“Did you buy this?” Gu Jianing was pleasantly surprised.
“Yeah, it’s the New Year—fireworks just feel right,” Sheng Zexi said as he struck a match, first lighting the sparkler in Gu Jianing’s hand, then his own.
The ignited sparklers hissed and crackled, small bursts of sparks blooming from their tips, instantly brightening a corner of the dim courtyard and illuminating Gu Jianing’s face.
She waved the sparkler gently, tracing shapes in the air, the flickering light making her already beautiful eyes glimmer even brighter.
Squatting beside her, Sheng Zexi watched the sparks dance before turning to her. “Ningning, Happy New Year.”
Gu Jianing paused, then met his gaze. His eyes seemed to brim with endless tenderness and affection.
A soft smile curved her lips, warmth spreading across her features. “Mm, Happy New Year to you too, Brother Xi.”
She then extended her hand playfully. “In the new year, please continue to take good care of me.”
Sheng Zexi chuckled at her words but immediately clasped her hand, enveloping her small fingers in his palm. Solemnly, he vowed, “I will. For a lifetime.”
Amid the shimmering sparks, they shared a smile—as if they could already see the decades ahead, walking side by side, growing old together.
With the passing of New Year’s Eve came the first day of the Lunar New Year.
Sheng Zexi, free from training, accompanied Gu Jianing on a leisurely trip to a nearby county town. They also called Grandpa and Grandma Sang in Beijing to extend their New Year greetings.
As for the Sheng family, Sheng Zexi didn’t bring them up, and Gu Jianing didn’t ask.
After all, when Sheng Zexi married her, he hadn’t even informed his family.
From Fang Manping, Gu Jianing had learned that her father-in-law had been furious and dissatisfied with Sheng Zexi’s decision to marry her. Coupled with the fact that Sheng Zexi and his father had never gotten along, why would she go out of her way to invite trouble?
She had married Sheng Zexi. As long as he treated her well, that was enough.
Everything else was secondary, and she couldn’t care less.
Whether others approved or not didn’t matter to her. The facts were set, and life was hers to live.
On the second day of the New Year, Sheng Zexi resumed training. But Gu Jianing couldn’t stop thinking about the blood test results at the hospital.
Battling sleepiness, she mumbled to Sheng Zexi with half-lidded eyes, “Remember to pick up the test report from the hospital when you come back at noon.”
Sheng Zexi ruffled her hair gently. “Got it. Go back to sleep.”
“Mm.” Having relayed her reminder, Gu Jianing closed her eyes and drifted back into deep slumber. Training classes would resume on the fifth day of the New Year—these lazy mornings of sleeping in were numbered.
Watching her fall asleep again, Sheng Zexi tucked her hand under the blanket, adjusted the covers, and pressed a light kiss to her forehead before quietly slipping out.
The first training session of the New Year was naturally spirited. By the time morning drills ended, the day’s training was effectively over—after all, it was still early in the year, and formal training schedules hadn’t fully resumed. There were no missions yet, either.
Once training wrapped up, Sheng Zexi remembered Gu Jianing’s request and detoured to the military hospital.
Coincidentally, Dr. Hao was on duty today, and standing beside her was Peng Wenjing. When Sheng Zexi entered, the two seemed to be discussing something.
“Dr. Hao, I’m here to pick up my wife’s blood test results from the other day.”
Peng Wenjing hadn’t expected to run into Sheng Zexi again and felt an urge to turn and flee.
Honestly, in the past, she would have been overjoyed at such a chance encounter. But now, freed from her obsession with him, every meeting was just… awkward.
And yet—
Seeing Sheng Zexi walk in without so much as glancing her way—as if he didn’t even recognize her—Peng Wenjing’s heart ached with bitterness.
*How heartless can he be?* Even if he never liked me, we at least knew each other. Was pretending not to see me really necessary?
“Battalion Commander Sheng, you’re here for Comrade Gu’s test results, right?”
“Wenjing, fetch the report from that table for Battalion Commander Sheng,” Dr. Hao instructed.
Dr. Hao was close with Peng Wenjing’s sister-in-law. Peng Wenjing, currently transitioning from nursing to becoming a doctor, was a diligent and earnest student. When not attending training classes, she shadowed Dr. Hao to learn.
At the instruction, Peng Wenjing walked toward the side table, curiosity gnawing at her. *What kind of test was it?*
She vaguely remembered seeing Sheng Zexi and his wife at the hospital on New Year’s Eve. Was that woman sick? Or was it something else?
Lost in thought, she reached the table and sifted through the stack of reports, quickly finding one labeled with Gu Jianing’s name.
Her eyes skimmed the contents—and then she froze.
*So that’s what the test was for.*
*So soon? They haven’t even been married that long!*
But she didn’t dawdle. Snatching up the report, she handed it to Dr. Hao.
Dr. Hao took it, glanced at it, and passed it to Sheng Zexi with a smile.
“Congratulations, Battalion Commander Sheng. The report confirms your wife is pregnant—one month along.”
Her cheerful tone and the words themselves struck Sheng Zexi like a thunderbolt.
For a moment, his mind went blank, as if his thoughts had screeched to a halt. It was like being hit by a pie falling from the sky—dizzying, surreal.
It took several seconds before he managed to react, his voice trembling ever so slightly, soft with disbelief. “Dr. Hao, is this… real? My wife is really pregnant?”
Dr. Hao, accustomed to shell-shocked expectant fathers, simply smiled warmly. “Of course it’s real, Battalion Commander Sheng. Medical reports don’t lie.”
“See for yourself.”
Right.
Sheng Zexi snapped back to reality and eagerly scanned the report, his hands unsteady with nerves.
But there it was, clear as day: *Confirmed pregnancy, one month gestation.*
So Ningning’s intuition had been right.
She’d said mothers and babies shared a connection.
She’d claimed she was pregnant—and she *was*!
Ningning was going to be a mother.
And he… was going to be a *father*!
“Battalion Commander Sheng, hurry home and share the good news with your wife,” Dr. Hao urged kindly.
Sheng Zexi nodded vigorously. “Thank you, Dr. Hao.”
After expressing his gratitude, he turned and strode out, his steps light, almost floating.
Back at the family quarters, Gu Jianing was in the kitchen, prepping ingredients for lunch. The rice was already steaming—once Sheng Zexi returned, she could start stir-frying.
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