First Night with the Army: The Stoic Big Shot Is Done Pretending

A faint smile played on the man’s lips. He placed the meal container he was holding on the bedside table and stepped closer and closer to Wen Ci, his voice deep and magnetic. "Honey, don’t get angry out of embarrassment."

"Who’s angry out of embarrassment?" Wen Ci retorted.

With that, she gave Huo Jingyuan a huge eye-roll.

’That damn man is the one with no self-control, and now he’s trying to pin the blame on me. It’s unforgivable.’

Huo Jingyuan sat on the edge of the bed and snatched the ointment for the wound from Wen Ci’s hand. Suppressing his inner glee, he said calmly, "Be good. Let me help you apply it again."

Wen Ci: "!!!"

A blush spread across her face at a visible rate.

"Who asked you to help me apply it again?"

Unhurried and unbothered, Huo Jingyuan asked, "Can you finish applying it yourself?"

"Why couldn’t I?" 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

In his eyes, Wen Ci’s retort made her look like a tiny, flustered animal, which was incredibly cute.

"Behave."

-

A while later, Wen Ci, her face flushed red, was being ’forcibly’ treated by the man. The light touch of his rough fingertips felt exceptionally ticklish.

"Can’t you be a little faster?"

Wen Ci stared straight at the ceiling, not daring to look down at Huo Jingyuan. At that inopportune moment, her stomach let out a loud protest.

"I’ll go wash my hands."

Huo Jingyuan’s gentle voice sounded out.

The ripples in the lake of Wen Ci’s heart gradually calmed.

’It’s finally over.’

The wind was blowing outside today. Wen Ci put on a thick coat when she got up. She went to the kitchen to wash her hands as well, sighing, "I wonder if my salary is enough to cover taking time off..."

Personal leave usually meant using your own salary to pay for a substitute.

As he got a bowl and filled it with rice, Huo Jingyuan said, "I applied for marriage leave, not personal leave. They won’t dock your pay."

"Huh?" Wen Ci blinked, her clear, moist eyes trembling slightly in disbelief. "But didn’t I start work after we got married?"

"Yeah."

"You get marriage leave for that too?!"

A hint of excitement entered Wen Ci’s voice.

Huo Jingyuan opened the meal containers. One held stir-fried celtuce, and the other had tofu stir-fried with pork. "The benefits in the Northwest are good. Family members who have just moved here with the military and gotten married get seven days of marriage leave when they start a job at the hospital or a school."

This was to make things convenient for newlyweds.

It was a preventative measure against hot-blooded young men who didn’t know restraint right after getting married.

Wen Ci smacked her lips. Looking at the delicious food, she picked up her chopsticks and tasted the celtuce. Due to the Northwest’s geographical location, vegetables were extremely scarce.

"Sister Jing’s cooking is as good as ever."

Huo Jingyuan gave his wife a reproachful look. She looked as satisfied as if she were eating some rare delicacy. "So what I cooked myself isn’t good?"

"Er..." Wen Ci was mortified.

Huo Jingyuan’s cooking wasn’t bad, but it was nowhere near Sister Jing’s level.

But seeing the reproachful look in his eyes, she grinned and looked at Huo Jingyuan, trying to curry favor. "It’s delicious! Mr. Huo’s cooking is top-notch, too!"

After praising him, Wen Ci felt a sense of relief.

-

「A few days later.」

Although the Northwest Military Region was in a semi-closed state, military trucks returned every day, hauling various materials to build a stage, creating a festive atmosphere.

Wen Ci and Yu Qing were also working overtime to practice the Water Sleeve Dance.

The two had great chemistry and had even borrowed a drum from the Northwest Military Region’s arts troupe. During practice, they used their two sets of sleeves to strike the drum’s surface.

Wen Ci, in her nurse’s uniform, was accompanying Yu Qing on her hospital rounds when she happened to overhear a few injured soldiers lamenting:

"If I’d known, I would’ve held back a bit during training. I twisted my ankle climbing over the wall, and now I can’t even participate in Devil’s Week. There goes my Type 28 bicycle..."