Chapter 315| Chapter 316| Chapter 317
Chapter 315: Sheng Wanyan Wants Shares!
“Hello, leaders.”
Gu Tingxiao held his daughter tightly with one arm and offered a crisp salute to the panel with the other. No matter how one looked at it, the sight was a bit comical.
The senior commanders couldn’t bear to look at him. The man was an absolute slave to his daughter, and he practically bragged about how well-behaved the infant was to anyone who would listen at the barracks every day.
“What do you have tucked in there?” the regiment commander asked, gesturing toward his uniform.
“My daughter.”
Gu Tingxiao unzipped his heavy military coat, parting the thick wool to show the panel. The commanders leaned forward, catching a glimpse of a tiny, fair, and incredibly tender baby girl. Facing such innocence, not a single soul dared to scold him.
Under normal protocol, bringing an infant into a high-level briefing room was a massive breach of discipline. But when the commanders remembered that the baby’s mother was the absolute protagonist of this meeting, and the father was merely playing a supporting role, they swallowed their complaints and endured it.
Little Yi Yi was now just over four months old and exceptionally well-behaved. She didn’t cry or cause a fuss; instead, she blinked her wide, watery eyes at the panel and even offered the stern commanders a tiny, toothless smile.
Sitting across the long table, Director Pan quickly shifted his gaze toward his notes, fighting to keep his composure so he wouldn’t be completely captivated by the little creature. This was a critical administrative briefing; he couldn’t let a baby derail the regiment’s business.
Yi Yi smattered her tiny lips, and Gu Tingxiao seamlessly guided a warm bottle into her mouth, bracing his large hand to support it. The infant drank greedily, her round eyes rolling as she surveyed the room. She was undeniably adorable.
Director Pan tried to look away, but his eyes kept drifting back to her face. Good heavens, he thought, a wave of grandfatherly envy hitting his chest. Why does this little thing look even cuter than my own grandson?
Back at the apartment blocks, little Huzi suddenly sneezed, entirely unaware of the betrayal.
The core agenda of the meeting was the mass production of the cold remedy. Specifically, the department leaders wanted to know how to process her raw herbal brew into stable, dissolvable granules that could withstand long-term storage without losing potency.
To bridge the technical gap, they desperately needed Sheng Wanyan to answer their manufacturing queries. If possible, the command preferred that she relocate to a state research institute in the city for a few months to personally oversee the development phase.
Sheng Wanyan declined the transfer immediately, her voice calm but unyielding. She made it clear that she would not step foot outside the base because she had a nursing infant anchored at home and couldn’t leave her quarters.
The panel members reviewed her family file and recognized the reality of her situation. Forcing a four-month-old infant to separate from her nursing mother was out of the question; the child would simply go hungry. After a brief murmur ran through the ranks, Political Commissar Xie cleared his throat, adjusting his strategy. He suggested they route a team of elite medical researchers from the city to the base laboratory instead.
“Comrade Sheng Wanyan, is the granulation process exceptionally complex?” the Commissar asked.
“As long as the facility is equipped with standard extraction instruments and the correct botanical inventory, the mechanics are perfectly manageable,” she replied smoothly. “However, the processing bay requires a strictly controlled, bone-dry environment.”
Political Commissar Xie stroked his chin, mulling over the logistics. The climate in Bing City was notoriously damp and freezing during the dead of winter, but a resourceful military could always engineer a solution. Installing a series of heavy coal stoves and continuously stoking the brick kang heating flues would easily dry out the laboratory air. The environmental issue was a simple fix.
“In that case, I will formally invite the municipal scientific research team to deploy to our station,” Political Commissar Xie announced. He glanced up at her, speaking with a casual air as if her cooperation was already a done deal.
Sheng Wanyan offered him a cool, measured look, remaining entirely silent. She was deeply committed to the welfare of the garrison families, but she was not a standard state-employed researcher. Professional scientists received dedicated salaries, monthly stipends, and handsome bonuses for every breakthrough they achieved, yet she held no formal position on their payroll. She was being asked to sacrifice her time, intellectual property, and physical labor; did the regiment truly intend to just let her work for free?
