There’s Still Danger
“Su Su.” Lin Chuan saw that her complexion didn’t look good and finally became worried. Leader Guan also said, “Do you want to stop and rest for a while?”
“No, no need.” She couldn’t delay the schedule because of herself.
With a soft thud, Su Su buried her head against Lin Chuan’s arm and stopped looking at or listening to anything outside. After a while, she did feel much better.
Lin Chuan was just a little embarrassed. This was during a mission. Was it really okay for him to hold his wife?
Leader Guan saw that he was uncomfortable and said, “This is also for the mission. You need to protect Comrade Su Su properly.” There were already only a few translators, so she had to hold on until the end.
“Yes.” Lin Chuan breathed a sigh of relief and stiffly reached out to stroke Su Su’s back, making her feel more comfortable.
When they arrived, Su Su said to Lin Chuan without hesitation, “Carry me to the bathroom.”
Lin Chuan also picked her up at the fastest speed and rushed into the bathroom. Fortunately, there were female soldiers in the army, so there was still a women’s restroom. Even more fortunately, Lin Chuan was very familiar with the layout here.
However, he couldn’t go in, so he had someone find a female soldier to take water and paper in for his wife. When Su Su came out, he felt that his wife had grown thinner again, and his heart ached terribly.
But with so many people around, they couldn’t be all sticky and affectionate, so he said, “Comrade Su Su, are you alright? Can you continue?” If she couldn’t hold on, he would go apply for her to rest first.
Su Su straightened her clothes, took a small bottle of perfume from her bag and sprayed a little. “I’m okay. I feel much better after throwing up. I’m just a bit hungry.”
Lin Chuan said, “Leave it to me.”
“Okay.” Su Su nodded, then raised a professional smile on her face and walked toward the exchange delegation.
Only then did Lin Chuan feel that his wife was truly very capable. She had clearly been feeling awful just now, but now she had already adopted a working attitude again. She was elegant, smiling, and did not lose her composure at all. No wonder she had managed to save so much money before. It really made sense.
He admired his wife more and more.
But first, he had to think of a way to get her something to eat.
So he used some connections and got a flatbread from the canteen, with a little meat sauce stuffed inside, and secretly handed it to his pitiful wife. The two of them squatted by the warehouse. She ate while he handed her water.
“Slow down. Don’t choke.”
“Mm. It’s delicious.” She had thrown up so much of what she ate earlier. Fortunately, her man had found something for her to pad her stomach, otherwise she really wouldn’t have been able to hold on.
Lin Chuan touched her head and said softly, “Don’t rush. If it’s not enough, I’ll get more for you.”
“It’s enough… ah…” Su Su looked behind Lin Chuan and was startled. She quickly wiped her mouth and stood up, saying in English, “Mr Edward, where are you going?”
Edward glanced at Lin Chuan. At that moment, almost everyone in the exchange delegation came closer. They were rather curious about the relationship between the two of them.
Su Su felt gloomy. She was only sneaking a bite to eat, so why had she been caught red-handed by the resting exchange delegation?
Fortunately, Leader Guan stepped forward and explained, “The two of them are husband and wife. Just now, Comrade Su Su felt very unwell because of morning sickness, so her husband brought her a little nutrition.”
They couldn’t let others think his subordinate was having some improper relationship with the young translator. This explanation was necessary.
“So this soldier is your husband.” Edward looked at Lin Chuan, then extended his hand. “Hello. You are truly very lucky.”
Lin Chuan naturally reached out to shake his hand. During the handshake, he felt that the man was provoking him. Edward’s grip was not weak, so Lin Chuan also added some strength.
Su Su hurriedly translated Edward’s words from the side, then raised her brows at Lin Chuan and said, “He says you are truly very lucky.”
“Yes.” Lin Chuan answered simply, then withdrew his hand.
Although the two men did not share a language, they both clearly understood what the other was thinking.
However, there was no further exchange. Everyone went back to doing what they had to do.
After eating one flatbread, Su Su felt full. She followed the exchange delegation to two more places, then attended a meeting that lasted almost two hours. Only then did everyone disperse to rest.
Because there was no guesthouse nearby, they rested in the army dormitories. However, the rooms had already been tidied up. The bedding was new and folded into tofu blocks.
