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Once everyone had enough drink and food, everyone had a different level of drunkness, and not just Ji Yan as all of them had drunk to their heart’s content.
The regimental commander’s wife spoke to the group, “Everyone, go and sit on the sofa. I’ll make some tea for everyone to sober up.”
Tang Tang held Ji Yan’s arm and helped him to sit down on the sofa. She couldn’t help but touch his large scalding hand and worriedly asked, “Husband, are you ok?”
Ji Yan’s face was flushed red, and his eyes were not as clear as usual. It was like there was a layer of mist. He looked at Tang Tang for a while before slowly shaking his head, “I’m alright.”
Pursing her lips, Tang Tang was afraid that his stomach might not feel well, but she remembered that she didn"t have a kitchen to use after leaving, so she could only make some sober up soup here. After giving it some thought, she entered the kitchen and spoke to the regimental commander’s wife, who was currently making some tea, “Sao Zi, I want to make some sobering soup. Xiao Zhuo’s dad drank too much tonight. I’m afraid he might throw up later, and I don’t have a kitchen to make him some when we go back.”
The regimental commander’s wife nodded in understanding, “Ji Yan has drunk too much tonight. He will most likely throw up when he goes back. It’s a good idea to make some sobering soup. Just make the soup here, and since you’re making some, make some more so all of them can drink it together.”
Tang Tang took some ingredients out from the fridge and a pot to quickly make the soup. When she was done, she ladled a few bowls and placed them on a tray to take them out to the living room, and thenshe placed the tray on the coffee and pa.s.sed a bowl to Fang Yu Wei, who was sitting beside Zhang Cheng. “Yu Wei Sao Zi, give Zhang Cheng some sobering soup. It will be good for his stomach.”
Fang Yu Wei smiled at Tang Tang and gave her thanks, “Thank you, ah. Thanks for the trouble.”
Then she pa.s.sed the bowl of soup to Zhang Cheng’s hand while secretly pinching his waist. Fang Yu Wei quietly threatened, “Quickly drink the sobering soup. You stink of alcohol. If you dare to throw up on my floor, you can sleep outside.”
Zhang Cheng hissed from the pinches. He got afraid of the threat of getting kicked out of the bedroom, so he promptly held the bowl of sobering soup and drank it in one go. He didn’t even care that the soup was extremely hot .
Tang Tang was shocked as she watched them. She felt that Fang Yu Wei was amazing as she knew how to manage her husband. But Tang Tang knew that she shouldn’t watch for too long since each couple interacted differently, so she turned to give Dong Li a bowl of sobering soup.
“Thank you, Sao Zi.”
Dong Li sincerely gave his thanks. He was also sincere when he called her “Sao Zi.” The impression he had of Tang Tang had changed completely. No matter how she was before, now she was good and deserved his respect.
In response, Tang Tang waved her hand to indicate that he didn’t need to thank her. Then she carried the final bowl of sobering soup and sat beside Ji Yan. When she saw him resting against the sofa with his eyes closed, Tang Tang shook his arm worriedly, “Husband. Husband.”
Ji Yan slowly opened his eyes and looked at her. His eyes were slightly red.
With a spoon, Tang Tang scooped some soup and moved the spoon to his mouth. She quietly coaxed, “Husband, drink some sobering soup. We’ll go back and rest afterward.”
Ji Yan was absolutely drunk, and his mind was muddled. Normally, he would take the bowl and drink by himself. However, now, he compliantly opened his mouth and swallowed the soup he was fed. As Tang Tang continued to bring the spoon to his mouth, Ji Yan obediently swallowed the soup.
Even though Ji Yan was drunk, Tang Tang thought he was a good drunk because he didn’t cause any fuss or make any noise. He was very quiet and didn’t become a crazy drunkard. There was a saying that what type of drunk a person was depended on the person’s personality. It seemed that the saying was correct.
After finishing feeding the bowl of soup, Tang Tang didn’t stay for long and bid farewell to the regimental commander’s family.
Dong Li didn’t drink too much tonight, so he was rather sober. Since he knew Tang Tang had nowhere to sleep tonight, Dong Li guided them to a small hotel and got a room for the small family. Tang Tang didn’t speak up as she watched because she was too worried to let Ji Yan sleep alone tonight as he was drunk.
Dong Li supported Ji Yan to the bed. Seeing that there was nothing else, he bid Tang Tang goodbye, “Sao Zi, I’m going to go back first. Call me if anything happens.”
