"Commander Su, you are a good man, and very outstanding, but I currently have no intention of dating anyone," Lin Zhilan sighed softly.
Su Lang remained silent.
He had considered this scenario and thought of many backup plans. The sole purpose of this operation was to win Lin Zhilan's consent.
However, meeting Lin Zhilan's calm gaze, he couldn't say a word.
Lin Zhilan nodded politely. "Commander Su, if it gets too late, we won't be able to catch the ox cart back to the village. The child and I will be leaving first."
"Alright."
Watching Lin Zhilan's figure disappear from his line of sight, Su Lang finally noticed that under her bowl lay three dimes.
Exactly the price of a bowl of shredded pork noodles.
Su Lang placed the three dimes in his shirt's breast pocket and gently touched them.
He then took large strides toward Chen Jin's house.
Having not seen him for a long time, Zheng Hui enthusiastically invited him to stay for dinner and had Chen Jin and their son, Chen Dongfeng, drink a little with him.
At the dinner table, Chen Jin asked Su Lang, "Did you see the telegram I sent you, kid?"
Su Lang asked, "What telegram?"
He had rushed straight here after returning from his mission and knew nothing about a telegram.
Chen Dongfeng laughed, "My dad was asking you, do you want a wife or not?"
Su Lang smiled bitterly. "Let's not bring that up."
Chen Jin said, "You're right, we shouldn't. Since your sister doesn't have those thoughts, let's just drop it."
Chen Dongfeng was three months younger than Lin Zhilan, so he had to call her sister.
The first time he saw her, he was completely stunned by her beauty.
Working at the police station, he wasn't as optimistic as his parents.
Right now, the Revolutionary Committee was in charge. They could criticize and denounce whoever they wanted, and confiscate the property of anyone they pleased.
Even the schools were in chaos, with students denouncing teachers and no one bothering to study.
The police station couldn't do anything; they were reduced to handling trivial, everyday disputes.
Sister Zhilan was too beautiful. In times like these, she was like a piece of fresh meat surrounded by wolves.
His buddy in the Revolutionary Committee had warned him that a higher-up had already set his sights on Sister Zhilan.
There was no place safer than the military.
"Brother Lang, didn't you say you wanted to marry a fairy? My sister is a fairy. How about I play matchmaker for you two?"
Zheng Hui playfully slapped her son. "Are you deaf to what your father just said?"
"Mom, let's hear what Brother Lang has to say first."
Su Lang shook his head. "I already have a girl I like."
It was just that he had been rejected.
Chen Dongfeng felt it was a profound pity. Su Lang then smiled and asked, "When did the commander and sister-in-law get a daughter?"
A smile appeared on Zheng Hui's face. "We adopted her as our goddaughter. She's a good girl. It's fate, really; our whole family adores her."
"So that's how it is."
...
That night, Su Lang returned to the guest house.
He placed his hands behind his head, recalling every single word Lin Zhilan had said to him today.
Currently, currently...
She currently had no intention of dating, but what about in the future?
As the night deepened, Su Lang closed his eyes and soon fell asleep.
In his dream, he returned to Zhoujia Village.
He was back to that night.
The dream seemed exactly the same as their first encounter, yet there were subtle differences.
Lin Zhilan fell and sat on his lower abdomen, her face flushed, a few tears seeping from the corners of her eyes.
She bit her lip and looked at him reproachfully, as if blaming him for being unromantic.
So, he tentatively reached out and gently stroked her face.
Her skin felt incredibly smooth to the touch, and her previously innocent expression now carried a different, alluring meaning.
His hand unconsciously applied pressure, his thumb leaving a faint red mark on her chin.
She still didn't try to dodge or hide.
In the next second, Su Lang grabbed the woman's waist and pulled her into his embrace.
Their bodies pressed tightly together, warmth transferring through their clothes.
Holding her in his arms, he easily caught sight of her snow-white neck and her beautifully shaped... collarbones.
