When Li Huai arrived home, Zhao Qinglan had just finished writing the letter and was cooking.

The three children were all sitting inside, each doing their own thing.

Zhao Qinglan now cooks all the stir-fries outside.

When Li Huai walked up behind her, Zhao Qinglan became a little nervous as soon as she noticed him.

"Qinglan, I have something to discuss with you."

"What's wrong?" she asked, feeling extremely flustered.

"It's about Xiaoduo. Let me make this clear first, I'm not trying to kick Xiaoduo out, it's just that it's not good for Xiaoduo to keep sleeping in the same room with us, don't you think?" Li Huai said in a conciliatory tone, trying to be as gentle as possible.

In fact, Zhao Qinglan was well aware that this was inappropriate, but she was just putting it off for the time being.

Now that Li Huai has spoken directly, she knows that this matter cannot be delayed any longer, but she has a little bit of a grudge against Li Huai in her heart.

This man, humph, all men are the same, thinking about that kind of thing all day long, Li Huai is no exception.

However, she found it novel to see this side of Li Huai.

"So what do you want to do?" she said, her spatula moving more slowly.

“The room where Da Wa and Er Wa live isn’t actually that small. I was thinking of getting a bunk bed for Da Wa and Er Wa to sleep in, with a partition in the middle, and Xiao Duo to sleep on the other side.” This was the idea he had been thinking about for a while.

It's not that it's impossible, but Zhao Qinglan worried, "Da Wa and Er Wa are still young. What if they fall off the top bunk?"

"It's not that bad. There are still some obstacles around. Da Wa is the older brother, so he can sleep on the top bunk." Li Huai had already considered this.

"Why don't we discuss this with the children as well?" She didn't want the older two kids to think that Xiao Duo had taken over their room as soon as they arrived.

Although Li Huai didn't think it was a big deal, he agreed when Zhao Qinglan suggested discussing it.

During the meal, Zhao Qinglan and Li Huai exchanged a glance, and then Li Huai spoke.

"Big brother, second brother, Dad is thinking of dividing your room in the middle. You two can sleep in one bunk bed, and Xiaoduo can sleep on the other side. What do you think?"

Erwa's eyes lit up when he heard that he would be sleeping in a bunk bed.

"I'll sleep, I'll sleep," he said hastily.

The older child was a little slower to react, but he had long since given up on his little sister, Xiao Duo, and nodded upon hearing this. "Okay."

As for Xiaoduo, she also likes Dawa and Erwa very much. She was quite happy to hear that she could sleep on either side of the same room with them.

Seeing that the children were all alright, Li Huai and Zhao Qinglan both breathed a sigh of relief.

"If only I had money, I could buy a bigger house so that each of the children could have their own room," Zhao Qinglan sighed inwardly.

But she knew that even if she had the money now, it was still impossible.

As an active-duty military officer, Li Huai can only stay in the barracks during working hours. Moreover, the area around them is just ordinary villages and towns, so buying a nice house is not realistic.

She could only hope that Li Huai would get a promotion and be allocated a bigger house in the future.

After finishing their meal, Li Huai helped clean up and suddenly said, "The house we live in now was built many years ago. Back then, conditions were too difficult, so there weren't many houses built, and they were small. Now, the residential area is becoming more and more populated, and soon someone will be moving into the empty house next door."

"Who is it?" Zhao Qinglan asked immediately.

“He’s a battalion commander, just transferred here,” Li Huai replied.

Zhao Qinglan originally wanted to ask about that family, but when she heard that they had just been transferred, she figured Li Huai probably didn't know either, so she didn't ask.

Li Huai continued, "The leaders have also discussed it together. It's possible that when it gets warmer around the beginning of spring next year, they will build some more houses. At that time, we should be able to get a bigger house."

"Really!" Zhao Qinglan exclaimed excitedly.

"Really." Seeing her happy, Li Huai smiled as well.

They still have three young children and are worried about where to live, while their neighbors, Sun Shengli, have three grown children and have been worrying about housing for a long time.

The residents of the family quarters are hoping for more housing.

Those with small houses and large families wanted to live in bigger ones, while those who hadn't been allocated a house wanted one. It was this consensus that finally settled the matter.

With this big carrot hanging in front of her, Zhao Qinglan suddenly felt that having three children squeezed into one room wasn't a big deal, since they might move to a bigger house next year, right?

The room for Da Wa and the others hasn't been partitioned yet, and the metal bunk bed hasn't been brought in. So when it's time to sleep, Xiao Duo will naturally still sleep in Zhao Qinglan's room.

However, when Zhao Qinglan and Li Huai lay down, an ambiguous atmosphere began to spread.

Because of the unexpected incident that morning, the two of them felt uneasy as soon as they lay down, as their memories of the morning were instantly triggered.

Zhao Qinglan turned around and faced away from Li Huai.

Li Huai stared at Zhao Qinglan's retreating figure, his Adam's apple bobbing.

Xiao Duo fell asleep quickly after lying down on the bed, completely unaware of the complex thoughts of the two adults on the big bed.

Knowing that Zhao Qinglan was not asleep, Li Huai lowered his voice and said, "Qinglan, we are husband and wife."

Although he didn't do anything, he still felt awkward about the two of them being in this state.

"I know," Zhao Qinglan said in a muffled voice. "Xiao Duo is still here."

Li Huai let out a low laugh. "What are you thinking? I won't touch you."

Zhao Qinglan was worried that Li Huai would make a move on her, but now that he said he wouldn't, she breathed a sigh of relief, but she was also a little angry.

What does Li Huai mean by this? Is she really that unattractive to him? Or does he look down on her because she's been married before?

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and she even felt a little sad.

Seeing that Zhao Qinglan remained silent after he finished speaking, Li Huai felt that something was wrong.

"Qinglan?"

Zhao Qinglan remained silent.

"Qinglan? Are you asleep?" Li Huai asked again.

"It's none of your business."

Sensing something was off about her tone, Li Huai immediately turned her around.

"What are you doing? Let me go."

"Shh, Qinglan, do you want to wake Xiaoduo up?"

Zhao Qinglan immediately fell silent.

Li Huai turned her around and looked directly into her eyes.

In the darkness, only the moonlight provided a sliver of light.

"Qinglan, what's wrong with you?" Li Huai asked, puzzled.

"Nothing much," Zhao Qinglan said, biting her lip.

"Qinglan, if I said anything wrong or made you angry, tell me. How am I supposed to know if you don't tell me?" Li Huai sighed.

After a moment of silence, Zhao Qinglan suddenly spoke.

"Li Huai, do you... do you look down on me because I'm a divorcee?" she asked, sounding a little down.

"What?" Li Huai's eyes widened. "How could you think that? Why would I look down on you? Have you forgotten that I'm also divorced?" He was somewhat amused and exasperated.

Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he remembered what he had said earlier. "Is it because I said I wouldn't touch you?"

Zhao Qinglan didn't speak, but she didn't deny it either.

It was because of this? Li Huai chuckled quietly.

"Qinglan, I'm a normal man with needs too." After saying that, he pulled Zhao Qinglan into his arms.

Before Zhao Qinglan could even utter a sound, she was silenced by a warm sensation...