Reborn in the 70s: Pampered by Regiment Commander
Chapter 449 - 311: No Return

Chapter 449: Chapter 311: No Return

The bedroom door was gently pushed open as Zhou Mikang tiptoed in, seeing Chuxia sitting there in a daze, he slightly frowned, "Why are you up so early? Or is it that you didn’t sleep at all?"

"Where did you go?" Chuxia asked, displeasure evident in her tone.

"Don’t tell me you couldn’t sleep because I wasn’t here?" Zhou Mikang laughed softly, "It seems I’m becoming more and more important to you."

"I asked you where you went, don’t change the subject." Chuxia’s voice carried a note of anger.

"I was planning to go out and pour you a glass of milk, but then dad pulled me into a meeting that lasted all night." Zhou Mikang would absolutely not admit that he wanted to see if Chuxia would worry about him. In fact, he could have come up to say hello to Chuxia at that time. His dad even reminded him to let Chuxia know, but he just pretended to go upstairs, stood there for a minute, and then casually went back down.

Thinking about it now, he felt he was being childish, but fortunately, the result was what he wanted—his little wife was angry. Only someone who cares would get angry, hehe... That was a good sign!

"Oh." Chuxia responded, got up from the bed, and stumbled into the bathroom. After the loud bang of the door closing, Zhou Mikang touched his head, conflicted. He was still waiting for his little wife to grill him about the meeting he attended, to ask him why he didn’t notify her before leaving, and to scold him a bit more. How could it be over just like that?

Really, did she care or not?

"Hey!" He knocked on the bathroom door, "What time did you go to sleep?"

"It’s very rude to ask someone questions while they’re in the bathroom. I refuse to answer," Chuxia’s voice, thick with irritation, came from amidst the sound of running water. One could imagine that her soft little face was surely wrinkled up right now.

Chuxia was indeed very angry, truly very angry.

This man was paying far too little attention to her. No matter how urgent the matter, couldn’t he have said something before going up? But she just couldn’t be bothered to ask him. It was clear he was waiting for her to ask, hmmph, but she wouldn’t ask, just to spite him! He didn’t care about her, yet he wanted her to care about him—no way!

After a huffy shower and brushing her teeth, her mood had mostly calmed down. She opened the bathroom door and walked out, ignoring Zhou Mikang, and sat down at the dressing table, huffing and puffing as she dried her hair.

The blow dryer of the era was loud despite the weak airflow. After drying her hair, she unconsciously muttered, "What a piece of junk, it’s going to make me deaf if I use it every day!"

"What time did you go to bed last night?"

Zhou Mikang was rather persistent on this question. Chuxia gave him a contemptuous roll of her eyes, "I know what you want to hear, but I’m just not going to tell you, hmmph!"

Still angry then! Zhou Mikang, with a smile on his face, went to the bathroom to wash up...

Chuxia: "..." Excuse me, but what on earth is wrong with Team Leader Tongzi?

After changing her clothes, Chuxia sat in the wicker chair with a cup of warm water with a pinch of salt, first sipping it slowly and then gulping down the rest. Then she poured another cup of warm water, scooped in a spoonful of honey, stirred it until mixed, and placed it back on the table.

About five minutes later, the bathroom door opened, and Zhou Mikang came out with his wet hair.

"Have you been up all night?" Chuxia asked.

"Yeah," Zhou Mikang replied, "The military district’s meeting was too urgent, and we had to pick a time at night. I’ll have to go handle some business with the troop in a bit. Don’t worry, my body is strong, staying up for a night or two doesn’t bother me."

"Who’s worried? You narcissist!" Chuxia set down her cup, opened the door, and ran downstairs thumping along.

Lin Yanqiu was coming out of the kitchen with a pot of steaming soup. She saw Chuxia and smiled, "You came down just in time. This warm stomach soup is best enjoyed hot. You, little girl, are too frail. First have a bowl of this. Where’s Mikang?"

"He just finished showering, he’ll probably come down in a bit." Chuxia said while running into the kitchen to help get the bowls.

"With the two of them being in a meeting all night, some hot soup can warm up their stomachs before they go off to work and give them strength. Those guys, if you don’t watch them, they just don’t take care of themselves. Chuxia, later on I’ll teach you how to make this soup. When you and Mikang are living on your own, you can make it for him, okay?"

Caught under the smiling gaze of Lin Yanqiu, Chuxia hurriedly nodded, indicating that she was more than willing to learn and to make it... no way (these thoughts she could only keep to herself)!

It wasn’t that she didn’t care about Zhou Mikang, but at the moment, she was still angry. The soup took a long time to simmer; so the fact that her mother-in-law had it ready meant that her father-in-law had informed her when he left. Zhou Mikang, however, didn’t bother to let her know, hmmph, and still expected her to make soup for him—he could go drink plain hot water until he’s blind!

However, Chuxia seemed to have forgotten that she had intentionally prepared a warm glass of water with a spoonful of honey for him... At this moment, Team Leader Tongzi was holding the cup, enjoying the honey water his wife made for him—his heart was content—his wife still cared about him!

