“Boss, I brought the car over for you.”
Wang Chengguang had already arrived driving the vehicle. He was one of the three guys from the cafeteria who got punished with twenty laps carrying weights after teasing Lu Mingye and Shen Ruanruan.
The moment Shen Ruanruan and Lu Mingye reached the main gate, he quickly jumped out of the car. Seeing Shen Ruanruan, he grinned broadly and waved.
“Hello, Sister-in-law! I’m Wang Chengguang, one of the boss’s men from Sharp Blade Company. If you ever need anything in the future, just tell me.”
The moment he finished speaking, he noticed Lu Mingye shooting him a cold glance.
Wang Chengguang shrank his neck a little. He hadn’t said anything wrong, had he? Why did the boss look like he was stealing his wife away?
Shen Ruanruan didn’t notice the silent exchange between the two men. The moment she came out, her attention had already been captured by the military jeep, and her eyes kept drifting toward it. Hearing Wang Chengguang’s greeting, she snapped back to herself and smiled politely.
“Hello to you too. Sorry for troubling you. Once we get the house sorted out, come over for a meal.”
“No trouble at all, no trouble at all. Sister-in-law, Boss, I’ll head back to training then.”
Wang Chengguang immediately slipped away.
…
Shen Ruanruan’s gaze instantly locked onto the military jeep in front of her. It was a BJ-212 jeep, painted dark green all over. The front featured a three-bar grille paired with two round headlights.
In one word: handsome.
Her eyes lit up immediately.
“Lu Mingye, when did you borrow the car?”
“Yesterday.”
Lu Mingye walked over to the passenger side and opened the door for her.
“Get in.”
Shen Ruanruan didn’t move. Instead, she looked at him with a pleading expression.
“Can I drive? I got my driver’s license when I was eighteen. I used to drive around school and the hospital too. My skills are actually pretty good. Really.”
The sentry nearby glanced at her in surprise after hearing that.
What exactly was this sister-in-law’s background?
She even had a driver’s license?
And from the way she mentioned school and the hospital, she sounded anything but ordinary. But judging from her appearance, she didn’t really look like someone with amazing driving skills. The only question was whether Deputy Regiment Commander Lu could bear to refuse her.
But Lu Mingye showed no surprise at all. He walked over to the driver’s seat.
“Get in. I’ll adjust the seat for you.”
Neither Shen Ruanruan nor the sentry expected him to agree so easily.
“Lu Mingye, you really trust me?”
Shen Ruanruan walked over and was helped into the jeep by him. The jeep sat pretty high off the ground, and without a side step she had to grab onto the man’s arm and use force to climb up.
After sitting down, Lu Mingye bent over and leaned toward her, preparing to reach past her body. Frightened, she quickly leaned backward.
“What are you doing?”
The man paused. The two of them were so close their breaths practically tangled together.
“You think you can reach the pedals? Lean back. I’m adjusting the seat for you.”
So he was just adjusting the seat.
Shen Ruanruan let out a sigh of relief.
“Just tell me where it is. I can do it myself.”
The man glanced at her without saying anything, then stood outside the car door with his arms folded, smiling faintly.
“There’s a lever near your right foot. Pull it outward hard.”
Shen Ruanruan found it and pulled with all her strength…
Then harder…
It didn’t budge at all.
“…”
Embarrassed, she muttered,
“It’s not that I’m weak. It’s just stuck too tightly.”
“Yeah. Otherwise why do you think I was going to do it for you? You thought I was trying to take advantage of you?”
There was teasing in his gaze, making Shen Ruanruan even more embarrassed.
She mumbled softly,
“That’s because you didn’t explain it clearly.”
Seeing him still not moving, she snapped in embarrassment and irritation,
“Why are you still standing there? Hurry up and help me adjust it.”
Even the way she got angry sounded like she was acting spoiled.
Lu Mingye sighed helplessly and leaned over again. His broad shoulders almost brushed across the front of her body. Shen Ruanruan’s hand was still resting on the lever when his long, distinct fingers covered hers, his fingertips brushing lightly over her reddened knuckles.
