Chapter 360| Chapter 361| Chapter 362
Chapter 360: One Year Old
Sheng Wanyan stared at her daughter’s ability to turn her tears on and off at will and thought, “…” Where on earth did she learn this little trick?
Amused, Sheng Wanyan gently pinched the baby’s chubby cheeks, squeezing all her soft flesh into a hilarious little ball.
Seeing this, Mother Sheng rushed forward to rescue her granddaughter, swatting Wanyan’s hand away. How could a grown mother be so mischievous? “You’re a parent yourself now, yet you’re still acting so childish.”
Mother Gu also chimed in, giving Wanyan a playful, scolding look. Sheng Wanyan rubbed her nose, feeling a bit self-conscious as her daughter’s face returned to its usual rosy flush. In her mind, she just figured that if you don’t play with your kids when they’re small, you won’t have the chance when they’re grown. Besides, those chubby little cheeks and lotus-root arms practically begged to be nibbled on.
Yi Yi sat in her grandmother’s arms, looking thoroughly bewildered. Why is Mom so childish?
Sheng Wanyan changed into fresh clothes, washed her hands, and went into the kitchen to prepare a bowl of fresh fruit puree for the baby. Yi Yi devoured it in big mouthfuls. Once her stomach was full, she flopped face-down onto Maodou, completely refusing to move.
Sheng Wanyan smiled, letting her lounge. Girls didn’t need to be raised to be relentlessly hardworking; it was enough if they knew how to take care of themselves. If a woman is too capable and eager to please, everyone around her will simply take it for granted and dump all the chores onto her. As the old saying goes, the sensible children never get any candy. Sheng Wanyan didn’t need her daughter to be perfectly compliant and hyper-mature, as long as she grew up with a strong moral character and a healthy world view.
She wiped the baby’s sticky little hands clean to prevent her from stuffing her fingers into her mouth. Then, she coaxed Maodou onto the plush sofa and lifted Yi Yi up to lie right on top of him so they wouldn’t catch a chill from the cold floor.
Yi Yi sprawled comfortably across the large dog’s back, crossing her tiny legs while contentedly nursing from a bottle of milk. She looked like a miniature lord enjoying a life of absolute luxury.
Sheng Wanyan shook her head, fighting the urge to swat her bottom. This girl really knew how to live in maximum comfort. Within minutes, Yi Yi’s eyelids fluttered shut, and she drifted off to sleep. To keep her from rolling off the dog and tumbling onto the floor, Sheng Wanyan carefully lifted her up and tucked her into her stroller.
With the baby fully settled, Mother Sheng and Mother Gu stepped into the kitchen to start cooking lunch. Now that the little ancestor was full, it was finally the adults’ turn to eat.
Meanwhile, inside the Capital Military Region Headquarters:
The heavy black telephone on Father Gu’s desk rang shrilly. He snapped up the receiver, and the moment the voice on the other end finished speaking, his eyes went wide with shock.
“Is this absolutely verified?” Father Gu’s voice cracked, trembling with a sudden, frantic anxiety.
“Yes, Commander! It is a hundred percent confirmed.”
“I will personally coordinate a transport team to depart immediately!”
Father Gu slammed the receiver back onto the hook and rushed out of his office to mobilize his most trusted, elite personnel. The moment the deployment orders were locked in, he bypassed his regular duties and raced straight back to the Gu family courtyard to deliver the monumental news to his parents.
Hearing the report, Grandpa Gu made him recount every single detail multiple times to ensure there was absolutely no error. Once the truth fully sank in, the old man slowly sank into a wooden chair, his knees shaking.
Grandma Gu burst into a flood of joyful tears, clutching her chest. They had finally found him…
“Dispatch our absolute best team to retrieve him this very instant!” Grandpa Gu commanded, his voice sharp with authority. “But listen to me carefully—do not send word to Bing City just yet.”
“Keep the news tightly locked down until he is safely back on our soil and fully stable.”
Grandpa Gu fixed a stern, warning look on his son. Father Gu nodded quickly, realization hitting him; in his excitement, he had almost wired the northern base immediately. Given that they didn’t know the exact extent of his physical injuries yet, if this turned out to be a cruel false hope or a medical disaster, his third daughter-in-law would be utterly destroyed.
