Then several soldiers nearby started chatting among themselves.
“This beast was seriously hard to catch. We hid out in the mountains for days before finally getting it!”
“Exactly! Good thing the captain found its droppings and tracked it down. That’s how we managed to take the bear in one sweep!”
“No kidding, that thing was strong as hell. One swipe from its paw nearly sent me straight to the afterlife!”
“If the captain hadn’t fired that shot, you’d already be dead. Next time don’t be so reckless!”
“Hehe!”
Standing nearby, Qin Yu’e listened with growing shock. When she turned to look at the thing lying in the corner, her heart immediately began pounding.
The corpse of a massive bear lay there like a small hill, its body stretched across two wooden racks and standing nearly as tall as a man.
Its black-gray fur resembled rough canvas. A clear incision cut across its belly, and blood flowing from within had pooled beneath it into a shallow stream.
Huo Guangji hadn’t appeared for several days.
Could it be that he’d spent all that time deep in the mountains hunting this bear…?
“What are you looking at?”
Huo Guangji’s deep voice suddenly exploded beside Qin Yu’e’s ear, startling her badly.
“N-Nothing…”
Qin Yu’e’s gaze shifted away nervously, and suddenly she remembered the wound on Huo Guangji’s shoulder.
“You’re injured?” she asked.
Huo Guangji didn’t seem to care at all.
“Just a minor injury.”
“Did you bandage it?”
“No need.”
“How about… I help you treat it?”
After thinking for a moment, Qin Yu’e finally asked cautiously.
After all, he had helped bandage her wounds before. Returning the favor shouldn’t be a problem, right?
Huo Guangji stared at her for a while, originally intending to refuse.
But somehow, for reasons even he didn’t understand, he nodded instead.
“Then let’s go.”
The two children were happily playing with Wei Wenjie, so Qin Yu’e didn’t call them. Instead, she simply brought Huo Guangji back to her room.
It was the first time the two of them had ever been alone together in the same room.
The moment he entered, Huo Guangji removed his shirt. The muscles across his bare back were tightly defined, and a wound stretched from the base of his neck all the way down his back.
Qin Yu’e felt her heart jump at the sight.
“That wound is pretty deep. You should really go to the infirmary and get a shot.”
Her cool fingers lightly pressed a medicated cotton pad against his back, sending sparks trailing across his skin.
“Was this from the bear?” Qin Yu’e asked softly.
“Mm.”
The reply came out slightly hoarse. Then he suddenly reached out and grabbed Qin Yu’e’s hand.
“Ah—!”
Qin Yu’e jumped in fright.
“What are you doing?!”
A man and woman alone in one room—she was suddenly regretting this.
This guy wasn’t about to suddenly turn into a beast, was he?!
The worst part was that if he really did force himself on her, she technically had no legitimate reason to refuse—they were legally husband and wife after all.
His dark eyes stared fixedly at her face for a while before he casually smiled.
“What are you scared of? You’re treating the wrong spot. It’s over here.”
Huo Guangji’s large hand guided hers toward another area.
Only then did Qin Yu’e realize there was another wound there, one not very noticeable from the outside. But once she looked closely, the inside was horrifying.
A sharp thorn was lodged deep in the flesh.
Just looking at it hurt.
“Bear with it a little. I’ll pull the thorn out first!”
Qin Yu’e hurriedly rummaged through the room for a sewing needle.
After finding one, she sterilized it over the kerosene lamp before carefully digging the thorn out of Huo Guangji’s shoulder.
Looking at the thorn in her hand, nearly half a finger long, Qin Yu’e felt her heart tremble slightly.
It was so long. Pulling it out must have hurt terribly.
Yet this man hadn’t made a sound the entire time.
“All done?” the man with his back still facing her asked.
“All done.”
Qin Yu’e let out a soft breath and tossed the thorn into the washbasin.
The moment she turned around, the man opposite her had already stood up bare-chested, his broad frame suddenly leaning down toward her.
What was he trying to do?!
The strong masculine scent brushing past her nose made Qin Yu’e dizzy. She hurriedly tried to stop him.
“Don’t… it’s broad daylight, don’t…”
But Huo Guangji simply stretched out his long arm past her and grabbed his coat from the stool before throwing it over his shoulders.
“Don’t what?”
He raised an eyebrow.
Qin Yu’e’s face instantly flushed hot red, and she hurriedly shook her head.
“N-Nothing! The children are still over at the cafeteria. I’m going to check on them!”
She fled like she was escaping for her life.
Left behind, Huo Guangji stood there watching her retreating figure with a quiet laugh.
So this woman could get scared too.
He’d thought she was the type to stubbornly hold her head high against everyone forever.
On the open ground in front of the cafeteria—
A huge pot of badger meat had already gone into the cauldron. Chunks of pale meat rolled in boiling water mixed with white liquor.
Zou Zhengping personally manned the wok, stirring the giant pot with a huge iron ladle while grinning.
“Badger meat isn’t like pork—the smell is much stronger. Luckily, I swiped all the leftover liquor from the company commander. We’ll blanch it properly first, then later I’ll toss in a handful of soybeans to fry with it. I guarantee it’ll taste almost the same as pork fat!”
“Hey, Deputy Director Zou, you really know how to cook! Just looking at this meat smells amazing. Can I get a bowl of the broth later to satisfy my cravings?”
A young soldier squatting beneath the stove to feed the fire stared at the pot, drooling as he asked eagerly.
“You brat! Wait a little longer. The blanching broth is gamey as hell—who could drink that? Once the oil renders out, I’ll get you a bowl to mix with rice first!”
Zou Zhengping scolded him jokingly.
Seeing everyone bustling about enthusiastically, Qin Yu’e felt embarrassed to sit idle, so she simply returned to the kitchen to wash rice and vegetables.
She put two huge pots of mixed-grain rice on to steam. Once the meat was ready, they could eat immediately.
When she finished and came back out, the giant pot rendering oil was already surrounded by a crowd.
Apparently the fat had started cooking out.
The moment Wei Wenjie saw Qin Yu’e return, she quickly grabbed two large bowls and handed one directly to her.
Inside were crispy golden cracklings sprinkled with pepper salt. The aroma alone was enough to make saliva flood the mouth.
“Sister-in-law! The two kids are eating from my bowl, so hurry up and eat too! Look how fragrant these cracklings are!”
Zhu Yue and Qingfeng already had greasy little mouths like piglets. Each held a small bowl, stuffing the steaming hot cracklings into their mouths.
Qin Yu’e smiled happily at the sight and picked up two pieces from Wei Wenjie’s bowl to toss into her own mouth.
The crispy, oily cracklings exploded with the fragrance of pepper salt the moment she bit down. Compared to pork cracklings, they carried an indescribable extra richness and aroma.
Instantly, her stomach—deprived of oil and meat for so many days—felt deeply comforted.
She ate nearly half a bowl in one go before finally stopping.
Wei Wenjie looked surprised, assuming Qin Yu’e was trying to save some for the children, and hurriedly urged:
“Sister-in-law, hurry and eat! The children still have plenty here, no need to save for them! This time Xiao Huo brought back such a huge bear—our whole unit will have meat to eat for half a month straight!”