Chapter 28 Dream Talk, Revealed Thoughts

After that brief but subtle "medication time" at four in the morning, Su Wanqing returned to the master bedroom, but found it difficult to fall asleep. In the darkness, she lay awake, her ears still ringing with Huo Tingxiao's suppressed breathing. Her fingertips seemed to still feel the tense muscles in his arm and the cool, damp feeling of the medicine.

His words "thank you for your hard work", although still short and blunt, were like a stone thrown into the lake of my heart, creating ripples that were difficult to calm down.

This man, cold and hard as iron, silent as a mystery, instinctively protected her at the critical moment of life and death, and allowed her to get close to him in an extremely awkward way when she was hurt and vulnerable.

What kind of thoughts are hidden behind this?

She tossed and turned until dawn, then she fell into a drowsy sleep.

When she woke up again, it was already noon. She hurriedly got up, washed up, and went downstairs. The living room was empty, and the door to the second bedroom was closed. Orderly Li was in the kitchen preparing breakfast.

"Madam, you're awake." Xiao Li greeted her respectfully when he saw her. "The commander just finished breakfast and is processing documents in the study."

Su Wanqing nodded, feeling relieved but also a little disappointed. He seemed to have recovered quickly and was already working. The brief "dependence" she had felt last night seemed like an illusion.

She ate a simple meal and began to clean the house. When she passed the second bedroom, she hesitated for a moment, but still gently pushed open the door to see if the bedding needed to be changed.

The room was still tidy, as if no one had lived there last night. Only the faint smell of medicine in the air and the empty medicine bottle in the trash can proved what had happened last night.

She walked to the bed and was about to tidy it up when her eyes were attracted by something on the pillow.

It was a hardcover notebook with a dark blue cover that looked a bit old. The corners were worn, and there was a white label on the spine with two powerful words written on it in pen: "Memo."

This was obviously Huo Tingxiao's thing. He might have taken it out of the study last night to look at it and accidentally dropped it here.

Su Wanqing's heartbeat inexplicably quickened. She knew she shouldn't pry into his privacy, but the notebook seemed to hold an invisible, alluring power. Could it contain fragments about his mother, his past, or even their marriage?

Reason and curiosity fought fiercely in my heart.

Finally, she took a deep breath, suppressed the urge, carefully picked up the notebook, and prepared to return it to his study.

The moment she picked up the notebook, an old photo sandwiched between the pages slipped out and fell on the bed sheet.

Su Wanqing bent down subconsciously to pick it up.

It was a faded black-and-white photo. In it, the young Huo Tingxiao wore a military cadet uniform, standing straight and erect. His youthful face revealed a stern outline. Beside him stood a young man, also in uniform, with a bright, sunny smile. Arm in arm, they smiled at the camera with undimmed sincerity. It was a pure, warm smile she had never seen on Huo Tingxiao's face before.

On the back of the photo, written in pen was a small line of words: "Graduation Souvenir. With my best friend Chen Feng."

Chen Feng?

This name made Su Wanqing feel inexplicably familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere before.

She was concentrating on thinking when she suddenly heard a dull sound of something heavy falling from the direction of the study, followed by a low roar of extreme pain that was suppressed but still clearly audible!

Su Wanqing was startled, her heart clenching. Without giving it any thought, she immediately put down the photos and notebook and rushed to the study.

The study door was ajar. She pushed it open a crack and saw Huo Tingxiao, not sitting at his desk, but slumped on the carpet by the window, his back against the sofa. His face was as pale as paper, his forehead covered in cold sweat. His left hand was firmly pressed against the injured part of his right shoulder, his body trembling slightly with pain. Next to him, a heavy bronze paperweight had fallen to the ground, clearly the source of the noise.

He seemed to be trying to reach for a document high up on the bookshelf, causing the injury.

"Chief!" Su Wanqing exclaimed and rushed in.

When Huo Tingxiao heard the voice, he raised his head abruptly. His eyes were dazed for a moment, then a cold and stern look gathered in them. He seemed to want to scold her for intruding, but the severe pain made him speechless for a moment. He just gritted his teeth and let out a suppressed gasp.

"Don't move!" Su Wanqing squatted down, her tone filled with anxiety and toughness that she herself didn't even notice, "Let me see!"

She carefully moved his hand away from her shoulder and found that the bandage seemed to have shifted a little and the wound was more swollen than last night.

