Chapter 375| Chapter 376| Chapter 377
Chapter 375: Two Mothers, One Drama
“Wife, let me clean them up,” Gu Tingxiao said, taking the damp cloth from her hands.
Sheng Wanyan nodded, leaving him to wipe down the baby. She stepped into the living room to quickly clean the stray paint marks from the low table before the pigments could stain the wood permanently. Once the house was thoroughly tidied, she walked back into the bedroom to empty the basin, preparing little Yi Yi for her afternoon nap.
“Keep your daughter company while she sleeps,” Sheng Wanyan instructed, turning to her husband.
Gu Tingxiao was more than happy to oblige. Every single time his daughter snuggled down obediently beside him, his heart melted completely. But as he watched Wanyan grab her coat, his brow furrowed slightly. “Wife, where are you heading?”
He could tell from her purposeful movements that she was planning to go out.
“I’m going to ride over to the supply and marketing cooperative,” she explained. “I checked the pantry and realized we’re completely out of soy sauce and a few other essentials.”
If she pedaled fast enough, she could easily make the round trip and be back long before dinner.
Gu Tingxiao nodded understandingly. “Be careful on the road.”
“Don’t worry.”
Sheng Wanyan neatly laid out a fresh diaper right where Gu Tingxiao could reach it, just in case the baby had an accident in her sleep.
She was just about to clear the front door when Mother Gu and Mother Sheng walked back into the courtyard from their stroll. Learning that she was bound for the city cooperative, the two older women immediately rattled off a list of household items they needed to replenish.
“Pick up some fresh meat, and see if they have any fruit available,” Mother Gu requested.
“Will do!” Sheng Wanyan called back, hopping onto her bicycle and pedaling out toward the main road.
In truth, her primary objective in visiting the city was to safely retrieve an influx of provisions from her secret spatial dimension. The household’s current food reserves were dwindling, and she needed to begin systematic preparations for the oncoming season. It was already the end of September; if she didn’t aggressively stockpile groceries now, the family would face severe shortages once the brutal northern winter locked down the base.
She didn’t pull out an outrageous amount—just twenty kilograms of grain, ten kilograms of fine flour, and a variety of coarse grains. She also retrieved two fresh fish and five kilograms of premium pork. There was absolutely no need to purchase vegetables, given the abundant winter crops they were already cultivation-blocking in their own garden plot.
Mother Gu and Mother Sheng had been staying at the base for an extended period, lifting a massive logistical burden from her shoulders by managing the household. Sheng Wanyan was deeply grateful; she refused to take their grueling labor for granted. Consequently, she resolved to secure some nice tokens of appreciation for the elders.
She browsed the counters at the supply and marketing cooperative, but the local inventory was painfully uniform—the same basic utility goods and the exact same drab clothing styles she saw every day. Knowing that women of her mother and mother-in-law’s standing had absolutely no shortage of standard textiles, she bypassed the clothing rack entirely and purchased a few jars of premium vanishing cream. Before the grandmothers officially returned to their respective hometowns, she would find a private window to pull some truly high-grade fabrics from her space to gift them.
After spending all the cash and coupons she had carried out, Sheng Wanyan packed her bicycle with the cooperative purchases and her secret spatial provisions, making her way back to the quarters.
The moment she pedaled into the courtyard, Mother Sheng and Mother Gu hurried out to help her unload, systematically carrying the heavy sacks of grain down into the root cellar.
Once the storage was secure, Sheng Wanyan reached into her basket and presented the small parcels. “Mom, In-law, I bought these jars of vanishing cream for you.”
Seeing the thoughtful gifts, Mother Gu and Mother Sheng beamed with delight. They accepted the offering graciously, entirely unwilling to decline their daughter’s affection.
“In-law, our Wanyan is truly exceptionally filial,” Mother Gu praised, turning to Mother Sheng with a bright smile. “You and your husband have raised an incredibly refined daughter. You are truly blessed.”
