Chapter 258: A Dangerous Mission
“I’ll check the mail room tomorrow to see if you have any packages.”
“Mm~”
Sheng Wanyan was thoroughly exhausted. Ever since her baby bump had grown larger, Gu Tingxiao had taken to spooning her from behind when they slept. Shifting closer, she settled into his warm, protective embrace, her eyelids growing heavier by the second.
“Go to sleep, sweetheart,” Gu Tingxiao murmured, rhythmically patting her back. Within moments, Sheng Wanyan drifted off. He pulled the quilt securely over her shoulders, holding her tightly in his arms, completely at peace.
The next morning, however, the peaceful atmosphere was shattered by the screeching voice of the elderly Mrs. Du. She was out in the lane throwing a massive fit, loudly accusing the military leadership of treating her son unfairly. In her eyes, denying Battalion Commander Du his promotion was a grave injustice; after all, stepping up from battalion commander to regiment commander was a massive leap in status.
Inside the Du household, Liang Qian was practically vibrating with rage as she listened to the old woman’s unhinged rant. Is this old crone actively trying to get us killed by insulting the military like that? If the Du family had a death wish, that was their business, but Liang Qian certainly valued her own life. If this public insanity ended up sabotaging her standing in the military art troupe, she would make sure the Du family paid dearly.
She truly hadn’t expected her husband to be so completely incompetent. Why on earth had she rushed into marrying him? Compared to Gu Tingxiao, the gap between the two men was an absolute chasm. The more pathetic Captain Du proved to be, the more Liang Qian’s mind twisted back to how perfect Gu Tingxiao was.
Eventually, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law began screaming at each other, prompting the surrounding neighbors to pop their heads out to enjoy the free entertainment. Inside her own home, Sheng Wanyan let out a tired sigh at the commotion. The two women clearly possessed zero tolerance for one another, meaning their household was fated for endless dysfunction.
Seeking peace, Sheng Wanyan decided to slip into her spatial domain to escape the noise.
Right now, Mrs. Du was somewhat intimidated by Liang Qian’s prominent family background, but that wouldn’t last forever. Unless the Liang family possessed absolute immortality and could shield her until the day the old woman died, Mrs. Du’s volatile personality would eventually boil over. Even if she feigned obedience on the surface, she undoubtedly harbored a mountain of bitter resentment toward her new daughter-in-law.
Furthermore, Captain Du wasn’t her only child; she had both an older and a younger son. As the middle child, Captain Du wasn’t actually his mother’s favorite. The only reason she coddled him now was because he was successful, and she wanted to keep him under her thumb so he would financially support his siblings back home. Since Captain Du wasn’t the apple of her eye, she naturally held zero genuine affection for his high-maintenance wife.
The screaming match dragged on for the entire morning until Mrs. Du, still ultimately outmatched by Liang Qian’s status, finally shut her mouth. While Liang Qian technically won this round, she had permanently alienated her mother-in-law.
Seeing that the show was over, the neighborhood wives dispersed and hurried back to their kitchens. If they didn’t get lunch started immediately, their husbands would have nothing to eat when they returned from midday drill.
Sheng Wanyan checked the clock; it was already half past eleven, so she stepped out of her space to cook. Hearing nothing but dead silence from across the lane, she figured Liang Qian had successfully suppressed the old crone.
She pulled a handful of noodles from her spatial domain. She had a plentiful supply of rich, pre-made broth stored inside, which she used directly as a savory soup base. Tossing in a few fresh greens and a couple of eggs, she finished the dish just as Gu Tingxiao walked through the door.
He had stopped by the mail room as promised and was carrying a massive parcel. “Wife, this one is incredibly heavy.”
Sheng Wanyan had anticipated that the publishing house would send a substantial amount of material, but for even Gu Tingxiao to comment on the weight… it had to be an extraordinary volume.
After they finished their noodles, she eagerly tore the package open. Her jaw dropped—the editors had literally doubled her usual workload. They had sent a total of ten books. Who gave them the impression I could possibly handle this much? she thought, half-amused and half-stunned. If she ever met the chief editor in person, she would definitely have a word with him. The higher-ups’ ability to misinterpret her efficiency was truly spectacular; just because she mentioned she could manage a steady pace, they took it as an invitation to dump an entire library on her desk.
“Wife, why did they send so many this time?” Gu Tingxiao asked, his brow furrowing.
