Chapter 18 Changfeng, next time you hug me, don't think so much.
Jiang Mingxue blinked slowly, and only when the cold wind blew on her face did she gradually perceive the reality outside the car windshield.
The SUV's matte black body resembled a silent reef, making his figure appear exceptionally tall and imposing. Under his gaze, she unbuckled her seatbelt, pushed open the door, and got out of the car.
Beneath her feet was the rough, gravelly ground. She walked step by step, gradually making out the cold, hard face beneath the flight helmet. It carried the sharpness and seriousness that hadn't faded from just leaving a mission. Short, dark stubble protruded from her jawline, adding a touch of genuine weariness to her usually neat and tidy appearance.
The shoulder lines of the flight suit were straight, and the fabric still carried the lingering metallic smell of the hangar. The epaulets gleamed gold in the bright sunlight.
Even in the scorching summer heat, his features remained sharp. He lowered his head slightly, and his voice was a little hoarse as he spoke: "Sorry I'm late."
"The troops are on an emergency mission and cannot communicate with the outside world," he said with a cold and apologetic tone.
He hasn't even gotten his phone yet. He drove straight to the only road leading out of Mengshan after getting off the plane, without even changing out of his flight suit, to wait for her there.
Jiang Mingxue stopped in front of him: "I guessed it. Actually, I wouldn't have blamed you even if you hadn't come today."
“I know.” He said calmly and solemnly, “but I will feel guilty for the rest of my life.”
Jiang Mingxue smiled slightly: "Then you should thank me for deliberately delaying until now."
Her tone was light and cheerful, her lips curved slightly upward, and a warm light seemed to fall into her eyes. The smile spread from the corners of her lips to the corners of her eyes and landed in his eyes.
The man's tense expression finally relaxed, and the fatigue from not closing his eyes for 48 consecutive hours at sea completely dissipated at this moment.
He raised his hand, suddenly wanting to hug her.
But when he touched the girl's gentle and pure face and her spotless white dress, he slowly put down.
He would never approach her while covered in sweat after training.
Even now, there is still a half-meter distance between them.
He suppressed the strange emotions in his heart, stood with his hands at his sides, and said, word by word, "My return date is uncertain, so I cannot go back with you. Please apologize to your parents on my behalf. I have already asked my superiors for permission, and I will personally visit them to apologize once I have completed my mission in Haining."
Jiang Mingxue subtly observed his actions, then smiled faintly, "Alright, I'll remember that for them."
"It's getting late, I'll get on the bus first, you should go home early too."
"Okay, be careful on the road."
"Okay, goodbye."
Jiang Mingxue turned and walked towards the car. Sunlight streamed through her hair, weaving a thin layer of gold on her shoulders. A few strands of hair were lifted by the wind, like light feathers floating in the warm light.
Rong Chengzhou stared at her retreating figure, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, veins bulging slightly. For the first time, the usually composed colonel felt a sense of powerlessness.
The slender figure that was walking away suddenly stopped.
She turned around and walked towards him.
The white jade pendant at his waist swayed gently as he watched the distance between them decrease from two meters to one meter, half a meter, an inch, and then—
She smiled brightly and threw herself into his arms.
The jade pendant touched the end of the seatbelt hanging from his waist, making a crisp clinking sound. Jiang Mingxue wrapped her arms around his lean waist, clearly feeling the man's stiffness and surprise.
She gently curved her lips into a smile, pressed her forehead against his chest, and felt his strong heartbeat.
Through the solid chest cavity, her voice fell softly and gently, as if soaked in warm water:
"Next time you hug me, don't think so much."
--
The journey from Haining to Beicheng is over 2,600 kilometers. The Yuanhe Medical Center's official vehicle first took them to the airport, which took an hour and a half by car, an hour to wait for the flight, and nearly four hours for the direct flight. From the airport to the medical center, there was another hour of traffic.
The journey took eight hours, and the group arrived in Beicheng at 7 p.m. Jiang Mingxue treated them to a seafood buffet, gave them three days off, and went home to rest herself.
It was already 10 p.m. when she got home, and the living room light was still on. Grandpa Jiang and her parents knew she was coming back today, so they were all forcing themselves to stay awake despite being sleepy.
Knowing she was exhausted, I chatted with her briefly and then told her to go upstairs to sleep.
The maid had already prepared hot water. Jiang Mingxue took off her clothes and lay in the bathtub. A layer of foam covered the tub, with rose petals that had been picked that morning floating on it. Her fatigue gradually eased.
