"Wait," Lin Zhilan called out to stop him. "Stop buying things, I won't pay you back."
"The money is on me, I can spend it however I want, unless..." Su Lang stared intently into her eyes, "unless you take charge of the money."
Lin Zhilan might not have been married before, but she wasn't completely clueless. The nurses in her department always talked about how their husbands tried every trick in the book to stash away a secret hoard of money.
But Su Lang...
This man treated money like a hot potato, eager to dump it all onto her at once.
Lin Zhilan accepted the money, and a smile returned to Su Lang's face.
After finishing with that, Lin Zhilan bought some spices like star anise and fennel, along with the local specialty oyster sauce and soy sauce, and finally a variety of seeds.
Basically, she bought everything she could think of.
As they reached the entrance of the department store, Lin Zhilan suddenly remembered, "Should we buy a gift for Chengzhou?"
"No need."
Lin Zhilan rolled her eyes at him. He was the boy's biological uncle, so of course he felt no need.
But she was the new aunt-in-law, she had to get the child a meeting gift.
Leaving her daughter in Su Lang's arms, Lin Zhilan went back inside and bought a tin frog and a wooden toy pistol for Chengzhou. At the same time, she didn't forget to buy a box of watercolor pens for Linlin.
At 4:30 in the afternoon, the ship docked at the pier, and the couple boarded with the child.
It was little Linlin's first time seeing the ocean in her young life. Staring at the sparkling sea, she was so mesmerized she forgot to blink.
But soon enough, Linlin got seasick. Lin Zhilan wasn't feeling too well either; she wanted to sleep but couldn't, her head feeling heavy and groggy as if she had a low-grade fever.
She lowered her head, massaging acupressure points for the daughter lying in her arms.
Su Lang sat beside her.
There was only one bed in the cabin, meaning the two of them would likely have to squeeze into it with the child.
Lin Zhilan felt a renewed sense of reality about the fact that she was now married.
"Are you feeling unwell?"
In the pitch-black cabin, the man asked with concern.
"A little seasick."
Linlin had fallen asleep. Lin Zhilan placed her on the inner side of the bed, then voluntarily shifted inward herself to make more room for him.
In the darkness, Su Lang tentatively held her hand.
The man's hand was large with distinct knuckles. His palms were calloused and even bore quite a few scars. It was the hand of a soldier.
Lin Zhilan's heart gave a heavy thump, but she let him hold it.
A touch of tenderness colored Su Lang's eyes. Following her wrist, he began massaging the same acupressure points she had just been rubbing for her daughter.
"Is it here?"
Lin Zhilan let out a deep breath, her cheeks burning. "Yes."
Gradually, after massaging for a while, Su Lang noticed her breathing had become steady and deep. He couldn't help but smile.
Early the next morning, Lin Zhilan slowly woke up. Her thick, long eyelashes fluttered slightly before slowly opening.
"Awake?"
A low, deep masculine voice sounded by her ear. Lin Zhilan only then realized that, at some unknown point in the night, she had ended up half-sprawled in the man's embrace, her head resting right against the crook of his neck.
Lin Zhilan murmured in agreement, pretending to be calm as she pulled away from his arms.
"You're seasick, sleeping will make you feel better. It's still early, go back to sleep."
His deliberately lowered voice was especially pleasant to hear, and Lin Zhilan groggily drifted back to sleep.
When she woke up again, she saw Su Lang walking in from outside, holding her daughter.
"You're awake? We'll be on the island soon. Go wash up first and have something to eat."
"Has the baby washed up?"
"Mhm!" Before Su Lang could answer, Linlin nodded emphatically.
Lin Zhilan couldn't help but smile. As she was adapting to married life, it seemed her daughter was also gradually accepting Su Lang.
Around ten in the morning, the ship docked at the harbor.
Lin Zhilan was carried off the ship by Su Lang, scooped up by the waist.
It seemed that after last night, Su Lang had grown much bolder. When they boarded the ship, he had only offered his arm for her to hold.
Su Lang's orderly, Bai Yang, drove over to pick them up.
There were many people disembarking. Bai Yang stood on his tiptoes, looking all around.
And then!
He saw Regiment Commander Su with his right arm around a fairy-like beauty, while his left arm carried a little girl who looked as exquisitely carved as pink jade.
Bai Yang stood frozen in place.
What was going on?
What happened to the supposed country bumpkin woman and her burdensome baggage of a child?
This rumor had to trace back to Ma Daniu. Through his and his wife's mouths, the news that Su Lang was marrying a country woman with a burdensome child had spread throughout the entire family compound in just a few days.
For this, Ma Daniu had even received a disciplinary warning, and Liu Chunhua had to write a self-criticism.
Given the disparity in their statuses, and Su Lang's previous avoidance of marriage, after much speculation, the military wives had come to a unified conclusion.
Su Lang must have been schemed against, forced into marrying this woman.
But...
Right now, the sunlight was just right. It shone on Lin Zhilan, seemingly enveloping her in a halo of light. Hazy and ethereal, it added a touch of unreality to features that already didn't seem to belong to the mortal realm.
Wait, had the commander actually married a fairy?
Was it too late for him to make a wish for himself?
Sensing the commander's sharp, cold gaze, Bai Yang quickly jogged over.
But as he got closer and met Lin Zhilan's eyes, his dark face immediately flushed bright red.
Fortunately, he was so dark that it wasn't very noticeable.
Lin Zhilan happened to be low on energy, so she merely nodded at him. Inwardly, she couldn't help but marvel that this soldier in front of her must be in excellent physical shape.
He was so tan he was practically glowing.
Su Lang opened the car door for Lin Zhilan. When he turned back around, Bai Yang finally got a good look at the little girl sitting securely on his arm.
She wore a pale yellow little dress, her hair tied into two small buns. On her palm-sized smiling face, a pair of dark, round eyes blinked at him, melting Bai Yang's tough-guy heart.
Wait a minute...
This was the burdensome child?
Were burdensome children all this cute nowadays? Where could he go to adopt one?
"Bai Yang!"
"Here!"
Bai Yang stood at attention and saluted, tossing all his messy thoughts aside.
"Drive!"
"Yes, sir!"
Back at the family compound, Jiang Chengzhou already knew that his Brother Bai Yang had gone to pick up his uncle and aunt.
He was usually carefree, but unfortunately, too many people had been gossiping in front of him these past few days.
They said his uncle's newly wedded wife was definitely scheming and manipulative, and once she won over his uncle's heart, she would throw him away.
They urged him to throw a tantrum with his uncle, ideally to drive that woman and her baggage out of the house.
He wasn't going to listen to those people.
His uncle was his closest family member. It hadn't been easy for him to get a wife, so why should he cause trouble?
If... if his new aunt didn't like him, he would just leave.
Anyway, he had saved up a sum of money. When the time came, he could buy a fishing boat. Not only could he go out to sea to fish, but he could also sleep directly on the boat.
Jiang Chengzhou secretly made up his mind, but at the end of the day, he was still just a seven or eight-year-old child.
Feeling nervous and scared, he didn't want to wait at home, so he simply ran outside.
As the car gradually drove into the military district, Su Lang introduced the buildings inside to Lin Zhilan along the way.
Ever since he took his wife's hand when getting off the ship, he hadn't let go once.
He had never known a woman's hand could be like this—so small and soft. Once he held it, he found it somewhat addictive, reluctant to ever let go.