Chapter 312| Chapter 313| Chapter 314
Chapter 312: Xie Zhengwei
The floodwaters were slowly, reluctantly receding, but the soldiers were still completely pinned down in the valley trying to safely settle the displaced villagers. None of them would be able to return to the compound anytime soon.
Recognizing her window of opportunity, Sheng Wanyan immediately sought out Political Commissar Xie. Noting the intense, serious look on her face, Xie stepped away from the busy logistics huddle to speak with her in private.
“Comrade Sheng Wanyan, is something the matter?”
“Thank you for your time, Political Commissar,” she began smoothly. “It’s about the crisis. I happen to possess a highly effective, specialized herbal recipe for a fast-acting cold granule.”
“I want to officially submit it to the military command. Given the sub-zero temperatures everyone endured in the current, a massive outbreak of respiratory illness is inevitable. This formula can prevent and treat it rapidly.”
Hearing this, Political Commissar Xie’s eyes lit up with profound excitement. He had been waiting and hoping for her to introduce another medical breakthrough ever since her revolutionary hemostatic powder had stunned the upper ranks. “Is this true?”
“Yes,” Sheng Wanyan confirmed with a decisive nod. “The formula can be easily processed into dissolvable granules and brewed into a hot tea. It carries a shelf life of up to twenty-four months, making it incredibly stable for long-term storage.”
“Furthermore, the individual packets are highly portable—perfect for troops to carry directly into the field.”
Political Commissar Xie could barely contain his urgency; he wanted to grab her by the arm and run straight to the administrative building to log the report.
“However, given our current displaced living arrangements, it’s mechanically impossible for me to manufacture a finished, processed batch right now,” Sheng Wanyan countered, slowing him down. “I will systematically oversee the production once my own household is fully re-established.”
“But in the meantime, the medical teams can immediately utilize the raw botanicals from my recipe to brew a massive batch of preventative herbal tea for the compound.”
Political Commissar Xie snapped back to reality, realizing her stopgap measure was exactly what they needed. Right now, safeguarding the immediate health of the exhausted military families and casualties was paramount. “Yes, yes, of course! You are entirely right.”
“I’ll take your prescription directly to the director of the military hospital right now and command them to clear the necessary inventory from the herbal dispensary.”
Sheng Wanyan nodded gracefully, handing the paper over to Political Commissar Xie without a single shred of hesitation or secrecy. “This document outlines the precise dosage required for a single individual. Just make sure the pharmacy scales the measurements to match our total population headcount.”
“Understood, leave it to me.”
Political Commissar Xie meticulously folded the prescription, tucking it securely into the interior breast pocket of his heavy regulation coat, and turned to sprint down the stairs.
“Wait, Political Commissar,” Sheng Wanyan called out rapidly, stepping into his path. She still had a critical, domestic matter to settle, and she intended to use this moment to leverage his gratitude.
Political Commissar Xie paused, looking at her warily. “Comrade Sheng Wanyan, as long as your request does not violate military protocols or state regulations, I will do everything within my power to assist you.”
“It’s like this, Political Commissar,” she began, her tone shifting into one of deep, mournful sympathy. “To successfully construct that makeshift flood barrier last night, the military wives selflessly surrendered every single quilt and heavy blanket their households owned. Now that the compound has been breached by the flood, virtually every cottage is in ruins, and our winter supplies are catastrophically low. You see…”
Political Commissar Xie understood exactly where she was steering the conversation. He lowered his gaze, his brow furrowing as he quietly calculated the regiment’s remaining budget, before letting out a long, heavy sigh.
“How about this?” he offered tentatively. “I will table the matter at the next senior leadership briefing and see what the committee decides. I’ll bring an answer back to you as soon as possible.”
Sheng Wanyan nodded dutifully, immediately launching into a flawless, emotionally charged performance.
“That is all I can ask, Political Commissar. After all, I would never dream of making things difficult for you or forcing your hand. It’s just… whenever I picture those brave sisters-in-law unhesitatingly stripping the very bedding from their children’s mattresses just to buy the garrison time, my heart breaks. Their sacrifice was monumental.”
“I harbor immense, unvarnished admiration for their courage, and I simply weep for the sheer physical misery our military families are currently enduring.”
