Qin Qing entered the room, changed into slippers, and washed her face in the bathroom before finally feeling somewhat relieved.
Looking at the military overcoat piled in the bathroom.
Should she pretend not to know about the photo later? Or use this opportunity to probe further?
Too much is as bad as too little…
Better to take it slow.
Qin Qing pulled back her thoughts.
Since she was already here, there was no rush.
The man who went to fetch the meal returned quickly.
Qin Qing wondered whether she should be self-sufficient…
If she couldn’t manage on her own, he would have to take care of her, leaving him no reason to avoid her.
If she could manage independently, would she even have a chance to see him?
“Come eat.” Zhou Yansheng went to the kitchen to fetch bowls and chopsticks.
A simple meal of two dishes and a soup, not as extravagant as Zhang Qi’s.
But they were all dishes she used to love…
He actually remembered.
Looking at the steamed egg in the lunchbox, Qin Qing deliberately smiled brightly, “Thank you.”
With steamed egg over rice, she could eat two bowls.
Eating too quickly, she choked a little.
Qin Qing coughed ungracefully.
“Slow down, no one’s fighting you for it.” Though his words sounded dismissive, Zhou Yansheng had already gone to the kitchen to pour her a cup of hot water.
“Zhou Yansheng, don’t be too good to me…” Qin Qing took the cup, blinking her big eyes as she looked at him.
This was a sentence she had been contemplating whether to say.
But the stubborn man had been keeping his distance, and she couldn’t push too aggressively.
So… she had to deal with him with a mix of truth and deception.
In her past life, she had been blind, but in this life, his kindness felt like a slow torture.
She put down the cup, “On one hand, you’re fiercely trying to send me away, yet on the other, you still remember what I like to eat…”
This time, Qin Qing didn’t cry, just looked at him and said softly, “Let me stay, okay…”
The man seemed about to speak, but Qin Qing didn’t give him the chance.
“We’re already married. Besides following you, where else… can I go…”
Alright, she had said her piece. Time to exit.
Qin Qing ran back to her room without any hesitation.
Slamming the door shut.
Actually, it felt good to say some things half-truthfully.
Zhou Yansheng had frozen up again just now!
So… he responded better to softness than to force.
Zhou Yansheng looked at the tightly closed bedroom door.
He let out a sigh.
It had only been a few days, and she was already pushing him to the brink.
Who taught her?!
Each move was more ruthless than the last.
And yet, he truly… couldn’t handle it.
Hadn’t she always liked someone else?
What did treating him like this even mean?!
Zhou Yansheng leisurely smoked a cigarette before standing up.
He went to knock on the door.
“Come out and eat. I’m going to work. We’ll talk properly when I get back tonight.”
Leaving these words, he left.
But they kept Qin Qing anxious all afternoon.
She did nothing.
Didn’t even leave the room.
Just… spaced out.
“Talk properly”…
What could they talk about? Would it just be a lecture before sending her back to the capital…
In the evening, Zhou Yansheng returned.
As soon as he put down the lunchbox, Qin Qing pulled him into the bathroom.
“I can’t wash it…” She pointed at the military overcoat placed to the side.
“What happened?”
Qin Qing obediently gave a brief explanation of Xiao Dongzi’s earlier unintentional mistake.
“…Don’t worry, the… photo in the coat pocket, I’ve already taken it out. It’s in the desk drawer.”
She stole a glance at the man’s reaction.
Unfortunately… there was none.
Zhou Yansheng had already crouched down to start working.
“This place is small. You go out first.”
“I can help.” Qin Qing didn’t want to feel useless.
“No need.”
Qin Qing did not leave. Biting her lip, she stood to the side… watching.
Zhou Yansheng ignored her at first.
While wringing out the water, Qin Qing still took the initiative to lend a hand.
He glanced at her but did not refuse.
“Hold it steady,” he said.
Qin Qing nodded hurriedly.
But when the man forcefully twisted the other end, she nearly let it slip from her hands.
How embarrassing.
Fortunately, Zhou Yansheng seemed to have anticipated it and took it over just in time.
He carried the coat outside to hang it up.
When Zhou Yansheng returned after finishing his tasks, he calmly invited her to have dinner.
Qin Qing finally couldn’t take it anymore.
She plopped down on a stool.
“Zhou Yansheng! Can we talk first? I’m in no mood to eat.”
Hearing this, the man who had just warmed up the dishes suddenly raised an eyebrow, and a faint smile appeared on his previously expressionless face.
Seeing that the man remained silent, Qin Qing lost her nerve again.
“Then… then let’s just eat…” She picked up her bowl and buried her head in it.
Looking at his little wife, whose head was almost buried in her rice bowl, Zhou Yansheng’s smile deepened.
He placed a piece of vegetable in her bowl. “Eat first.”
Qin Qing still didn’t look up.
But she picked up her chopsticks and silently devoured her meal.
During this meal, she didn’t take a single bite of food on her own, yet she truly ate her fill.
Every piece of food came from the man beside her, feeding her.
When had he ever been so patient with her…
“I’m done,” she said, putting down her bowl and chopsticks, and without a moment’s delay, she ran back to the bedroom.
Only then did Zhou Yansheng eat his meal unhurriedly. Earlier, he had only fed her and hadn’t taken a single bite himself.
Qin Qing waited in the room for a long time.
Listening to the sounds from outside—him eating, clearing the table, washing the dishes.
Every little noise.
She wanted to go out and help.
But… she didn’t dare.
So she just sat on the big bed, lost in thought.
A knock sounded at the door, and Zhou Yansheng pushed it open slightly. “Come out.”
“No!” Qin Qing refused without a second thought.
Only after the words left her mouth did she realize she had overreacted. “Um… not outside, like interrogating a prisoner…”
She murmured, “There isn’t even a chair.”
Who would want to sit bolt upright and listen to him lecture her!
Hearing this, Zhou Yansheng entered the bedroom.
Glancing at the petite woman sitting on the edge of the bed, he casually pulled over the wooden chair by the desk and sat down.
Before Qin Qing could react, the man began speaking.
“You want to stay?”
Qin Qing nodded woodenly.
“Can you live in these conditions?” Zhou Yansheng’s gaze swept around the room. “You might endure it for a day or two, but what about a year or two?”
“I can live here,” Qin Qing replied without the slightest hesitation.
She mocked herself inwardly—I’ve endured hardships in my past life too…
Zhou Yansheng raised an eyebrow and continued, “I can take care of you when I’m home, but what will you do when I’m on a mission?”
“I can—” Before she could say the words “take care of myself,” the man interrupted her.
“To be more practical, what can you do here?”
The man’s gaze was unusually firm. “Four years of university, finally graduating—was it so you could keep Sister Li and the others company, or so you could get into fights over petty arguments?”
“I…” Qin Qing looked at the man’s serious expression and felt inexplicably upset.
Summoning courage from somewhere, she stood up from the bed and, without any warning, straddled his lap.
She even somewhat recklessly wrapped her arms around him.
Zhou Yansheng’s brow instantly furrowed into a tight knot. “Sit properly.”
Even as he said this, his arms moved faster than his mind, encircling her and steadying her wobbly body.
“What kind of behavior is this! Go back and sit properly,” he said sternly, releasing his hold.
“No!” Qin Qing clung desperately to his neck. “Zhou Yansheng, don’t send me away!”
“It was my fault before… I regret it…” Qin Qing bit her lip.
“If I keep overthinking everything, will we spend our whole lives never speaking to each other again?”
“I don’t want to hear reason right now, I don’t want to think about the future. I just want to know,” the girl’s eyes welled with tears as she looked straight up at him, “whether my husband still wants me or not.”