Cheng Ran only stayed in the hospital for two more days; if it had been just one more day, he wouldn't have stayed.
Fortunately, his leg injury had almost healed and he was able to walk again. Jiang Wanqing and the doctor then completed the discharge procedures for him and took him home to recuperate.
On the day they returned, the house was dusty because no one had lived there for a while, and they needed to start a fire again. Cheng Ran wanted to help, but she was worried about his injury and refused to let him.
"I'll go help you start the fire."
"Go away! You stay in bed!"
Jiang Wanqing pressed down on his arm to prevent him from lifting the covers and getting up at any moment.
"I'll just ask the neighbor for a coal briquette, you don't need to go out. I'll just sprinkle some water on the dust in the house and wipe it clean later, it's not heavy work, don't make things too difficult for me."
She did a lot of these chores in her past life, but in this life, she hardly did any. With her parents' love and Cheng Ran's help, he did many things himself, so she didn't have to lift a finger. Now that he's injured, it's her turn to take care of him.
He watched as she tied her hair into a bun, rolled up her sleeves, put on an apron, and headed to the neighbor's house with the fire tongs in hand.
She wasn't familiar with the people here, and Cheng Ran wondered if she could borrow anything successfully.
But she returned shortly after she left. He thought to himself, "Just as I thought, I should go and help her."
She glared at him and said, "Lie down right now! Why are you sitting up? I haven't gone yet. I came back to get something."
Going to unfamiliar people's homes empty-handed to borrow things is not a good idea. Fortunately, she still has some local specialties and snacks like candy that she brought from Beijing. She can share them with her neighbors depending on the situation. Maybe they will be willing to take care of her for a while.
Watching her grab a handful of candy and take some other trinkets out, Cheng Ran sighed. She really had a lot of ideas; he had been worrying too much.
It's true that if you take a gift to someone's house to borrow something, even if you can't borrow it, you'll at least get a smile in return.
Jiang Wanqing first knocked on the door of the family member who lived closest to her. The little girl with two pigtails, who looked about seven or eight years old, opened the door and innocently held the door, looking up at her.
"Pretty auntie, is there something you need?"
"Such a sweet little mouth. I wonder if my little girl will be like this when she grows up." Jiang Wanqing couldn't move when she saw the cute little girl. Before she even asked to borrow anything, she stuffed a handful of candy into the girl's arms and squatted down.
"Little friend, are your parents home?"
"Yes, my mom is knitting inside. I'll go call her for you. Thank you for the candy, Auntie." The little girl's voice was still childish.
"Okay, no rush, run slowly."
Before the little girl could call out, her mother heard the noise, held a half-knitted sweater in her hand, and came out to check the situation without stopping.
"Who is it? What do you need?"
Jiang Wanqing glanced at the woman and greeted her softly.
"Hello, sister-in-law, I'm from Cheng Ran's house next door. We're out of fire, could you please borrow a coal briquette?"
The woman had just opened her mouth when the girl tugged at her sleeve.
"Mom, the pretty auntie gave me a lot of candy, let's lend it to her."
"You little glutton..."
The woman poked her daughter's forehead, and when she looked up at Jiang Wanqing again, her expression softened considerably.
"So he's from Commander Cheng's family. He's been discharged from the hospital?"
"Yes, he just got back today. I was thinking of making him some soup and cooking a couple of dishes to help him recover, but unfortunately, we don't have a stove at home..."
"Hey, that's easy. Just come in and grab a hot coal briquette from my stove. It'll be hot in less than two minutes."
"Thank you, sister-in-law. I'll take my leave now."
Jiang Wanqing followed the path the woman pointed out and went inside. The woman followed behind her and put down her sweater.
"I'm here to help you. Don't be so polite with me, just call me Sister Liu. You've had a tough time too. Although Commander Cheng lives alone, we all know she has a good wife. Didn't you come here before? It's a pity I wasn't here then, I only heard about it from others."
The older woman had a very nice personality, and Jiang Wanqing chatted with her from time to time. Once she got a coal ball with a roaring fire in her hand, she quickly went back to start a fire and cook.
Cheng Ran, unable to stay still, got down and slowly helped by spraying the table with a small watering can and wiping it.
She hurried over and took the tools from his hands, somewhat helplessly.
"Didn't I tell you to rest? Why did you get out of bed again?"
"The doctor said that more exercise is good for recovery, and I can't stay in bed all the time." He looked at her innocently and blinked.
Jiang Wanqing was speechless. Well, she couldn't argue with him. As long as he didn't make any big movements, she would let him be. It would be good if he moved around a bit.
She prepared two dishes and a soup, and the two of them sat around the small dining table to eat. He then brought up her work.
"When are you going out on business? Don't worry about me, I'll behave myself."
He said it as if he were a little kid. Jiang Wanqing was touched and served him a bowl of soup.
"I've arranged to meet with our local partners in the next couple of days to discuss things."
"Oh, that's good."
It's good that he didn't delay her plans; he was even worried that he might be a burden to her.
"By the way, do your parents know about your injury?"
Cheng Ran shook his head as he ate, and Jiang Wanqing raised an eyebrow, indicating that he didn't know.
"There's no need to tell them; it will only cause them more trouble. As long as I'm here, that's enough."
Those were his parents. Since he had decided to do this, he must have had his reasons. Jiang Wanqing didn't say anything and just nodded.
After dinner, the two listened to the radio for a while, and then she helped him to the bathroom to take a shower.
In the southwest, it gets dark early. Surrounded by mountains, the sun quickly sets, and the light naturally dims.
The doctor advised him to rest more, so Jiang Wanqing helped him to bed early.
He wanted to sleep outside as before, but she refused.
"no!"
"Do you think I should be protected by you?" Cheng Ran asked sadly.
"No, that's not true. I have to get up early tomorrow. If you sleep outside, I'll disturb your rest. Didn't you say you didn't want to bother me? Now you're being disobedient?"
"Alright, alright," Jiang Wanqing said, managing to subdue him with just a few words, leaving him speechless. He obediently moved further inside, a smile playing on her lips. She lay down with him, covered him with the blanket, and patted him gently as if coaxing a child.
"That's right."
She wouldn't mention that she was worried he might accidentally fall out of bed in the middle of the night while sleeping outside.
The night was peaceful, but in the latter half of the night, some sounds of harmonious life came from next door. Jiang Wanqing was awakened and turned to look at Cheng Ran, who was still sleeping soundly. She guessed it was because he had taken medicine, which contained sedative ingredients.
She breathed a slight sigh of relief, afraid of upsetting him; thankfully…
However, she had only closed her eyes for a short while when Cheng Ran opened them. He was a soldier, and his senses were naturally sharp, both in sight and hearing.
Before Jiang Wanqing was around, he would think of her and find some comfort in hearing even the slightest thing about her, but now...
He turned around and gently pulled her into his arms: "I'm sorry..."
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