Political Commissar Xie’s mouth twitched slightly. He knew with absolute certainty that ever since Comrade Sheng Wanyan had tied her life to Gu Tingxiao, she had spent entirely too much time observing his survival tactics. A soldier’s ruthlessness was contagious, it seemed. Look at her now—she had been completely assimilated into Gu Tingxiao’s brand of shameless, strategic bargaining.
“It is the dead of a northern winter, yet our families don’t have a single dry blanket to shield themselves from the frost tonight…” Sheng Wanyan lamented softly, casting her eyes down.
“Worse still, the men are still trapped down in the mud of the valley saving citizens, leaving behind only vulnerable elderly folks and fragile infants to shiver in the dark…”
“Alright, alright! Stop!” Political Commissar Xie raised his hands in surrender. “I am walking down to the administrative office to clear the emergency requisition vouchers this very second!”
Sheng Wanyan’s face transformed instantly into a radiant, pristine smile. “I knew it. You truly are a magnificent leader, Political Commissar.”
“Oh, and regarding the winter clothes that were ruined in the current…” she added casually.
Political Commissar Xie: “…”
This was a blatant, unadulterated shakedown. Ruined clothes could easily be restored with a bit of soap and a good, rigorous scrubbing. Comrade Sheng Wanyan wasn’t just advocating for basic disaster relief; she was actively trying to hustle a complete set of brand-new luxury winter apparel and top-tier bedding for every single family who had stood at the flume!
Had she forgotten that if word of this preferential treatment leaked, the unselected families might form a mob and tear his office apart?
“Comrade Sheng Wanyan!” he warned, his voice tight.
“Political Commissar, I would never want to cause you administrative embarrassment,” she replied smoothly, her expression the picture of innocence. “How about this? I will personally coordinate a meeting with the military wives, systematically collect their ruined materials, and manage the logistics of the bedding compensation myself. I’ll take the heat.”
“Are you serious? Can you truly keep them organized and pacified without causing a riot?”
“Of course I can!”
Sheng Wanyan patted her chest confidently, her features completely serene. Panic was an emotion she simply didn’t possess.
“Fine! If you can successfully manage the distribution logistics and secure their signatures without a hitch, the regiment will authorize the budget without a single second of hesitation!”
“Magnificent! Political Commissar, your devotion to the state and the welfare of the people is truly boundless. Your generosity is legendary!”
With her objective thoroughly secured, Sheng Wanyan offered a crisp nod, turned on her heel, and glided down the corridor, her lips curling into a sharp, victorious smile the moment her back was turned.
Behind her, Political Commissar Xie stood frozen in the hallway, an uneasy, lingering suspicion knotting in his gut. He knew he had just been thoroughly played, but for the life of him, his exhausted mind couldn’t identify the catch. Shaking his head, he hurried off to track down the supply officers to begin the paperwork.
Sheng Wanyan wasted zero time, immediately summoning the volunteer military wives to the central landing to systematically audit and catalog the exact dimensions, fills, and counts of their lost bedding.
Ever since she had fearlessly led them down to the raging flume the night before, the base women harbored a deep, unyielding respect for her authority. They answered her questions with clockwork precision, hiding absolutely nothing.
Truth be told, even if a few desperate families chose to pad their numbers or exaggerate their losses slightly, Sheng Wanyan had zero intention of exposing them. These women were legitimate heroes who had saved the base; what was the harm in gifting them an extra quilt or a warmer coat? If it weren’t for the fact that Political Commissar Xie kept an eagle eye on the regiment’s treasury, she would have aggressively demanded a massive cash bonus for each of them.
“Wanyan, what exactly is this ledger for?” a wife asked, peering over her shoulder.
“You’ll see very soon,” Sheng Wanyan winked, keeping her cards close. “I promise you, it’s spectacular news.”
The moment the ink dried on the master ledger, Sheng Wanyan marched straight into Political Commissar Xie’s office and dropped the document onto his blotter. The Commissar adjusted his spectacles, skimmed the final totals, and nearly suffered a medical emergency on the spot.
Why on earth were there so many quilts logged?!
The active residential quarters housed fewer than a hundred military families in total, so how in the name of the heavens had she managed to register over two hundred lost quilts?!