“Don’t worry, Dad. I’ve already deployed my personal inner circle to handle the extraction safely,” Father Gu reassured him.
Grandpa Gu nodded, exhaling a long breath before pressing for more details. “Where exactly was he located?”
“In a remote riverside village downstream. The local reports state he was pulled from the water by an elderly civilian couple. The torrent must have dragged him for miles, and he was completely comatose by the time he washed ashore. Apparently, he only regained consciousness a day ago.”
Grandpa Gu closed his eyes in profound relief. Once the boy was home, the Gu family would ensure those savior villagers were rewarded beyond their wildest dreams.
“Dad, there’s one more detail,” Father Gu noted, his brow furrowing slightly. “The local report mentions that the old man who pulled Tingxiao from the river is currently assigned to the village cowshed due to a problematic political background…”
“Investigate the specific details of his case file immediately,” Grandpa Gu ordered without a second thought. “Once the political climate in the capital fully clears, I will personally pull strings to have his record rehabilitated and bring him back to the city.” Many wrongly persecuted intellectuals were already being quietly recalled to the Capital, and Grandpa Gu knew the tides of the era were shifting open rapidly.
“Understood,” Father Gu nodded. “But what if the man actually carries a legitimate criminal record?”
Grandpa Gu shot his son a freezing, thoroughly exasperated look. What an absolute blockhead. “Do you honestly believe a man with a genuinely malicious criminal heart would risk his own life to haul a dying soldier out of a raging river? Besides, even if his record has a blemish, so what? Since when does the Gu family let a political file dictate how we repay a life-saving debt? Is our family lacking in financial resources, or do we not hold enough high-grade supply coupons to secure their comfort?”
Grandpa Gu completely lost his patience with his thick-skulled son. Has this boy’s brain been jammed in a door hinge? His wife was an incredibly brilliant, sharp woman; how on earth had this man slept in the same bed with her for decades without absorbing a single ounce of her strategic intellect?
Grandpa Gu held a deep disdain for the uncultivated, reckless nature of the military men in his bloodline, often comforting himself with the fact that his daughters-in-law and granddaughters-in-law were all refined intellectuals. Otherwise, his family compound would be nothing but a cave of brute brutes.
Growing increasingly annoyed by his son’s lingering presence, Grandpa Gu hoisted his heavy mahogany walking stick and made a mock swing to chase him out. “Stop hovering in my living room and get moving! Bring my grandson back!”
“My great-granddaughter’s first birthday is literally days away, and her father absolutely cannot be absent for such a milestone! Get out of my sight, you irritate me.”
Father Gu ducked away from the cane, entirely unfazed by the scolding, and practically sprinted back to the military transport depot.
Grandma Gu wiped the tears from her wrinkled cheeks, her lips curving into a trembling smile. “Thank Heaven… there is finally a light at the end of this tunnel.” As long as the boy was breathing, everything else could be mended.
Grandpa Gu moved to gently dab a stray tear from his wife’s face, but Grandma Gu playfully slapped his hand away. “Get away from me! I’m not crying!”
Grandpa Gu stared at his damp fingertips, a knowing chuckle bubbling in his chest. If those tears weren’t hers, whose could they possibly be? “You’re absolutely right, old lady,” he soothed.
Grandma Gu gave a mock huff of annoyance and turned on her heel, retreating into the quiet sanctuary of her bedroom to rest her racing heart.
Up north in Bing City, completely oblivious to the monumental surprise traveling toward her, Sheng Wanyan sat at her desk, meticulously counting the latest stack of cash from her publishing royalties. Once the final note was cataloged, she swept the entire reserve into her hidden spatial dimension. This was her independent financial fortress—the foundational capital she would use to guarantee her daughter an elite upbringing.
After sharing a quiet dinner with the family, she retired to the master bedroom to give Yi Yi a thoroughly refreshing bath.
