Chapter 173: Confronted Captain Wu
Sheng Wanyan began passing around bowls of rich chicken soup, and seeing her serve them, several of the soldiers quickly jumped to their feet to take over.
“Sister-in-law, please, we can serve ourselves.”
“Yes, sister-in-law, let us do it.”
Seeing how polite and slightly flustered they were, Wanyan didn’t want to make them uncomfortable, so she smiled and let them help themselves to the food.
However, she personally placed a bowl down in front of Gu Tingxiao. He picked it up, his eyes softening as he gently blew across the steaming surface.
“Make yourselves at home, everyone. I won’t hover over you,” Wanyan told the table.
Hearing this, the comrades quickly nodded, assuring her not to worry about them. They were just a bunch of rough soldiers; as long as there was meat to eat and wine to drink, they were more than happy.
“This soup is incredible,” Political Commissar Xie praised, letting out a satisfied Ah! after taking a deep sip. “You’re a lucky kid, Tingxiao.”
“It really is delicious, though it simmered for over three hours,” Aunt Xie chimed in proudly. She added with a grin, “I’ll take half the credit for this soup, though. I’m the one who dispatched the chicken.”
“I truly couldn’t have managed without Auntie’s help,” Wanyan agreed warmly. “If she hadn’t stepped in, we probably wouldn’t have this on the table tonight.”
Wanyan had forgotten to purchase any soda or juice in the city, so she raised her bowl of soup to offer Aunt Xie a toast instead.
“Think nothing of it,” Aunt Xie waved her hand dismissively, drinking down her soup with a bright smile. It was just a minor favor, barely worth mentioning. Besides, Wanyan had proven herself to be an incredibly generous host, providing expensive syrup water, sweets, and a mountain of meat, clearly terrified of not providing enough for her guests.
“What?? You don’t know how to kill a chicken?”
At the other end of the table, Captain Wu’s wife, Zhang Zhaodi, stared at Wanyan, her face twisting into an ugly expression as if she had just smelled something rotting.
Wanyan didn’t think there was anything shameful about admitting her limitations. She didn’t know how to do it, and frankly, she had no intention of learning.
“Mmh,” Wanyan hummed with a polite smile. Although she intensely disliked Zhang Zhaodi, she maintained her composure for the sake of the dinner party.
“Merciful heavens! A grown woman who can’t even slaughter a chicken? Is Captain Gu going to starve in the future?” Zhang Zhaodi scoffed loudly. “Most families marry a woman to manage the household and do the heavy lifting. Captain Gu married a pampered ancestor to put on a pedestal!”
A collective frown rippled around the table. While it was certainly unusual for a woman in this era not to know how to process poultry, Gu Tingxiao—her actual husband—hadn’t said a single negative word about it. It was completely out of line for an outsider to try and lecture another man’s wife in her own home.
“Shut your mouth!” Captain Wu barked, his face turning a furious shade of red.
Faced with her husband’s dark glare, Zhang Zhaodi swallowed her remaining insults, awkwardly clamping her mouth shut.
Captain Wu immediately shot a nervous glance toward Gu Tingxiao. Seeing his superior’s jaw clench and his expression turn frigid, Captain Wu felt a cold sweat break out on the back of his neck.
Damn it, he cursed inwardly. His wife’s loose tongue was going to be the death of him. Gu Tingxiao might not say anything to Zhang Zhaodi directly, but as his subordinate, Captain Wu knew he could be subjected to a brutal, punishing drill on the training grounds at any moment in retaliation.
“Wife, have a chicken leg,” Gu Tingxiao said smoothly, completely ignoring Zhang Zhaodi as he placed a prime cut of meat into Wanyan’s bowl. He looked at her steadily. “From now on, whatever chores you don’t want to do around the house, just leave them to me.”
Hearing Gu Tingxiao state his stance so openly, several of the comrades exchanged surprised looks. They truly felt their commanding officer had transformed into a completely different person after getting married. The famously cold, iron-hearted devil had softened immensely—though it was obvious that this rare, protective gentleness was strictly reserved for his wife alone.
It was clear that Sheng Wanyan held an untouchable position in Gu Tingxiao’s heart—several degrees higher than any of them had imagined.
“Sister-in-law, my wife speaks without thinking. Please don’t take her nonsense to heart,” Captain Wu apologized hastily to Wanyan.
Wanyan simply smiled, the corners of her lips turning up in mild amusement, making it clear she hadn’t taken the insult seriously at all. “It’s quite alright. I never bother arguing with people who lack basic common sense.”
Captain Wu: “…”
Her elegant response smoothly implied that his wife was completely brainless.
Yet… he honestly couldn’t find a single flaw in her logic.