“So delicate.”
Shen Ruanruan’s whole body froze. She only felt the warmth from his fingertips spreading all the way into her heart.
The man easily pulled the lever forward. The two of them were pressed very close together, but Lu Mingye subtly angled his body away, trying not to touch her more than necessary.
“Is it good now?”
“Ah… mm, y-yes, it’s good.”
Her throat felt dry.
The man straightened up, closed the car door for her, and walked around to the passenger seat.
“Put on your seatbelt. Let’s go.”
The jeep drove out smoothly.
The sentry, who had secretly been watching the whole time, was completely dumbfounded.
If he hadn’t seen wrong, Deputy Regiment Commander Lu had actually adjusted the seat for his wife personally? And from the looks of it, he’d even been scolded a little but didn’t get angry at all? Also, was sister-in-law really this good at driving? Even steadier than him!
Good heavens.
Hell must’ve frozen over.
…
Shen Ruanruan’s driving style was nothing like her appearance.
It was fierce.
So fierce that even Lu Mingye unconsciously gripped the handle tightly, his back tensing up.
He truly hadn’t expected the little girl to drive like this. He already knew she had a driver’s license, but he’d never actually ridden in a car she drove.
“Miss Ruanruan, there’s no rush. You can slow down a little.”
“This is slow?”
Catching sight of him gripping the handle from the corner of her eye, Shen Ruanruan curled her lips.
“Lu Mingye, your courage is so small. If the road weren’t so bumpy, we’d probably already be in town by now.”
And she wasn’t wrong.
The road from the military base to town really was terrible, and it was over twenty kilometers away.
Normally, even when they drove themselves, it took at least an hour and a half to get there. But now, this girl had already covered half the journey in only thirty minutes and still thought she was driving slowly?
When they were kids, he’d never noticed she was this reckless. During all the years he was away, just what had happened to her?
Although she was considerate of Lu Mingye’s “cowardice” and slowed down just a tiny bit, the jeep still arrived in town half an hour later.
At this time, there weren’t even many sedans around, much less a military jeep.
Plenty of people stared as they passed, instinctively moving aside. Following Lu Mingye’s directions, Shen Ruanruan quickly arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative.
After parking by the roadside, Shen Ruanruan jumped out of the jeep, feeling utterly refreshed.
Meanwhile, Lu Mingye’s face was stiff and tense.
Everyone who saw the scene was stunned.
Not far away stood an elderly couple. The old man rubbed his eyes.
“Old woman, am I seeing things? Was the one who got out of the driver’s seat just now a young girl?”
“Old man, I don’t think you saw wrong, because I saw it too.”
“My heavens. I’ve lived this many years and barely even seen cars a few times, and now young girls can already drive?”
Although the old lady was also surprised, she sounded a little displeased at his words.
“What’s wrong with young girls? Women hold up half the sky. We’re old now. It’s exactly these young girls’ time to rise up.”
Shen Ruanruan naturally didn’t hear their conversation. Carrying her little bag, she walked toward the supply cooperative.
Lu Mingye hesitated again and again before finally speaking.
“Ruanruan… how about we drive a little slower from now on?”
Her footsteps paused.
This was the first time she’d heard him call her simply “Ruanruan.” Before this, he always added “Miss” after it. This time felt somehow different.
Shen Ruanruan glanced at him and raised a brow.
“Comrade Lu Mingye, are you actually scared?”
Scared?
Before meeting Shen Ruanruan, the only time Lu Mingye had ever truly been afraid was because of that incident in childhood. After that, nothing ever frightened him again.
Even after joining the army, when he once nearly didn’t make it back alive, he wasn’t afraid of dying.
He was afraid he would never see her one last time.
Afraid that after he died, she would forget him forever.
Afraid that once he was gone, that pretty-boy bastard would bully her.
She didn’t know.
Every fear Lu Mingye had was connected to Shen Ruanruan.