The day of Yi Yi’s first birthday arrived in what felt like a sudden, dizzying blink of an eye. From the moment the morning sun broke, Sheng Wanyan, Mother Gu, and Mother Sheng transformed the apartment into a bustling hive of preparation. Grandpa and Grandma Sheng traveled across the path early to help manage the kitchen prep, leaving Pan Yue behind to look after the two younger children at their apartment. The moment his shift ended at noon, Sheng Wanze raced straight over, eager to celebrate his niece’s milestone.
It was the absolute first joyous milestone the family had celebrated since the tragedy, and everyone treated the event with immense, sacred importance. The birthday feast was spectacularly lavish, featuring a grand spread of exactly ten distinct, gourmet dishes—a traditional number chosen to symbolize absolute perfection and fulfillment.
Mother Gu had spared absolutely no expense when sourcing the ingredients; after all, a child’s first birthday occurred only once in a lifetime. Furthermore, a massive crate of birthday offerings from the Gu family clan back in the capital had arrived via courier the previous afternoon, containing several thick, crimson red envelopes stuffed with cash.
The box was packed with premium baby toys and beautifully tailored garments. Grandma Gu had initially intended to mail a stunning pair of solid gold heirloom baby bracelets, but high-value bullion was strictly prohibited from the standard postal registry. If the package were inspected and flagged, political opportunists would undoubtedly use the luxury item to create administrative chaos for the Gu family. Consequently, the matriarch had safely locked the gold away, intending to slide them onto her great-granddaughter’s wrists the moment the family returned to the capital.
Yet, even without the gold, little Yi Yi was thoroughly showered in luxury by her paternal elders. Father Gu, in particular, had been continuously shipping crates of rare, exquisite items to the northern base ever since his departure. Most of his gifts were intricately handcrafted by his own fingers, utilizing materials that carried deep, sentimental value to his career.
Staring at the magnificent model battleship Father Gu had meticulously constructed for the baby using polished brass bullet casings, Sheng Wanyan couldn’t help but chuckle. Her daughter was undeniably destined to forge a brilliant, unyielding path in life. Backed by a grandfather this fiercely protective, the girl would grow up with a spine of pure steel.
Sheng Wanyan carefully organized the magnificent family keepsakes into a secure wooden chest, locking it tight. She intended to preserve them until Yi Yi grew old enough to truly comprehend their historical and emotional value. The child was still far too small; Sheng Wanyan refused to risk her accidentally breaking or scuffing items that carried such deep, ancestral affection.
Among the other gifts, Grandma Gu and Eldest Sister-in-law Gu had contributed a stunning array of silk infant dresses and delicate, beautifully carved toys perfect for a little girl.
Chapter 361: Is It Him?
Grandpa Gu had been endearingly literal when selecting a gift. He had handcrafted a tiny wooden toy rifle. Did he honestly expect little Yi Yi to enlist in the military the moment she grew up?
Back when he was carving the block of wood, Grandma Gu had been absolutely furious. Yi Yi is a little girl! she had snapped. What on earth possesses you to craft a weapon for her first birthday?
But Grandpa Gu had stubbornly dug his heels in, insisting it was a magnificent toy. He had loved playing with toy rifles during his own childhood, and he was convinced his great-granddaughter would inherit his taste. Besides, what was wrong with a girl? Couldn’t a woman grow up to fiercely defend her country? If his precious great-granddaughter ever showed an interest in a military career, he would pave the path for her without a single word of hesitation!
Of course, those were the old patriarch’s private thoughts; if Grandma Gu ever discovered his grand ambitions, he would certainly have a difficult time.
Inside the cozy dining room, the family members gathered around the table, showering the little birthday girl with affection.
“Look at you, our little star today,” Mother Sheng cooed, leaning over the high chair.
“Our darling is officially one year old. Are you happy that you’re a big girl now?” Mother Gu asked, cradling Yi Yi gently in her arms.
Yi Yi didn’t comprehend a single word of the birthday chatter, but her eyes locked onto the massive spread of delicious food on the table. It was a tragedy that she couldn’t partake in the seasoned dishes, but her grandmother had prepared a custom bowl of smooth, silky egg custard just for her.
Mother Gu noticed the baby staring longingly at the dish and fed her a few small spoonfuls. The savory taste left the little girl dancing with joy, her arms waving enthusiastically.
