250: Chapter 250 The Incompetent Marshal

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Mmm..." She struggled to open her eyes, realizing she must have fallen asleep while sitting on the sofa.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Come in, the door isn't locked."

The main door beyond the foyer was pushed open, then gently closed.

"Marshal, I'm back."

"Why are you using that formal title again..." She felt a bit helpless as she glanced at the clock; it was already one in the morning. "Can't you break that habit?"

"Um... I'll try my best."

"Sigh, you little rascal." She closed her eyes again. "Why are you back so late?"

"Got lost in the snow."

"Lost?"

She opened her eyes again and shifted her gaze to him. "What was Ushakov doing?"

"Her..."

Li Ming found it a bit hard to explain. "She drank herself under the table. I got lost after taking her home... haha."

"That stinking drunkard..." Kuznetsov sighed. "It's good that you're back, as long as you didn't freeze to death outside."

Li Ming took off his cotton coat and gave it a shake.

Well, it was dripping water.

"It was close."

"It's not that bad..." For a moment, Kuznetsov thought he was joking, but then she suddenly realized he was just an ordinary human. "It's good that you're back, yeah."

Li Ming sniffled, found an empty hanger nearby to hang up his coat, and then walked behind the sofa.

"You've been drinking."

"Huh?"

She immediately snapped back, "None of your business."

"Drink more hot water."

"Suka, stop talking about hot water!"

"You need to drink more hot water!"

"It's cold! It's already gone cold!"

"I'll go boil some."

Li Ming picked up the kettle nearby and walked into the kitchen, leaving the Marshal's words stuck in her throat.

She eventually swallowed her words and complained in a low voice, "Suka, not even the Ministry of Internal Affairs has nagged me like this..."

Half an hour later, Kuznetsov held a cup in her hands, rocking back and forth in a rocking chair.

It wasn't that she didn't want to sleep, but Li Ming was currently taking a shower.

The sound of the water somehow made her feel more alert. For some reason, she felt that having a second living person in the house was a very pleasant thing.

It was just that the current time was indeed a bit too late.

Five minutes passed, the sound of water stopped, and after another two minutes, Li Ming walked out, having changed his clothes.

"Should I turn off the water heater?"

"Yeah, turn it off."

She answered calmly, as if her mood hadn't changed at all. "You must be tired too. Go upstairs and sleep."

"...Isn't there only one room upstairs?"

"I can't make it up there anyway."

"I'll take you up."

"No need."

"Drink more hot water."

"Pfft! *Cough, cough*..."

She turned her head and glared at him; this kid was a bit of a headache.

"Li Ming, come here."

"Ah, what is it?"

Li Ming walked over.

Then, he took a punch to the head.

"Gua!"

It had to be said that although she looked weak, her strength was not small at all.

She huffed and withdrew her hand. "That's for being a smart-mouth."

"But you really should sleep lying down. Sleeping here will not only give you a sore neck but also a backache."

"None of your business."

"Ushakov told me to keep an eye on your physical condition." Li Ming brought up Ushakov, even though she had never said such a thing.

"Also, Pamir asked me to take care of you." This part was actually true.

"They..."

"If you can't get upstairs yourself..."

"So... what do you think you're doing?! Hey?!"

Li Ming grit his teeth and simply picked her up.

"What are you doing? You guy..."

She struggled for a moment, then gave up.

If they fell, neither of them would have a good time.

So she could only watch as she was carried upstairs by Li Ming and placed onto her bed.

To be honest, because she hadn't been upstairs for a long time, her room had accumulated a lot of dust, but there was no doubt that Li Ming had cleaned it for her in advance during the day.

There was a slight chill in the air, along with a faint scent of disinfectant.

She lay limp on the bed, looking at him with a face full of resentment.

Li Ming didn't react to this; instead, he went down and brought the kettle up.

The cup had been left aside earlier, and some water had spilled.

"What are you still doing here?" she asked dissatisfiedly. "Are you here to mock me?"

"I'm here to make sure you fall asleep, of course."

"Smart-mouth." She glared at him again. "I'm going to undress, get out!"

"Yes, Marshal."

Li Ming quickly retreated, and the room became quiet again.

"Little rascal," she muttered under her breath, starting to undress on her own.

Fortunately, she wasn't at the point where she was completely unable to take care of herself.

She shed her cloak and coat, leaving only a single undergarment, and then curled up under the covers.

Did she hate it?

Not really; rather, it was an indescribable sense of shame.

And this little rascal from the East... how did he dare? He was so well-behaved yesterday, but today he dared to pick her up and run off...

Give him two more days, and would he be carrying Peter the Great home?

Sigh, the state of the world today.

She rolled over in the covers and tucked half her head inside, leaving her sky-blue eyes to stare at the ceiling lamp.

Wait, what was he doing?

"Li Ming? Li Ming!"

Li Ming pushed open the door. "What's wrong?"

"Turn off the heating and the lights outside." She pointed her finger at the sofa in the room. "You sleep here."

"Is that really okay?" Li Ming made a very A6-like dot-eyed expression... of course, he didn't have a cat face like A6, so it looked a bit out of place.

"What's not okay about it, you little rascal!" she said with feigned anger. "Go do it now!"

"You're the patient, you call the shots."

Li Ming pulled his head back and went downstairs to turn off the lights.

"...Suka!"

This bastard!

The Marshal was so angry that her heart hurt, and she panted repeatedly before finally calming down.

This guy must be doing it on purpose!

Why can't he just go along with me...

But then again...

It's not like I hate it...

Shrinking back into the covers again, she looked expectantly at the door until he returned, at which point she looked away.

"Hurry up and sleep, I'm tired."

She hid her eyes as well.

"Okay."

Li Ming answered softly, turned off the ceiling lamp, and lay quietly on the sofa.

Only then did she reveal her eyes. Although her night vision had deteriorated significantly compared to a normal Ship Girl, she still noticed that he had quickly entered a state of sleep.

This little rascal... she thought to herself. He's probably exhausted too, after being out in the cold all day.

Thinking this, she heard his snoring, which wasn't very loud.

Sigh, men.

She closed her eyes, trying to adjust to this sound that had never been there before when she slept.

Fatigue eventually overwhelmed her consciousness.

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