Mu Youyou had no choice but to accept the basket. “Then Yumei-jie, wait a moment. I’ll clear the basket for you.”
“Ah, that’s more like it!” Li Yumei’s face beamed with a smile.
After Li Yumei left, Mu Youyou remembered that Gu Beiting had said she could ask Li Yumei for help if anything happened while he was away.
No wonder Gu Beiting recommended her—Mu Youyou liked Li Yumei’s personality: straightforward, fair, and never taking advantage of anyone.
Once Li Yumei had gone, Mu Youyou began making dumplings. Since Li Yumei had given her a large cabbage, she decided to make cabbage pickled dumplings.
Working quickly, in an hour and a half, she had wrapped fifty-five plump dumplings.
Because of the heat, she covered them with a damp cloth.
The mung bean soup was cooked in the space’s electric cooker—convenient since she didn’t have to watch it. She preferred not to be near the stove in such hot weather.
She wandered around the main hall, putting a tablecloth she bought from the mall on the dining table and cutting some decorative red paper for window patterns, adding more life to the room than before.
She also considered going to the mountains another day to pick wildflowers for decoration.
With all this done, the mung bean soup was ready. After stirring in some sugar, she lowered it into the well to cool.
When Gu Beiting returned, Mu Youyou was hoeing the backyard.
Passing the main hall, he noticed the subtle changes inside. His eyes lit up with curiosity.
“What are you doing?” Gu Beiting asked, watching her swing the hoe in the backyard.
“You’re back! I want to plant vegetables here,” Mu Youyou smiled up at him.
“This kind of work, let me handle it,” he took the hoe from her.
“You’ve had enough training. I can do this,” she replied with a smile, patting the soil on her hands before heading to cook the dumplings.
Gu Beiting watched her back, a warm feeling rising in his chest.
He often heard Deputy Battalion Commander Cui praising Li Yumei, saying how good it was to have a wife accompany a soldier. He had scoffed before, but now, after finishing training, he had rushed back, eager to see her and hear her say, “You’re back.”
“Gu Beiting, wash your hands and eat,” Mu Youyou’s voice called from the main hall.
“Okay.”
After washing, he entered the hall and saw the dumplings on the table, slightly surprised.
On his side were two large bowls full of dumplings, while Mu Youyou had only one small plate, roughly ten dumplings.
At that moment, Mu Youyou brought over two bowls of soup, one small, one large. Gu Beiting, worried she might burn herself, quickly took them.
“Eating dumplings alone is too dry, so I used the dumpling soup to lightly cook some cabbage,” she explained.
“Where did the cabbage come from?” he asked, remembering they hadn’t bought any yesterday.
“Yumei-jie gave it to me,” she explained the afternoon’s events.
Gu Beiting nodded in acknowledgment.
“Have some more dumplings,” he said, piling a bowl in front of her.
“No, I’ve had enough. You’ve trained hard, eat more,” she smiled sweetly at him.
He lowered his head to eat.
Looking at her delicate, refined face, he suddenly felt his heart race.
His gaze fell on her hands—slender, smooth, the hands that should be holding chalk were now cooking and washing for him. Their relationship was still just a two-year contract marriage.
She was alone, with no family. How would she live after two years? Especially after divorcing a soldier—why should she have to compromise? Gu Beiting clenched his chopsticks unconsciously.
“Gu Beiting, why aren’t you eating? Is it not to your taste? Should I make something else?” Mu Youyou looked up at him curiously.
“No, it’s good,” he said, taking a dumpling.
The dumplings were truly delicious. He ate all forty-five, drinking even the dumpling soup.
After dinner, Gu Beiting washed the dishes again. Afterward, like yesterday, he brought a bucket of hot water to the bathhouse and knocked on Mu Youyou’s door.
“I brought hot water for your bath.”
“Thank you!” she said, carrying her clothes as Gu Beiting worked in the backyard.
She wanted to use the space to bathe, but Caicai refused.
“Sis, Gu Beiting is still outside. If you bathe in the space, he’ll be suspicious,” Caicai explained, now using a mall service robot as the new medium, much more agile than the vacuum robot.
Sighing, Mu Youyou resigned herself.
Outside, Gu Beiting was uncomfortable. He had intended to finish the backyard quickly, but hearing the bathwater running made his breathing quicker. His mind involuntarily recalled how she had accidentally seen him shower yesterday.
He shook his head to dismiss the thought and continued hoeing.
When the bathwater stopped, he heard the door creak open.
He turned and saw her in a pink cotton nightgown, the delicate white neck exposed, long black hair resting on her shoulders, radiating a subtle purity.
“I…I’m going to bed,” she said, cheeks slightly pink, avoiding his gaze.
“Mm.” Gu Beiting noticed the blush on her cheeks, his throat instinctively swallowing.
Mu Youyou returned to her room, lying on the bed. In this era, without a phone, checking the time was inconvenient.
The original owner had a watch given by her father on her sixteenth birthday, but she hadn’t brought it from the space.
She opened the mall system in her consciousness and chose a simple watch. Now she wouldn’t need to rely on Caicai just to check the time.
Seeing it was only 7:30, she couldn’t sleep and sat at the desk under the lamp to start translating a book. It was too hot to close the door.
Gu Beiting came out of the backyard and saw her serious posture under the desk lamp.
Only then did he notice how petite she was—small face, smooth round cheeks, high nose bridge, full lips…
Her features formed an exquisite face that drew the eye. Gu Beiting even felt a bit thirsty.
He swallowed, poured a glass of water, drank, and then went to the yard to retrieve a cigarette. Taking a deep drag, the strong tobacco scent calmed him slightly.
He stood in the yard for a long while, watching the sky darken, before carrying water to the bathhouse for a shower.
When he came out, Mu Youyou’s door was already closed.