Chapter 31: Showering Under the Moonlight

When she heard those words, Lin Banxia couldn’t help but smile, her eyes crinkling as her shoulders trembled slightly with laughter. It took her a good while to settle down.

So Gu Shiqing thought she was going to twist his ear too?

Looking at this cold, fierce-looking man, how could his thoughts be so… adorable?

Lin Banxia explained: “What I meant was, I want to make a ‘washing machine.’”

“Washing machine?” Gu Shiqing had never heard of such a thing before, but since his wife made a request, he was determined to fulfill it. He immediately asked: “How do you make it? Tell me, and I’ll see if I can build one.”

What Lin Banxia meant by “washing machine” was certainly not the fully automatic kind from the future. Though with the current level of technology, someone knowledgeable in the field could likely build one.

The issue was—she wasn’t that someone.

However, she recalled once stumbling across a video tutorial on how to make a simple “washing machine.” The video claimed that if one ever traveled back to ancient times, they could build a primitive version of a washing machine.

At the time, she had thought the idea of time travel was pure fantasy, but she’d still found the video interesting—something about “escaping the cage and returning to nature”—so she had watched the entire thing.

Who would’ve thought she’d one day need it?

Lin Banxia tried to recall how the video demonstrated the process. It seemed fairly simple—just needed a wooden bucket, a few rods tied together, and a pivot point. That way, it wouldn’t take much effort to rotate the rods.

Pour water and laundry powder into the bucket, toss in the clothes, then shake the rods a bit. The rods would stir the contents inside the bucket, effectively mimicking a “drum-style washing machine”!

“Like that. Did you get it?” Lin Banxia asked after she finished explaining. She blinked a few times, worried Gu Shiqing might not understand.

Clearly, Gu Shiqing’s comprehension was solid. He nodded and said: “Got it. I’ll gather the tools we need tomorrow and build this ‘washing machine.’”

“Great. Once the ‘washing machine’ is ready, I’ll take over doing the laundry.” Lin Banxia said.

She wasn’t doing this because of people saying she was lazy or anything—she didn’t care about that kind of talk. But if she really did nothing at all, she’d feel a little guilty.

With this “washing machine.” doing laundry wouldn’t take much effort. Plus, it would make her seem less like a slave-driving mistress.

Heehee, two birds with one stone.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

After spending three days at the base, Lin Banxia had already grown accustomed to the military routine.

Before the lights-out bugle sounded, she got into bed and read for a while, planning to sleep soon. The awkwardness from the first day—when they had shyly shared a bed and deliberately stayed on their own sides—had faded. Now, they didn’t pay much attention to such things.

However, over the past two nights, Lin Banxia had been sleeping on the far side of the bed. She no longer placed her feet on Gu Shiqing’s body like she had the first night.

Tonight, Gu Shiqing got into bed earlier than usual. He typically slept on the left side, but this time he lay down on the right.

Lin Banxia didn’t understand why Gu Shiqing suddenly switched sides, but she didn’t particularly care which side she slept on, so she didn’t say anything.

When the lights-out bugle sounded and the electricity in the house cut off, it wasn’t long before calm, steady breathing filled the room.

Before long, Lin Banxia turned over in her sleep and rested her slender hand on Gu Shiqing’s arm…

Gu Shiqing felt a bit ridiculous. When Lin Banxia didn’t lean toward him, he felt disappointed. But the moment her body touched his, he suddenly felt uncomfortable all over.

It felt as though a fire had been lit inside him, burning him over and over on a spit.

Gu Shiqing didn’t know if it was because of the medicinal meal he’d eaten earlier, but the sensation tonight was even more intense than before.

The curtains weren’t fully drawn, and under the gentle moonlight, Gu Shiqing looked at the peacefully sleeping Lin Banxia.

A faint herbal fragrance lingered at the tip of his nose—it was a scent unique to Lin Banxia.

Gu Shiqing couldn’t hold back. He got out of bed, filled a bucket with cold water, and went out into the courtyard to take a cold shower.

In her sleep, Lin Banxia vaguely heard some noises. She groggily opened her eyes and reached out to touch the other side of the bed, only to find that Gu Shiqing was no longer there. The sound of water was coming from the courtyard.

Why wasn’t Gu Shiqing in bed at this hour? What was he doing out in the courtyard?

She looked out the window in confusion…

Oh my goodness!

Gu Shiqing was taking a shower in the courtyard.

Under the hazy moonlight, his strong, well-defined body looked powerful and full of strength. Water streamed down from his chest to his abs and lower abdomen, flowing with a steady splash.