Political Commissar Xie took a slow, assessing look at Sheng Wanyan. It seemed the bride Gu Tingxiao had brought home was far from a weak, easy target. Any military wife hoping to use her seniority or rural toughness to bully this city girl was likely going to walk away with severe burns.
Gu Tingxiao was an exceptionally capable officer, and many eyes were fixed on his rising career. The woman running his household needed to be someone who could remain sharp and unbothered in a crisis. Sheng Wanyan fit that bill perfectly.
“Come on, men, fill your cups! It’s a celebration, let’s have a drink!” Political Commissar Xie announced loudly, using his natural charisma to smooth over the lingering tension. The moment the local liquor hit the table, the rough soldiers immediately perked up, the awkwardness dissolving into eager cheers.
Everyone raised a glass together. Though Zhang Zhaodi was silently seething over being publicly humiliated by both her husband and her host, she forced a stiff, unnatural smile onto her face and kept her mouth shut.
“Here, Lao Fang, try the braised pork. I’m the one who sliced the meat,” Xu Guihua boasted proudly, dropping a piece into her husband’s bowl. “I washed the greens too, so you’d better eat a lot.” She lifted her chin, looking at Commander Fang expectantly.
Commander Fang nodded rapidly, shoving the pork into his mouth. “Delicious, wife. You’re incredibly skilled at slicing meat.”
“Well, naturally.”
“Eggies~”
At the end of the table, two-year-old Goudan stared at the platter of steamed egg custard, a string of drool escaping his lips. Smiling, Wanyan took a clean spoon and scooped a generous, wobbly piece into his small bowl.
“Here you go, Goudan. Your mama brought these eggs over herself, so they’re extra delicious,” Wanyan teased the toddler.
Goudan’s eyes widened with pure delight at the wiggling custard. “Pwetty Auntie~ Hello~” he babbled. He was a delightfully chubby, bright-eyed little boy, radiating a natural cleverness.
Hearing his sweet, babyish voice, Wanyan felt her heart melt completely. A well-behaved, cheerful toddler who didn’t throw tantrums was truly a joy to be around.
Beside him, Captain Wang’s youngest son, An’an—who notoriously hated eating—was currently devouring his meal with surprising enthusiasm.
The previous day, when Wanyan had briefly held An’an’s wrist, she had subtly checked his pulse. She discovered that the boy suffered from a severely weakened spleen and stomach, though it wasn’t a critical, untreatable illness. His digestive system was simply too fragile to process the rough, unrefined coarse grains that made up the standard compound diet; whenever he tried to swallow them, his body naturally rejected the harsh textures, leading to his frequent vomiting.
To properly heal and restore his stomach, he needed to be fed a consistent diet of soft, refined grains. However, Wanyan hadn’t quite figured out how to broach the subject with Yang Wanshu. After all, Wanyan was just a newly arrived military wife with no known medical background. The base doctors hadn’t been able to diagnose the issue, so if she suddenly started handing out medical advice, people would likely assume she was either making things up or desperately seeking attention. If they didn’t believe her, she would just become the compound laughingstock.
“Mom, can I have more porridge?”
An’an held up his empty bowl toward Yang Wanshu. She blinked down at him, utterly stunned by the sight. Trembling slightly with excitement, she stood up to take the bowl.
“Of… of course, sweetie. Mom will get you some more.”
“An’an has an incredible appetite today!” Captain Wang noted, his eyes widening in shock. His youngest son was actually asking for a second bowl of porridge. Normally, the boy would be retching after forcing down just half a bowl.
“An’an, is it really that tasty?” Wang asked gently.
“It’s yummy,” the little boy nodded happily. “The porridge is super soft.”
Yang Wanshu set the refilled bowl down, and An’an immediately picked up his spoon and began eating again.
Hearing his son’s exact words, Captain Wang stared at the porridge in his own bowl. A sudden realization struck him, and he looked back at the boy with barely contained excitement. “An’an… when you drink the porridge at home, is it not soft?”
An’an shook his head. Drinking the coarse grain porridge at home always scratched his throat and made his tummy hurt. “Not soft. Auntie’s is soft~”
At his answer, everything finally clicked into place for Captain Wang. When An’an was an infant starting on soft, refined complementary foods, he had eaten perfectly fine. It was only when they transitioned him onto the standard household diet of rough, coarse grains that he had begun vomiting everything back up.
This kid… he just has the stomach of a wealthy aristocrat!
“Does this mean An’an can only digest refined grains?” Yang Wanshu asked, her voice trembling. She was a highly intelligent woman; the moment she heard her husband’s line of questioning, the pieces fell into place for her as well.
