Chapter 32: Waiting for the Letter from My Wife

At the military base.
A group of men in olive-green training uniforms were engaged in a mobile maneuver competition under the blazing sun. Even through their clothes, their muscular physiques were on full display. The entire training ground was filled with masculine hormones and intense competitive energy.

Among them, a tall and powerfully built figure swiftly maneuvered through the layers of obstacles and struck the gong at the finish line.

“Very good! Captain Gu is once again the first to reach the finish line and is the champion of this mobility drill!” the head instructor announced loudly.

The crowd below erupted in murmurs and exclamations.
“Damn, Brother Xiao is awesome!”
“Damn it! Why is it him again? I’m not convinced!”
“Pfft~ Don’t say that. You’re ranking even lower than me this time, hahaha!”

As they crawled forward, the man who laughed overtook the one who had just complained. The overtaken man, unwilling to fall behind, pushed himself to move even faster.

The head instructor, noticing that the rest of the team was now fired up, smirked and added fuel to the fire with a mocking tone.
“What’s the matter, you little brats? Can’t handle it? Move it!”
“Bullshit! Who can’t handle it?”
“What man admits defeat?!”

The scene was a full display of the beauty of strength and male competitiveness.

But Gu Xiao didn’t even look back. After finishing the drill, he grabbed his water canteen, took a couple of big gulps, and casually splashed some water on his face and head to cool down.

“Instructor, I’m heading out. I’ll leave things here to you.”

“You’re just going to run off like that, Captain? Are you even human?”

“Well, you’re here, aren’t you?” Gu Xiao replied as he capped his military water bottle. “I need to check the communications room to see if I got a letter.”

The instructor rolled his eyes. “Didn’t the organization already approve your marriage leave? After the offensive-defense drill, you’ll be off on leave. What’s the rush? You’re practically camping out at the communications room every day waiting for your wife’s letters. How embarrassing.”

Gu Xiao hooked the water bottle strap with his finger and slung it casually over his shoulder, speaking in a deliberately cheeky tone,
“That’s called being a loving husband. Unlike you, who barely sees his wife once a year—you wouldn’t understand.”

Instructor: “…”

“I’m off.” Gu Xiao raised a hand lazily and waved as he walked away, a faint sense of anticipation in his steps as he headed to the communications room.

“Any letters for me?” he asked.

The communications officer looked up, spotted who it was, and nodded. “Captain Gu, yes—there is one for you.”

Gu Xiao’s eyes lit up. “Where?”

“This one.” The officer pulled out a white envelope and handed it to him.

Gu Xiao eagerly took it—but the moment he saw the sender was “Old Five,” the smile on his lips vanished.

“Why is he writing to me?” Gu Xiao looked a bit disgusted and opened the letter on the spot, skimming through it casually.

But as he read, his expression darkened bit by bit.

——

During these past few days, Song Youyou had stayed home, translating documents and avoiding going out. Partly, this was to stay away from He Wenqing.

Ever since running into him, she had encountered him again and again on the streets she had to pass through. It was so annoying.

So, this time, she simply paid extra deposit and brought several days’ worth of translation materials home to work on.

Anyway, she had rice, noodles, oil, meat, and vegetables at home—she wouldn’t go hungry staying in for a few days.

The other reason was the translation work itself.

The general manager had successfully applied for her to be upgraded to an intermediate-level translator, so the documents she now received were more specialized—many filled with technical terms related to machinery.

She strongly suspected that the general manager was assigning her tasks meant for senior translators.

But she didn’t mind. It just meant that when she translated, she had to be extra cautious—constantly looking up technical terms in dictionaries.

To ensure accuracy, she also started reading related professional books to supplement her knowledge.

Naturally, this slowed her down, and she had to spend much more time each day on the work.

“Whew—finally finished this batch.”

Stretching at her desk, Song Youyou had been sitting there for hours.

Following the principle of combining work and rest, she put down her pen and went to do some mindless physical work to relax.

She walked out to the balcony.

The vegetables she had planted earlier had all grown up—her little garden was lush and green.

“Let’s have some baby bok choy for lunch.”

She picked a handful and brought them into the kitchen.

Seeing that it wasn’t quite time to cook yet, she pulled out a piece of fabric and sat down at the sewing machine.

The sewing machine had come from the Gu family—part of her dowry. Along with it came a bicycle, a watch, a radio, fabric, bedding, and more.

The Gu family’s preparations were far better than the average bride price.

Seeing their sincerity, Song Youyou took the wedding preparations seriously too.

In her downtime, she would use the sewing machine to make their wedding quilt, clothes for the two of them—and even their underwear.

Sitting before the machine, her fingers moved swiftly. The rhythmic sound of the pedal echoed through the house.

It was a picture of peace and contentment.

But things were different at the Song household these days.

No—more accurately, the house was shrouded in a heavy, oppressive gloom.