Aiyo, how neat.
Su Su curiously unfolded the tofu block and tried to fold it back the way it had been. But even following the earlier creases, she still couldn’t fold it properly after trying for a long time.
o(□)o
Lin Chuan, help! She seemed to have caused trouble. It was only a temporary rest. She really hadn’t meant to unfold such a beautiful tofu block. What should she do now?
Just as she was calling for help in her heart, Lin Chuan appeared. He brought her a cup of hot water. As soon as he came in, his wife warmly grabbed him, pulled him to the bed, and said, “I messed this up. How do I fold it back?”
Lin Chuan walked over and folded it properly in a few swift movements. Then he said, “Why are you folding it? Aren’t you supposed to rest?”
“It looked so nice. I couldn’t bear to lie on it.” At home, their quilts were kept in the wardrobe, so Lin Chuan had never folded such a neat tofu block there.
“You lie down. Someone will come tidy it later. Don’t make things difficult for yourself. You’re pregnant, understand?”
“I understand.” Suddenly being so serious was a little hard to handle. Su Su could only be forcibly pressed down to rest. Not only did she have hot water to drink, she also had hot porridge.
These rough army men were sometimes quite good at taking care of people. As Su Su drank, she discovered a few pieces of meat in the porridge, and then even fished out an egg.
The porridge had been delivered from the canteen at a fixed time. Lin Chuan was infantry, so he probably hadn’t ordered it.
So did this mean the whole artillery unit now knew she was pregnant?
How speechless. She covered her face and felt she couldn’t face people anymore.
That wasn’t all. When she went out to work in the afternoon, she discovered that the soldiers who had originally been standing there deliberately took one or two steps back. They were probably preventing the guns in their hands from bumping into Su Su.
They were being far too careful. She was a little speechless as she walked forward. When she reached the exchange delegation, she was also concerned over by a group of foreign men. Fortunately, they didn’t do anything too special, otherwise she really would have died of embarrassment.
After all, she had come here to work, not to receive special treatment. How could she not feel embarrassed?
In the blink of an eye, the exchange delegation’s visit was nearing its end. Su Su had also completed her task. She felt that once the three hundred yuan and supplies were in hand, she would truly have made a small fortune. Most importantly, in the future, there might be quite a few people looking for her to do translation work. That would really let her save a lot.
What should she do after saving money? Buy a house in the city and do real estate business in the future? Or do something else?
While she was thinking, they arrived at the prearranged restaurant. After eating, they would arrange for everyone to leave, and then she could return to school.
Unexpectedly, something happened just as they got out of the car and reached the restaurant. There were actually criminals attacking members of the exchange delegation. Fortunately, Lin Chuan’s unit discovered them early and used a vehicle to block the other party’s hail of bullets. Then everyone was safely escorted into the restaurant.
This was a state-owned restaurant with three back doors and rear windows. They split into four teams to break out. One team would rush first, and the foreign guests from the exchange delegation and Su Su would leave last.
Leader Guan led the charge. As an old general, he remained calm and composed, even personally counterattacking.
As for Su Su, because she was pregnant, she was in the last group to break out. Lin Chuan, Chang Yuejin, and two young soldiers were responsible for protecting them.
They had almost reached the window when two people suddenly rushed out from somewhere, raising alcohol bottles that had been lit on fire and throwing them in their direction.
Chang Yuejin charged out and kicked the bottles away, while Lin Chuan was responsible for attacking.
Seeing the alcohol bottle set Chang Yuejin on fire, if the flames weren’t extinguished, he would definitely be burned to death.
Su Su gritted her teeth, tore down a curtain from the side, then rushed toward Chang Yuejin and covered him with it. She used both hands and feet to put out the fire. This was originally going very smoothly, but suddenly, one of the men who had been knocked down crawled back up and raised a gun.
When Lin Chuan saw that the target he was aiming at was his wife, he hurriedly rushed forward to block—
In an instant, when she heard the gunshot, Su Su froze completely. Then, instinctively, she picked up a chair and threw it at the person who had shot Lin Chuan. It was truly fast, accurate, and ruthless. The person was knocked unconscious by the chair, and the gun flew far away.