After breakfast, everyone said their goodbyes and headed to their respective jobs. Whether the mother-in-law and grandmother didn’t know about Zhou Mikang’s upcoming mission or not, the atmosphere at the Xiao family didn’t change in the slightest.

Halfway through her walk, Chuxia could no longer hold back and started to engage with Team Leader Tongzi, "Mom and grandma don’t know that you’ll be away for a long time, do they?"

Zhou Mikang’s mouth curled up in a smirk, "They know."

"Ah?" Startled, Chuxia asked again, "So, you mean you don’t know the nature of the task, right?"

"I don’t know the specifics, but I should be able to guess roughly."

At this moment, Chuxia was genuinely confused. Had she become desensitized by experiencing too much?

"You’re wondering about their attitudes, aren’t you?" Zhou Mikang sighed softly, "They’re worried about you—that’s why they dare not show it. You’re not yet familiar enough with them. With time, you’ll understand how to tell if they’re anxious or nervous."

"Oh," Chuxia nodded in realization, "I knew it. No matter what, a mother and grandmother wouldn’t be completely indifferent to such matters."

"Not angry with me anymore?" Zhou Mikang turned to look at her and chuckled, "You’re small, but your temper isn’t. Let me tell you, Mom secretly instructed me to coax you, heh heh..."

"Mom noticed?" Chuxia laughed after saying this. She was someone whose displeasure would always show on her face, and even if she pretended, it wasn’t convincing. How could Lin Yanqiu not have noticed?

Besides, she believed everyone must have noticed; they just pretended otherwise.

Well, there it was—her pettiness fully exposed.

"The Xiao family father and son’s case is closed; they’ll probably spend the rest of their lives behind bars." Zhou Mikang glanced at Chuxia, then continued, "Don’t worry. No one will dare to harbor those kinds of thoughts about you again. I’ve arranged for people to protect you—personally selected by those above. They won’t interfere with your studies or work. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, they won’t show themselves."

"Isn’t this kind of a waste of the country’s talent?" Chuxia hesitated to ask, "If no one dares to do anything to me, there’s actually no need for someone to follow me around."

"Better safe than sorry. Without protection, I would also find it hard to stay calm when I’m away from you. Once you’re capable of defending yourself, they will naturally leave. Remember, no slacking off after I leave. Keep training hard. When I see you next, if you’re still as frail as now, you’ll see how I deal with you."

Chuxia pouted skeptically; as times were becoming more peaceful, and since she wasn’t going to remote areas, wasn’t he exaggerating?

Seeing that Chuxia wasn’t taking it seriously, Zhou Mikang’s voice became stern, "Lin Chuxia, I’m seriously warning you—if you don’t train diligently, you’ll have to stay at home and not go anywhere."

"I understand, I’ll train."

"Don’t think about fobbing me off. Someone will be keeping an eye on you for me. If they catch you slacking, your military status will be immediately revoked. Got it?"

"Domineering!"

"I’m doing this for your good. As a girl, if you can’t even protect yourself, how is that acceptable?"

"What counts as being able to protect myself?"

"Two ordinary men should not be able to get close to you."

"Ah..." Chuxia’s eyes widened as she stared at Zhou Mikang, "You’re not joking, are you? Me, and two men can’t get close? Are you training a doctor here or a special forces soldier?"

Zhou Mikang raised an eyebrow, looking at her, "What soldier?"

Chuxia realized that, in this era, that term didn’t yet exist, and she laughed it off vaguely, "I mean, are you planning to let me be a doctor, or are you training me to be a soldier ready for battle?"

"The better your skills, the more at ease I’ll be. If I were by your side, it wouldn’t be much of a concern, but my job means I’ll often be away from you. Lin Chuxia, if you don’t want me to be distracted and die out there, then you’d better train properly."

Since he had put it that way, Chuxia really couldn’t take it lightly and promptly nodded earnestly, "Don’t worry, I’ll definitely train hard. To not let two men near me..." She eyed Zhou Mikang’s expression and quickly assured, "I’ll do my best to achieve it."

After driving into the parking spot at 401 and watching her enter the lobby, Zhou Mikang sighed softly, turned the car around, and drove away.

He naturally felt distressed at having her train so hard, but he had no choice. With her looks and intelligence, what would she do if he were gone?

Before he left, he would of course instruct his family to take good care of her, and to be forever kind to her, no matter what happened to him. But there were some things that one had to do oneself because he simply couldn’t trust others to do them right.

Perhaps his family would protect her well, but she was destined to remarry. At that time, it wouldn’t be appropriate to continue protecting her.

Being strong oneself is much more important than needing others’ protection.

Of course, this was his worst-case scenario. Unless it was out of his control, he would never abandon her. From the day he married her, her life became his.

Leaving her in the hands of someone else was the last thing he wanted!

-----------(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com) and cast monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)