Lin Zhilan was organizing her outline under the lamp. Hearing the sound of their return, she realized it was getting late.
Seeing Jiang Chengzhou being carried back on his back, she glared fiercely at Su Lang. "He's only seven, not one of your soldiers. Don't you know how to hold back a little when training?"
With that, she took their daughter from him. "There's hot water in the kitchen. Take Chengzhou for a bath, and I'll give him a massage, otherwise he won't be able to get out of bed tomorrow."
"Okay."
Su Lang lowered his eyes and carried Jiang Chengzhou into the bathroom.
By the time they finished bathing, Linlin had already been coaxed to sleep by her mother.
Lin Zhilan wanted to help massage her eldest nephew, but was stopped by Su Lang. "You rest for a while, I'll massage him."
Su Lang moved a chair for Jiang Chengzhou. "Sit."
Jiang Chengzhou sat down in a daze.
Su Lang: "Straighten your legs."
He obediently straightened his legs.
Su Lang rubbed his hands together and helped massage the sore muscles in his legs.
He had strong hands and was ruthless.
Jiang Chengzhou let out a miserable shriek of "Ah!"
Fortunately, it wasn't too late yet. The lights-out bugle hadn't blown, and the households were still awake.
From next door came Li Jiang's voice. "Commander Su, the New Year is over, is your family still slaughtering the New Year pig?"
Immediately after came a series of "Ouch" sounds, obviously being disciplined by Wang Rou or Aunt Hehua.
"Aunt..." Jiang Chengzhou squeezed out physiological tears from the pain. "I'm never going running again."
Lin Zhilan wanted to laugh. She tried to hold it back but couldn't, laughing, "Tell your uncle that."
Jiang Chengzhou secretly peeked at his uncle's expression and didn't dare utter a word.
Su Lang washed his hands, glanced at him, and said to Lin Zhilan, "If this were my soldier, with this kind of psychological quality, I'd make him run another ten laps."
Su Lang had experienced the war years. Compared to his time, Jiang Chengzhou seemed like a flower living in a greenhouse.
Lin Zhilan said, "He's still small."
She waved her hand to let Jiang Chengzhou go to sleep, then coaxed, "Don't you soldiers train hard precisely so that future children won't have to suffer the hardships you did?"
Su Lang chuckled at these words, pulling her over and embracing her in his arms.
He kissed the top of his wife's fluffy hair. "Don't spoil him too much, it's too exhausting."
Seven or eight-year-old kids are so annoying even dogs despise them.
With him not at home, their daughter being so young, if Chengzhou was also a handful, one could imagine how tired Zhilan would be.
Su Lang didn't let his wife see his melancholy. He nuzzled her neck with his nose, hinting, "Our daughter is asleep, shall we sleep early too?"
Linlin had very good sleeping habits, perhaps because the family gave her a great sense of security.
Her biological clock was more accurate than an alarm clock. She slept right on time and would only wake up when the reveille sounded the next day.
Even though Jiang Chengzhou yelled so loudly just now, she still slept like a little pig.
Lin Zhilan felt a bit ticklish and couldn't help pushing his head away.
Su Lang's gaze immediately turned resentful.
She quickly changed the subject. "Don't always carry our daughter, let her move around more too."
"Sure."
When he wasn't home, he couldn't hold her even if he wanted to.
Su Lang lowered his head, following his wife's collar, and buried his face in her chest.
Lin Zhilan's fists clenched hard.
Leaving home, Su Lang felt displeased.
But he decided to wait until the official orders came down before telling his wife. After all, knowing in advance would only mean one more unhappy person.
His restless heart finding no comfort, another kind of desire suddenly flared up.
He suddenly scooped Lin Zhilan up in his arms and walked straight upstairs.
Lin Zhilan gasped, subconsciously wrapping her arms around his neck, and scolded with a blushing face, "I'm not sleepy yet. What do you want to do?"
"Better if you're not sleepy."
Su Lang answered her second question, "Fck you."
He seemed extraordinarily confident today, and his kisses weren't as fierce as before.
Instead, they became lingering and affectionate.
Unknowingly, Lin Zhilan had already been pushed onto the bed by him, her fingers pried open one by one to intertwine with his.
The buttons on her chest were undone one by one by his lips. After his warm, rough palms pressed against the skin of her ribs, they naturally explored upwards, touching the forbidden area.
Her skin was smooth and delicate, making him unable to keep his hands off.
Only when she was covered in a thin layer of sweat did Su Lang stop his ravaging, looking up to peck his wife's slightly swollen red lips.
Watching a faint blush rise on the woman's flawless, pale face, like a newly blooming peach blossom, revealing a captivating charm.
Su Lang couldn't help but lower his head again to kiss her cheeks and the side of her neck, making sucking sounds as if drinking peach juice.
Lin Zhilan curled her toes in embarrassment, completely unable to stop Su Lang's offensive.
When it was over, her whole body felt sore and weak, panting softly as Su Lang held her in his arms.
After a simple wipe down, Su Lang held her in his arms as he sat down, one hand gripping her waist, the other gently stroking her back.
"Were you happy? Just now."
Lin Zhilan lifted her heavy eyelids and bit down hard on his shoulder.
Su Lang chuckled, apologizing without any sincerity, "I'm sorry. You were too beautiful, I couldn't hold back."
"Hmph."
Lin Zhilan wanted to put on an angry look, but her body and voice simply wouldn't cooperate, and she just fell asleep leaning against Su Lang.
Feeling her long breaths brushing against his neck, Su Lang sighed softly and kissed her gently on the forehead.
The orders came down quickly. Two days later, Bai Yang came over to inform Lin Zhilan that Su Lang had to board the ship at 10 AM tomorrow, and he might come back very late tonight due to a meeting.
When Bai Yang delivered this news, Liu Chunhua happened to be there sharing the good news with Lin Zhilan that she had been hired as a worker at the pharmaceutical factory.
But now, the mood was ruined.
"Little comrade, what about our Lao Ma?" Liu Chunhua suddenly remembered to ask.
Bai Yang said, "Commander Ma is also going out to sea this time."
Sometimes Liu Chunhua really hated Ma Daniu, but hearing that he was suddenly going out to sea made her heart skip a beat.
Seeing both sisters-in-law stunned, Bai Yang scratched his head. "Sister-in-law, the Commander asked me to come back and help pack his things. Today's meeting might last a long time, so he said you shouldn't wait up for him tonight and should go to bed early."
Lin Zhilan was only stunned for a moment. Now fully awake to the situation, she said calmly, "I can pack his luggage. You can head back."
"Sister-in-law..."
"Go on," Lin Zhilan said. "I can handle it. If I don't know something, I can just ask Sister-in-law Chunhua."
Bai Yang seeing her persistence, could only salute and turn back towards the base.
Liu Chunhua said, "Doctor Lin, don't worry. These men go out to sea all the time. There won't be any danger."
As she spoke, she patted her own chest, comforting both Lin Zhilan and herself.
"Packing is simple, just a few sets of uniforms and underwear. This trip will probably take several months, so you even have to pack his summer clothes..."
After briefly explaining, she was in a hurry to go back.
Lin Zhilan quickly pulled her back. "Sister-in-law, I want to make some rice-mixing sauce for Su Lang to take with him, so he has something to go with his meals. Do you want to make some with me?"