The bathroom was filled with steam, and the warm yellow light was diffused into a hazy glow. A few strands of wet hair clung to her neck. Jiang Mingxue rested her head on the side of the bathtub, gently closed her eyes, and involuntarily recalled the hug she had given him before leaving that morning.
The stiff fabric of the flight suit rubbed against her shoulders, and the epaulets with metal buckles pressed against the side of her neck, but she didn't feel any pain.
She was nestled in his half-bent arms, able to hear the soft rustling of the lining of his flight suit, his slightly rapid breathing, and the faint scent of cedar mixed with the sea breeze wafting over her hair.
His hands were large, pressing firmly against her back through the thick fabric. When he released her, she saw that his jawline was taut, and there was a bit of dust on the collar of his flight suit, but the light in his eyes was hotter than the high-hanging sun.
When she left Mengshan, she always thought that she might never see him again.
But the moment she saw Rong Chengzhou, she suddenly thought of something else.
If a couple is destined to be together for life, they will surely meet again even if they part ways.
The bathing facilities in Mengshan were rudimentary, and Jiang Mingxue hadn't had a proper bath in a long time. She took a bath for an hour, and her already fair skin became somewhat pale from the soaking.
The bathroom and bedroom are combined. After taking a shower, she wrapped herself in a towel, dried her hair, and sat down at her desk.
The rooms in the house are large, even somewhat spacious. Bright and dazzling crystal chandeliers hang from the ceiling, and outside the windows is an elegant Chinese-style waterside pavilion, where koi carp swim in the pond.
There were no bothersome mosquitoes, no noisy cicadas, and no buzzing old-fashioned fans; I was still a little unaccustomed to it.
A message notification broke the silence of the bedroom. She snapped out of her thoughts, wiped her hands clean, and picked up her phone.
It was a message from Rong Chengzhou.
[CZ]: Are you home yet?
Jiang Mingxue typed back: 【Yes, I've arrived.】
【CZ】: Okay, get some rest.
[Jiang Mingxue]: Good night.
That was the end of it.
Neither of them are the type to initiate conversations, and now that they are 2,600 kilometers apart, they have even less to talk about.
The following day, the entire Jiang family held a welcome dinner for her, including Jiang Huaijing and Shi Yunshu, who had just returned from a seaside vacation.
The Jiang family has a family dinner once a week, but Jiang Mingxue used to always immerse herself in the clinic and often didn't go home on weekends. This time, it was a rare occasion to get everyone together, so Su Yun specially hired a five-star chef to prepare a huge feast, ordered a cake, and prepared red wine. The welcome dinner was very grand.
In the morning, Jiang Mingxue explained the situation of Yuanhe Medical Clinic to Grandpa Jiang in detail. Jiang Xingquan sat on the sofa and kept praising, "You did a great job, Mingxue. Thank you for your hard work on this round of clinics."
Jiang Mingxue slowly closed the notebook: "It's not hard work, it's all what I should do."
He then picked up the blue-and-white porcelain cup on the coffee table and took a sip of tea.
Just then, Jiang Huaijing led Shi Yunshu into the room. Upon entering the living room and seeing the room full of balloons and ribbons, he clicked his tongue sarcastically, "Why didn't you prepare any of these for me when I came back from my business trip?"
Grandpa Jiang turned his head and glanced at him unhappily: "When you go on a business trip, you are treated like royalty by a hundred people. When your sister goes on a business trip, she suffers more than when she goes to the countryside, all to bring honor to our Jiang family. If you want such high treatment, you can go to the next medical tour in Haining."
Jiang Huaijing scoffed dismissively, too lazy to argue with the old man.
After looking around and not finding Rong Chengzhou, she turned to Jiang Mingxue and asked, "Sister, hasn't brother-in-law come back yet?"
Like the older generation in the Jiang family, he had never met his renowned Air Force brother-in-law.
He had initially intended to have someone dig up some information, but the personal information of military officers is a state secret, so he couldn't do it. He had only seen their marriage certificate; it was official and distant, far less sweet than the smiles he had when he and his wife got married.
Jiang Mingxue beckoned Shi Yunshu to sit next to her, then said to him, "He still has things to do and won't be back for a while."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Huaijing frowned deeply.
"Why do you look like that?" Jiang Mingxue asked.
Jiang Huaijing sighed deeply, looking utterly disappointed: "What's wrong with you two? I was hoping to have a baby this year, but it looks like that's not going to happen."
Jiang Mingxue: "?"
Old Master Jiang instructed the housekeeper, "Find someone to throw him out."