Mother Sheng’s chest swelled with pride at the high praise, but she maintained her traditional, humble facade. “Oh, In-law, you flatter us too much. It is entirely Wanyan’s good fortune to be blessed with a magnificent, understanding mother-in-law like yourself.”
Sheng Wanyan sat quietly at the dining table, contentedly sipping her tea and staying entirely out of the conversation. She was perfectly happy to let the two older women engage in their regular routine of mutual flattery.
Over their weeks of shared living, Mother Sheng and Mother Gu had forged an incredibly tight bond, growing as close as biological sisters. They spent their evenings sharing their deepest personal worries, talking through their respective family anxieties, and offering each other profound comfort. As their days blended together, their sisterhood deepened to the point where Mother Gu privately dreaded the thought of separating from her counterpart.
“Wanyan, the household is running perfectly smoothly now, and Tingxiao’s physical recovery is progressing beautifully,” Mother Gu announced over dinner that evening. “I’ll be preparing to board a train back to the Capital by the middle of next month.”
The only reason the high-ranking official had been permitted to remain at the northern base for so long was due to extensive behind-the-scenes administrative maneuvering by the Gu family. Now, after a full month of intensive nursing, the severe lacerations across Gu Tingxiao’s chest and back had successfully closed. Aside from patiently allowing his fractured leg bone to fuse inside the plaster cast, there were no pressing medical crises left to manage.
Sheng Wanyan understood completely. Her mother-in-law held a critical executive position within the capital’s administration, and she had undoubtedly exhausted her entire annual leave allowance just to remain at his bedside. “Mom, please don’t worry about a thing. I will take exceptional care of Tingxiao and little Yi Yi.”
Mother Sheng had also reached the absolute limit of her approved leave. Her schedule aligned perfectly with Mother Gu’s; if she delayed her return to Chengdu any further, it would create administrative complications for her department.
Knowing that the grandmothers would be departing by the middle of October, Sheng Wanyan focused entirely on maximizing their comfort for the remainder of their stay. Having their combined presence in the house provided a massive buffer, allowing her a flexible window to execute her errands. Within another two weeks, Gu Tingxiao’s cast would be ready for removal, allowing him to take his first tentative steps toward physical rehabilitation. The timing of their departure was mathematically perfect.
“Mom, Tingxiao’s injuries are mending beautifully, so you can truly rest easy,” Wanyan reassured her mother-in-law. “In truth, he and I had originally intended to travel back to the capital to celebrate the Lunar New Year with the clan this winter. But given the fragile state of his leg, a long-distance train journey is completely out of the question. We’ll have to wait until next year before we can plan a trip down.”
Mother Gu nodded in unified agreement. She was well aware that a grueling cross-country journey would be disastrous for her son’s healing bone structure, and little Yi Yi was still far too small to tolerate such an exhausting relocation. “There’s absolutely no rush, sweetie. We’ll wait until our little girl grows a bit bigger and sturdier.”
Mother Gu was already profoundly satisfied with the month of quality time she had secured with her granddaughter, raising no demands for a holiday reunion. Furthermore, she knew down to her bones that Wanyan wasn’t avoiding the capital out of malice; her third son’s military obligations and physical limitations dictated their geography.
With the grandmothers’ departure dates locked in, Sheng Wanyan utilized the remaining two weeks to frequently manufacture errands into the city. Armed with the excuse of picking up supplies while she still had extra hands at home to watch the baby, she began systematically moving high-grade winter clothing out of her secret spatial dimension.
Since they wouldn’t be traveling south for the New Year, she was determined to send magnificent holiday gifts back to their respective parental homes. She pulled out premium, thickly insulated winter coats tailored for each elder: Grandpa and Grandma Gu, Father and Mother Gu, and Father and Mother Sheng. Since Grandpa and Grandma Sheng were permanently stationed nearby in Bing City, their garments could be delivered immediately.