“Political Commissar, please think logically,” Sheng Wanyan countered smoothly, taking a seat opposite his desk. “Is there a specific clause in the military manual dictating that a household is strictly limited to owning a single blanket?”
“Look closely at the data. Captain Fang’s household generously sacrificed three premium wool quilts to anchor the flume line. Commander Pan’s estate emptied their entire linen press, tossing a total of five heavy blankets into the torrent. And if you review my own household logs, alongside my brother’s registry…”
Political Commissar Xie abruptly shoved the ledger away, refusing to look at another line, nor did he possess the psychological stamina required to endure any more of her silver-tongued calculations.
“And mind you, I haven’t even initiated the secondary audit for the ruined heavy coats and winter trousers…” Sheng Wanyan added, her voice dropping to a dangerous, casual purr.
Sheng Wanyan had saved her most lethal leverage for last. The exact second the word clothes crossed her lips, Political Commissar Xie snatched the ledger off his desk, bolted out of his chair, and sprinted out of the room before she could utter another syllable.
It was an absolute fact: she was Gu Tingxiao’s wife through and through, a pair of brilliant, matching foxes. Neither of those young people could ever let an administrator breathe easy for a single day. He was genuinely vibrating with stress.
Sheng Wanyan simply raised an arched eyebrow, watching the office door slam shut behind the fleeing Commissar.
Let him sweat over the treasury balances; the military budget was going to take a substantial hit, but it was a righteous cause. Thank goodness he had run away when he did, otherwise she would have undoubtedly managed to swindle him out of a fresh batch of winter boots for the logistics team as well.
Thoroughly satisfied with her morning’s work, Sheng Wanyan returned to the Pan apartment with a light step, scooping little Yi Yi into her arms and doting on her for nearly an hour.
“Grandpa, Grandma, please anchor yourselves here and watch over the little ones,” she requested, adjusting her coat. “Sister-in-law and I need to head back across the lane to begin purging the mud from our cottages.”
“Go on, go on, leave the babies to us,” Grandpa Sheng responded. Both elders had been yearning to return to their own space for hours; residing indefinitely as guests under the Pan family’s roof felt entirely inappropriate according to traditional etiquette.
In reality, Sheng Wanyan’s cottage required very little manual labor. Her primary focus was systematically cleansing the structural walls.
The low-lying floodwaters had left behind a thick rim of foul river mud, silt, and mountain debris along the plaster, leaving the empty house freezing and damp. Sheng Wanyan waited until she was entirely isolated inside, then reached into her spatial domain to retrieve a long-handled, heavy broom, aggressively sweeping the caked dirt off the plaster.
She thanked her lucky stars that Gu Tingxiao remained thoroughly pinned down in the lower valley managing the refugee camps. With her husband safely clear of the base, she could utilize the full power of her supernatural domain without any risk of his razor-sharp instincts exposing her.
Sheng Wanyan systematically swept the walls, thoroughly scrubbed the concrete floorboards, and mopped every square inch of the cottage with a heavy concentration of medical-grade disinfectant.
Once the surfaces were pristine, she smoothly pulled her cached furniture, rugs, and household goods out of her spatial void, arranging them flawlessly back into their original configurations. She immediately loaded the brick flues of the coal stoves with fuel, igniting the fires until a roaring heat spread through the cottage, aggressively baking out the residual dampness from the walls.
She stoked the internal flues of every single brick kang bed, ensuring the sleeping surfaces would be bone-dry by nightfall.
The most grueling sector to reclaim was the kitchen; the river silt had coated the intricate bamboo cabinetry, requiring her to meticulously wipe down every single joint and lattice.
She took a brief intermission at noon to run back to the Pan apartment to nurse little Yi Yi, then immediately plunged right back into her cleaning layout for the remainder of the afternoon.
By the time the sun began to dip, the courtyard, the viewing pavilion, and the chicken coops had all been systematically restored to immaculate condition, and a massive load of laundered winter garments was already drying on the line. She packed their primary grain bags securely back into the subterranean cellar, verifying that every single domestic detail matched its pre-flood state before finally collapsing onto the sofa to catch her breath.
Later that afternoon, the military compound’s loudspeakers crackled to life, blaring an official directive for all residents to report to the mess hall to receive a mandatory ration of preventative herbal tea to ward off respiratory infections.
