As if out of spite, aside from buying furniture and daily necessities, Xu Xi also bought a pile of snacks.
She even pouted at him with her pregnant belly, saying, “Zhou Yue, I still want malted milk powder. Both the baby and I need nutrition.”
Zhou Yue was now her nominal husband, so spending his money felt perfectly justified.
Xu Xi had expected Zhou Yue to scold her for being wasteful, but instead, he remained silent, quietly paying without uttering a single word of criticism.
“…”
Xu Xi couldn’t even find a reason to pick a fight.
Watching the items being loaded into the vehicle, she pursed her lips and asked, “Shouldn’t we clean the house first before moving everything in?”
Hearing the words “our home,” Zhou Yue’s dark eyes flickered almost imperceptibly.
He replied, “I’ve already cleaned it.”
“Why didn’t you call me? Cleaning alone must have been exhausting.”
Xu Xi said this, but if she had to clean herself, she’d only want to slack off. Besides, being pregnant made everything feel like a chore.
Zhou Yue glanced at her briefly. “I didn’t do it alone. Zhao Heping and the others helped.”
After returning from his patrol, he had called his subordinates over to help tidy up the house.
With many hands making light work, Zhou Yue planned to treat them to a meal at the canteen another day.
The vehicle was too packed for Xu Xi to sit inside, so she had to wait outside the military service center.
Zhou Yue transported the furniture and belongings back, asking his subordinates to help carry everything into the house.
Previously, Zhou Yue had lived in the barracks’ dormitory, not in the family compound, so many military wives had never seen him before.
Now, as he moved things in and out, curious glances followed him.
“Isn’t that Battalion Commander Zhou Yue from the first battalion? He’s so handsome, and becoming a battalion commander at such a young age—his future is limitless.”
“His wife is so lucky to have married him.”
“Tsk, don’t you all know? His wife is from the village. Last time Battalion Commander Zhou went back to visit his family, that village girl drugged him and forced herself on him! That’s why he had to marry her.”
The one saying this was Sun Cuihua, the wife of a company commander from the second battalion.
Sun Cuihua’s husband was from the same village as Xu Xi, so he naturally knew a bit about the situation between Xu Xi and Zhou Yue.
“My husband said that village girl is really ugly—covered in freckles, with dark skin. Even in the village, no one would marry her! She had no choice but to drug Battalion Commander Zhou.”
“Once the deed was done, Battalion Commander Zhou had no choice but to marry her!”
Hearing this, the military wives’ expressions varied. They hadn’t expected the village girl to stoop so low, and they pitied Battalion Commander Zhou.
Unaware of what was happening, Zhou Yue noticed the pitying looks from the military wives as he left the family compound.
He paid no mind, driving the jeep to pick up Xu Xi.
Xu Xi had grown tired of standing and had borrowed a small stool from a nearby shop to sit on. Her mouth hadn’t stopped either, as she nibbled on the soft sponge cake she’d just bought.
Seeing Zhou Yue return, her already beautiful eyes suddenly lit up.
Zhou Yue noticed how obediently she had waited, her eyes becoming clear and lively the moment she saw him.
Did she really like him that much?
Zhou Yue’s Adam’s apple bobbed twice. If Xu Xi had won him over with sincerity instead of drugging him, perhaps they could have been a normal couple.
But he hated being manipulated, and their relationship had started on the wrong foot.
Seeing him standing still, Xu Xi waved the sponge cake and urged, “Let’s go! What are you waiting for?”
She couldn’t wait to get to the family compound, her anticipation palpable.
Zhou Yue suddenly realized that she was looking forward to the house in the military family compound, not to seeing him.
“……”
He felt inexplicably frustrated, so much so that when Xu Xi chattered nonstop on the way, he only responded vaguely a few times.
……
Upon returning to the military family compound, the two registered at the entrance and went inside.
This time of day was when soldiers finished training or military wives got off work, so the compound was bustling with people coming and going.
As soon as Zhou Yue and Xu Xi entered the compound, they were met with a wave of subtle scrutiny.
Xu Xi wasn’t particularly short—at least 168 centimeters tall—but compared to Zhou Yue, who was nearly 190 centimeters, she still seemed petite.
A tall man paired with a petite woman—this combination always easily drew curious glances.
When the military wives saw Xu Xi standing beside Zhou Yue, their eyes widened in surprise.
For ease of movement, Xu Xi wore a loose white dacron shirt paired with black pants that day.
Her twin braids hung in front of her, making her look especially charming.
Didn’t Sun Cuihua say that country girl was really ugly? But this girl in front of them had fair skin and delicate features—how could she possibly look like a country girl?
One military wife questioned, “Isn’t this Battalion Commander Zhou’s wife? Could she be his younger sister? I heard Battalion Commander Zhou has a younger sister back in the village.”
Sister-in-law Guo was somewhat exasperated: “That’s his wife! Yesterday in the cafeteria, I heard this girl say with my own ears that Battalion Commander Zhou was her husband!”
“Besides, Comrade Xu Xi is pregnant. She traveled a long way by train to come to our island, so our military family compound should welcome her.”
In Sister-in-law Guo’s eyes, Xu Xi and Zhou Yue were a loving young couple.
Xu Xi felt a bit socially anxious under everyone’s stares, and she faintly overheard the military wives discussing the incident where she had drugged someone.
Wait, how had the story about her drugging someone spread all the way to the military family compound? How embarrassing.
Xu Xi tried her best to ignore the scrutinizing gazes and focused her attention on the houses in the compound.
Originally, the military family compound consisted entirely of single-story houses with courtyards, built with stone. Later, newly constructed tube-shaped apartment buildings were added in the middle section, with clotheslines hung all along the corridors.
The newest apartment building was located at the innermost part of the compound, and the house Zhou Yue had applied for happened to be there.
……
Xu Xi followed Zhou Yue to a brownish-red single-story house.
It was quite unexpected for Xu Xi. She had assumed their house would also be built with stone like the ones outside, but the one they were assigned turned out to be a brick-and-wood hybrid structure.
Zhou Yue took out the key and unlocked the door. The two doors were pushed open to the left and right, revealing the entire small courtyard.
The courtyard was nearly square-shaped, with a stone-paved path in the middle leading directly to the main hall.
On the right side of the courtyard was the kitchen, and diagonally opposite it on the left was the toilet. The rest of the area was unpaved dirt ground.
The door to the main hall was made of wood, and the furniture inside was neatly arranged.
On either side of the main hall were two rooms. The newly purchased bedding was folded neatly on the beds, and both wardrobes and desks were fully furnished.
Looking at these two rooms, Xu Xi was quite satisfied—they could each have their own room.
She had already decided on the room arrangements. “Zhou Yue, I’ll take the room on the left. You can sleep in the one on the right.”
Hearing this, Zhou Yue was slightly taken aback, his gaze toward Xu Xi tinged with surprise.
He had thought Xu Xi’s insistence on following him to the military base was because she wanted to be with him every day and sleep in the same room.
But he had no intention of sharing a room with Xu Xi.
After all, Xu Xi had even resorted to drugging him just to sleep with him back then. Zhou Yue had already come to see Xu Xi as a monster, and he had been hesitating just moments ago about how to bring up the topic of sleeping in separate rooms.
Unexpectedly, she was the one who spoke first.