The matters in Qian Guan Cheng were really all trivial — they did not require Shi Ting’s personal involvement at all. The fact that the Commander-in-Chief had dispatched him there without discussing it with Shi Ting first made it obvious that Qian Lan had been whispering in the Commander-in-Chief’s ear.

The Commander-in-Chief was growing ever more obedient to Qian Lan’s every word. If left unchecked, it was feared that this world would become Qian Lan’s world.

Even if Qian Lan told the Commander-in-Chief to appoint Shi Guang as the Young Commander-in-Chief, he would probably agree without a moment’s hesitation.

“This trip I make to Qian Guan Cheng, I will try to go and return as quickly as possible.” Shi Ting held her hand. “You must be careful in all things here. If something happens, have Jin Shan and Di Huai go find Zheng Yun.”

“Don’t worry, I will be careful in everything.” Yan Qing reassured him. “What worries me is you. This trip you make to Qian Guan Cheng — I fear it will not go so smoothly. Who knows what obstacles Shi Guang has arranged to wait for you there.”

“Let soldiers come and be met with soldiers, let floods come and be met with earth.” Shi Ting rubbed her hand. “Shi Guang is probably hoping to take some action in Shun Cheng while this opportunity presents itself. But don’t worry — I will have people keeping watch. Even if I am not in Shun Cheng, there is no need to fear him.”

Yan Qing knew that over the years Shi Ting had gathered many capable subordinates. Even without him in Shun Cheng, these people could hold things together. If Shi Guang thought he could cause trouble while Shi Ting was away, that was far too low an estimate of Shi Ting’s capabilities.

“So what worries me is you.” Shi Ting sighed. “Be careful in all things.”

“I know.” Yan Qing smiled. “I have so many people around me, after all.”

“Mm.” Shi Ting suddenly pursed the corners of his lips. “Qingqing — I am hungry.”

Yan Qing smiled. “What would you like to eat?”

“As long as you make it, anything will do.”

“I will make spicy hot pot for you.” A thought struck Yan Qing — this dish had been her favorite food in that previous era. “I will go prepare the ingredients. Jing Zhi said the kitchen had fresh cow’s milk sent in this morning.”

“Does this dish also need cow’s milk?” Shi Ting knew she had many creative ideas, but using cow’s milk in cooking was something he had never heard of.

“Cow’s milk is the essence of the broth. Without cow’s milk, it cannot be called spicy hot pot.”

Yan Qing blinked. “Go look over some documents first — it will be ready very soon.”

Shi Ting generally preferred vegetarian food. Spicy hot pot suited him well.

Yan Qing busied herself in the kitchen for a while, then carried in two large bowls. Before she even arrived, the fragrance had already gotten there first.

Yan Qing had put a great many vegetables inside. At this time of year, only wealthy households could eat leafy greens — ordinary families could at most eat cabbage.

Besides vegetables, Yan Qing had also added some meat and seafood, with a good balance of both.

It was Shi Ting’s first time having this dish, and his expectations for Yan Qing’s cooking were always met with a hundred percent satisfaction.

Shi Ting ate a full large bowl, sweating even on his forehead, and in the end drank the broth clean.

Yan Qing had been watching him eat with a smile the entire time. When he ate, he was fully focused and never wasteful. Even someone with no appetite, watching him eat, could manage to consume a bit more than usual.

“Why aren’t you eating? You’ve only been watching me.” Shi Ting finished eating and only then noticed that Yan Qing had been resting her chin on her hand, gazing at him with a smiling expression.

“I enjoy watching you eat.” Yan Qing’s eyes sparkled brightly. “For a cook, the greatest joy is having someone love the food she made — and eat every last bit clean.”

“So you are satisfied from watching, and full without even eating?”

“This is called feasting one’s eyes. I am full from looking at you.”

Shi Ting smiled. “Isn’t that phrase used to describe a woman’s beauty?”

“Well, have you not heard the saying — when a man is beautiful, women don’t even get a look-in?”

Shi Ting burst out laughing, and could not help ruffling her hair. “My Qingqing — always saying things that catch people off guard.”

“Director Shi doesn’t know his own handsomeness.” Yan Qing continued to stare at him like a little admirer. “Director Shi is the best-looking man I have ever seen — handsomer than any star.”

“You see beauty through a lover’s eyes.”

“No, no — I am speaking the truth.”

“My wife is flattering me — does she want something from me?”

Yan Qing made a scoffing sound. “When have I ever been flattering you?”

Then she reached over and lightly patted his hand twice. “I truly am not flattering you.”

Shi Ting was made to laugh, raised his hand to grip her wrist, and his eyes immediately deepened. “Since my wife has not eaten, allow your husband to let you experience it.”

And with that, he leaned forward, and his warm lips covered Yan Qing’s, giving her soft lips a gentle bite.

Yan Qing let out a startled sound. “What are you doing — you even bite.”

Shi Ting smiled, raised a finger and pressed it against her lips. “Qingqing — before I met you, I could not remember the last time I had smiled.”

“Not liking to smile is your nature.”

Shi Ting shook his head. “But when I am with you, I find that I am always smiling. Smiles seem to arrive uninvited and, once here, refuse to leave.”

It was a happiness and delight that came from the deepest part of his heart — even if she simply sat there motionless and silent, the moment he saw her, he could not help but smile.

She was like a ray of light, warming his coldness and illuminating the path before him.