“Just look at that face, she’s absolutely thrilled,” Grandma Sheng laughed, watching the baby’s energetic bouncing. Today, every single eye in the room was pinned entirely on Yi Yi. No matter what face she pulled or what sound she made, the doting relatives found it utterly brilliant.
The family members continued to share their meal, laughing and chatting back and forth, filling the apartment with a warm, lively energy. Because of the celebratory noise, no one noticed the solitary shadow that had emerged at the front gate—a battered man leaning heavily on a wooden cane.
Knock, knock, knock.
A sudden, rhythmic rattling against the front door broke through the dining room chatter. Sheng Wanyan froze, setting her chopsticks down.
“Who would be visiting at this hour?” Grandma Sheng muttered, looking toward the hallway. It was right in the middle of the noon lunch hour, a time when neighbors strictly avoided dropping by unannounced.
Hearing her grandmother’s question, Sheng Wanyan’s heart skipped a beat. Her hands began to tremble violently as a wild, impossible thought pierced through her mind. She couldn’t be entirely certain… yet a powerful, intuitive voice deep within her soul screamed that the person standing on the opposite side of that wooden door was the very man she had spent months desperately longing to see.
“Yan’er, what’s wrong?” Mother Gu asked, noticing the sudden, deathly pallor of her daughter-in-law’s face.
Sheng Wanyan didn’t answer. Snapping out of her daze, she lunged out of her chair and raced toward the entryway. In her blind haste, she failed to notice a stray dining stool in her path and tripped heavily, catching her foot against the leg.
The sudden stumble sent a shock of panic through the family.
“Yan’er!”
“Oh mercy, are you hurt?!”
Sheng Wanze, who was sitting closest to the door, quickly lunged forward to haul her back to her feet. The remaining relatives swarmed around her, franticly checking her arms and knees for cuts or bruises. But Sheng Wanyan felt absolutely no physical pain. Breaking free from their supportive grips, she bypassed their frantic questions and charged straight out into the courtyard.
“Why is she running like that…?” Mother Gu began, her voice trailing off.
Suddenly, a realization hit the room like a physical blow. The family members exchanged wide-eyed, breathless looks. Without a word, they abandoned the dining table and hurried out behind her, eager to see what lay beyond the gate.
Sheng Wanyan reached the heavy wooden front door, her breath hitched in her throat. Her fingers hovered over the latch, trembling so violently she couldn’t find the leverage to lift it. She was terrified. She was sick with the fear that the person standing on the threshold wouldn’t be the man from her dreams, and she was equally terrified that her fragile, hard-earned composure would be utterly shattered.
Gu Tingxiao had been missing for nearly two grueling months. Combined with his previous long-term assignments, the two of them hadn’t stood face-to-face in over half a year. If it isn’t him behind this door… what am I going to do?
The northern afternoon was shrouded in a heavy, overcast mist, making it difficult to distinguish features clearly through the gloom. The two of them were separated by nothing more than a thin sheet of weathered wood, yet both were paralyzed by their own secret fears. She was terrified of facing a devastating disappointment, while he… he was deeply afraid that she would look at him with hatred and blame.
Sheng Wanyan pressed her palm against the rough doorpost, forcing her shaking fingers to grip the heavy wooden security bar. With a ragged breath, she hoisted the beam out of its brackets and let it clatter heavily onto the dirt floor. Yet, even with the path cleared, she didn’t dare pull the door open.
Behind her, the family members gathered in a silent, tense knot in the courtyard. No one uttered a single syllable; they simply stood frozen, waiting for the curtain to fall.
Sheng Wanyan’s eyes burned a fierce, stinging red. Steeling her resolve against the suffocating dread in her chest, she finally reached out and threw the door open.
As the wood swung back, a tall, battered figure materialized within the hazy fog. The moment her eyes locked onto the outline of his shoulders, she required no formal confirmation or explanation. She simply knew down to the marrow of her bones—it was him.
Gu Tingxiao stood on the threshold, a thick wooden cane supporting his weight. The exact moment the door swung wide and her face was revealed to him, a violent tremor shook his entire frame. When he spoke, his voice was terribly hoarse, dry from exhaustion, yet layered with a profound, cautious gratitude.
“Wife… I’m home.”
