A stack of cash, a bankbook, and a thick pile of various vouchers.
These things were heavily placed on the table by Gu Yanshen, like a command that allowed no argument.
Lin Wan Yi stood still, looking at the pile of "wealth" on the table that would drive any family crazy in the 1970s, then at the man in front of her.
He lowered his eyes, his jawline tightly set, in a cold and hard posture of "I've done everything I should."
Lin Wan Yi suddenly laughed.
She stepped forward, stretched out her slender fingers, but instead of touching the money and vouchers, she gently yet firmly pushed them back along with the bankbook.
"Mr. Gu," she looked up, her moist eyes staring at him without blinking, "what is this supposed to mean?"
Gu Yanshen furrowed his brows, not saying a word.
"Is it last night's overnight fee? Or a hush fee to keep me quiet?" Her voice was soft and light, but the words were like tiny needles, piercing through the tense air between them, "It can't possibly be... a dowry, right? How do I remember that we already got the certificate this afternoon."
Gu Yanshen's Adam's apple rolled slightly, his hands at his side clenching and then releasing.
"It's joint property," he squeezed out a few words through his teeth, the tone as rigid as a military order.
"Oh? Joint property, huh." Lin Wan Yi elongated the sound at the end of her sentence, the curve of her lips widening a bit.
She walked around the table, stepping in front of him, instantly closing the distance between them.
The faint fragrance lingering on her body, mixed with the remnants of the previous night, insistently invaded his nostrils.
"Since it's joint property, it shouldn't be you unilaterally 'handing it over' to me. It should be managed by the lady of the house. Right?"
She stood on her tiptoes, whispered softly in his ear, "My... husband?"
The last two words, she bit out, soft and alluring.
Gu Yanshen froze completely, a visible blush spreading rapidly from his ears to his neck. He instinctively took half a step back, wanting to distance himself, but his back hit the cold wall, nowhere to retreat.
Lin Wan Yi, satisfied with his reaction, straightened up, clapped her hands.
"Alright, since the property issue is resolved, let's tackle the first family matter of our new marriage." She spoke in a businesslike tone, yet her gaze slowly drifted toward the only bedroom.
"How are we going to sleep tonight?"
Gu Yanshen, as if granted a reprieve, immediately turned around, pointing to the small, tightly closed door beside them, "I'll sleep in that room."
Lin Wan Yi walked over and pushed the door open.
Inside was a cramped storage room, cluttered with odds and ends, against the wall lay a bare wooden board bed, covered in a thin layer of dust.
She glanced inside, then stepped out again, closing the door with ease.
"No way." She shook her head, her expression unprecedentedly serious.
Gu Yanshen looked at her, his eyes questioning.
"You're a combat hero defending the country, the youngest regimental commander in the military," Lin Wan Yi said earnestly and reasonably, "how could I let you sleep in a place like that? If word got out, would people blame me, Lin Wan Yi, for being ungrateful, mistreating a hero husband? Or criticize you, Chief Gu, for letting a capitalist's daughter bully you into not having a bed to sleep on?"
She paused for a moment, then added, "Besides, we just got our marriage certificate today. Sleeping in separate rooms on our first night, what would the neighbors think? What would the leaders and wives in the military district compound say?"
Gu Yanshen was rendered speechless by her barrage of words.
He found that his proud logic and eloquence were utterly useless in front of this woman.
Every word she said hit his soft spots—his identity, his responsibilities, and the "rules."
"Then..." He struggled to speak.
"We'll sleep together in the bedroom." Lin Wan Yi directly made the decision for him, her tone leaving no room for objection.
Night deepened.
In the room, only one dim bedside lamp was on.
Lin Wan Yi had already changed into her nightgown, lying on the inner side of the bed.
Gu Yanshen, dawdling for a long time, finally emerged from the bathroom. He wore a brand-new military green vest and shorts, exposing his toned, long arms and legs, his bronze skin gleaming with a healthy glow under the light.
He held his military blanket, standing at the bedside like a statue about to charge into battle.
Lin Wan Yi lay on her side, propping her head on her hand, looking at him, "Not coming up? Or... do I need to invite you?"
Gu Yanshen awkwardly lifted one corner of the blanket and lay down.
The 1.2-meter wooden bed seemed a bit cramped for his height of 1.9 meters.
He stayed tightly against the edge of the bed, his body stretched into a straight line, wishing he could embed himself in the wall, creating a clear divide—a no man's land—between him and Lin Wan Yi.
The light was turned off.
Darkness amplified all senses.
Lin Wan Yi could clearly hear his deliberately suppressed yet somewhat disordered breathing, like a caged beast.
She found it amusing, yet also felt a bit sorry.
This man, decisive on the battlefield, yet in matters of intimacy, was as pure as a blank page.
Time passed slowly.
Just when Lin Wan Yi was about to truly fall asleep, she hazily turned over.
Her slender, fair leg, quite "unintentionally," rested on the man's firm leg.
"!"
In the darkness, Gu Yanshen's body shuddered, as if struck by an electric current.
He froze completely, from his ankle to his thigh, every muscle tensed distinctly under his pajamas, as taut as a stone.
His breathing hitched entirely at that moment.
Lin Wan Yi could feel his violent reaction, and in the darkness, she secretly curved her lips, but didn't move, maintaining her posture, pretending to be asleep.
And just then, a strange warm sensation, without warning, emanated from her chest.
It was the ancestral jade pendant!
The warm current flowed rapidly through her veins, finally converging on her leg, where it touched Gu Yanshen.
It was as if there, was a switch, a passage.
The man's immense, masculine energy, belonging to a soldier, poured incessantly through that contact point, absorbed and transformed by the jade pendant.
The jade pendant grew increasingly hot, and the tiny crack on its surface, stained with both their blood, glowed a faint red light in the darkness!
"Buzz——"
A light ring sounded in Lin Wan Yi's head, as if something exploded.
Her vision whitened, and all her consciousness was pulled into a massive vortex.
Upon reopening her eyes, she was no longer in that simple bedroom.
She stood in a foggy, mysterious land.
Beneath her feet was a small patch of fertile black soil.
Not far away, a spring was gurgling, its crystal-clear water bubbling up, surrounded by a sweet, refreshing mist.
Where is this place...
Spiritual Spring Space.