“Mercy, child, why on earth did you procure so many luxury items?” Mother Sheng gasped the moment she laid eyes on the heavy, fine-fabric coats. She immediately fretted over the cost, reminding her daughter that nursing a convalescing soldier required a massive financial reserve. How could she afford to be so extravagant?
“Mom, consider these our formal New Year blessings for the entire family,” Sheng Wanyan explained gently. “Since we won’t be physically present to pour tea for the holidays, these coats will represent our warmth.”
Hearing her respectful rationale, Mother Gu smiled and smoothly stepped in to accept the garment. “In-law, look at this piece. How do you think this coat suits my complexion?”
Mother Gu possessed an exceptionally fair, porcelain skin tone, and the vibrant red coat complemented her beautifully, lending her an air of high-society elegance.
“It looks absolutely magnificent,” Mother Sheng praised genuinely. “And what is your assessment of mine?”
Mother Sheng’s coat was a rich, elegant burgundy—a classic, sophisticated shade that aligned flawlessly with her refined personal style.
“It’s beautiful! This tone complements your stature perfectly, In-law,” Mother Gu beamed.
Ever since Father Sheng had been officially promoted to deputy director of the manufacturing workshop back home, Mother Sheng’s overall confidence and bearing had undergone a noticeable elevation. Backed by their improved financial security, she was no longer the gaunt, exhausted woman of her youth; she looked healthy, robust, and radiant.
“Our Wanyan truly possesses an impeccable eye for design,” the grandmothers agreed in unison.
The two older women immediately launched into a fresh round of sweet, sugar-coated praise directed straight at Sheng Wanyan, who listened from the sofa with a bright, entertained smile. Whenever these two mothers shared a room, they could effortlessly stage a magnificent, theatrical production.
Chapter 376: The First Time Called Father, Old Father Was About To Cry
As a junior, Sheng Wanyan could only listen attentively. After all, if Mother Sheng ever got upset, she wasn’t the type to mince words. Deep down, Sheng Wanyan harbored a healthy fear of her mother; Mother Sheng’s absolute authority was practically engraved in her bones.
The two older women packed their new coats and belongings into their respective luggage bags, double-checking everything so nothing would be left behind.
Time flew by, and soon it was the day before Mother Gu and Mother Sheng were scheduled to return home. The two families gathered for a lively farewell dinner, turning what could have been a somber occasion into a warm, bustling celebration.
The hardest part for Mother Gu wasn’t saying goodbye to her son, but parting with her granddaughter, Yi Yi. The little girl was a master at turning on the charm, leaving her grandmother completely captivated. Knowing she had to return to the Capital and wouldn’t see the baby for a long time made Mother Gu incredibly heavy-hearted. If only her third son’s family were stationed in the capital, she wouldn’t have to endure this painful longing.
“Yi Yi, Grandma has to leave tomorrow,” Mother Gu murmured, cradling the baby close. “You must promise to miss Grandma, okay?”
Yi Yi had actually begun to understand everyday speech. At the very least, she knew what the word “leave” meant.
“Nana~” she babbled.
This time, Sheng Wanyan was absolutely certain Yi Yi was genuinely calling for her grandmother, not just making random noises for milk.
“My precious little darling, you don’t want Grandma to go, do you?” Mother Gu’s eyes welled with tears.
“Nana~”
“Oh, my sweet girl, Grandma can’t bear to leave you either.” Mother Gu pulled the baby into a tight embrace, holding her close for a long time, neither of them willing to let go.
But reality is unyielding. No matter how reluctant they were, the time for separation inevitably arrived.
Early the next morning, Sheng Wanze arrived to escort the two elders to the train station. Sheng Wanyan had risen before dawn to prepare a massive spread of portable food for their long journey. Pan Yue had also packed a generous bundle of supplies, carrying her own child along to help the grandmothers settle into their train carriage.