Shi Yunshu quickly grabbed her hand and apologized, "Sister, don't pay any attention to him, he forgot to take his medicine when he went out today."
This "holding the baby" obviously refers to holding the baby she gave birth to.
She remembered that she met Rong Chengzhou because Jiang Huaijing came to the clinic to urge her to get married and have children, since her sister-in-law, Shi Yunshu, had a heart condition and was not suitable for pregnancy. The task of carrying on the Jiang family line naturally fell on her shoulders, which was why her family was pressuring her to get married so much. Her unreliable younger brother was waiting for her to have a child and take it home to raise.
But no one knew that neither she nor Rong Chengzhou planned to have children.
It wasn't that she was against having children, but rather that she never considered having a child with Rong Chengzhou.
One of them has a physical defect, and the other is sexually frigid; they will never be able to have children in their lives.
Of course, she didn't dare tell her family these things yet, fearing that they would be too shocked to know that the Jiang family line was about to end.
Jiang Mingxue lowered her eyes and smiled good-naturedly: "It's okay, I really don't like it if he doesn't have a sharp tongue."
The welcoming banquet started promptly at noon. As the head of the family, Old Master Jiang said a few words of praise for Jiang Mingxue before starting to eat.
The Jiang family was small and had simple relationships, so they didn't have many rules about meals. The six of them would eat and chat at the same time.
Su Yun had only taken two bites when she couldn't help but sigh, "Sigh, if Cheng Zhou were here, our family would truly be complete."
Jiang Mingxue put down her chopsticks and said seriously, "After we take the group photo, I'll ask the photographer to Photoshop his head onto his wedding photo."
Su Yun chuckled, "You silly child, how did you learn to be so cheeky from Huai Jing?"
Jiang Mingxue lowered her eyes. She wasn't just being cheeky; she had thought it through carefully.
"Sister, you've only seen each other a few times in a year and then separated again. Don't you miss your husband? I have to fly back if I can't see my wife for two days." Jiang Huaijing asked.
Ignoring his subtle displays of affection, Jiang Mingxue replied earnestly, "I thought about it last night, but I haven't had time to think about it today."
She hadn't thought about her husband at all last year. With so many patients at the clinic, she had to manage hundreds of branches of Yuanhe Clinic across the country, as well as see patients at the main clinic, conduct regular rounds, and give lectures. She was so busy that she didn't even have time to eat, let alone think about him.
Jiang Huaijing shook his head and sighed, "Your marriage of convenience that blossomed into love is even more terrifying than our broken marriage reconciliation. Ouch—wife, why are you pinching me?"
Shi Yunshu hid her hands underneath and whispered a threat to him: "You'd better shut up."
"Okay, then."
Grandpa Jiang spoke up at the right moment: "Although Huaijing's words are not very pleasant to hear, Mingxue, you really need to urge Chengzhou a little. In two more years, you will miss the best age for having children. I see that other soldiers get a month's leave to visit their families every year. How come Chengzhou is so busy that he can't even go home?"
In the past, Jiang Mingxue would have simply replied perfunctorily, "Yes, I will talk to him about it."
But this time was different. She looked up and retorted, "His rank is higher, so of course he'll be busier."
Grandpa Jiang fell silent: "Sigh... that's true. Becoming the grandson-in-law of an Air Force colonel at the age of thirty is something most people wouldn't even dare to dream of."
"..."
The entire meal revolved around her and Rong Chengzhou, with endless questions. This was another reason why she didn't often go home, besides being busy with the clinic.
Jiang Mingxue buried her head in her crucian carp soup, thinking to herself that she wouldn't be going home next weekend.
Sure enough, the pressure to get married was followed by pressure to have children. If Rong Chengzhou hadn't been a soldier, her family probably would have even considered making her divorce and remarry.
After lunch, everyone took a short nap. Su Yun watched the servants tidy up the house. Shi Yunshu and Jiang Huaijing played chess with Old Master Jiang, while Jiang Mingxue went to the herb garden in the backyard to look at the medicinal herbs. She had accumulated a lot of planting experience in Haining and planned to compare and learn from the herbs grown in Beicheng to see what areas needed improvement.
The afternoon sun was blazing, but there was a lot of water in the backyard. The hot wind blew across the cool pond, and it wasn't hot after it cooled down.
She sat in the pavilion, carefully studying and pondering the photos she had taken in Haining and the notes she had made.
Just as she was engrossed in her work, a servant suddenly rushed in to report, interrupting her:
"Miss, Madam Rong has come to visit you. Madam asked me to call you over quickly!"
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