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He Zhilan washed her face and came over, puffing comfortably while looking at He Teng, "Bro, what’s wrong? Why that look? Who called this afternoon?"

"The military," He Teng said without thinking, and then called out to He Zhilan’s father, "Dad, Zhilan and I need to hurry back to the military base tomorrow. There’s an urgent matter, and they need me to return."

Upon hearing this, He Zhilan burst out whining, "Ah! So soon? Why are they suddenly calling you back again? I haven’t had enough fun at home yet! Bro, how about you go back first, and I stay home to play for a couple more days? After I’ve enjoyed myself enough, I’ll return to the base."

"No way," He Teng said sternly, "You have to come back with me."

He Zhilan pouted and rolled her eyes at He Teng, obviously reluctant.

"Zhilan, be good," He Teng said somewhat helplessly.

"Zhilan, go back with your big brother. Of course, a couple should be together; being apart doesn’t make sense.

Dad is already content that you two could come home and stay for a few days.

After all, your brother is a soldier, not an ordinary person; he has no control over this," He Zhilan’s father said.

Only then did He Zhilan nod her head, "I’ll listen to dad. I just can’t bear to leave Dad and my second brother. I just got back and now I have to leave again~ The next time we come back, who knows when that’ll be~"

"When we have time during the slack farming season, your second brother and I can go to the capital to see you~" He Zhilan’s father laughed.

"Dad is the biggest liar! There may be a slack season, but Dad and second brother are never free. With all the chickens, ducks in the yard, and the pigs in the pigsty, how could they spare anyone to feed them?" He Zhilan didn’t believe what her father said, but she didn’t insist on staying and not going back with He Teng.

Life in the countryside revolves around rising with the sun to work and resting at sunset. After dinner, although it was just after eight o’clock, the weary mountain village was already extremely quiet.

Meanwhile, He Teng and He Zhilan were busy packing their belongings, preparing to catch the earliest bus to leave the next morning.

"Bring a few long-sleeved shirts," He Teng said as he watched He Zhilan haphazardly pack her summer clothes, then opened her wardrobe, threw in some of her autumn clothes and thicker sweaters.

"It’s so hot, the capital is even hotter than home!" He Zhilan glared at He Teng, who had quickly sorted her stuff and zipped up the luggage. Then she went to sort out her own clothes, which also consisted of long-sleeved shirts and long pants.

"Tomorrow I’ll take you to a place you’ve never been," He Teng said with a mischievous smile, and then dumped their luggage on the table before urging He Zhilan to go to bed and rest.

He Zhilan looked at He Teng suspiciously, dragging her lazy and soft voice, "Where are we going~"

"You’ll know when we get there," He Teng raised an eyebrow without giving He Zhilan a definitive answer, but it was not until after He Zhilan lay down on the bed that he followed, rocking an old palm-leaf fan with one hand while scooping Zhilan, who was sticking to the cool wall, into his arms with the other.

He lowered his head to peck lightly on her lips and seeing that she had indeed calmed down, he was satisfied and curved the corners of his lips.

"Bro, aren’t you in a hurry to get back to the military base? Then why did you tell dad it was urgent?" He Zhilan quickly changed from being obedient to a curious baby.

"I’ll tell you about it later. Right now, what you need to do is close your eyes and sleep. And if you can’t sleep, then we can do something else," He Teng said in a deep voice, the depth in his eyes reflecting her slightly flushed face.

"Something else..." He Zhilan touched the tip of her nose with her hand and then fiddled with her ear.