Chapter 373: Chapter 373

Ye Ling didn’t know how long Shen Bin had been staring at her. Once she realized he was gazing at her from the side, she immediately turned away, feeling a chill on her hand. Looking down, she saw Shen Bin release her hand, and in the next moment, she was pulled into a tight embrace, leaving her body stiff, forgetting how to react.

"When I saw Xiang Weilai holding your hand in the hospital, I thought how nice it would be if it were my hand." Shen Bin lowered his head, held Ye Ling’s face, preventing her from avoiding him, "I don’t want to give anyone else the chance to hold your hand again."

"You..." Ye Ling’s face, held firmly, couldn’t help but turn red.

She wanted to tell him to let go, but before the words could come out, everything went dark, as he kissed her cheek.

Ye Ling was utterly stunned, her eyes wide open staring at Shen Bin, but she could only meet his gaze. She couldn’t breathe and felt suffocated, though the action ended quickly.

Ye Ling took two steps back, raised her hand to cover her face, looking at Shen Bin with vigilance. Having lived two lifetimes, her first kiss was stolen by Shen Bin, with the first being an accidental encounter in the courtyard.

Shen Bin stared fixedly at Ye Ling, neither of them speaking, just gazing at one another, until Shen Bin broke the silence, "I’ll go get the chicken." Follow current novels on n0velfire.net

He turned and walked towards the clamp.

Watching him walk off as if nothing had happened, Ye Ling couldn’t articulate how she felt inside but found him too casual. But thinking of his character, he’s not the type to act frivolously like that. Yet, in this era, holding hands with the opposite sex was something to be avoided, and seen doing so would be embarrassing, but Shen Bin did just that.

Ye Ling snapped back to reality, touching her cheek with her hand, watching Shen Bin already carrying three wild chickens back. She glared at him angrily and turned to leave, as Shen Bin’s lips curled slightly into a smile, following behind her. Despite their silence, the occasional flapping of the chickens broke the quiet.

Getting increasingly upset along the way, Ye Ling finally stopped, turned to stare at Shen Bin, "I have a bad temper, if you provoke me, I won’t hold back and will ignore you. You better not regret it then."

"You’ll be in charge." Shen Bin’s eyes were filled with amusement even more.

Ye Ling, however, blushed, intending to scare Shen Bin off but didn’t know how the words came out, and before she could respond, Shen Bin had already come over, naturally pulling her hand forward, "I might not be good with words like others, but I truly cherish you as my wife."

"Listening to your words, you’re quite experienced." Reaching this point, Ye Ling let go of her shyness.

Shen Bin’s lips lifted, "Being around married people often, you learn from them, besides, who doesn’t cherish their own wife?"

Ye Ling glanced at Shen Bin, thinking that after living two lives, she still ended up with Shen Bin. It wasn’t for lack of trying; it just didn’t prevent her from walking the same path as in her previous life, distancing from Ye Qian and Liu Zhiyuan yet still entangled with Shen Bin. Perhaps it’s fate?

Recalling what Shen Bin said earlier, Ye Ling’s ears warmed slightly. Was he saying he was jealous?

He would be jealous because of her.

In her previous life, they had little interaction, even less conversation, yet in this life, he was able to confess to her. Ye Ling didn’t know what she had done, upon reflecting, she hadn’t done anything to attract Shen Bin’s attention, not knowing what he saw in her.

She wanted to ask but felt embarrassed and ultimately kept silent.

Shen Bin looked at the quiet Ye Ling beside him, feeling genuinely at ease. Before, people would say the happiest moment was lying on a warm bed, holding your wife. He never understood it then, but now he somewhat does. Just by holding hands together, he felt joy.

Neither spoke again as they approached the tents. This time, Ye Ling sensibly withdrew her hand from Shen Bin’s, but he grabbed her again, "I’ll take you to find some branches, cook them for you to eat. There are too many people in the camp, if we share, it’ll only be a piece of meat per person, not even enough to fill one’s teeth. Keep the other two for the next day, if we run out, we’ll catch more."

Isn’t this too blatant?

Ye Ling saw Shen Bin leading her towards the kitchen, aware of the glances from those nearby, "Won’t this affect you?"

"I call the shots here." Shen Bin’s domineering words silenced Ye Ling.

There were already some twigs collected from the kitchen, and when Shen Bin mentioned cooking chicken, a young soldier stepped up to help. Shen Bin didn’t hold back, even asked about eating congee at night and had a separate small pot reserved for Ye Ling, dragging her towards the tents.

"I can walk on my own." Ye Ling noted they were approaching the camp’s living quarters, "It’s not good to be seen, should be aware of public perception."

She pondered how to persuade him, but before she could say much, Shen Bin cooperatively let go of her hand. Ye Ling sighed with relief, "I’ll head to the tent first."

"You don’t have to, I have a private room here. If you don’t want to stay in the dorm, you can come here." Shen Bin led the way, nodding to greet female staff members along the way.

Ye Ling followed behind him, not wanting to return to Bai Hehua’s false hospitality. She had already troubled Shen Bin, and the two already made the closest gesture, basically like becoming a family, so she didn’t stand on ceremony and directly followed him to the command post.

Ye Qian was with comrades holding basins, using snow to clean it into water to wash faces, not expecting to see Shen Bin with Ye Ling ahead. Although they weren’t conversing, Shen Bin’s thoughtful pace, waiting for Ye Ling behind him, was enough to show his care for her.

"I heard she’s Minister Shen’s girlfriend, and even a university student." A nearby female employee, seeing Ye Qian gawking, glanced over and shared what she’d heard.

Ye Qian’s lips curled slightly, "How come I haven’t heard about my sister with Shen Bin? Maybe it’s a mistake?"

"Your sister? You know Minister Shen?" Her female companion exclaimed in surprise.

Not to mention anything else, Shen Bin is famously outstanding in the company, from a rural background and divorced, but handsome, quickly promoted to minister at a young age, studied at school, and has unlimited future prospects. Despite his strict nature, they, as assistants, had no chance to meet him. (To be continued. If you work, you’re welcome to cast a recommendation vote, monthly vote on Qidian (qidian.com), your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, read at m.qidian.com.)