Hearing the announcement, the families swarmed out of the apartment blocks, forming an orderly queue outside the kitchen doors; a significant portion of the population was already displaying early symptoms of congestion and chattering chills.
Sheng Wanyan joined the line, calmly drinking a hot bowl of the herbal brew herself before heading back up to the Pan apartment to carry little Yi Yi home.
“Wanyan, have you truly completed the entire cleanup already?” Pan Yue asked, staring at her in disbelief as she saw her packing the baby’s diaper bag.
“The structural spaces are completely dry and disinfected,” Sheng Wanyan smiled, adjusting the baby’s blanket. “There’s still a massive mountain of laundry left to process, but since the rooms are warm and safe, I want to get Yi Yi installed back into her own bed first. I’ll see you at home, sister-in-law.”
Chapter 313: Gu Tingxiao Discovered Something Was Wrong At Home
Pan Yue nodded, though she couldn’t help but wonder how her sister-in-law had managed to finish cleaning so quickly. Over at her own house, things were an absolute disaster. The clothes, furniture, and kitchen utensils were all completely drenched and coated in thick mud. Every single item had to be hauled outside to be washed and dried; otherwise, they would rot and become entirely useless.
When the compound residents went to claim the replacement quilts and clothes authorized by the logistics department, Sheng Wanyan collected her share as well. The moment she was back inside, she slipped them into the modern washing machine hidden within her spatial domain, added a heavy dose of disinfectant, ran the cycle, and then hung them out in the yard to catch the afternoon sun.
By the time the entire house was immaculate and organized, evening had already fallen. Sheng Wanyan retrieved some pre-cooked food from her space and ate a quiet meal.
“Ah~!”
Little Yi Yi lay in her bed, wide awake. She kicked her tiny feet in the air, babbling happily as she tried to get her mother’s attention. After taking a hot shower to ensure the last of the damp chill was out of her bones, Sheng Wanyan leaned over the bed and doted on her daughter, playing with her for a long while.
Knock, knock, knock…
A sudden, heavy pounding echoed from the front door. Sheng Wanyan glanced at the wall clock; it was already eight in the evening. Her heart leaped as a sudden realization hit her, and she sprinted to open the door. Standing on the porch, drenched to the bone, haggard, and looking utterly exhausted, was Gu Tingxiao.
“Wanyan…” His voice was raspy, his eyes wild with a desperate intensity. “Are you and the baby alright?”
The literal second he had learned down in the valley that the floodwaters had breached the residential compound, his heart had violently stuttered. But trapped by his sacred duty to the state, he had been forced to suppress his terror and continue digging trapped villagers out of the mud.
Sheng Wanyan looked up at him, a sudden wave of intense grievance flooding her eyes. It was true that she possessed a supernatural spatial domain; even if the world collapsed, she could simply hide inside and survive. But what about little Yi Yi? What about her aging grandparents? As she had watched the muddy currents slowly creep up the lane yesterday, an overwhelming, paralyzing terror had taken hold of her. The sheer, suffocating fear of watching death approach your family while being completely powerless to stop it was a trauma she couldn’t shake.
Thinking of those agonizing hours, her eyes turned a brilliant, watery red. She abruptly turned her head away, refusing to meet his gaze. She was terrified that if she looked at him, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from throwing bitter blame at his feet—yet her heart knew she couldn’t do that. She understood the crushing weight of his uniform. She recognized his agony, his impossible choices, and the profound guilt that was currently eating him alive. But as a mother, she had been scared out of her mind.
“I’m so sorry…” Gu Tingxiao whispered, his own eyes burning red. The sheer weight of his apology cracked his voice; he felt an unforgivable failure for allowing his wife and newborn daughter to face such horror alone.
The moment that raw “I’m sorry” hit her ears, Sheng Wanyan’s emotional dam broke completely. She lunged forward, her fists striking his broad chest. She hit him again and again, each blow fracturing through her remaining restraint, growing heavier and more forceful with every strike.
Gu Tingxiao didn’t utter a single syllable of defense. He stood as rigid as an iron post, completely yielding his body to let her vent her structural trauma.
“You absolute bastard!” she sobbed.
Gu Tingxiao didn’t deny it. He was a bastard. He had failed the two most precious people in his universe.
