Xia Zhe quietly made his way to the bed and looked at Qiao Mei, reaching out to touch her face gently.

The touch made Qiao Mei feel that there was an itch on her face and she groggily lifted her hand to scratch it before turning around to change her posture, and promptly falling asleep again. Xia Zhe watched Qiao Mei’s movements with a smile.

“You naughty girl, where did you sneak off to again?” Xia Zhe squatted down and asked Qiao Mei softly.

Xia Zhe reached out and gently tapped the tip of Qiao Mei’s nose. In her sleep, she waved her hand at her nose, moved her mouth a little and then turned around to the other side to continue sleeping.

This was the first time Xia Zhe had seen her looking so charmingly cute. In the past, he always thought of Qiao Mei as a wilful but kind girl. Later on, he felt that she was gentle and virtuous. Now, he actually thought that this little girl was becoming more and more adorable.

Then he remembered that she was only 18 years old. As he thought of that, Xia Zhe looked at Qiao Mei and felt his heart ache.

After staring at Qiao Mei for a long time, he still could not bear to disturb her nap so he carefully made his way out of the tent. It was time for dinner and he should get some food for heri. Otherwise, he would not have a solution later if the little girl woke up and said that she was hungry.

Although the food here was nothing delicious, it was still much better than hardtack.

He ran into Xiao Sun when he got to the cookhouse.

“Oh! Commander Xia!” Xiao Sun hurriedly ran to Xia Zhe.

“What happened?” Xia Zhe asked.

“I heard from Deputy Commander Zheng in the afternoon that sister-in-law said her waist hurt badly, but I didn’t find sister-in-law when I went over to look for her in the afternoon. Deputy Commander Zheng said that sister-in-law went to wash her clothes. I wonder how she’s doing now?” Xiao Sun asked softly.

In the camp, even if one was not a member of the troops, one also had to abide by the military rules. Sneaking out of the camp was no small matter.

Xia Zhe frowned slightly and asked, “Did she feel unwell?”

“Yes, that’s right. Deputy Commander Zheng came to tell me about it. I’m not too sure what’s going on, but if sister-in-law isn’t feeling well, you have to bring her to me so that I can take a look,” Xiao Sun said.

“Yes, alright. I’ll go back and take a look later.” Xia Zhe nodded.

Xiao Sun walked to the back of the line in relief. Xia Zhe stared straight at the back of the head of the person in front of him, thinking about Qiao Mei’s waist pain.

Why did she never mention such a thing to him?

How long has it been hurting?

How serious is it?

Does it have anything to do with the baby?

Xia Zhe’s mind was filled with many questions. He was not a doctor and he had even gone off on a mission in the afternoon. He felt that he did not manage to be around for Qiao Mei and had not fulfilled his promise to take good care of her.

Xia Zhe frowned and stood motionless.

The soldier behind looked at Xia Zhe, who was in a daze, tapped him carefully and said, “Commander Xia, it’s your turn.”

“Ah! I’m sorry!” Xia Zhe said as he came back to his senses.

He packed the food quickly and rushed back to see if Qiao Mei had woken up.

Qiao Mei was still asleep when Xia Zhe entered. He sat down in a chair with a heavy heart and sighed.

Qiao Mei could smell the fragrance of food in her sleep and she woke up groggily to find Xia Zhe sitting there with a frown and deep in thought. She wondered what he was thinking about.

Qiao Mei called out softly, “Big brother, you’re back.”

Xia Zhe snapped back to attention, hurriedly went up to her and asked, “What’s wrong with your waist? Are you injured? Show me where else you feel discomfort, don’t hide anything from me.”

Without hesitation, Xia Zhe reached out to lift Qiao Mei’s clothes to check her for injuries. It did not cross his mind that this was only the second time the two of them were spending the night together.

Qiao Mei blushed as she watched what Xia Zhe was doing. It also struck Xia Zhe that his actions were a little sudden, but he felt that the matter was urgent and he was so worried that he could not think straight.

“Big brother… why are you so anxious to do this after just coming back?” Qiao Mei said shyly.

“I… I’m not… I… Sigh, I just want to check if you are injured…” Xia Zhe turned his head away bashfully, not daring to look at Qiao Mei.

“Injured? But I’m not injured?” Qiao Mei looked at Xia Zhe in confusion when she heard what he said.

“Huh? The medic told me that you suffered a serious waist injury.” Xia Zhe looked at Qiao Mei seriously.

Qiao Mei still did not quite understand what Xia Zhe was talking about. She was clearly fine and dandy, so why did the medic say that she was seriously injured? Was there any misunderstanding?