AYLS – Chapter 128

They had dinner outside. Because of what happened earlier, the atmosphere between both couples had subtly changed.

It was as if the air itself was filled with a sweet, honey-like fragrance, making even the meal taste bland in comparison.

After eating, the two families went to a nearby department store to buy daily necessities.

Even though Gu Huayuan and his side had prepared some things beforehand, there were still items that the women needed to pick out for themselves.

Lin Qiao also bought some biscuits and sweets to take back, planning to serve them to visitors who might drop by their home.

Since she had just arrived, it wouldn’t do to have nothing on hand.

While Lin Qiao picked items in front, Gu Huayuan quietly followed behind her, his gaze never leaving her for even a moment.

His whole expression was relaxed and steady—like a heavy stone had finally been put down. Their family felt whole again.

Before getting married, he didn’t quite feel it. But now that he had Xiao Qiao, he realized that having someone like her made a place feel like home.

It was the same house, yet whether she was there or not made all the difference in the world.

This provincial capital didn’t look particularly good, but its geography and landscape had their own unique character.

Still, both Lin Qiao and Su Weizhen had seen enough of the world; they had no desire to stroll around. After buying what they needed, they only wanted to rest well.

Better to settle in early.

On the way back to the guesthouse, Lin Qiao asked if she would be able to continue raising chickens after coming here. She had already planned to keep developing her poultry work in this place.

Gu Huayuan said, “The corps have already coordinated this matter. When the time comes, you can go directly to the logistics department to report.”

Hearing this, both Lin Qiao and Su Weizhen were relieved.

Their biggest worry was not being able to continue their original work.

Back at the guesthouse, Su Weizhen and Xu Yuanzheng returned to their room. They truly hadn’t seen each other in a long time and had plenty to talk about.

Lin Qiao and Gu Huayuan also entered their room. Once inside, Lin Qiao immediately became nervous, her mind drifting to the scene from earlier. Her face grew warm.

Gu Huayuan kissed her cheek lightly. “Go to sleep early.”

“Huh?” Lin Qiao stared at him in surprise.

He said, “What? You don’t want to sleep? Want to do something else?”

“No way. I’ve been sleepy for a while.” Lin Qiao kicked off her shoes, climbed onto the bed, and lay down with the back of her head toward him.

Gu Huayuan grinned and leaned closer.

Lin Qiao pushed him away. “Hot. Didn’t you tell me to sleep properly?”

“Mn, I’m just holding you. Makes you feel secure.”

Lin Qiao: “Don’t.”

“I really missed you, Comrade Xiao Qiao.”

“…Fine then.”

Smiling, Gu Huayuan pressed his face against her neck and took a breath. He chuckled softly.

Lin Qiao slept deeply that night. It was still dark outside when she was woken up by Gu Huayuan—time to get up and catch the vehicle.

Since the army compound was far away, they had to head out early to avoid traveling under the midday heat.

With her eyes half-closed, Lin Qiao sleepily washed up, then followed behind Gu Huayuan.

When she followed him, she never needed to think about anything. She could walk with her eyes closed—there was always someone leading the way.

On the road, they first boarded a bus, then later switched to a freight truck. After all that bouncing around, Lin Qiao went from fully awake to dizzy again, almost fainting.

The journey was far too winding.

During the ride, Gu Huayuan didn’t idle—he told Lin Qiao about the situation here: which people in the military district compound were easy to talk to, who had what temperament, where they came from.

Even Xu Yuanzheng gave him a thumbs-up and told Su Weizhen, “As expected of someone in reconnaissance—even these details are so clear.”

Su Weizhen shot him a look. In her heart she thought, this has nothing to do with reconnaissance—what matters is whether someone cares enough.

Though a little sour inside, she also reflected on whether she had been making things too easy for Xu Yuanzheng.

Lin Qiao yawned as she listened. “This stuff is boring.”

“You only really know someone once you interact with them. Someone who seems gentle on the surface might actually have a terrible temper.”

Gu Huayuan nodded. “Makes sense. I almost forgot—our Xiao Qiao is like that too.”

Lin Qiao instantly woke up, eyebrows shooting up. “Who are you talking about?”

