“All right, then.”
The brightness in the woman’s beautiful face dimmed slightly. Fu Ruichen noticed it, and something stirred faintly in his heart.
After a pause, Fu Ruichen said in a deep voice, “I’m taking leave in a few days. I’ll take you to the department store and buy you some things.”
The supply cooperative mainly sold everyday necessities. Jiang Ni had brought only a few changes of clothes with her, so Fu Ruichen figured that if she really intended to stay here and live with him, he should buy her some clothes and other necessities.
A smile immediately returned to Jiang Ni’s face.
“Okay. I just want you to come with me.”
Meeting those breathtakingly beautiful features, Fu Ruichen felt a sudden warmth in his chest and turned his head away to avoid her gaze.
After Jiang Ni finished eating, Fu Ruichen casually gathered up the lunchboxes from the table.
He took a tube of ointment from the drawer and handed it to her, glancing at the wound on her forehead.
“This works well on injuries. Put some on it.”
He had noticed the wound on her forehead the moment he walked in, though he had no idea how she had gotten it.
Jiang Ni looked at the ointment in his hand but didn’t take it.
After drinking the spiritual spring water, the wound no longer hurt. It was already almost healed.
But this was the perfect opportunity.
Jiang Ni lightly bit her red lips and looked at him with clear, sparkling eyes.
“We don’t have a mirror here, so I can’t see where the wound is. Could you help me put the medicine on?”
Fu Ruichen’s hand stiffened slightly, and his expression became visibly unnatural.
After several seconds, he answered in a low voice, “All right.”
He walked over to Jiang Ni and stopped a short distance in front of her.
He squeezed some ointment onto his index finger, then raised his hand and gently dabbed it onto her wound, rubbing it carefully.
A cool sensation spread across her forehead.
Jiang Ni asked, “What kind of ointment is this?”
“It’s from the army. It’s specifically for bruises and injuries.”
The man’s fingertip was warm. He didn’t have the unpleasant smell of sweat one might expect from a man who had just finished training. Instead, there was a clean, fresh scent about him.
Jiang Ni couldn’t help leaning a little closer.
She sniffed, then moved toward his chest and took a deep breath.
“What do you put on yourself? You smell really good.”
They were standing far too close.
Fu Ruichen’s body immediately tensed, and he took several steps backward.
“Nothing.”
He was a rough, straightforward man, not some woman. Why would he need all those unnecessary things?
“Really? But I like the way you smell.”
Fu Ruichen: “…The medicine is on.”
He still hadn’t gotten used to this sudden change in Jiang Ni.
He turned and strode into the bedroom.
The soft, delicate sensation beneath his fingertips lingered, as did the woman’s faint fragrance that seemed to have seeped into every corner of his senses.
He was reminded once again of their wedding night.
A restless heat suddenly rose within him.
After a while, Fu Ruichen walked out of the bedroom with his long legs carrying him steadily forward. In his hand were a passbook and a thick stack of ration coupons.
He handed them to Jiang Ni.
“Take these.”
Jiang Ni accepted them and glanced down.
Her long brows lifted in surprise.
There was a thousand yuan in the passbook, which would be worth hundreds of thousands of yuan by modern standards.
The stack of coupons was thick as well. There were grain coupons, cooking-oil coupons, cloth coupons, and others. Judging by the amount, there was enough for the two of them to last two or three years.
Jiang Ni’s eyes curved into a smile.
“That’s a lot. Aren’t you afraid I’ll spend it all?”
Fu Ruichen answered expressionlessly, “Buy whatever you want. Spend it however you like.”
She had grown up spoiled in Haishi and had always spent money freely. He was worried she wouldn’t have enough.
If she truly intended to live a good life with him, he didn’t mind giving her all his money.
Besides, she was carrying their child.
“Why are you so good to me?” Jiang Ni beamed.
“Oh, right. Is there anything you want? I’ll bring it back for you.”
“No.”