Meeting her sharp, calculating gaze, Political Commissar Xie felt his heart skip a nervous beat. Don’t tell me this young lady is about to pull another shakedown?
“Political Commissar, does the administration expect my wife to operate as free labor?”
Gu Tingxiao didn’t bother with diplomatic pleasantries. When it came to commercial compensation and his wife’s intellectual achievements, he refused to let her be taken advantage of. Was she supposed to just absorb the physical exhaustion of a laboratory deployment simply to earn a meaningless commendation for selfless sacrifice? What practical use was a certificate of merit to their household?
The exact second Gu Tingxiao aligned himself with her, Political Commissar Xie felt a massive headache coming on. What a thoroughly wicked, dangerous young man—constantly hiding his sharp claws beneath a humble captain’s uniform!
“Of course not!” the Commissar boomed, waving his hands defensively. “Comrade Sheng Wanyan has displayed immense, unshakeable trust in the state; the administration would never dream of treating a hero unfairly! How about this, Comrade Sheng Wanyan? I will personally petition the upper ministry to authorize a one-time cash bonus of 5,000 yuan for your contribution. What are your thoughts?”
During her previous deployment, the state had awarded her a staggering 80,000 yuan buyout for her revolutionary hemostatic compound. Offering a meager 5,000 yuan for a mass-market respiratory remedy felt like an absolute joke. Who were they trying to fool?
While the chemical properties of the two formulas were entirely different, a fast-acting cold remedy was a staple commodity that every single citizen required in their daily lives. The moment the state chemical factories mastered the commercial granulation process, the treasury would effortlessly rake in a fortune, to say nothing of the immense foreign exchange value they could secure through international trade export.
The senior officers at the table watched her face, noting that she didn’t utter a single syllable of agreement, her silence confirming she was entirely unsatisfied with the terms.
“Comrade Sheng Wanyan,” Political Commissar Xie pressed, sweating slightly under the silence. “If you harbor specific requirements, please lay them on the table. We can negotiate.”
Sheng Wanyan lowered her eyes, her mind working through a series of long-term economic calculations. The last time she had surrendered the absolute ownership of her hemostatic formula, she had done so out of an ideological devotion to the survival of the frontline troops. But this time, her motivation was entirely different; she had stepped out into the storm strictly to keep the garrison wives and children from freezing to death in a flood. Had it not been for the sudden natural disaster threatening her own neighborhood, she never would have brought this lucrative recipe out of her private stores.
She understood the true market projection of this specific formula better than anyone alive. Cold remedies and daily preventative tonics were essential household commodities that every single family in the nation would purchase continuously.
“Political Commissar,” she delivered, her voice ringing clear and absolute down the long briefing table. “I do not want a flat cash buyout. I am demanding a permanent, lifetime ten percent dividend share on all revenues generated by this drug.”
The exact millisecond the words cleared her lips, the entire conference room fell into a dead, suffocating silence. The commanders and medical directors stared at her, their expressions frozen in absolute, unvarnished shock.
What on earth did she just say?
A lifetime ten percent dividend share? Was this young woman completely insane?
“I suggest you choose your words carefully, comrade!”
“I am speaking with absolute clarity,” Sheng Wanyan countered, her jaw set. “I want a ten percent equity share in the commercial distribution, paid out in continuous dividends. Furthermore, the molecular formula must be formally registered under a state patent—a patent bearing my name as the sole creator.”
She looked directly into Political Commissar Xie’s eyes, without a single trace of fear or intimidation. Around the table, the senior leaders let out a collective, sharp intake of air.
“Have you lost your mind, girl?”
“I have never been more sober in my life, Political Commissar,” she replied smoothly. “You are welcome to transmit my terms to the central ministry in the capital. We can reconvene once you receive their dispatch.”
Political Commissar Xie stared at her, utterly speechless, before raising a hand to hard-wipe the stress from his face. The other department leaders at the table kept their mouths firmly shut, not daring to interject. What could they possibly say to sway her?
