15th

Lan Tian stood for a while unnoticed, so she had no choice but to call out to Mo Junhua, her voice soft and tender, "Big brother, big brother." She had no other option; he was the only one she knew. Her call was as soft as a cat's meow. Mo Junhua didn't hear her, but Chuntao and Chunhua, who were cutting rice, heard the call and turned their heads to see a little child standing on the ridge.

Lan Tian pointed at Mo Junhua and then at the basket, repeating, "Big brother." She meant to bring water to Mo Junhua. Chuntao and Chunhua glanced at the basket in Lan Tian's hand, unable to guess her intention, as if the three weren't on the same wavelength. Looking at the child and then at the third brother, it seemed like she was there to find the third brother. Chuntao pointed at the third brother and asked, "Looking for third brother?"

Lan Tian nodded. Chuntao shouted with a voice loud as a trumpet, "Third brother, the child from Grandma Sun's house is looking for you." It was so loud that Lan Tian's ears buzzed, and everyone who wasn't deaf could hear.

Turning his head to look this way, Mo Junhua saw Lan Tian dressed today in a red outfit with white Cha Hua patterns, short jacket and long pants, her hair done up in a bun, looking fair and delicate like a steamed bun, a hint of a smile flashed in his eyes, he washed his hands in the water and walked over.

Lan Tian handed him the basket, her expression calm, "There's still water in the kettle, grandma asked me to bring it over."

The child's serious demeanor looked endearing. Mo Junhua smiled, glanced at her bun, and couldn't resist touching it. Lan Tian stiffened as if struck by lightning, her body rigid like iron, staring at Mo Junhua in shock. Was this person really the famously unapproachable Cold-faced Yama? Could he have been replaced by someone else?

The hand atop her head continued to ruffle her hair into a messy state. Lan Tian glared at him—wasn't this enough? She tilted her head to dodge Mo Junhua's invasive hand and quietly moved two steps to the side.

Pleased with the touch, Mo Junhua couldn't help but rub her head a couple more times, earning a glare from the child. Seeing her avoid him repeatedly, he reluctantly withdrew his hand, his gaze lingering fondly on her bun. He thought it best to leave now and come back another time. He called his two sisters to come over and drink some water. There wasn't much water, half a bowl each would be enough for everyone to get some.

From then on, Lan Tian increased the water she brought from half a kettle to almost a full kettle, not only for her own family but also for Mo Junhua's family.

At night, Lan Tian lay in bed, unable to sleep, as the events of the day replayed in her mind. It was impossible to say Lan Tian didn't resent Mo Junhua. In her past life, the two had never met, and she knew nothing about him.

When Lan Tian was sixteen, a matchmaker came proposing marriage, only mentioning he had joined the military and became a mid-level officer, sending money home annually. Over time, his family grew wealthier, helping his two brothers marry and his three sisters wed, yet almost thirty, Mo Junhua remained unmarried, much to his family's anxiety.

Everyone in the village knew each other well, and Grandma Sun agreed to the marriage. Taking advantage of Mo Junhua's visit home during the New Year, they married. On their wedding night, he touched her, then returned to the military after the New Year and hadn't touched her since. Over a ten-day visit, they exchanged no more than five sentences. On the day of his departure, he took the village chief's daughter, Taohua, back to the military with him. Two years passed without a meeting, and in his letters, he only instructed her to take good care of his parents.

On the third New Year since they had been together, he brought her to the military. Lan Tian, insecure and timid, sensitive in mind, didn't associate with anyone in the village other than her grandmother, always bowing her head when encountering fellow villagers. Soon after she arrived at the military, she realized the military wives looked at her with contempt, whispering behind her back, making her even more afraid to leave the house.

Knowing Lan Tian had come to the military, Taohua specially came to see her. Lan Tian almost didn't recognize her in her military green uniform. They talked all afternoon, and from Taohua, Lan Tian learned that Mo Junhua had someone else in his heart—an arts troop member from the city, beautiful and cultured.

The two had dated for seven or eight years, an attractive and talented couple. His subordinates called her "Sister-in-law." Later, the girl attended university. With her family lacking money, Mo Junhua supported her education with his salary. However, after graduating, she married a military doctor with a strong family background.

Mo Junhua became a laughingstock, with many feeling unjust on his behalf. Since then, he had stopped dating. Heartbroken by love, he only agreed to marry Lan Tian when his family insisted. Everyone in the military knew that Mo Junhua couldn't forget that girl. Moreover, through her husband's connections, she too became a military doctor.

The woman divorced just two years after getting married. Half a year ago, she transferred to Mo Junhua's unit, working in the health department, visiting him daily, hoping to reconcile.

The fact that Mo Junhua had married was unknown in the military; he had never filed a marriage report, and Lan Tian, utterly oblivious, didn't know about this. Rumors in the military suggested she was a country cousin clinging to Mo Junhua because of his impressive presence, trying to ruin his relationship with the other woman.

After learning about this, Lan Tian became even more reluctant to go outside, living like an invisible person, watching the world through a window, longing for the days back home yet too scared to return. Over a year after marrying Mo Junhua, when her grandmother's health declined, she was told to conceive and give birth to a healthy boy before coming to the military.

No one knew that since Lan Tian arrived, they had slept in separate rooms, Mo Junhua in the study and Lan Tian in the bedroom, untouched by him, living like a monk, alone how could she conceive.

Lan Tian lived a ghostly life, gradually forgotten by the military except for occasions when a woman came to help clean Mo Junhua's study. Having resided in the military for two years, Lan Tian moved to a house Mo Junhua bought outside, receiving a monthly allowance; they rarely met, sometimes only once in several months, almost as if she had no husband at all.

Mo Junhua's rank kept rising, and their meetings became even scarcer. Approaching thirty, Lan Tian finally conceived, crying tears of joy for half a month. She immediately called the military to inform him, only to be told he was out on a mission. Eight months into her pregnancy, Mo Junhua finally returned, and upon learning that Lan Tian had been calling every month, he made time to see her.