Chapter 20: Captain, do you really need to be so protective of your shortcomings?

Lin Suisui had taken the initiative to ask for this job, but her biggest mental hurdle was the possibility of running into Huo Changzheng. After all, she didn’t know how he would feel about her working. She held onto a sliver of hope—maybe, with so many food service windows, he wouldn’t even notice her. But now, thanks to Fang Weiguo yelling, there was no way Huo Changzheng hadn’t heard.

“What are you doing here?”
Before Lin Suisui could mentally prepare herself, Huo Changzheng was already standing in front of the window, looking at her.

She looked up into his eyes, trying to read his expression but couldn’t quite figure it out. So she answered honestly, “Sister Huang went back to her hometown. I’m just filling in for a few days.”

Huo Changzheng didn’t say much after that and simply asked, “Where’s Doubao?”

“Doubao is—”
Before she could finish, a soft and sweet voice chimed in, “Daddy, I’m right here!”

Huo Changzheng looked down and saw Doubao gazing up at him. He picked him up and asked, “Have you eaten yet?”

“Not yet. I’m waiting for Mommy to get off work,” Doubao replied obediently.

“Alright, we’ll wait together for Mommy.” Huo Changzheng then turned to Lin Suisui. “You keep working. I’ll take Doubao to the playground for a bit.”

Seeing his attitude seemed to imply he was okay with her working here, Lin Suisui let out a sigh of relief and quickly responded, “Alright. If you guys get hungry, go ahead and eat first—you don’t need to wait for me.”

“Not hungry,” came the synchronized reply from both father and son.

Right after that, a chorus of playful teasing erupted from behind them.

Normally, the young soldiers didn’t even dare breathe loudly in front of Huo Changzheng, but now they were emboldened:
“Sister-in-law, looks like our commander’s waiting to eat with you!”

Lin Suisui’s face turned bright red from the teasing.

“Don’t bully your sister-in-law,” Huo Changzheng said with a sharp glance. “Why are you all lining up at this window? You’ll wear her out. Go queue up somewhere else.”

If he hadn’t said that, things might have quieted down—but with that, the teasing just got worse.

“Commander, you’re really protective, huh?”
“Exactly, we’re just supporting sister-in-law’s new job.”

Lin Suisui’s face flushed all the way to her ears. Finally, it was Huo Changzheng’s threat—“Anyone not hungry can go do a 10km weighted run”—that brought the rowdiness to an end.

Once he left with Doubao, the young soldiers treated Lin Suisui much more respectfully, quietly placing their orders.

The cafeteria was only open for an hour, and Lin Suisui completed her first shift without any issues. Before leaving, she packed two portions of food. Now that she was technically a temporary staff member, she got slightly bigger portions than normal for the same number of food coupons.

“Be here at 6:30 tomorrow morning, then again at 11:30 for lunch and 5:30 for dinner,” Li Changlong walked her through the schedule. Seeing it was getting dark outside, he let her go for the day.

When she had first married Huo Changzheng, she’d been afraid to go out and work because of all the gossip. Besides, he’d left her with plenty of money and coupons before he deployed. Later, just as things were quieting down, she found out she was pregnant. Not wanting to strain herself, she decided to stay home—and that turned into five years.

Today was the first time in all those years that she’d worked again. Even if it was just a temp job, she felt a strong sense of accomplishment and pride in being able to earn money on her own.

She carried the two lunchboxes toward the playground and saw from a distance that father and son were jogging laps together. She had to admit—while Huo Changzheng wasn’t great with her, he was definitely good with Doubao and very patient.

Of course, she knew part of it was because he hadn’t officially become a “stepfather” yet.

“Mommy!”
Sharp-eyed Doubao spotted her immediately and ran over, followed by Huo Changzheng.

“Mommy, are we going home now?” Doubao asked sweetly.

“Yes, we’re going home to eat.” Lin Suisui glanced at Huo Changzheng. “Let’s go.”

He nodded, and the three of them headed toward the dorms.

“Tired?” Huo Changzheng suddenly asked.

“Not at all.” Lin Suisui hadn’t expected the question and quickly replied, “It’s only an hour—it’s pretty easy.”

After that, they didn’t say much. Instead, it was Doubao who began excitedly recounting all the fun things that had happened at school, occasionally making the adults laugh.

Night fell, but it couldn’t hide the joyful laughter of this small family.

By the time they got back to the dorm, it was nearly 7 p.m. Knowing Doubao must be starving, Lin Suisui quickly opened the lunchboxes so he could eat.

“Mommy, the food tastes especially good today!” Doubao said as he stuffed his cheeks.

“Really? Haven’t you eaten these dishes before? Maybe the chef was extra good today?” she teased.

“No, it’s because Mommy served it today, so it’s extra yummy,” he replied sweetly.

The boy’s words made Lin Suisui laugh out loud.

Huo Changzheng, watching her radiant smile and the way Doubao was eating happily, couldn’t help but admire the little guy. He really knew how to win people over.

“Eat as much as you want, then,” Lin Suisui said lovingly, then suddenly remembered something. She looked up at Huo Changzheng and asked, “I need to be at the cafeteria before 6:30 a.m. tomorrow. If you’re free, can you help take Doubao to the daycare? Of course, if you’re busy, it’s fine—I’ll bring him with me to the cafeteria and drop him off afterward.”

“I can do it tomorrow, but not the day after,” Huo Changzheng replied. “I’ve got a mission and will be gone for ten days, maybe longer.”

Upon hearing that, Lin Suisui quickly said, “Your work is the priority. I’ll bring him with me to the cafeteria for now.”

“Either way, you don’t have to worry about tomorrow. Just bring him starting the day after,” he said—and then stared at her, like he was waiting for her to say something.

Lin Suisui felt a little bewildered under his intense gaze and didn’t quite know what to say. She simply followed his lead and replied, “Okay, I’ll trouble you with it tomorrow then.”

“Lin Suisui.” His tone suddenly turned serious as he called her name.

She thought she had done something wrong and shivered slightly, nervously asking, “W-What’s wrong?”

“Can you stop saying you’re troubling me all the time? Doubao is my son too. You don’t need to be so polite with me.”

“…”

So it was just about that. Lin Suisui instantly relaxed. “Alright, I won’t be so polite next time. Now hurry and eat.”

Huo Changzheng: “…”

At 8:30 that evening, Lin Suisui went to bed with Doubao as usual. Not long after they lay down, Huo Changzheng sensibly turned off the lights.

Lin Suisui gently patted Doubao to sleep, and before long, she started dozing off herself. Suddenly, Huo Changzheng’s voice broke the darkness.

“I’m heading out on a mission. Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

She snapped wide awake, confused as to why he was asking that. Wasn’t it a basic rule that military wives were supposed to be conscious of their role—supportive, non-intrusive, and never prying into the nature of missions, since they might involve classified information? She always thought she was doing a good job with that.

But now he wanted her to say something. Did that mean military wives were actually expected to say something before their husbands went on missions?

If that was the case, why didn’t he just tell her what to say? Why make her guess? And then they say, “a woman’s heart is like a needle in the sea”—in her opinion, it was men’s hearts that were impossible to figure out.

She racked her brain for a long time before finally managing to say, “Stay safe out there. I’ll take good care of Doubao. It’s getting late—let’s get some sleep.”