Huo Jingyuan changed clothes quickly. He shut the bedroom door, then opened the door to the inner room, trying his best to look gentle.

When the men helping in the courtyard saw Huo Jingyuan, they were like mice that had spotted a cat.

They immediately snapped to attention, their faces etched with tension. Saluting sharply, they dutifully called out, "Mr. Huo."

Huo Jingyuan gave a slight nod. "No need to be so formal."

Then he asked, "Is there anything I can help with?"

Zhu Jing asked, "Mr. Huo, where’s Wen Ci?"

She had only heard from her husband how fierce and cruel Huo Jingyuan could be, but since she wasn’t one of his soldiers in the Northwest Military Region, she wasn’t particularly afraid of him.

"She just woke up. She’ll be out in a little while."

Hearing this, the women lowered their heads and exchanged knowing smiles. The sun was already high, yet the two were still in bed. It could only mean Mr. Huo had been working very hard last night.

Huo Jingyuan’s face flushed. "I have to head out for a mission, so I’ll be going."

After a nearly forty-hour operation, they had finally caught the saboteurs. Now, he needed to help with the interrogation to determine who had sent them.

A little over ten minutes after Huo Jingyuan left, Wen Ci came rushing out of the house. The tables and chairs in the courtyard were already set up, and the little kids were sitting obediently in the pavilion.

Wen Ci called out, "Sister Jing."

Xiang Qin said teasingly, "Come over and sit for a while."

As fellow army wives, they were all well aware of their husbands’ stamina, and Huo Jingyuan’s was known to be among the best in the entire military. Wen Ci must have been utterly exhausted last night.

"Huh?" Wen Ci blinked, not understanding what Sister Qin meant at first. She walked over and sat down. "I don’t need to rest. I can help out."

Zhu Jing lowered her voice. "Worn out from last night? I can make you some restorative soup."

Instantly, Wen Ci’s face flushed a deep, visible red. The other women’s husbands were sitting at a nearby table. "It wasn’t like that..." she said bashfully.

"What’s there to deny? A soldier’s desires are naturally stronger. Besides, after all that training, their stamina is incredible. We women need to keep our strength up, too."

"My husband may look like an honest fellow, but he’s anything but in the bedroom."

As she spoke, the women all burst out laughing.

Seeing Wen Ci’s mortified expression, Zhu Jing reined in her smile and said gently, "Alright, let’s stop teasing Wen Ci. She’s a newlywed, so it’s understandable that she’s a bit shy."

"So, should we still make the soup?" Xiang Qin asked.

"Make it."

Wen Ci said, "There’s no need to."

In the end, Wen Ci couldn’t dissuade the other women. They wouldn’t even let her into the kitchen, so she could only supervise the little kids with their homework. As for their last assignment, a response paper, Little Rascal’s had been the best of the lot.

It was practically at a junior high level.

Wen Ci remembered the literature books on Huo Jingyuan’s study bookshelf. She reached out and ruffled Little Rascal’s hair, smiling gently. "Little Rascal, if you can finish this week’s homework in an hour, I’ll lend you some good books to read." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"What are ’literary works’?"

Wen Ci thought for a moment. "They’re just really amazing books."

’As for the books on Huo Jingyuan’s shelves, she’d only heard of the titles of a few and didn’t know what they were about, but she knew they were the kind of books that were good for a person.’

"Okay!" Little Rascal gripped his pencil tightly. Elementary schoolers didn’t get much weekend homework, and he usually liked to dawdle and play as he did it.

But now, for the "literary works" the pretty lady had promised, he was going to focus completely on his homework.

Half an hour later, Little Rascal held up his workbook with a triumphant grin. "Pretty lady, I finished all my weekend homework!"