“The department in the capital is in a desperate rush for these technical manuals,” she explained. “Since I’m just staying home with nothing much to do, I figure I might as well translate more.”
Gu Tingxiao’s frown deepened. He knew his wife well enough to know this hadn’t been her original plan. “But you’re pregnant. How can you possibly take on this much extra labor?”
Seeing his intense worry, Sheng Wanyan smiled and patted his arm reassuringly. “Don’t worry, I have plenty of time. I’ll just pace myself and get through them.”
She was entirely sincere. Thanks to the time dilation inside her spatial domain, she could easily knock out the work by slipping inside for just a few sessions. It wouldn’t cause her an ounce of physical fatigue, and she wanted to maximize her earnings while she still had uninterrupted free time. Once the baby arrived, her schedule would be completely hijacked, and she would likely have to scale her workload back to five books or fewer.
Hearing her confident tone, Gu Tingxiao knew she wasn’t just boasting. “Your health must come first, Wanyan. If the pressure becomes too much, tell me, and I’ll have Grandpa speak to the department.”
Sheng Wanyan nodded. Gu Tingxiao was incredibly sharp; he had instantly deduced that the Gu family’s military connections were tied to the publishing house’s urgent requests. “I know. Don’t worry, I won’t overexert myself.”
She had always been highly disciplined. Knowing she understood her own limits, Gu Tingxiao didn’t press the matter further, though he privately resolved to step in and force her to rest if he noticed her pushing too hard.
That afternoon, Sheng Wanyan locked the front door and entered her spatial domain to begin working. Before sitting down at her desk, she wandered over to harvest some fresh fruit. Strawberries and mangosteens were her absolute favorites lately, so she washed them thoroughly, peeled the mangosteens, and carried a large bowl into her workspace. She also brought out a plate of spicy chicken feet and a few snacks to keep her energy up before diving into the texts.
Because time flowed much slower inside the domain, spending just two hours a day inside was more than enough to translate the entire batch. Completely absorbed in the complex technical language, she made spectacular progress, far exceeding her daily target.
By the time she finished her two-hour session, a familiar wave of pregnancy fatigue washed over her. She stepped out of the domain, planning to take a nap on the kang, but made sure to retrieve their dinner from her storage first. Craving something rustic and wholesome, she pulled out ten freshly baked corn tortillas. They were still wonderfully warm, soft, and slightly sweet. Unable to resist, she immediately ate two on the spot.
For the rest of the meal, she pulled out some pre-cooked sweet potatoes and sweet corn, needing only to reheat them later. She was far too lazy to cook a complex meal tonight, and corn was exceptionally nutritious anyway. She would just simmer a simple pot of porridge to go with it.
When evening approached, Sheng Wanyan put a pot of millet porridge on the stove to boil. The winter air was biting, and a warm, comforting bowl was exactly what they needed. She heated up the tortillas, corn, and sweet potatoes, setting the table just as Gu Tingxiao returned from the regiment.
Seeing the spread of coarse grains on the table, Gu Tingxiao didn’t voice a single question. He simply sat down and happily ate whatever his wife served him.
“Wife,” he said quietly, setting his bowl down after a few minutes. “I’ve been assigned to a mission. I leave in two days.”
Sheng Wanyan, who had been half-dozing in her chair, instantly snapped awake, her entire body tensing. “For how long?”
She was due to give birth in just four months; the thought of him deploying at such a critical juncture sent a sharp spike of anxiety through her chest.
“Two months at most,” he answered, his eyes fixed on hers.
The moment he stated the duration, Sheng Wanyan knew the operation was of immense national importance; otherwise, it would never require an officer of his rank to be away for so long. Furthermore, she could easily deduce that the mission was taking him outside the country’s borders. Internal deployments within China rarely exceeded a month and a half, and any domestic operation dragging past that mark meant the situation had deteriorated into extreme volatility.
A two-month deployment meant he was stepping into incredibly dangerous territory.
Despite reading between the lines, Sheng Wanyan didn’t press for details. Military operations were strictly classified, and as an officer’s wife, she knew when it was best to play dumb.
A heavy, poignant silence settled over the dining table. Over the past few months, they had been practically joined at the hip, growing deeply dependent on each other’s constant presence. Gu Tingxiao understood that she needed time to process the news, so he simply reached across the table, wrapping his large hand around hers and waiting patiently.
In the end, Sheng Wanyan looked into his eyes and whispered a single, fierce directive: “Just come back to me safely.”
There were no further words spoken that night.