Sheng Wanyan’s fierce blows quickly dissolved into a torrent of helpless weeping as she poured out every ounce of the terror she had bottled up over the last twenty-four hours. It wasn’t until her limbs grew entirely heavy from exhaustion and her voice cracked from crying that Gu Tingxiao finally swept her up into his powerful arms, carrying her back into the master bedroom.
Sheng Wanyan’s proud temper was still flaring; she fiercely resisted his touch, squirming and struggling to break free from his embrace. Gu Tingxiao simply cupped the back of her head with his large palm, carefully shielding her skull from hitting the wooden doorframes as he navigated the dark corridor. He kicked the bedroom door shut behind them and carried her straight to the mattress across the room.
Sheng Wanyan was terrified by what she had faced, but was Gu Tingxiao any less haunted by the near-loss of his family? He pressed his heavy weight down over her, his lips locking onto hers in a fierce, unyielding series of kisses. He kissed her relentlessly, searching, demanding, using his full physical presence to anchoring himself back to reality.
Sheng Wanyan fought against his grip for the first few seconds, but the sheer reality of his warmth eventually overwhelmed her defenses, and she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, holding onto him as if he were her only lifeline in a storm. They were both utterly terrified of losing each other.
Through the long winter night, they entangled themselves in a desperate, passionate rhythm, letting the wild wind outside fade into the background.
…
Spent and thoroughly exhausted, Sheng Wanyan eventually fell into a deep, peaceful slumber cradled against his shoulder. Gu Tingxiao held her tightly for a long time, his gaze never wavering from her face. He pressed a soft, lingering kiss against her forehead, carefully slid out from beneath the quilts, pulled his clothes on, and quietly stepped into the nursery nook to check on little Yi Yi.
The moment his eyes confirmed that his daughter was wrapped in a deep, healthy sleep, a massive wave of relief washed over his chest. After navigating the jaws of a natural disaster, absolutely nothing on earth could bring a man greater salvation than verifying his wife and child were safe and warm. He gently adjusted the edges of the infant’s blanket, then walked back across the room, lifted the sleeping Sheng Wanyan back into his arms, and brought her over to the main bed to hold her close for the rest of the night. He looked down at her serene features, feeling as though he could stare at her for an eternity without ever satisfying his heart. His grip around her waist tightened steadily, a primal urge wishing he could physically press her into his very bones.
The following morning, Sheng Wanyan drifted awake. She instinctively reached her hand out to the opposite side of the mattress, but the fabric was entirely cold. Her eyes snapped open, and she sat up with a jolt, a sudden panic tightening her throat.
For a wild second, she feared the previous night had been nothing but a cruel, stress-induced hallucination. But the very next moment, the bedroom door swung open, and Gu Tingxiao stepped inside carrying a tray of hot breakfast.
“Wanyan…”
“You…”
They spoke simultaneously, their voices overlapping before both abruptly cut themselves short, waiting for the other to take the lead.
“Sweetheart, eat something first,” Gu Tingxiao murmured, setting the tray over her lap.
Sheng Wanyan picked up her chopsticks, slowly eating her breakfast while using her lashes to discreetly track his expression. Gu Tingxiao maintained a perfectly blank, unreadable exterior, focus entirely on tidying the baby’s changing table so she could dine in absolute peace.
Is he genuinely not going to ask a single question? she thought, her brow furrowing.
Sheng Wanyan didn’t believe for a single second that a scout of his caliber hadn’t detected the glaring anomalies inside the cottage. Every other residence on the base was currently a chaotic zone of frantic scrubbing, ruined upholstery, and drying mud. Yet their home was completely dry, immaculate, and perfectly ordered. More importantly, the food supplies stored in their subterranean cellar were completely bone-dry, showing absolutely zero signs of water damage. When he had gone into the kitchen to prepare breakfast, he would have easily verified the inventory. It was a mechanical impossibility for him not to notice.
“Tingxiao…”
“Are you finished eating, sweetheart?” he interrupted smoothly, stepping up to the bed before she could launch into her explanation. “I’ll take the dishes out to wash them. You just stay here and rest.”
He didn’t grant her a fraction of an opening to voice the secret. He neatly gathered the bowls and chopsticks and hurried out of the room as if the floorboards were on fire.