Gu Huayuan picked up the luggage and strode forward. Fully energized, Lin Qiao immediately chased after him.

Xu Yuanzheng and Su Weizhen exchanged a look.

Xu Yuanzheng said with relief, “Weizhen, luckily you—”

He hadn’t even finished speaking when Su Weizhen let out a huff and walked ahead.

Xu Yuanzheng: “…”

The road was truly difficult to walk. They had set out early in the morning, eaten lunch on the way, rested a bit, and then continued hurrying along. It was already past three in the afternoon by the time they arrived at the encampment.

Lin Qiao was so moved she nearly cried. Her legs felt like they were breaking.

Gu Huayuan wanted to carry her, but he was holding so many things, and the road was so rough. She definitely wasn’t going to drag him down. The result was that her legs hurt, and her feet hurt too.

Before they even entered, a few teenage boys ran out, all wearing downsized military uniforms, looking spirited.

The moment they saw Gu Huayuan, they called out “Uncle Gu” and rushed to help carry the luggage.

Then they all stared curiously at Lin Qiao.

Lin Qiao looked back at them as well.

Being stared at made the boys embarrassed. They wanted to call her “Auntie,” but one look at her face made the word stick in their throats. In the end, they awkwardly called her “Big Sister.”

Lin Qiao loved being around children — it was relaxing. Especially when these kids looked so warm and enthusiastic.

Lin Qiao smiled. “Hello, I’m Lin Qiao. This is my friend Zhenzhen.”

“Big Sister Xiao Qiao! Big Sister Zhenzhen!” the boys chorused.

Gu Huayuan: “…” They’d already messed up the generation. He said, “Go on back for now. They’ve had a tiring journey.”

The boys immediately led the way toward the courtyard.

Along the way they ran into quite a few people. Seeing newcomers, everyone looked them up and down curiously.

Most of the people here were older; they didn’t see many young wives.

On the road, Lin Qiao had already heard from Gu Huayuan that very few people were allowed to follow the troops. Only the families of battalion commanders and regiment commanders could come.

Lin Qiao was naturally friendly and waved warmly at everyone.

Everyone smiled back and asked who Gu Huayuan and Xu Yuanzheng had brought with them.

After the two made introductions, they were quickly acquainted.

Both Su Weizhen and Lin Qiao were pretty and carried themselves well. They were clean, neat, and gave off a good first impression. Plus, they had been warm and open from the moment they arrived, so the others were happy to interact with these two young female comrades. They even said they’d come by in the evening to liven things up.

Soon, everyone in the courtyard had heard that two lovely-looking young women had arrived.

Lin Qiao was happily looking at the new house. It was completely different from the previous place.

Back there, the house didn’t have separate rooms — everything was open, the living area and sleeping area together, even the kitchen was inside.

Here it was different — there were small divided rooms.

Even though the partitions were made of wooden boards and bamboo, they had their own charm.

And Su Weizhen lived right next door, which made it even more convenient.

Lin Qiao liked it so much her face was full of smiles.

Enthusiastically, she took out food from her bag and shared it with the kids who helped carry things.

The boys had gathered around the hen, asking if Lin Qiao planned to keep it for eggs or for meat. Lin Qiao was so startled she jumped. “No meat! No meat! We’re eating desserts. Come, come, one for each of you.” Then she passed out the treats.

With food in hand, the kids didn’t care about anything else, eating happily.

This place was hard. Even though they were officers’ children, their fathers being regiment commanders and the like, snacks were rare.

Sometimes they didn’t even get enough vegetables.

Lin Qiao asked for their names with a smile. Two of the older boys said they were called Sheng Wen and Sheng Wu, brothers. The others gave only their nicknames — Lin Qiao couldn’t remember any of them.

These younger ones were younger brothers to Wen and Wu in the broader sense.

Sheng Wen was tall and skinny. After finishing his treat, he said he wanted to join the army in the future.

“If the army would take us, I’d be a soldier already.”

Lin Qiao laughed. “You’re all still so little. Forget soldiering — you’d be better off raising chickens for me.”