"It may have been dislocated again after being repositioned! We must call a military doctor immediately!" She made an immediate judgment and turned around to get the phone.

"...No need." Huo Tingxiao suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist with his left hand. His palm was burning hot, with a damp, cold sweat. His strength was astonishing, and his voice was hoarse and broken. "...The painkillers...are in the left drawer...give them to me..."

"But……"

"Give it to me!" He growled, his eyes sharp but with an almost paranoid stubbornness, as if he was extremely reluctant to let outsiders see his miserable and painful appearance at the moment.

Su Wanqing looked at his pale face and tightly pursed lips, and her heart felt like it was being stabbed by something. She no longer insisted, quickly found the painkillers, poured warm water, and helped him take them.

The drug takes time to take effect. Huo Tingxiao leaned back on the sofa, eyes closed, brows furrowed tightly, body still tense from the pain, cold sweat trickling down his forehead.

Su Wanqing wrung out a hot towel and carefully wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He didn't refuse, or perhaps he no longer had the energy to refuse.

Time passed slowly in silence, with only his suppressed breathing remaining in the air.

Perhaps the medicine started to take effect, or perhaps the extreme fatigue finally overcame the pain, his body gradually relaxed and his breathing became even and long.

He fell asleep.

Su Wanqing breathed a sigh of relief and was about to leave quietly to let him have a good rest.

At this moment, Huo Tingxiao, who was in his sleep, suddenly moved restlessly, his lips moving, and he uttered an extremely vague, almost inaudible mumbling:

“…Mom…don’t go…”

Su Wanqing's movements froze instantly, and her heart seemed to be tightly grasped by an invisible hand.

He... is calling for mom?

The mother who died when he was a child and existed only in photographs and blood-stained mementos?

Then, his brow furrowed even deeper, his head moved restlessly, and his voice became slightly clearer, carrying a deep, almost heartbreaking pain and...guilt?

"...I'm sorry...it's my fault...I didn't protect her well..."

Su Wanqing held her breath, not daring to move, only feeling her eyes getting hot.

It turns out that beneath that iceberg lies such deep pain and self-blame for his mother's untimely death. Perhaps that is the root of all his indifference and hardness.

The mumbling paused for a moment. Just when Su Wanqing thought it was over, his lips moved again, and this time, the name he uttered made her shudder.

"...Chen Feng..."

His voice suddenly became tense, even with a hint of...fear?

“…Retreat!…There’s an ambush!…No—!”

The last "no" was almost a roar, full of despair and shock and anger, as if he was experiencing some extremely terrifying scene firsthand.

Su Wanqing was so startled by the sudden dream talk filled with pain and fear that she took a step back, her heart pounding.

Chen Feng! That sunny, cheerful young officer in the photo! What happened to him? An ambush? A retreat? This sounds like... a disastrous military operation? Was Huo Tingxiao's injury... related to him?

The sheer volume of information and the deep pain it contained was difficult for Su Wanqing to digest. Looking at Huo Tingxiao, still mired in pain and furrowed in his brow even in his sleep, she felt for the first time the unfathomable darkness and trauma within him.

Those coldness, silence, and aloofness may all be meant to seal up the unspeakable and unbearable pain.

After an unknown amount of time, his mumbling in his sleep gradually subsided, his brows relaxed slightly, and he fell into a deeper sleep.

Su Wanqing stood there, unable to move for a long time.

She finally understood that the blood-stained souvenir he brought back might not only be a memory of his mother, but also closely related to a tragic defeat and the sacrifice of a close friend. The blood might not only be his mother's, but also his comrades'...

And is the injury on his shoulder, an old injury on top of a new one, also related to this?

The burden this man carried was far heavier than she had imagined.

She slowly squatted down and carefully pulled up the thin blanket that had slipped off for him. Her movements were so gentle as if she was afraid to disturb the painful ghosts in his dreams.

Her eyes fell on his profile, which remained cold and hard even when he was asleep. Her heart was filled with complex emotions, including heartache, shock, and a trace of indescribable... pity.

The mumbling in his dream revealed his carefully guarded thoughts.

It also allowed her to glimpse the surging dark tide and endless pain beneath the iceberg, which was enough to swallow a person.

She knew that she might never be able to truly share his pain.

But at this moment, she wanted to try to understand.