Hearing that deeply familiar, low cadence, Sheng Wanyan remained frozen. She couldn’t bring herself to take a single step forward, gripped by the terrifying premonition that this was merely another cruel, vivid hallucination. She was terrified that if she lunged forward and reached out to touch his face, her fingers would pass through empty air and she would wake up to the cold reality of her bedroom. If this is nothing more than a dream, she pleaded silently, please, never let me wake up.
“Wife… it’s me. I’m back.”
As the voice resonated through the quiet courtyard again, Sheng Wanyan focused on his face. She took in the sight of his gaunt, deathly pale features—so starkly different from the robust commander who had left her—and a torrent of hot tears spilled over her eyelashes. Her gaze drifted down to the wooden cane anchoring his uneven stance. The sight of his injury pierced through her hesitation; she couldn’t bear to let him stand there alone for another second. Even if this turned out to be a fragment of her imagination, she refused to let him suffer in the cold.
With bloodshot eyes, Sheng Wanyan crossed the threshold, her hands hovering in the air, still scarcely daring to make physical contact. But before she could fully process his presence, Gu Tingxiao dropped his cane, lunged forward, and hauled her into his chest, wrapping his powerful arms around her torso in a desperate, bruising embrace.
“Wanyan…”
Gu Tingxiao’s voice cracked, his shoulders shaking with a sudden sob. Feeling the solid, unmistakable heat of his skin against her cheek, Sheng Wanyan finally accepted the truth: he was genuinely alive. He had returned to her.
A sudden, overwhelming wave of relief and repressed fury broke through her shock. She burst into a loud, frantic sob, her fingers burying into the fabric of his jacket as she held him with a terrifying strength.
“You absolute asshole!” she screamed into his chest.
She began to lash out, her small fists striking his chest and shoulders over and over again. She poured every ounce of the silent terror, the agonizing nightmares, and the crushing emotional burnout she had endured over the past two months into her blows. She beat him relentlessly, venting the trauma of her solo survival.
Gu Tingxiao stood rigidly, anchoring his weight to tolerate her assault, willingly allowing her to strike and curse him as she pleased. He knew he deserved every bit of her fury; it was entirely his fault that his beautiful wife had been driven to the brink of despair.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered into her hair, over and over again. “I’m so sorry.”
“Waaah… you jerk!”
As her strength finally deserted her, Sheng Wanyan’s fists went slack, clutching his lapels as she buried her face deep into the crook of his neck, weeping uncontrollably. Gu Tingxiao tightened his single-armed grip around her waist, exerting a massive, desperate pressure, as if trying to physically ground her into his own body.
“I am an asshole. I’m a terrible husband for making you suffer like this,” he choked out, his chest heaving. “Wife… thank Heaven I lived long enough to look at your face again.”
The moment he had finally woken from his comatose state inside that remote village, he had immediately utilized his father’s secure tracking channels to establish contact. Throughout his recovery, a paralyzing dread had consumed his thoughts; he had lived in absolute terror that his body would fail him and leave his young wife to navigate a hostile world entirely alone as a widow. He had been sick with the thought of her being subjected to the cold pity and malicious gossip of the base while raising their infant daughter without a protector.
He had worried that she would be mistreated, that she would face endless financial hardship, and… he had even been tortured by the practical reality that she might eventually choose to remarry to secure a future for their child. He knew he was incredibly fortunate to have been rescued by those kind villagers, and profoundly grateful that he hadn’t lost any more time. If he had remained trapped in that coma for a year or two, he would have returned north only to discover his beautiful wife had legally become another man’s spouse. If that nightmare had materialized, what could he have possibly done? How could he have ever won her back?
Fortunately, the thread of fate had held. He had made it back in time… everything was still in time.
Sheng Wanyan cried until her voice went hoarse, her arms locked around his neck in an unyielding, frantic grip. She refused to loosen her hold for a single millimeter, petrified that the moment she detached herself, the illusion would dissolve.
Gu Tingxiao understood her terror completely, sensing the profound depth of her emotional trauma. He felt like an absolute criminal, fully realizing the immense, suffocating burden she must have shouldered during his long absence.