“All right, then. I’ll just buy whatever catches my eye.”
“Mm.”
It was already seven in the evening, and Jiang Ni was getting ready to bathe and go to bed.
She looked at Fu Ruichen.
“I want to heat some water and take a bath later.”
The northwest was plagued by strong winds, sand, and dry weather.
The original owner’s skin had been pampered and delicate, and the dust and sand covering her face and body had left her skin feeling slightly raw and irritated.
Fu Ruichen was silent for a moment.
“You’ll have to go to the bathhouse. There’s nowhere to bathe here.”
Only then did Jiang Ni remember that there was no bathroom in the courtyard.
But she absolutely didn’t want to go to the bathhouse. She wasn’t accustomed to bathing surrounded by a crowd of people.
She bit her red lip and sulked for a moment before letting out a dejected sigh.
“Then I’ll just wipe myself down. I don’t want to go to the bathhouse.”
“Ruichen, I’ve never used your kitchen before. Could you teach me how to heat water?”
The moment she said the two syllables “Ruichen,” her soft, breathy voice seemed to ripple right beside Fu Ruichen’s ears.
His heart tingled.
His ears quickly turned red.
“You wait here. I’ll heat the water.”
Fu Ruichen left those words behind and got up, heading for the kitchen.
She looked so delicate. How could she possibly know how to heat water?
Jiang Ni watched his broad, sturdy back disappear through the doorway, the corners of her lips curling upward.
A top-tier face, willing to give her money, and willing to put in the physical work.
She really couldn’t understand why the original owner had ignored a man like this and preferred a pretty boy like Gao Minglang.
Jiang Ni quickly wiped herself down in the bedroom, cleaning all the dust and sand from her body.
Then she carried a bucket of water outside.
She saw Fu Ruichen working in the courtyard, clearing away the weeds.
He was incredibly fast.
In hardly any time at all, he had already cleared half the courtyard.
It was early autumn, but the evening weather was still hot.
Sweat covered the man’s forehead. He had already taken off his camouflage uniform, leaving him wearing only a white work tank top.
It was the old-fashioned kind.
But Jiang Ni’s attention was entirely captured by the muscles exposed beneath it.
When he bent down to cut the weeds, his arm lifted, and the muscles along his upper arm bulged with powerful definition.
His waist was lean and strong, while the muscles across his back shifted with every movement of his arms, radiating a raw, masculine strength.
Jiang Ni watched without realizing it, then involuntarily swallowed.
She had the original owner’s memories.
On their wedding night, those powerful arms had held her firmly in place, and the two of them had spent the entire night together.
Afterward, the original owner had beaten and kicked him, cursing him for being nothing but a brute.
With that kind of strength, she probably wouldn’t be able to handle him easily either.
Fu Ruichen keenly sensed her gaze.
He straightened and walked over to her.
Jiang Ni handed him the bucket.
“The wooden bucket is too heavy. My hands hurt from carrying it.”
As she spoke, she spread her fingers out in front of him.
She had only carried it for a short while, yet her fair, delicate palms were already marked with faint pink impressions.
Fu Ruichen quickly glanced at her palms, his brows drawing together slightly.
He reached out and took the bucket from her.
“I’ll do it.”
He poured the water out in the courtyard and then turned back.
Jiang Ni naturally picked up a towel and wiped the sweat from his face.
“You’re sweating. Let me wipe it for you.”
The woman’s delicate fragrance drifted into his nose.
Fu Ruichen’s entire body tensed.
“I’ll wash up later. There’s no need to wipe it.”
Seeing that his clothes were completely soaked through, Jiang Ni thought she should make an effort to show him that she genuinely wanted to build a life with him.
She stepped forward.
“I’ll help, too.”
Fu Ruichen looked at her in surprise.
“You’re pregnant. You don’t need to do these things.”
More importantly, with her delicate, soft frame, she didn’t look like someone who was accustomed to doing any kind of hard work.