Early the next morning, Su Ci was woken up by the noisy clanging of a gong and the chatter of people outside.
Life in the compound followed a strict routine. At six in the morning sharp, the wake-up call sounded.
Su Ci rolled over, intending to sleep in a little longer. But remembering today’s strategic goal—establishing her authority in the household, and making a sweep through the supply and marketing cooperative—she struggled out of bed.
When she pushed the door open, she found someone already in the yard.
Lu Si was awake.
He wore a white sleeveless undershirt, his exposed arms showing smooth, solid muscle lines. Though he sat in a wheelchair, he was struggling to wipe it down with water from a bucket.
His movements were slow and laborious. Every time he bent forward it seemed especially difficult, and beads of sweat had formed on his forehead.
Hearing the door open, Lu Si paused, quickly straightened his back, and returned to his usual cold expression.
“What are you staring at?”
“At a handsome guy, of course.” Su Ci yawned and leaned casually against the doorframe, showing not the slightest intention of being reserved. “Morning, husband.”
The rag in Lu Si’s hand fell into the bucket with a splash.
He whipped his head around, eyes fierce. “What did you just call me?”
“Husband.” Su Ci spread her hands as if it were obvious. “We’ve already registered our marriage, and we slept under the same roof last night. If I don’t call you husband, what should I call you? Commander? That sounds too distant.”
In truth, she was doing it on purpose.
These days people usually said ‘lover’ or ‘spouse’. Calling someone husband sounded like something from Hong Kong dramas—overly intimate and embarrassing.
She was deliberately trying to annoy this big block of ice.
Lu Si gritted his teeth, but the tips of his ears turned strangely red.
“You are not allowed to call me that outside! Use my name!”
“Alright, alright—Comrade Lu Si.” Su Ci walked over and naturally took the rag from his hand. “We’re out of soy sauce at home, and there’s no toothpaste either. Want to go to the supply cooperative later?”
“You go yourself.” Lu Si refused without hesitation. “I’m not going out.”
He didn’t want people staring at his legs like he was some kind of spectacle.
Those sympathetic or curious looks cut deeper than knives.
“That won’t work.” Su Ci tossed the rag aside and planted both hands on the wheelchair armrests, trapping him between herself and the chair.
“I don’t have ration tickets. And I’m strong enough to push you there, but not strong enough to carry a sack of rice. You’ll have to be my laborer.”
“Su Ci!” Lu Si snapped angrily. “You want a cripple to be your laborer?”
“What’s wrong with that?”
Su Ci’s smile disappeared as she looked straight into his eyes.
“Your legs are crippled, but your hands aren’t. Lu Si, your legs are injured—not your brain. And you’re certainly not dead. As long as you’re still breathing, you’re still the head of this household. And the head of the household accompanies his wife to buy groceries.”
Lu Si froze.
For the first time since his injury, someone had said to him so directly:
You’re not useless. You still matter.
Ten minutes later.
With a dark expression and an icy aura warning strangers to stay away, Lu Si was forcibly pushed out the gate by Su Ci.
Morning rush hour in the compound was basically an intelligence center.
“Oh my, that’s the new daughter-in-law of the Lu family? She looks so flirtatious—doesn’t seem like someone who can run a household.”
“I heard Commander Lu had a terrible temper yesterday. That girl must’ve suffered.”
“Commander Lu’s legs… what a pity. That girl will probably end up a living widow.”
Though the whispers were quiet, they still drifted into Lu Si’s ears.
His hands clenched tightly on his knees, veins bulging. His head lowered so far it seemed he wanted to disappear into the ground.
Su Ci, however, acted as if she hadn’t heard a thing.
Instead she lifted her chin high, pushing the wheelchair forward with vigorous steps, her shoes slapping loudly against the pavement.
When they arrived at the supply cooperative, the line for buying meat had already become a long snake.
“Ah, we’re too late,” Su Ci muttered.
A large woman in a blue jacket at the front turned around. When she saw Lu Si, her expression immediately changed.
She was the compound’s most notorious gossip—Fat Auntie.
Fat Auntie curled her lips and spoke loudly enough for everyone nearby to hear.