Sheng Wanyan had surrendered the basic list of botanicals for the emergency camp brew, yes, but she had deliberately withheld the precise chemical methodology required to achieve the granular crystallization. She had meticulously calculated her leverage, waiting for this exact administrative moment to dictate her terms.
“The central ministry will never authorize an equity split!” the Commissar argued, his voice tightening. “Comrade Sheng Wanyan! We can raise the cash reward to 80,000 yuan for a clean, permanent buyout! That is our final standard!”
“A ten percent equity share, sustained through lifetime dividends,” she iterated, her attitude as unyielding as iron. “Not a single decimal point less.”
Sheng Wanyan was entirely unbothered by their resistance. The garrison had already consumed the raw brew, effectively insulating the base from a respiratory crisis; whether the state chose to commercialize the formula into a global commodity or let it sit in a file drawer mattered very little to her. She harbored a genuine compassion for the common people, but she refused to let her own standard of living be compromised or exploited out of a sense of false guilt. She was handing over a recipe of staggering global value; demanding a ten percent stake was entirely reasonable.
During her first transaction with the state, she had chosen to compromise, primarily to safeguard the lives of thousands of frontline soldiers and to secure a protective shield for Gu Tingxiao’s military career. But she refused to establish a dangerous precedent. If she capitulated a second time, the state departments would naturally begin to perceive her as a compliant, easily managed civilian who could be dismissed with a few stacks of cash whenever she delivered a miracle.
Complacency was a terrifying, addictive thing for an administration.
Furthermore, the current political and economic climate of this era was remarkably unstable; societal tides could shift overnight. If she stripped herself of leverage and surrendered her utility too early, she could easily be cast aside the moment she was no longer deemed useful to the ministry. Even though fate had granted her a second chance at life, she remained an absolute pragmatist who understood the true, armor-clad value of financial power and institutional leverage. Only by anchoring herself to real wealth and legal equity could she guarantee her family’s permanent security and force the world to treat her with absolute respect. She was perfectly content being a vulgar, practical woman driven by survival.
“You…”
Political Commissar Xie found himself entirely cornered by her ironclad resolve. Beside her, Gu Tingxiao remained perfectly silent, his entire focus dedicated to tilting the bottle at the precise angle required to feed his daughter.
The commanders exchanged frantic, muted glances, but not a single leader stepped forward to challenge her stance.
“Is there truly no room for compromise?” Political Commissar Xie asked, his eyes narrowing as he tried to exert his institutional authority.
Sheng Wanyan offered him a brilliant, flawless smile, meeting his heavy, oppressive glare without a single flinch of submission. On the contrary, her radiant confidence and unshakeable poise subtly reversed the power dynamic, making her look like the true authority in the chamber.
“None whatsoever,” she delivered cleanly.
Hiss…!
A collective breath caught in the throats of the panel. It felt as if they were truly seeing the captain’s wife for the very first time, completely mesmerized and intimidated by the fierce, commanding aura she exuded. She was such a young woman, yet where on earth had she managed to cultivate a presence this terrifyingly dominant?
“Political Commissar, you are welcome to transmit my blueprint to your superiors in the capital,” Sheng Wanyan added, her tone light and conversational. “It won’t be too late to summon me back once you receive their official authorization.”
With that final instruction, she arose gracefully from her chair, offered the stunned leaders a polite nod and a crisp smile, and walked toward the exit. Gu Tingxiao seamlessly tucked the sleeping baby back into the folds of his military coat, zipped the wool secure against his chest, and strode out the door right behind his wife, leaving the conference room in absolute silence.
Chapter 316: Mingxuan vs. Gu Tingxiao
“Captain Gu…”
Why on earth aren’t you persuading your wife?
How could you just let her walk out like that?
The senior commanders left behind in the briefing room stared blankly at the closed door. For a long, heavy moment, not a single soul could find their voice.
Once the initial shock wore off, the room erupted into a fierce, chaotic debate.
“This… what are we supposed to do now?”
“Exactly, Political Commissar. Are we actually expected to bow to her demands?”
