An Accidental Military Marriage

When he left, while Jiang Moli was resting in the inner room, Lu Cheng quietly took the back basket out with him.

Back at the camp, he first dropped off the mushrooms from the basket in his dorm room, then carried the empty basket over to the motor pool.

The men at the motor pool were taking stock of the mushrooms and medicinal herbs collected that day.

"Camp Commander Lu!"

The soldiers all saluted when they saw Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng used his meal tickets to get three catties of mushrooms.

After leaving the camp, Lu Cheng went to Zhong Weiguo’s home to ask him for a day off.

...

After Lu Cheng left, Jiang Moli had planned to lie down for a bit before taking a shower.

But she fell asleep the moment she lay down and only startled awake when Lu Cheng returned.

After her shower, she returned to the room feeling refreshed. She spread the mushrooms they had picked that day on the dining table to air dry, lest they get damp and spoil.

Lu Cheng helped her.

Jiang Moli picked up a matsutake mushroom and examined it for a moment, puzzled. "I don’t remember picking a matsutake this thick."

"Don’t you like them thick?"

Jiang Moli shot him a look.

"You asked me on the day we got engaged."

Seeing that she didn’t deny it, Lu Cheng tossed the mushroom aside, rounded the table, and pinned her between his arms and the table’s edge.

He leaned down, his dark eyes staring into hers, his voice a mixture of accusation and grievance.

"I was tormented for ages after I got home that day. I thought my mind was so dirty for even thinking of you like that. I was worried you’d think I was a frivolous degenerate and change your mind about marrying me."

Jiang Moli held back a laugh and poked his firm abs. "So, what do you plan to do about it?"

"They weren’t wrong. You really are a little hooligan."

With that, he gave her lips a punishing nip and grinned wickedly. "But I like it when you’re a hooligan to me."

The words were barely out of his mouth when he lifted her onto the tabletop with one arm. His large hand cupped the back of her head as his fiery kiss aggressively stole her breath away.

Jiang Moli’s neck was forced back as a broken, delicate sound escaped her throat. "The mushrooms... I’m sitting on them!"

"Forget them."

The mushrooms: ’If we’d known, we would have just stayed in the ground and rotted.’

...

The Lu Residence.

On the living room sofa, Lu Deyao was lying down with his head in An Hui’s lap, letting her massage his temples.

"Does it still hurt?"

"Mmm, still a little."

An Hui continued her massage, chiding him, "I told you to go to the clinic for acupuncture, but you refused. You deserve it if it hurts."

Lu Deyao replied with his eyes closed, "This headache is from getting angry at that brat, our third son. Acupuncture won’t do a thing."

Ma Hongmei, who was sitting opposite them sewing a shoe sole, teased, "So acupuncture is useless, but Sister-in-law’s massage works wonders?"

"Of course. Your sister-in-law has magical hands. The kind that can bring the dead back to life, you know?"

An Hui swatted him good-naturedly. "If it still hurts tomorrow, you’re going to the clinic for acupuncture yourself."

"Alright."

Lu Deyao just grinned. He wasn’t the least bit angry about being hit; in fact, he seemed quite pleased.

An Hui continued massaging his temples. "It’s the second of the month. Did our boy tell you when Xiao Jiang is coming back?"

"Not a word. That brat is having so much fun he’s forgotten all about home. It’ll probably be the end of the month."

Ma Hongmei said, "It’s a rare trip for Xiao Jiang to visit him at the base. It’s good for her to stay longer. Who knows, maybe she’ll have good news for us when she comes back."

An Hui had been thinking she should call her son tomorrow and tell him to send Jiang Moli back early, lest she get into trouble over there again.

But hearing this, she changed her mind.

’He’ll be twenty-seven next year. It’s about time he had a child.’

Jiang Dahai didn’t get home until almost nine o’clock.

Li Hongying took his bag. "Have you had dinner?"

"Not yet. After finishing my overtime, I stopped by the hospital to see Tiesheng."

Li Hongying brought the food, which had been kept warm in the pot, to the table.

