The sky was just beginning to brighten when the military bugle rang out loudly across the compound.
Su Man was startled awake by the stirring sound. She sat up abruptly and stared blankly for two seconds before remembering that she was no longer in that drafty woodshed, nor was she on her way to being sold to an idiot.
She was in Lu Zhan’s dormitory.
The wooden bed beneath her was hard as a board, but the quilt smelled pleasantly of soap. She turned her head toward the floor and found it empty. The military greatcoat had already been folded into a neat, perfect square and placed properly in the corner.
“If you’re awake, get up. We have something to take care of.”
The man’s deep voice came from the doorway.
Lu Zhan had already returned from his morning exercises. He was wearing a sleeveless undershirt, a towel hanging around his neck. Heat radiated from his body, and beads of sweat slid down the contours of his bronze-colored muscles, giving him an almost primal intensity.
Su Man’s face flushed. She hurriedly ran her fingers through her messy hair.
“Where are we going?”
“The Civil Affairs Bureau.”
Lu Zhan walked into the room and picked up the enamel mug from the washstand, taking a sip of water.
“Didn’t you insist on marrying me last night? What happened? Regretting it now that the sun’s up?”
Su Man’s heart tightened.
She immediately put on a bright smile and jumped off the bed.
“Of course not! I’m just worried that you’ll be the one regretting it, Commander.”
The Civil Affairs Bureau wasn’t far away, and they went there in a military jeep.
A guard named Zhang was driving. As he gripped the steering wheel, he kept sneaking glances at Su Man through the rearview mirror.
The girl was truly beautiful. No wonder she’d managed to win over their regiment commander, that thousand-year-old iron tree that had never bloomed.
When they arrived at the Civil Affairs Bureau, the woman in charge of taking photographs looked at the two of them and immediately frowned.
“Comrade, why are you standing so far away? There’s enough room between you to drive a train through! Move closer!”
Lu Zhan stood ramrod straight, as though he were at attention. At her words, he stiffly shuffled a little closer to Su Man.
“Comrade, smile! Getting married is a happy occasion. Don’t look like you’re heading to the execution ground.”
Su Man took a deep breath and steeled herself.
She deliberately leaned her head against Lu Zhan’s shoulder, a sweet, almost sickeningly sugary smile blooming across her face.
The tips of her hair brushed against his neck, sending a faint itch across his skin.
Every muscle in Lu Zhan’s body instantly tensed.
He instinctively wanted to move away, but remembering that they were taking a wedding photograph, he forcibly held himself still.
“Click!”
The red seal was stamped.
The official seal was pressed onto the documents.
Two bright red marriage certificates were now in Su Man’s hands.
She ran her fingers over the warm covers, and the heavy stone in her heart finally dropped.
From this moment on, she was the wife of a military officer. She was Lu Zhan’s legally protected wife.
Zhao Guihua, that vicious woman, would never be able to lay a finger on her again.
“Let’s go. We’re heading back to the compound.”
Lu Zhan slipped the marriage certificates into his pocket, his expression revealing nothing.
“Now that we’ve registered our marriage, you can’t stay in the dormitory anymore. The family housing application has been approved.”
Given Lu Zhan’s rank, he had been assigned a detached little house on the eastern side of the compound.
It only had three rooms, but there was a fairly spacious courtyard and a separate kitchen. For this era, it was already considered excellent living conditions.
The jeep stopped outside the courtyard gate.
“We’re here. Get out.”
Lu Zhan jumped down first and picked up Su Man’s tiny bundle of belongings, which contained only a few worn-out clothes.
Su Man followed behind him, looking at the weathered wooden door as she began planning their future life together.
She could grow some vegetables, raise a few chickens, and perhaps start a small business…
“From now on, this is home.”
As Lu Zhan spoke, he reached out to push open the half-closed wooden door.
The instant the door hinge turned with a faint creak—
Su Man’s ears twitched.
Something was wrong.
Her sharp instincts, honed in her previous life from constantly dodging city inspectors while running a street stall, immediately detected the faintest disturbance in the air above her.
It was the warning sign of a heavy object losing its balance and about to fall.
Almost purely on instinct, Su Man didn’t hesitate for even a second.
She pushed off with the tips of her toes and sprang backward and to the side like a nimble cat, landing a meter away.
“Look out!”
She shouted, but it was already too late.
Lu Zhan had been a reconnaissance soldier, so his reflexes were naturally exceptional.
But he was carrying Su Man’s bundle, walking straight through the doorway, and, more importantly, he had let his guard down because this was supposed to be his home.
The moment he heard Su Man’s warning, he instinctively looked up.
“Whoosh!”
A basin of cold water mixed with flour came crashing down over his head.
“Clang!”
The enamel basin landed on the ground and spun several times before finally coming to a stop.
Time seemed to freeze.
