Shen Ruanruan felt somewhat uneasy inside.
In her previous life, she had married Su Jingming, only to end up with such a tragic ending. Now that she had changed her fate and was marrying Lu Mingye instead, she had no idea what their future would look like.
During this period of time, the man had treated her very well.
He indulged her in everything.
Su Jingming always considered himself considerate, but he had never done things like this. Thinking carefully about it now, it seemed he only had a silver tongue—always saying sweet things to coax her.
Back in her previous life, before they got married, whenever they went out to eat, he would insist on paying. But she felt his family’s conditions weren’t as good as hers, so in the end, she was always the one who actually paid.
Now that she finally realized it, she felt like an idiot.
If a man couldn’t even bear to spend money on you before marriage, how could you expect him to be generous after marriage?
But Lu Mingye was different.
Most of the time, he didn’t say anything particularly sweet.
But he did everything.
To judge a person, you shouldn’t listen to what they say—you should look at what they do.
Unfortunately, it had taken Shen Ruanruan an entire lifetime to understand that sentence.
She sighed softly, suddenly missing her parents very much.
She was getting married now, yet they weren’t by her side…
At that very moment, in a cowshed in a small village hundreds of kilometers away—
“A’He, how do you think our daughter is doing right now?”
Inside the dim room, Shen Ruanruan’s mother, Huo Shujun, sat on the bed with a worried frown. Shen Qinghe sat behind her, massaging her waist.
Hearing his wife mention their daughter, he felt worried too.
“That boy is the grandson of Dad’s old war comrade. His character is trustworthy. Besides, have you forgotten how protective he was of Ruanruan when they were kids?”
Of course Huo Shujun remembered.
But parents never truly stop worrying, even when their child is right in front of them.
Not to mention now, when their daughter wasn’t even with them.
“I’m worried because people change when they grow up. Forget everything else—just thinking about our daughter cooking and washing dishes in someone else’s house makes me uncomfortable.”
“A’He, do you think coming back to the country was the wrong decision? If we hadn’t come back back then, maybe our daughter wouldn’t have…”
As she spoke, her eyes turned red.
How could Shen Qinghe not ache for her?
This was their daughter—the little girl he had cherished since childhood.
With reddened eyes, he pulled Huo Shujun into his arms, and the couple leaned against each other quietly.
“A’Jun, you have to believe our country won’t stay like this forever. And you have to believe in our daughter too. She’s our child—she’s remarkable.”
At the same time, both of them thought about the strange changes their daughter had shown before they were sent away.
No one knew their child better than her parents.
How could a girl who had once been completely devoted to Su Jingming suddenly break off the engagement?
And how had she coincidentally saved that man, then helped negotiate a new relocation place for them?
She had even voluntarily asked them to write to Lu Mingye and said she wanted to marry him.
Something must have happened to their daughter—something they didn’t know about.
But no matter what, she was still their child.
They could recognize that much.
“Yes, we have to trust her.”
Huo Shujun’s voice was hoarse.
“And Lu Mingye too. When he came to ask for Ruanruan’s hand in marriage, the things he said… I hope he can truly live up to them.”
At those words, Shen Qinghe recalled the determined look on that fierce young man’s face as he knelt before them.
He sighed softly.
Lu family boy…
Please don’t disappoint us.
…
Meanwhile, the very “Lu family boy” they were talking about couldn’t sleep at all.
The newly built heated brick bed still hadn’t fully dried, so he was sleeping on the old creaky bed instead.
As he tossed and turned, the entire room filled with endless creak creak creak noises.
Tomorrow, Shen Ruanruan would officially become his wife!
The man excitedly flipped over again like a carp, as if he had ADHD—pulling the blanket, kicking his legs, unable to settle down no matter what.
Then he reached out to grab the watch beside his bed and frowned.
Why was it only ten o’clock?
Was the watch broken? Why was time passing so slowly?
Since he truly couldn’t sleep, he started counting seconds himself.
Who knew how long he counted for before the moon climbed high into the sky.
No, he had to sleep.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t look energetic tomorrow, and that absolutely wouldn’t do.
After tossing around until nearly dawn, he finally dozed off for a short while.
Then at five in the morning, he jolted awake.
He sprang out of bed and immediately went to wash up, make breakfast, and clean the house.
At first, Shen Ruanruan had trouble sleeping too, but eventually she drifted off.
She slept all the way until eight o’clock, and Lu Mingye didn’t dare wake her up even once.
When she came out of her room, the man was outside sprinkling water and sweeping the courtyard.
“You’re awake? Go wash your face and brush your teeth first. I’ll bring your breakfast out.”
Before she could react, he had already darted into the kitchen.
“Hey, no need—”
Shen Ruanruan didn’t even get the chance to stop him and could only smile helplessly.
Back at home, although her parents spoiled her too, they still at least made her carry her own meals occasionally.
Who would’ve thought that after ending up in this man’s hands, he wouldn’t even want her lifting a finger?
After the washroom had been built, Lu Mingye had even specially installed a large mirror on the wall according to Shen Ruanruan’s instructions.
After washing up, she touched her slightly dry face while looking into the mirror.
The weather here in Liaoning Province was much drier than in Beijing, and there weren’t any face masks or skincare products like in later years.
Looks like she’d have to make some homemade face masks herself sometime.
As she thought about this, she began braiding her hair.
Her hair was extremely well cared for—black, long, thick, and glossy.
When it hung loose, it looked like a waterfall of shining black silk.
Lu Mingye carried her breakfast inside just in time to see this scene.
His heart instantly began pounding wildly.
For some reason, even simply looking at her hair made his heart flutter uncontrollably.
“I’ll be done in a second.”
Seeing him through the mirror, Shen Ruanruan smiled softly.
Her hands were skillful as she quickly wove a fishbone braid Lu Mingye couldn’t understand at all.
In less than a minute, it was done.
Then she tugged at it somehow, and it instantly looked even prettier.
The man didn’t rush her.
Instead, he leaned against the doorway, carefully observing how she braided it.
In the end…
He still didn’t understand a thing.
“Alright, let’s go eat.”
Shen Ruanruan waved a hand in front of him and blinked.
“What are you spacing out for?”
Lu Mingye snapped back to his senses and secretly made a decision in his heart.
He had to keep watching carefully and learn how to braid hair.
In the future, he definitely wanted to braid his wife’s hair himself.
The two of them sat together in the courtyard for breakfast.
This had actually been Lu Mingye’s suggestion after they finally opened their hearts to each other.
She woke up late, while he usually had training or missions, so normally they wouldn’t be able to eat breakfast together.
Even when he was resting, he woke up too early.
If things continued like that, it definitely wouldn’t work.
How could a married couple eat separately all the time?
So the two of them discussed it and decided that whenever Lu Mingye was off duty, he would wait until she woke up before eating.
On normal days, after morning training, he could bring food back from the cafeteria and eat with her too.
It felt more intimate that way, and it would help deepen their relationship.
Picking up a scallion egg pancake, Shen Ruanruan remembered how seriously the man had talked about this arrangement, and her heart immediately felt warm and sweet.
And breakfast itself—
She didn’t like steamed buns, so Lu Mingye had specially made egg pancakes for her.
Knowing she liked vegetables, he had even stir-fried shredded potatoes with hot and sour seasoning for her.
If Shen Ruanruan had been able to handle meat in the mornings, this man probably would’ve cooked meat dishes for her at dawn too.
Speaking of which, she really had to praise those hot and sour shredded potatoes.
This man’s knife skills were absolutely incredible.
Every potato strip was long and thin, stir-fried with dried chili peppers and splashed with vinegar—
The aroma was downright deadly.