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Jiang Yuelou had been serving as a lieutenant general at the Jingcheng military training base for two years. Due to a serious war injury, he was no longer fully fit for duty, but had fought tooth and nail against desk duty.
As he was still in good shape despite the injury, he was the perfect candidate for the post of senior officer at the training base, which had just become vacant. Jiang Yuelou didn't have to think about it for long. Properly training the next generation was just as important as being on the front line, so he accepted the job without hesitation.
Reporting directly to him were several officers, mostly with the rank of colonel, who were responsible for the various training units. The training also included the provision of food in the field, cooking with whatever the environment offered in an emergency. Sun Yongren, who had miraculously passed all the tests despite his, to put it mildly, unathletic physique and was now an experienced officer, was responsible for this part of the training.
After a few weeks, Jiang Yuelou had become friends with him and Song Rong, also a colonel and responsible for shooting training, especially sniper training. Jiang Yuelou had never established any meaningful relationship with the other soldiers outside of work. But the two were enough for him.
There was one more, with whom Jiang Yuelou had had an immediate connection from day one. The chief medical officer, Dr. Chen. He had the same rank as him and had joined the base about a year and a half before him, and with the number of recruits being trained here, the doctor had his hands full every day, both as an instructor and as a doctor.
Despite the little free time they both had, it wasn't long before they were almost always spending it together. What they did with each other during this time remained their secret, even if one or the other on the base suspected it at some point. As it wasn't really a problem for anyone, no one openly mentioned it.
Some cheeky recruits sometimes made silly remarks about rumors they had heard, but that was as far as it went. No one wanted to be punished just because they showed too much interest in Lieutenant General Jiang's private life.
Life on the base was not easy. It was hard but fair, at least most of the time.
It was late summer and the weather was pleasant. The sun was shining from an almost cloudless sky. New clothes, uniforms, underwear and socks, had been delivered yesterday and today Jiang Yuelou had a pile of complaints on his desk. The underpants, or more precisely, the women's underpants, were so itchy that they could barely be worn for five minutes, which was extremely bad for training, after all, the recruits were supposed to be concentrating on the exercises and not constantly scratching their bottoms.
Jiang Yuelou stared discontentedly at the five boxes of still-wrapped underpants that were now in his office. He had sent for Song Rong and Sun Yongren. He urgently needed advice on what to do with them now. The two looked at the boxes in bewilderment while Jiang Yuelou explained to them how they had ended up here.
"You know what happened the last time we complained about clothes. That was a tough six months that followed, and I want to avoid that at all costs."
"How many of the recruits complained?" Song Rong asked.
"Almost all of them."
"Isn't that enough if so many complain?"
"From my point of view, yes, but who knows how those responsible for equipping the troops see it. Don't forget the six months."
"What if we not only enclose all the complaints with the return shipment, but also a judgment from a very reliable person, preferably with officer rank, then they'll definitely believe us this time, Lieutenant General."
"You know that nobody takes me seriously when it comes to complaints since the incident that put us through six months of hell, and neither you two."
"What about Major General Jin?" Song Rong suggested.
"Have you forgotten who he's married to? Never. Then next time there will be at least twelve months of pure torture for the entire base, and as annoying as he is, almost always, he’s a good officer. We cannot risk losing him."
The three of them sat in silence in the office for a few minutes, pondering.
"Lieutenant General Chen," Sun Yongren suddenly suggested abruptly.
Jiang Yuelou narrowed his eyes and stared at the little man.
"Why do you have to think of him right now?"
Sun Yongren immediately recognized the menacing expression in his superior's voice and seemed to shrink a few centimetres in an instant.
"Lieutenant General, have you taken a good look at him?" he asked meekly in a desperate attempt to save his skin.
Of course Jiang Yuelou had, very closely in fact and quite often, even if no one knew, at least officially, and while images of Chen Yuzhi popped up in Jiang Yuelou's mind, Sun Yongren babbled on.
"He would be the most suitable of all of us. He's more sensitive than us logs."
Song Rong huffed softly. Sometimes Sun Yongren really did have flashes of inspiration.
