"Because you want every night to be your wedding night, right? Haha..."

Ling Huanwu teased Zhou Jiuzhen with a smile until Zhou Jiuzhen stared at her with a red face, making her feel uneasy all over. Only then did she belatedly realize her mistake and obediently shut her mouth.

Can't you remember the good things about me for a moment?

Zhou Jiuzhen sighed helplessly, helped her remove the phoenix crown, and turned his face away, full of grievance.

It was as if his sincere love had been misunderstood and easily trampled upon.

Ling Huanwu was speechless, feeling like a scumbag who had flirted with an innocent old man.

"Alright, alright, I was wrong. Jiu Zhen and I never had any such thoughts. We'll sleep in separate rooms when we get back to the island. From now on, we'll just have a pure revolutionary friendship, how about that?"

She watched with a straight face as the aggrieved expression on his face gradually cracked from being teased, and couldn't help but laugh until tears streamed down her face.

Enraged, Zhou Jiuzhen hoisted the still-laughing woman onto his shoulder and headed towards the Spirit Spring Pool.

"Keep laughing, or I'll prick you with my stubble!"

Beside the Spirit Spring Pool, there was a swing, perhaps made by Aunt Liu, on which Zhou Jiuzhen placed Ling Huanwu, who was on his shoulder, onto the swing.

He picked up a gourd ladle and scooped up water from the spiritual spring pool.

He held Ling Huanwu's hands and immersed them in the spiritual spring water.

Watching the redness and frostbite on her hands gradually heal under the spiritual spring water, Zhou Jiuzhen laughed at himself for having just gone to buy face cream.

It's nighttime inside, just like outside.

But unlike the outside world, the starry sky here is breathtakingly beautiful.

Zhou Jiuzhen held Ling Huanwu in his arms, kicked off with his long legs, and the swing began to sway gently.

The wooden frame creaked, and the wisps of hair from her hair brushed against his neck, tickling him like a soft feather, making his heart tremble.

The two looked up at the dark blue sky, which was like a splash of thick ink, studded with stars like scattered diamonds, so dense that it seemed as if you could reach out and scoop them up.

The swing swung higher and higher, then slowly fell back down, as if greeting the stars in the sky.

"Why do you store so many supplies in your warehouse? Is it for some kind of precaution?"

When Zhou Jiuzhen suddenly asked about this, Ling Huanwu felt a pang in her heart, and all her mood for appreciating the night view vanished.

Her heart ached whenever she thought of Zhou Jiuzhen's deathly pale face in the ice coffin in her previous life.

"I stocked up on some because I was worried about some natural disaster, just in case!"

She couldn't very well say, "Actually, I came back from my previous life. Not long after, there will be another storm surge, and you will lose your life in that disaster as well."

But who would believe her?

*

It was evening.

Before the fishing boat even arrived at Wantan Island, a group of aunties from the cooperative were already waiting eagerly at the dock.

Ling Huanwu walked ahead.

Zhou Jiuzhen followed behind, carrying a heavy bag of money and cloth coupons.

The women from the cooperative surrounded her as soon as they saw her, asking, "How is it? Do the city folks like our work clothes?"

"Yes, I've heard that the city's garment factory has a very good reputation. Will people approve of the clothes from our small workshop?"

The aunties chatted anxiously, each one speaking in turn.

This first order was crucial to the future of the cooperative, and everyone was filled with anxiety.

Looking at the identical worried faces of the women, Ling Huanwu smiled and held up another contract high in her hand, "Our Wantan Island Cooperative's first batch of work clothes sold out, and now the supply and marketing cooperative has placed a second order for a total of two thousand sets of work clothes. Comrades, our cooperative has finally been established!"

She held the cooperative order form stamped with a red seal in her hand, her fingertips burning hot.

The figures on that table are enough for the cooperative to survive the entire winter and can even provide each household with two feet of new cloth.

"It's done? Huanwu really got it for us?" Second Aunt came over first, her rough hands snatching the order, reading it word by word, her voice trembling like a leaf.

Third Aunt, with her sharp eyes, had already noticed the large red stamp at the end. She slapped her thigh and exclaimed, "My God! It's true! Our women's cooperative has really latched onto the supply and marketing cooperative!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the aunties who had been watching suddenly fell silent.

Just as Ling Huanwu was about to laugh at them for not saying anything, someone suddenly grabbed her collar from behind, and then with a sudden burst of strength in her waist, she floated up into the air without her feet touching the ground!

"Ouch!" she exclaimed, opening her eyes to find herself being lifted up and down by seven or eight hands, tossed into the air.

The wind lifted the corners of his blue cotton jacket, revealing the waistband of his floral trousers underneath, which made the aunties laugh so hard they almost fell over.

"Our Comrade Ling is a lucky star!"

"That's right! Now we've got our winter shoes sorted!"

"Throw it higher! Let everyone, young and old, see our hero!"

The time she threw it the highest, Ling Huanwu saw the men on the distant ridge of the field straighten up to look, and Zhou Jiuzhen, who was squeezed out of the crowd and far away, was raising his hand as if to catch her. She was so scared that her face turned pale.

The wind carried the salty smell of the sea, along with the fresh scent of soap on the aunties' clothes.

Ling Huanwu couldn't help but laugh along, her laughter carried far by the wind.

When she returned to the crowd, the ends of her braids had come undone, but the aunties pulled and tugged at them, stuffing them into their arms to keep them warm, and then braided them back into pigtails.

Zhou Jiuzhen squeezed through the crowd, terrified. He checked Ling Huanwu from all sides before finally relaxing and yelled at the aunties, "Don't do this again! You hurt my Ling, are you going to take responsibility?"

The aunties weren't angry at all; instead, they burst into laughter, saying things like, "Commander Zhou spoils his wife," and "Commander Zhou is afraid we'll break his wife," until the two people surrounded by them blushed deeply.

As soon as Zhou Jiuzhen turned his head, he saw Ling Huanwu secretly looking at him with a smile, and he felt completely melted.

The anger that was originally meant to be vented on the aunties vanished instantly.

The woman's lips curled slightly, revealing a small portion of her rounded lower teeth.

Her neck arched back in a slender, white curve, and even the smile on her lips seemed to soften unconsciously.

The surrounding laughter suddenly became a blurred background sound.

All he could see was her dazzling smile, like icicles hanging from the eaves, dazzling in the sunlight, yet wrapped in a touch of sweetness, making his heart itch.

Zhou Jiuzhen's Adam's apple bobbed, and a ridiculous idea suddenly popped into his head.

I wanted to grab her chin in front of everyone and swallow that alluring smile.

Once the thought popped into his head, he couldn't suppress it. He even planned out his actions, and his fingertips tightened.

Zhou Jiuzhen gave a helpless, bitter smile.

He's truly finished now; he wants to kiss her all the time.

He grabbed Ling Huanwu and pushed through the crowd, wanting to rush home.

To my surprise, as soon as I pushed through the crowd, I saw an annoying figure.

Zhao Jingxiang stood outside the crowd, a cigarette in his hand, his gaze fixed on the two men with a cool, unwavering intensity, his eyes filled with arrogance and cynicism.

Standing beside him were several soldiers in military uniforms with serious expressions.

Zhou Jiuzhen immediately recognized the man standing in the middle as the division chief of staff.

The chief of staff, accompanied by several soldiers, slowly walked towards him, and a document was laid out in front of Zhou Jiuzhen.

"Comrade Zhou Jiuzhen, we have received a report that you are suspected of framing a public official. We are now taking you back for investigation!"