Chapter 48: Chapter 48: Your Man Isn’t Captain Xue?

"Who is this little kid?"

Huo Jingyuan pushed open the door and walked straight into the living room. His voice was deep and slow, yet it carried a certain authority. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Startled by Huo Jingyuan’s voice, Xiao Pihou scrambled up from the soft sofa. Staring at the man who was even taller than his own father, he pouted.

Tears immediately welled up in his eyes.

"What are you crying for?"

Huo Jingyuan frowned. He had been taught since childhood that real men don’t cry easily, yet this little kid in front of him started crying after just one look.

’So weak!’

Wen Ci, who had already washed the vegetables in the kitchen, heard Huo Jingyuan’s voice and came out with her hands still wet. "Don’t scare Xiao Pihou."

"Who is Xiao Pihou?"

"Sister Jing’s son."

Saying this, Wen Ci walked slowly to Huo Jingyuan’s side and personally helped him put on his apron. Her red lips curled up slightly, and she looked at him with a beaming smile.

"I’ve already washed the vegetables. I was just waiting for you to cook."

Her cooking skills, one might say, made every bite a heart-stopping experience. It didn’t matter if it was just for herself, but the crucial thing was that there was now a child in the house.

"Me? Cook?"

"Who else?" Wen Ci tilted her head.

Huo Jingyuan’s eyes crinkled with a smile. He reached out and pinched her soft cheek, a helpless yet doting smile on his face. He coaxed her softly, "Whatever my wife says, goes."

Wen Ci flushed. "The child is still here."

Once Huo Jingyuan went into the kitchen, Wen Ci sat down next to Xiao Pihou. Seeing him still standing there in a daze, she asked, "Why are you still standing?"

"Scary."

"Who’s scary?"

Xiao Pihou pointed at Huo Jingyuan and scooted closer to Wen Ci. He whispered, "That uncle looks really, really scary. Scarier than my dad. I’m scared."

"Scary?"

Wen Ci burst out laughing as if she’d heard the funniest joke, her body shaking with mirth.

In her eyes, Huo Jingyuan was exceptionally handsome, a classic example of the "strong-featured" type. Even if he wasn’t a soldier, he could easily make a name for himself in the entertainment industry.

"Uh-huh, super scary."

Xiao Pihou nodded his head like he was pounding garlic.

In the kitchen, Huo Jingyuan heated the oil in the wok, then tossed the meat in, stir-frying with practiced movements. The stir-frying itself wouldn’t take long.

The troublesome part was the prep work.

A few minutes later, Huo Jingyuan came out of the kitchen with two dishes. When he and Wen Ci were home, they usually had two dishes: one meat and one vegetable.

Today, it was shredded pork with green peppers and sliced potatoes.

It was enough to feed an extra little kid, too.

Huo Jingyuan slowly spoke, "Did you make the rice?"

Wen Ci, who had just stood up from the sofa, froze upon hearing Huo Jingyuan’s words. She forced an awkward smile. "I forgot."

"Then I’ll go get some from the cafeteria."

Wen Ci volunteered, "I’ll go. I can tell Sister Jing that Pihou is at our place while I’m at it."

Hearing the phrase "our place" brought a smile to Huo Jingyuan’s lips that he couldn’t suppress.

"Pretty sister, I want to go too."

Wen Ci ruffled his hair. "You and uncle stay here and be good."

"I don’t—"

Before the word ’want’ could leave his mouth, Xiao Pihou caught a glimpse of Huo Jingyuan’s expression out of the corner of his eye. He immediately snapped his mouth shut and shrank into the corner of the sofa.

-

Wen Ci took three lunch boxes to the cafeteria. When she saw Zhu Jing helping to serve food, she walked up to the window and said sweetly, "Sister Jing, could you get me three boxes of rice?"

"What do you need rice for?" Zhu Jing was a little confused.

She had just packed two boxes of food for Xue Li, so why was Wen Ci here to get rice now?

"I cooked the dishes at home but forgot to make the rice." As she spoke, Wen Ci remembered Xiao Pihou and added, "I ran into Xiao Pihou at the entrance when I got off work. He’s at my place now.

