At 5:30 in the afternoon, Shen Nansheng had just stepped out of the office area when he ran into Lu Heng on the road.

Lu Heng was standing in front of a flower stall, carefully picking through the bouquets.

“Commander Lu, buying flowers?” Shen Nansheng had already heard the soldiers under him gossiping that Commander Lu’s wife had come to join him on the military base.

Their houses were right next to each other, so the commotion from last night had definitely reached his place.

“Mm. Deputy Commander Shen, want a few too?” Lu Heng smiled gently, carrying the refined air of a scholar. But only Shen Nansheng knew what lay beneath that elegant exterior—when it came to the battlefield, Lu Heng was ruthless, fiercer than anyone.

Shen Nansheng walked over to the baskets. There were only two: one filled with lotus buds waiting to bloom, the other with brilliant red roses.

He was instantly tempted.

If he brought flowers home, his wife would definitely be happy.

He had noticed it already—although his wife was a little lazy, she was meticulous about the details of daily life.

The placement of furniture, the curtains, the decorations in the rooms—everything had to look beautiful.

Looking at the young flower vendor, he asked, “Comrade, how much are the flowers?”

“Two cents for a rose, three for a lotus. Pick whichever you like,” the young man replied with a smile from his small stool.

Shen Nansheng glanced at the bouquet in Lu Heng’s hands. Every flower he picked was a vivid red rose, flamboyant and passionate.

After some thought, Shen Nansheng chose a bundle of half-bloomed lotus flowers. They had a soft, shy beauty to them. There happened to be an unused water vat in the courtyard at home. Once filled with water and the lotus flowers placed inside, it would surely look stunning when they bloomed.

After paying, the two grown men walked down the road each carrying flowers, attracting no small amount of attention.

Zhang Yanning checked the time and stood up to stretch.

Without realizing it, the whole day had passed. The rough draft of an article was finally done; after some polishing, she could mail it out.

She walked into the kitchen and had just placed the kettle onto the coal stove when Shen Nansheng pushed open the courtyard gate and came in.

“You’re back. Why are your hands behind your back?” Zhang Yanning asked as she stepped out of the kitchen, noticing his suspicious behavior.

Without a word, Shen Nansheng strode up to her and stuffed the lotus flowers into her arms.

Before she could react, he awkwardly muttered, “They’re for you.”

Then he fled into the kitchen at lightning speed and began preparing dinner.

Only then did Zhang Yanning realize he had bought her flowers.

The corners of her lips instantly curled upward.

He even knew to buy her flowers now. She smiled as she glanced at Shen Nansheng, who was pretending to be very busy in the kitchen, and her heart suddenly felt warm and sweet.

She remembered what Li Sisi once said—that receiving even a single flower could make a woman happy for three days straight. Zhang Yanning hadn’t believed it before, but now, holding this heavy bouquet in her arms, she understood completely. Her mood brightened in a way she couldn’t describe.

“These are for me?” She lowered her head to inhale the delicate fragrance of the lotus blossoms, then walked over to Shen Nansheng and teased him with a playful smile.

Shen Nansheng, feeling unusually embarrassed, nodded with reddened ears.

Seeing him avoid her gaze only made Zhang Yanning want to tease him more.

Who would’ve thought thick-skinned Shen Nansheng could actually get shy?

A mischievous grin flashed across her face. Tugging on the corner of his shirt, she stood on tiptoe and rewarded him with a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you, darling. I love them so much.”

It was a line Zhang Yanning had once read in a foreign novel. Back then, she and several classmates had secretly passed around banned books, all of them shocked by the boldness and openness inside.

For a while afterward, they’d greet each other by calling one another “darling,” and every time, the other person would flee in embarrassment.

So now she was especially looking forward to seeing Shen Nansheng panic and run away.

But Shen Nansheng had been picking vegetables when his wife suddenly kissed him on her own initiative.

Then came that word—darling.

How could any man endure that calmly?

