A long time later, Gu Xingdong's breathing began to quicken. Chen Lishu, already exhausted from the ordeal, couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
After a while, the room returned to silence.
"You're too heavy."
The light was a little dazzling. Chen Lishu narrowed her eyes and pushed Gu Xingdong off her: "I'm so tired, Xingdong, go get some water."
"I'll go in a moment," Gu Xingdong mumbled, burying his head in the crook of her neck.
Sensing the change in his body, Chen Lishu's sleepiness vanished in a fright, her eyes wide with disbelief: "You, how can you..."
Gu Xingdong looked up, met her watery gaze, and leaned down to kiss her forehead.
"I'm really tired, maybe we can do it tomorrow," Chen Lishu pleaded softly, meeting his dark, bright eyes.
"Old Wu's advantage is that his wife is by his side. You haven't been here for so long, and our time is tight and the mission is heavy. Be good, you just lie there and don't move, I'll take care of the rest."
Chen Lishu only wanted to curse him when she heard this.
How could such things be comparable? She hadn't been here for more than half a year, and was he trying to make up for it all in these few days?
Seeing Gu Xingdong's serious expression, Chen Lishu's heart trembled with fear, and she quickly reached out to push him: "You get off me, I can't handle this mission. Why don't you find someone else?"
To ask him to find someone else?! Gu Xingdong's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
Seeing the person already moving to the edge of the bed, he stretched out a long arm, pulling her into his embrace, and squeezed out from between his teeth: "The mother of my child must be you!"
With that, Gu Xingdong lowered his head and bit her neck heavily as punishment.
"Ah!" Chen Lishu cried out in pain, "Gu Xingdong, are you a dog?"
"I'm a dragon."
Chen Lishu: "..." The shameless man.
Just before dawn, Gu Xingdong finally got up, satisfied. He went to the bathroom first, mixed warm water, and brought it back to help Chen Lishu clean up. Glancing at the time, he saw that the morning exercise would start soon, so he decided not to sleep anymore. He gently pulled the quilt to cover Chen Lishu's belly, then turned to the kitchen to make breakfast.
"Meow." Da Wang, who had been out all night, landed lightly on the windowsill and meowed at Gu Xingdong, who was busy in the kitchen.
"Hush." Gu Xingdong quickly made a shushing gesture to it and poured some of the cooked porridge into its bowl.
...
Chen Lishu woke up close to noon, her whole body aching as if she had just run a marathon. Her legs were trembling as she put on her clothes and got out of bed.
She cursed Gu Xingdong again in her heart before slowly walking out of the room.
"Third sister-in-law, you're awake? My third brother said you didn't rest well last night and specifically told me not to disturb you. He made porridge for breakfast and also boiled eggs for you. Shall I heat them up for you?"
Seeing her come out, Gu Xingping quickly got up to heat the food for her.
"Little sister, no need." Chen Lishu stopped her: "It's so hot, and the porridge isn't cold. I'll just eat a little like this."
"Meow." Da Wang, who had been dozing on the stool cushion, perked up as soon as he saw her heading to the kitchen, and leaped to the ground to follow her.
Chen Lishu thought it was hungry, and glancing at its bowl with food still in it, she went to serve herself some porridge.
Seeing that she didn't understand its meaning, Da Wang anxiously circled on the spot, then jumped onto the windowsill and gently pawed at the small fish covered by the gauze Chen Lishu had placed there.
Chen Lishu finally realized and smiled, asking, "Do you want to eat fish?"
"Meow." Da Wang couldn't help but lick its nose.
Chen Lishu understood. She walked over, lifted the curtain, took a look, and then picked up a small fish and squeezed it. It was hot, and the side facing up was already quite dry.
As she moved, Da Wang's little head followed up and down, looking eagerly at Chen Lishu as she picked up one fish and put it down, anxiously meowing again.
Chen Lishu found its reaction amusing and stopped teasing it. She picked up two small fish and placed them in front of it: "Eat."
Da Wang quickly picked them up, turned, jumped off the windowsill, and went to its own bowl.
After Chen Lishu ate, she turned over all the small fish. As she was washing the dishes, there was a knock on the door.
"Xingping, go see who's here." Without stopping her work, Chen Lishu called out to the outside.
Gu Xingping came out of the room, opened the door, and saw the Lin sisters. She stepped aside to welcome them in, then went to get stools.
"Little Moon, please sit." Knowing that Lin Xiaoyue was pregnant, Gu Xingping quickly invited her to sit down.
"Sister-in-law, you're here?" Chen Lishu washed the bowls and dried her hands before coming out of the kitchen, smiling as she greeted Lin Xiaoyue.
"I went to the hospital for a check-up this morning. The doctor said I'm two months along. If you hadn't reminded me, I would have thought I caught a cold and had an upset stomach," Lin Xiaoyue said happily as she sat down.
Without elderly supervision, her menstrual cycle was also a bit irregular. When her period didn't come this month, she hadn't paid much attention.
"I'm so happy for you now that you have confirmation," Chen Lishu said with a smile.
"Yes, I've already called home. My parents-in-law were especially happy when they found out."
Wu Zheng was already twenty-six this year, and his family had been urging him, otherwise she wouldn't have come to accompany him in the army.
Looking at the gentle smile in her eyes, Chen Lishu felt a faint envy.
She and Gu Xingdong had never deliberately avoided contraception, but perhaps due to their infrequent meetings, her stomach had shown no signs of pregnancy.
"Sister-in-law, what's wrong with your neck? Did a bug bite you?"
As Chen Lishu lowered her head, Gu Xingping, who was nearby, spotted a mark the size of a fingernail on her neck and asked with concern.
Chen Lishu blushed at her words and awkwardly tugged at her collar: "I accidentally got bitten by a mosquito last night."
Lin Xiaoyue, being experienced, gave her a knowing smile: "Indeed, the mosquitoes in the family area are particularly large. One bite can take days to fade."
Being teased by her, Chen Lishu felt even more embarrassed, her fair cheeks flushing with a faint rosy hue. Lin Xiaoyue, a woman herself, couldn't help but stare at her beautiful face with a touch of infatuation.
Lin Xiaohui, witnessing everything, felt incredibly resentful.
Unlike the naive and ignorant Gu Xingping, she wasn't easily fooled. Men in the military were not picky, and neither were the women in the family area, especially those idle wives who didn't have to do farm work. They were quite bold in their conversations.
Having spent some time in the military family area, Lin Xiaohui had already learned everything.
She was consumed by jealousy, but outwardly maintained a composed demeanor, asking, "Sister Lishu, you and my sister got married around the same time, didn't you?"
Chen Lishu thought for a moment. It seemed they had married around the same time, but at that time, Gu Xingdong didn't even know of her existence.
"My sister is already pregnant. Sister Lishu, why isn't your stomach showing any signs yet? Could it be..."
Lin Xiaohui deliberately paused, as if suddenly realizing she had said something she shouldn't have, and looked at her with innocent eyes: "Sister Lishu, I was just curious, I didn't mean anything else."