In the darkness, Shen Ying opened her eyes. Holding her breath, she gently turned her head to look to the side. After a moment, hearing the even breathing beside her, she breathed a sigh of relief.

He gently lowered the woman's arm back into place, and, worried she might be uncomfortable, he helped her turn over. After doing this, he lay back down in his own spot and continued sleeping.

After an unknown amount of time, Shen Ying felt something pressing down on his body. Realizing it was Jiang Yu's leg, before he could do anything, he felt a breath getting closer and closer to his ear.

It feels tingly and itchy.

He was, after all, a normal, hot-blooded man, and for the other party to do this was tantamount to playing with fire. One can only imagine how agonizing that night must have been for Shen Ying.

The next day at daybreak, Jiang Yu miraculously woke up early. When she found herself lying in a man's arms, she was so startled that she sat up abruptly. She hurriedly checked her clothes and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that they were neatly arranged.

Looking at the sleeping man, she patted her chest to reassure herself. It's alright, it's alright. We've been married for so long, it's much better than having a stranger lying next to me.

Despite her reserved demeanor, the man's eight-pack abs felt really good to the touch. As Jiang Yu savored the memory, she planned to reach out again to test the feel, just as the man woke up.

Seeing her blushing face, he asked with concern:

Are you sick?

The grogginess of just waking up, combined with the man's magnetic voice, always stirred up all sorts of fantasies. She tried to calm herself down, turned her face away, and lay back down in bed.

"No...no, I was sleepwalking, I'll go back to sleep."

Shen Ying couldn't help but grin. This woman was becoming more and more polite; she even remembered to greet him before sleepwalking.

He couldn't sleep anymore, so he groped for his clothes and went outside to see what breakfast was for the day.

Just as they went downstairs, they bumped into Bai Chen, who was also up early. The two of them had gotten up at this time when they were in the army, and over time it had become a habit; even when they were resting, they didn't have the habit of staying in bed.

"I heard that after Zhou Jianguo returned from Commander Bai's place last night, he went straight to see Deng Wei. From what he said, he interrogated her about every detail from the time she could remember until now, confirming that she was indeed Commander Bai's daughter."

On the way, Bai Chen told Shen Ying the gossip he had heard. According to this logic, Deng Wei would have to call him "brother" in terms of kinship.

But whether he's a brother or not doesn't matter anymore, he doesn't need a sister anyway. Just thinking about Bai Na, that troublemaker, is enough of a headache.

"Um."

Shen nodded in response; he wasn't interested in these matters. His immediate priority was to finish building the north house as soon as possible, otherwise it would be very inconvenient for the whole family to be crammed into the east house.

Why is that your attitude?

Bai Chen looked puzzled. He had expected Deng Wei to be extremely shocked upon learning this, but she hadn't anticipated his calm demeanor. Or had he simply forgotten about Deng Wei's feelings for him?

"Otherwise what? Should I be happy for them because their family is reunited? If so, then congratulations on their family reunion."

As they were talking, Shen Ying had already reached the cafeteria. There were meat buns for breakfast today, which Jiang Yu liked; he'd take a couple extra for her to take back later.

"Have you forgotten that Deng Wei likes you? He won't say anything if you don't agree to be with Commander Bai's niece, but if she were his biological daughter, do you think he would put pressure on you?"

Bai Chen hit the nail on the head. In his view, if it really came to that, he probably wouldn't dare to refuse. What would happen to him and Jiang Yu then? What about the two children? Had he thought about these things?

Furthermore, saying no isn't something that can be done with just a few words.

"I will not get a divorce, so that my children can have a complete family."

Shen Ying looked into his eyes, speaking with such sincerity. Then she turned to the cafeteria lady and asked for a few meat buns, a bowl of millet porridge, and a dish of pickled vegetables.

"Whatever."

Bai Chen felt she couldn't reason with him, so she ordered the same breakfast, found an empty seat, and went to eat.

"Auntie, could you please save me a few meatball buns? Thank you."

Shen Ying was handsome and very polite, and the cafeteria lady readily agreed. It was obvious he was going to take it back for Jiang Yu.

Because the two arrived early, people started coming in for breakfast gradually as they were leaving, so nothing went wrong.

They figured they'd be heading back around noon, so neither of them planned to stay at the hotel all morning and instead go out for a stroll later.

Back in the room, I saw Jiang Yu sitting on the bed in a daze, her hair messy, looking like she hadn't woken up yet.

"I brought you breakfast. Bai Chen and I are planning to go to the provincial capital later. Do you want to come along?"

Shen Ying placed the food on the table and, while asking questions, took the kettle and filled it with hot water to wash up. Jiang Yu, seeing that he was up so early and still full of energy, thought to herself: Does this person not know how comfortable it is to stay in bed?

"Thanks."

Although this trip brought me closer to the man, I still need to maintain proper polite language.

What time are you leaving?

Remembering that she had promised to buy food for the two children before leaving, she quickly got out of bed to eat and asked the other person when they would leave.

"No rush. You can leave after you finish eating and get ready."

With water in his mouth, Shen Ying answered indistinctly. There was no further interaction in the room after that.

Ten minutes later, a chattering sound came from the corridor. Because the soundproofing wasn't very good, the conversation outside could be heard clearly.

"You don't know yet, do you? Comrade Deng Wei, the most beautiful girl in our cultural troupe, is Commander Bai's biological daughter. No wonder Commander Zhou protects her so much and cultivates her career. Isn't this a classic tale of a spoiled rich girl's adventures?"

"I never expected that she had this background. Luckily, we were always polite to her when we were in the cultural troupe and didn't make any enemies with her. Otherwise, we would have been in deep trouble."

Seeing the discussions growing louder, Jiang Yu listened for a while, unaware of the full story, before piecing together the information. Deng Wei was Commander Bai's daughter, so her name should be Bai Wei. And she liked Shen Ying; what kind of bond existed between them?

Jiang Yu ate while pondering, but even after finishing her bowl, she still couldn't figure it out. So she simply wiped her hands and went to wash up. Seeing her bewildered look, Shen Ying told her everything that had happened the night before.

"So, you're sure?"

Jiang Yu felt something was off, but couldn't quite put her finger on it. After wiping her face, she applied Friendship Cream and looked at herself in the mirror. Whatever, whatever happened anyway, it was all related to Shen Ying.

Jiang Yu is neither the main character nor does she have any special abilities, so why bother with all that?

"Now I want to see how that Battalion Commander Shen's wife, who has been bullying her all along, will get out of this mess."

Yuan Shuhui seemed to be deliberately venting her dissatisfaction, though of course no one knew where that dissatisfaction came from.

Jiang Yu seemed to have heard something unacceptable, pointed to herself, and looked speechless.

'What, is this never going to end?'