At the military's group wedding, my best friend and I swapped husbands.

Chapter 12 Gifts for the New Bride

Bai Rongbei woke up before dawn the next day.

He opened his eyes. The room was still dark, and only a faint glimmer of dawn appeared on the horizon of the Gobi Desert outside the window.

Bai Si'an was still asleep next to him, breathing evenly.

Bai Rongbei quietly got up, put on his military uniform, and walked to the window to look outside.

There were already people moving around in the camp, and the sounds of morning exercises could be heard intermittently from the distant parade ground.

He glanced back at Bai Si'an, but didn't wake him. He then took the thermos and went out.

I went to the water room to get hot water first, and then walked to the cafeteria.

The canteen had just opened, and the soldiers in the cooking squad were setting out food at the window. Steam was rising from the kitchen, carrying the aroma of steamed buns and porridge.

"Commander Bai, so early?" The cook who was serving the food recognized him and greeted him with a smile.

"Okay." Bai Rongbei nodded, then took out meal tickets from his pocket. "Get three breakfasts and put them in lunchboxes."

"Commander Bai, besides what's for your brother, are the rest for your new wife?" the cook asked as he ladled out the food. His hands moved swiftly, scooping out a large spoonful each of shredded potatoes and pickled vegetables, and then four steamed buns. "Oh, we have eggs today, want some?"

Bai Rongbei glanced at the boiled eggs in the basket next to him and nodded: "Two, please."

The cook happily filled his lunchbox and then served him two more bowls of millet porridge in another lunchbox.

"Thank you." Bai Rongbei took the lunchbox and turned to leave.

When I got back to the dormitory, Bai Si'an was also awake and sitting on the edge of the bed rubbing his eyes.

"Awake?" Bai Rongbei put the lunchbox on the table. "Wash up, have breakfast, and then go to the regimental headquarters to complete the paperwork for the family compound."

Bai Si'an responded and got up to get a towel and toothbrush.

After a quick wash, the two sat down to eat.

Bai Rongbei ate quickly, finishing a cornbread in just a few bites.

Bai Si'an slowed down, saying between bites, "Brother, that house... are you really letting the two of them clean it themselves?"

"Okay, let the two of them do it for now."

Bai Si'an stopped talking and lowered his head to drink his porridge.

He was actually a little worried, but his brother was right. Now that the two of them were married, it was their job to do the work in the family compound.

Judging from Lin Weiwei's condition yesterday, she even complained about the dirtiness of going to the toilet. Asking her to clean such a dilapidated house would be a real challenge.

But he didn't say it aloud.

After finishing his meal, Bai Rongbei left the breakfast he had brought for the two girls at their door.

Bai Rongbei was very thoughtful; he even filled the thermos with boiling water to keep it warm, so that even if they slept too late, their breakfast would still be hot.

After putting it away, he stood there for a while, seemingly wanting to knock on the door, but ultimately didn't, and turned and left.

Bai Si'an followed behind him, and the two walked towards the regimental headquarters building one after the other.

The wind was strong in the Gobi Desert in the morning, making the military uniforms rustle.

The sun hadn't fully risen yet; the sky was a grayish-blue, with the distant horizon tinged with gold.

We encountered several soldiers on the road, and they all stood at attention and saluted.

When we arrived at the office building, the political commissar was already in his office.

Seeing them come in, the political commissar looked up from the pile of documents, adjusted his glasses, and said, "You've come at the right time. The application for those two rooms in the family compound has been approved."

He took the keys out of the drawer and handed them to Bai Rongbei: "These are the two rooms we looked at yesterday. They're a bit run-down, but we can tidy them up and make them habitable. The conditions in the regiment are limited, so please bear with us."

Bai Rongbei took the keys: "Thank you, Political Commissar."

"No need to thank me." The political commissar waved his hand, then looked at the two of them, "Your wives are from the city, they're a bit spoiled. You should teach them a bit and help them adapt to military life as quickly as possible."

The two brothers nodded: "Yes."

After leaving the political commissar's office, Bai Rongbei looked at the keys in his hand, then at Bai Si'an: "Should we go to the technical department first, or go directly to the family compound?"

"Let's go to the technical room first," Bai Si'an said. "We haven't finished reviewing the data for yesterday's new equipment; we need to get it done by this morning."

The two went their separate ways.

Bai Rongbei returned to the regimental commander's office to handle documents, while Bai Si'an went to the technical department.

The technical room is located in a row of bungalows at the very back of the camp. It has large windows and good lighting, but it gets hot in the summer.

Baisian pushed open the door and went inside. There were already two technicians in the room, discussing the blueprints of a machine.

"Technician Bai is here." A young technician looked up and greeted him.

"Hmm," Bai Si'an responded, and walked to his desk to sit down.

The table was piled high with blueprints and documents, as well as several parts samples.

He put on his glasses, opened the data records he hadn't finished reviewing yesterday, and began working.

But for some reason, I can't seem to concentrate today.

Lin Weiwei's face keeps flashing through my mind.

The way she leaned in to kiss him yesterday, her eyes were bright, her lips were soft...

And then there was his inexplicable irritation when she said she would massage his legs.

Bai Si'an felt that he might have angered Lin Weiwei yesterday.

He had never been in a relationship with a woman before, and he didn't know if Lin Weiwei was angry or not. Bai Si'an didn't think much of it. He pushed up his glasses and forced himself to focus his attention back on the data.

But after reading just two lines, he remembered last night when she straddled him, unbuttoning his clothes like a female bandit...

His ears felt a little hot, so he picked up the enamel mug on the table and took a sip of water.

The water was cold, and the heat subsided somewhat after it went down my throat.

Forget it, I don't want to.

He took a deep breath and looked at the blueprints again.

……

Meanwhile, Lin Weiwei and Su Wanwan slept until eleven o'clock.

Actually, Lin Weiwei woke up a little earlier, but when she heard that Su Wanwan next to her was not making any noise, she was too lazy to get up, so she turned over and went back to sleep.

When the two finally got enough sleep, they opened their eyes and looked out the window to find the sun already high in the sky.

"My God, what time is it?" Lin Weiwei rubbed her eyes and sat up.

Su Wanwan also woke up, and mumbled sleepily, "I don't know... anyway, it's getting late."

The two lingered in bed for a while before slowly getting up.

Lin Weiwei got out of bed first, walked to the door and opened it. As soon as she opened the door, she felt something touch her.

The door opened a crack, and Lin Weiwei looked down to see two lunchboxes in a mesh bag.

"Huh?" She picked it up and turned to Su Wanwan, saying, "There's breakfast at the door."

Su Wanwan also came over, took a lunchbox, and opened it.

Inside were shredded potatoes, pickled vegetables, and two steamed buns. The other, smaller lunchbox contained millet porridge, which was still warm.

"They sent it to us?" Su Wanwan asked.

"Probably." Lin Weiwei carried the lunchbox into the house and placed it on the table. "At least they have some conscience, knowing to bring us food."

After washing up, the two sat down to eat.

While eating, Lin Weiwei said, "We have to go to the family compound today. We need to get that house ready quickly, otherwise we'll have to stay here."

Su Wanwan nodded: "Yes. The house was so dirty yesterday, it needs to be cleaned thoroughly."

"Do you know how to clean?" Lin Weiwei asked.

Su Wanwan honestly shook her head: "No. What about you?"

"I don't know either," Lin Weiwei said matter-of-factly, "but I can learn."