Chapter 49: Life Needs a Little Sweetness

Wen Nian had already toned it down a lot.

In her previous life, she used to wear shorts and camisoles.
After coming here, she wrapped herself up like a nun every day—completely covered up, nothing could be shown.

If her clothes had just a little less fabric, people would say she wasn’t proper.
Even in her own bedroom, she couldn’t dress too lightly.

She had done her best to adapt her clothing habits to this era.
Yet now, just unbuttoning two buttons, and he still had something to say?

There wasn’t even anyone else in the room.

Wen Nian felt wronged.
Her stubborn streak flared up again.

“I’m hot.”

And not only did she not button back up—she unbuttoned another one.

This time, half of the tank top-style undergarment inside was directly exposed.

Lu Hanzheng’s face turned dark. His tone became stern.

“Stop messing around. Button up. Now.”

Wen Nian couldn’t care less about him.
He could nag all he wanted—she wasn’t listening.

Not only that, she even pushed open the window and leaned halfway out,
fanning herself with one hand as she said aloud:

“Wow, it’s so cool out here. Feels amazing!”

Lu Hanzheng’s temple veins visibly bulged in anger.

Wen Nian, still unafraid, added fuel to the fire.

“Wanna try it too? It’s really refreshing!”

The man’s face was a mask of calm rage. He’d reached his limit.

Maybe because he knew her skin was delicate, he didn’t dare pull her arm too hard.
Instead, he stepped forward and gripped her small waist, lifting her away from the window,
quickly shutting it, and placing his body in front of it like a human shield.

No wonder he was the physical training model soldier—this strength wasn’t normal.
In the blink of an eye, he completed all those movements smoothly and quickly.

Lu Hanzheng stared into her eyes, voice firm and commanding:

“Button. Up.”

Wen Nian showed no fear.
She looked back at him with a face full of challenge.

“No.”

Let’s see what he could do about it.

If he had the guts, he could button it for her.

The two locked eyes.
Wen Nian stood with her hands on her hips, chest out—completely fearless.

Lu Hanzheng’s gaze accidentally landed on the lace of her tank top and instantly flicked away,
as if his eyes had been burned.

After a moment, he took a deep breath.

He couldn’t win against her stubbornness.

So he softened his voice and gently coaxed:

“Be good. Button it up.”

Seeing his tone finally soften,
Wen Nian decided to be merciful and back down.

She was always the kind who responded to softness, not force.

“Okay—but only if you give me a kiss.”

Lu Hanzheng’s brows furrowed again.
His lips pressed into a hard, straight line.

Before he could say no,
Wen Nian offered another option.

“Or I can kiss you. That works too.”

After these days together, she’d come to understand Lu Hanzheng quite well.

Uptight, old-fashioned, and more obsessed with rules than anything.
Especially when it came to men and women—he wouldn’t cross the line even an inch.
Like some chaste virtuous woman.

He clung to those moral boundaries like his life depended on it.

A grown man, acting so prim and prudish—it was honestly baffling.

Expecting him to make the first move?
Might as well try climbing to the moon.

Fine, she couldn’t eat the meat yet,
but a little taste of the broth should be allowed, right?

Life here was already bitter enough—was it too much to ask for a little sweetness?

Lu Hanzheng just frowned deeper and stayed silent.

Wen Nian raised her eyebrows.

If he wasn’t saying anything, she’d take it as a yes.

Back at the military base cafeteria, it was livelier than usual.

And all the gossip was about the girl around Commander Lu.

Who said men didn’t gossip?

Training in the army was not only tough, it was boring.

So when something new happened, it was a big deal.

And of course, it was still about that perennial iceberg, Colonel Lu.

Now that Lu Hanzheng wasn’t around, everyone was gossiping to their heart’s content.

They were all speculating about the relationship between that girl and Colonel Lu.

Some guessed she might be the long-lost martyr’s orphan the Lu family had been searching for all these years.

No one expected the girl to be so striking.

Plenty of people in the military district had heard about the Lu family’s search.

Liu Zhiwei sat quietly in a corner of the canteen, eating his meal in silence.

The moment he heard that Lu Hanzheng had brought a girl back with him, he hastened his pace.

Something smelled unusual.

He needed to verify it for himself.

Like a sneaky thief, Liu Zhiwei tiptoed up to the third floor.

To his surprise, the door to the Colonel’s office was shut.

That was rare.

He didn’t barge in recklessly.

Instead, he pressed his ear to the door.

He listened for a long time—no sounds at all from inside.

But his instincts told him there definitely wasn’t just one person in there.

He didn’t knock. He quietly cracked the door open a sliver.

And the sight inside stunned him on the spot.

He rubbed his eyes.

Just to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

Inside was a girl in a white dress, slowly stepping closer and closer to Lu Hanzheng.

For every step she took forward, he awkwardly took one back.

That 1.88-meter-tall man was actually backed into the wall by a petite girl.

She rose up on her toes and leaned in close to his ear.

“Well? Have you decided? Are you going to kiss me, or should I kiss you?”

Lu Hanzheng turned his face aside, tense all over.

“You button your shirt first,” he said.

The girl’s voice was soft and syrupy.

“Then you help me button it.”

Lu Hanzheng kept a straight face. “Do it yourself.”

Wen Nian threw a little tantrum. “Then I won’t.”

With that, she made a show of turning to leave.

Lu Hanzheng immediately grabbed her waist and pinned her against the bookshelf.

His cold, rigid brows furrowed again and again.

After a long pause, he finally raised his long, slender fingers and, without daring to look directly at her, quickly fastened her buttons for her.

Wen Nian wrapped her arms around his neck, completely justified as she said,
“I was such a good girl—don’t you think I deserve a reward?”

As she spoke, she stood on tiptoe and leaned her rosy lips toward him.

Lu Hanzheng’s expression turned cold instantly, his tone stern.

“No! This is a military base—quit fooling around!”

Wen Nian was utterly unfazed.

“So what if it’s a military base? Who said kissing was forbidden? Tell me—what regulation does it violate?”

Lu Hanzheng was rendered speechless.

Taking advantage of the moment, Wen Nian planted a kiss right on his thin lips.

Liu Zhiwei, beet red with embarrassment, quickly and quietly shut the door tight.

He was too old for this kind of shock.

When Lu Hanzheng had grabbed her just now, Liu Zhiwei had gotten a quick glimpse.

That stunning face had taken his breath away.

No wonder Lu Hanzheng had no interest in the girls from the cultural troupe.

Turns out, he had a national-level beauty like her by his side.

There really was no comparison.

He hadn’t expected Wen Qingguo’s daughter to be this exceptional.

She did bear a slight resemblance to her father in his youth.

Back in that border battle years ago, Liu Zhiwei had also been there. Though they weren’t in the same company, they were in the same regiment.

They’d crossed paths a few times.

When he heard about Wen Qingguo’s sacrifice, he’d felt deep sorrow.

And now, after all these years, his daughter had grown up.

That kid had always been glib and bold, and now his daughter had surpassed him in every way.

She’d managed to corner the iron-blooded, woman-averse Colonel Lu—the iceberg of all icebergs—into becoming soft as putty around her finger.

That was no easy feat.

Her courage was admirable.

The iron tree had finally bloomed.

Liu Zhiwei patted his flushed cheeks, feeling a sudden sense of relief.

At last, he could let go of this heavy burden in his heart. No more being dragged into Colonel Lu’s office every few days for some heart-to-heart.