Chapter 149 Midnight Bell
After dinner, Gu Qiuyue urged the children to wash up, and she also used the excuse of cleaning the kitchen to delay the time she spent alone with her husband.
She needed time to gather her thoughts and make a decision.
Finally, the children went to bed and they were the only two left in the living room.
Xie Shiyu sat on the sofa with a military newspaper in his hand, but he didn't read it. Instead, he looked at Gu Qiuyue who was wiping the coffee table.
"Yueyue." He spoke, his voice low and gentle, yet with an unavoidable power, "Did something happen?"
Gu Qiuyue paused in wiping, she stood up and looked at her husband. Under the dim light, his eyes were calm and concerned, and carried a reassuring strength. It was the harbor she had relied on for many years.
In an instant, all her hesitation and fear seemed to have found an outlet. Organizational discipline was important, but if she couldn't even trust her closest husband, who else could she trust? Concealment was perhaps the biggest hidden danger.
She took a deep breath, walked to the sofa and sat down, her hands clasped together nervously. Her voice was very low, with a barely perceptible tremor: "Shi Yu, today... this afternoon, Comrade Liu came in a black car, picked me and my child up, and questioned me..."
She recounted her afternoon's experiences as succinctly as possible, omitting the specifics of the interrogation and emphasizing only the request for confidentiality, especially the phrase "including family members." Afterward, she looked at her husband anxiously, like a student awaiting a verdict.
Xie Shiyu listened quietly, his face as calm as water. Only his slightly pursed lips and the sharp light that flashed in his eyes revealed his inner unrest. He did not speak immediately, but pondered for a moment.
Then he stretched out his hand and covered the back of Gu Qiuyue's cold hand. The warm and dry palm gave him a reassuring strength.
"You did the right thing." He first affirmed her response at the time, "You behaved calmly and behaved very disciplined."
He paused, his voice deepening. "Comrade Liu... you were right to obey his request. This matter ends here. Don't mention it to anyone else, including me."
Gu Qiuyue was stunned. She didn't expect her husband to give such an answer. She originally thought that he would at least help her analyze it or give some suggestions.
"But……"
"No buts." Xie Shiyu interrupted her, his eyes becoming unusually serious, even carrying a hint of solemnity she rarely saw. "Yueyue, listen to me. Some things are safer to be unknown than to know. I don't need to know the specifics. You just need to remember the rules and protect yourself and the child. This is the greatest responsibility to me and this family. Do you understand?"
His words were firm and decisive, with a soldier's straightforwardness and decisiveness, which completely dispelled the last bit of Gu Qiuyue's desire to tell the whole story. At the same time, a deeper chill quietly spread - even Shi Yu was so cautious and even took the initiative to avoid him. The story behind this matter was probably far more complicated than she imagined.
She nodded blankly.
Xie Shiyu looked at her distraught look, and his tone slowed down. He gently patted the back of her hand and said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here. Live and work normally, as if nothing happened. Leave the rest to me."
His words were like a reassurance, allowing Gu Qiuyue's panicked heart to finally find a place to settle. She leaned into her husband's arms, absorbing the reassuring warmth and strength.
As the night deepens, everything outside the window is silent.
Gu Qiuyue couldn't fall asleep for a long time despite hearing her husband's steady breathing.
Although Xie Shiyu's words comforted her, his unusual solemnity and the deliberate boundaries he drew were like a bigger stone pressing on her heart.
She turned over gently, looking at the hazy moonlight outside the window, her thoughts in a mess.
Suddenly, a very soft but unusually clear telephone ring was heard in the living room.
Ding-ling-ling——Ding-ling-ling——
In the dead of night, the ringing of the bell seemed particularly abrupt and harsh, even carrying an indescribable sense of urgency.
Gu Qiuyue's heart skipped a beat and she subconsciously held her breath. Who would call so late at night?
She felt that Xie Shiyu beside her opened his eyes almost instantly, stood up gently but quickly, without turning on the light, and walked out of the bedroom quickly in the moonlight.
His back looked tense and alert in the dim light.
Gu Qiuyue lay on the bed, not daring to move, but her ears were perked up, her heart pounding as if it was about to jump out of her chest, and a strong sense of uneasiness, like a cold tide, instantly drowned her.
Who is calling this late at night? What's the reason?
Gu Qiuyue lay in bed, her heart beating like a drum in her chest, almost drowning out the subtle sound of the wind outside the window. She pricked up her ears, trying to catch any movement in the living room.
The phone rang only three times before it stopped abruptly. Obviously, Xie Shiyu quickly answered the call.
The sound was unclear through the door, and she could only vaguely hear her husband's very low and brief response.
"Um."
"It's me."
"clear."
"good."
There were no unnecessary greetings, no questions, only the simplest responses. Every word seemed to be icy, calm and almost cold. This was completely inconsistent with the pattern of an ordinary late-night call. It was neither an urgent matter from home nor a greeting from a friend.
Gu Qiuyue's heart sank little by little. She clenched the corner of the quilt, her fingertips cold.
She had seen this type of call once or twice when Xie Shiyu was handling some urgent military affairs, but never like now, it made her feel an uneasiness deep in her bones. That call was most likely related to her experience in the afternoon.
A few minutes later, light footsteps approached the bedroom, and the door was gently pushed open. Xie Shiyu's figure appeared at the door. He still did not turn on the light and walked back in the moonlight.
He lay back on the bed, still moving very gently, as if she were still asleep.
But Gu Qiuyue couldn't help it. She turned around and faced him, trying to make out his outline in the darkness. Her voice trembled slightly, "Shi Yu...who's calling?"
Xie Shiyu was silent for a moment, then reached out and held her in his arms. His embrace was still warm, but Gu Qiuyue sensitively noticed the slight tenseness in his arm muscles.
"It's okay," he said, trying to sound relaxed, but unable to conceal the solemnity underneath. "It was just a work emergency. We've already dealt with it."
"Work? So late..." Gu Qiuyue's voice was full of disbelief. What kind of work call would require him to come to his home in the middle of the night, and make him answer it in that tone?
"Well, emergency mission deployment is a common thing." Xie Shiyu said lightly, patting her on the back, "Go to sleep quickly, you still have to go to work tomorrow."
He obviously didn't intend to say more, and even deliberately avoided any details that might trigger her associations. This protective concealment was like a thin layer of ice between the two of them, preventing her from touching the truth and making her even more confused.
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