Sheng Wanyan let out a long, slow sigh as the door clicked shut. If her intuition was correct, this formidable, hardened commander was actually… terrified?
Sheng Wanyan harbored no real desire to deceive her husband, but she was equally resolute about safeguarding the secret of her spatial domain. That miracle was her ultimate baseline security, her ultimate source of personal independence and confidence in this foreign era. Some extraordinary anomalies were better left unsaid, safely understood in the quiet depths of one’s heart without ever peeling back the final layer of self-preservation. They had a lifetime of days ahead of them; there was no need to cut off her own escape route so early. If he chose to maintain the silence, she would gladly match his play. At the end of the day, the existence of that supernatural void could never be exposed to the world.
Realizing sleep was entirely out of the question, she arose, washed her face, and sat down to nurse little Yi Yi. Her daughter was hitting her four-month growth spurt, and her appetite had grown immensely.
Outside the window, fresh, gentle snowflakes began to drift through the air. The driving rain had officially broken, and the base was gradually returning to its standard winter rhythm.
Later that morning, Sheng Wanyan strolled across the lane to check on her brother’s cottage. Finding Sheng Wanze and Pan Yue completely consumed with dragging their mud-soaked furniture into the yard to dry, she chose not to disrupt their workflow and quietly returned home.
As the afternoon progressed, she noticed an unsettling shift in Gu Tingxiao’s behavior. Ever since his return from the valley, his protective instincts had magnified to a near-suffocating degree. He refused to let her lift a finger for a single domestic chore, and his dark eyes tracked her every movement. In fact, the exact second she stood up to walk toward the washroom, his tall silhouette immediately fell into step right behind her.
It was as if he were genuinely terrified that the moment he looked away, she would simply evaporate into thin air.
Sheng Wanyan stopped at the corridor, thoroughly exasperated. “I am going to use the restroom, Tingxiao. Stop shadowing my steps.”
Gu Tingxiao remained silent, but his unyielding posture and intense gaze made his intent perfectly clear: he had zero intention of letting her out of his sight.
Sheng Wanyan chuckled, half-amused and half-annoyed. What is wrong with this man? Does he honestly intend to stand guard over me while I use the toilet? Has he completely lost his sense of shame?
“Out,” she ordered, pointing a firm finger at the corridor.
Sheng Wanyan leveled a stern, unyielding look at him. Sensing that she was on the literal verge of losing her temper, Gu Tingxiao finally relented, stepping back into the living room with clear reluctance.
The moment he cleared the threshold, Sheng Wanyan firmly bolted the wooden door behind her. He truly is getting entirely too spoiled, she thought with a smile.
The second she finished washing up and unbolted the door, she found Gu Tingxiao standing exactly where she had left him, his fists clenched tight and a dark, brooding expression plaster across his features as he waited for her return. This man really was a piece of work.
The moment her boots hit the living room floorboards, Gu Tingxiao closed the distance in three large strides, pinning her with his intense stare. Sheng Wanyan walked over to the basin to rinse her hands, and he automatically mirrored her movements, washing his own hands right beside her.
“What exactly do you want, Tingxiao?” she asked, turning to face him.
Gu Tingxiao shook his head. He didn’t want to demand anything; his entire soul simply required him to remain anchored to his wife’s side.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she pressed gently.
Hearing the invitation, Gu Tingxiao fell into a long, heavy silence, his dark eyes searching hers before he finally gave a slow, solemn nod.
Chapter 314: Gu Tingxiao Is Afraid That His Wife Will Run Away
The couple sat face-to-face in the living room to have their talk.
“Go ahead,” Sheng Wanyan said, cutting straight to the point. “What do you want to ask?”
She had steeled herself for the worst. At most, everything would come blowing up in her face, but she was determined not to let herself be caught and turned into a lab rat.
Gu Tingxiao stared at her, pondering in silence for what felt like an eternity.
“Are you not going to ask?” she pressed. “If you don’t ask now, you won’t get another chance.”
Gu Tingxiao’s hands clenched into tight fists against his thighs. He lowered his eyes, wrestling with his thoughts. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and tentative.
“Will you… ever leave me?”
He had spent all that time brooding, and that was the only question he managed to ask.
