Those lips, still damp with tears, appeared particularly full and glistening as they pressed against his thin ones.
Soft, warm, carrying the saltiness of tears and her unique sweetness.
Qin Lie froze as if under a binding spell.
His mind went blank.
This was the first time in his twenty-six years that he had kissed a woman.
It felt strange, unfamiliar. Not as beautiful as books described, yet it held a magic that sent shivers through his heart.
Jiang Wu’s kiss was clumsy, more like the nibbling of a small animal. Without skill, only reckless urgency.
She simply held his neck tightly, pressing her lips awkwardly against his, even tentatively licking with her little tongue.
In that instant, Qin Lie felt all the blood in his body rush to his head.
An electric current exploded from his lips, rapidly spreading to every limb.
He snapped back to his senses, pushing her away as if scalded.
The force was a bit strong; Jiang Wu stumbled back two steps before steadying herself on the edge of the bed.
She looked up, her recently tear-filled eyes watery with confusion and hurt from being pushed away.
Her lips, after the kiss, had become even redder and fuller, slightly pouting like ripe cherries.
Looking at her like that, Qin Lie felt only a parched thirst.
He turned away in embarrassment, roughly wiping his lips with the back of his hand.
Her warmth and taste seemed to linger there.
“You…”
He wanted to call her shameless. But seeing her clear, innocent eyes, the words stuck in his throat.
What could he say?
Accuse her of forcing a kiss?
Yet he was the one who had spoken harshly first, making her cry. Her clinging to him, kissing him, seemed more like a child’s way of pouting and seeking forgiveness.
Though… this method was too extreme.
“Darling…”
Jiang Wu called out again softly, her voice still thick with a nasal tone.
She climbed down from the bed, carefully walked behind him, and tugged gently on the hem of his shirt with two fingers.
“Are you still angry?”
Qin Lie, with his back to her, didn’t respond.
He needed time to calm his wildly beating heart and the surging heat within his body.
“I was wrong.”
Seeing him ignore her, Jiang Wu’s voice grew even more pitiful.
“I won’t wear that dress ever again.”
“And… I won’t kiss you anymore.”
At the last sentence, her voice noticeably dropped, carrying a hint of hidden disappointment.
Hearing that, a flicker of inexplicable displeasure crossed Qin Lie’s heart.
What did she mean by not kissing him anymore?
Did she plan to kiss someone else instead?
The thought startled him.
Since when had he become so possessive?
“You… as long as you know you were wrong!”
Suppressing the strange feeling in his heart, he forced the words out between clenched teeth, his tone still stiff.
“Then do you forgive me?”
Jiang Wu shook his shirt hem like a wagging-tailed puppy.
Qin Lie closed his eyes, letting out a heavy grunt through his nose.
“Mhm.”
That was his answer.
“Great!”
Jiang Wu cheered immediately.
She released his shirt hem, circled around to stand in front of him, and looked up at him with her tear-stained face, giving him a big smile.
“I knew it, darling—you’re the best!”
That smile was as bright as the sun after rain, dazzling Qin Lie’s eyes.
He realized he had no resistance whatsoever to this woman’s tears and smiles.
When she cried, he felt restless, even heartache.
When she smiled, the whole world seemed to light up, and he couldn’t stay angry anymore.
This discovery filled Qin Lie with an unprecedented sense of defeat and… panic.
The self-control he prided himself on was crumbling bit by bit before this woman.
He feared that staying in the same space with her would lead him to do something even more uncontrollable.
“I’m going to shower!”
He threw out the words, almost fleeing the room in a panic, heading straight for the faucet in the yard.
Cold well water poured over his head.
Qin Lie closed his eyes, letting the bone-chilling cold seep into his skin, trying to extinguish the fire inside him.
But the more he tried to calm down, the more vividly the memory of that kiss surfaced in his mind.
Her lips were so soft.
Her taste was so sweet.
