My Happy Daily Life After Being Reborn
Chapter 108 - 25 Preparing to Entertain Guests

Chapter 108: Chapter 25 Preparing to Entertain Guests

Shen Chi furrowed his brows when he came back and heard Lin Xiaoguai’s words, "Are you sure you won’t tire yourself out?"

He knew Wanwan well. Although she seemed to have plenty of free time, looking after her son and with him helping as much as he could with the household chores, it didn’t mean she had idle hands. Between gardening, writing, painting, making clothes, knitting, and reading, her life was never dull.

Yaya was just someone else’s child and not the easy-going type. He liked the kid, but he didn’t want Wanwan’s life to be disrupted.

"It won’t." Lin Xiaoguai said as she folded clothes, "The child may seem mischievous, but actually has a sensible side."

Shen Chi took the clothes she handed him and put them in the wardrobe, but he didn’t quite agree with her. He had noticed that while Wanwan might quickly become impatient with him, she was exceptionally tolerant with children. In her eyes, there were no inconsiderate children, just adults who hadn’t taught them properly.

"Then you take care of them for now, and if you get tired, send the child back home."

Lin Xiaoguai nodded, "Don’t worry, I can handle it."

Shen Chi was indifferent as he pulled a bottle out of his pocket and placed it in Lin Xiaoguai’s hand, "Keep this."

"Is this honey?" Lin Xiaoguai asked with surprise, "Where did it come from?"

"The rascals scraped it off beehives during an exercise. It’s pure wild honey." Shen Chi then put a blanket that had been sun-dried and folded into the closet.

Lin Xiaoguai examined the honey in the glass jar, which had a tempting rust-red sheen, and smiled, "How did it end up with you?"

"I confiscated it. Why should these grown men be eating such sweet stuff?" Shen Chi stated as if it were a matter of course.

Despite Shen Chi’s deep and calculating nature, he was always capable of mingling with his subordinates. His experiences on the battlefield had made him cherish his soldiers, and since he couldn’t exploit his rank to their disadvantage—no interests clashed—he was welcomed by the men for being neither arrogant nor too formal in his approach.

Although he had seized the soldiers’ honey this time, he often spent his own money to take his men out to restaurants on their days off; hence, no one truly minded the confiscation of one jar of honey.

Lin Xiaoguai simply smiled and said nothing, but then she remembered something, "By the way, I heard from Xiao Miao that Wang Guozhong sometimes brings his soldiers home for meals. Since you’re new here, don’t you think you should make a gesture?" Xu Jinjun and Zhou Huai Country’s visit didn’t count, as it was just a coincidence.

Even if she wasn’t familiar with military customs, she knew commanders often looked after their subordinates, inviting them home for meals was not unusual.

The reason Yu Xiaomiao’s household was strained also involved such duties—soldiers, aware of her family’s situation, often made excuses to decline invitations.

"Do you want to host them?" Shen Chi was taken aback and touched his nose as he spoke, "I’ve already taken them out to restaurants." He believed that anyone he would invite to his home would be at least an officer, and not a single soldier was a light eater. A couple might be fine, but a group would really worry him for fear that Wanwan would get worn out.

Besides, he thought that Wanwan, who preferred quiet, probably wouldn’t like having too many people at home.

Lin Xiaoguai paused upon hearing his words, and with downcast eyes said softly, "Next time, invite them to our house for a meal. You’ve just arrived; it’s the right time to win over your subordinates." There was a softness stirring somewhere inside her heart.

Shen Chi hesitated at her words, but happiness eventually prevailed, and he nodded with some excitement, "Okay, how about tomorrow?"

He couldn’t wait to declare his claim over Wanwan to others and to make other men envious of his marriage to her.

"...Alright, I’ll go grocery shopping early tomorrow," Lin Xiaoguai replied after a moment’s hesitation.

Was it her imagination? Shen Chi just then, he seemed really happy.

She felt somewhat estranged from this version of him; throughout the ten years of their marriage in her previous life, Shen Chi was mostly a heavy, even despairing presence that became suffocating.

A strange emotion rose within her, and Lin Xiaoguai thought, maybe the deeper the schemer, the more touching their genuine smile is.

Early in the morning, Shen Chi had gone to the army base, and Lin Xiaoguai, after feeding Little Niangao, pushed the stroller to the marketplace to buy groceries.

The military compound’s marketplace was small: a pork vendor, a stall for chicken and duck, a fishmonger, and a few scattered private vegetable stalls made up the modest marketplace.