“Well, if it isn’t Commander Lu. With legs like that you’re still coming out to fight for meat? Makes sense though. Since you’re crippled and can’t stay in the army anymore, all you can do is compete with us old ladies for food.”
A wave of low laughter spread through the crowd.
Lu Si’s face turned pale as paper. His body stiffened like stone.
The humiliation of being mocked in public nearly suffocated him.
“Let’s go back,” he whispered through clenched teeth.
Just as he was about to turn the wheelchair himself, it was suddenly shoved forward.
Su Ci pushed him like a small runaway tank—straight to the front of the line.
“What are you doing?! Cutting in line? Where are your manners?” Fat Auntie shouted angrily.
Su Ci placed one hand on her hip and slammed the other onto the back of Lu Si’s wheelchair, as if protecting her personal property.
She cleared her throat and raised her voice, sharp and powerful.
“Open your eyes and look clearly! Do you know who this is? This is Lu Si, former commander of the reconnaissance regiment! These legs were lost on the southern front line—while clearing mines, protecting his comrades, protecting all of you so you could stand here peacefully waiting to buy meat!”
The entire place fell silent.
The crowd that had been laughing moments ago now looked like ducks with their throats squeezed shut.
Su Ci sneered and pointed directly at Fat Auntie’s nose.
“And you! What were you saying just now? Cripple? Useless? Don’t you see the sign that says ‘Soldiers Priority, Disabled Veterans Priority’? Are you illiterate or blind? Without people like Commander Lu bleeding and sacrificing, would you even be alive to grow that layer of fat on your body?! Have you no shame?!”
She didn’t stop.
“Believe it or not, I can go report you to the neighborhood committee right now and have a nice talk about your ideological awareness! Do you have something against the heroes of the people?!”
That accusation hit like a hammer.
Fat Auntie’s face instantly turned the color of pig liver, cold sweat pouring down.
In those days, ideological problems were serious business.
“I—I didn’t mean it like that… young lady, don’t misunderstand…” she stammered, shrinking back into the crowd without daring to say another word.
Su Ci tossed her braid behind her dramatically.
Then she bent down and flashed a sweet smile at the stunned shop clerk.
“Comrade, please give me two pounds of the best pork belly—the fattier the better! And two bottles of fruit preserves. I’m the family member of a disabled veteran. According to national policy, I have priority purchasing rights, right?”
The clerk snapped out of his daze and nodded repeatedly.
“Ah—yes! Yes! I’ll cut it for you right away!”
Sitting in the wheelchair, Lu Si looked up at Su Ci behind him.
Morning sunlight poured down from behind her, outlining her entire figure with a golden glow so bright it was almost blinding.
The way she had just scolded people… like a small tiger with its fur bristling—fierce, fiery, yet strangely protective.
For years he had heard countless words of comfort.
But never had someone stood in front of him like this, pointing at those who mocked him and shouting them down.
She wasn’t pitying him.
She was standing up for him.
After they finished buying the food, Su Ci placed the heavy paper-wrapped pork on his lap.
“Hold it tight. This is the oil and meat for the next three days.”
Lu Si looked down at the pork, his Adam’s apple moving slightly.
Just as Su Ci hummed a tune and prepared to push him home, her wrist was suddenly grabbed.
Lu Si’s grip was incredibly strong. His palm was hot and rough, thick with calluses from handling guns.
Su Ci jumped slightly and looked down at him.
“What’s wrong? The meat isn’t cooked yet—you can’t bite it.”
Lu Si didn’t release her hand. His dark, deep eyes locked onto hers. The storm in them seemed to calm, replaced by something complex… and a faint trace of heat.
“Su Ci.”
His voice was low and hoarse, sending a faint electric shiver through her ears.
“What exactly do you want from me?”
The cowardly Su family daughter who cried all the time could never have such courage—or such sharp words.
So who… was she really?
Su Ci blinked, smiling carefree. She bent down close to his ear, her warm breath brushing against it.
“I want your handsome face. I want that military uniform of yours… and I want this pork belly.”
She grinned.
“Is that okay, husband?”
Lu Si’s fingers tightened suddenly.
This time—
he didn’t refute the title.