“Thank you, ah, Dong Li. It’s not early now. Quickly go back and have a rest.”
Ji Xiao Zhuo waved at Dong Li and spoke seriously like a little adult, “Uncle, you don’t need to worry, quickly go back, mummy and I will look after daddy properly.”
Stroking Xiao Zhuo’s head, Dong Li said, “Alright, uncle will leave now. I’ll leave your daddy in your care.”
Once Dong Li was gone, Tang Tang took off Ji Yan’s shoes and moved his legs so he would be more comfortable. Then she looked at his clothes and became troubled. She was undecided if she should just leave him wearing his slightly dirty training uniform to bed because Bao Bao’s daddy usually liked to be clean. Would he be uncomfortable sleeping in uniform? But she didn’t have the nerve to take his clothes, especially since there wasn’t a change of clothes here. She couldn’t let him sleep naked either, what would he think of her when the morning arrives? After all, they didn’t really have an intimate relationship.
Tang Tang’s face became red as she thought.
Ji Xiao Zhuo pulled on Tang Tang’s hand and looked up at her to ask, “Mummy, what’s wrong? Why are you looking at daddy motionlessly?”
Tang Tang was frustrated. She bit her lips and decided to leave Ji Yan’s clothes alone. He’ll have to suffer for the night.
Then she took Xiao Zhuo to the bathroom for a bath first. After that, he went to the middle of the bed while Tang Tang told him, “Bao Bao, daddy is drunk. Can you look after him while mummy takes a bath?” Ji Xiao Zhuo patted his little chest and guaranteed, “Don’t worry and have your bath, mummy. I will look after daddy.”
Seeing that Ji Yan was still sleeping in the small spot without moving, she a.s.sumed that nothing would happen, so Tang Tang grabbed some clean clothes to take a bath. Once she was finished, she took their dirty clothes and washed them before hanging them in the bathroom. When Tang Tang came out of the bathroom, she thought that Xiao Zhuo would have fallen asleep by now, but who knew that he was still staring at his daddy with wide eyes as he parred Ji Yan’s chest softly. It was as if he was coaxing his daddy to sleep.
Tang Tang’s heart became soft. She got closer and gave Xiao Zhuo a kiss, “Okay now, Bao Bao. Mummy will look after daddy now, so go to sleep.”
It was obvious the little one was tired, but he still forced himself to widen his eyes as he shook his head, "Mummy, I"m not tired. I will look after daddy with you. Mummy will get tired looking after daddy alone."
Tang Tang knew that Xiao Zhuo was a sensible child, so she didn"t keep urging him. She simply stroked his head and said, "Alright. Let"s look after daddy together, but you just need to hold your daddy"s hand for him to sleep well."
After hearing that, the little one immediately held Ji Yan"s hand firmly.
Tang Tang took a basin of warm water from the bathroom. There was a towel in the basin, which Tang Tang wrung before wiping Ji Yan"s face, so he would be more comfortable as he slept.
As she wiped, Tang Tang"s attention unconsciously went to Ji Yan"s face; strong eyebrows, long narrow eyes, straight eyelashes, high nose bridge, thin lips, firm chin, and sharp edges. Also, he was covered with a strict aura, so even though he was asleep, people wouldn"t dare to look at him with contempt.
He was sharp, but he was a man that made people feel safe.
Tang Tang has lived two lives, but she never interacted with outsiders. In the past, she would often imagine what kind of man she would marry, but no matter how hard she thought, she couldn"t come up with anything concrete because everything felt unrealistic.
Until she came here and saw Ji Yan. There was finally an image in her mind. He was her husband. Someone she relies on for life. No one else can replace him.
The fact Ji Yan was her husband didn"t make her feel awkward or have any rejection. She didn"t feel uncomfortable even though they were from different time periods. Even Tang Tang didn"t know the reason why.
Although Tang Tang didn"t have any experience with love, she wasn"t a stupid person who didn"t understand anything. Thankfully, she had read many novels, so Tang Tang knew that the feelings she had when facing Ji Yan alone were not normal. Even though she had not admitted it, she couldn"t lie to herself or her heart. She liked Ji Yan, she had secretly fallen for her husband.
However, she knew that he didn"t like her. At most, he currently did not hate her.
But she will work hard to be a good wife and make Ji Yan like her.
Maybe the towel had remained still for too long, but Ji Yan lightly opened his eyes and gazed at Tang Tang.
Tang Tang’s hand froze. She suddenly felt guilty and probed, “Husband? Are you awake?”
Ji Yan didn’t answer and continued staring at Tang Tang.