By the time Zhang Yanning fled from the kitchen, one of the buttons on her blouse was missing.

Covering her swollen lips, she dashed back into the bedroom, too flustered even to pick up the lotus flowers that had fallen onto the floor.

She silently lamented that this kind of direct affection really didn’t suit them after all.

Subtlety. They should stick to being subtle.

Chu Qing carefully arranged the trimmed roses into a vase, and instantly her mood improved.

The unpleasantness from that morning vanished completely.

Seeing Chu Qing cheerful again, the frustration Lu Heng had carried all day also lifted.

After the two of them finished a warm and peaceful dinner together, Chu Qing suddenly remembered the matter of hosting a meal.

“I’ve basically finished tidying everything up. How about we invite your comrades over for dinner the evening after tomorrow? And let’s invite the young soldiers who helped yesterday too.”

In her previous life, she hadn’t wanted to follow Lu Heng to the military base, so she’d never cared much about entertaining guests. But this time her mentality was different. She wanted to prepare a lavish meal and properly host Lu Heng’s comrades, letting them all see that Lu Heng had a wife who was both beautiful and capable.

Lu Heng paused in surprise. He hadn’t expected Chu Qing to take the initiative to suggest hosting dinner. But after thinking about it, he figured it was probably his grandmother’s instructions.

“Alright. After your hospital checkup tomorrow, we can go reserve a table at the state-owned restaurant.”

“No need. I can cook.”

Since childhood, she had mastered exceptional culinary skills.

Cooking, tea ceremony, embroidery, knitting—Grandma Lu had taught her personally from a young age. She had also studied music, chess, calligraphy, painting, etiquette, and manners under specialized tutors. Preparing a banquet table or two truly wasn’t difficult for her.

Lu Heng also remembered all the things Chu Qing knew.

Back then, because there was no granddaughter in the family, Grandma Lu had devoted herself to raising Chu Qing into a refined young lady. But with all that doting, Chu Qing eventually grew into her current spoiled and willful self.

Whenever Chu Qing caused trouble, Grandma Lu was always the first to protect her—she cherished Chu Qing even more than her own grandson.

Fortunately, Chu Qing was intelligent and learned everything quickly. Later on, Lu Heng himself had stepped in to guide her properly; otherwise, she truly might have become an uncontrollable little tyrant.

“There’ll probably be over a dozen people. If they bring family members, we’ll need at least two tables. Can you really manage all that?” He was mainly worried she’d get exhausted halfway through.

“What, looking down on me?”

“If I say I can do it, then I can. Even three full tables wouldn’t be a problem.” Chu Qing shot him a proud look. Back when she first opened her restaurant in her previous life, she had once handled five tables alone without even feeling tired.

At that time she had already been thirty-six. Now she was only twenty-two.

Young.

Tired? Impossible.

Even though she no longer intended to compete with that village girl in this life, she still wouldn’t give up on her career. What needed to be done would still be done. And this time, with experience on her side, her business would surely flourish even more.

“Alright then. If you need me to help with anything, just say so.” Lu Heng couldn’t cook, but other tasks posed no challenge for him.

“Then come grocery shopping with me when the time comes. If we buy too much, I won’t be able to carry it all.” Chu Qing’s voice carried a hint of coquettish pleading, causing ripples to stir in Lu Heng’s heart.

He felt that the Chu Qing before him was different from before, though he couldn’t quite explain how.

“Okay. We’ll go together then.”

Shen Nansheng picked up the lotus flowers scattered across the floor and licked the cut at the corner of his lip, letting out a low chuckle.

He found a bottle and separated half the flowers into it, planning to place them beside their bed later. The other half he arranged inside the large water vat in the courtyard.

Looking at the vat filled with lotus buds waiting to bloom, Shen Nansheng’s mood brightened.

Then he returned to the kitchen to hurry up with dinner.

After all, only by feeding his wife well could he make sure he himself wouldn’t go hungry later.