Sheng Wanyan was caught off guard. “As long as you don’t make the typical mistakes men make, and as long as you don’t let me down, then naturally I won’t.”
She didn’t quite understand why he was so hyper-focused on this one point, but she answered him truthfully. It was exactly how she felt.
“Really?”
“No, I’m lying.”
“Wanyan…”
Gu Tingxiao’s tone instantly filled with tension, prompting her to quickly correct herself with a small smile. “Fine, it’s true.”
“You won’t lie to me?”
“I won’t lie to you.”
Gu Tingxiao let out a massive breath of relief. This was the single, solitary thing he truly needed to validate. “Then I have nothing else to ask.”
Sheng Wanyan blinked, staring at him in utter confusion. That’s it? She had been entirely prepared to fight to the death to protect her secrets, and all he cared about was whether she would leave him? Was this hardened captain actually a hopeless romantic?
She kept her eyes on him for a long moment. Gu Tingxiao straightened his posture, placing his hands flat on his knees. He sat as rigid and upright as a soldier on parade, willingly submitting to her scrutiny.
Beneath his stoic exterior, however, his mind was racing with anxiety. Is the fairy satisfied with me? Did I not do well enough for her last night? Has my conditioning slipped? Does she not like my physique anymore? He frowned, his brain frantically searching for a solution.
“Are you absolutely certain you don’t want to ask anything else?” she asked.
“Actually, there is one more thing.”
“Ask away.”
Sheng Wanyan picked up her cup and took a sip of water, waiting for him to speak. Gu Tingxiao hesitated for a fraction of a second before blurting it out.
“Are you satisfied with my physique?”
Pfft—!
Sheng Wanyan sprayed a mouthful of water right across the table, splashing it all over his face and uniform.
Gu Tingxiao didn’t show a hint of annoyance. He simply wiped the moisture from his face with a steady hand.
“What did you just say?” she gasped.
“Are you satisfied with my physique?” Gu Tingxiao’s expression was dead serious, as if the fate of the nation depended on her answer.
Sheng Wanyan’s mind instantly flashed back to the previous night—the chiseled eight-pack abs, the powerful arms, the narrow, muscular waist, the terrifying endurance… What ordinary man could possibly compare to that? How could she not be satisfied? She could barely survive it! She actually owed him a debt of gratitude for being patient and considerate with her, otherwise she wouldn’t even have been able to drag herself out of bed today.
“Are you unsatisfied?”
Gu Tingxiao grew distinctly nervous. A celestial being like her must have seen countless perfect forms; his mortal physique might not measure up to her standards. If she wasn’t pleased, he would just have to double his training regimen until he became exactly what she desired.
“It’s… it’s fine,” she mumbled, quickly averting her gaze. There was no way she was going to look him in the eye and admit that he was so powerful it was overwhelming.
Gu Tingxiao nodded solemnly at her response, secretly resolving to intensify his physical conditioning. He had to become stronger and more resilient to ensure his wife—his fairy—remained thoroughly satisfied. He had to please her so deeply that she would never dream of leaving his side.
Sheng Wanyan could only stare at him in mute realization. How does a man’s brain even jump to these conclusions?
Having obtained the reassurance he needed, Gu Tingxiao marched out to the snowy backyard and immediately sank into a grueling horse stance in the dead of winter.
Sheng Wanyan watched him through the window, completely dumbfounded. Is this man not cold? She had prepared herself for a high-stakes interrogation, only to be hit with two absurd questions followed by a solo martial arts drill. Should she play dumb, or should she play incredibly dumb?
Still, she let out a quiet sigh of relief when she realized he was genuinely dropping the matter. If he had pressed for logical explanations, she didn’t know what kind of wild lie she would have had to invent to deflect his suspicion. She hated the idea of lying to him, but she was equally unwilling to expose her spatial domain. The magical void was a legacy left to her by her grandfather from the modern era, and she hadn’t even shared its existence with her own family back then. If she hadn’t told the person who gave it to her, she certainly wasn’t going to tell Gu Tingxiao now. She had witnessed enough of the world’s dark side to know better than to place herself in jeopardy.
Seeing how intensely focused he was on his training, she chose not to disrupt him and retreated to the bedroom to check on the baby.
