Chapter 255: Playing the Part
“I just didn’t sleep well…”
The moment the complaint left Sheng Wanyan’s lips, the old lady’s shrill, piercing shrieks echoed from down the lane once more, cutting through the evening quiet.
“Do you even know how to work? You useless little money-loser, I’ll beat you to death!”
“You dare break my bowl? I’ll thrash you to pieces, you little brat!”
Gu Tingxiao’s brow furrowed tightly at the disturbance. He looked down at his delicate, exhausted wife curling up in his arms, her usual vitality completely drained. A surge of protective fury flared inside him, and his fists clenched automatically.
“It’s alright, I can endure it,” Sheng Wanyan murmured softly, looking up with an expression of pure, saintly tolerance. “We’re the younger generation, after all. We shouldn’t pick fights with our elders.”
Hearing her sound so incredibly sweet and self-sacrificing only made Gu Tingxiao’s heart ache all the more. His wife hadn’t married him just to suffer. She was carrying his child; she deserved absolute peace and a proper night’s sleep.
Gently settling her back onto the bed, Gu Tingxiao grabbed his heavy military overcoat, threw it over his shoulders, and strode out the door, heading straight for the Du family’s courtyard.
When Captain Du answered the sharp rap at his front door, he was stunned to find Gu Tingxiao standing on his threshold at such an hour.
Inside the house, Liang Qian caught sight of the tall figure, and her heart skipped a beat. Did he come here looking for me?
“Captain Gu, what brings you…” Captain Du stammered, feeling a sudden prickle of unease.
Gu Tingxiao’s icy, unreadable expression was notoriously intimidating. He stood at a towering 188 centimeters, broad-shouldered and ramrod straight. Beside him, Captain Du, who stood at a modest 178 centimeters and possessed a much slighter build, looked almost like a child.
“Captain Du, what time is it?” Gu Tingxiao asked, his voice low and dangerous.
Baffled, Captain Du glanced down at his wristwatch and answered honestly, “Nine o’clock in the evening.” He thought the man had simply dropped by to verify the time, but the dark, stormy look clouding Gu Tingxiao’s features suggested otherwise.
“Scrub the floors! Clean it all up right now!” Mrs. Du’s piercing shrieks vibrated from the backyard, instantly answering Captain Du’s unspoken question.
“Captain Du, it appears your mother has lost track of the hour,” Gu Tingxiao remarked coldly.
Captain Du cleared his throat, trying to brush it off. “Captain Gu, my mother is just used to working this way. It’s simply a personal habit of hers. Besides, none of the other neighbors have complained about the noise. Your courtyard is so far down the lane…”
The air around Gu Tingxiao instantly turned frigid, the sheer pressure of his gaze cutting Captain Du off mid-sentence.
“I am only going to say this once,” Gu Tingxiao enunciated with terrifying clarity. “My wife is pregnant and requires absolute rest. Regardless of whether it is day or night, keep your household’s volume at a civil level.”
He stepped closer, casting a long shadow over the other man. “And Captain Du… my wife may believe in respecting her elders and protecting the young, but I do not.”
Captain Du’s face stiffened. He knew Gu Tingxiao wasn’t a man of empty threats. However, because they belonged to entirely different factions within the military hierarchy, his pride baulked at backing down so easily.
“Captain Gu, you’re the only one out of the entire neighborhood making a fuss over this,” Captain Du countered, trying to turn the tables. “You’re being entirely uncooperative and disrupting our military solidarity!”
“And who told you he’s the only one with an objection?!”
Before Captain Du could fully appreciate his own bravado, a thunderous, authoritative voice boomed from the shadows behind Gu Tingxiao.
“P-Political Commissar,” Captain Du gasped, his face draining of color.
Political Commissar Xie marched into the glow of the porch light, his expression thoroughly dark as he glared at Battalion Commander Du. “Captain Du, do you and your family think the rest of us don’t require sleep? Am I supposed to manage critical regimental operations tomorrow on zero rest? Huh?!”
Captain Du’s knees practically knocked together. He scrambled forward, his hands waving in frantic explanation. “Political Commissar! Please understand, we’ve only just moved in today, so the household is still in complete disarray. My mother simply got a bit over-excited. I assure you, it won’t happen again.”
Political Commissar Xie let out a harsh, derisive snort. While he didn’t press for a formal disciplinary action on the spot, his tone remained stern as he issued a blistering warning.
“Captain Du, with your mother shrieking at that volume, how is anyone in this lane supposed to rest? The soldiers undergo grueling training sessions all day. If their focus slips during a high-stakes mission because of sleep deprivation, will you step up and take responsibility for the fallout?!”
He gestured broadly toward the surrounding homes. “Our military wives manage the households and run themselves ragged every single day. It’s exhausting work! What if one of them is startled by those screams and accidentally slices her hand open while preparing a meal? You cannot disrupt the peace of an entire community just to satisfy your own household’s whims! Talk about disrupting solidarity—you are the one guilty of it!”