"His skin is so soft."
Before he knew it, Jiang Yuelou had leaned over to him and pulled him towards him roughly by his tie until their faces were only a few centimetres apart.
"How do you know he has soft skin?"
"Li- lieu- tenant, I... Lieu- Lieu- Lieutenant Gen... General..."
Beads of sweat appeared on Sun Yongren's forehead.
"Lieutenant General, sometimes he touches someone during an examination. Haven't you noticed how soft his hands are? Not like our rough paws."
Of course Jiang Yuelou had noticed that, often in fact. He knew exactly how soft Chen Yuzhi's skin was, and not just on his hands.
A little embarrassed and with a slight blush, he let go of Sun Yongren and leaned back. Sun Yongren was right, Chen Yuzhi probably had even softer skin than the women here.
The doctor had also undergone combat training, but then focused primarily on his career as a military doctor. The work was no less important than direct combat, but it was somehow... softer... most of the time, at least.
The missions for the recruits in their final year of training were real and the training itself was physically demanding. So there was more than enough work for Dr. Chen to be done and he trained regularly to keep fit. Nevertheless, he wasn't constantly out on missions or handling heavy weapons. His skin was really freakingly soft.
With a resigned growl, Jiang Yuelou looked around.
"And who should ask him?"
Silence reigned in the office, a cicada could be heard chirping outside as Sun Yongren and Song Rong stared at Jiang Yuelou promptly.
"What, me, are you guys crazy?"
"Who- who else Lieutenant General? Certainly not me, if you're already freaking out just because I mentioned his soft skin. Besides, I'm sure you want a judgment from someone you trust."
Jiang Yuelou looked somewhat desperately at Song Rong. But he just shrugged his shoulders and gave a merciless, "Yongren... the colonel is right."
"Fine," Jiang Yuelou growled and stood up gruffly, stomping towards the office door and taking out one of the packaged underpants from one of the boxes as he passed by. Size S. He stopped, turned to the box and rummaged around in it. S was probably too small, but what would fit the doctor? Jiang Yuelou took one of each of the three largest sizes.
That should be enough.
Before he left the office, he turned to the two colonels with his hand on the handle of the open door.
"When is your next promotion?"
Without another word, he left the room, pulled the door shut a little tighter than necessary and stomped down the corridor. The shocked faces of the two colonels he was imagining right now were in no way inferior to the real ones.
As he walked past, everyone he encountered saluted him, but he didn't pay much attention to them. He wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. He noticed whispering behind him and then he unmistakably heard the word "underpants". Only now did he realize that he was holding the underpants in his left hand for all to see, wrapped in foil, but it was immediately clear, especially to the women present, that it were the infamous panties.
Heat rose in Jiang Yuelou's face and he cursed inwardly. He should have wrapped the underpants in something. His pace quickened and he was glad when he reached the medical wing of the building after a few minutes.
The two nurses, in full combat fatigues, greeted him with a salute. It was surprisingly quiet today. No emergencies, no patients waiting for treatment, the inpatients being attended to.
"Is Lieutenant General Chen in his office?"
"Lieutenant General, yes, Lieutenant General," both nurses replied in unison.
Jiang Yuelou never said this out loud, as it could have undermined his authority or the reputation of the military, but sometimes he found the rules about titles and ranks and when, who was allowed to talk to whom and how extremely stressful.
"Thank you, at ease," he said and hurried on to Chen Yuzhi's office.
He knocked on the door.
"Come in."
The nurses could clearly see the smile that stole onto Jiang Yuelou's lips when he heard Chen Yuzhi's voice and grinned at each other.
He entered the office.
"Lieutenant General Chen."
"Lieutenant General Jiang. What brings you here?"
"Two things, Lieutenant General."
"Which are?"
Chen Yuzhi had gotten up and was coming towards him. When he stopped in front of Jiang Yuelou, the doctor had to lower his eyes a little to look into his. A clear, serious, alert, but, at least when he spent time alone with him, also playful, warm and loving, gaze returned Chen Yuzhi‘s.