Tsk tsk tsk, if this were filmed and uploaded online, wouldn’t it go viral?

Lin Banxia silently marveled in her heart.

Just then, Gu Shiqing lifted the bucket, apparently finished, and was about to come back inside.

Lin Banxia hurried back to bed, guiltily pulled the blanket over her face, and tried to pretend she was sound asleep.

If Gu Shiqing found out she had secretly watched him shower—how embarrassing would that be?

Gu Shiqing’s footsteps grew closer and finally stopped beside the bed. Looking at Lin Banxia with the blanket pulled all the way over her face, Gu Shiqing reached out, intending to help her tuck it in.

He gave the blanket a gentle tug.

…It wouldn’t budge.

Gu Shiqing suddenly understood, a smile flickering in his eyes. But he didn’t say anything to expose her.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

The next morning, Yu Juan and Zhou Shiyu issued a public apology to Lin Banxia through the military broadcast system.

Lin Banxia sat leisurely, eating her steamed bun while listening to Yu Juan’s apology over the speakers. Her mood couldn’t be better.

Because she was in such a good mood, Lin Banxia even ate half a bun more than usual. Normally, one bun was enough for her.

The remaining half was naturally finished by Gu Shiqing. What took Lin Banxia seven or eight bites to eat, he finished in just two.

He ate quickly, yet his eating manners never seemed crude.

“There should be a way for military spouses to get assigned jobs on base, right?” Lin Banxia asked.

This was something she had planned from the beginning—after the housewarming was over, she was going to start working.

“You’re going to work?” Gu Shiqing asked in surprise.

Lin Banxia hadn’t worked at all in the two years she had spent in Hu City, so he had already assumed she wouldn’t work here at the military base either.

In any case, his allowance was enough to support her—if she didn’t work, it wouldn’t be a problem.

“Yes! But I only want to do something related to medicine. Can you help me find out if the base hospital is hiring?” Lin Banxia said.

Of course she was going to work—a woman needed to have her own career!

Gu Shiqing nodded. “Alright, I’ll go check with the Organization Department today.”

He was surprised that Lin Banxia wanted to work, but he had no intention of stopping her.

“Okay then, I’ll be waiting for your good news.” Lin Banxia smiled.

She had no idea that this one offhandedly sweet remark made Gu Shiqing feel so wonderful that he was still smiling when he arrived at the camp.

The soldiers at the base couldn’t help but whisper among themselves in shock.

“What’s going on with the Battalion Commander? It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him smile like that. Is this really our Battalion Commander Gu? Am I seeing things?”

“You’re not seeing things. I saw it too.”

“Did something good happen to the Battalion Commander?”

“You don’t know? Battalion Commander’s wife came to join him. Haven’t you noticed he hasn’t been as stern these past few days? Before, if someone didn’t meet the training standards, he’d make them run fifty laps. Last time, he only made them run thirty.”

“Sister-in-law really has skills!”

“Smiling like that—having a wife around really makes a difference.” Xiao Wenlei, seeing the smile on Gu Shiqing’s face, couldn’t resist teasing him.

Only then did Gu Shiqing realize he was smiling. He gave a light cough and quickly wiped the smile off his face, then turned to ask Xiao Wenlei: “What are you doing out here instead of in the camp?”

Xiao Wenlei said: “What am I doing? Going on a blind date, of course!”

“Speaking of which, Old Gu, you really screwed me over, you know that? Back then, I saw how miserable your marriage seemed and got terrified of getting married myself. I’ve turned down so many blind dates Director Qiu tried to set up for me over the past two years! If not for that, who knows? I might’ve had three kids by now!”

He felt like he’d been tricked by Gu Shiqing. The way Gu Shiqing had avoided talking about Lin Banxia made it seem like their marriage was terrible. Only yesterday did he learn that Gu Shiqing had been secretly living in bliss the whole time!

Secretly happy while making him miss out on romance? Some brother he was!

So now he was going to go on a blind date. He was going to find someone, date, and get married!

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

Lin Banxia, completely unaware of what was going on at the camp, was currently in the courtyard planting medicinal herbs.

Hou Xiufen had just returned from the supply and marketing cooperative. Before even reaching her own front door, she came straight to the Gu residence.

“Banxia, Banxia! Let me tell you—Yu Juan and Zhou Shiyu got into a fight!”

Lin Banxia washed her hands clean, then brought out a bag of sunflower seeds from the house. She pulled Hou Xiufen over to sit and said: “Sister-in-law, don’t rush. Take your time and tell me what happened.”