He Zheng glanced at Huang Yuefang. “Sister-in-law, your belly’s getting too big. It’s not convenient for you to go to the toilet alone at night. Let’s build one in the courtyard. That way, you and Grandma won’t have to walk so far every day.”
Who hadn’t been pregnant in the military compound? But no one had ever seen a man build a private toilet for his wife at home.
Besides, Commander He and Jiang Ning weren’t even married. Jiang Ning was just temporarily staying at Commander He’s place. She’d heard from Old Fang that the organization was discussing allocating a plot of land to build another batch of family housing. When the apartments were distributed, Zhou Du’s wife would move out.
Regardless, building a toilet would also be helpful for Auntie Meng. She was getting on in years, after all.
Commander Fang had told He Zheng where to buy red bricks, so he headed toward the regiment. At this hour, the roads were filled with military wives and children, as well as soldiers continuously marching toward the regiment headquarters.
As the old lady and Jiang Ning reached the very front of the family compound, they ran into Auntie Zhu, whom they had almost collided with at the toilet the previous night. A young woman stood beside her, and seeing their similar features, it was easy to guess they were mother and daughter.
The old lady smiled and greeted them, “Out for a walk with your daughter?”
Zhu Rong gave a tight, mirthless smile and a curt “Mm” before dragging her daughter away.
The old lady frowned. What’s gotten into her?
“Grandma, who are they?” Jiang Ning asked.
“The older one is Zhu Rong,” the old lady explained. “The girl with her is her eldest daughter, Li Yujie. Her husband is Li Tianwu, the regiment commander of the 18th Regiment. They live three houses down from us.”
Hearing the name Li Yujie, Jiang Ning instantly understood Zhu Rong’s hostility.
In the original novel, the military wife who managed the supply and marketing cooperative’s coupons had left when her husband was transferred. Li Yujie’s parents had spent a small fortune and called in countless favors to get her the job.
Once she started working there, Li Yujie felt her office position made her superior to the salesclerks out front. She had even gotten into several fights with Huang Yuefang’s daughter, Fang Xiaoli.
After Huang Yuefang and her child died, Li Yujie had relentlessly taunted Fang Xiaoli with her position.
But now, since Jiang Ning had transmigrated into the book and arrived at the base with He Zheng, the job had been given to her instead. All the money and favors Li Tianwu and Zhu Rong had invested were now completely wasted.
No wonder she was so hostile.
So that’s where the root of the problem lies.
If the woman had been a good person, she probably would have felt guilty about taking someone else’s job. But not Zhu Rong and Li Yujie. The mother and daughter were worse than each other—the mother selling her own child out, the older sister selling her younger sister. Neither was a good person.
Jiang Ning followed the old lady around the family compound. Everyone who recognized her would ask who she was, and the old lady introduced Jiang Ning to each of them. By the end of the morning, most of the military wives in the compound knew what Zhou Du’s wife looked like.
She was truly beautiful.
Her skin was fair, her voice pleasant, and her demeanor was gentle. She was also a high school student.
It was a pity she had become a widow so young, with a child still in her womb.
The private vegetable plots were not far from the family compound. Each household was allotted three fen of land, and at this time of year, the vegetables were fully grown. The old lady carried a basket, picking a few beans and chili peppers, and a few loofahs, before taking Jiang Ning back home.
After washing her hands, Jiang Ning went inside and brewed two cups of malted milk powder, one for herself and one for her grandma.
The old lady adamantly refused to drink, no matter how much Jiang Ning tried to persuade her. She insisted Jiang Ning drink both cups.
Jiang Ning…
She let out a stuffed burp.
As noon approached, Jiang Ning took the initiative to sit by the stove and stoke the fire.
The old lady glanced at her sitting on the stool, her belly swollen. She wanted to tell her to stop and rest inside, but she worried Jiang Ning would feel restless if she didn’t have something to do. So, she let her be.
After chopping the vegetables, the old lady looked outside and muttered, “Where’s Xiao Zheng?”
Jiang Ning fed a few more sticks of wood into the stove. The orange glow reflected on her cheeks, and the warmth brought a flush to her skin, making her beautiful almond-shaped eyes stand out even more. “He’s probably at the regiment headquarters.”
Just then, He Zheng’s voice called out from outside, “Over by the brick pile!”
The old lady set down her shovel and went out. In the yard, she saw He Zheng and a young man with dark skin. The young man wiped the sweat from his face with a towel draped around his neck, grinned at the old lady, and greeted her, “Hello, Grandma.”
The old lady smiled back and asked He Zheng, “Why are you hauling all these bricks?”
He Zheng began unloading the red bricks from the cart. “We’re building a toilet in the yard.”
The old lady walked over to him, puzzled.
“What gave you the idea to build a toilet in the yard?” she asked softly.
He Zheng straightened up, wiping sweat from his eyelid with the back of his arm. He explained the incident at the toilet from the night before to the old lady.
It all made sense now. No wonder Zhu Rong had greeted her with a forced, tight-lipped smile and tried to brush her off. She’d been put in her place by He Zheng.