Cold sweat poured down Captain Du’s spine. It was glaringly obvious that Political Commissar Xie was using the opportunity to back Gu Tingxiao up, effectively weaponizing his own argument and throwing it back in his face.
“Furthermore, Comrade Sheng Wanyan is a vital national asset. Now that she is pregnant, the entire regiment bears a responsibility to ensure her well-being,” the commissar added, his tone turning dangerously smooth. “Your mother disrupted Comrade Sheng Wanyan’s rest. If her health fails or an accident occurs because of this negligence, and the higher-ups initiate a formal investigation… what then?”
That final sentence left Captain Du thoroughly terrified. In his haste to assert himself, he had completely forgotten that Sheng Wanyan wasn’t just a regular military dependent—she was a high-level translator recognized by the state.
“The political commissar is absolutely correct,” Captain Du stammered, bowing his head. “I will speak to my mother and handle this immediately.”
“Good. See that you handle it thoroughly. Otherwise, I will be forced to execute my duties with absolute impartiality,” the commissar warned.
Captain Du understood the implicit threat perfectly. “Impartiality” meant that if his mother couldn’t control her mouth, Political Commissar Xie would have her packed up and shipped right back to her rural village. With his promotion to Deputy Regiment Commander hanging in the balance, he couldn’t afford a single black mark on his record.
“Yes, Commissar. It will be taken care of.” Turning back to Gu Tingxiao, Captain Du forced a fawning, apologetic smile. “Captain Gu, I’ll ensure my mother keeps quiet. Please extend my best wishes to Comrade Sheng Wanyan and ensure she rests well.”
Gu Tingxiao met his forced pleasantry with a gaze as cold as flint. “I always take excellent care of my wife.” Leaving it at that, he turned on his heel and disappeared into the night.
Captain Du could only stand frozen, a strained, awkward smile plastered on his face as he watched him go. Political Commissar Xie offered one last stern look before turning back toward his own courtyard, eager to salvage whatever sleep he could.
“Take care, Commissar,” Captain Du called out weakly.
Closing the front door, he turned around and found Liang Qian standing frozen in the hallway behind him.
Liang Qian’s mind was in absolute chaos. The image of Gu Tingxiao fiercely defending Sheng Wanyan, coupled with the agonizing reality that Sheng Wanyan was carrying his child, was pushing her to the brink of a psychological breakdown.
Captain Du was fully aware of the lingering obsession his new bride harbored, but as a deeply pragmatic man, his primary focus was his career advancement and a bright future; he didn’t care about her romantic delusions. However, he was still a man of his time. The thought of his own wife pining after another officer pricked his masculine pride.
“Wife, go back to bed,” he ordered, his grip tightening around Liang Qian’s arm as he pulled her back toward the master bedroom.
Liang Qian blinked, finally snapped out of her stupor by his rough touch.
“My mother wants us to conceive a child as soon as possible,” Captain Du muttered, shutting the door behind them. “We need to start trying.”
A wave of intense revulsion rose within Liang Qian, but the reality of her situation settled heavily over her. She had willingly married this man; fulfilling her marital duties was an inescapable obligation. Captain Du didn’t care about her reluctance. In his eyes, a wife’s sole purpose was to serve her husband and bear his lineage. In the old days, a woman caught dreaming of another man would have been drowned in a pig cage.
Back in their own warm apartment, Sheng Wanyan looked up the moment Gu Tingxiao stepped through the door, her eyes bright with unvarnished curiosity.
“Did you actually go over to the Du family?” she asked, intentionally widening her eyes to look completely innocent and naive.
Gu Tingxiao’s heart melted into a puddle at her clever, adorable act. He peeled off his heavy overcoat, waiting until the outdoor chill left his skin before sliding onto the bed and pulling her securely into his chest.
“You already know the answer, yet you still ask,” he murmured, a soft smile tugging at his lips.
Sheng Wanyan nudged his ribs playfully with her elbow, silently demanding the full story.
“From now on, sweetheart,” Gu Tingxiao whispered, kissing the crown of her head, “if anything bothers you, you tell me immediately, just like you did tonight.” He was fully aware that his wife had intentionally amplified her helplessness to get him to act, but he didn’t mind the manipulation at all. He fell into her gentle trap willingly.
Sheng Wanyan curled closer, thoroughly pleased with the outcome. In her previous life, this tactic was famously referred to as channeling one’s inner “Green Tea”—the art of playing the delicate, fragile victim to get what one wanted.
They always said that a woman who knew how to act coquettishly lived a much softer, easier life, and Sheng Wanyan had just witnessed the spectacular benefits firsthand. Why exhaust herself fighting an old crone when she could simply whisper a few soft words and have her powerful husband fight the battle for her?
As a heavily pregnant woman, leaving the heavy lifting to Gu Tingxiao was simply the most logical choice.