He took off her top. The sight before him left him dizzy and mesmerized, and his built-up desires erupted at that very moment.
He pressed his lips against hers.
Tainting her entirely with a scent that belonged solely to him.
...
In the silent, dead of night, there wasn't a single sound.
Su Lang suddenly snapped his eyes open.
The faint, lingering scent of orchids from the woman's body seemed to still hover at the tip of his nose.
He clicked his tongue and raised a hand to massage his temples.
"Damn it!"
A coldness settled between Su Lang's brows; he almost wanted to slap himself.
Even though it was a dream, it was far too inappropriate!
The residual lust in his eyes gradually faded. Su Lang took his soiled pants to the sink and scrubbed them clean.
After hanging the pants to dry, he glanced at his watch. It was only a little past two o'clock.
Since he couldn't sleep anyway, Su Lang left the guest house and started a training run.
Unknowingly, his running route led him toward Zhoujia Village.
Zhou Jianmin had just recovered from his injuries. Having squeezed a large sum of money from his parents, he was once again hanging out with a group of scoundrels in town.
Among this group was a wealthy playboy, the youngest son of the Revolutionary Committee's director, who acted as the boss of their little gang.
"Zhou Jianmin, I heard there's an exceptionally beautiful widow in your village?"
Zhou Jianmin eagerly handed him a cigarette. "Yes, to tell you the truth, she's my sister-in-law."
"Your sister-in-law? What a coincidence. Why don't you bring her out someday so we can have a look?"
Zhou Jianmin was a scumbag to begin with, and he held a grudge against Lin Zhilan. Seeing that this playboy was interested, he boasted extravagantly about Lin Zhilan's beauty.
Birds of a feather flock together.
Those who hung around him were up to no good either.
As they talked, the group decided to sneak into her bedroom that very night.
Late at night, Lin Zhilan was sleeping with her daughter in her arms when the sound of a shattering clay pot suddenly echoed from the courtyard.
She had originally planned to build the courtyard walls higher, but the village had been busy planting winter wheat recently, and she couldn't find anyone to help.
So, she had placed a large, cracked vat in the corner of the wall where it was easiest to climb over.
Given the noise, someone had definitely broken into the yard.
Ever since Lin Zhilan acquired her spatial dimension and the spiritual spring, her five senses had become much sharper, and her night vision was quite good.
She didn't dare turn on the light, peering outside through the crack in the door instead.
To her shock, there were as many as five or six people.
Moreover, every single one of them had their noses covered; this time, even knockout gas would be useless.
Lin Zhilan returned to her bed and held her daughter tightly.
The villagers slept like logs. Last time when Zhou Jianmin was beaten and Wang Guifen howled so loudly, no one even mentioned it the next day.
Lin Zhilan couldn't pin her hopes on anyone coming to save her.
As a last resort, she could only try to see if she could bring Linlin into her spatial dimension.
Lin Zhilan stared nervously at the bedroom door. The latch hadn't moved yet, but the sounds of fists, kicking, and cries of pain suddenly erupted from outside.
It turned out that when Su Lang was running past Zhoujia Village, he spotted a group of men parking their bicycles outside the village and sneaking in suspiciously.
Su Lang's first instinct was that they were thieves, but he was puzzled as to why people who could afford bicycles would resort to stealing.
It wasn't until he saw them climbing over the wall into Lin Zhilan's courtyard that Su Lang finally understood what these men were here to do.
Unable to suppress his fury, he vaulted over the wall after them and beat them to a pulp before they could even pry the door open.
Afraid of disturbing Lin Zhilan and little Linlin's sweet dreams, he simply knocked the groaning men unconscious with swift chops to the neck.
He opened the courtyard gate and dragged them out, one in each hand.
Just as he was turning back to drag out the second batch, Su Lang looked up, only to find the house door open. Lin Zhilan was leaning against the doorway, her eyes as clear and cold as a fairy under the moonlight.
His hands loosened, and the men he was holding dropped back onto the ground.
