Chapter 363| Chapter 364| Chapter 365
Chapter 363: One by One, I Have a Special Favor for the Week of Grasping
If she had known that Gu Tingxiao was secretly thinking of her as some celestial being, she probably would have found it hilarious.
After finishing his light meal, Gu Tingxiao desperately wanted to hold his daughter. However, the moment he caught a whiff of the thick scent of sweat, river grime, and medicinal salve clinging to his clothes, he reluctantly gave up the idea.
It had been such a long time, but little Yi Yi finally seemed to recognize her old father. His voice was deeply woven into her memory; back when he was home, he had been the one primarily responsible for her daily care.
Sitting in Mother Gu’s arms, the baby began to squirm, clearly ready for a change of pace. Seeing this, Mother Gu and Mother Sheng teamed up to take her to the washroom for a bath. By the time they finished, the little girl emerged looking like a sweet-smelling, fresh little dumpling, perfectly prepped for her Zhuazhou ritual.
Meanwhile, Sheng Wanyan and the rest of the family cleared the large dining table and arranged the array of symbolic items for the first-birthday test. There was a vast variety of objects spread across the surface. Mother Gu and Mother Sheng had focused entirely on things they thought a little girl would adore, stocking the selection with beautiful fabrics, miniature musical instruments, small gongs and drums, tiny brass bells, and delicate dolls.
Grandpa and Grandma Sheng had contributed highly practical, traditional items. They laid out a wooden abacus, a measuring ruler, ink brushes, and crisp notebooks, emphasizing a life of solid academics.
Sheng Wanze had crafted a small wooden toy pistol, while Pan Yue supplied a collection of adorable, colorful hairpins, firmly believing that a little girl ought to look pretty. The moment Gu Tingxiao’s eyes landed on the wooden pistol Sheng Wanze had added to the pile, his face darkened instantly. He shot his brother-in-law a stern glare. My daughter will absolutely not be entering any dangerous, combat-oriented occupations in the future, he thought protectively. It’s fine if you want to test your own son’s luck with weapons, but why are you trying to corrupt other people’s daughters?
Little Huzi didn’t quite comprehend what the adults were organizing, but seeing everyone placing their offerings on the table, his competitive streak flared up. He refused to be left out. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his single piece of hard candy and carefully set it on the table, determined to ensure his little sister would always have delicious treats in her future.
Sheng Wanyan surveyed the layout, noticed a few missing categories, and promptly supplemented the pile by tossing a thick stack of high-denomination cash bills right into the center. If a person has financial security, they never have to worry about the hardships of the world.
Gu Tingxiao nodded in deep approval at the sight. It turned out his wife understood his practical mindset best of all. He didn’t have a single personal item on his person except for his heavy wooden crutches, which he obviously didn’t dare place on the table. If he dared let go of his supports, Sheng Wanyan would be the first one to teach him a lesson.
Yi Yi was carefully dressed in the vibrant red outfit her grandmothers had lovingly hand-sewn for her. With matching little tiger-head shoes on her feet and a festive red hat snug on her head, she looked spectacularly adorable.
Mother Gu gently lifted the baby girl and set her right in the center of the large table, and the entire family crowded around, their eyes glued to her movements to see what she would choose.
Surrounded by such an overwhelming circle of faces and objects, little Yi Yi sat frozen for a moment, completely bewildered. There were so many strange items she had never encountered before. She blinked her wide, curious eyes, scanning the perimeter.
Suddenly, she scrambled forward on her hands and knees straight toward Huzi’s candy. She snatched it up with her chubby fingers and hoisted it right to her nose, sniffing it intently. Realizing it was wrapped tightly and yielded absolutely no delicious scent, she let out a tiny huff of disappointment.
No taste at all, no good!
Without a hint of hesitation, Yi Yi tossed the candy aside and crawled over to the calligraphy brush.
Grandpa Sheng’s chest swelled with excitement the moment she reached for it. Could it be that his great-granddaughter was destined to become a refined intellectual? A life dedicated to academics was a magnificent path!
The baby girl gripped the handle, shaking it enthusiastically through the air, before suddenly clamping her fingers around the bristles and yanking hard. Watching the fine hairs bend, Sheng Wanyan felt a sudden pang of financial anxiety. That specific brush was a vintage piece she had personally retrieved from her secret spatial dimension. While it might not seem exceptionally rare in this current era, it was destined to command a price tag of several thousand dollars in the antique markets of the future. She hadn’t expected her daughter to display such violent tendencies, ruthlessly mauling the delicate bristles just for fun.
