Chapter 15 – Apology

Lin Banxia remembered that Gu Shiqing had once mentioned wanting a divorce, but he had been stopped by the former “Lin Banxia” through tears and tantrums.

She decided to be more straightforward with him this time, so as not to leave him overthinking.

Originally, Gu Shiqing had felt no pressure. But after hearing what Lin Banxia said, he actually began to feel pressured.

He had thought that her agreeing to accompany him to the army unit meant everything was moving in a positive direction.

Who would have expected that she said she was only going along so they could have some time together, and if things didn’t work out, they would divorce!

It was like she had handed him a ticking time bomb. If, after arriving at the unit, he performed poorly in any aspect, the bomb would go off.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

Elsewhere, Gu Honglang was sitting on the bed reading the newspaper, while Xu Minzhi peered outside through a crack in the door.

When she saw Gu Shiqing enter the room, a smile spread across her face. Her son was finally coming to his senses. At last, he knew to share a room with his wife.

Wasn’t that how it should be? They had been married for so long—how could it make sense to still sleep in separate rooms?

Affection needed to be cultivated. How could they build any relationship if they didn’t even sleep in the same room?

But just a few minutes later, she saw Gu Shiqing walk out of the room holding his blanket and head into the study again.

Xu Minzhi was nearly livid with anger. She slammed the door shut and turned to Gu Honglang, who was still reading the paper, saying: “You still have the mood to read the newspaper? Look at your useless son—ran off to sleep in the study again. Before, when Banxia didn’t want to accompany him to the army and they were having quarrels, that was one thing. But now, it’s been two years, and Banxia is finally willing to go with him. And he still insists on sleeping in the study—what is that supposed to mean?”

Seeing how anxious she was, Gu Honglang tried to console her. “These kinds of things can’t be rushed. Didn’t you say Banxia is going with him now? Once they’re stationed together in the unit, they’ll be spending time with each other day and night. Naturally, their relationship will improve.”

“Well, that’s true.” Xu Minzhi also knew such matters couldn’t be forced, but wasn’t it just that she had seen all her coworkers with grandchildren, and felt a little envious?

Banxia and Shiqing were both good-looking people. Whether they had a boy or a girl in the future, the child would surely be beautiful.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

The next morning, Lin Banxia had gone to bed early the night before and woke up early as well.

Seeing her get up, Xu Minzhi greeted her with a smile. “Banxia, you’re up? Come quickly and have breakfast—Zhou Ji’s little wontons.”

“Thank you, Mom~” Lin Banxia had just woken up, rubbing her eyes and smiling sweetly.

Her mother-in-law really was the best. Yesterday, she had said that the little wontons were delicious, and today she had gone and bought them for her again.

Who knew that Xu Minzhi would point outside and say: “Today’s little wontons weren’t bought by me—they were bought by Shiqing. He heard you liked them, so he went out early in the morning to get them.”

When Gu Shiqing said he was going to buy wontons in the morning, Xu Minzhi had breathed a sigh of relief. This boy was finally beginning to understand a little.

But Lin Banxia raised her eyebrows in surprise. The little wontons were bought by Gu Shiqing?

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

In the courtyard, Gu Shiqing was teaching Gu Honglang how to do military boxing.

Gu Honglang, usually engrossed in academic research and lacking exercise, had grown weak. More physical activity would be beneficial to his health.

Today, Gu Shiqing wasn’t in military uniform but wore a white dress shirt. His usually stern face appeared gentler, no longer so cold.

After the morning exercise, he had worked up quite a sweat. The white shirt clung to his body, faintly revealing the solid muscles beneath. A casual movement was enough to show off his powerful build.

Tsk tsk tsk, Lin Banxia marveled again in her heart—he really was bursting with testosterone.

Since she had already decided to accompany the army unit, it was only natural to do a big round of shopping before departure.

While the market near the frontier unit would also have supplies, the quality and appearance couldn’t compare to what was available in Hu City. Lin Banxia planned to purchase everything she could here and bring it along.

Sheets, quilts, all kinds of daily necessities—anything that was convenient to carry, she bought. What couldn’t be brought would simply have to be bought again once they reached the base.

Lin Banxia also bought a large amount of fabric, planning to turn it into curtains and other household items. She particularly liked the patterns, and she worried that she might not find such beautiful fabric after arriving at the military base.

While at the Friendship Store, Lin Banxia even spotted a beautiful set of wardrobes. If it hadn’t been so inconvenient to transport, she would’ve bought them on the spot.

After finishing all their shopping, the two finally returned home.

Unexpectedly, just as they reached the compound entrance, they ran into an old acquaintance—Zhou Shiyu.

Zhou Shiyu was carrying a net bag filled with fruit and some canned goods. Upon seeing Gu Shiqing and Lin Banxia, she clenched her teeth, quickly stepped forward, and said: “Battalion Commander Gu, Banxia, I came here specifically to apologize for what happened before.”

Lin Banxia: “?”

Seriously? Was Zhou Shiyu part wolf or what?

After everything that happened, she still had the nerve to show up in front of her and Gu Shiqing, even claiming she came specifically to apologize?

Truly persistent.

“I misunderstood what happened before and wrongly accused Banxia. I sincerely apologize to you. Actually, I was misled by Chen Junming’s mother. The Chen family lives right next to mine, and when I came back from my family leave, she kept bragging in front of me about how her son had found a girlfriend who was both beautiful and wealthy. Later, when I saw you walking with Chen Junming, I just assumed…Now that I think about it, Chen Junming probably used you, Banxia, because he was afraid people would find out he liked men. We were both deceived by Chen Junming!”

By the end of her explanation, Zhou Shiyu was gritting her molars.

Just the thought of Chen Junming made her furious. If not for him, would her plan have failed?

He even tried to strangle her yesterday—she honestly wished he’d drop dead!

Lin Banxia raised an eyebrow without replying, her expression clearly saying, I’m just going to watch your performance.

Gu Shiqing didn’t respond to Zhou Shiyu either. Regardless of whether what she said was true or false, the fact remained that she had slandered Lin Banxia without verifying the truth first.

He wasn’t going to just let her off with a few casual words of explanation. Nor would he allow Lin Banxia to let it slide either.

Seeing that neither Gu Shiqing nor Lin Banxia intended to acknowledge her, Zhou Shiyu forced herself to change the topic: “You two bought so many things—what for?”

Lin Banxia really had it good. After marrying into the Gu family, she spent money lavishly. Unlike Zhou Shiyu, who had to send most of her monthly salary back home and didn’t dare buy anything for herself.

She had finally saved a month’s salary to buy a dress, hoping to wear it for Gu Shiqing to see, only to find that Lin Banxia had the exact same one.

That thought made Zhou Shiyu seethe all over again.

This time, Lin Banxia did reply: “Buying things to accompany the army.”

She said it deliberately to get under Zhou Shiyu’s skin, knowing full well that Zhou Shiyu absolutely did not want her to accompany the army.

“Accompany the army? You’re going to accompany the army?” Zhou Shiyu’s face froze.

“What? From the look on your face, you don’t want me to go?” Lin Banxia asked.

“No… not at all!” Zhou Shiyu quickly denied it. “Once you go with the army, Battalion Commander Gu will have someone to look after him in daily life. He must be very happy that you’re going.”

Tch, what a male-centered comment that was.

Who said she was going to accompany the army just to take care of Gu Shiqing? Zhou Shiyu really had a way with words.

Lin Banxia was just about to retort when Gu Shiqing spoke up: “Banxia isn’t going to accompany the army to take care of me. I have two hands and two feet—I can take care of myself. Banxia, once we’re at the base, you just do whatever you want to do.”