Serves her right! the old lady thought. He Zheng was too lenient. If it were me, I would have slapped her!
She understood her grandson’s motive for building the toilet now. He was protecting Jiang Ning from hearingeard poisonous gossip—like claims she was eating for free in the He household—which would make her feel too uncomfortable to stay.
He Zheng unloaded another stack of bricks, then glanced toward Jiang Ning’s room. The door was open, but the room and the yard were empty.
“Grandma, where’s Sister-in-law?” he asked.
The old lady smiled. “She’s in the kitchen, tending the fire.”
A loud sizzle erupted from the kitchen—the sound of vegetables hitting hot oil. Hearing this, the old lady hurried back inside.
He Zheng’s eyebrows quirked as he walked to the kitchen doorway. He saw Jiang Ning stirring the food at the stove, her pregnant belly straining against her pale yellow short-sleeved shirt. The fabric clung tightly to her lower back, emphasizing a waistline so slender it looked like he could circle it with one hand. From behind, she hardly looked pregnant at all.
The old lady rushed forward and gently nudged Jiang Ning away from the stove, taking the spatula from her hand.
“The fumes are too strong in here,” she scolded gently. “Go wait outside. I’ll call you when the food is ready.”
Fearing Jiang Ning wouldn’t listen, the old lady pressed again. “Be a good girl. Grandma can handle this alone.”
Only then did Jiang Ning take a couple of steps back.
“Sister-in-law.”
He Zheng’s voice came from behind her. She turned to see him standing outside the kitchen.
The harsh midday sun beat down, casting a deep shadow beneath his brow. Sweat coated his face and neck. His military short-sleeved shirt was tucked into his trousers, the black leather belt buckle gleaming in the sunlight.
Standing there in the heat, the clothes he’d just changed into last night were already soaked through, clinging to his body and tracing the muscles from his shoulders to his waist.
Jiang Ning had never understood what “sexual tension” felt like in a man.
But today, she saw it in He Zheng.
His mere presence radiated it.
Suddenly, she had a breakthrough for the male lead in the manga she’d been stuck on for a month. She finally knew how to sketch his figure.
Too bad I don’t have the chance to draw anymore, she thought.
She stepped out of the kitchen, squinting against the blinding glare. “What is it?”
He Zheng noticed the flush on her pale cheeks—the heat from the stove, no doubt. Seeing her raise a hand to shield her eyes from the sun, he said, “The kitchen is too hot and smoky. You shouldn’t be in there. Go sit under the eaves and rest for a while.”
With both of them urging her, Jiang Ning knew she couldn’t stay in the kitchen any longer.
“I heard you mention building a toilet while I was inside,” she said as she stepped out.
“Yeah,” He Zheng replied. “That way you and Grandma won’t have to walk so far.”
Jiang Ning’s eyes crinkled into a smile, her voice clear and bright. “Thank you.”
She knew he was doing this for her. After all, the incident with Zhu Rong had only happened last night, yet he’d already decided to build the toilet today.
He Zheng caught the smile on her face and the soft light in her eyes—a stark contrast to the red-rimmed eyes and grief-stricken expression she’d worn yesterday afternoon.
As long as she smiled, at least she wouldn’t let her grief over Brother Zhou’s death waste her away.
Jiang Ning sat in the shade under the eaves, watching He Zheng and another man unload red bricks from a cart.
He Zheng stood by the wall, catching the bricks the other man tossed and stacking them. The scorching sun beat down like an oven, sending waves of heat shimmering off the ground. The yard was small, and from her vantage point, Jiang Ning could see the sweat streaming down his face.
He wiped his brow with his forearm, but finding it already slick with sweat, he lifted the hem of his shirt to wipe his face.
Suddenly, his tanned, muscular abdomen was exposed to her gaze.
Jiang Ning stared for a moment, completely captivated.
Before she could look away, He Zheng quickly lowered the hem of his shirt and glanced her way.
Realizing his ungentlemanly gesture might have displeased his sister-in-law, he awkwardly turned his head, wiping the sweat from his eyelids with his sleeve. Then he reached out to take another red brick from his companion and stacked it against the wall.
Jiang Ning timely shifted her gaze toward the chickens in their coop. She had glimpsed his physique once before, through his wet clothes in the cave, and had thought it was impressive. But the reality beneath his shirt was even better than she had imagined.
Her eyes were fixed on the chickens, but her mind was far away, mentally sketching the male lead of her manga—capturing the form and aura she had always struggled to draw perfectly.
She only snapped back to reality when the old lady announced that the meal was ready. Jiang Ning rose and went to the kitchen to help her serve the food.
The old lady had made lo mein with loofah and eggs, along with a side of two chilled, marinated cucumbers.
As Jiang Ning lifted a steaming bowl of noodles, a sudden wave of heat closed in behind her. The man’s warmth merged with the kitchen’s stuffiness, enveloping her from all sides.
She heard He Zheng’s deep, steady voice murmur beside her ear, “The bottom of the bowl is hot. Let me carry it, Sister-in-law.”
Before she could react, a large hand with well-defined joints took the bowl from her grasp.