Zhu Xiuyun and Qian Xuefeng’s chests were both heaving heavily. They had already gone through one round of arguing.
“I can’t be bothered to talk to you. You have no idea how scary your political commissar is.”
Just looking him in the eye made Zhu Xiuyun feel as though he could see right through her, exposing every little scheme in her mind.
“Hmph. Do you really need to tell me that someone who can become a political commissar would be easy to deal with? That’s why I told you not to get involved. You should have just stood outside and watched.”
She couldn’t even handle such a small matter!
Qian Xuefeng irritably scratched his head. People always said that when choosing a wife, one should choose a virtuous woman. Back when he was still a company commander, he hadn’t felt this so deeply.
As long as his wife stayed in their hometown and took good care of the children, that was enough to make her a decent wife.
But now that he had been promoted to battalion commander, he finally understood that working hard himself wasn’t enough!
With a wife constantly dragging him down, how much effort would he have to put into winning favor with the various leaders to improve their impression of him?
He complained bitterly in his heart, completely forgetting that this idea had been his own in the first place.
“I already told you the political commissar was obviously taking their side! If I hadn’t stepped forward, this whole thing might have just blown over!”
Zhu Xiuyun glared at her husband.
“Enough, enough. I can’t be bothered arguing with you!”
There wasn’t even a moment of peace at home!
Qian Xuefeng put on his clothes and headed outside.
“Where are you going?!”
A sudden sense of being abandoned surged through Zhu Xiuyun. She grabbed tightly onto Qian Xuefeng’s sleeve and refused to let go.
“This is a military base. Where else could I possibly go?!”
Qian Xuefeng slapped her hand away and walked out impatiently.
Inside the room, Zhu Xiuyun stared at his departing back, tears welling up in her eyes.
What a miserable life.
Other people probably thought that marrying a soldier meant she must be living in the lap of luxury.
But what was the reality?
Her mother-in-law and her younger brother-in-law’s family had drained every last bit of money they had, and after coming to the military base, her husband hadn’t exactly treated her warmly either.
Zhu Xiuyun wiped away her tears, walked to the bed, lay down, and closed her eyes.
Before long, her arm was gently nudged.
“Mom… I’m a little hungry.”
She was exhausted. She forcefully pushed her son away and turned over, mumbling,
“Can skipping one meal really starve you to death? Go to sleep by yourself.”
Qian Baogen covered his aching stomach and pursed his lips.
If he woke his mother again, she would definitely get angry.
But he hadn’t eaten anything all day…
His mother had told him that morning that they would be having a big dinner that evening and had told him to endure his hunger until then.
But now, he still hadn’t gotten anything to eat.
Little Qian Baogen didn’t know what had happened. Gathering his courage, he softly called again,
“Mom, I want to eat—”
“Eat, eat, eat! All you know is how to eat!”
His sleep had been disturbed, and Zhu Xiuyun abruptly sat up. She grabbed Qian Baogen by the collar and dragged him into the corner before snatching up a bamboo-bristle broom and striking him with it.
“Your father is no good, and even my son isn’t considerate! All you know is how to eat!”
The thick broom handle, as thick as a child’s arm, repeatedly came down on the curled-up Qian Baogen.
He tried to dodge, but where could a five-year-old child possibly hide? Besides, he was even smaller than most five-year-olds.
All he could do was cry and beg,
“Mom, I’m sorry! I won’t eat, I won’t eat anymore…”
The child’s crying only made Zhu Xiuyun more irritated, and she swung the broom even harder.
She beat him viciously, completely failing to notice that the child beneath her was trembling as he clutched his stomach, a trace of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
……
Inside the Treasure Realm, Qianxing watched as Huo Yuan grabbed a handful of soapberry powder from a porcelain jar and sprinkled it into a steaming earthen basin to wash the dishes.
His movements were quick. He swiftly ran a loofah sponge around the inside of a bowl, and just as he was about to set it aside, Qianxing, who had been waiting nearby, immediately took it from him and rinsed it clean in the stream.
“You don’t need to stay here with me. Go take a bath first,” Huo Yuan said.
“It’s boring washing dishes alone.”
Whenever Qianxing had washed dishes in the past, her master would always stay with her too, although… she did absolutely nothing.
Huo Yuan said seriously, “Song Qianxing, you’re very clingy.”
Qianxing rolled her eyes at him. If only he would stop smiling when he said it.
“By the way, Huo Yuan, are there any medicine halls here that need doctors?”
Huo Yuan looked at her, remembering that she had told him she used to practice medicine under her master in the Great Xia Dynasty.
“Here, we generally call them doctors, and medicine halls are called hospitals. If you want to become a doctor, you have to pass an examination.”
He roughly explained to Qianxing how one could become a doctor here, and she frowned repeatedly as she listened.
“That’s so troublesome. But I suppose there are benefits. There are fewer quack doctors pretending to know what they’re doing.”
Back in Great Xia, anyone could call themselves a physician, which resulted in countless quacks cheating people out of their money.