Standing safely to the side, Su Man stared at the scene before her in utter disbelief.
The mighty “Living Devil” Lu Zhan, the man whose very name struck fear into the hearts of his enemies, had now been transformed into a complete “snowman.”
His military cap, eyebrows, and eyelashes were covered in soggy flour paste.
The stern features of his face were almost completely hidden beneath the white sludge, leaving only a pair of frighteningly dark eyes that seemed to spit fire.
What dripped from his strong jaw wasn’t sweat.
It was thick, milky paste.
His immaculate military uniform was even worse, looking as though he’d been rolled around inside a flour barrel.
“Hahahaha! It worked! It worked! The big dumb bear turned into a big white bear!”
“Erbao, run! Don’t let him catch us!”
Two little black shadows suddenly shot out from behind the old locust tree in the courtyard.
The older one looked about eight years old. He had a buzz cut and fierce eyes that made him look like a little wolf cub.
The younger one was around six, chubby and round-faced, with half a handful of flour still clutched in his hand. He grinned so widely that all his teeth showed.
These were the two orphans of Lu Zhan’s fallen comrades—
Lu Wen and Lu Wu.
The two notorious little troublemakers of the compound.
Lu Zhan took a deep breath, his chest heaving violently as wet flour sprinkled down from his face.
He raised a hand and wiped his face, revealing a complexion as dark as the bottom of a cooking pot.
“Lu Wen! Lu Wu!”
His furious roar shook the leaves of the locust tree.
Lu Zhan threw Su Man’s bundle onto the ground and immediately began unbuckling the military belt around his waist.
“If I don’t whip your asses raw today, then I’m not a Lu!”
The two children were clearly seasoned offenders.
The moment they saw Lu Zhan pull off his belt, they didn’t cry.
Instead, they split up and darted toward the house, their movements so practiced that it was almost heartbreaking.
“Nyah-nyah! You can’t catch me! The new stepmother is a bad person! We don’t want a stepmother!”
Erbao ran while turning around to make faces at him.
Da Bao was even more aggressive.
Standing behind the window, he raised a slingshot in his hand and warily aimed his gaze at Su Man.
“Get out! This is our home! You’re not allowed in!”
Lu Zhan was so furious that his hands trembled.
In the army, he commanded soldiers. Which troublesome recruit hadn’t eventually been disciplined into obedience by him?
Yet these two little brats were different.
They were the only surviving children of his comrades who had sacrificed their lives. If he hit them too hard, his heart ached. If he went too easy on them, they simply wouldn’t learn their lesson.
The few women he’d been introduced to before had either been reduced to tears and run away because of these two children, or they’d complained about how exhausting it was to raise two burdens that weren’t their own.
And today, on the very day he had gotten married, these two little bastards had pulled this stunt on him!
“Stop right there!”
Lu Zhan grabbed his belt and was about to charge into the house.
A fair hand suddenly pressed against his flour-covered arm.
“Brother Zhan, don’t lose your temper.”
Su Man had approached without him noticing.
Looking at Lu Zhan’s miserable appearance, she struggled to suppress her laughter. She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket, rose onto her toes, and gently wiped the flour paste from the corner of his eye.
“Look at you. Why are you getting so worked up over the children? What a waste of all this flour.”
Lu Zhan lowered his head and looked at her.
She was standing extremely close.
The faint, pleasant fragrance from her body drifted into his nose, strangely calming the anger burning inside him.
“Move aside.”
Although Lu Zhan’s voice was still cold, the belt in his hand had already dropped to his side.
“Those two little brats haven’t been disciplined in three days, and they’re already climbing onto the roof and tearing it apart. Today, I have to teach them some rules.”
“Do you really think beating them will make them listen?”
Su Man raised an eyebrow, a sly glint flashing in her eyes.
“Those two children have wild looks in their eyes. The more you beat them, the more they’ll resent you. They’ll only become more convinced that I’m a bad woman who came here to destroy their family.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
Lu Zhan asked irritably.
Su Man bent down and picked up the enamel basin, which was still dripping flour paste. She glanced at the flour scattered across the ground and clicked her tongue.
“What a waste. This is high-quality flour. We could have made so many steamed buns with it.”
She turned her head toward the two wary pairs of eyes peering out from behind the window.
The corners of her lips curled into a meaningful smile.
“Since they’re children, then we have to deal with them like children.”
Su Man shoved the enamel basin into Lu Zhan’s arms and dusted off her hands.
“You go wash up and change your clothes. I’ll handle things here.”
Lu Zhan looked at her suspiciously.
“You can handle them?”
Su Man blinked. Confidence sparkled in her peach-shaped eyes.
“Don’t worry, Commander. I may still be learning how to deal with men, but when it comes to naughty children…”
She gave a cold little laugh, her voice carrying a chill that made one’s spine tingle.
“I’m a professional.”