“Did the Commander-in-Chief say which day you should set off?” Thinking of him going to Qian Guan Cheng, of the time she would not be able to see him, Yan Qing could not help feeling a sense of loss and melancholy.

She could not help throwing her arms around his arm, rubbing against him like a little cat. “I don’t want you to go.”

Shi Ting tapped the tip of her nose. “How much don’t you want me to go?”

“I want to shrink you down small and carry you in my pocket — and take you out whenever I miss you.”

“I truly hope my wife will develop that ability soon.”

Yan Qing kept rubbing his arm, while he gently stroked her waist. “I will not be gone long. At the moment you miss me most, I will certainly appear before you.”

“You must mean what you say.”

“Whatever I promise you, I will do.”

Shi Ting detached this clingy little thing from his arm. “Eat something quickly — it will get cold in a moment.”

“Qian Guan Cheng is much colder than Shun Cheng. I will need to prepare more warm clothing for you.” Yan Qing smiled. “I have been learning to sew with Mother recently and made you a padded jacket — guaranteed to be unlike anything you have worn before.”

“My wife can also sew?”

Yan Qing gave a little laugh. “It is just that some parts were not done very well — Mother took it to alter. My needlework is poor. Mother often scolds me for it.”

And with that, she stuck out her tongue.

“Anything you make could not be badly done. Even if you made a jacket that let in wind from all four sides, I would still wear it without complaint.”

“If you wore that out, it would not be your face that was lost — it would be mine.”

Shi Ting pinched her cheek. “Let me see — where exactly is my wife’s face?”

“You, Shi Xingzhi — you are insulting me behind a polite remark.”

“Am I?”

“Yes, you are, you absolutely are.” Yan Qing reached over to tickle him without ceremony.

Shi Ting laughed as he dodged backward. “Have mercy, my wife — your husband does not dare, truly does not dare anymore.”

Seeing that Yan Qing had no intention of letting him off, Shi Ting had no choice but to stop and let himself be caught.

Yan Qing held his arm with one hand and used the other to tickle his side. Shi Ting was ticklish and could not suppress his laughter.

Only when Yan Qing was tired did she let go — but just as she was about to move away, a certain someone pulled her by the waist, gave a light tug backward, and the two of them tumbled onto the bed.

Yan Qing had been so caught up in the playful chaos that she had not noticed when they had gotten so close to the bed. Now that he had pulled her off balance, her whole person was pressed against his chest. His chest muscles were rather firm and had dug into her.

“Let go quickly.” Yan Qing tried to sit up, but her waist was gripped tightly — she could not move at all.

A certain someone’s eyes were deep, shimmering with a faint glimmer of desire. “My wife was very bold just now.”

Yan Qing knew he was about to get even with her. Her eyes darted about, and she pointed at his mouth. “Director Shi, you haven’t bathed yet. You haven’t brushed your teeth. Dirty, dirty, dirty.”

“I know my wife doesn’t mind.”

“No — I do mind.”

Shi Ting smiled, his body arching upward as he caught her lips in a kiss.

“No, you don’t mind.” The indistinct words spilled from between the two of them as lips met.

The two of them tussled for quite a while, until the room had grown completely dark, and the cool, clear moonlight fell through the window onto the dark brown floor.

Yan Qing lifted her eyelids. “It’s gotten dark.”

“Mm.” Shi Ting kissed her cheek. “Are you hungry?”

Yan Qing had not been hungry before, but after this long bout of tossing about, she was clearly running a little low on energy.

“Hungry.” She pouted. “It’s all your fault.”

“What have I done?” Shi Ting propped himself up on one elbow, half of him bare. In the darkness one could not see clearly, but one could imagine that the toned body was surely glistening with a fine layer of sweat — strong and alluring.

“You know perfectly well what you’ve done.” Yan Qing muttered reproachfully. “My back hurts.”

“I will rub it for you.”

“No need, no need.” Yan Qing quickly shrank back, eyeing him warily. “I’ll go eat something instead.”

“Your back doesn’t hurt anymore?”

“It doesn’t, truly it doesn’t.”

Shi Ting’s laughter in the darkness was very pleasant to hear. “Qingqing is becoming more and more resilient.”

Yan Qing made a scoffing sound, reached out, and pinched him firmly on the inner thigh — at once causing a certain someone to let out a pained yelp.

When facing this strong, muscle-covered man, one could only go for the most vulnerable spots on his body. Yan Qing understood this perfectly well.

By the time Yan Qing got up, Shi Ting had already personally gone and reheated the food.

After Yan Qing ate, neither of them felt like sleeping.

“No news yet from Xue Tao?” Yan Qing opened her mouth to eat a piece of apple that Shi Ting fed to her.

Shi Ting said, “When Xue Tao left, there were no departing trains at the station. From Shun Cheng to Hai Cheng, without a train, there are no other means of transport. And after Yin Minghui was discovered in the morning, the Military Police Bureau set up a surveillance operation at the train station, but found no sign of Xue Tao.”

“You think she hasn’t left Shun Cheng?”

Shi Ting nodded. “If she wants to leave Shun Cheng and go back to her hometown, the train is the only route available. Since she hasn’t taken a train, the likelihood that she has stayed in Shun Cheng is very high.”

“But Shun Cheng is so large — where do we even begin to look for her?”

“What do you think — having followed Yin Minghui for so long, where has all the money Xue Tao accumulated gone?”