Rules of Engagement

The next show was boring, mainly because Elsa was so nearsighted that she couldn't see very far under the glasses. She just
watched some program which was good for the visual sight. She didn't feel anything uncomfortable while watching the program.
She just listened to the soldiers in the back rows applauding.
"Are you tired?" Soren asked with concern.
"I'm fine. Only my eyes are tired," she said, rubbing her temples
"I actually feel bored. I have watched the show with my leaders five times," Soren said in a low voice
"Really? That would be so boring. I thought you liked it," Elsa answered in surprise.
"Let's go out to get some air, shall we?"
"Okay."
Both of them were surprised and excited to feel this kind of furtive behavior. Fortunately, they quickly moved to the other side of
the room and left as quickly as possible without anybody noticing their exit.
It was completely dark outside, far away from the noise in the performance hall. Suddenly coming out, both of them felt very
quiet, as if they were hiding on tiptoe.
"Good evening, sir!" A soldier's loud voice startled Elsa. She threw herself into Soren's arms as if some dangers were coming to
her.
The soldier said without looking sideways. Hearing that, Elsa couldn't help laughing. Soren patted her on the head and said, "You
silly girl. There is no rule that says we must come here to watch the performance to the end. It doesn't matter if we leave halfway.
But I feel a little bit disrespectful to those actors."
It was completely dark everywhere except for the street lights. There were soldiers passing by occasionally. Wearing the military
uniform, it was too troublesome for Soren to walk around, so they had to return to Soren's dormitory.
When Soren came back, he found the dishes were untouched. In fact, he had dinner with his leader that night. Elsa didn't eat her
meal. He put the food into the microwave oven. Looking back at Elsa, he found that she was really hungry.
Amused by her kitten-like expression, he asked, "Why didn't you have dinner before you rushed there?"

"I was afraid you might wait too long," Elsa answered. "I was afraid that Bob would wait too long," she added urgently.
"Of course not. I asked someone to send some food here because I wanted you to have it before joining me." When the food
was served on the table, the fragrance filled the room.
Elsa sniffed. "It smells good. Is it mushroom?"
"Yes, the dinner has mushroom." Soren picked up a bowl on the table and handed it to Elsa.
"How about having dinner with me?" Elsa said and then filled two bowls of rice.
"Okay, you eat first," Soren said while taking off his clothes
He had accompanied his leader today. Since he was dressed formally, he felt a little hot, and decided to take off the outer
clothes.
Elsa felt a little hungry, so she picked up a bowl and ate the rice first. Then she took a bite with the mushroom. She suddenly felt
sick with her mouth wide open and wanted to vomit. She rushed to the bathroom. She hadn't eaten any meat for many years and
also rarely had dinner outside. She realized that the mushroom was fried with meat, so she didn't eat it up.
The taste of meat was both fishy and thick. She felt disgusted. Elsa knew that what she had just eaten wasn't like this, but she
couldn't resist the instincts to think. The charred meat, the roasted meat, the screamed crowd, the broken doll, and a little bit of
discomfort in her mind.
Her head was throbbing, and her temple bulged. The disgusting smell made her sick.
She vomited up all the bread in her stomach, which was almost empty. Soren was taking off his clothes and rushing into the
bathroom. He saw her vomit. She looked ill. He was a little anxious. He reached out and touched her forehead to see if she had
a fever. "What's wrong? Do you feel uncomfortable?" Soren asked anxiously.
"Nothing. I'm fine." She felt her stomach was burning like fire. "Soren... I..."
"I'm here! Can I help? I'll take you to the infirmary!" Soren remarked. Soren picked her up and took her away.
She shook her head, warm tears streaming down from her temples into her bun, and said, "Give me some water," she said
weekly.
"Okay!" Putting her down on the ground, Soren hastened to get her a glass of warm water and helped her sit up to drink it.