Biting her lips, Tang Tang started to slowly wipe his neck. Tang Tang let out a breath in relief when she saw Ji Yan did not move and let her continue. She knew he was still drunk.
Tang Tang didn’t dare to let her thoughts wander anymore and focused on wiping his face, neck, and hands before changing the water and towel in the basin. Next, Tang Tang took off his socks before carefully wiping his feet.
Ji Yan blinked. In the next second, he closed his eyes and silently went back to sleep.
Their feet were very different from each other. Ji Yan’s feet looked like they were twice as big as hers. Also, his feet were very hard with calluses at the bottom and scars at the top. Judging by the scars, the injuries were not light.
Tang Tang’s heart hurt as she gently touched the scars. She thought that if he even had scars on his feet, she couldn"t imagine how many scars his body had.
It must be difficult protecting the country, and his body was probably not as healthy as it looked. It seemed that she should make some medical baths for Ji Yan to soak his feet and heal his internal injuries.
On the side, Ji Xiao Zhuo"s wide eyes watched his mummy wipe his daddy’s big feet carefully. She looked like she was wiping a treasure. Xiao Zhuo blinked. He was perplexed and suddenly asked, “Mummy, does daddy’s feet stink?”
For a moment, Tang Tang blanked as she got surprised by the little one’s question. She couldn’t help but smile as she asked back, “Why did you ask that?”
Ji Xiao Zhuo lifted his chubby leg as he struggled to lift his feet up to his nose. He took a sniff. He was satisfied that it didn’t smell before answering, “Normally, when my feet are stinky, I’m not willing to touch it. I’ll only touch after it has been cleaned.”
Ji Xiao Zhuo was a child with mysophobia. He would even avoid touching his feet if it wasn’t cleaned.
Tang Tang smiled, “Then, you should take a sniff to know if daddy’s feet smell or not.”
Ji Xiao Zhuo was at a loss as he hesitated. In the end, he crawled close to his daddy’s feet and took a sniff with his bottom sticking up. He immediately covered his nose in the next second. He frowned and retreated away. Xiao Zhuo looked at Tang Tang in grievance and said, “Mummy, daddy’s feet stink.”
“Puff –” Tang Tang couldn’t hold in her laughter. She felt the little one’s mysophobia was strong since he was even avoiding his father. If his father was awake, would Ji Yan feel his heart break?
To be honest, Ji Yan’s feet did not smell too bad. However, they wouldn’t smell good either because he exercised a lot as a soldier. They had lots of training to do, especially since Ji Yan was in the special forces. An average person wouldn"t be able to imagine the amount of training they did. Their feet would sweat a lot. It wouldn’t be normal if their feet didn’t smell.
Tang Tang explained to Xiao Zhuo, “Daddy needs to train so he will sweat a lot every day. It’s normal that his feet smell. They won"t smell anymore after they are cleaned. They will be fine after mummy wipes them a few more times.”
Ji Xiao Zhuo lowered the hand that was covering his nose and said, “Mummy, you’re not avoiding daddy even though he smells.”
Tang Tang changed the basin of water again before carrying on wiping Ji Yan’s feet. She replied while wiping, “Because daddy is mummy’s husband, ah. A wife will not avoid their husband just like mummy won’t avoid Bao Bao. Even if Bao Bao’s feet stink, mummy would still touch it, right?”
Ji Xiao Zhuo remembered back to when his mummy was washing his stinky feet. He immediately thought that his mummy was great and crawled to Tang Tang to give her a kiss, “Mummy, I love you.”
Tang Tang felt like a flower had bloomed inside her and kissed Xiao Zhuo back on his forehead, “Ok, quickly go and lay down. Mummy will be done soon.”
Obediently, Ji Xiao Zhuo nodded and crawled back to his original spot. He laid under the duvet and took hold of Ji Yan’s hand again.
Tang Tang wiped Ji Yan until he was clean, and there wasn’t any smell before lying down on the other side of Xiao Zhuo. She switched off the main light and kept the bedside light on, so it would be convenient if Ji Yan or Xiao Zhuo wanted to go to the toilet later in the night.
Under Tang Tang’s gentle patting, Ji Xiao Zhuo quickly fell asleep and entered dreamland. As for Tang Tang, she soon fell asleep as it had been quite busy for her today. In the entire room, there was only a small yellow glow shining on the family of three. It was quiet and warm.