“This is entirely out of line,” Chief of Staff Liang interjected, his voice dripping with venom. “Isn’t a request like this a blatant slap in the face to the state?”
His sharp words drew everyone’s gaze. Ever since the disciplinary scandal involving his daughter, Liang Qian, Chief of Staff Liang had harbored a bitter grudge against Sheng Wanyan. It was entirely because of her that his son’s career path had been thoroughly derailed, destroying any hope of a promotion. While he lacked the administrative authority to block Sheng Wanyan’s proposal directly, he certainly wasn’t above sowing seeds of doubt and making things difficult for her.
“Chief of Staff Liang, I suggest you choose your words with extreme caution,” Political Commissar Xie countered, his voice cold. “The higher-ups in the capital haven’t even reviewed the blueprint yet. Whether this constitutes a slap in the face to the state is not something we can determine with a few petty comments.”
With that sharp rebuke, Political Commissar Xie gathered his files and marched out of the room. While he privately found Sheng Wanyan’s terms incredibly staggering, he possessed enough self-awareness to recognize reality. When a civilian holds the exclusive keys to a medical miracle, they have all the leverage. What could a localized regiment command do but report it up the chain?
Political Commissar Xie immediately transmitted a secure encryption of the briefing directly to Commander-in-Chief Gu back in the capital. Upon receiving the dispatch, Father Gu was thoroughly stunned.
Was his third daughter-in-law truly this fearless? Did she honestly intend to carve out a ten percent slice of such a massive national cake for herself?
Recognizing the gravity of the situation, Father Gu returned to the ancestral estate that evening, locking himself in the study with Old Master Gu for several hours.
The family patriarch was deeply surprised to learn that Sheng Wanyan had engineered a revolutionary respiratory remedy. He studied the technical brief with a highly focused, calculating gaze.
“This is no ordinary administrative dispute,” the Old Master murmured, tapping his desk. “I will have to personally pay a visit to a certain old friend regarding this matter.”
Father Gu’s heart skipped a beat, instantly realizing exactly which legendary figure his father intended to consult. The implications of this transaction were monumental; securing an unprecedented equity split required authorization from the absolute highest level of the state.
“Transmit a wire back to the Bing City garrison,” Old Master Gu commanded. “Instruct them to hold the line and wait. I will manage the logistics from this end.”
“Yes, Father.”
Old Master Gu waved his hand, dismissing his son from the room. Left alone in the quiet study, the old man leaned back in his leather chair, a slow, contemplative silence stretching over the room. Suddenly, a booming laugh tore from his chest.
The Gu lineage was blessed by the heavens to have secured a daughter-in-law like Sheng Wanyan! She possessed such staggering courage and sharp, calculating wisdom that she would effortlessly conquer any territory she stepped into, no matter who she married. His third grandson had truly struck gold, managing to capture her heart while she was still a fledgling. Otherwise, how could the Gu family be cradling such a magnificent new granddaughter today?
Back at the Bing City Garrison:
The moment Sheng Wanyan stepped out of the administrative headquarters, she noticed two officers in unfamiliar uniforms walking briskly down the path toward her. Unbothered, she continued her steady pace, with Gu Tingxiao anchoring himself exactly two steps behind her, keeping a vigilant watch.
The reinforcement platoons from the city were scheduled to board their transport trucks later that afternoon. Captain Mingxuan had spent the morning thoroughly convinced he would never see Sheng Wanyan again, resigning himself to an empty, disappointing departure. Yet, right before his convoy cleared the gates, the literal girl of his dreams materialized right in front of him.
“Comrade… do you happen to remember me?”
Sheng Wanyan paused as the officer smoothly stepped into her path, cutting off her advance. The exact millisecond the stranger crossed the boundary, Gu Tingxiao’s face darkened with an incredibly lethal expression, and he aggressively stepped forward to shield his wife.
Sheng Wanyan tilted her head past his broad shoulder, her sharp eyes instantly identifying the man from the flood.