Sheng Wanyan quickly forced herself to breathe through the stress, mentally comforting herself: It’s fine. These things belong to her anyway; she can play with them however she likes.
After shaking the brush for a few more moments, right when everyone assumed she was going to finalize her choice, the baby grew bored, dropped the tool, and crawled off in a different direction.
Her eyes locked onto the small wooden pistol. Watching her linger over the weapon, Gu Tingxiao threw another ice-cold look toward Sheng Wanze. Sheng Wanze rubbed the bridge of his nose sheepishly; he had merely structured the gift based on what his own son enjoyed playing with, realizing too late that it was a terrible oversight for a baby girl. It was far too late for regrets now.
Yi Yi hoisted the wooden toy, opened her mouth, and prepared to sink her teeth into the barrel. Sheng Wanyan lunged forward, quickly intercepting her. With those tiny, fragile baby teeth of hers, she actually wanted to gnaw on solid wood? What on earth was she dreaming of? If she kept that up, her little teeth would fracture long before she made a dent in the toy gun.
Finding the object entirely impervious to her teeth, the baby instantly lost all interest. She dropped the pistol into the dust and scrambled toward a vibrant set of ceremonial gongs and drums.
The moment her hand brushed the musical instruments, Grandma Sheng beamed with joy. Was her great-granddaughter destined to become a celebrated performing artist?
Yi Yi reached for a traditional small drum resting nearby and smacked it with her open palm. The sudden, crisp resonance left her eyes lighting up with absolute delight. This specific drum was another item Sheng Wanyan had retrieved from her space—a beautifully preserved, traditional instrument carrying the deep, historical soul of ancient China.
Yi Yi fell madly in love with the object on the spot. She scooped the drum into her arms, clutching it tightly against her chest, entirely unwilling to let go.
“Look over here, Yi Yi! See this beautiful little dress?” Mother Gu cooed, attempting to lure her away by waving a mini silk skirt in the air.
The baby shifted her gaze, and the moment the pretty, vibrant fabric registered in her mind, she abandoned her position and crawled straight toward it.
“Ah…”
Yi Yi was a little girl who possessed a profound, innate weakness for beautiful aesthetics, displaying her love for fashion to the absolute fullest. She snatched the skirt, clutching it tightly.
Mother Gu laughed, thoroughly delighted as she watched her interact with the fabric. In her mind, she figured a future career in the garment industry would be a spectacular fit for a girl—perhaps an elite fashion designer, a path that was highly respected and physically gentle.
The baby girl sat cradling the skirt for a long time. Then, her eyes drifted back toward the little drum she had abandoned a few minutes prior, her expression morphing into a look of quiet, internal conflict. She sat perfectly still in the center of the table, pondering her options gravely as she looked back and forth between the two prizes. Finally, dragging the silk skirt along the tabletop behind her, she shuffled back over to the drum.
She wrapped one arm tightly around the wood of the drum while keeping a firm, vice-like grip on the little skirt with her other hand.
It was transparently clear to every onlooker that these two items held an absolute monopoly over her heart. Sheng Wanyan raised her eyebrows in mild surprise. Her daughter’s dual choice had completely defied her expectations; she had initially assumed Yi Yi would focus entirely on a pretty outfit or perhaps the delicate doll. She hadn’t expected the child to display such fierce, stubborn devotion to a traditional drum, an item most modern children would bypass completely. Though it wasn’t a standard favorite, the instrument was steeped in the elegant, historical beauty of China’s heritage.
The baby held both items in a stubborn lock, showing absolutely no intention of relinquishing either, leaving the family to draw their own conclusions. Perhaps the future held a brilliant musician or a visionary fashion designer.
The relatives broke into a lively debate, analyzing which of the two industries she would most likely gravitate toward as she grew. Sheng Wanyan, however, remained grounded; she knew it was impossible to map out a human life based on the whims of a one-year-old child. This was simply a beautiful, traditional ceremony to anchor the family.
She leaned over and lifted the baby off the table, noting that Yi Yi still refused to loosen her grip on the drum and the fabric. “Do you truly love them that much?”
Yi Yi bared her tiny front teeth, flashing her mother a brilliant, triumphant grin.
