The living room was small and cramped, furnished with a tea table and two chairs. In one corner stood a washstand with an enamel basin decorated with a red carp pattern.
The bedroom contained only a bed and a small wardrobe. The bedding on the bed had been folded into a neat, square block, just like the standard military style.
The room was simple and clean.
There was just too little furniture, leaving it feeling rather bare and spacious.
A small room on the west side served as the kitchen. There was only a single cooking pot, some firewood, and a basket of black coal inside.
Jiang Ni took a quick look around before returning to the living room and sitting down.
The original owner had been pampered since childhood, and after everything she had gone through that day, Jiang Ni’s body was aching all over.
While no one was around, Jiang Ni slipped into her spatial dimension and drank some of the spiritual spring water.
Within seconds, the exhaustion vanished, and her entire body felt considerably lighter and more energized.
Just then, heavy footsteps sounded outside the house.
Jiang Ni looked up.
A tall, straight figure walked through the doorway against the light.
She narrowed her eyes.
The first thing she noticed was his long legs encased in military boots.
His camouflage trousers hugged his muscular thighs, and every step he took outlined the powerful contours of his legs.
They were practically perfect.
It wasn’t Jiang Ni’s fault.
In her previous life, she had been a fashion designer and had seen more than enough male models. Yet she had never encountered a man with legs this striking.
Her gaze moved upward.
The man was dressed in a camouflage uniform, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His posture was straight and commanding, like a pine tree. He looked to be at least 185 centimeters tall.
Only when he came closer did Jiang Ni get a clear look at his face.
His presence was cold and intimidating. His facial features were sharp and stern, with a strong brow and a high, straight nose that formed a rugged profile like rolling mountain peaks.
His eyes were deep, sharp, and indifferent as they settled on her. His thin lips were pressed into a straight line, and his skin was a healthy wheat-brown from years spent outdoors.
Perhaps because he had just finished training, several beads of sweat clung to his forehead, adding an unmistakable wildness to his already striking appearance.
Fu Ruichen.
What a man!
Jiang Ni’s gaze was far too obvious and intense.
Fu Ruichen reminded her in a low voice, “Jiang Ni.”
Jiang Ni smiled brightly as she stood up.
“You’re back.”
Fu Ruichen’s thick brows drew together.
He remembered what Jiang Ni had told him on their wedding night.
“I married you only to fulfill my mother’s dying wish. I already have someone I love. We’ll get divorced after a while.”
At the time, those cold, heartless words had come from her beautiful red lips, leaving Fu Ruichen with an indescribable feeling.
It had been like having a bucket of ice-cold water poured over his head. All the joy of their wedding night had disappeared in an instant.
After returning to his unit, Jiang Ni had written to him several times, urging him to get a divorce.
He knew she was doing it for another man.
But had she really been so impatient that she had come all the way here herself just to push him into divorcing her?
Thinking of this, Fu Ruichen said coldly, “The divorce application has already been submitted to my superiors.”
“Once it goes through the approval process, it’ll take at least two or three months. Just stay home and wait.”
The house was already small, and with his tall, broad frame standing inside, the space seemed even more cramped.
Jiang Ni stepped forward and took hold of his sleeve.
“Sit down. We can talk.”
Her fingers were long, slender, and fair, with a faint rosy glow. They were clearly the hands of someone who had been pampered all her life, a stark contrast to the rough, wheat-colored skin on the back of his hands.
Fu Ruichen’s gaze lingered on her fingers for a moment before he looked away and sat down on the chair.
Jiang Ni looked at him and spoke softly.
“Fu Ruichen, I’m not getting divorced anymore. I came here to join you.”
Fu Ruichen raised his cold, indifferent eyes slightly.
“Hm?”
Jiang Ni looked at him earnestly.
“I was immature before. I’ve thought things through now. Since we’re husband and wife, I want to live a good life with you from now on. We’re not getting divorced.”
His tone remained distant.
“Military marriages aren’t something you can end whenever you want, then change your mind about whenever you please.”
The divorce application had already been submitted. She was treating the whole matter far too casually.