Mother Sheng kissed her grandson and granddaughter one last time before reluctantly stepping onto the train. “Wanyan, Xiaoyue, you two must take good care of yourselves and the children.”
“Yes, Wanyan, mind your health and look after the baby,” Mother Gu echoed, her eyes pinned entirely on Yi Yi, who was being held in Wanyan’s arms.
“Don’t worry, Mom,” Sheng Wanyan reassured them, offering a comforting smile.
The train hissed to life, and the two mothers departed, their faces pressed against the window. It was at that exact moment that Yi Yi fully conceptualized what her grandmother meant by “leave” the night before. Grandma and Grandma-in-law were pulling away in that massive iron machine, and they weren’t coming back to the apartment.
“Whaaa… Waaah!”
The baby girl burst into a sudden, frantic sob. Sheng Wanyan immediately pulled her tight against her shoulder, rocking her back and forth. “Shh, it’s alright, sweetie…”
“Nana… Waiwai…” Yi Yi wailed, her little chest heaving as tears streamed down her face. Children have an innate clarity about who showers them with genuine affection, and she was thoroughly heartbroken.
As Yi Yi’s weeping intensified, little Huzi across the platform caught the emotional wave and began sobbing as well, staring mournfully down the tracks where the train had vanished. The twin toddlers wailed so loudly that their heart-wrenching cries carried all the way down the platform, leaving Mother Gu and Mother Sheng feeling incredibly distressed inside their compartment. Hearing those raw, aggrieved tears from a distance was truly agonizing.
Sheng Wanyan carried the weeping baby back to the apartment, teaming up with Gu Tingxiao to soothe her.
“Alright, look at Mommy, sweetheart. We’re going to travel to the Capital next year, and you’ll get to see Grandma very soon,” Wanyan coaxed gently, wiping her face. “Don’t cry anymore. The moment Mommy has a free window from work, I’ll take you straight back to Grandma’s courtyard to play, okay?”
Yet, no matter how many soft promises Sheng Wanyan whispered, Yi Yi remained entirely inconsolable, her tears falling without stop.
Gu Tingxiao carefully reached out, shifting the baby into his own arms. He held her securely against his chest, his large hand gently patting her back in a steady, rhythmic motion to ground her. Yi Yi buried her tear-soaked little face deep into his shirt, her small frame trembling. To her toddler mind, the world had become a tragic place; Grandma and Grandma-in-law had vanished, and she missed them terribly.
“Mommy and Daddy are right here with you. Don’t cry, my sweet girl,” Gu Tingxiao murmured. One parent provided a solid, protective embrace while the other offered endless, tender reassurances.
Yi Yi wept for a long time until her energy completely spent itself. Eventually, her heavy eyelids fluttered shut, and she fell into a fitful sleep, her little shoulders occasionally twitching with leftover sobs even in her dreams.
Gu Tingxiao held her upright against his shoulder for a long while, waiting until her ragged breathing finally slowed into a peaceful pattern. He gently wiped the moisture from her cheeks and nose before carefully settling her onto the mattress.
By the time the toddler was fully settled, both parents were completely drenched in sweat from the emotional ordeal. Sheng Wanyan hadn’t anticipated that her daughter would experience such a devastating heartbreak over their departure.
“Wanyan, go pour yourself a glass of water first,” Gu Tingxiao urged softly. His wife had spent the last hour tirelessly whispering comforts, and her throat was visibly dry.
“Alright. You should close your eyes and rest for a bit too.” Gu Tingxiao had also been thoroughly put through the emotional ringer. Once Sheng Wanyan quenched her thirst, she filled a fresh glass and carried it over to his bedside. “Drink up. I’m going to step into the kitchen and get lunch started.”
Now that Mother Gu and Mother Sheng had officially returned south, the entirety of the domestic chores and household management reverted squarely back to Sheng Wanyan’s shoulders.
