Chapter 213: Gu Tingxiao Was Stunned
“Just look at it,” Wanyan said, nudging the paper toward him.
Seeing that she wasn’t volunteering any more information, Gu Tingxiao took her hand, guided her down onto the sofa beside him, and began studying the medical slip with intense focus. After a long, quiet moment of scrutiny, he blinked. “It’s just a tiny black dot. What’s so special about it?”
Sheng Wanyan shot him an exasperated glare. It was a beautiful, miraculous little image, alright? “Are you sure that’s all you see?”
Sheng Wanyan’s tone took on a dangerous edge, and sensing the sudden shift in the atmosphere, Gu Tingxiao quickly shook his head to correct his stance. “I’m not sure.”
Truthfully, he couldn’t decipher the medical scan at all. Seeing his complete bewilderment, Wanyan decided there was no point in torturing him further.
“I’m… expecting,” she whispered. She took his large hand and placed it gently over her flat abdomen. “Right here. We’re having a baby.”
Gu Tingxiao froze. For a few agonizing seconds, his brain completely failed to process her words. His pupils constricted, and he stared down at her stomach, not even daring to blink.
“Wanyan… what did you just say?” his voice cracked. “Say it… say it one more time.”
If she listened closely, she could hear that his voice was visibly trembling, and even his lips had lost their steady line.
Sheng Wanyan met his eyes, her expression soft but absolutely certain. “I am pregnant, Tingxiao.”
He heard it perfectly clearly this time. Yet, his gaze remained transfixed on her stomach, and he seemed entirely unable to pull himself back to reality for a long, heavy minute. He couldn’t even find the words to describe the chaotic whirlwind of emotions crashing through him—there was overwhelming shock, intense joy, absolute disbelief, and a sudden, sharp spike of profound worry and fear.
Wanyan watched his face cycle through a dozen different micro-expressions, but when he finally settled into his usual, stoic, completely expressionless mask, she immediately grew disgruntled.
“What’s with that face?” she pouted, pulling her hand away. “Do you not want the baby?”
The sharp question snapped Gu Tingxiao out of his daze. Horrified by the misunderstanding, he immediately lunged forward, wrapping his arms securely around her to explain. “How could I possibly not want our baby?”
He buried his face deeply into the crook of her neck, his voice sounding thick and muffled against her skin. “I’m just… I’m just terrified of the toll this is going to take on your body. I don’t want you to suffer.”
Wanyan’s heart melted completely at his words. Giving birth was a treacherous journey for any woman, a metaphorical walk through the gates of hell. She hadn’t expected this formidable, hardened soldier to be far more anxious and protective of her health than she was herself. It would be an absolute lie to say she wasn’t deeply touched by his devotion.
“I’ll be perfectly fine,” she cooed softly, running her fingers through his hair. “I’m genuinely looking forward to the baby’s arrival.”
Her gentle reassurance finally allowed the tension to bleed out of Gu Tingxiao’s shoulders. This was a child born of their love; how could he not anticipate its arrival with every fiber of his being?
“Wanyan, my only wish is for you to be safe,” he murmured against her neck. “I just want you to be healthy, and for everything to go smoothly.”
Wanyan smiled tenderly. A wish like that sounded incredibly simple on the surface, but in this harsh, uncertain era, a safe delivery was actually a magnificent luxury. “The same to you. As long as our little family stays whole and healthy, that’s all that matters.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers subconsciously drifting back down to rest over her stomach. Gu Tingxiao kept his eyes locked on her abdomen, staying right by her side until she finished her lunch. The moment the table was cleared, he marched straight to the command headquarters to request a full week of administrative leave.
Having only just returned from a high-stakes deployment, his request was approved instantly, allowing him a window to properly rest and recover.
While Gu Tingxiao hadn’t sustained any debilitating wounds during the mission, his torso was scored with numerous deep scratches and abrasions that would leave permanent scars if left untreated. Wanyan carefully applied her potent healing powder to his skin, ordering him to stay in bed and rest. He had slipped back into the compound in the middle of a blizzard late last night and had woken up mere hours later to report for duty; even the most unbreakable military physique would eventually fracture under that kind of relentless strain.
“You need to rest as well, Wanyan,” he insisted, catching her hand.
Once Wanyan set a rich pot of chicken soup to simmer on the kitchen stove, she climbed back onto the brick kang to join him. As they drifted off to sleep side by side, Gu Tingxiao’s large hand remained resting over her stomach, never moving an inch.
Even after Wanyan dropped off into a deep slumber, Gu Tingxiao remained wide awake for a while, staring down at her belly in quiet awe, still struggling to fully accept the reality of the miracle. Eventually, unable to contain the pure happiness swelling in his chest, a radiant smile broke across his face, and he leaned down to press a soft, reverent kiss against her stomach.
How could he not be ecstatic?
From the very beginning of their marriage, he had always harbored a quiet, lingering anxiety that his wife was harboring a profound secret. To him, she had occasionally felt like a beautiful kite soaring high in the sky; if she ever truly desired to cut the string and fly away, he wouldn’t possess the power to catch her. But now, with a child growing inside her, an unbreakable, eternal anchor had been forged between their souls. He could finally let his heart settle completely, freed from the phantom worries that had plagued him for months.
Sensing a ticklish sensation across her abdomen in her sleep, Wanyan mumbled a complaint and playfully swatted his shoulder. Gu Tingxiao caught her drifting hand, pressing a gentle kiss to her knuckles before tucking her arm securely back beneath the heavy quilt to ensure she didn’t catch a chill.
