Chapter 43.1

As the rain passed and the winds settled, Shen Qingyun let out a satisfied sigh.  

He leaned down and kissed Yin Xiaoman’s sweat-dappled face gently. “Stay put. I’ll go get some warm water to clean you up.” he said softly.  

Before she could refuse, he got up from the bed and switched on the bedside lamp.  

His gaze inadvertently fell on a piece of paper caught in the gap of the middle drawer.  

As a soldier, Shen Qingyun wasn’t overly obsessive about order, but he couldn’t stand things looking untidy either.  

He muttered: “Da Bao must’ve been rummaging through my stuff again.”  

With that, he casually opened the drawer to tidy it up.  

The moment he did, the words “Statement of Severance of Relationship” written on the stationery stabbed at his eyes like a blade.  

Without a word, he grabbed the paper. After quickly reading the lines written on it, his previously relaxed and contented expression darkened completely.  

He turned to look at his little wife—the very one he had been pampering moments ago as if he wanted to swallow her whole.  

The moment Shen Qingyun opened the drawer, Yin Xiaoman had already realized what was about to happen.  

She knew it must have been her carelessness earlier, hurriedly stuffing the paper inside without noticing it was sticking out.  

Panicking, she sat up, trying to snatch it from him. But it was too late.  

Her words: “Don’t touch that.” got caught in her throat as the man finished reading it and shifted his gaze back to her.  

Suddenly, Yin Xiaoman felt a wave of guilt wash over her.  

She couldn’t muster the courage to meet Shen Qingyun’s eyes and quietly turned her head to the side.  

But there was no way Shen Qingyun would let her brush this off.  

“What is this about?” he asked in a calm tone.  

Though his voice was calm, anyone could hear the anger simmering beneath it.  

Things had already reached this point, and Yin Xiaoman decided there was no point in hiding it anymore. Besides, she knew there was no hiding it now.  

“My family background is problematic. I don’t want to drag you down.” she said softly, her voice barely audible.  

“So, you’re planning to leave?” Shen Qingyun’s voice rose sharply.  

Yin Xiaoman kept her head down, her gaze fixed on the floor, saying nothing.  

Her silence was an admission.  

The thought that if he had returned just a couple of days later, his little wife might have left behind nothing but this wretched piece of paper and quietly disappeared ignited an uncontrollable fire in Shen Qingyun’s chest.  

His teeth clenched audibly, and he took a deep breath, struggling to suppress the rage threatening to consume him.  

“Where were you planning to go?” he demanded, his tone clipped.  

Yin Xiaoman remained silent, her head hanging lower.  

“Back to your family? You’ve brought everything from your parents’ house here; there’s no way you can stay there. To my family? Are you really willing to endure Sister-in-law’s attitude? You won’t go back to Shuanggui Village, that’s for sure. And outside Shuanggui Village, where else can you even go?  

You’re just a girl—no family, no safe place to turn to—and yet you dare to run off aimlessly? Do you even realize how reckless you’re being?!”  

The more Shen Qingyun spoke, the louder his voice grew. But beneath the anger, his heart was aching.  

He knew full well that Xiaoman had made this decision out of concern for him—she didn’t want to burden him or jeopardize his career in the military.  

But did she really see him as family?  

Wasn’t being a family about sharing glory and hardship, about facing challenges together?  

If her first instinct when faced with difficulty was to distance herself, to think about cutting ties and escaping…  

How could they possibly navigate the long road ahead and endure the trials of life together?  

Shen Qingyun cast a deep, penetrating glance at Yin Xiaoman, who was curled up in the corner of the room, shrinking into a small, pitiful ball. His heart surged with a mix of anger, frustration, heartache, and sadness.  

The swirling emotions clawed at him, leaving him agitated and restless to the extreme.  

Without another word, he strode back to the bed and sat down. Stretching out his arm, he scooped Yin Xiaoman—blanket and all—into his embrace as though she were a child and plopped her onto his lap.  

Yin Xiaoman startled, instinctively struggling to escape, but her efforts were futile.  

She had no choice but to lift her head, her wide, frightened eyes meeting Shen Qingyun’s firm gaze.  

“Now you dare look at me?” Shen Qingyun sneered, reaching out to wipe at the damp corners of her eyes. His tone softened as he scolded: “Why are you crying? I haven’t even hit you yet. Wait until I do, then cry!”  

His remark made Yin Xiaoman twist in his arms, trying harder to break free. But before she could react further, Shen Qingyun flipped her over and delivered a light smack to her bottom.  

The sharp “smack” sound echoed, and Yin Xiaoman gasped audibly, stunned.  

Although the blanket absorbed most of the impact, dulling the pain, the act itself was unbearably humiliating.  

Her face flushed a fiery red as tears she had been desperately holding back spilled over uncontrollably, streaming down her cheeks.  