“Wife, listen to me. I’m right here. I am never going to leave your side again,” he murmured, his voice fierce with conviction.
Sheng Wanyan refused to internalize the promise. Back when Gu Tingxiao had marched out of the courtyard for this deployment, he had held her hands and sworn he would return to her safely. And what had been the result of that promise? She resolved right then and there never to believe a single word that spilled from a man’s mouth during wartime.
She maintained her vice-like grip around his torso. Gu Tingxiao felt a profound mix of sweet affection and deep sorrow wash over his chest. His wife had always possessed an exceptionally independent, stoic nature; for her to be reduced to such a fragile, terrified state proved just how brutal the mental toll of the past few weeks had been.
The family members standing in a quiet cluster within the courtyard made no move to disrupt the couple’s raw reunion. They simply stared at Gu Tingxiao, their minds blank with absolute shock. Once the reality of his presence finally penetrated their senses, they found themselves weeping and laughing all at once.
Mother Gu, in particular, stared at the battered soldier with wide, uncomprehending eyes. She gripped her own collar, her breath catching in her throat. Was her third son genuinely standing before her, warm and breathing?
“Is this real…?” she whispered, her voice trembling as she took a tentative step forward. “Is my boy truly alive?”
Chapter 362: He’s Back!
Mother Gu simply couldn’t believe her eyes. Overwhelmed by the surreal sight, she whipped around and fiercely pinched Sheng Wanze’s arm.
Sheng Wanze let out a sharp yelp of pain. “Ow!”
Having suffered entirely innocent casualties, he was just about to protest when his other arm was suddenly clamped by his own wife, Pan Yue.
“Ahhhh!”
What is wrong with everyone today? he thought miserably. Are they treating my flesh like a batch of bread dough?
“It’s real! He’s actually real!” Mother Sheng cried. Terrified that she was dreaming, she lunged forward and delivered a third, brutal pinch to Sheng Wanze’s shoulder.
“Mom! Mom! This is murder!”
“Shut your mouth!” Grandpa Sheng snapped, glaring at him.
Sheng Wanze clamped his teeth together, not daring to utter another syllable, but his hands desperately rubbed at the multiple spots of throbbing flesh across his arms and shoulders. Why on earth were the women in this family so aggressively strong? Even his own wife had joined in without a shred of pity for her poor husband.
Grandma Sheng covered her mouth with both hands, tears streaming down her face. She blinked rapidly, wondering if her aging eyes were playing a cruel trick on her. Is this truly happening? Seeking her own confirmation, she stepped up to Sheng Wanze and delivered a vicious squeeze to his waist.
“Ahhhhhhhhhh!!! Grandma! That hurts so much!”
Sheng Wanze practically leaped into the air from the sheer sting, frantically dancing around the courtyard to escape his relatives. This was absolute madness!
While Sheng Wanze was trapped in his personal nightmare, little Huzi was having the absolute time of his life. Nestled safely in Grandpa Sheng’s arms, the toddler covered his own mouth with his chubby hands, trying to muffle his giggles. But the sheer joy in his little chest was too massive to contain, and his suppressed snickers quickly dissolved into a booming, merciless laugh.
“Giggle, giggle, giggle!”
Huzi pointed and laughed, thoroughly mocking his old father’s suffering.
Hearing his son’s wanton amusement, Sheng Wanze whipped around and threw him a dark, furious glare. But Grandpa Sheng immediately shifted his stance, shielding the boy. “What do you think you’re looking at?”
“Nothing…” Sheng Wanze gritted his teeth, his face a mask of pure defeat as he stared at the toddler.
Backed by the supreme authority of his grandfather, Huzi didn’t harbor a single shred of fear. He proudly hoisted his little chin, throwing his father a smug, defiant look.
You little traitor, Sheng Wanze thought bitterly. He genuinely questioned why he had been cursed with this unruly boy. Look at how sweet and well-behaved little Yi Yi was; she would never dream of mocking her uncle’s pain. Then look at his own flesh and blood—ruthlessly celebrating his agony without a single ounce of filial sympathy for his old man.
