The night grew deeper, and the sound of cicadas came from outside the window. Qin Mu walked into the bedroom with a faint layer of moisture on his body.
He saw Jiang Yao lying on her side on the inner part of the bed, so he also got on the bed.
“Wife, do you want to talk for a while?”
Qin Mu’s voice was slightly hoarse. He lay on his side, looking at the girl’s thin back.
During the week he had been away, some things had changed at home.
Although Xiao Zhang had already reported everything to him in detail, he still wanted to hear it from Jiang Yao herself.
Jiang Yao licked her lips, turned over, and pinched the edge of the blanket.
“What do you want to ask?”
Xiao Hei had slept enough during the day and applied to join the conversation.
【What are you eavesdropping for? Go back and sleep.】
Xiao Hei: 【With your intelligence, you might get tricked into revealing things. I’ll listen from the side and help you.】
Seeing Xiao Hei say that, Jiang Yao didn’t stop it anymore.
“You said the ice at home—Grandma said you made it yourself?”
“Mm. It was too hot at home, and buying popsicles costs money, so I thought I might as well make ice myself.” She tucked loose strands of hair behind her ear.
“There wasn’t enough nitrate in the house to make that much ice.” The man paused slightly. “Wife, do you remember what I told you before I left?”
Moonlight poured in from outside, casting uneven shadows across Qin Mu’s face. Jiang Yao looked at his deep black eyes and thought of the forehead kiss from a week ago. Her fingers, which were gripping the blanket, curled slightly.
“I remember,” she said, avoiding his gaze. “You told me to take care of myself, to register for the literacy class with Sister Chen, to stay home with Grandma, and not to go up the mountain.”
She hadn’t heard it clearly at the time; Xiao Hei had explained it to her later.
“I didn’t go up the mountain. Last time I wandered around all the nearby hills and found nitrate in a cave, so I brought some back.”
“Mm, I believe you.”
Jiang Yao and Xiao Hei: ??
【Why is he suddenly so enlightened today?】
Xiao Hei: 【Has he been successfully trained?】
Jiang Yao didn’t know either.
She felt a little awkward and casually continued talking about the process of using nitrate to make ice, including the fact that their household would soon earn more than eighty cabbages for the winter.
Qin Mu listened quietly. When he heard that she planned to take the military wives from the residential compound to dig for nitrate, he immediately guessed that there must be a large deposit there—possibly even a nitrate mine.
The military had been stationed here for more than ten years without discovering it, yet his wife had found two places right after arriving.
He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Seeing that Qin Mu hadn’t spoken for a long time, Jiang Yao waved her hand in front of him.
“I’ve told you everything I did after you left. Do you have anything else you want to ask?”
Qin Mu came back to his senses and grabbed her hand, pulling it into his and interlocking their fingers.
“No more. Sleep.”
“Oh.”
The conversation suddenly stopped, and Jiang Yao felt a bit confused. When she moved her fingers, she realized their hands were still tightly held together.
She tried to pull away but couldn’t.
“You curl up in the blanket when you sleep. From now on, we’ll sleep holding hands.”
The man lying straight on his back spoke calmly, without any noticeable emotion.
【This old man is pretty skilled. He’s making my heart itch.】
Xiao Hei: 【Sister Yao, if he hugs you, where would it itch?】
【Your skin must be itchy.】
After that, the room fell completely silent.
Jiang Yao lay flat, feeling the warmth of their joined hands.
The man’s palm was rough but warm, with calluses formed from training. Every slight touch carried a faint, tingling sensation.
The person beside her had steady breathing, as if already asleep. She quietly tried to withdraw her hand, but his palm seemed to sense it and tightened slightly, as if telling her: “Behave.”
…
The matter of taking the military wives to the back mountain to find nitrate had not yet been finalized when Ling Xue came again, this time bringing several people who claimed to be researchers from the military geological institute.
“Sister-in-law, what brings you here?”
Ling Xue bit her lip and pulled her aside.
“Last night I told my husband about the nitrate. He listened as a family member, but after hearing that you found nitrate in the back mountain, he suspected it might be a nitrate mine.
So he wants you to take us there to take a look… We won’t just look for nothing. If it really is a nitrate mine, my husband said you’ll be rewarded.
Nitrate mines are an important raw material for explosives in our military industry. The reward will definitely not be small.”
She held up one finger.
“More than three digits.”
The displeasure in Jiang Yao’s heart vanished instantly.
It makes money? Then fine.
“No problem. I can take you there.”
After she went inside to greet Grandma, she left with them.
On the way, the group didn’t talk much. Jiang Yao led the way according to Xiao Hei’s directions, and in less than half an hour, they arrived at the entrance of a cave.
“This is it. There’s also nitrate on the outer rock walls.”
Huo Yiheng, who was the most familiar with nitrate among them, had used it with his uncle when he was young to make black powder for hunting in the mountains.
He was the first to step forward and examine it. The white crystals on the rock wall were indeed nitrate, though there wasn’t much of it.
“Let’s go inside.”
Jiang Yao nodded and led the way.
Xiao Hei had already scanned the area and found nothing dangerous inside, so she walked straight in. Not long after, large crystal formations appeared before everyone’s eyes.
Jiang Yao was also surprised. If she had known earlier, she would have taken some first.
With her space ability, nothing was ever too much.
“So much?” Qiao Heng shone a flashlight over it.
Without even counting deeper inside, they could already confirm that this was indeed a nitrate mine cave. The deeper they went, the more spacious it became. Huo Yiheng guessed that someone might have discovered it long ago.
But they couldn’t determine when; that required further investigation.
On the way back, Huo Yiheng asked Jiang Yao how she knew nitrate could be used to make ice.
For professionals like them, even knowing that was rare.
As for Jiang Yao…
“There was an old man who told me,” she said.
Huo Yiheng pressed further. “May I ask his name?”
Jiang Yao had made it up on the spot, so of course she didn’t know any name. But she would answer this question.
She showed a sorrowful expression and said in a low voice:
“He passed away a few years ago… His name… is not convenient to mention.”
Huo Yiheng understood immediately. From this, he could roughly infer the old man’s identity.
He just felt it was a pity.