“Lin Chuan, Lin Chuan, are you okay?”
Seeing Lin Chuan slowly kneel to the ground, Su Su was nearly scared to death. She crawled toward him on hands and feet, tears streaming uncontrollably.
But Lin Chuan wiped her face and said, “I’m fine. I wasn’t hit. You go first.”
“Impossible, clearly…” It had looked like he was hit.
Su Su kept searching for bullet holes. Chang Yuejin also jumped over and looked a few times.
Lin Chuan said, “Take your sister-in-law and go. I’ll cover the rear.”
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Go.”
Time didn’t allow them to drag things out. Everyone climbed out the window and got into the car that had driven over from the side. They left at high speed and rushed all the way to the army base.
In the car, Su Su was protected against Lin Chuan’s chest the whole time. Because they were driving as if flying, he was afraid she would bump into something. When they arrived at the army base, she wanted to check Lin Chuan’s condition, only to discover her hand was warm. When she stretched it out, it was covered in blood.
She froze instantly. This had to be Lin Chuan’s blood.
Then her head spun, and after calling out “Lin Chuan,” she fainted with a thud.
When she woke up, she found herself on an IV drip. She should be in the hospital. The moment her consciousness returned, she remembered the blood on her hand and immediately sat up. “Lin Chuan, Lin Chuan…”
“Aiya, don’t get up. Do you not want the child anymore? Lie down quickly. Your man is fine.” The person who came in was Bai Lingling. She pressed Su Su back onto the bed and explained as quickly as possible, “Don’t worry. He really is fine. His shoulder was grazed by a flying bullet. The wound is quite long but not deep, so it bled a lot, but it’s only a superficial injury.”
“Then where is he?”
“After knowing that you were temporarily fine, he went to arrange work. I heard… two soldiers died.”
After Bai Lingling said this, Su Su finally quieted down. She knew those people were soldiers trained by Lin Chuan, so if they had died, he must be very sad.
As long as he was fine, that was good. Just now, she had nearly been frightened to death.
“What about the child? My child?”
Only then did Su Su hold her stomach and ask nervously.
Bai Lingling said, “You’re really lucky. You were so emotional, yet the child is fine. Very sturdy.”
“It’s good that everyone is fine. Good that everyone is fine.”
“You’re not fine.” Bai Lingling said angrily, “Your feet are swollen like steamed buns, and both your hands have many scrapes. You’re the first pregnant woman I’ve seen who got herself into this state.”
“Uh, I got that many injuries?” She hadn’t even noticed. But it was probably from saving Chang Yuejin.
While they were speaking, Lin Chuan walked into the ward. His expression was somewhat tired, but he seemed to have no major problems.
“Su Su, you’re awake?” Lin Chuan scratched his head a little sheepishly. His wife had fainted, yet he still had to handle other matters. He felt somewhat sorry toward her.
“Why are you standing there? Is your injury alright? How many comrades were injured?”
“Two comrades sacrificed their lives. Several comrades were injured, but they’re all light injuries.”
“Oh, oh.” Seeing that the couple needed to talk, Bai Lingling took the initiative to leave and said, “I’ll go change the dressing for your comrade. His foot burns are very serious.”
“Is it Chang Yuejin?” The burned one was probably only him. He had taken the initiative to kick the alcohol bottle to save them. It would be strange if he wasn’t injured.
“He’ll be fine after recovering for some time.” Lin Chuan felt men were all tough, but his wife was different. She was pregnant.
“What about your injury? I clearly saw it looked like you were hit.” Su Su found it unbelievable.
“I should have been hit, but this saved me.” After saying that, Lin Chuan took off his glove and raised his hand. He was still wearing the iron ring, but it had already deformed and blackened.
“No way?” Could there be such a coincidence?
“You might not believe it, but I could easily judge the bullet’s trajectory, so I placed my hand in front of my chest to block it. If it hit, I might have lost one or two fingers, but I could keep my life. Unexpectedly, our ‘ring’ bounced the bullet away. It went along my arm and ricocheted into the ceiling, so I only suffered a superficial injury and wasn’t in danger.”
Lin Chuan said it lightly, but it also proved that he was truly calm in danger. And lucky enough.