"Firstly," he leaned a little closer to Chen Yuzhi, "I'd like a kiss."
"During working hours, Lieutenant General?"
Their lips were barely more than three or four centimeters apart. Chen Yuzhi placed a hand on Jiang Yuelou's cheek and tilted his head a little as he approached him.
"It seems to be pretty quiet outside right now."
Jiang Yuelou's voice had become a whisper. His breath brushed against Chen Yuzhi's lips.
"But if an emergency comes in..." Chen Yuzhi also whispered.
"I'm the emergency."
Jiang Yuelou closed the last few millimeters between their lips, wrapped his arms around Chen Yuzhi's neck and stood on his tiptoes to increase the pressure on his lips a little more. The doctor's kisses were sweeter than honey and something that made Jiang Yuelou's everyday life here so much better.
It wasn't that he was miserable in the military, but almost everything around him was just cold and purposefully military in organization. He had found it very advantageous and efficient in the past, but since knowing the doctor, he knew what he had been missing in his life until he met him.
"What's the second thing you want to ask?" Chen Yuzhi asked after attending to the emergency for a few minutes.
Jiang Yuelou's eyes widened slightly and he looked a little guilty, incomprehensibly to Chen Yuzhi, as he nibbled on his lower lip.
"Is it something bad?"
Chen Yuzhi was a little worried and unsure because he couldn't imagine what Jiang Yuelou was going to ask for.
"I wouldn't say bad, just... let's call it unusual."
"Unusual?"
"Look, I'll explain it to you. You know the shipment of new clothes came yesterday."
Chen Yuzhi nodded.
"Well, and there were a few complaints... quite a few, actually."
"About what?"
"Your nurses didn't say anything?"
"No. About what?"
"The ladies' underpants."
Jiang Yuelou waved the underpants around in his hand.
"Why would they say anything to me about their underpants?"
"They might have mentioned it, after all, it's the number one topic of conversation on the entire base right now."
"What about the underpants?"
"They’re scratchy."
"What?"
Chen Yuzhi's eyes widened and he started laughing.
"You... hahaha... scratchy? That's THE topic of conversation?"
"They scratch quite a lot. Apparently so much that it would be extremely disturbing in the field," Jiang Yuelou tried to save face and explain to Chen Yuzhi that it was indeed an important topic.
"Okay, okay," Chen Yuzhi breathed a little heavier.
"This really seems to be a problem, but how can I help with this?"
"You remember what happened about a year ago when we had complained about clothes, right?"
Chen Yuzhi's expression became very serious and he nodded.
"Just don't remind me."
"That absolutely mustn't happen again, then I'll resign and be dishonorably discharged if necessary. So, we had thought about that."
"Who we? You and Colonels Song and Sun?"
"Mn."
"I suspect something terrible."
"Listen to me first, Yuzhi."
"I'm all ears."
Chen Yuzhi's skepticism could not be missed, the arms he now had crossed in front of his chest even emphasized it.
"So, before we send everything back now, we need confirmation, from someone whose judgment no one would dare to doubt."
"How many of the recruits have-"
"Almost all of them."
"Isn't that enough?"
"For reasonable people like us, and if we hadn't made that huge faux pas back then, maybe, but we have to play it safe. We can't afford to make a mistake."
"And you think my judgment would be so irrevocable?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because everyone knows that you would never deliver a false report, no matter what it's about. Because everyone knows that your assessments can always be relied on 100%. There's a reason you have the same rank as me, even though I'm a few years senior. If Lieutenant General Chen confirmed that the underpants were so scratchy that they could jeopardize the mission, no one would doubt it."
"But I don't even know if they're scratchy. I can't just write a report saying they're scratchy without having tried the pants on."
"I know that, everyone knows that. Everyone knows you wouldn't write a report like that."
"So how am I supposed to help you then?"
"You just said it, actually."
"What?"
"You'd have to try one of them on. Under witness, of course, so that your judgment is even more convincing."
"Jiang Yue-... Lieutenant General!"
"Oh come on."
"No way," came Chen Yuzhi's indignant retort.