Turning their attention back to the threshold, the Sheng family stared at the couple locked in a tight embrace, a profound sense of relief and overwhelming gratitude washing over them. Thank Heaven Gu Tingxiao was alive and breathing. If the worst had happened, they honestly didn’t know how a lone, broken Sheng Wanyan would have managed to raise the child by herself.
As Wanyan’s biological family, the Shengs had privately harbored the hope that if the worst were confirmed, she would eventually find the strength to let go of the past and secure a kind, reliable partner to share her life with. Conversely, the Gu family, operating from the perspective of the husband’s lineage, knew they had no moral right to demand she remain a widow, yet they had secretly prayed she would make an emotional sacrifice for the sake of little Yi Yi’s upbringing.
Throughout her stay, Mother Gu had been drowning in a sea of constant anxiety, her dread compounding with each passing day. She had lived in terror of the dual nightmare: that Gu Tingxiao was gone forever, and that Sheng Wanyan would inevitably remarry and take the baby into another household.
But now, the dark clouds had shattered completely. Gu Tingxiao had returned home alive, and every agonizing scenario they had tortured themselves with vanished into thin air.
Gu Tingxiao continued to murmur soft, soothing reassurances into his wife’s hair. Sheng Wanyan remained anchored against his chest for a long time. It was only when the solid, unmistakable reality of his heartbeat fully penetrated her shock that she finally loosened her vice-like grip and stepped back.
Gu Tingxiao reached up with a trembling thumb, gently wiping the lingering moisture from her cheeks. Only then, with her vision cleared, did Sheng Wanyan’s gaze drift down to the heavy wooden cane supporting his weight. Her protective instincts flared instantly, and she knelt down to inspect his condition.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were injured?” she demanded, her voice tight with anxiety.
She reached out to pull up the hem of his trousers to assess the damage, but Gu Tingxiao quickly intercepted her wrists, halting her movements.
“Wanyan, listen to me, I’m alright,” he urged softly. “The field medics have already cleaned and bound everything. Let’s just head inside the house.”
Sheng Wanyan’s fingers went slack against his fabric. She recognized that stubborn tone; Gu Tingxiao was intentionally trying to shield her from the gruesome reality of his wounds. But his evasiveness only confirmed her worst fears—the injury to his leg was severe, and he was terrified of her seeing it.
“You…”
She found herself entirely speechless. This stubborn man truly saw no need to drop his stoic, unyielding armor, even when standing right in front of his own wife.
“Wife, it’s truly fine,” Gu Tingxiao murmured, his eyes filled with a gentle plea. “It’s going to heal perfectly; it’s just remarkably ugly right now.”
He was deeply terrified of triggering her or causing her distress. The trauma to his flesh was hideous; the violent river currents had torn his calf open, exposing the white bone beneath. Furthermore, his right leg had suffered a severe fracture and was currently locked inside a heavy, rigid plaster cast. He refused to let her carry the emotional weight of seeing him so broken. Recovery would be a long, grueling road, and he was determined to keep the gory details away from her eyes.
Sensing his absolute stubbornness, Sheng Wanyan reluctantly abandoned her inspection. They shared a bed, after all; he couldn’t keep the bandages hidden from her forever.
“Let’s go inside,” she said softly, slipping her arm beneath his for support. “It’s Yi Yi’s first birthday today. We’re in the middle of her celebration.”
Gu Tingxiao nodded, his eyes softening. He was well aware of the date; he had pushed his battered body to the absolute limit, traveling day and night precisely because he refused to let his daughter celebrate her milestone without her father. He refused to let Yi Yi carry that lingering regret into her future, and he refused to harbor that lifelong agony himself.
“Alright,” he whispered, a tired smile touching his lips. “Wife, let’s go home.”
Gu Tingxiao clasped her hand tightly, leaning heavily on his cane as he navigated the small threshold. Seeing his uneven, painful momentum, the family members shook off their shock and rushed forward to assist him.
Sheng Wanze quickly stepped into his blind spot, allowing Gu Tingxiao to drape his heavy arm securely over his shoulders. Up close, Sheng Wanze could scarcely recognize his brother-in-law. Gu Tingxiao had lost an alarming amount of weight; his jawline was sharply pointed, and his military uniform hung loosely off his gaunt frame. It was devastatingly clear that he had endured an absolute hell during his disappearance.