Su Su listened until her feet trembled. She hugged him and said, “I really don’t want you to be a soldier anymore.”
“I’ll protect myself, and protect you.” Lin Chuan comforted her, then said, “But I still let you get hurt.”
“This counts as being hurt? Do you have anything else to do?”
“No. The higher-ups gave me leave so I can stay with you.”
“Really? Lin Chuan… waah… I was so scared.” Hearing that her man wouldn’t leave, Su Su finally relaxed and directly hugged Lin Chuan, crying. She really had been afraid. It wasn’t fake. She had nearly been scared to death, alright?
Only then did Lin Chuan hold Su Su with one arm and comfort her, “Wife, don’t get too worked up.”
“Let me cry for a while.” At this time, Su Su had no intention of being reasonable with him. After all, she had been reasonable for a long time already and was completely exhausted.
Before long, a figure suddenly appeared at the door. Seeing them like this, he seemed a little uncomfortable and said, “I… came at a bad time.”
Lin Chuan gently laid Su Su, who had cried herself to sleep, back down. Then he said quietly, “You changed your dressing? How is your injury?”
“Hey, stop right there. I told you to rest properly. Your foot has severe burns. Do you want to become disabled?” An exasperated voice came from outside.
Lin Chuan quickly walked out of the ward and closed the door, afraid others would disturb his wife’s rest. Then he saw the person and said, “So it’s Comrade Bai.”
The moment Chang Yuejin saw this young nurse, his whole body felt awkward. Just now, when she had applied medicine for him, she had almost taken off all his trousers. Although his injury was indeed quite high up, he really didn’t want a female comrade to see things she shouldn’t see.
There was no helping it. Their battalion commander was this conservative, and he himself wasn’t much more open-minded.
Only after the doctor came and everyone used strict orders did they manage to hold him down. Who knew that now, after such a short time, the young nurse would chase after him again? He felt somewhat stifled.
He said coldly, “I’m fine. Your wife saved me earlier, so I came to see her.”
“Can’t you come after your injury heals? Besides, didn’t I tell you she’s fine? Come on, go back with me.”
“…” Being ordered around by a young girl felt a little embarrassing. But thinking of how cowardly his battalion commander looked in front of his wife, it didn’t seem like much. So he nodded at Lin Chuan and left with the young nurse.
When they reached his ward, he couldn’t help asking, “You know Comrade Lin Chuan’s wife?”
Bai Lingling liked to talk, so she explained how she had met Su Su before. Then she said, “I didn’t expect you to know her too. Quite fated.”
She said it without thinking, but the listener took it to heart. Chang Yuejin thought about his own “innocence,” then thought about this so-called fate. Maybe this was what he wanted?
Of course, he only thought about it in his heart. He truly didn’t dare do anything.
Because his face was disfigured, his temper was bad, and he wasn’t worthy of such a young and delicate nurse.
Thinking was thinking. For now, he should obediently stay in the hospital.
But the young nurse was really good. She looked after him very carefully. His family had no one who could come take care of him at the hospital. After all, the family was busy with farm work, and no one could leave. Even if they could leave, it was too far for them to come. So during this period in the hospital, he completely relied on the young nurse’s care. Even when he went to the toilet, he had to be supported by her.
The first time was unfamiliar, the second time became familiar, and by the third and fourth time, he already felt it was natural.
So he thought that before he was discharged, he should ask about the young nurse’s feelings. What if a blind cat happened to bump into a—pah… a big white mouse?
He himself couldn’t speak up. If he opened his mouth, he might mess it up.
So he finally thought of his clever and capable scholar sister-in-law.
He couldn’t handle this himself. He had to ask Sister-in-law to step in.
Thus, he limped over again to find Su Su, who was about to be discharged. She had only twisted her foot and had mild burns and scrapes on her hands. She had stayed in the hospital for these few days entirely because they were worried there might be something wrong with the child.
Lin Chuan had been forced to take leave and could only stay here, asking the young soldiers who came by about the situation while watching over his wife. But why did the soldiers from his battalion keep coming back? And why were they so close to his wife?
Fine, because she had rushed out and saved Chang Yuejin in a crisis, she had become famous. At least in his battalion, she was quite an impressive existence.
Look, Su Su had received two eggs.
