CHAPTER 7

So… she actually likes me too!

Gu Changfeng’s inner voice was practically exploding with pure, lottery-winning joy. Then I felt him take the lead, pulling me tight, kissing me with an intensity that turned a man built of solid steel into a bubbling, boiling hotpot.

Outside the window, bright sunlight poured in, warm and vivid—as if casting a personalized spotlight right over the two of us hopelessly head-over-heels fools.

To think he’d been in love with me since eight years ago. Fortunately, I hadn’t missed him either.

After that kiss, our relationship rocketed straight from slow-climbing ivy into a supercharged beanstalk.

Gu Changfeng was still very much a “muscle-bound giant with a toddler’s vocabulary,” but he couldn’t hide the look in his eyes if he tried—they were overflowing with affection and raw possessiveness.

As for me, I thoroughly enjoyed being spoiled by his unique brand of “cold tongue, burning heart” devotion.

—

When his injury was nearly healed, the military released the official investigation report on the flash flood. As it turned out, it wasn’t a natural disaster at all—someone had deliberately damaged the upstream dam. All signs pointed directly at Officer Zhang, Li Aihua’s husband.

Word was he had embezzled public funds and planned to let the flood wash away the ledgers to wipe his slate clean. Too bad for him, he had the worst luck in the world: the dam broke right when Gu Changfeng was leading his troops through field training.

Officer Zhang was suspended, but he adamantly maintained his innocence, leaving the case completely stalled.

Then one day, Li Aihua ran over to my house in tears, weeping so hard her nose was running. “Little Sister Lin, please help me speak to Commander Gu! My Zhang is a total coward—he wouldn’t have the guts for something like this, even if you paid him!”

Her tears didn’t move me in the slightest, but I knew Changfeng was under immense pressure as the commanding officer on the scene.

That evening, as he was sipping the chicken soup I had simmered for him, I casually brought it up: “Li Aihua came to see me today.”

His hand froze mid-spoonful, his brows furrowing. “Don’t pay any attention to her.”

I looked at him and said gently, “I actually think Officer Zhang is being framed.”

He looked up, surprised.

I laid out my reasoning: “If all he wanted was to destroy the ledgers, setting a fire in the storeroom would have done the job. Why trigger a massive flood and risk human lives? Doing it that way is practically putting his own neck in a noose, isn’t it?”

In truth, I was simply regurgitating word-for-word the very thoughts I’d overhead in his head when the political commissar came over to discuss the case earlier.

Sure enough, his eyes lit up. He set his bowl down and planted a loud, messy mwah right on my cheek. “Wife, you really are my lucky star!”

With that, he dashed right out the door, leaving me behind with a bowl of steaming soup.

—

Two days later, while out buying groceries at the supply co-op, I “accidentally” overheard a few logistics staff gossiping:

Officer Zhang was just unlucky, crossing paths with Department Head Wang.

I heard that right before the incident, Department Head Wang was the only one who visited the warehouse.

Shh, keep it down. Wang’s wife is a real dragon, too.

Department Head Wang? I gasped internally. That was the guy who used to view Changfeng as his primary rival for the battalion commander position.

I rushed home to tell him. After reporting to the political commissar, the military police searched the cellar of Department Head Wang’s father-in-law’s house and unearthed a treasure trove of evidence: embezzled cash, forged account books, the whole package.

Turns out he had orchestrated the entire scheme to frame Officer Zhang, killing two birds with one stone by ruining a rival while covering up his own corruption. His wife, the very same woman who had ruined my pickled cabbage, had played the role of his snitch, keeping tabs on everyone in the compound.

When the scandal blew wide open, the entire military district was rocked to its core.

Department Head Wang and his wife were dragged off to a military tribunal. Officer Zhang received a minor disciplinary warning, his service record balancing out his negligence.

Li Aihua brought her husband to our home to express their gratitude, presenting me with a banner embroidered with four big characters: Brave and Wise Beyond Measure.

I accepted it, laughing and crying all at once. Looking over, I saw Gu Changfeng leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, his eyes shining with pure, unadulterated pride.

See that?! My wife is the smartest woman in the entire world!

His inner broadcast was practically booming like a town hall loudspeaker, reeking of shameless wife-boasting.

I walked over, rose onto my tiptoes, and whispered in his ear, “Commander Gu, I’m taking half the credit for your medal.”

He wrapped his arms around me with a soft chuckle and leaned down to kiss me. “No. Everything I have… belongs to you.”

—

After that storm blew over, our life settled back into a sweet, peaceful rhythm.

To the outside world, he remained stern and decisive, a true god of war. But at home, he turned into the most awkwardly devoted husband: learning to cook, boiling brown sugar water for me whenever my time of the month arrived, handing over his entire allowance along with every last rationing coupon, and then waiting eagerly for my praise like a kid hoping for a gold star.

He never once uttered the words “I love you” out loud, but inside his head, a live broadcast was running 24/7:

Wanqiu looks so stunning in that red dress, it’s setting my heart on fire!

Her red-braised pork is the absolute pinnacle of human achievement. I want to eat it for the rest of my life!

God, I just want to scoop her up and spin her around right now!

I grew completely accustomed to living with those “dual audio tracks,” basking in his “ice on the outside, fire on the inside” devotion while secretly enjoying a front-row seat to his daily self-directed romantic drama. It was more fun than words could describe.

As the four seasons rolled by, we planted vegetables, caught fish, pickled sauerkraut, and sat by the warm stove, every single moment felt like a cozy, picturesque painting.

My ability to read his mind became our sweetest little secret: I used it to heal the shadowed places of his childhood, while he used his actions to build me a rock-solid home.

—

Then came our first wedding anniversary.

That evening, he walked through the door holding… a bouquet of wild daisies.

His face was slightly flushed, his eyes darting away as his mouth remained characteristically stubborn. “Picked them by the roadside. Just happened to see them.”

I took them from him, my eyes crinkling into a smile as I leaned in to take a sniff. Surprisingly sweet.

Meanwhile, his inner voice echoed like thunder:

Wanqiu, I love you. These three words… you are the only person I ever want to say them to for the rest of my life.

My eyes welled with warmth, and I leaned in to kiss him first. “Gu Changfeng… me too.”

He froze for a fraction of a second, then let out a sound of pure joy, scooping me up bridal-style and carrying me straight into the bedroom.

Outside in the courtyard, the moonlight spilled soft as water, wrapping us in a quiet, everlasting blanket of pure happiness.

As it turned out, marrying a “Living Reaper” with a heart of pure gold… was truly the greatest stroke of luck in my entire life.

(THE END)