“Um… Captain, if you please, I merely wish to exchange a few words with this female comrade,” Mingxuan requested, though his eyes remained fixed on Sheng Wanyan. “I’m the soldier who pulled you from the raging current the other day. Do you recall?”
“By the way, my name is Mingxuan. Might I ask what your name is, comrade?” Mingxuan rushed to introduce himself, his expression full of hopeful energy. Sheng Wanyan offered him a polite, measured nod.
Hearing that this stranger was the exact individual who had handled his wife in the floodwaters, Gu Tingxiao’s brow furrowed into a hard, defensive line, his dark eyes locking onto Mingxuan with intense scrutiny.
Sheng Wanyan stepped slightly around her husband, determined to clear up the lingering misunderstanding once and for all. “Captain Mingxuan, I appreciate your concern, but I wasn’t actually drowning that afternoon. I had just finished delivering critical supplies to the political commissar and was simply exhausted. I chose to lay flat across the timber logs and let the residual current drift me back toward the apartment blocks.”
“Still, I am deeply grateful for your good intentions, and our entire compound thanks the city troops for executing such a rapid emergency rescue.”
Understanding crashed through Mingxuan’s mind like a wave. A flush of embarrassment touched his cheeks as he realized he had completely misread the situation. No wonder her wide, watery eyes had leveled such a profoundly glare at him when he hauled her out of the current.
“Is that so…” he muttered sheepishly. “I was fully convinced you had slipped beneath the surface.”
Sheng Wanyan offered a diplomatic smile. Since the man had acted out of pure, chivalrous intent to save a life, she wasn’t about to be ungrateful.
“Well… given that it was a well-intentioned misunderstanding, let’s look at it as a memorable introduction,” Mingxuan pressed, his confidence returning as he smiled. “My name is Mingxuan. May I have the honor of knowing your name, young lady?”
The exact moment the words young lady cleared Mingxuan’s lips, he felt the air temperature plummet, hit by Gu Tingxiao’s icy glare. Undeterred, the city captain squared his shoulders, meeting the hostility without a single trace of fear.
Gu Tingxiao’s expression was pitch-black. He kept his jaw locked, forcing himself to maintain military discipline. He understood perfectly well that this officer had acted out of genuine decency, even if the “rescue” had been a complete mistake. Had his wife genuinely been in mortal peril that afternoon, the outcome would have been entirely different. He was a logical, rational man; he harbored absolutely zero suspicion toward his wife.
Yet, watching an alpha of equal rank approach his woman with such unvarnished interest set his territorial instincts on fire. He could trace the unmistakable look of admiration burning in the stranger’s eyes. It was a look he knew intimately, because it was the exact same possessive, worshipful gaze he leveled at Sheng Wanyan every single day.
A sharp, primal sense of crisis locked around Gu Tingxiao’s chest. Previously, the younger officers on base merely held his wife in high, respectful regard, but this outsider was displaying an open, romantic pursuit. This was an entirely different battlefield, triggering an alarm in his gut.
Worse still, Gu Tingxiao knew exactly who this rival was. Mingxuan was the newly minted deputy commander of the city’s elite mobile units! At just twenty-seven years old, the man was exceptionally brilliant, heavily decorated, and carried a professional trajectory that matched his own step-for-step.
If Wanyan were still an unmarried woman, Gu Tingxiao thought, a cold sweat breaking across his back, this would be an incredibly dangerous fight.
Mingxuan possessed a classic, grounded stability, seamlessly balanced by a boyish, charismatic charm. He carried himself with the pristine, unyielding righteousness that women naturally found irresistible. Combined with his engaging, easygoing personality, he was an absolute magnet for female affection.
Sheng Wanyan glanced sideways at her husband, noting the rigid, brooding tension locking his jaw. She instantly diagnosed his silent misery. This stubborn, possessive man is throwing a quiet tantrum again!
She turned back to the city officer, her voice clear and absolute. “My name is Sheng Wanyan.”
She reached out, elegantly lacing her fingers through Gu Tingxiao’s large palm. “And this is my husband, Gu Tingxiao.”
Mingxuan’s eyes widened into dinner plates, his entire posture freezing as the words registered.
