That night, Shen Huaichuan lay stiffly on the bed, not daring to move at all. Every second felt like being slowly simmered over a low flame. He finally made it to 5:30.
He had just propped himself up when Zhou Qiqi beside him groggily opened her eyes, her voice soft and sweet.
Where are you going?
"I'll go get you some goat milk."
Shen Huaichuan's voice was hoarse.
Zhou Qiqi was still in a state between sleep and wakefulness, her consciousness completely unclear.
She subconsciously reached out and grabbed his sleeve, pulling him closer to her, muttering something under her breath.
"No need, I can't bear to see you work so hard. I hired a woman who pulls a donkey cart to help me go back and forth to Daxing Village to get milk. Let's sleep a little longer."
After saying that, she turned over and finally pulled her calf off Shen Huaichuan, letting out a soft, even snoring sound.
Shen Huaichuan stood stiffly, his Adam's apple bobbing, unable to close his eyes, his mind filled with her words.
"I can't bear to see you work so hard."
When Shen Huaichuan stepped into the city military district conference room at eight o'clock in the morning, his eyes were dark and he looked exhausted. Even his military uniform looked a bit listless.
"Commander Shen, you weren't like this when we were on a mission a few days ago. What's wrong? Are you sick?"
The sharp-eyed commander of the Second Regiment immediately came over, his face full of concern.
"You don't understand. Commander Shen just got married not long ago. Newlyweds, you know, absence makes the heart grow fonder. He definitely didn't sleep well last night."
Before Shen Huaichuan could answer, several young officers winked and joked with him.
"Oh, I see. My wife told me that Commander Shen's wife is incredibly beautiful. She looks like a rose in a red dress!"
Everyone joined in the teasing, and the conference room was filled with laughter.
"Commander Shen is truly blessed!"
"yes..."
Shen Huaichuan, unusually, didn't have a stern face; there was even a faint smile on his lips.
Everyone had never seen this "living Yama" smile before, which made them even more curious and fond of Zhou Qiqi.
Suddenly, a lighthearted but not loud joke broke the peaceful atmosphere in the meeting room.
"It's good to have a rose at home, but I'm afraid it might bloom too brightly and climb up the wall, attracting bees and butterflies..."
The speaker was Liao Aimin, the head of the security department, who was also Li Hongjuan's husband.
Shen Huaichuan's face instantly darkened, his eyes turning as cold as ice as he swept them towards Liao Aimin.
"Section Chief Liao, what do you mean by this?"
Liao Aimin flinched at his gaze, her voice unconsciously lowering.
"It's nothing. I just wanted to remind Commander Shen to keep a close eye on his wife. There are some things you don't know, so don't be misled by others..."
He learned some things last night and intended to remind Shen Huaichuan, but he didn't actually want to have a conflict with him.
Unexpectedly, before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Shen Huaichuan's stern voice.
"Shut up!"
Shen Huaichuan slammed his hand heavily on the conference table, making the enamel mug on the table vibrate loudly with a "bang," and the meeting minutes book flew half a meter away with a "thud."
He suddenly stood up, the hem of his military uniform billowing in the wind, and the chilling aura emanating from him made everyone present hold their breath.
"Section Chief Liao, I don't care what you know or what you're guessing. My wife, Shen Huaichuan's wife, is none of your business to talk nonsense about!"
Shen Huaichuan is a living devil in the military region. He has been the top all-around fighter in the military region for several consecutive years. He is a favorite of the leaders and his future prospects are limitless.
Liao Aimin dared not provoke him, and immediately became so embarrassed that he dared not say anything.
Shen Huaichuan could keep the men in the military region in check, but he couldn't stop the gossiping tongues of the wives in the military dependents' quarters.
That morning, rumors were rampant in the military dependents' area.
In the morning, as Deng Cuixiang passed by the big tree in the central square, she heard several groups of women picking vegetables talking amongst themselves, muttering the name Zhou Qiqi.
She wanted to know what they were talking about, so she leaned closer to ask.
But those people knew that she and Zhou Qiqi were close, so as soon as they saw her approach, they immediately shut their mouths and just kept picking vegetables.
This greatly worried Deng Cuixiang. After thinking it over and over, she came up with a solution.
That is, to change into inconspicuous clothes and go to the outhouse to squat.
I squatted for a whole hour, and my legs went numb.
I finally managed to get the whole story from the military wives, albeit in bits and pieces.
After dropping her child off at school at noon, she rushed to Zhou Qiqi's house to deliver the message.
When Deng Cuixiang knocked on the door, Zhou Qiqi was busy in the kitchen.
Qin Lei had previously told him that Shen Huaichuan's favorite food was fried dough sticks.
Shen Huaichuan has been away on a mission for several days, and he probably only eats compressed biscuits.
Zhou Qiqi didn't say anything last night, but she had already decided to make him fried dough sticks this afternoon.
Last time she made the pure leavened dough version, this time she's going to make something different.
This recipe was taught to her by the breakfast stall owner where she used to work. Adding half of the dough to the hot water makes the fried dough sticks fluffy and hollow in the middle. They taste crispy and fragrant, with a crispy exterior and a soft interior.
She had just boiled a pot of water and was starting to make the dough balls.
She rolled up her sleeves and slowly poured boiling water onto the flour, stirring it rapidly with bamboo chopsticks. The rising steam blurred her focused expression.
She was slowly kneading the dough, while Deng Cuixiang was anxiously chattering away.
"Those people say that you seduced Lei Ming, which ruined Li Hongjuan's sister's blind date!"
"They say someone saw you get out of Lei Ming's car!"
"Some people also said that a few days ago, during a heavy rainstorm, they saw Lei Ming running in the rain, shouting 'Seven' as he ran!"
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