“My beautiful wife, thank you for working so hard for this family,” Gu Tingxiao said, his dark eyes filled with a raw, appreciative tenderness.
Sheng Wanyan smiled, shaking her head as she smoothed his collar. She knew her husband felt a profound sense of protective guilt for his physical limitations right now. “Stop trying to sweet-talk me. Just keep a sharp eye on Yi Yi while she sleeps.”
She walked down the hall to organize the grandmothers’ vacated bedroom, stripping the linens and carrying the heavy quilts and pillows out to the courtyard to air out in the autumn sunshine. After tossing the sheets and pillowcases into the wash basin and hanging them across the line to dry, she stepped into the kitchen to prep their midday meal.
Since the household was down to just her and Gu Tingxiao, she could afford to keep the menu elegantly simple, focusing strictly on maximizing her husband’s nutritional intake. After more than a month of rigorous bed rest and her secret, fortified spring-water treatments, Gu Tingxiao was no longer the skeletal figure who had collapsed across her threshold. The muscle tissue and healthy weight were steadily mending across his frame.
Recalling the state of his body on the day of his return still sent a chill of pure terror through Sheng Wanyan’s spine. Back then, it had felt as though he were nothing but a collection of sharp bones wrapped in bruised skin, entirely devoid of healthy flesh. Thankfully, his body was reclaiming its vitality, and the gruesome lacerations across his torso had officially closed into clean scar tissue.
Sheng Wanyan prepared a batch of rich, savory barbecued pork noodles, carrying the steaming bowls into the master bedroom so they could share the meal together. Now that the elders were gone, she no longer had to maintain the formal dining room etiquette, allowing them to enjoy a quiet, cozy picnic at his bedside. Once lunch concluded, she curled up alongside her husband and daughter to take a peaceful afternoon nap.
Having cried herself to exhaustion earlier, Yi Yi woke from her nap significantly ahead of her usual schedule, her eyes blinking open right at one o’clock.
The moment she was awake, she scrambled across the mattress and buried herself straight into Sheng Wanyan’s arms, still harboring a lingering, vulnerable melancholy that demanded her mother’s physical comfort. Sensing her daughter’s fragile mood, Sheng Wanyan gently stroked her back, planting a soft kiss against her hair.
“Yi Yi, would you like Mommy to mix a warm bottle of milk for you?”
“Mm~” the baby sniffled, her eyes still rimmed with a faint pink.
Sheng Wanyan kissed her forehead one more time before shifting her securely into Gu Tingxiao’s lap. “Hold her for a moment while I run to the kitchen.”
Gu Tingxiao had also cleared his nap. The absolute second his eyes opened and he caught the lingering, aggrieved pout clouding his daughter’s face, his fatherly instincts flared. He reached down, clamped his hands beneath her arms, and hoisted her high up into the air over his chest.
The sudden, dramatic elevation caught the baby girl completely by surprise. She let out a tiny gasp of thrill, momentarily startled before a bright grin broke across her face. Gu Tingxiao methodically swayed her through the air, utilizing the high-energy game to break her melancholy. Sure enough, within minutes, the memory of her grandmothers’ departure was completely replaced by the thrill of flight.
“Giggle, giggle, giggle!”
Yi Yi soared through the air, her melodic laughter echoing through the bedroom as pure joy washed over her features. Daddy is absolutely magnificent! she thought.
After a few more minutes of aerial acrobatics, the baby girl finally had her fill of the excitement. She relaxed downward, sprawling her chubby little body right across Gu Tingxiao’s chest, entirely content to lounge against him.
“Ba~” she murmured softly into his collar.
Gu Tingxiao froze, his entire body stiffening against the mattress. “What did you say?” he gasped, wondering if his ears were playing a cruel trick on his mind.
After all, Yi Yi had long since mastered the vocabulary for her grandmother, her grandmother-in-law, and her mother, yet the title for her father had remained entirely absent from her repertoire. No matter how meticulously the family had attempted to coach her over the past month, the stubborn little girl had comprehensively refused to utter the word, leaving her old father entirely without validation.