What did she just say?
Husband? Had his ears completely failed him?
Beside him, Mingxuan’s second-in-command cast a look of profound, secondary pity toward his superior. His captain’s heart had finally bloomed with romance for the first time in his life, only to be ruthlessly crushed before the first date could even be booked. This woman was a registered military wife; pursuing her was an absolute violation of martial code.
In stark contrast to Mingxuan’s sudden, devastating heartbreak, a smug, razor-sharp smile broke across Gu Tingxiao’s handsome features. He stepped forward, seamlessly projecting his dominant, married status.
“Hello, Captain Mingxuan,” Gu Tingxiao delivered, extending his right hand. “I am Wanyan’s husband, Gu Tingxiao.”
“Mingxuan… that’s Captain Gu. The Cold-Faced King of Hell from the local garrison,” the city lieutenant frantically whispered, nudging his commander’s elbow.
Mingxuan’s chest tightened as he stared down at Gu Tingxiao’s extended palm. He forced the corners of his mouth into a tight, rigid line, reluctantly raising his hand to meet the grip.
The legendary reputation of the garrison’s Captain Gu had echoed through the military districts for years. He was known across the commands as an untouchable tactical genius, a man who had single-handedly broken every record during the national joint-force combat exercises. He was brilliant, ruthlessly strategic, and possessed a mind for warfare that was terrifyingly advanced.
Mingxuan had long desired to test his skills against such a formidable rival, and their brief crossover during the peak of the flood relief hadn’t allowed for a proper introduction.
But he had never envisioned their formal meeting would unfold like this. The legendary rival of his professional fantasies was the absolute owner of the woman he loved. Why on earth was his romantic luck this profoundly cursed? The literal first time he had ever lost his heart to a girl, she turned out to be the wife of the most dangerous man on the base.
“Hello, Captain Gu…”
The moment their palms locked, Mingxuan felt an immense, bone-crushing pressure clamp down on his knuckles. Refusing to be outdone, he instantly flooded his own forearm with power, matching the captain’s strength pound-for-pound.
A fierce, lethal current of pure dominance flared between the two commanders’ eyes, neither man willing to yield a single millimeter of territory as they anchored their grip in the snow.
Chapter 317: Gu Tingxiao is Jealous
In the end, Mingxuan was the first to break the grip. How on earth is this guy so strong? If he didn’t let go, his hand felt like it might actually snap.
Sheng Wanyan watched the silent warfare between the two men, immediately reached out to tug at Gu Tingxiao’s coat, and steered him toward home. If they stayed out here any longer, Gu Tingxiao looked like he might actually start a fistfight.
Mingxuan watched their retreating backs, a profound sense of grievance washing over him.
“Give it up, Mingxuan,” his second-in-command sighed, patting his shoulder. “She’s a military wife.”
Mingxuan glared at his good friend. How could he not know she was a military wife? But his heart had genuinely been moved!
“Don’t let your mind wander! A military marriage is sacred—you can’t interfere with that!” Seeing how stubborn he was being, his brother-in-arms felt a pang of worry for him.
“Do you think I don’t know that?” Mingxuan rubbed his face fiercely, trying to shake off the rejection. He turned toward the transport trucks to gather his men. “Let’s move out and head back to the city.”
His first real romance had ended before it even had a chance to begin. He desperately needed some time alone to process the heartbreak.
His friends let out a collective sigh of relief, seeing that he wasn’t going to be unreasonable. It was best to just give Mingxuan some space to digest it all; after all, the situation was pretty tragic. If Sheng Wanyan and Gu Tingxiao had just been dating, there might have been a sliver of hope, but they were legally husband and wife. A military marriage was untouchable.
Back at the cottage, Sheng Wanyan coaxed little Yi Yi to sleep before heading into the kitchen to start on dinner.
Gu Tingxiao followed her inside, his dark eyes tracking her every move. Sheng Wanyan felt her scalp tingle under his intense stare.
“What exactly are you trying to do?” she asked, turning to face him.