Sheng Wanyan affectionately pinched her soft cheek. Her little girl certainly possessed an incredibly expensive taste. That specific miniature drum was an authentic historical artifact she had personally secured during an elite international auction in her previous life, bidding against fierce competition. That single, unassuming piece of heritage had cost her a staggering three million dollars, purchased purely because the craftsmanship resonated with her personal aesthetics. She never would have guessed that her favorite auction prize would serve as her daughter’s first-birthday milestone anchor.
Before long, the excitement of the ritual began to take its toll, and Yi Yi’s eyelids grew heavy with sleep. The remaining symbolic items from the table were naturally gifted to her anyway, and Sheng Wanyan systematically organized them into her daughter’s custom memory box. The small wooden chest was reaching its absolute capacity; she realized she would need to commission a much larger storage crate to house the girl’s expanding collection of keepsakes.
“Wanyan, let the baby sleep in our quarters over the coming days,” Mother Gu suggested softly as they cleaned the room.
Mother Sheng nodded in immediate agreement. “Yes, it’s a wonderful idea. Since Yi Yi no longer requires night nursing, your mother-in-law and I can easily handle her midnight care and formula bottles.”
Sheng Wanyan accepted the offer with a grateful nod. She knew Gu Tingxiao desperately required a quiet, undisturbed environment if his shattered bones were ever going to heal properly. Furthermore, she needed a private window of time tonight to thoroughly examine the wounds on his leg, wanting to assess exactly how his recovery was progressing beneath the heavy bandages.
Chapter 364: The Situation in the Shed
“Alright. Thank you, Mom.”
Sheng Wanyan wheeled Yi Yi’s stroller into Mother Gu and Mother Sheng’s shared bedroom. The baby girl adored her grandmother and grandmother-in-law, both of whom spoiled her rotten, so she was more than happy to stay with them. Unless she was fighting her sleep, she usually drifted off entirely on her own, requiring very little coaxing from the two older women.
Grandpa Sheng, Grandma Sheng, and Sheng Wanze’s family prepared to head back across the path to rest. Little Huzi, however, began throwing a tantrum, stubbornly refusing to leave his cousin’s side.
“Sister! Sister!”
The boy wept, reaching out for Yi Yi, until Sheng Wanze finally lost his patience and scooped him up bodily to stop the racket. “What sister? You can come back and play with your sister tomorrow!”
“Just look at you, you reek of sweat and dirt. Go home and get washed up.”
Sheng Wanze gave him a look of profound disgust. In retaliation, Huzi angrily grabbed his father’s ears and yanked, but his toddler strength amounted to nothing more than a tickle to Sheng Wanze. Entirely outmatched by his father’s physical strength, the little boy was carried away kicking and screaming, still muttering babbles about his sister under his breath.
Sheng Wanze rolled his eyes. You act so whiny, I think you look more like a little sister yourself.
Pan Yue had absolutely no idea her husband was internally slandering their son. If she had known, she would have locked him out of the bedroom tonight.
Back in the master bedroom, Sheng Wanyan prepared the bath water for Gu Tingxiao, who sat quietly on a wooden stool.
She marched back into the room balancing two heavy wooden buckets of steaming water. The moment Gu Tingxiao spotted her carrying the load, he instinctively reached for his crutches, pushing himself up to assist.
“Sit back down. I’ll handle it,” she commanded firmly.
Sheng Wanyan’s heart tightened with worry the moment she saw him trying to exert himself. He was heavily injured; didn’t he have any self-awareness?
Cowering slightly under her sharp, worried tone, Gu Tingxiao didn’t dare push his luck. He sat back down on the stool, waiting obediently like a scolded child.
Sheng Wanyan made two more trips to fetch buckets of cold water, pouring them into the tub until the temperature was perfectly balanced. She laid out his fresh towel and soap nuts, then stepped forward, her fingers reaching for the buttons of his shirt.
Gu Tingxiao stood no chance against her swift determination. Within a split second, his uniform shirt was unbuttoned and peeled from his shoulders.
The absolute moment his bare torso was revealed, Sheng Wanyan’s pupils constricted. She froze, her eyes locked onto his flesh, scarcely daring to breathe.
