“Hey, you’re not allowed to take that out. You’ve already eaten it—giving it to a child again, is that appropriate?”
Lu Miaomiao shot him a playful glare and covered his thin lips, stopping his movement.
Her slightly coquettish and soft gaze made Xiao Bian feel a strange tingling sensation in his heart.
He awkwardly rubbed his nose and didn’t dare look into her eyes.
Amused, Lu Miaomiao turned away and stuffed the remaining four candies in her hand into Xiao Xiaocao’s hands.
“Here, these four candies: one is for you, one is your reward for helping me bring water so Xiao Bian could wash his hands. The other two are for your parents. If they don’t eat them, just stuff them into their mouths like I did, got it?”
“Mm, thank you, sister-in-law!”
Xiao Xiaocao, who usually kept her head down, finally lifted it with a bit of happiness.
It was the first time someone had rewarded her for doing work. She felt a little happy!
“Don’t just stare at them—eat them quickly! Didn’t you say you were hungry? Only when it’s in your stomach does it become yours. Otherwise, someone else might take it away and you’ll be left with nothing.”
Seeing her staring blankly at the candy without eating, Lu Miaomiao raised an eyebrow and teased her a little to scare her.
In her past life, Lu Miaomiao was abandoned at an orphanage at the age of three. At eight, she almost suffered sexual assault from her foster father. After escaping, she never returned to the orphanage and instead lived on the streets until she was eighteen.
She once fought with others over a piece of bread, getting her head beaten bloody. Even after finally getting it, she was too injured to defend herself and had it stolen by other beggars.
From then on, she developed a habit: once she got something good, she had to secure it immediately so no one else could take it.
Sure enough, Xiao Xiaocao immediately unwrapped a candy and ate it.
The little girl’s expression of enjoyment looked so similar to Lu Miaomiao’s that it was as if they were carved from the same mold.
“It’s really delicious. I’ll take the rest to give to Dad and Mom.”
With candy in her mouth, Xiao Xiaocao spoke unclearly.
Watching her happily run off to her parents’ room, Xiao Bian couldn’t help but curl his lips slightly. It was rare to see the quiet little girl show such childlike joy.
“Oh! Xiao Bian, you smiled! You look so good when you smile! Like flowers in spring! And you even have dimples—I’m so jealous!”
Lu Miaomiao had been paying attention to him from time to time. Seeing his usually calm, expressionless face reveal a faint smile, she felt like she had discovered a new world.
She even reached out and poked his dimple.
For some reason, when she was with Xiao Bian, she always unconsciously showed a more childish side.
Maybe it was because of his calm, gentle temperament that made people feel at ease.
Xiao Bian felt the soft touch on his face like an electric shock. He immediately dodged to the side and quickly suppressed his smile, returning to his cold and distant demeanor—though his ears had turned bright red.
“Oh come on, why did you stop smiling? It looked so good! I haven’t seen enough yet!”
Lu Miaomiao withdrew her hand in disappointment, pouting her bright red lips and muttering just loudly enough for him to hear.
Cough cough.
“You seem to have some skill. Have you trained before?”
Xiao Bian almost felt guilty under her resentful gaze and quickly changed the topic, also bringing up his own curiosity.
Her earlier movement of grabbing his chin and feeding him candy had been far too fast and precise.
He had been in the army for eight years, and his skills were among the best in his unit. Yet just now, he hadn’t even reacted in time. Even though he was unprepared, it was still impressive.
“Yes, I’ve trained. I’m very good at fighting—if I don’t use weapons, I’m basically unbeatable!”
Lu Miaomiao admitted it directly. There was no point hiding it.
After all, she would still need to go into the mountains to catch cute animals for meat later!
“Oh! That’s impressive.”
Xiao Bian looked at her proud expression and assumed she was exaggerating. He didn’t take it seriously and simply nodded calmly, not asking further. Their relationship wasn’t deep enough for more personal questions.
“Of course. So you’d better not ever do anything to betray me, or else… I’ll eat you up!”
Xiao Bian watched her make a playful tiger-like gesture with both hands on her cheeks and felt her strangely adorable.
Regaining his composure, he looked into her bright eyes and said seriously:
“Lu Miaomiao, have you really decided not to divorce me and stay with me for life? My legs may never recover. Being with me will be difficult for you. So even if you want a divorce, I can understand.”
“But if you choose to stay, then let’s forget the past and start over. I promise I’ll do my best to treat you well and never betray you—but I also won’t tolerate betrayal.”
They had only met a few times and barely knew each other.
So he was willing to give each other a chance—but only one chance.
Lu Miaomiao, whether before or after the apocalypse, had learned one thing: promises and oaths were the least trustworthy things in the world.
But at this moment, looking into his deep and clear eyes, she strangely found herself willing to believe him.
“Mua.”
Unable to resist his looks, Lu Miaomiao suddenly leaned down and kissed his thin lips hard.
“Consider this a seal. This is my attitude. Xiao Bian, as long as you don’t betray me, I’ll stay with you forever.”
Anyway, she was planning to retire peacefully—having a handsome man with her would be perfect.
She patted his shoulder like a buddy and said seriously.
Her mind drifted briefly: His lips are so soft… so nice to kiss.
Xiao Bian’s face gradually turned red, spreading to his neck like a faint sunset.
He glanced nervously toward the kitchen and other rooms before lowering his voice:
“You… cough… don’t do things like that outside. People will gossip.”
“Let them talk. I’m kissing my own man—what’s wrong with that? If anyone dares say anything, I’ll beat them up! Alright, alright, I’ll only kiss you inside the house, okay?”
Seeing his disapproving frown, she quickly added.
It wasn’t that Lu Miaomiao lacked shame—she had lived through the apocalypse, where people would trade anything for food, even openly having sex in public.
Compared to that, a kiss was nothing.
But she also knew this world was different now.
So, for this handsome and easily shy man, she didn’t mind restraining herself.
“Oh right, Xiao Bian, introduce me to your family again. I still don’t know them all.”
She blinked her big eyes and asked.
In the original owner’s time in the Xiao household, she barely left her room except to eat or use the bathroom. Even after half a month of marriage, she still didn’t know everyone.