Gu Tingxiao shook his head, his chest still tight with resentment whenever he thought of Mingxuan. To put it bluntly, he was terrified of losing his wife and desperately needed reassurance.
Sheng Wanyan laid her kitchen utensils down and explained the entire sequence of events during the flood, leaving out no details. “That’s exactly how it happened. It’s nothing like what you’re imagining.”
“Sweetheart, I don’t doubt you,” Gu Tingxiao murmured, stepping closer. “I just can’t stand other men looking at you like that… I feel a real sense of crisis.”
He spoke with absolute candor. Unlike other men who locked their jaws and refused to communicate, he actually possessed a mouth and knew how to navigate the delicate emotions of a marriage.
Sheng Wanyan burst into a soft laugh at his honesty. This man was incredibly straightforward; he didn’t even try to hide the fact that he was fiercely jealous. It spared her from having to play mind games, saving them both from a mountain of unnecessary marital speculation.
“Comrade Gu Tingxiao, do you really harbor so little confidence in yourself?” Sheng Wanyan teased, looping her arms around his neck to look up at him.
Gu Tingxiao tightened his powerful grip around her waist, lowering his head until his forehead rested flush against hers, their eyes locking. “It’s just that Comrade Sheng Wanyan is entirely too magnificent. It’s inevitable that other men will covet what is mine.”
Sheng Wanyan laughed out loud. There were plenty of young women on the base who continuously tried to stir up trouble or catch his eye, yet she hadn’t thrown a tantrum about it. He was the one who was practically untouchable, yet he was the one acting wronged first.
“Comrade Gu Tingxiao, you need to summon your usual battlefield confidence!” she coaxed, her eyes dancing with amusement. “You have a formidable reputation to uphold, after all.”
“My wife is entirely correct,” Gu Tingxiao murmured, a shadow of a smile finally touching his lips as he went along with her teasing. “I do have a reputation to uphold.” He paused, his expression shifting. “Sweetheart, keep an eye on the stove for a bit. I need to step out for a moment.”
Sheng Wanyan raised an eyebrow. She could guess exactly what this possessive man intended to do out there.
“I swear I won’t actively instigate a violation of code,” he promised solemnly. He simply needed to look Mingxuan in the eye and visually demonstrate who possessed the superior claim.
Sheng Wanyan waved him off, letting him go. If she didn’t let him vent his petty grievances out there now, she would undoubtedly be the one suffering from his excess energy in the bedroom tonight.
Gu Tingxiao tracked down the clearing where the city convoy was assembling. Before he could even utter a word, Mingxuan spotted his silhouette and immediately leaped down from the cabin of his transport truck.
“I’ve long since heard tales of Captain Gu’s unmatched prowess on the field,” Mingxuan challenged, his jaw set. “Care to give me a proper demonstration?” He had been yearning to test his mettle against Gu Tingxiao for years. Since the legendary captain had hand-delivered himself to his sector, he wasn’t about to let the opportunity slip.
“Exactly what I was hoping for,” Gu Tingxiao replied coldly.
The two commanders shed their heavy winter coats and immediately engaged, neither man willing to yield a single millimeter of ground. The city soldiers swarmed the perimeter, watching the high-level martial arts display with immense fascination.
“Who do you think takes the match?”
“It has to be our commander!”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
“Why are you being so pessimistic? How could our leader possibly lose?!”
The soldier betting on Gu Tingxiao’s victory was actually one of Mingxuan’s own battalion commanders. He knew how to read a fight.
At the baseline, the two men seemed evenly matched, but as the minutes ticked by, it became glaringly obvious that Gu Tingxiao was only just beginning to exert his real power. Mingxuan, on the other hand, was rapidly running out of the stamina required to counter the captain’s precise, devastating moves. He was being thoroughly suppressed, his lungs burning.
Mingxuan realized with a shock just how terrifyingly advanced Gu Tingxiao’s physical conditioning actually was. How on earth does this guy possess this much raw endurance? Is he completely immune to fatigue? Mingxuan was considered an elite martial artist within the city military district, but Gu Tingxiao operated with a seemingly bottomless well of energy. Every single time Mingxuan assumed the assault was tapering off, Gu Tingxiao would seamlessly launch an entirely new offensive line.