His skin was a violent roadmap of dense, jagged wounds. Across his chest lay several exceptionally deep, ragged lacerations. Although they had clearly been stitched and cleaned by a medic, the edges of the flesh were still raw and turned completely inside out. It was transparently obvious that after sustaining the injuries, he had been submerged in the turbulent, murky river water for far too long, causing the wounds to bloat and flare outward. If those kind-hearted villagers hadn’t pulled him from the shallows when they did, these infections alone would have been more than enough to end his life.
Sheng Wanyan’s fingers hovered in the air; she didn’t even dare touch his skin, petrified of causing him pain. Furthermore, a few of the scabs along his shoulders were weeping fresh blood—undoubtedly triggered by the frantic, emotional beating she had delivered into his chest just a short while ago.
“Why didn’t you say something while I was hitting you?” she choked out.
“Wanyan, look at me. It doesn’t hurt at all,” Gu Tingxiao murmured gently. He reached up, his calloused thumb brushing a stray tear from her cheek, his tone remarkably light and relaxed.
He spoke as if the horrific network of scars didn’t yield a single shred of agony, but Sheng Wanyan refused to buy his stoic lies. How could a wound like that not hurt? No matter how disciplined or physically resilient a man was, defying basic human anatomy was impossible.
She stepped around the stool to examine his back, only to find his shoulders and spine equally mapped with dense, angry lacerations. This stubborn man had kept his mouth tightly shut, never uttering a single syllable to warn her of the damage.
“And you still have the audacity to claim you’re fine!” she snapped, her voice thick with rising anger and distress. “Just look at what’s left of your back!”
Gu Tingxiao opened his mouth, desperate to coax her back into a calm state, but Sheng Wanyan refused to listen to a word of his soothing nonsense. Realizing he was entirely cornered, Gu Tingxiao resigned himself to his fate, sitting perfectly still as she systematically examined his battered body.
When her fingers reached the waistband of his trousers, Gu Tingxiao instinctively clapped his hand over hers to stop her. Sheng Wanyan slowly raised her head, pinning him with a dark, unyielding stare.
Recognizing the futility of resistance, Gu Tingxiao slowly let his fingers fall away. His wife was far too intelligent; she already knew the full extent of his evasion.
“Behave yourself,” she murmured, pulling at the fabric.
“Wife, I am always entirely at your mercy,” Gu Tingxiao countered, a low, structural rumble in his chest. Even stripped down and covered in bandages, he couldn’t resist dropping a quiet, suggestive remark to ease the tension.
“Watch your mouth!” Sheng Wanyan shot back, though the edge of her anger softened slightly.
“I mean it. Whatever you desire, I am completely content to oblige,” he smiled.
Sheng Wanyan ignored his teasing, unfastened his trousers, and carefully pulled them down. Gu Tingxiao still offered a tiny, self-conscious resistance, but Sheng Wanyan didn’t indulge his pride for a second, firmly tugging the clothing past his hips.
His right leg was locked entirely inside a thick, bulky plaster cast, obscuring the underlying damage completely. However, the exposed flesh of his left leg and thigh was absolutely shocking. As her gaze traveled down to his left ankle, she caught sight of a deeply recessed, jagged scar tissue where the violent currents had torn the flesh away, leaving the pale outline of the joint structure visibly warped beneath the skin.
Though the trauma had been meticulously treated and had clearly undergone weeks of basic healing, the raw, unclosed sections of the flesh painted a brutal picture of what he had survived. Sheng Wanyan felt the air leave her lungs, her eyes wide as she stared at the disfigured ankle.
“Wanyan, please, don’t look anymore,” Gu Tingxiao whispered, his voice laced with a sudden, deep vulnerability. “It’s far too ugly.” He desperately wanted to shield her from the gruesome sight.
Sheng Wanyan slowly raised her head to meet his gaze. Gu Tingxiao’s eyes were entirely saturated with profound heartache—not for his own broken body, but for the distress his injuries were causing her.
Sheng Wanyan lowered her eyes, taking a long, ragged breath to force the rising sob back down her throat. When she finally looked back up at him, a gentle, reassuring smile graced her lips.
“Time to get you washed up,” she said softly.
She stood up and guided him securely on the wooden stool. Given the rigid plaster cast and the raw state of his unhealed lacerations, a proper immersion bath was out of the question. She would have to give him a careful sponge bath, ensuring water didn’t compromise his bandages.