Shen Qingyun’s anger dissolved completely at the sight of her tears.  

With a sigh, he gently patted her head, his voice tinged with exasperation. “Xiaoman, you have to understand. You’re not alone anymore. You have a family now—me, Da Bao, and our little Erniu. We’re a family. That means learning to trust and rely on each other.  No matter what happens, we have to stay together. Nothing and no one can tear us apart.  Don’t think for a second that what you’re doing is helping me.”  

He shook the paper in his hand. “This—this hurts me more than you can imagine.”  

Yin Xiaoman shifted uneasily, raising her head to explain herself, but the words caught in her throat.  

Shen Qingyun glared at her once more. “What? Do you still think you’re in the right?”  

He ground his teeth and pinched Yin Xiaoman’s face hard. “How little faith do you have in your man? Do you think something like this can bring me down? If it could, then what’s the point of me sticking around here? In your eyes, is Shen Qingyun just some coward who hides behind his wife when trouble comes?”

As he spoke, he seemed to grow even angrier. Unable to hold it in, he slapped Yin Xiaoman’s butt with a resounding smack.

Before she could say anything, he continued immediately: “I know all about what’s going on with your family. You don’t need to explain. If I can’t handle this, then I wouldn’t deserve to have you stand in front of me. I’d just submit my own resignation from the army.”

With that, he scooped Yin Xiaoman off of him and placed her to the side. Letting out a cold snort, he said: “Go wash up first. Whatever it is, we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

Saying so, he was about to get out of bed.

Yin Xiaoman, having just been scolded, pinched, and even spanked by the man, was left dazed and bewildered. She had cried herself into a bit of a stupor.

Yet the suffocating, repressive feeling that had been weighing down her heart seemed to lift significantly.

When she recalled Shen Qingyun’s words—”From now on, you’re no longer alone; you have a family now…”—she found it impossible to stay angry with him. Instead, tears streamed uncontrollably down her face, falling one after another.

Just then, as she sensed that Shen Qingyun was about to leave, she instinctively reached out and grabbed his arm, refusing to let go no matter what.

Shen Qingyun had already swung one leg off the bed, but his arm was suddenly caught by his wife.  

He turned around and saw Yin Xiaoman looking at him with a gaze full of dependence and pitifulness, like a small animal seeking comfort from its mother.  

The image hit him like a punch to the chest, and his heart, which had been tense, softened completely.

His tone grew gentler. “Sit tight. I’ll just go fetch some water and be right back.”

Yin Xiaoman clutched his arm even tighter. Through her sniffles, she said: “The old village secretary wrote a letter saying they’re investigating my parents’ original household registration. I already gave them the house, and I even ran away, but they’re still chasing after me…  Liu Chuang was transferred to the county, and your woman—she’s in charge of external affairs. I’m scared… I’m scared they’ll dig something up and stop you from getting assigned to the ship…  I came here to hide, but I didn’t know it might affect your future. I can’t let my troubles ruin your career. You love it so much. That day, when you found out you’d be boarding the ship, you were so happy…”

Finally finding someone to rely on, Yin Xiaoman let everything she had been bottling up pour out all at once, all the things she couldn’t share with anyone else.  

A person is strong, calm, and fearless for one simple reason: they have no one to rely on.  

When there’s no one to help, no one to care, you have no choice but to be strong, or life becomes unbearable.  

But once someone offers you their shoulder, once someone is willing to share your burdens, who wouldn’t want to let go of that constant tension?  

Shen Qingyun sat back down on the edge of the bed, quietly listening to his wife’s rambling.  

He knew Yin Xiaoman had something on her mind, and he also understood that her sudden decision to follow him into military life must have had a deeper reason.  

But he hadn’t realized just how many secrets she was carrying in her heart.  

As he gently touched her frail shoulders, an ache spread through his chest.  

She wasn’t even nineteen yet, and for her to bear so many worries without breaking under the weight—it only showed how resilient she was inside.  

He was about to offer her some comforting words when she suddenly blurted out: That woman of yours…

The corner of his mouth twitched.  

“I only have one woman, and that’s you. Don’t talk nonsense.” He reached out and poked Yin Xiaoman’s forehead in mild annoyance.  

Ignoring her slight pout, he continued: “You don’t need to worry about any of this. I came back this time to put an end to all of it, once and for all.”  

Hearing this, Yin Xiaoman suddenly realized something important she had overlooked.  

She hurriedly sat up straight and asked anxiously: “Why are you back now? Shouldn’t you be on the ship? Were you disqualified? Is it because of that poster?”  

When she mentioned the poster, a sharp glint flashed through Shen Qingyun’s eyes.  

He shook his head and reassured her: “No, don’t overthink it.”  

After speaking, he simply wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up. “Since you’re awake anyway, let’s go wash up together.”  

Without waiting for her to protest, he carried her straight out of the bedroom.  

---