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At six o’clock in the morning, Ji Yan woke up on time by his internal clock. As he opened his eyes, his mind was spinning slightly. After a few minutes, he remembered everything from the previous night. He knew that he drank too much. He rubbed his temples and slowly sat up on the bed.
Ji Yan turned his head to look at Xiao Zhuo and Tang Tang who were sleeping deeply beside him. They were even breathing at the same time.
Ji Yan’s gaze swept across Ji Xiao Zhuo and stopped on Tang Tang’s face. He remembered all her actions when he was drunk. An awkward expression flashed across Ji Yan’s face.
He lowered his head in silence for a while. Then Ji Yan silently stood up and went to the bathroom for his morning ablution. Without waking up the mother and son pair, he quietly left. But before Ji Yan left, he left a message on Tang Tang’s phone and slipped a debit card into Tang Tang’s bag.
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Tang Tang was woken up by the constant knocking noise. When she opened her eyes, she saw that it was almost nine. She was shocked and immediately stood up. Tang Tang didn’t think and rushed to open the door. It was the regimental commander’s wife and Wen Wen.
“Tang Tang, you’re not ready yet, ah. Aren’t we going to buy furniture today, it wouldn’t be good if we"re going late.”
Tang Tang quickly let the two enter, “Sorry, Sao Zi. I’ve slept in. I’ll go and get ready now. I’ll be quick.”
The regimental commander’s wife saw Ji Xiao Zhuo was still sleeping and walked closer to the bed and said, “You should go and get ready and pack your things. I will wake Xiao Zhuo and help him change. It’ll be quicker this way.”
Tang Tang wasn"t polite and left Xiao Zhuo in the care of the regimental commander’s wife. Then she went to the bathroom to get ready before packing away the things she brought. By the time she was done, Xiao Zhuo was also ready. The group rushed down and got into a car to go to the city.
It took two hours to get to the city from the base. During the journey, Tang Tang finally had time to look at her phone and saw the message from Ji Yan. Then she took out the debit card from her bag. The corner of her lips lifted unconsciously.
When they arrived at the city, the regimental commander’s wife directly led them to a furniture store and let Tang Tang take her time to choose.
They would live for the long term in the apartment at the base,so Tang Tang couldn’t choose things randomly. Everything needed to be thought out and arranged properly to have a warm home. So before they moved, Tang Tang had asked Ji Yue for advice. Ji Yue had sent her lots of images of decorated homes, and Tang Tang spent some time studying them, so she had an idea of what furniture and appliances she wanted. The process of picking out furniture went smoothly. Also, the store could deliver everything together, which made Tang Tang happy. The only issue which made Tang Tang feel unhappy was that when she had to pay for the things she wanted, she spent fifty thousand yuan五万 at once, which made her heart hurt.
After buying furniture and appliances, they went to get bowls, pans, and other daily essentials. A large amount of money was spent again. The hurt expression on Tang Tang’s face got heavier.
Seeing her expression, the regimental commander’s wife smiled, “Buying furniture is like this. The things you got are in the middle price range. Don’t feel hurt over it."
Tang Tang deflated, “Sao Zi, Ji Yan doesn’t earn much as a soldier. When I think about spending so much of his hard-earned money at once, my heart hurts.”
The regimental commander’s wife patted her in understanding, “That’s right. Their job is hard, and they don’t earn much. We should be empathetic and save wherever we could and don’t spend freely without thinking.”
Tang Tang deeply agreed.
Wen Wen, who heard their conversation sighed. She pulled on the mother’s clothes, “Why do I feel you said that on purpose for me to listen? You’re not going to back out and not buy me clothes, right? That is wrong! You can’t back out from your promise.”
The regimental commander’s wife got angry and poked on Wen Wen’s forehead, “You brat. Who said that I won’t buy it for you?”
Wen Wen smiled happily and immediately pulled on her mother’s hand towards a clothing store, “That’s good. Then let’s go and buy clothes!”
Tang Tang pulled Ji Xiao Zhuo along and accompanied them to the clothing store.
This was Tang Tang’s first time going to a clothing store. All the clothes she was wearing belonged to the original owner. However, most of the clothes from the original owner’s wardrobe were rather revealing, and Tang Tang didn’t want to wear them. She went through the wardrobe and finally found two sets of clothing that were long-sleeved tops and long trousers. Tang Tang had been constantly wearing these two sets of clothing, and she didn’t plan to buy more clothes. So when they entered the store, Tang Tang carried Xiao Zhuo as they sat on a sofa in the store and waited for Wen Wen and the regimental commander’s wife to finish shopping.
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