When Qin Mu returned home, carefully protecting the ice pops, Jiang Yao was still awake. He first gave one to his grandmother, then brought the remaining one back to the room for Jiang Yao.
Jiang Yao looked at the cold ice pop in her hand, her eyes lighting up. “Did you go out and buy this?”
Qin Mu sat beside her and quietly placed the oil paper on the blanket.
“Mm. It’s a bit hot today. Eat something cold to cool down.”
Jiang Yao held the ice pop up to his mouth. “Here, have a bite too. It’s not easy to go out and buy things. Oh right, did Grandma get one?”
“I already gave it to her.”
“Oh.”
Qin Mu looked at the ice pop by his lips. Normally, he didn’t like eating these things, but this time, he surprisingly took a bite.
It was cool and slightly sweet, not overly rich.
Seeing that he didn’t mind, Jiang Yao continued eating it herself. Back in the day, several people would share one bottle of water—this was nothing to her.
But in Qin Mu’s eyes, it felt a little different.
While eating, Jiang Yao chatted with Xiao Hei in her mind:
[Why do you think Qin Mu bought ice pops?]
Xiao Hei licked its bone.
[…Probably to apologize. Didn’t he upset you yesterday? Other than that, if a man wants something from a woman, it’s either money or looks.]
Jiang Yao didn’t think it was an apology.
[I’m not that petty. He already apologized yesterday. I’ll just wait and see how he behaves. As for the other things…]
Money… looks…
She suddenly paused and asked Qin Mu, “Didn’t you already hand over your salary? Where did you get the money to buy ice pops?”
She guessed he might have borrowed money, so she went to the cabinet and took out a small metal box.
“Here. However much you borrowed, just take it. The money’s all in that drawer—you don’t need to borrow from others.”
Seeing her serious expression, Qin Mu took out the money from his pocket and handed it to her.
“I collected this month’s allowance today. I hadn’t given it to you yet.”
“You got paid again?!”
Jiang Yao’s voice rose with excitement. She quickly took the money and started counting.
“Ninety… ninety-three…”
“One hundred and nine yuan and sixty-four cents. I spent thirty-six cents on two ice pops and two bottles of soda.”
“Oh, your math is pretty fast.”
Xiao Hei added: [Yours is pretty slow.]
Jiang Yao ignored it and sorted the money by denomination.
Qin Mu continued, “Today I also asked a comrade in Beijing to buy two bags of milk powder. That cost twenty yuan. My monthly salary is one hundred and thirty yuan.”
Jiang Yao was surprised. “Why are you buying milk powder? Are you planning to have a child with me? Isn’t that a bit early? We haven’t even—mmph—”
Consummated the marriage yet!
Qin Mu covered her mouth and said seriously, “It’s for you and Grandma to drink.”
“You’re still young, and your body hasn’t fully recovered.”
Hearing the word “young,” Jiang Yao subconsciously straightened her chest.
Qin Mu lowered his hand, lifted her chin, and met her eyes.
“I don’t care about those things. Don’t overthink.”
Jiang Yao looked into his dark eyes, then leaned back. “Got it.”
She quickly slipped out of his space, lay down, and turned away. “I’m sleepy. I’m going to sleep.”
Qin Mu looked at her back, a faint smile forming on his lips.
…
That afternoon, after Qin Mu left for the army, Jiang Yao shared one bottle of soda with her grandmother. The two of them sat in the yard discussing what to cook for dinner.
“Dazhuang from next door brought some vegetables this morning. I’ll make vegetable pancakes tonight, and stir-fried sour and spicy shredded potatoes?”
Jiang Yao nodded. “Sounds good. I’ll also make mashed potatoes.”
She had just learned it from the recipe and wanted to try it.
After deciding, she found an excuse to go to the supply and marketing cooperative. Passing by the division commander’s house and seeing the door closed, she had Xiao Hei place the boxes inside.
Afterward, Jiang Yao asked if the nearby tombs had all been looted.
Xiao Hei scratched its ear.
[No. I already marked them for you. But you can’t go up the mountain for now. The two tombs we found are being guarded by the military.]
[Guarded? Are they planning to go down there?]
[Don’t forget there’s rare metal down there. Once they get those boxes today, they’ll figure it out sooner or later. They’ll definitely investigate.]
[So I can’t go up the mountain anytime soon?]
Jiang Yao immediately felt bored.
At the cooperative, she gathered what she needed and paid.
Yang Mei was on duty that afternoon. Seeing Jiang Yao unfamiliar, she asked whose family she belonged to.
“My husband is Qin Mu.”
“Oh, you’re Regimental Commander Qin’s country wife?”
Jiang Yao’s eyelid twitched. Why does that sound so unpleasant?
“Mm. Do you need something?”
Seeing Jiang Yao’s plain and thin appearance, Yang Mei felt a sense of superiority.
Smiling, she said, “Sister-in-law, I just want to remind you—Regimental Commander Qin doesn’t get much rest during his lunch break. It’s best to let him rest properly.”
Jiang Yao frowned and replied bluntly,
“What right do you have to interfere in our marriage? Since you love meddling so much, why not go lick a passing shit cart too?”
Yang Mei’s face stiffened at the harsh words. Her eyes welled up as she said,
“Sister-in-law, how can you speak like that? I’m just giving you advice. Soldiers have it hard. They should rest whenever they can. You had him go out at noon to buy ice pops for you—aren’t you worried it’ll affect his afternoon training?”
Her voice was just loud enough for all the military wives in the store to hear.
“Jiang Yao, did your husband really go out at noon to buy you ice pops?”
Facing the crowd, Jiang Yao nodded. It was true—but—
“My husband had his reasons,” she said with a sigh. “Grandma and I just arrived here and aren’t used to the climate. It’s the hottest part of the season right now—mornings and evenings are fine, but noon is hard to bear. Qin Mu saw that we didn’t have much appetite and worried we might get heatstroke, so he bought them specially.
Sisters, he works hard training under the sun and wind. If it weren’t for this, I would never have let him go out.”
Everyone’s husband mattered to them—she understood that. If Yang Mei wanted to act innocent, she could do the same.
Jiang Yao spoke sincerely, and the other wives immediately changed their attitude.
“So that’s what happened. Then it makes sense—getting sick is no small matter.”
“Jiang Yao, ice pops only treat the symptoms. I’ll bring you some tea later. It’s hot here—you shouldn’t drink cold water. Hot water helps cool you down faster. Ice pops are fine occasionally, but too much isn’t good for women.”
“Right, if not tea, just add a bit of salt to boiled water. It’s very dry here. You can also keep a basin of water in your room at night.”
“…”
Watching Jiang Yao win everyone over with just a few words, Yang Mei’s face twisted with anger.
After the crowd dispersed, Jiang Yao went to pay and completely ignored Yang Mei, taking her items to Xiao Juan’s counter instead.