Jiang Dahai washed his hands and came to the dining table. He was surprised to see two sets of bowls and chopsticks.

"You haven’t eaten yet?"

Li Hongying smiled. "Xiao Feng bought me a piece of sponge cake this afternoon, so I wasn’t very hungry. I decided to wait and eat with you."

Jiang Dahai nodded. "Let’s eat."

"Alright."

After a few bites, Li Hongying cautiously asked about Zhang Tiesheng.

When she heard that Zhang Tiesheng was still withdrawn and not speaking much, Li Hongying’s heart filled with shame.

The fact that her son-in-law’s father had been beaten blind was inextricably linked to her own daughter.

At his age, Zhang Tiesheng was the pillar of his family. Now that he was incapacitated, the Zhang Family was in disarray, and their future looked increasingly bleak.

Her daughter had brought such disaster upon her in-laws, and as her mother, Li Hongying had endured no small amount of gossip and scorn herself.

She could only endure it in silence, but she worried about how her daughter would ever face her in-laws in the future.

Hearing that Jiang Qing hadn’t written in so long, Jiang Dahai offered some comfort. "When I have a free moment in a day or two, I’ll call Xiao Lu and ask how Xiao Qing is doing. Don’t worry too much. No news is good news."

"Alright, good. Moli and Xiao Peng have been at the base for several days now, too. I wonder how they’re getting on."

At the mention of his two children, Jiang Dahai couldn’t help but feel a pang of melancholy.

They had grown up, but this was the first time either of them had been away from him.

His daughter, at least, would be back after a while.

But his son had gone to enlist; he feared it might be a year or more before they saw each other again.

’When they’re home, they get on my nerves. When they’re gone, I just miss them.’

"I hope Moli has good news when she comes back this time."

Hearing Li Hongying say that, Jiang Dahai couldn’t help but feel a secret flicker of anticipation.

’If there really is good news, does that mean I’ll be a grandpa by next year?’

After dinner, Li Hongying cleared the dishes while Jiang Dahai took out the documents Jiang Moli had given him before she left, starting to study and ponder them.

The machinery plant mainly produced various types of agricultural equipment and tractors.

Current tractors used hydraulic technology, relying on a hydraulic pump to provide power for the vehicle itself as well as for operations like plowing, tilling, and seeding.

Using her "system," Jiang Moli had helped Jiang Dahai gather technical documents on hydraulic innovations that were still two years away.

If Jiang Dahai could fully master this information and submit it to the factory, a promotion and a new housing assignment were practically guaranteed.

...

"Moli, wake up."

Jiang Moli groggily opened her eyes. She stared at Lu Cheng, who was squatting by the bed calling her name, for a long moment before asking, "What’s wrong?"

Lu Cheng helped her sit up in bed and pressed a set of clothes he’d laid out into her hands.

"Get dressed, wash your face. We have to go."

Seeing her looking so dazed and adorable, he couldn’t resist stroking her cheek.

Jiang Moli glanced at the pitch-black window, then snatched the watch from the nightstand. "It’s only three o’clock?!"

Lu Cheng explained, "We need to get to the city before dawn. Any later and it’ll get too hot, and the mushrooms will spoil."

Jiang Moli had no choice but to get out of bed to get dressed, brush her hair, and wash her face.

Outside the guest house, a jeep and a truck were parked one behind the other in the boundless night.

Lu Cheng led Jiang Moli to the front passenger side of the jeep and opened the door for her.

As Jiang Moli reached in to climb into the car, her hand brushed against someone’s face, scaring her half to death.

"It’s me."

Lu Cheng turned on the car’s headlights. Seeing Qiao Wenjing sitting in the passenger seat, his face darkened. "Doctor Qiao, what are you doing in the car?"

Qiao Wenjing was taken aback by his menacing expression, and her eyes welled up with tears of indignation. "The camp dispatched me to go with you to the city to procure medical supplies!"

Then, she turned to Jiang Moli, who was still standing outside the door. "I’m on official duty, and I get carsick, so I have to sit up front. You go sit in the back."