This sudden, unprompted syllable of “Baba” caught the formidable commander completely off guard, shattering his stoic composure.
Sheng Wanyan stepped back into the bedroom balancing the warm bottle of formula, only to find her husband staring blankly at the ceiling, his expression utterly dazed.
“What on earth is going on with you?” she asked, setting the bottle down. “Why do you look like you’ve just seen a ghost? Don’t tell me your daughter actually just called you Daddy?”
Sheng Wanyan had been deeply attuned to the quiet, simmering frustration lurking in her husband’s chest over the past few weeks. He had been absolutely desperate for the girl to recognize his status, yet their daughter had consistently refused to grant her old father that satisfaction.
Gu Tingxiao slowly turned his head to look at her, his voice tight with an overwhelming emotion. “Wanyan… how did you know?”
Sheng Wanyan blinked, completely stunned. Wait, it actually happened?
Chapter 377: A Slap in the Face to Gu Tingxiao
“Yi Yi, call me Daddy again,” Sheng Wanyan urged, her own voice laced with excitement. She, too, hoped her husband could finally get what he had been longing for.
Yi Yi was in a fantastic mood, still riding the high of her magnificent flying game. Hearing her mother’s prompt, she let out a delighted, booming shout.
“Baba! Puff puff puff~“
Along with the word, the baby girl accidentally blew a joyous spray of drool right onto Gu Tingxiao’s face. But the old father didn’t care in the slightest. He hauled her into a tight squeeze and planted a fierce, adoring kiss right on her cheek.
After weeks of yearning, his fatherly pride was finally validated. Sheng Wanyan watched the display, thoroughly amused.
“Alright, hurry up and feed your precious daughter. Now that she knows the word, she might just follow you around from now on.” She smiled, heading for the door. “You’ll be hearing her call you Daddy every single day.”
Gu Tingxiao eagerly took the warm bottle and fed it to Yi Yi. The independent little girl didn’t actually need him to hold it; she easily grasped the bottle with her own chubby hands and began chugging the formula down. When it came to her meals, she drank like a champion, sparing the adults any worry.
“Ah~“
Once she emptied the bottle, Yi Yi let out a long, content sigh, patted her visibly bulging little belly, and handed the empty container back to her father. She carried herself exactly like an old man relaxing after a heavy feast—a spectacularly funny sight.
Sheng Wanyan shook her head with a soft laugh, took the bottle to the kitchen to wash it, and left the father and daughter alone to strengthen their new bond.
A little later, Sheng Wanyan carried a full bucket of water out to her private plot to water her newly sowed winter vegetables. This happened to be the precise hour when the military wives gathered across the lanes to pass the time, and the moment she materialized, the neighborhood dependents began casting stealthy, hesitant glances in her direction.
Deep down, the women felt a heavy wave of embarrassment. They desperately wanted to ease the tension and repair their relationship with Sheng Wanyan, but they had absolutely no idea how to bridge the gap. They were kicking themselves now—how on earth had they let their heads get so hot that they blindly followed Liang Qian in spreading those venomous rumors?
Now, Regiment Commander Gu was slated for a massive, glorious promotion, and his wife commanded an independent fortune from her translation work. They had effectively offended the most powerful household in the compound. In the future, if their own families ever faced an administrative crisis or needed a favor, they wouldn’t even have the face to knock on Wanyan’s door.
Sheng Wanyan completely ignored them. For the sake of Gu Tingxiao’s military career, she was perfectly willing to maintain a polite, superficial harmony on the base, but she had absolutely zero intention of cultivating close friendships with people who lacked basic integrity.
