Chapter 103: Welcome back, are you still having fun playing?

Jiang Ye returned home at noon, saw the gate was locked, and guessed his wife had gone out.

He unlocked the door, first put the lunchbox on the table in the main room, then went into the room; indeed, on the table by the window, he saw the note his wife had left for him.

It turned out she had gone out to gather seafood with the other military wives.

Coming back at noon?

He glanced at the time; hm, soon heading home.

After knowing where his wife had gone, he was no longer in a hurry.

He folded the note neatly and put it away in the drawer cabinet.

Then he went to the kitchen, downstairs.

Noodles are the simplest food, quickest to cook.

Not that complicated; just cook them, add salt and soy sauce, and they're ready to eat.

As for nutrition?

As long as it fills the stomach, nutrition doesn't matter.

While waiting for the water to boil, his thoughts raced.

There were new arrangements and orders from above; the Navy Battleship Fleet would recruit personnel for secret oceanic training.

This is an opportunity, and also a challenge.

In another week, the participants will be finalized and the secret oceanic training will begin.

He hesitated, wondering whether to join this selection.

His brother-in-law would definitely participate; after the meeting ended, his brother-in-law's mind was elsewhere.

He felt a bit reluctant to leave his wife, who had only just started eating meat—oh no, they had only just been married, their nest barely built, and now they'd have to be apart for a while.

He worried that, if he weren't home, what would his wife eat?

Would anyone be so blind as to come to their home and bully his wife?

Could his wife take care of herself in daily life?

Fortunately, the Deputy Regiment Commander had already selected the best candidates; today's meeting room had the appointments all set.

The other party said he would not participate in the Navy Battleship Fleet's recruitment, because he gets seasick and cannot adapt to long-term life on a warship...

Forget it; instead of wandering off in thought here, it would be better to wait for his wife to return home, discuss it with her, and then decide.

Half an hour later, at 12:30, Shen Man returned home.

It was Ye Qinghong who brought her back; besides her own bucket of kelp, several kind military wives including Ye Qinghong shared some seafood with her.

There were crabs, whelks, ark clams, and something odd-looking—a geoduck.

An old military wife gave her the geoduck, saying she had a plentiful harvest and told her to steam it; women who eat it beautify, men who eat it gain vigor.

In front of everyone, Shen Man's face burned hot; she didn't decline and accepted it.

With so much stuff, Ye Qinghong made another trip home, and on the way back used an empty bucket to gather the other military wives' kindness, and also escorted her home.

"Manman, I'm heading home to cook; let's go gathering seafood together another day."

Ye Qinghong saw smoke rising from the chimney of the small courtyard, knew the Regiment Commander was home, dropped her off at the gate, then tossed out a quick sentence and rode away.

"Hm, running."

Her husband had been trained by the Regiment Commander; mentioning the Regiment Commander filled him with both respect and fear.

In short, she could get along well with Shen Man, treating her like a younger sister.

But when it came to the Regiment Commander, she dared not treat him as a brother-in-law!

"Meow."

"Master, the big shot is home; I'm going to bask in the sun for a while."

"The stuffed and satisfied tangyuan, at this moment isn't in a rush to cling to the big shot, and would rather sunbathe."

After saying that, it jumped out of the bag, stepped with elegant catlike paws, climbed up the pillar, leapt onto the roof, found a comfortable spot and sprawled out...

"Welcome back, are you still having fun playing?"

Jiang Ye walked out of the kitchen holding a pot of cooked noodles, set the pot on the table in the main room, then strode over to help his wife lift the bucket.

"Hmm, not bad."

Shen Man nodded, hesitated, then said that the old man who had given them the boots had passed away.

Jiang Ye nodded, his gaze softening a bit, and comforted her:

"The old man died a happy death; his relatives came to take him, so his passing was peaceful—we should be glad for him."

Having seen many partings of life and death, having experienced life and death himself, Jiang Ye does not find death very sorrowful.

With the most important person by his side, growing old together—how fortunate, how luxurious that is!

"Hmm."

After hearing the man's words, Shen Man's heavy heart felt sad for a few seconds, then quickly returned to normal.

Yes, she ought to feel glad for the old gentleman.

"Go take off your boots, change into shoes, wash your hands, and come eat lunch."

Jiang Ye glanced at the contents of the two plastic buckets, raised his eyebrows; his wife looked delicate, the kelp seemed like something she'd picked up, the other stuff...

"Okay."

Shen Man did not notice the danger in her husband's gaze, and obediently went to change her shoes.

Right, she also needed to change her sanitary pad!

After finishing everything, she went to the main room feeling relaxed all over and sat down to eat.

"Today's dishes are sweet and sour pork tenderloin and braised beltfish; give it a sniff—can you tolerate the beltfish's smell?"

Jiang Ye opened the lunchbox; it was full to the brim with dishes, plus rice.

He passed the chopsticks to his wife, took a bowl for himself, and scooped noodles to eat.

"Not bad, not too fishy."

Shen Man wrinkled her nose, feeling that she could accept this smell.

Put it this way, as long as she doesn't have to handle chicken, duck, fish, or meat, she can accept it.

If she were to handle it, the bloody smell of raw chicken, duck, fish, and meat would ruin her appetite, no matter how good the food.

Aunt Ge sighed over this, saying she doesn't even touch water, so teaching her any cooking skills is hard; what will she do after she gets married?

Now that she is married, Aunt Ge can finally relax.

Because the Jiang family has no elders who need her to serve them.

Brother Jiang Ye also couldn't bear to let her do rough work, taking charge of all the heavy labor himself!

"Then that's good, eat more; you're so thin, I'd feel bad explaining to grandfather."

Jiang Ye let out a breath of relief; as long as she can eat, that's good—small meals often. He'll later stew a bowl of peach resin coconut milk for his wife to nourish her body slowly.

"Brother Jiang Ye, I'm really healthy."

Shen Man kept saying, unconsciously stretching out her left wrist—well, not very convincing.

"Hmm, very healthy."

The man couldn't help laughing; he who never used to share chopsticks with others now had no trace of fastidiousness.

He reached out to give his wife a piece of sweet and sour pork, then a piece of belt fish, used the chopsticks with scraps stuck to them to pick up noodles, and began eating the vegetarian noodles leisurely.

"You eat too, don't just keep picking dishes for me—I don't have a big appetite, I can't eat all these dishes

You work every day, do labor, need to replenish nutrition—you should eat more vegetables."

Shen Man had no idea the man was formerly known for his fastidiousness; she earnestly served dishes into his bowl.

"Hmm, I have something I want to discuss with you, to hear your opinion and thoughts."

Jiang Ye fully accepted his wife's feeding—fastidiousness?

"What is that?"

"The wife is most important; everything else steps aside!"

"What's the matter? You speak, I'll listen, let me give you some counsel."

Shen Man's curiosity was piqued, wearing an eager, cute expression that said 'I want to hear, hurry up and tell me.'

"No rush, eat first."

Jiang Ye looked at his wife, inexperienced in worldly affairs, and sighed inwardly—just looking can't be eaten, it's annoying.