"Come on, you're the only one we can ask. Imagine the recruits having to go out on a real mission in an emergency and then having to wear that."
Chen Yuzhi looked at Jiang Yuelou's hand and thought for a moment. Then he sighed and snatched the underpants with an, "OK, give me those."
"How did you envision this, Lieutenant General Jiang?"
"Not at all of course, I didn't have the time to."
It took Jiang Yuelou a second to register that Chen Yuzhi didn’t talk about him, imagining his doctor wearing those panties. And it took him another second to understand how much of a pervert he must seem to be when the first thing he now thought of was convincing Chen Yuzhi of not having any naughty thoughts.
Chen Yuzhi suddenly had a thought that made him smile. If he was going to go through with this now, then he definitely deserved a proper reward later, and he would pick it up tonight.
"Let's go to one of the examination rooms, Yuelou. There's a changing screen there. Then I can tell you directly if it's scratchy and you can sign my report later as a witness."
"Alright, now let's get this done quickly."
"The quicker the better."
Suspiciously embarrassed, the two left Chen Yuzhi's office and entered one of the examination rooms. Chen Yuzhi told the nurses that they were not to be disturbed for ten minutes unless it was an emergency.
The room was bright and furnished with an examination bed, a few chairs, a small desk and a cabinet containing, among other things, examination instruments. There was a changing screen on one of the walls.
Jiang Yuelou casually sat down on the bed while Chen Yuzhi disappeared behind the changing screen. For a short while, only the rustling of clothes could be heard, and a soft "crap" made Jiang Yuelou sit up with a tad bit of sorrow in his eyes.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, I just took the wrong size, it's much too small. Sits very tight," Chen Yuzhi grumbled.
Jiang Yuelou's ears turned deep red and looked as if they would catch fire at any moment. This idea... Jiang Yuelou felt for his nose. Fortunately, no nosebleed.
However, the largest size Jiang Yuelou had brought fit, and Chen Yuzhi could confirm that the cloth was extremely scratchy and that this could definitely be a problem in the field. The report was written quickly, even though Chen Yuzhi emphasized several times that he deserved compensation for the fact that his name would now remain in certain files for a long time in connection with the testing of women's underpants.
The first part of the compensation was a ridiculously huge dinner that Jiang Yuelou cooked for Chen Yuzhi that evening. It wasn't enough, of course, as the doctor emphasized several times, but it was fantastic, which he also emphasized several times.
Jiang Yuelou had no idea that the doctor had already made plans of what he could do to make amends.
After eating and washing up, Jiang Yuelou fumbled suspiciously nervously with something in his trouser pocket while Chen Yuzhi put the dishes in the cupboard.
"What do you have there, Yuelou?"
"Me?"
"Yes. What do you have in your pocket?"
"Oh that... so you know... I know that right now I should probably be thinking more about how to make up for the underpants and not making special requests..."
"You shouldn't, no, Yuelou."
"But maybe we could make an exception today."
"Let's hear it. Maybe I'll be gracious."
With an embarrassed smile, Jiang Yuelou took out one of the women's underpants still wrapped in foil from his pocket.
"Oh, that was so crackly the whole time earlier," Chen Yuzhi remarked.
"And what special request do you have, Lieutenant General Jiang?"
Chen Yuzhi grinned. He knew exactly what he was going to do with it and he was curious to know what exactly Jiang Yuelou was going to ask him for.
"Well... when you tried that on today... the idea of you wearing something like that... that was pretty hot, Yuzhi. I'd love to see that."
"Oh you would, wouldn’t you?"
Jiang Yuelou did not yet understand and nodded, cautiously hopeful. Chen Yuzhi came up to him and took the panties from his hand to look at them for a few seconds.
"You seriously thought that after everything I'd already been through today, I'd put these on again."
"Well..."
Jiang Yuelou realized how the atmosphere changed and squirmed a little under Chen Yuzhi's piercing gaze. The smile on the doctor's lips scared him a little right now.
"I also imagined something related to this."
Chen Yuzhi waved the underpants in front of Jiang Yuelou's nose.
"You still have to repent, my dear."
"Eh?"