Sheng Wanyan meticulously wrung out the towel, gently wiping the uninjured sections of his skin before preparing to dress his wounds. She walked over to the wooden wardrobe, blocking his line of sight as she secretly reached into her hidden spatial dimension to retrieve high-grade tissue-regeneration salves and advanced medical ointments. Turning back, she carefully applied a potent styptic powder to the weeping abrasions along his chest before painting the remaining lacerations with a rich healing balm.
“Tell me exactly what happened out there,” she requested quietly, her fingers working methodically over his skin. “Where have you been all this time?”
“I was pulled from the river by the residents of a remote village labor shed,” Gu Tingxiao explained, his voice low. “A few of the elders had slipped up into the mountains under the cover of dusk to check their small animal traps, and they stumbled across my body washed up in the shallows.”
“They secretly carried me back to their quarters inside the cowshed. As luck would have it, one of the exiled elders was a master of traditional Chinese medicine. It was entirely due to his constant medical treatments that my system stabilized enough to finally wake up.”
Sheng Wanyan listened intently to the harrowing chronicle. Discovering that he had been sheltered by the inhabitants of an isolated labor camp brought an immense wave of relief to her chest. Her greatest unspoken fear during his disappearance had been the classic webnovel trope: a young, beautiful, unmarried village girl pulling her husband from the water and nursing him back to health. If that scenario had materialized, it would have invited a mountain of systemic social complications down the road, threatening the young woman’s reputation while thoroughly destroying the peace of her own household.
“Did the rest of the village never discover you were hiding there?” she asked.
Gu Tingxiao shook his head. “No. The local population held a deep, deep superstition and aversion toward the labor shed; no one ever dared approach the perimeter. Because of that isolation, I was able to recuperate in relative safety.”
“Once you’re fully healed, we must travel down there to deliver our gratitude in person,” Sheng Wanyan stated firmly.
“Dad has already initiated the administrative framework for them,” Gu Tingxiao noted. “The political climate in the capital is shifting rapidly, and the state has already begun arranging for wrongly exiled citizens to be recalled to the cities this year. Several of the elders inside that shed are rare national assets; our family is currently pulling every available string to expedite their rehabilitation. It won’t be long before they are formally cleared to return to their respective hometowns.”
Sheng Wanyan nodded, a modern, strategic plan already forming in her thoughts. “Even so, as your wife, it is only right that I look them in the eye and thank them myself. Without their mercy, our little family would have been completely shattered.”
Hearing her fierce loyalty, Gu Tingxiao reached out and securely squeezed her hand, his eyes shining with a deep, silent gratitude for her faithfulness and for the quiet strength she had displayed while managing the household in his absence.
“Alright. The moment my cast comes off, we will make the journey together to thank them properly,” he promised.
Sheng Wanyan smiled warmly, continuing to press for details regarding his saviors’ backgrounds.
There were exactly five elderly individuals residing inside that isolated cowshed: two older married couples and the veteran traditional physician. One of the couples consisted of retired university professors from Haishi, who had been brutally denounced and exiled after being betrayed by their own students. The remaining three elders hailed originally from the Capital; the master physician himself had formerly served as a senior professor at the prestigious Capital Medical College, having been stripped of his position after being falsely reported by his own hypocritical son-in-law.
Chapter 365: The Whole Family Compound Is Boiling
The final elderly couple in the labor shed also hailed from the Capital. One had been a foreign language professor at the Capital University, and the other was a dance teacher at the Capital Dance Academy. They had been falsely reported by their daughter-in-law’s family, investigated, and ultimately exiled to this desolate place.
Originally, there weren’t just five elders in the shed; there had been eight. But the other three couldn’t survive the brutal conditions and passed away. Every single person suffering there, and in the surrounding villages, was an innocent victim of the times. Yet, in a world where people love to kick those who are already down, they had been treated with nothing but cruelty.
Fortunately, the dawn was finally breaking. The country was moving toward clearing their names, righting these injustices, and giving everyone the explanation they deserved.
Sheng Wanyan felt a profound sense of gratitude in her heart. Once these elders returned to the city and were reinstated, she would definitely visit them to express her thanks in person. Saving Gu Tingxiao was the greatest kindness anyone could have shown her family, and she intended to repay them tenfold in the future.
