic: “Thank you for taking care of my husband these past few days. You’ve been very hardworking.”

Sure enough, Song Mingyi’s face turned ugly. She snorted, “How do you even manage to be a wife? Your husband is injured, and it’s been days before you come to see him. You clearly don’t care about him.”

“Our marital matters are none of your concern,” Lin Qingyue said lightly, “Doctor Song, while you’re kind and caring towards your patients, you should also maintain your professional boundaries.”

“You…” Song Mingyi glared at her, this woman had quite the sharp tongue.

She took a deep breath, her expression softening slightly, “Don’t misunderstand me. I just saw that Lu Siyi was injured, alone in the army, not going home, and felt sorry for him.”

“Am I not here to see him now? He was afraid I’d worry, so he didn’t tell me. That’s why I only found out now.” Lin Qingyue blinked, putting on a friendly expression, maintaining appearances.

“You’ve come at an inconvenient time. Lu Siyi just went to the county health center to change his dressing, he’s not in the infirmary.” Song Mingyi smirked, a triumphant smile on her face.

“Then I’ll wait for him here. He has a wife and children, he’ll have to go home eventually.” Lin Qingyue’s tone was neither humble nor arrogant, her words piercing Song Mingyi’s heart.

“If you’re going to wait, don’t stand at the door, come into the infirmary and sit.” Song Mingyi said, turning to the dispensing area, ignoring Lin Qingyue.

Lin Qingyue didn’t hesitate, sitting down in the infirmary.

After waiting for a while, Lu Siyi still hadn’t returned. Lin Qingyue became anxious. She had three children at home, and Grandma Yu was old and couldn’t watch them for too long.

“I only asked you to wait for Lu Siyi for a bit, and you can’t even sit still?” Song Mingyi snorted, increasingly disliking Lu Siyi’s new wife.

“Oh, I have three children at home, I can’t be out for too long.” Lin Qingyue smiled.

Just as Lin Qingyue was about to give up, Lu Siyi finally appeared at the infirmary entrance. Lin Qingyue immediately stood up and rushed towards him.

At the same time, Song Mingyi also put down her work and rushed over.

“Officer Lu, you’re back?” Song Mingyi’s eyes were full of admiration as she looked at Lu Siyi.

Lu Siyi politely nodded to her, then turned to Lin Qingyue, a flash of brilliance in his eyes. He remained calm, asking, “Why are you here? Where are the children?”

“I left them with Grandma Yu.” Lin Qingyue lowered her head, looking aggrieved, “It’s been days, and I haven’t heard from you. The children are about to start school, I was afraid something happened to you, so I came to see.”

Lin Qingyue’s eyes were red, looking at him expectantly. His heart felt a pang, he immediately reflected that he hadn’t been a good husband.

He should have called home earlier to let them know he was safe. He shouldn’t have let her worry for nothing.