By the time she finally blinked her eyes open again, evening had arrived, and the rich aroma of a fully prepared dinner was wafting through the rooms. Gu Tingxiao had already handled everything.
Knowing she had been dining across the lane at Sheng Wanze’s table during his deployment, he had taken the time to shred the tender chicken meat, packing half of the bird and a generous jar of the enriched broth into separate containers to bring over to her family later.
From the moment she woke up, she wasn’t permitted to lift a single finger; her singular, mandatory assignment for the foreseeable future was eating well and sleeping soundly.
Gu Tingxiao’s intense nervousness was visible to the naked eye. It truly seemed as though every ounce of his cognitive energy was laser-focused on her safety twenty-four hours a day. The next afternoon, the moment she reached for the feed basin to tend to the chickens, his booming voice echoed through the courtyard.
“Wanyan, don’t move!”
Sheng Wanyan froze mid-step, her foot hovering just off the edge of the kang. Her husband was generating so much chaotic, high-alert stress every single day that she worried she would end up standard-issued an illness out of pure psychological exhaustion even if her body was perfectly fine.
“I’m just going to throw some grain to the hens, Tingxiao,” she sighed. “If I stay confined to this bed for another twenty-four hours, my entire skeleton is going to fuse together.”
“It’s freezing outside, and the courtyard paths are slick with packed snow,” he countered strictly, rushing over to block her path. “What if your foot slips? The physician explicitly stated that the first trimester requires the absolute highest degree of caution.”
Hearing his frantic, protective reasoning, Wanyan felt a sweet wave of affection, though it was heavily laced with sheer helplessness. She refused to spend her days living like a fragile invalid. “I’m a healthy adult woman, Tingxiao. I’m not made of glass.”
“Absolutely not. For the first three months, we are following the medical director’s instructions to the letter,” Gu Tingxiao insisted unyieldingly.
Gently guiding her back onto the platform, he tucked the heavy quilts firmly around her waist. Fearing she would grow utterly stir-crazy from the confinement, he cleared a small wooden table, hoisted it onto the kang, and neatly arranged her translation materials across the surface.
“If you find yourself growing bored, you are permitted to use your fountain pen,” he negotiated softly. “I will personally handle every other chore in this household.”
Sheng Wanyan wisely decided to concede the argument. She knew that if she attempted to assert her independence now, this stubborn soldier would literally shadow her movements around the clock without blinking. For the sake of preserving a little personal peace and quiet, she would play along.
“Fine. Go feed the chickens then.”
“Understood. What would you like me to prepare for dinner?”
“I want something hot and spicy.”
“Consider it done.”
Gu Tingxiao nodded obediently, bustling out to tend to the livestock before diving into the meal prep. For the remainder of his leave, Wanyan was treated exactly like a coddled, completely helpless aristocrat.
It wasn’t until Gu Tingxiao’s week of leave concluded and he returned to active duty with his regiment that she finally regained a modicum of physical freedom. However, she quickly discovered that even with her husband occupied at the command headquarters during the day, every single household chore had already been meticulously executed before dawn. The chicken coop was fed, the courtyard snow was immaculate, and the floors were spotless. She was left with absolutely nothing to do.
Her breakfast was neatly arrayed on the stove, sealed inside insulated containers to keep it piping hot. For lunch, Gu Tingxiao would either sprint back across the compound during his brief afternoon break to cook a fresh meal, or carry a tray of premium dishes back from the officers’ mess hall.
Furthermore, Grandma Sheng began regular deliveries, preparing custom herbal tonics and nutritional supplements across the lane. Since they were already catering to a pregnant daughter-in-law in their own kitchen, multiplying the portions for Wanyan didn’t cost them any extra labor. In fact, Grandma Sheng was in absolute heaven, overjoyed by the rare privilege of simultaneously nurturing both her granddaughter-in-law and her own granddaughter. The knowledge that two precious new lives would soon bless their family line made the old woman declare she felt vibrant enough to live another fifty years.
Sheng Wanyan, who had effectively been transformed into a completely non-functional dependent overnight, could only stare at her ceiling in silence. She truly didn’t know whether she should celebrate her immense luxury or mourn her total loss of utility.
But as the days blurred into weeks, she eventually acclimated to the luxurious pace of life, content to simply relax and wait for Gu Tingxiao to return home and take care of her every single day.
Time marched forward seamlessly, and the morning designated for her formal prenatal checkup finally arrived. Gu Tingxiao rose well before dawn, spending an uncharacteristic amount of time meticulously pressing and smoothing his dress uniform. He adjusted his collar and alignment with rigorous precision, treating the medical appointment with the gravity of a high-level military inspection.
In his mind, this appointment represented his very first official introduction to his child, meaning he was required to present himself in immaculate, flawless order.
Watching his intense, formal preparations from the edge of the bed, Sheng Wanyan couldn’t help but let out a fond, amused chuckle. While this formidable captain maintained a perfectly stoic, unbothered exterior for the world to see, in reality, not a single person on the entire base was harboring as much trembling, nervous anxiety as he was. He was simply a classic, deeply internal stoic.
Once breakfast was finished, Gu Tingxiao gently took her by the arm, guiding her steps as they set out toward the military hospital. He had intentionally chosen not to utilize his bicycle; this was a strictly personal family matter, and he refused to exploit state-allocated transportation resources for private convenience. Besides, the hospital wasn’t a great distance from the residential quarters, and the orderly details made sure the main thoroughfares were cleared of snow every morning. Walking at a slow, measured pace through the crisp air provided the perfect, gentle exercise to help Wanyan digest her meal.