“My father dispatched a team to pick me up, and he left them with enough money and food coupons to comfortably survive until they can formally return to the city,” Gu Tingxiao explained. Then, his eyes softened as he looked at her. “But what about you, Wife? I want to know how you’ve been managing during this time.”
Sheng Wanyan smiled faintly. A few dramatic incidents had indeed occurred around her, but she saw no need to worry him with the details. “What could possibly happen in a military family compound? The only thing that matters right now is that you get some proper rest.”
Gu Tingxiao’s brow furrowed slightly at her evasiveness. Since his wife clearly didn’t want to dwell on it, he chose not to press her. He had plenty of other ways to unearth what had happened on the base, and it was better not to re-open his wife’s emotional wounds right now.
Once Sheng Wanyan finished applying the potent healing salves to his lacerations, she helped him change into dry, comfortable loungewear before assisting him with brushing his teeth and washing his face. With everything taken care of, she carefully settled him into the bed to rest while she went to clean herself up.
Sheng Wanyan didn’t use the bedroom’s wash basin. Instead, she grabbed her things, slipped into the bathroom, and entered her secret spatial dimension to take a proper shower. She felt far too self-conscious bathing under Gu Tingxiao’s intense gaze. Ever since the man had stripped off his shirt, his eyes had taken on a deeply intense, lingering look that she recognized all too well. It was definitely safer to keep her distance until he recovered; otherwise, with his usual wild instincts, she might end up hurting his fragile body.
After her shower, Sheng Wanyan set about washing Gu Tingxiao’s discarded uniform. It took several tubs of fresh water before the fabric stopped bleeding dirt. The material was so thoroughly caked in river mud and grime that the water instantly turned pitch black. Once she finished scrubbing the clothes, she hung them out in the courtyard to dry before finally returning to the bedroom to sleep.
Terrified of accidentally jostling his injuries in the middle of the night, Sheng Wanyan arranged the sleeping layout with extreme caution. She positioned herself at the foot of the bed, facing opposite him, and placed a thick, rolled-up quilt right down the center to act as a barrier so neither of them would roll over in their sleep.
Gu Tingxiao stared at the makeshift wall, thoroughly displeased. It had been an eternity since he had last held his wife, and he had literally clawed his way back from the brink of death to see her. Yet here he was, unable to even get close to her, separated by a fortress of bedding.
“Wanyan, there’s really no need to go to all this trouble,” he grumbled.
“Absolutely not,” she replied firmly. “You are covered in raw wounds, and if I’m constantly worried about hitting them, I won’t sleep a wink.”
Gu Tingxiao opened his mouth to argue, but Sheng Wanyan didn’t give him a single opening. She leaned over, blew out the flame of the kerosene lamp, and lay down in the darkness. “Go to sleep.”
Left with no choice, Gu Tingxiao shifted his weight, deliberately scuffling closer to the center barrier to get as near to her as the mattress allowed. Sheng Wanyan knew exactly what he was doing; the man was making an exaggerated amount of noise just to vent his childish frustration. Amused but determined, she pretended to be oblivious, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep while completely ignoring his little tantrum.
Sheng Wanyan hadn’t managed a single night of real rest since his disappearance, averaging a meager four or five hours of fitful sleep a day. As the moonlight filtered through the window pane, casting a soft glow across her face, Gu Tingxiao studied her features. His heart ached when he realized how much thinner she looked. She had lost an alarming amount of weight, and the soft contour of her cheeks was gone. The dark, heavy shadows beneath her eyes were a stark testament to the grueling emotional exhaustion she had carried alone.
His beautiful wife had always loved her sleep, yet she had been reduced to this pale, fragile state entirely because of him. Gu Tingxiao reached across the barrier and gently clasped her hand, wanting his presence to anchor her through the night.
Wrapped in a profound sense of security she hadn’t felt in months, Sheng Wanyan slept more soundly than ever before, her fingers tightly interlaced with his throughout her dreams.
When she finally blinked her eyes open the next morning, she was shocked to find herself curled tightly inside Gu Tingxiao’s embrace, her arms wrapped securely around his torso.
Sheng Wanyan gasped and immediately sat up, frantically checking his bandages, terrified that her heavy sleeping posture had aggravated his wounds.
Gu Tingxiao had been awake for a while, contentedly feeling his wife’s soft hands rest against his chest in her sleep. He opened his eyes and playfully captured her frantic fingers. “Wife, what’s the rush so early in the morning?”