Taking the glass and taking a sip, she rinsed her mouth. After eliminating the odor from her mouth, she felt a little better. Soren
took her out of the office.
"It's okay!" Elsa struggled to get down. Even she herself felt herself too spoiled, the habit of not eating any fish or meat. Anyway,
she could not change it. Every time she forced to change, she would suffer all kinds of pain. In order to let her eat meat, her
mother had thought of all kinds of ways to make her eat meat in vain. She vomited bitterly.
It was the instinct reaction of the body, and she couldn't change it with her will power.
"I must take you to see a doctor!" Soren took her in his arms and walked outside with an anxious look.
"Soren, I just don't like eating meat. The smell of meat made me sick. That's all and don't worry. I'll be fine in a few minutes!" said
Elsa, trying to comfort Soren.
"But you couldn't throw up like that if you were fine," Soren insisted.
He had heard from her parents that she didn't like eating meat very much, so he tried not to force her to eat meat. But he didn't
expect her to be so overreacted. Seeing the meat in her bowl, she only frowned and avoided it every time.
Whatever, Elsa did not eat them at all. They had known each other for a long period of time, but Soren had never seen Elsa eat
any meat.
Even so, it was her first time to react so dramatically, vomiting violently and looking so sick.
Elsa was embarrassed and she had no strength to say anything more. The dishes were carefully prepared by him every time.
However, this time, maybe someone had made a little mistake. If she told Soren such a trivial matter, it would really hurt his
feeling. Thus, she decided to bite the bullet.
A doctor was also on duty in the infirmary. Seeing that Soren hurriedly came with Elsa in his arms, the doctor didn't dare to
neglect him. He quickly did a basic check-up, and found that it was nothing serious. Then he smiled and asked, "Madam, when
did you get your period last time?"
A responsible doctor would ask such a question whenever a women who vomited violently came to see him.
"Doctor, I'm not pregnant, if that's the question you're asking!" Elsa knew what was the true intention behind the doctor's
question. So she was blunt and spoke her mind directly. To avoid more embarrassment later, she said directly, "We've just been
married for less than a month.

Besides, we didn't sleep together until a few weeks after our wedding. So, it's absurd that I'm with a baby now." She knew that it
was her sensitive feeling to meat that caused the problem. She had even seen a psychologist, but the problem hadn't been
solved yet.
"I caught a cold just now, so I'm fine. I will be better after a rest," she added.
"You just vomited so much. How can you just go away without the doctor checking your body completely?" Soren pressed her
back on the chair and said, "Please, doctor."
The doctor did a detailed examination again, and found nothing wrong with Elsa's body. He could only prescribe some medicine
that could nourish her stomach and meanwhile reminded her to take some medicine when necessary. "Is everything okay?"
Soren asked the doctor concernedly.
"She's fine. She should have a good rest and drink more water. If anything happens to her again, you just take her here or just
call me," the doctor answered.
Hearing the doctor's words, Soren felt relieved. He took Elsa out of the infirmary. After coming out, he hugged her and put his
forehead against hers. "Are you feeling better?"
"I'm much better. I didn't need to see a doctor in the first place," she answered. Cuddled by him, she felt a little embarrassed. "I
can walk myself."
"Don't move. I'll take you home," Soren said. Soren was so strong that he could carry her easily.
The wind was strong at night in summer, so Soren still wore his coat. He took off his coat and covered her. "I'm not cold," said
Elsa.
"Don't be silly. Put on my coat. Otherwise, you'll get cold." With these words, he squatted down in front of her.
"What are you doing?" Elsa didn't understand and stepped back.
"Let me carry you,"
Hearing that, Elsa blushed. "I'm not that fragile. I can walk by myself."
Soren picked her up and carried her on his shoulder. Elsa was carried up by him. The sense of weightlessness made her
scream. "Hey, Soren, put me down! You're scaring me!"

"Don't feel scared. It'll be fine. Just trust me!" said Soren sternly. He turned his body around, and Elsa clung to the clothes on his
chest, as if she was afraid that she might fall and hit the ground.
It was not easy for her to make a decision. "Ok, you win. You can do whatever you want with me," said Elsa, finally making a
compromise.
"Good. I'll carry you home," Soren exclaimed. He felt really delighted because his little trick finally worked.
He turned his back to her. Leaning on his back, Elsa felt so comfortable. His back was broad and strong, and she felt so
comfortable that she almost fell asleep as he walked towards home. Without Soren's hands holding her legs firmly, she would
have fallen from his back.
But one of his hands was in her thighs, which made her bit her lips nervously.
Soren walked fast, and before long they were home already.
Soren put her on the bed and brought her a cup of hot water. She took a few sips.
Soren took a glance at the dishes on the table. They were all light vegetables without any meat. The food was fine.
In fact, even if he took one bite, he couldn't find any wrong with the food. As for people who were not vegetarian, they would not
specially pay attention to the smell of the meat. However, a vegetarian was different. They could be easily disgusted by the smell
of meat. They would die rather than swallow a tiny piece of meat.
"What do you want to eat?" Soren wanted to consult her first. Before she vomited, she seemed fine with the food at the table.
However, at that time, Elsa had lost here appetite. "No, thanks. I don't feel like eating right now. I'll take a break and drink some
water."
Soren didn't push her. He reached out his hand and touched her pale face. He was really scared by her just now. She vomited as
if she wanted to vomit everything out of her stomach. At that moment, his heart was clenched tightly by a hand. Watching her
suffering, he was painful.