Frustrated, Qin Lie grabbed his hair, slamming a fist hard against the wall.
He felt like he was going crazy.
Inside the house, Jiang Wu watched his flustered retreat, the smile at the corner of her lips growing wider.
She raised a finger, lightly touching her still-warm lips.
They seemed to still carry his pleasant, masculine scent.
This man was even more innocent than she had imagined.
A single kiss had thrown him into complete disarray.
But wasn’t that even more interesting?
Humming a cheerful tune, Jiang Wu began tidying up the room.
She carefully folded the red dress Qin Lie had disliked and placed it deep inside the wardrobe.
Then, she found the plainest blue cloth dress the original host had worn and changed into it.
Since he didn’t like her wearing eye-catching clothes, she would be obedient.
A woman who was sweet, sensible, and occasionally coquettish was most likely to capture a man’s heart.
This was the first lesson taught in the Union of Joy Sect.
The next day, thanks to last night’s “intense situation,” Qin Lie once again became the focus of the entire military compound.
Early in the morning, the washroom in the family quarters was filled with military wives carrying basins to do laundry.
“Hey, have you heard? Yesterday afternoon, Regimental Commander Qin carried his wife right off the beach!” The speaker was a round-faced military wife, her excitement barely contained.
“Carried? Didn’t he hold her?” Another tall, slim military wife corrected immediately. “I saw it with my own eyes! The way he did it—tsk tsk—just like snatching a bride in the movies, so domineering!”
“Really? With Regimental Commander Qin being so serious, would he do something like that?” The crowd expressed disbelief.
“Isn’t it true?” Another military wife who had witnessed the scene on the beach yesterday joined the discussion. “Let me tell you, the beach was full of young soldiers who had just finished training, all shirtless, staring at Regimental Commander Qin’s wife like wolves!”
“That Jiang Wu, really, dressed so… lightly! A bright red dress, such a tiny waist, such long legs—with the wind blowing, she almost stole everyone’s souls!” She gestured while talking, her expression a mix of envy and disdain.
“Then what? Then what?” The crowd listened eagerly, urging her to continue.
“Then, Regimental Commander Qin appeared out of nowhere, his face dark enough to scare anyone to death! Without a word, he took off his own military jacket, wrapped his wife from head to toe, picked her up, and carried her away!”
“Oh, my goodness!” Gasps echoed in the washroom.
The scene alone was enough to make hearts race and cheeks flush.
“I told you! That Jiang Wu is definitely a vixen! She’s got our Regimental Commander Qin completely bewitched!”
“Exactly! Before, Regimental Commander Qin couldn’t stand her, found her annoying even at a glance. But now—carrying her, holding her—as if afraid others might take another look! The possessiveness is too strong!”
“You didn’t see it—the lights in Regimental Commander Qin’s house were on half the night! I got up in the middle of the night and heard noises inside!” A military wife living near Qin Lie’s home mysteriously dropped an even bigger bombshell.
“What noises?” The crowd perked up immediately.
The military wife lowered her voice, wearing a “you-know-what-I-mean” expression.
“Well… the sound of bedboards creaking! And… a woman’s crying, intermittent, so pitiful!”
“Hiss—”
The temperature in the washroom seemed to rise a few degrees.
Everyone’s minds began involuntarily conjuring certain indescribable scenes.
Regimental Commander Qin… such a tall, strong man.
He must be very… capable in that area, right?
To think he made that young wife cry from exhaustion!
How… beastly!
And so… enviable!
For a moment, the military wives exchanged complicated glances—jealousy, envy, bitterness, and a hint of sympathy for Jiang Wu.
“How do you think Jiang Wu managed it? What kind of sorcery did she use to change Regimental Commander Qin so much?”
“Who knows? Maybe she went to some temple and prayed to a fox spirit!”
“I think men are all the same—they say one thing, but their bodies are honest! With a face like Jiang Wu’s, which man could resist?”
Just as the discussion heated up, an untimely voice chimed in.