Outside the quiet cottage, as the rescue teams began filtering back from the valley, the residential compound descended into a frenzy of activity. The military administration granted everyone a three-day leave to deep-clean their properties and recuperate from the ordeal. Every morning, Political Commissar Xie ordered the mess hall to brew massive vats of Sheng Wanyan’s preventative herbal tea, ensuring both the troops and their families drank a bowl to stave off illness.
The reinforcement platoons from the city remained stationed at the base for a few extra days, just in case a secondary weather system triggered another flash flood.
During the delay, Captain Mingxuan kept searching for an opportunity to cross paths with Sheng Wanyan again. However, as an external officer, etiquette dictated he couldn’t simply wander into the residential staff quarters uninvited. He resorted to pacing idly near the main gates of the compound from time to time, but Sheng Wanyan never appeared. He didn’t dare ask the local guards about her either, terrified that sniffing around a female comrade would ruin her reputation. If he had possessed the foresight to ask for her name during the rescue, he wouldn’t be stuck in such a frustrating limbo.
“What on earth is the Captain doing?” a city soldier whispered, leaning against the transport truck as they watched their commander loiter near the gate for the third time that day. “Is he trying to scout the residential blocks?”
“He’s probably yearning for that beautiful comrade he carried out of the current,” another soldier chuckled.
“Wait, really? Who is she? Whose daughter is she?”
“If the Captain actually knew her details, do you think he’d still be pacing out here like a lost private?”
Had Mingxuan possessed her name or address, he would have easily engineered an official pretext to visit her cottage instead of hovering by the fence like a nervous schoolboy.
“Good heavens, our stone-cold Captain has finally opened his heart to romance.”
“Are we about to get a sister-in-law?”
“Stop spreading baseless gossip!” Mingxuan barked, stepping up behind his subordinates and delivering a swift swat to the speaker’s head.
He certainly wanted to pursue the lady, but he hadn’t even managed a proper introduction. Worse still, their deployment was scheduled to return to the city the following morning, leaving him with very little time to make his move.
Sheng Wanyan was entirely oblivious to the fact that an outside officer was searching for her. At the moment, she was dealing with a headache of her own, courtesy of Gu Tingxiao’s relentless attention. Ever since their conversation, her husband had become impossibly clingy, constantly finding excuses to split firewood or exercise shirtless in the yard just to display his physique. If she didn’t possess an immense amount of mental fortitude, she would have pounced on him days ago.
Early the next morning, Political Commissar Xie arrived at their threshold to address the production of her herbal cold remedy. The base administration had been running in overdrive, and the exact second the primary disaster logs were finalized, the Commissar sprinted over to coordinate with her.
“Comrade Sheng Wanyan!” he called out from the porch. “Are you ready for the briefing?”
Sheng Wanyan was well aware that the command and the higher-ups in the capital were desperate to lock down the formula, so she didn’t make things difficult for him. “Yes, Political Commissar. Let’s go.”
Gu Tingxiao stepped out of the kitchen, his brow furrowed. “Political Commissar, where exactly are you taking my wife?”
“You’re required to attend as well,” Political Commissar Xie sighed, his temples throbbing at the sight of him. Yet, he knew he couldn’t leave the man behind; when it came to Comrade Sheng Wanyan’s safety and intellectual property, Gu Tingxiao had to be present to anchor the security logistics.
“We still have to look after our daughter, Commissar,” Gu Tingxiao countered, gesturing back toward the nursery.
“Then bring the child with you!” Political Commissar Xie snapped, thoroughly exasperated. Everyone on this base knew he had a daughter, but did he really have to weaponize the baby to evade every single assignment? “The committee convenes at precisely ten o’clock. Move it.”
Sheng Wanyan nodded in agreement. Gu Tingxiao carefully bundled little Yi Yi into a thick, insulated blanket, cradled her securely against his chest, and zipped his heavy regulation military jacket over her to seal out the winter chill.
With the baby safely tucked away, the young couple walked alongside Political Commissar Xie toward the regiment’s headquarters. The moment Sheng Wanyan stepped into the grand briefing room, she found herself facing a massive panel of senior military commanders and medical directors, all waiting eagerly for her presentation. She offered them a polished, respectful greeting and took her place at the head of the table.
