Volume 1, Chapter 6: Sneaking Into His Bed in the Dead of Night!

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Shen Qingran’s gaze slid past Huo Tingxiao without pausing.

Silently, she took the suitcase from Xiao Sun.

As expected, the case came down with a heavy thud.

Mother, just what on earth did you pack for me?

Shen Qingran pressed her lips together and, with a burst of effort, dragged the suitcase along the floor with both hands.

In this day and age, most suitcases had no wheels. After only a couple of meters, Shen Qingran felt as though her waist was about to break, her hands trembling slightly.

She had no choice but to stop and rub them for a moment, easing the strain.

This body really could not endure hardship.

Across from her, Huo Tingxiao’s sharp eyes glanced at her.

Shen Qingran gritted her teeth and kept dragging.

Sweat rolled down from her hair in heavy drops. Damp strands brushed her eyes, and even her curled lashes were beaded with moisture, the corners of her eyes turning red.

Huo Tingxiao’s fingers curled slightly, and the tail of his brow moved.

Before she could react, he had lifted the suitcase from her hand with one arm.

Shen Qingran pressed her lips together. This man...

Before she could finish thinking it through, he half-turned, his voice cold and hard. “The train is about to leave.”

So he thought she was walking too slowly and would delay him.

Seeing his long legs already carrying him a distance away in an instant, Shen Qingran had no time to think of anything else and hurried after him at a trot.

It was the height of summer, and the carriage was even more stifling and humid.

Everyone was drenched in sweat.

Huo Tingxiao held the ticket in his hand and walked toward the sleeper carriage they had booked.

Then he suddenly remembered that Shen Qingran did not yet know the carriage number.

He turned back to look for her and saw her being shoved this way and that by the crowd.

She looked like a little boat adrift on the sea, tossed left and right.

A little helpless.

When she looked up, their eyes met.

Shen Qingran froze.

Was he waiting for her?

No way.

She was definitely overthinking it.

Before the thought could settle, someone behind her gave her a sudden, unforeseen shove, and Shen Qingran lurched forward.

Seeing those sharp eyes of his, Shen Qingran forcefully stepped out with her right foot, half-splitting her stance to steady herself.

If she had fallen into him today, he would probably have started reading too much into it again.

Huo Tingxiao gave her a profound, inscrutable look.

Then he turned and walked on.

Shen Qingran kept her expression calm and followed behind him.

With his tall frame clearing the way, at least she was not being jostled quite as badly.

Soon they reached the sleeper compartment.

It was a four-berth sleeper.

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From the upper berth, Xiao Sun leaned down with his head tilted.

“Commander, there were four tickets for this sleeper compartment. You can put the luggage over there.”

Huo Tingxiao nodded.

Seeing this, Shen Qingran obediently moved a little farther inside.

She watched as what had seemed like a box weighing several tons was lifted effortlessly and placed up on the rack.

“Sister-in-law, you and the commander should rest for a while. I’ll go buy food later.”

Shen Qingran looked up and thanked him. “Thank you for the trouble. I can go myself later too.”

As she spoke, sweat rolled down her face.

Shen Qingran wiped it away, and just then her wrist brushed against Huo Tingxiao’s jawline as he suddenly turned.

That soft touch made Huo Tingxiao shudder.

He immediately stepped back two paces, looking at her with a dark, stern gaze.

As if she were some kind of virus.

Seeing him react like that, Shen Qingran felt a little wronged. In her modern life, she had worked her way up to deputy director; she would not claim to be extraordinary, but whenever people saw her, they were always cordial and kind.

How had it come to this? She had only accidentally touched him.

And yet he looked at her as if she had some hidden motive.

The problem was, she could not explain it at all.

Shen Qingran opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

She turned away and lay down on the bed that was hers, pretending to doze.

Only when it was almost time to eat did she get up at Xiao Sun’s call.

Shen Qingran took out the meat sauce her mother had packed for her.

The moment she opened it, a domineering fragrance instantly filled the entire compartment.

Xiao Sun was immediately spellbound by the aroma.

He leaned in to take a sniff and nearly wanted to swallow the jar whole.

“Sister-in-law, this is way too fragrant! Auntie really has superb skills!”

Shen Qingran chuckled twice; her clear voice was as pleasant as a wind chime.

“Comrade Xiao Sun, this is for you. I still have another jar.”

“Really?” Xiao Sun was so excited he nearly grinned his mouth crooked.

But then he saw Huo Tingxiao’s cold face. “What is the second rule of the Three Main Disciplines?”

Xiao Sun’s grin vanished at once, replaced by a serious expression.

The teasing and ease in his eyes disappeared without a trace.

He sprang to his feet and bowed.

“I’m sorry, Commander. I should not have taken a single needle or thread from the masses.”

Shen Qingran frowned. Was Huo Tingxiao afraid she was trying to win over his people?

But Xiao Sun was innocent. She lifted the white steamed bun in front of him.

“I’m exchanging this jar of meat sauce for Comrade Xiao Sun’s steamed bun.”

Huo Tingxiao looked at Shen Qingran coldly.

Then he looked at Xiao Sun’s moved expression.

This woman was quite skilled at buying hearts.

“Suit yourself.” The man’s voice came cool and distant as he stood up and went outside.

It was quite something to turn a meal into this.

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Still, she ate her fill with the other jar of meat sauce. Whoever she was angry with, it could not be herself.

Fortunately, nothing else happened afterward.

After the meal, Xiao Sun cleaned up and left.

He did not come back even by bedtime.

Shen Qingran glanced at the man standing outside the door. His figure was so perfect it looked almost as if it had been modeled.

She stretched a little.

Cleared her mind.

And fell asleep amid the rocking rise and fall of the train.

Other than the clatter of the train’s movement, the entire carriage was quiet.

Night fell.

Huo Tingxiao gazed at the woman sleeping on her side over there, his deep eyes carrying a trace of obscurity.

He was thinking about how he should settle this person once they returned to the military district.

Before he knew it, perhaps because he was too tired, he slowly closed his eyes.

In the middle of the night, Huo Tingxiao, half-asleep and dazed, suddenly felt something touching him.

Those soft, boneless little hands were boldly groping at his waist.

And she was muttering under her breath.

He woke instantly.

Under the cover of darkness, he made out Shen Qingran’s face.

At once, anger rose on his cold and stern features as he stared at her and let out a mocking laugh.

“Shen Qingran, what are you doing?”

This woman truly had no shame.

To be touching him like this in the middle of the night, and in a place like this.

Was she even still a woman?

Did she know what shame was?

Thinking of how Shen Qingran’s mother had told her that having children was a way to tie a man down, Huo Tingxiao’s features seemed to frost over with a thousand years of ice, his voice so cold it seemed to have been frozen through a mountain of snow.

“Shen Qingran, I’ll send you straight back to Little Green Mountain Village!”

He could not let a woman like this follow him to the army.

He sat up abruptly.

But the next second, the woman pressed right against him.

She cupped his face with both hands, her orchid-soft mouth almost touching his skin.

Her hot breath lingered at the tip of Huo Tingxiao’s nose.

Whether from anger or embarrassment, a flush crept up the roots of Huo Tingxiao’s ears.

“Shen Qingran, get off me!”

Faced with such a sharp rebuke, the person opposite him still did not move.

She even frowned.