Jiang Ni placed a hand over her stomach.
“Fu Ruichen, I’m pregnant.”
Her almond-shaped eyes glistened with tears, and her voice softened into a delicate tone.
“I’m carrying your child. Do you really still want to divorce me?”
“The child?”
Jiang Ni pouted her red lips.
“Yes. I’m three months pregnant. The doctor said it’s triplets.”
A look of astonishment flashed across the man’s face.
His deep eyes locked tightly onto hers.
They had only been together once…
And she had gotten pregnant from that one time?
But then he remembered all the letters she had sent him, and his expression became complicated.
She had someone she loved.
Yet she was carrying his child.
Was that why she had come here to join the army?
Fu Ruichen suppressed the strange emotions stirring inside him. He reached behind himself and brought out two lunchboxes.
“Think it over carefully before you say anything else. Eat first.”
Jiang Ni sighed inwardly.
She knew he wasn’t going to believe her so easily.
But now that she had come all this way, she would show him just how serious she was.
Fu Ruichen opened the lunchboxes and pushed them toward Jiang Ni.
The food in the military unit was actually quite decent. There were vegetables and meat, along with steamed mixed-grain buns.
The two dishes were stir-fried pork with carrots and seasonal vegetables.
White-flour steamed buns were considered quite precious in this era. In most places, people mixed coarse cornmeal with a small amount of white flour to make their buns.
The coarse-grain buns had a rough texture and scratched slightly on the way down.
Jiang Ni had never eaten this kind before.
She frowned as she tore the bun into small pieces, put them into her mouth, and slowly swallowed them with some water.
Perhaps because of his military training, Fu Ruichen sat ramrod straight. Even the way he ate was disciplined and proper, and he finished his meal quickly.
Watching him, Jiang Ni continued chewing slowly.
“Fu Ruichen, I noticed there’s quite a large patch of land in the courtyard. I’d like to tidy it up and plant some things—vegetables, fruit trees, flowers, that sort of thing.”
The vegetables of this era were naturally grown and free of pollution. Even the carrot in her mouth tasted incredibly fresh and sweet.
If she grew her own vegetables, she could eat fresh produce whenever she wanted.
As for fruit trees, she could plant small mandarin oranges and yellow lemons. They could serve as decorations while also providing fruit to eat.
She could plant flowers along the walls of the courtyard, too. With a little work, she could turn the whole place into a garden.
Fu Ruichen paused.
His thin eyelids lifted slightly as he looked at Jiang Ni.
After thinking for a moment, he said, “I’ll clear the weeds and turn over the soil for you later. Then you can plant whatever you want.”
Jiang Ni’s face lit up.
“Okay!”
Fu Ruichen’s attitude wasn’t particularly warm, but at least he was giving her a positive response.
Jiang Ni’s enthusiasm grew even more. She looked around the living room again.
“I also want to go to the supply cooperative and buy some seeds and things for the house. Pots, bowls, utensils, and other necessities. The house is too empty.”
“Look, we could put another chair with a backrest here. We could sit here and read.”
“We could put a tea table over there. Then we’d have somewhere to make tea when guests come.”
“We don’t even have a mirror. I want to buy one, too. What do you think?”
The house was practically bare. There wasn’t even a single piece of tableware or seasoning in the kitchen. It had the desolate feeling of a home with nothing in it.
Fu Ruichen seemed to have treated the place merely as somewhere to stay temporarily.
Hearing her plans, his narrow, sharp eyes swept over Jiang Ni with a hint of suspicion.
She was talking about buying things and planning how to arrange the house.
Was she really not planning to leave?
Had she actually thought things through and decided to join him here for good?
Although he was puzzled, Fu Ruichen didn’t ask.
He merely said “I have a mission tomorrow. I’ll arrange for Zhiqi to take you.”
Jiang Ni puffed out her cheeks.
“You’re that busy? I want you to come with me.”
Fu Ruichen’s brows twitched slightly.
He was still not accustomed to hearing her speak in such a coquettish tone.
“There are missions in the army. I can’t just leave whenever I want.”