“There’s another thing. People here don’t really trust traditional medicine. The hospitals all practice Western medicine.”
“Western medicine?”
Huo Yuan patiently explained the differences between the two.
“Western medicine works faster, while traditional medicine works more slowly. And because there aren’t standardized criteria, as you said, there are quite a few incompetent doctors below the standard. That’s why people don’t think highly of traditional medicine.”
“There’s another reason. Right now, we’re in a period where… they believe all of this is feudal superstition…”
Huo Yuan lowered his voice as he finished speaking.
Qianxing’s slender eyebrows immediately shot upward, indignation flashing across her face. She looked like a cat whose fur had been ruffled.
“Who says traditional medicine works slowly? If you use the right medicine, you can see results after just one dose.”
After muttering this, Qianxing turned around and narrowed her eyes at Huo Yuan.
“You also think traditional medicine is feudal superstition?”
Huo Yuan shook his head.
“Among traditional medicine practitioners, I’ve met excellent doctors. I’ve also met quacks among Western doctors. What matters is the person.”
His words calmed Qianxing down, and the prickliness all over her gradually subsided.
A flicker of amusement passed through Huo Yuan’s eyes.
Her obedient appearance after having her fur smoothed down looked even more like that tabby cat he’d once seen.
“Fine. Then when you have some free time, help me ask around. By the way, where can I buy books here?”
She was actually quite interested in this thing called Western medicine. If she learned Western medicine, was it possible that her medical skills could eventually surpass her master’s?
The more Qianxing thought about it, the more excited she became. She wished she could grab the books right now and start studying them.
“There is a library, but it may not have the books you want. I’ll look around tomorrow. Go take a bath and get some rest first.”
Huo Yuan gestured for Qianxing to send him out of the Treasure Realm.
“No need to go out. Let’s bathe together.”
The moment she said it, Qianxing realized how ambiguous it sounded. Her face reddened slightly as she hurriedly clarified,
“I mean, bathe at the same time.”
She pointed toward the room.
“There’s also a small bathing area inside. It has both hot spring water and mountain spring water.”
“I’ll bathe in there, and you can bathe here.”
The tension in Huo Yuan’s heart quietly eased.
“Okay.”
After they finished bathing separately, Qianxing had become somewhat more accustomed to things after spending the previous night together. She naturally moved to the inner side of the bed and faced the wall.
The next moment, a large hand suddenly wrapped around her waist, and a warm body pressed against her back.
A lazy voice sounded beside her ear:
“I’ll bring you breakfast from the mess hall tomorrow morning.”
After saying that, a scorching warmth brushed against her earlobe.
He kissed her.
Qianxing’s drowsy mind instantly became clear.
She realized that she was completely enveloped in Huo Yuan’s arms from behind, practically like a cloth doll.
Her cheeks grew even hotter. Almost out of embarrassment and annoyance, she turned around to face Huo Yuan.
Before Huo Yuan could react, she reached out in the darkness, pinched his earlobe, and giggled.
Just as she’d expected, it was burning hot.
“What are you doing?”
Qianxing couldn’t see Huo Yuan’s expression in the darkness, so she deliberately asked even though she already knew.
After a long silence, Huo Yuan answered in a hoarse voice,
“Developing our relationship.”
“Then I want to develop it too.”
Qianxing matter-of-factly wrapped her arms around Huo Yuan’s muscular waist and even secretly gave him a pinch, though the heat in her cheeks didn’t fade.
“Don’t pinch. It tickles.”
Huo Yuan let out a low breath and helplessly caught Qianxing’s mischievous hand, pinning it against his chest while his other hand held her tightly around the waist.
“Eat more from now on. You’re too thin.”
Her waist was so slender that he could completely encircle it with one hand.
In the darkness, Huo Yuan lowered his voice. It sounded deep, yet gentle.
Qianxing curved her lips upward.
“Okay.”
……
They both slept soundly through the night.
The next morning, when Qianxing woke up, the quilt beside her had already gone cold.
She got up and saw that a new enamel basin, toothbrush, towel, and other toiletries had already been placed on the washstand in the corner.
While she was still staring blankly, Huo Yuan came in from the balcony.
“I forgot to buy them last night. I went out to buy them this morning.”
Qianxing took the things outside to the water basin in the corridor to wash up.
Fortunately, perhaps because this was a military base, even the corridors and toilets were kept remarkably clean.
But washing up outside still gave Qianxing the feeling that she was cleaning herself in full view of the public. She wasn’t used to it at all, so she hurriedly finished and returned inside.
Huo Yuan was just about to leave.
“The meat is about to arrive. I’m going to buy some. Are you coming?”
Qianxing shook her head and gave him a sly smile.
“There’ll definitely be a lot of people. I don’t want to squeeze in there. Buy as much as you can. Get as much as they’ll let you have, and don’t worry about which cut.”
“Okay. Oh, right, I forgot to give you this yesterday.”
Huo Yuan took an iron box out of the cabinet.