Dusk was falling.

The sea breeze, carrying a damp and cold air, kept seeping into people's bodies, and Ling Huanwu wrapped the little baby in her arms even tighter.

Xiao Bao's burning hot face was pressed against her wrist, making her heart race with anxiety.

Zhou Jiuzhen, carrying Da Bao and Er Bao on one arm, his broad right shoulder slightly weighed down by the two little bundles of joy, did not falter in the slightest, and together with Ling Huanwu headed straight for the military doctor's temporary tent.

The tent was crowded with islanders wrapped in coats.

The military doctor was busy taking people's temperatures when he looked up and saw them holding three little children with flushed faces. He listened with a stethoscope, looked at their throats, and concluded, "They must have caught a chill last night. The fever reducers were all distributed after the storm surge. Go back and boil some warm water for a bath to cool them down. Be careful not to let them get cold again!"

Before he could say much, he was surrounded by the next patient. Zhou Jiuzhen frowned, pulled the child closer to his arms, and turned to walk back.

Back at the wooden shed, Ling Huanwu poured some spiritual spring water for the three children, hoping it could cure all ailments.

She borrowed a large wooden tub from her neighbor's aunt and was about to give the three children a bath to cool them down when she heard the man beside her say in a deep voice, "I'll bathe them later, don't watch."

"Why?" Ling Huanwu was stunned.

Zhou Jiuzhen's ears turned slightly red, and he forced out a sentence, "You're my wife. What kind of behavior is it to look at other men with their bare bottoms? Be careful you don't get a sty."

Ling Huanwu almost laughed out of anger, "They're just toddlers, what could I possibly see..."

After talking for a while, she still couldn't resist Zhou Jiuzhen's insistence with his glaring eyes, so she had no choice but to sit on a small stool outside the wooden shed and listen to the sounds.

Soon, the sound of water being poured from a wooden bucket came from inside, followed by Da Bao's wailing, "Waaah! It's cold..."

"What are you yelling about? How can freshly boiled water get cold?"

Zhou Jiuzhen's voice betrayed his panic.

Then came a muffled "plop" from the second child, followed by the little one's babyish scream, "Uncle, water got in my nose!"

Ling Huanwu could no longer sit still. She pushed open the wooden door and went in, only to find a chaotic scene.

Zhou Jiuzhen was seen frantically grabbing Erbao by the back of his collar, while Xiaobao's little legs were still thrashing around in the wooden tub, splashing water all over the floor.

Da Bao huddled in the corner of the bucket, his hair wet in clumps, tears streaming down his face.

Xiao Bao was the worst off, coughing constantly from the choking, his little face turning red.

"Get out of the way!" Ling Huanwu quickly stepped forward, reached out and hugged Xiaobao, gently wiping the water off his face with a clean cloth. She then turned around and moved Dabao to the middle of the tub, testing the water temperature. "The temperature is just right. Don't be afraid, Auntie will wash you."

She deftly rubbed her eldest child's arm, her fingertips carefully avoiding the child's delicate skin, while using her other hand to steady her struggling younger child, all the while humming an off-key nursery rhyme: "Little duck, swimming and swimming, all clean and no fever..."

Zhou Jiuzhen stood there, stunned. The three little ones who had been crying and fussing were now obediently letting Ling Huanwu do as she pleased.

Xiao Bao even reached out and tugged at her clothes, and Da Bao stopped sobbing and looked at her with his round eyes.

The silvery moonlight shone through the gaps in the wooden shed, falling on Ling Huanwu's smiling profile and the tips of her water-dampened hair, revealing an indescribable tenderness.

"So you can take care of children?" Zhou Jiuzhen wiped the water off his face, his voice softening.

Ling Huanwu felt a little guilty; she couldn't very well say that she was the mother of three children in her past life.

She was still washing her second child's feet. "I used to bathe my younger cousins ​​at home, so my skills in taking care of little ones are much better than your rough hands. Don't try to be a hero next time, look what you've done to the kids."

The splashing water in the wooden tub gradually subsided, leaving only the occasional giggles of the three children, mixed with Ling Huanwu's gentle coaxing, which dispelled most of the damp chill in the wooden shed.

Zhou Jiuzhen watched this scene, then quietly retreated to the doorway. As he watched, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up in a smile.

But when he saw the three little ones crawling out of the wooden tub naked, his face instantly darkened.

"Uncle will help you get dressed!"

Zhou Jiuzhen quickly grabbed three small towels and wrapped them around the three babies' private parts, then pushed Ling Huanwu out of the wooden shed.

Ling Huanwu had no choice but to sit on a small stool by the door, propping her chin up and looking at the moon in the sky.

A helicopter was parked on the drying ground not far away.

That was the plane that Qin Jinshen flew when he was impersonating Song Panmei.

Not far away, several pilots were jogging around the drying ground at night. Their uniform voices were loud and clear, yet they pierced her heart like needles, causing a dull ache.

To this day, they still have no news of Song Panmei.

Qin Jinshen, the only one who knew his whereabouts, has also disappeared.

The thought that Song Panmei might have met with misfortune because of her made her feel so guilty that she almost wanted to die.

A shadow fell over her head, and Ling Huanwu looked up to meet Zhou Jiuzhen's gaze, forcing a smile at him, "Are the children all washed? Then I'll go take their temperatures and coax them to sleep, they'll be fine the next day."

She went into the wooden shed as she spoke.

Zhou Jiuzhen stared blankly at the helicopter not far away, his dark pupils filled with worry, before he stepped back into the large tent where the military doctor was staying.

By this time, almost all the patients had left, and outside the tent, the military doctor was eating cold braised pig's trotters, his eyes drooping with sleep.

As soon as Zhou Jiuzhen arrived, the military doctor, his eyelids drooping with exhaustion, looked at him and asked groggily, "What's wrong, Battalion Commander Zhou? Has your nephew's fever not broken?"

“No,” Zhou Jiuzhen shook his head, sitting next to the military doctor with his brows furrowed tightly, “I wanted to ask if you have any medicine that can help me sleep without harming the baby in my belly?”

The medic was instantly wide awake, his face full of disgust. "Your wife is only two months pregnant, and you want to sleep? Are you crazy? With your build and stamina, how could you possibly avoid harming the baby in her belly! You should wait until at least three months..."

"What nonsense are you spouting!"

Zhou Jiuzhen's face instantly darkened. "I mean, my wife has been having insomnia lately. Is there any medicine that won't harm the fetus?"

"This...this..."

The military doctor, upon hearing Zhou Jiuzhen's explanation, blushed deeply. "I thought you couldn't hold it in and wanted to go see your child..."

"What the hell! What could I possibly see? Just give me the medicine right now!"

After swallowing a cold pig's trotter, the military doctor spread his hands helplessly and said, "We don't have any medicine here right now. Comrade Su is covered in injuries, and I don't even have anti-inflammatory drugs for her, let alone medicine to treat her insomnia?"

He patted Zhou Jiuzhen on the shoulder and gave him some advice.

"However, you can let your wife work a little harder and do more chores, then she should be able to sleep at night! For example... understand?"

The military doctor stared at Zhou Jiuzhen with a playful expression, his eyes asking if he understood.

Zhou Jiuzhen nodded as if he understood, and his ears turned red when he stood up.

The military doctor nodded, watching Zhou Jiuzhen's departing figure, quite satisfied that he understood.

If the military doctor knew how Zhou Jiuzhen interpreted his suggestion, he would probably want to sew his mouth shut!