I’ll bring him back after dinner."

Although Zhu Jing didn’t quite understand, she still packed the rice for Wen Ci. When she heard that Xiao Pihou was at her house, she said, "Oh my, is this too much trouble?"

"There’s no need to say that."

As Zhu Jing packed the rice, she asked curiously, "Ah Li, didn’t your husband just pick up food and go back? Why are you getting three more boxes of rice?"

"Huh?" Wen Ci was completely baffled. "When did that happen?"

"About five or six minutes ago."

Wen Ci was even more confused. Five or six minutes ago, Huo Jingyuan was at home stir-frying, wasn’t he? How could he possibly have been at the cafeteria getting food?

"Sister Jing, maybe you saw wrong?"

"I wouldn’t be mistaken. I know Captain Xue when I see him."

Hearing this, Wen Ci breathed a sigh of relief. A smile crept into her eyes as she looked at Sister Jing and said, "Sister Jing, you didn’t mistake Xue Li for my husband, did you?"

"He’s not?"

Wen Ci shook her head. "He’s not."

There were still a few soldiers waiting in line behind her. After getting her rice, she said, "I have to go now. I’ll bring Xiao Pihou back tonight, and we can chat then."

-

「Back home.」

Wen Ci told Huo Jingyuan about how Sister Jing had mistaken Xue Li for her husband, teasing him with a laugh, "When Sister Jing told me, it gave me a scare. I was racking my brain trying to figure out when you’d jumped out of the kitchen."

Huo Jingyuan’s expression darkened.

"Acknowledge me."

Who would have thought that the Living Yama of the Northwest Military Region would actually act spoiled with his own wife in private?

Xiao Pihou ate his food in silence.

Wen Ci asked, "Xiao Pihou, is the food uncle cooked delicious?"

"It’s okay."

Even though Sister Jing’s family didn’t usually eat exceptionally well, Zhu Jing, as a great cook, could make even the most ordinary dishes taste incredibly delicious.

It gets dark late in the Northwest Military Region. After dinner, Wen Ci walked along, holding Xiao Pihou’s hand. The last blood-red clouds lingered on the horizon, and the sunset over the Gobi Desert was as beautiful as a painting.

Wen Ci looked down and asked, "Are you full?"

"Uh-huh, I’m full." Xiao Pihou looked up at Wen Ci and asked, "Pretty sister, can I come watch cartoons with Ah Wang and the others tomorrow?"

It was his first time ever watching a cartoon.

Wen Ci thought for a moment and replied, "I’ll need to get permission from the other aunties for that. If they agree, you can come over after dinner to watch."

"Okay!" A smile bloomed on Xiao Pihou’s face.

In front of the family housing building, a few children were playing with mud in the yard. When they saw Xiao Pihou, they all ran toward him, their voices milky and childlike, "Brother Pihou."

Xiao Pihou was the oldest among them, which made him their leader.

"I watched cartoons today! They were super, super, super good!"

The word ’super’ was one he had learned in class today.

"What are cartoons?" Ah Wang asked.

Sister Qin’s twins were a boy, the older one, named Ah Wang, and a girl, the younger one, named Ah Hua. Sister Li’s son, who had just started kindergarten, was named Xiao Shitou.

Ah Hua raised her hand. "I know! Teacher Jiang talked about it today. Cartoons are things for us kids to watch. They’re really good."

"How come I didn’t know Teacher Jiang said that?"

"You were sleeping in class, big brother."

Listening to the little kids’ chatter, Wen Ci raised an eyebrow. ’Looks like Jiang Ye is adapting pretty quickly, going to teach at the school on her second day.’

"The pretty sister’s house has a TV, and it’s color!"

Zhu Jing was extremely curious about Wen Ci’s husband. She had originally thought it was Xue Li, but it turned out he wasn’t. Hearing Wen Ci’s voice from upstairs, she came down with her rice bowl in hand.

Just as she got downstairs, she heard her own little Pihou say that Wen Ci’s family had a TV, and a color one at that. Instantly, her eyes went wide.