Once she finished tending to her crops, Yang Wanshu, the wife of Deputy Battalion Commander Wang, strolled over to chat. Facing such an inherently gentle, soft-spoken woman, Sheng Wanyan automatically lowered her own voice, speaking with a matching tenderness. Deputy Battalion Commander Wang was truly a lucky man to have secured such a kind, elegant spouse. Sheng Wanyan had harbored a stellar impression of Yang Wanshu from the very beginning; every word that spilled from her lips left people feeling comfortable.
“The regiment transport truck is bound for the city tomorrow morning, Wanyan. Are you planning to catch a ride?”
Sheng Wanyan track-mapped the dates in her mind and nodded. She needed a legitimate window to retrieve fresh provisions from her spatial dimension and transport them home, so she naturally wouldn’t let an opportunity to leave the base slip by. “Yes, I’ll be going.”
“Wonderful. I’ll wait for you at the compound checkpoint tomorrow morning, then.”
Sheng Wanyan nodded, solidifying the arrangement, and carried her empty bucket back inside.
The moment she crossed the threshold, she briefed Gu Tingxiao on her itinerary, reminding him that he would be solely responsible for looking after Yi Yi the following morning. Although his right leg was securely locked inside a heavy plaster cast, his upper body was perfectly mobile, meaning he could easily supervise a toddler from the mattress. The hot water vacuum flask was stationed right by the bedside table alongside the tin of milk powder, allowing him to mix a fresh bottle the second the baby fussed.
Furthermore, at this stage of her development, Yi Yi didn’t soil her diapers nearly as frequently as she had during her newborn months, vastly reducing the labor. The most critical directive was simply ensuring she didn’t miss her feeding window. Sheng Wanyan intended to leave a pre-made lunch warming inside a thermal pot in the kitchen; when needed, Gu Tingxiao could easily navigate the short corridor using his cane to feed himself.
“Don’t worry about a thing, Wife,” Gu Tingxiao said smoothly. “With winter fast approaching, I’ll hold down the fort and keep a sharp eye on our girl. You should take all the time you need tomorrow to shop and clear your head.”
He was well aware that his wife had been running herself ragged trying to prep their household for the oncoming freeze, carrying the entire physical burden of securing food and firewood on her own shoulders. Confined to the bed, he couldn’t assist her with the manual labor, but he was fiercely determined to manage his own care and look after their child.
Sheng Wanyan detected the quiet thread of protective guilt lurking in his voice, and she immediately shifted to offer him a comforting distraction. “Alright, I’m leaving her entirely in your custody. Let’s see if our little girl prefers her mother or her father by the time I ride back tomorrow afternoon.”
Gu Tingxiao knew his wife was merely deploying a clever distraction to ease his mind. But a standard comfort wrapped in empty phrases wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy him; he required a much more tangible reassurance.
He lunged forward, caught her wrist, and hauled her straight into his chest. Leaning down, he whispered a few deeply suggestive, low-baritone syllables directly against the shell of her ear.
Sheng Wanyan’s face flushed a violent, burning crimson in an instant.
“In your dreams!” she gasped out.
Fiercely shoving his chest, she broke free from his grip and sprinted out of the master bedroom, her cheeks burning as she fled toward the safety of the kitchen. Standing over the countertops, the residual heat refused to leave her skin; every single time the explicit nature of his whisper echoed through her thoughts, a wave of profound, burning embarrassment consumed her.
She raised her palms, firmly patting her cheeks to force her mind back to reality. She couldn’t allow herself to degenerate into a woman who focused entirely on carnal pleasures! If she indulged his shameless appetite any further, it would become an incredibly dangerous habit. Staring at the stove, Sheng Wanyan made a firm, tactical decision: until Gu Tingxiao’s broken bones and raw lacerations were comprehensively healed, they were going to sleep in completely separate bedrooms.
Consequently, right before the house settled down for the night, Gu Tingxiao looked up from his pillows only to witness his beautiful wife systematically gathering their daughter, a fresh change of clothes, and her own pillow into a tight bundle.
“Hold on… Wife, what on earth are you doing?” he asked, his eyes widening.