It was obvious the captain was strategically playing with him, which set Mingxuan’s competitive pride on fire. He threw his remaining strength into his fists, refusing to back down. The force of their colliding blows was so intense that the surrounding men could literally hear the whistle of the wind.
“Is… is Captain Gu always this terrifying?”
“Good heavens, our commander isn’t actually going to get pinned, is he?”
The onlookers watched with deep, anxious frowns, terrified that their leader would suffer a public defeat. What a massive blow to their unit’s pride that would be!
Ultimately, it was Mingxuan who threw his hand up to call a formal intermission, prompting Gu Tingxiao to instantly freeze his strike and step back.
“It was a genuine honor to test my skills against you, comrade,” Gu Tingxiao delivered, his breath perfectly controlled and his face completely unbothered.
Mingxuan was practically vibrating with silent fury. But when a rival grants you an honorable out in front of your subordinates, you can’t exactly throw a tantrum and expose your own defeat.
“Likewise!” Mingxuan managed through gritted teeth. There wasn’t a single shred of honor or happiness in his chest. He had been on the absolute brink of collapsing, but Gu Tingxiao had deliberately pulled his punches at the final second to preserve his rank. Had the captain driven the assault home, Mingxuan would have lost face completely, and his platoon would have teased him mercilessly for the rest of his career.
“The local garrison extends its deepest gratitude to the city units for executing the emergency relief,” Gu Tingxiao added, his tone smooth. “We will surely find an occasion to exchange tactical notes again in the future.”
“Captain Gu, you are far too courteous.”
“Yes, you’re very polite. We merely fulfilled our basic duty to the people.”
The city soldiers quickly chimed in, realizing there was absolutely no need for a rematch. They weren’t blind; it was screamingly obvious that Captain Gu had entirely controlled the pace of the match. If a real, no-holds-barred brawl broke out, their unit leader would have likely been pinned to the dirt and thoroughly dismantled.
“There will definitely be a next time!” Mingxuan muttered, his pride wounded. He swore he would close the physical gap before their paths crossed again.
Gu Tingxiao simply raised a sharp eyebrow, casually checking the face of his watch. “My beautiful wife has already prepared a hot dinner and is currently waiting for my return. I wish you all a safe and prosperous journey back to the city.”
With that devastating parting shot, Gu Tingxiao spun on his heel and marched away. Mingxuan felt his vision blur, nearly fainting from sheer irritation. Not only had he been completely obliterated in the arena of romance, but he had also been systematically outclassed in a physical duel! How was his luck this profoundly cursed?
Had Sheng Wanyan remained unmarried, there was absolutely no telling whose wife she would have chosen to become. Mingxuan climbed into the cab of his transport truck with a pitch-black expression. Noting his murderous aura, the soldiers gave his sector a massive berth, terrified of being slapped with a disciplinary lap penalty.
“How thoroughly tragic,” his inner circle whispered among themselves, sharing a quiet laugh. Mingxuan’s romantic foray had been an absolute disaster.
Gu Tingxiao crossed his own threshold a short while later, a small, fresh split bruising the corner of his mouth. Sheng Wanyan leaned against the doorframe, systematically assessing his physical state from head to toe.
Gu Tingxiao turned his face away with a sudden surge of guilt, not daring to lock eyes with her.
“Sit down, dinner is hot,” Sheng Wanyan noted calmly, pretending she didn’t see the injury so she wouldn’t embarrass him.
“Sweetheart, make sure you eat your fill,” Gu Tingxiao murmured, immediately fishing out every single choice cut of lean meat from his own bowl and piling it onto her plate. Sheng Wanyan accepted the offering without a single shred of hesitation, digging into her meal.
While Gu Tingxiao efficiently cleared the remaining dishes and handled the kitchen cleanup, Sheng Wanyan moved into the nursery nook, dampening a soft cloth to gently clean little Yi Yi’s skin before bed.
