Chapter 27: Something’s Off About Commander Cheng

Cheng Jinghao came back to the room after taking a shower. Lin Momo was getting off the heated brick bed (kang) to put on her shoes.

“Where are you going?” Cheng Jinghao raised an eyebrow at her.

“T-To the bathroom.” She quickly put on her shoes and rushed to the door.

“Ah!” But Cheng Jinghao scooped her up by the waist and placed her back on the bed.

“Momo, you already went to the mall earlier.”

Lin Momo blinked at him. How did he know?

“The backyard’s been turned into a greenhouse, so it’s not convenient to fetch water in the bathroom. I went to the men’s restroom at the supermarket to shower.”

“……”

Cheng Jinghao leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Momo, you don’t want to?”

“N-No, it’s not that…” Could he please stop blowing air into her ear? It was killing her.

Wasn’t this sort of thing supposed to happen naturally, with two people lying on the bed?

Why did he have to spell it out so bluntly? Didn’t he feel embarrassed?

Cheng Jinghao didn’t give Lin Momo much time to think. He directly wrapped his arm around her waist, pulled her into his lap, and embraced her with his other arm. Lowering his head, he kissed her inviting red lips.

His kiss was forceful yet gentle, laced with dominance—as if he wanted to devour her whole.

Lin Momo couldn’t help but wrap her arms around his neck, passionately responding to his kiss.

Sensing her response, Cheng Jinghao kissed her even more intensely.

The two of them rolled onto the bed, their clothes soon discarded onto the floor.

“Momo… Momo…” Cheng Jinghao murmured in her ear.

“Mm…” Lin Momo shyly responded, her cheeks a bright red.

“From tonight on, you’re my wife!” Cheng Jinghao smiled, his eyes filled with affection.

“Momo, call me husband.”

“Huh?” Lin Momo looked at him with wide eyes.

“Wife, call me husband,” Cheng Jinghao repeated.

“H-Husband…” Lin Momo blushed and stammered.

“Such a good wife.” Cheng Jinghao pecked her soft lips and continued what they had started.

Then he pulled the quilt over them and kissed her deeply again…

A night of passion…

The next day, when Lin Momo woke up, it was already close to noon.

She only vaguely remembered that he didn’t let her go until dawn.

Before leaving for training, he had fed her some spiritual spring water.

Lin Momo didn’t want to move at all, but her stomach was growling.

She reached into the supermarket space and took out a steaming hot meat bun, then stayed under the covers and started eating.

At that moment, the door suddenly opened, startling her enough to stuff the bun back under the blanket.

Cheng Jinghao stood at the doorway and laughed at her action. “With that strong meat bun smell, you really think I wouldn’t notice?”

“……” Lin Momo ignored him, took out the bun, and kept eating.

“What’s wrong? Did I bully you too much? Are you mad?” Cheng Jinghao looked at her fair arms and the collarbone peeking out from the blanket and swallowed hard.

“Cheng Jinghao, you’re so reckless! You…” Lin Momo hugged the blanket tightly and looked at him warily.

“Wife, have you ever heard the saying ‘Once you’ve tasted the marrow, you crave the bone’?” Cheng Jinghao grabbed her small hand and kissed it gently.

“Quit it, it’s broad daylight!”

“Look how scared you are.” Cheng Jinghao laughed. He wasn’t that inconsiderate—he’d already worn her out last night. He’d at least wait until evening.

“I’m getting dressed and getting up. You go out,” Lin Momo said, her face still flushed.

“Let me help you get dressed.” Cheng Jinghao picked up the clothes, leaving no room for refusal.

As soon as he pulled the blanket off her, he saw the bluish-purple marks all over her body, and his eyes darkened slightly.

“Wife…” Cheng Jinghao’s voice turned hoarse, his gaze burning as he stared at her.

“…” Sure enough, a man’s mouth is a liar’s mouth.

…

By the time she got up, it was too late to cook, but luckily the supermarket still had a deli section.

Cheng Jinghao picked up some dishes from the supermarket and laid them out on the kang table.

“Wife, honey, time to eat.” He grinned as he leaned toward Lin Momo.

“…” Lin Momo didn’t want to talk, or even move.

Cheng Jinghao simply helped her sit up, letting her lean against his chest, and started feeding her.

After feeding her a bit, Cheng Jinghao hastily scarfed down a few bites himself — he had to rush back to training.

“Take a nap, I’m off to training.” He pulled the blanket over her again, kissed her forehead, and left the room.

Once Cheng Jinghao was gone, Lin Momo closed her eyes and fell back asleep.

When Cheng Jinghao stepped out, he was humming a little tune and happened to run into Zhao Zhigang.

Zhao Zhigang looked at him. “Something’s off with you today. Really off.”

“Ahem, what could be off? You’re imagining things.” Despite his words, Cheng Jinghao couldn’t hide the upward curve of his lips.

“See? That expression — you had it this morning too.” Zhao Zhigang pointed at him.

“Nonsense.” Cheng Jinghao instinctively touched his own face.

“Tsk tsk tsk.” Zhao muttered. “I can’t even look at you right now.”

Lin Momo woke up around 4 p.m. After getting up, she fetched a bucket of spiritual spring water to water the soil in the greenhouse, accelerating the fermentation of the cow dung.

Then she planted various vegetable seeds in the potted plants in the yard. These pots, she didn’t plan to move into the greenhouse or use spiritual spring water on.

She didn’t have experience growing vegetables, so she could only follow the instructions from books.

She was meticulous with every step — whether for the greenhouse or the potted plants — and planned to record everything daily.

By the time she finished, more than an hour had passed, and Cheng Jinghao was almost done with his training.

She started cooking, taking a piece of cured pork that her mom had mailed, and a jar of fermented soybeans from her space.

For dinner, she planned to steam the cured pork, and she also washed some Tibetan greens she had traded from Aunt Liu.

The main dish was steamed rice. They hadn’t had rice for a few days, and rice was the perfect match for steamed cured meat.

The smell of the cured pork and soybeans steaming on the stove drifted out of the kitchen.

Just then, Cheng Jinghao and Zhao Zhigang returned from training.

“What’s that smell? Smells amazing!” Zhao Zhigang sniffed hard.

“My wife’s cooking.” Cheng Jinghao raised an eyebrow at him.

“Your wife’s been stationed here almost a month. How come I never knew she could cook like that?” Zhao Zhigang was a bit skeptical.

“Because I’ve been the one cooking until now.”

“…”

Just as Cheng Jinghao was about to push open the door, Zhao Zhigang stopped him.

“Hey, Old Cheng, treat me to dinner. I’ll chip in.”

“What you’re offering could buy ten meat meals, you crazy?” Cheng Jinghao crossed his arms and looked at him.

“For that smell alone, it’s worth it.” Zhao sniffed again.

“I don’t think having my wife do extra work for that little bit of money is worth it.” Cheng Jinghao shook his head and pushed open the courtyard door.

“Hey, Old Cheng! Think about it again!”

Cheng Jinghao waved at him and shut the gate, leaving him outside.