Rowan picked up Sienna and carried her into the room, saying, "Wife, we'll talk about the phone tomorrow. Let's get through tonight first."
"Okay."
Once they were in the bedroom, Rowan laid her on the bed and leaned over her, kissing her lips.
What happened next is up to the imagination.
In the middle of the night, a few soft moans came from the room, followed by gentle whispers.
"Sienna, be good"
"Sweetheart, listen to me"
"Just one last time"
"Call me brother, good girl"
"Brother no, I want to sleep now."
Changqing Brigade
The mailman called out at the Zhou family's door, "Tomas, is Tomas home? There's a letter for you."
"Anyone home at Tomas's place? Come get the letter."
"Yes, yes, coming." It was Cuilan who came out. When she heard there was a letter, she knew it had to be from the military, definitely sent by her precious Sienna.
"Comrade, is the letter from the army?"
The mailman checked and said, "Yes, it's from someone named Sienna."
"Ah, then that's it. Thank you, comrade. Please wait a moment."
Cuilan quickly went inside and came back out with a bowl of water. "Here, have some water. It's so hot today, you must be tired."
"Thank you, auntie. I really was thirsty. Thanks."
After finishing the water, he handed the bowl back and left on his bicycle after thanking her.
Cuilan took the letter inside. After putting the bowl away, she went to find her husband to read the letter.
"Old man, read this. It's from Sienna."
Captain Zhou took the letter and smiled while reading. Cuilan noticed he wasn't reading it out loud and gave him a smack. "Read it for me."
He began reading the letter. "Dad, Mom, Rowan and I have arrived at the base. Everything here is fine. On the train I even ran into a bad guy, ... We're doing well here. Please take care of yourselves. We'll visit when we get a chance."
After hearing the letter, Cuilan carefully put it away and said, "Sienna is so sweet, always remembering to write and send regards. Way better than that stinky boy of ours. Even our daughter isn't this thoughtful."
Captain Zhou looked at his wife and smiled. "You used to sneak her home when she was little. Now your wish came true. She's become your daughter. Isn't that great?"
"Yeah, if Yin had still been around, Sienna would've never married into our family. Every time I brought her home, she'd take her back within half a day."
"Honestly, if it weren't for what happened this time, we couldn't have fully taken care of Sienna. She never wanted to come live with us. I wouldn't have wanted our third son to marry her. His life is too dangerous. Being a military wife is too hard. It's all those scumbags' fault."
"Now things are good. With Rowan taking care of her, we can rest easy, right?"
"Yes, very good. Let's go visit them sometime."
"No, not yet. They just got there. Visiting now would bother them."
"Sigh, alright then."
Sienna opened her eyes and saw Rowan looking at her. He wasn't at training.
Sienna wrapped her arms around his waist. "Husband, no training today?"
"Yeah, I have the day off. Is there somewhere you want to go? I'll take you."
"I want to go into the mountains. Come with me. Then later after your training, you can go explore on your own."
"Okay. Let's get up, have breakfast, and then head out. I'll take you to a special place."
"Okay."
The two of them got up, quickly packed, and went out. Sienna looked at Rowan carrying a basket on his back.
"Honey, why are you bringing the basket?"
"In case we find any animals to hunt or herbs to collect. Aren't you good at medicine? You know traditional Chinese medicine, right?"
"I know both. Let's go quickly then."
Rowan smiled at how energetic his wife was. Since they came here, it was the first time he'd seen her so lively, except in bed.
"Be careful, honey. Watch your step. There might be snakes. Want me to carry you?"
"No need. I can walk on my own."
"Walk a bit to the right."
Along the way, they hunted some wild chickens and rabbits. They even caught a live baby rabbit. Rowan planned to keep it for Sienna as a companion.
When they reached a cave, Rowan took a rope out of the basket and tied it to a tree.
"I'll go down first. Once I'm down, I'll tug the rope so you can come."
"Honey, let me go first. You wait up here."
"Be good. I know the place better. You come down after."
Rowan went down holding the rope. He checked for any snakes or bugs, then tugged the rope for her to come down. When Sienna got down, he held her hand and led her further inside.
"Honey, why did you bring the flashlight?"
"I said I had a surprise for you."
Soon they arrived. Rowan quickly lit a torch and turned off the flashlight. He looked around and saw a snake in the corner, which he chased away.
"Honey, do you like it here?"
Sienna looked around carefully. It was a nice place, though a bit dark. In the middle of the cave was a hot spring, and there was a smaller one nearby.
"Honey, I like it. But is this water safe? It's not just standing still, right?"
"No. See over there? The extra water flows out through that small hole. Outside, it leads to a bottomless pit."
"How do you know that? You can't even see it from here."
"Because I found this place from that side. I accidentally fell and grabbed a vine so I didn't fall all the way down. I felt the warm water and later came back to check. That's how I found this cave."
"Alright then."
"Honey, go enjoy the hot spring. I'll clean up the animals so we can eat later."
"I'll help you. After we eat, we'll go in together."
"I'll do it. You can just stay and talk to me. No need to work."
"Okay. Does anyone else know about this place?"
"Probably not. You saw it yourself. The entrance looks like a bottomless hole. It's hidden and deep in the mountain. Hardly anyone comes here."
"Then I want to plan this place. Let's dig a few more pools. When we have time, we can build a simple house here. We can rest and enjoy the hot spring. We can even store food here."
"Alright. I'll follow your plan. Whatever you say, I'll do."
"Later, I'll find some herbs to keep snakes and bugs away and leave them here."
"Okay."
After they ate and enjoyed the hot spring, the sky was getting dark. Luckily, Sienna finished gathering the herbs early, so they packed up and went back. Rowan had training the next day.