Qin Ningyi brought Huo Rou and An'an back to the Qin family. After coaxing An'an to sleep, he returned, intending to ask for details, only to realize Huo Rou was already drunk.
She sat on the sofa, her eyes hazy as she looked at him, a smile still on her lips. Her docile appearance made him not want to ask anything.
He brushed aside a strand of her hair, murmuring, "The female captain of Fenghuo... do you know, you used to be my target."
Huo Rou nestled against him like a kitten, rubbing her head on his shoulder. "Gege."
She called him so obediently. Her already sweet voice, when saying these two words, carried a hint of innocence and playfulness that tugged at the heartstrings.
Qin Ningyi lowered his head and kissed her. After tasting Huo Rou's sweet, wine-scented breath, his once clear eyes began to cloud over.
This drink, he must have gotten drunk too.
"A'rou..." Qin Ningyi's breathing grew heated.
Huo Rou slightly opened her eyes, looking at the handsome features before her. She giggled foolishly.
"Gege, you're here?"
"Why don't you call me this when you're sober?" Qin Ningyi kissed her with a smile. "Since you're being so good, tell me about your exploits as Captain Huo?"
Qin Ningyi took a rough breath, his hands becoming restless.
He never expected his self-control to be on the verge of collapse because of these two words.
Huo Rou giggled, feeling a tickle from his large hands as she dodged backward. "It tickles."
"Come on, tell me." He had been curious all night.
He never knew that Huo Rou was the world's only female captain of the Fenghuo Assault Team.
"Tell you what?" Huo Rou's sweet voice carried a hint of confusion.
"Start from when you joined the Fenghuo Assault Team." Qin Ningyi coaxed her while holding her to calm himself.
"Fenghuo..." Huo Rou repeated the words. "Fenghuo, Fenghuo... I miss him."
"Who?"
"I really miss him. Wuwuwu, Gege, I miss him." As Huo Rou spoke, her voice began to tremble with sobs.
This was something Qin Ningyi had never anticipated. He just wanted to know how Huo Rou had joined the Fenghuo Assault Team and why she had left.
After all, the personnel information of Fenghuo should be traceable through Qin Nishui, but Huo Rou's information was not found in the military records.
Who would have thought it would make Huo Rou cry?
"Good girl, who do you miss?" Qin Ningyi's mind, with one question unresolved, now harbored another doubt.
Miss him?
A warm, wet sensation on his back. She was truly crying!
Qin Ningyi awkwardly comforted her, a sudden, inexplicable fear welling up in his heart.
"I want to find him, I want to find him..." Huo Rou buried her face in Qin Ningyi's embrace, tears flowing uncontrollably, sobbing.
What could you ask from a drunkard?
Qin Ningyi coaxed her patiently, and finally managed to calm the little girl in his arms.
"Stinky." Huo Rou quieted down for a moment, then suddenly wrinkled her nose, sniffed his clothes, and moved away with disgust.
"Smells of alcohol." Her face scrunched up, clearly finding the smell of alcohol very unpleasant.
Qin Ningyi sniffed himself. He had drunk a lot, but it couldn't be that smelly.
The little ancestor started fussing again, relentless. "Bathe, go bathe quickly."
"Okay, okay, A'rou, go back to sleep first, and I'll go bathe, alright?"
Huo Rou looked at him intently and nodded in agreement.
He got up from the sofa and took her upstairs. She remained very quiet and docile on the way. Just as Qin Ningyi entered the bathroom and turned on the shower, there was movement outside the door.
"I'm scared..." Huo Rou's soft, milky voice murmured, her silhouette appearing on the frosted bathroom door.
"Gege..."
Qin Ningyi glanced at his naked state and hesitated for a moment before answering.
Unexpectedly, the bathroom doorknob turned.
Qin Ningyi's mind went blank for an instant, and then a rosy little face peeked in from the door.
She walked in obediently and thoughtfully closed the door again for him.
Then she found a spot to sit down. "I'll wait for you."
She said it seriously, and then very earnestly began drawing circles on the floor, waiting.
Qin Ningyi looked at the little drunkard in the corner, took a deep breath. Even if she was from the Jiang family, he would accept it.
He was sure he could handle his grandfather.
Finally, Huo Rou also took a bath.
The next day, Huo Rou woke up to Shenfeng's barks. The usually quiet Shenfeng was barking fiercely today.
Qin Ningyi was not in the room.
She rubbed her head, still feeling the effects of the hangover. The memories of yesterday flooded back.
She had entered the bathroom, stirred up trouble, and then had been cleaned up and put into bed.
She had fallen asleep in Qin Ningyi's long, lingering kiss.
Yes, asleep.
Huo Rou rubbed her temples. She hadn't drunk alcohol in a long time, and her tolerance had indeed decreased, along with her guard.
She took the loungewear Qin Ningyi had prepared from the bedside table and put them on, intending to go downstairs and have a heart-to-heart with the man.
After all, the life in the Fenghuo Assault Team was nothing that couldn't be spoken of.
As she walked out of the room, she heard a strange woman's voice from downstairs.
"Qin Ge, this dog of yours has a grudge against me. It's been barking since I entered the gate."
"I've only been away for a few years..."
The female voice sounded very cheerful, her voice as clear as the morning.
Huo Rou came to the top of the stairs and saw the woman at the door.
She looked generous and cheerful, with neat short hair that added a touch of playfulness.
The smile on her face was as bright as the morning sun, clearly someone who had been doted on since childhood.
Qin Ningyi soothed Shenfeng and looked up at her, a smile also appearing on his face. "Why have you suddenly returned to the country?"
"What do you think? Qin Ge." The woman expertly dragged her suitcase and walked in, plopping onto the sofa.
Shenfeng continued to bark, his warnings and defensiveness evident in his cries.
The woman playfully waved at him. "Can we negotiate? Stop barking?"
Shenfeng whimpered a few times, clearly disagreeing with her proposal, and continued to bark.
Qin Ningyi, afraid Shenfeng might actually hurt someone, asked the housekeeper to take Shenfeng out for a walk.
"I said I'd get you a military dog before, and you refused. Now you've got one yourself." The woman pouted, a little displeased.
"Since you're back, go see your old man. I heard from Grandpa a while ago that his condition seemed to be relapsing." Qin Ningyi sat opposite her and advised.
The woman sighed deeply. "Qin Ge, it's not that I don't want to go back, it's that Grandpa won't let me go back! Do you think I came to your place for no reason?"
"How about we get married this year? That way, the two old men won't keep rushing us. You're not going to find a partner like this anyway."
The woman said this with a relaxed expression, as if it were a friendly joke, but Huo Rou could see the expectation in her eyes from afar.