Sheng Wanyan fixed him with an unyielding, thoroughly professional look, her delicate features tight with absolute seriousness. “Comrade Gu Tingxiao, your physical wounds have yet to achieve a state of comprehensive tissue regeneration. For the sake of your medical recovery, I have concluded that we must maintain separate sleeping quarters for the foreseeable future. Once the clinical team officially clears your health, we may resume a shared arrangement.”
Hearing her formal, highly academic banishment, Gu Tingxiao was caught somewhere between a sharp irritation and profound amusement. My goodness, he realized, I pushed the boundary a fraction too far this afternoon and completely spooked my wife out of the room.
“Wanyan, look at me. I strongly believe your current proposal is highly… suboptimal.”
“My decision is finalized,” she countered smoothly. She hadn’t marched into his room to negotiate a compromise; she was merely delivering an administrative notification.
But she had severely underestimated the strategic depth of her husband’s cunning. The moment the formidable commander chose to abandon his pride and weaponize a pitiful facade, very few women on earth could withstand the onslaught.
“Wanyan, enforcing separate bedrooms is inherently destructive to the structural harmony of a marriage,” he murmured, his dark eyes melting into a mask of pure, sorrowful vulnerability. “Furthermore, it sets a terrible precedent for our daughter’s developmental environment. What if Yi Yi senses the sudden distance and concludes there is a severe crisis fracturing her parents’ bond? How are we supposed to repair that psychological damage?”
“I…” Sheng Wanyan opened her mouth, her mind stalling. Our daughter is literally one year old, she thought blankly. How on earth is a baby going to analyze marital geometry?
But before she could vocalize the objection, Gu Tingxiao smoothly cut off her retreat, his voice dropping into a fragile, pathetic rasp. “Besides, I am still technically a high-risk medical patient. If my internal trauma flares up or I experience an agonizing complication in the absolute dead of night… I’ll be entirely isolated in this room. What am I supposed to do then?”
“You…”
Sheng Wanyan was left comprehensively speechless. Over their past month of rigorous convalescence, the man hadn’t experienced a single middle-of-the-night emergency. Was he honestly implying her advanced spatial medicine was a total joke?
Yet, as he continued his low, persuasive murmuring, his large hands carefully reached out, systematically reclaiming their belongings. First, he smoothly slipped the pillow from her grip; next, he anchored the baby securely against his uninjured side; and finally, before she could calculate the shift, his arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her right back down onto the mattress.
Sheng Wanyan, finding herself neatly installed right back into their shared bed: “……”
This man has completely stripped every single trick from under the sun, she thought, utterly defeated by his shameless tactics.
Gu Tingxiao let out a long, thoroughly satisfied breath, locking his arms around her waist to securely anchor her against his side. Sheng Wanyan remained hyper-vigilant, her mind still racing over his intense whispers from the afternoon, terrified that he would lose control of his base instincts and aggravate his wounds. But the exhaustion of her daily labor eventually caught up to her, and her eyes closed as she drifted into a deep sleep.
Sheng Wanyan’s breathing finally leveled out into a rhythmic pattern, signaling she was out cold. Gu Tingxiao let out a quiet sigh of relief, a tender warmth flooding his chest. Reaching up with a playful finger, he gently pinched the tip of her delicate nose.
In her sleep, Sheng Wanyan’s brow furrowed in deep irritation. Instinctively reacting to the disruption of her hard-earned rest, her hand whipped through the darkness with lightning speed, delivering a resounding smack straight across his jaw.
Pah!
Gu Tingxiao’s pupils constricted in absolute shock. He froze, his palm flying up to cup his stinging cheek as he stared down at his soundly sleeping wife in pure, unadulterated disbelief.
Unbothered by his trauma, Sheng Wanyan merely let out a soft, content sigh, flipped her body over to face the opposite wall, and curled herself tightly around the quilt, snoring softly.