“Xiao Gu, sit down right here and let me fetch you some hot food,” Grandma Sheng urged frantically, her heart breaking at his skeletal appearance.
The remaining relatives immediately organized a division of labor, rushing to boil cauldrons of hot water so he could wash away the filth of the road, welcoming him back with traditional care.
Sheng Wanyan stood up, intending to step into the kitchen to pour him a fresh glass of water. But before she could even take a step away from the sofa, Gu Tingxiao’s hand shot forward, clamping around her wrist with a desperate strength. His dark eyes searched her face, filled with a raw, lingering panic. He, too, was terrified that this peaceful living room was nothing more than a cruel trick of his unconscious mind.
“I’m just going to fetch you a glass of water,” she soothed, her voice entirely tender.
“Let me go, let me handle it!” Mother Gu intervened quickly, stepping between them.
One look at her third son’s rigid, unblinking focus, and Mother Gu knew he couldn’t bear to let his wife leave his line of sight for a single second. This boy! she thought, both touched and saddened. The moment a man discovers his ultimate vulnerability, he becomes painfully cautious about every single breath.
“Mom, it’s alright, let me handle the water,” Sheng Wanyan insisted gently. “Why don’t you go prep Yi Yi’s bath first? Once we finish her Zhuazhou ritual, it will be right around her bedtime.” The baby’s stamina was limited; she usually faded into deep sleep around seven-thirty in the evening.
Sheng Wanyan reached down and reassuringly patted the back of Gu Tingxiao’s knuckles, and only then did his fingers slowly relax, releasing her wrist.
Sheng Wanyan’s mission to fetch water carried a vital, hidden purpose. Gu Tingxiao’s frame was clearly ravaged by severe internal trauma and exhaustion. She intended to discreetly lace his drink with a heavy dose of the mystical spiritual spring water from her secret spatial dimension to initiate his physical recovery. Providing the potent elixir before he consumed solid food would gently coat his system without irritating his hollow stomach.
Standing over the counter, she poured a generous concentration of the spiritual spring water into the glass. Gu Tingxiao’s physical reserves were completely dried out; his body required maximum nourishment. While she was out there, she also ignited the stove, quickly tossing together two light, easily digestible vegetable dishes. In his current fragile condition, a heavy intake of rich meat or oily fish would wreak havoc on his digestive tract.
As Sheng Wanyan focused on the stove, Mother Sheng stepped into the kitchen to check on her progress. Seeing her daughter managing the wok, she immediately reached out to take the spatula. “Let me finish up here, Yan’er. You carry that water out to him right away.”
She leaned closer, lowering her voice. “Xiao Gu looks entirely panicked out there; the moment you stepped out, his eyes started tracking the doorway like he thought you’d vanished.”
Sheng Wanyan nodded appreciatively, handed the spatula over to her mother, and lifted the glass of fortified water, walking back into the living room.
The absolute second she crossed the threshold, a visible wave of relief washed across Gu Tingxiao’s gaunt face. In truth, a paralyzing anxiety had been chewing at his chest; he had been sick with the fear that his beautiful wife harbored a deep, unspoken resentment toward him for the suffering his disappearance had caused.
“Drink this water first, then you can eat,” she instructed, setting the glass in his hand. “You need to stick strictly to light meals for now.”
There was absolutely no scenario where Gu Tingxiao would dare defy his wife’s boundaries. He was terrified of provoking her anger. “I’ll do exactly as you say, Wife,” he murmured hoarsely.
He lifted the glass and took a deep draught. The liquid tasted remarkably crisp, carrying a subtle, revitalizing sweetness that far surpassed ordinary well water. Gu Tingxiao blinked, wondering briefly if his taste buds were playing tricks on him. But then, his mind drifted to his wife’s mysterious, extraordinary traits, and a sudden realization crystallized in his thoughts.
My beautiful little fairy is coddling me, he thought, a profound warmth flooding his chest. She’s secretly giving me her mystical water to mend my bones.
Sheng Wanyan had absolutely no idea her husband had internally elevated her to the status of a supernatural entity. She possessed no celestial magic—just a fiercely pragmatic drive to protect her own.