“…That’s not bad either. As long as we get fed, we’ll work.”

Lin Qiao had only been joking, but their answer stunned her. What? Was it so hard here that the kids didn’t even have enough to eat?

Gu Huayuan came out from inside, looking a bit helpless. “Alright, Comrade Xiao Qiao is exhausted from the journey. She needs to rest. Go on, off you go.”

Lin Qiao nodded. “Yes, yes, I need to unpack. Once I’m settled, I’ll treat you all to something good.” These kids seemed quite pitiful — maybe they didn’t even have enough food.

The boys were sensible. They said goodbye and left. Before going, they even asked Lin Qiao if they could really raise chickens.

Lin Qiao didn’t know how to answer. In the end, Gu Huayuan grabbed them by the collars and ushered them out.

When he came back, Lin Qiao asked, “Do they not have enough to eat? Is it really so difficult here? It didn’t look like that.”

Gu Huayuan said, “Don’t listen to their nonsense. They do have food. They’re just throwing a tantrum with their families.”

“Oh, I get it. They want to run away from home. Then I definitely can’t agree to that.” Lin Qiao felt reassured and happily went to explore her home.

Everything was already arranged; she only needed to unpack her own things.

Gugu was still freely roaming around the fenced yard, and there weren’t many other items, so she finished quickly.

Lin Qiao was very satisfied with the house.

She especially liked the fresh flowers inside. “These flowers are so pretty.”

Gu Huayuan laughed. “There are plenty of wildflowers around here. If you like them, I’ll bring you a bouquet every time I get back from training.”

Romance wasn’t something deliberate — it was hidden in simple everyday words.

Just that one sentence felt more precious to Lin Qiao than receiving a dozen roses.

She smiled and nodded, not realizing how sweetly she was smiling.

Once the house was settled, Su Weizhen came over. After looking around Lin Qiao’s home, she sighed. Her husband Old Xu really wasn’t attentive — so many things were missing.

Lin Qiao said proudly, “That might be because he trusts you. Our Gu Huayuan just doesn’t trust me at all.”

“You just keep acting smug. I came to ask you—since we’ve just arrived here, shouldn’t we invite the neighbors over for a small gathering? Doesn’t need to be anything fancy, even some simple coarse grains will do. The main thing is to get familiar faces.”

Lin Qiao nodded. “Sure, I was thinking the same. It’s just… I don’t cook very well. But if our two families do it together, it’ll be much easier.”

“Then it’s settled. As for inviting people, let them handle that. We’ll prepare things at home.”

“Alright.”

That night Lin Qiao told Gu Huayuan about it.

Gu Huayuan nodded and told her to rest well—he would take care of inviting people.

Since she didn’t need to worry, Lin Qiao yawned, already getting sleepy.

She really was tired today.

Gu Huayuan, who had planned to chat with her on their first night back together: “…”

Forget it, let her rest first.

Gu Huayuan got up and went outside to take a cold shower.

Just as he was about to go back inside to sleep, he found two people squatting by the gate of his yard.

He walked over with his hands behind his back and grabbed one of them by the collar. “What are you doing?”

The two kids were fast asleep; they were startled awake, practically scared out of their skins, almost yelling “enemy attack!”

When Sheng Wen and Sheng Wu turned around and saw him, they finally let out a breath. “Uncle Gu, what are you doing?”

“I should be asking you. Why aren’t you home? What are you doing here?”

“Don’t want to go back,” the two kids mumbled, scratching their heads. They weren’t twins, but being close in age and growing up together, even their movements were alike.

Gu Huayuan ignored their excuses and simply grabbed one in each hand, dragging them back home.

At that moment, a whole group from their house came out searching for the boys. Seeing them dangling from Gu Huayuan’s grip, they finally relaxed.

Watching the two kids walk back still looking all rebellious and defiant, Gu Huayuan shook his head. If his and Xiao Qiao’s future children behaved like that, he definitely wouldn’t go easy on them. He’d teach them properly. He couldn’t let Comrade Xiao Qiao worry.

When he returned, he saw Xiao Qiao already asleep, even letting out a tiny snore. She definitely didn’t look like someone who would worry about anything.