That afternoon, after waking up, he went around notifying the people invited to tomorrow’s wedding feast—mostly close comrades-in-arms, along with their division political commissar.
When he got back and saw the mess in the washroom, Lu Mingye cleaned everything up thoroughly. Then he started washing Shen Ruanruan’s clothes. This time, he no longer avoided washing her underwear. As he scrubbed them, sweetness quietly bloomed in his heart.
He should be the closest person to her now, right?
“Ah Ye.”
Just after hanging the clothes up to dry, Lu Mingye heard her voice from inside the room. He immediately wiped his hands and ran in.
“What’s wrong? Hungry? Thirsty?”
Shen Ruanruan stretched lazily on the bed. She didn’t dare sleep anymore—otherwise she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.
“I want to get up. Help me get my clothes~”
“Not sleeping a little longer?” Lu Mingye touched her soft fair cheek. Ever since they got together, it felt like some switch inside him had completely flipped. He constantly wanted to touch her, kiss her, like he had developed skin hunger.
She shook her head.
“My waist hurts from lying down too long.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the man’s large hand slipped under the blanket with a faint chill. Shen Ruanruan jolted and quickly scooted backward, staring at him warily.
“What are you doing? I’m still sore! And it’s broad daylight—stop acting like a hooligan!”
Lu Mingye laughed helplessly. Last night, he had indeed gone a little overboard. He hadn’t expected to scare her this much. Compared to that sort of thing, he cared more about her body, so he truly didn’t plan on touching her these next two days.
“Relax. I just wanted to massage your waist.”
“No need. I’ll just walk around a bit. Hurry up and get my clothes.”
Shen Ruanruan absolutely did not dare provoke a man who had just tasted intimacy for the first time. What if a simple massage turned into something more… Just thinking about it was terrifying.
Left with no choice, Lu Mingye went to fetch her clothes. After getting dressed and walking around a couple laps outside, Shen Ruanruan finally felt some strength return to her body.
Seeing she could walk on her own now, the man sat in the yard washing the bedsheets.
Shen Ruanruan walked over and squatted in front of him, resting her chin in her hands as she admired him.
“Ah Ye, you’re so domesticated~”
Domesticated?
Lu Mingye paused. Could that word even be used on a man? But after thinking about it, there wasn’t any rule saying it couldn’t. It sounded a little strange, but he happily accepted it.
After all, it was praise from his wife.
“Wife, since I’m so domesticated, is there a reward?”
Hearing him call her that made Shen Ruanruan’s ears heat up. Last night, besides not letting her rest for even a moment, this man had also whispered all kinds of embarrassingly sweet and rough things into her ears. Especially the names he called her—“wife,” “baby,” “Ruanruan baby,” “young miss”…
It was so sugary she almost melted from it.
Touching her warm ears, Shen Ruanruan rolled her eyes and stood up.
“A reward? You were the one who made the mess. Isn’t cleaning it your job? What reward do you—”
Before she could finish, the man suddenly grabbed her. She toppled onto his lap beside the washbasin. His hands were wet, so he carefully avoided touching her clothes, but his arms were powerful as ever. Just as he leaned down to kiss her—
“Sister Shen, you home? We’re coming in!”
As the voice sounded, Sister Cao pushed the gate open and walked in. These days, people usually just pushed the door open when visiting others. Sister Cao knocking verbally before entering already counted as polite.
Only then did Lu Mingye remember—after returning from inviting people, he had forgotten to lock the gate.
Startled, Shen Ruanruan immediately shoved him away, though a little too late. Sister Cao and Chen Jianshe had already seen everything clearly. Chen Jianshe was holding Duoduo and hurriedly covered his daughter’s eyes while also shielding his son.
Really now. Who would’ve thought?
They’d assumed that even after getting married, Lu Mingye would still stay cold and fierce-looking. Turns out, he had this side to him too…
Sure enough, even heroes can’t resist beauty.
Sister Cao and her husband exchanged a glance, both seeing the amusement in each other’s eyes.
“Sister Cao, Commander Chen, what brings you here? Is Duoduo stable now?”
Suppressing the blush on her face, Shen Ruanruan secretly glared at Lu Mingye. Honestly… she’d told him already that doing things out in the yard made it easy for people to see. And he still forgot to lock the gate!
Lu Mingye fully accepted his wife’s reproachful glare. He might feel shy around Shen Ruanruan, but not around anyone else.
Wiping his hands, his expression unchanged, he stood up and followed behind his wife to welcome the guests.
“Gouwa, hurry and put the gifts down for your auntie. Old Chen, put Duoduo down and let her kowtow to your auntie.”
Sister Cao pulled Shen Ruanruan down to sit while directing her family around. “Gouwa” was her eldest son’s nickname. His real name was Chen Li. He was fifteen and attended high school in town, boarding there most of the time because of the distance.
Since arriving here, Shen Ruanruan hadn’t met him before.
Chen Li was tall, almost as tall as his father. Thin, straight-backed, and quiet, he looked very steady and mature. Carrying several large and small packages, he placed them on the table and bowed deeply.
“Auntie, Uncle Lu, thank you for saving my sister.”
He had come home the very night Duoduo got hurt—it happened to coincide with his school break. When he got home and found nobody there, a neighbor told him his sister had been sent to the hospital.
He had been terrified and sprinted to the hospital, his mind racing the entire way. He’d nearly cried.
Their family only had two children. Though he and Duoduo were ten years apart, the siblings had always been close, never fighting like other families. Chen Li had never imagined something would happen to his little sister.
After arriving at the hospital and hearing the whole story from his father, his legs nearly gave out from fear. He felt indescribably grateful.
Thank goodness this auntie had been there to save his sister!
“Get up, child. We’re all one family compound here—we’re our own people. If I had the ability to help in a situation like that, then of course I would. I’m just thankful too.”
Shen Ruanruan shot Lu Mingye a look, signaling him to hurry and help the boy up.
Honestly, standing next to Chen Li made them look more like siblings. Hearing her call him “child” in such a mature tone amused all the adults present.
Chen Li smiled too.
“Auntie, my real name is Chen Li. My nickname is Gouwa. You can just call me Gouwa.”
Shen Ruanruan’s eyes flickered slightly.
At his age, even mature teenagers were usually in their rebellious phase. Most wouldn’t like others using childish nicknames like that—especially outsiders. That was precisely why she had chosen the safe option of calling him “child.” She hadn’t expected Chen Li to notice her consideration too.
Sister Cao really knew how to raise children.
“Yeah, just call him Gouwa,” Sister Cao explained with a smile. “When he was little, he was very sickly and constantly ill. The elders in the village said a cheap nickname would help him survive, so we called him Gouwa. Unexpectedly, after that he really stopped getting sick, and the name just stuck all these years.”
Chen Li knew the story too, so even after growing up, he didn’t mind people calling him that.
Though he’d felt embarrassed at first, later he realized—viewed another way, wasn’t it also another form of his parents’ love?