“Don’t give me that look. How on earth did I end up sleeping in your arms?” she demanded.
Gu Tingxiao put on his most innocent, blameless expression, silently implying he was entirely passive in the matter. “Wanyan, you’ve never been a peaceful sleeper. You tossed and turned so much you kicked the center quilt right off the mattress.”
Sheng Wanyan glanced over the edge of the frame, and sure enough, the rolled-up quilt was lying crumpled on the floorboards. It seemed she really had been the culprit behind the collapsed barrier. She carefully inspected his chest and shoulder dressings one final time, and only when she was completely certain her restless movements hadn’t caused him any physical harm did she finally let out a breath of relief.
She swung her legs out of bed, scooped up the fallen quilt, and gave it a thorough shake before carrying it out to the courtyard to air out in the sun.
“From now on, you stay on your side,” she warned playfully over her shoulder as she walked out.
Gu Tingxiao merely maintained his mask of absolute innocence. Sheng Wanyan was caught somewhere between suspicion and doubt. Could it be that I truly misjudged him, and my own terrible sleeping habits are to blame? She pondered the thought for a moment before deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt this once.
The moment her footsteps faded down the hallway, the corners of Gu Tingxiao’s mouth curved into a triumphant smirk, and he relaxed his arms behind his head.
Entirely oblivious to his silent victory, Sheng Wanyan was currently wrestling with a twinge of guilt, feeling a bit embarrassed for accusing him so harshly. She internally resolved to find a nice way to make it up to him later, wanting to ensure her husband didn’t think his wife was an entirely unreasonable woman.
The incredible news of Gu Tingxiao’s miraculous return swept through the entire military quarters like wildfire. The moment Political Commissar Xie received the confirmation, he dropped his paperwork and rushed straight to the apartment to inspect the situation.
Stepping into the bedroom and seeing Gu Tingxiao alive, breathing, and resting on the mattress, the veteran officer was so overcome with emotion he was temporarily left speechless.
“It’s good that you’re back. Thank Heaven you’re alive,” he choked out, stepping forward to heavily pat the younger man’s uninjured shoulder. “You stubborn rascal, you truly possess an unyielding life! Focus entirely on your recovery now; your physical health takes absolute priority.”
Given the massive structural success of the rescue operation and his survival against impossible odds, Gu Tingxiao’s return meant an immediate, major promotion was guaranteed. His accumulated military merits were more than substantial.
“Thank you, Political Commissar,” Gu Tingxiao replied hoarsely.
Political Commissar Xie chatted with him for a few more minutes, laying out a few administrative instructions for his convalescent leave, before quietly exiting the house.
The revelation that the Regiment Commander had survived sent the family compound into an absolute boil. Every courtyard and corridor was alive with frantic chatter. However, inside Deputy Company Commander Wu’s apartment, his mother was currently throwing a massive, furious tantrum.
With Captain Gu returning alive and wrapped in military glory, her son’s grand ambitions of securing a promotion became an absolute joke! Worse yet, their schemes of upgrading their living quarters were thoroughly dead; they would be permanently confined to their cramped, thirty-square-meter apartment. How on earth had Captain Gu been blessed with such disgusting luck that he survived that raging river?
But for all her bitter resentment, Mother Wu was completely powerless to act. She didn’t dare breathe a syllable of malice against Gu Tingxiao out loud. The entire base was now fully aware that the Regiment Commander was the biological son of Commander-in-Chief Gu himself; who would be foolish enough to cross him?
Instead, the very neighbors who had been gossiping behind Wanyan’s back suddenly reversed their stance, scrambling toward the courtyard laden with courtesy gifts, desperately eager to curry favor and praise the commander’s exceptional leadership.
The moment Grandpa and Grandma Sheng stepped out of their front gate, they were thoroughly inundated by a wave of sycophantic flattery from the passing dependents. Seeing the overwhelming, suffocating enthusiasm of the crowd, the elderly couple quickly turned on their heels and scurried back inside their house.
Previously, the base gossips had assumed that since Gu Tingxiao was dead and Wanyan had only given birth to a daughter, the elite Gu family would eventually abandon her, leaving the lone mother to become the laughingstock of the quarters. But now that Gu Tingxiao had returned alive, the exact same people were smiling broadly, loudly proclaiming that their granddaughter was a woman of extraordinary blessing and unparalleled fortune.