She was almost unable to smile anymore. These past few days, people from Lin Chuan’s unit kept coming. She didn’t know what methods they used, but each person brought two or three eggs, all boiled. Then without saying anything else, they stuffed them into Su Su’s hands or placed them on the bed. After reporting the situation, they immediately ran off, so fast they couldn’t even be chased.
As they said, what kind of person leads what kind of soldiers. A battalion commander who only knew how to offer eggs had raised an entire nest of soldiers who only knew how to offer eggs. These past few days, she had nearly eaten eggs until she wanted to throw up.
But she couldn’t waste other people’s kindness, so she ate the egg whites, while Lin Chuan ate the yolks.
Lin Chuan, who had originally slimmed down a little after the mission, recovered his complexion very well in only a few days. There was even some flesh on his cheeks again.
Two egg yolks a day nourishing him—this treatment was truly hard to come by.
“No, Lin Chuan, does your battalion have a chicken farm or something?”
“There is a small one. Probably a little over two hundred chickens.”
“So these eggs…”
“They probably traded something with logistics for them.”
“Oh. Is this something you often do?”
Lin Chuan didn’t speak, but he still looked at her with an expression that said: how did you know?
She knew it. Su Su was already too tired to complain.
She gently supported her lower back with her hand. Although her belly still wasn’t showing, she already felt tired. Staying in the hospital all the time made her feel like she was about to grow mould.
Just then, Chang Yuejin arrived. He knocked on the door and said, “Reporting.” Habit, because Lin Chuan was inside.
Lin Chuan also sat there stiffly and properly. “Enter.”
Su Su truly didn’t know what to say about them. Weren’t they good friends?
“Deputy Battalion Commander Chang is here. Sit quickly.” Su Su found a cup and poured him some water.
Chang Yuejin thanked her. Then he glanced at Lin Chuan from time to time without speaking, but it was obvious he had something to say.
Lin Chuan glared at him. “If you have something to say, say it. Why are you staring at me?”
Chang Yuejin thought about it, then said directly to Su Su, “Sister-in-law, I want to ask you to be my matchmaker.”
Pfft!
Su Su choked on the mouthful of water she had just drunk.
Lin Chuan glared at Chang Yuejin. “Can’t you speak properly?”
Chang Yuejin scratched his head. He had spoken properly.
Su Su finally stopped coughing and asked again, “Say that again. What do you want me to do?”
“Help me be a matchmaker.”
“Quick, tell me. Which girl have you taken a liking to? Sister-in-law will definitely do her best to bring you two together.” After finally understanding, Su Su felt the weight of being a sister-in-law grow heavier on her shoulders. She had already started solving personal matters for older unmarried male soldiers. This was clearly work usually done by accompanying army wives, yet unexpectedly, it had fallen to her too. Don’t ask why she knew—weren’t period novels all written like this?
Chang Yuejin sat up straight, then explained his situation. Finally, he said, “I’ve taken a liking to the nurse who has been taking care of me, Comrade Xiao Bai.”
“Bai Lingling?” That girl was so fresh and pretty. Looking at the two of them, it really gave the impression of Beauty and the Beast.
Su Su hesitated. This boy’s taste was really good. He had taken a liking to her only friend. And this friend of hers had been visiting her these past few days, complaining a lot about him. Saying he was feudal, saying his temper was bad, saying his face looked scary.
Then yesterday she had only just finished saying all that, and today this man came to ask her to be a matchmaker. Could it be that the first time she acted as matchmaker in her life was destined to fail before it even began?
“I know I’m not worthy of her, but I just like her.” After Chang Yuejin finished speaking, Lin Chuan inhaled and said, “Wife, help him think of a way. This boy has never taken a liking to any woman all these years.”
Su Su actually felt Chang Yuejin was indeed a man worth entrusting oneself to. It was just that the scar on his face was somewhat fierce and frightening, and he himself was very…
But thinking of Lin Chuan, he had been one way before marriage and another way after marriage. Perhaps once Chang Yuejin had a girlfriend, he would become better too?
“How about this? I’ll ask for you first. Don’t be anxious…”
“Sister-in-law, I’m anxious.”
“…” Su Su was rendered speechless. Why had he suddenly become anxious?
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