Chapter 123: Yes, He Really Is That Brave—Like He’s Wearing Invincible Armor

Gu Jianing closed her eyes, trying hard to hypnotize herself to sleep. After a long while, she still had no choice but to open her eyes again.

She muttered helplessly, “Gu Jianing, you’re not a child anymore. Do you really need someone to sleep beside you just to fall asleep?”

“For the seventeen years you were at home, you always slept alone, and you slept just fine.”

“You have to get used to it. Adapt.”

She tossed and turned until late into the night before finally drifting off into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, Sheng Zexi and his comrades were taking a break in a remote village. After a long journey, everyone else had already fallen asleep.

Sheng Zexi stood by the window, hands behind his head, thinking of his little wife back at the military base.

He wondered if she was sleeping well without him by her side. What if she kicked off her blanket and caught a cold?

He used to be the one tucking her in, but now Ningning was all alone.

The next morning in the Northwest Military District, Gu Jianing woke up to find that most of her blanket had fallen off the bed, and her nose felt a bit stuffy.

But after moving around for a while, she felt fine.

She knew she must have slept restlessly and kicked off the blanket again last night. Luckily, she had the pregnancy comfort pills from the system, which would keep her healthy throughout her pregnancy.

Gu Jianing realized just how powerful habits could be.

In just a few short months, she had gotten used to life with Sheng Zexi. Or maybe, Sheng Zexi had already become woven into every part of her life.

Now, more often than not, she’d subconsciously call out “Brother Xi” whenever she did something or thought of something.

Every time the door opened, she’d hope it was him, back from his mission.

But every time, she was disappointed.

Still, Gu Jianing kept trying to comfort herself. Until the fifth night after Sheng Zexi left, when she hugged his pillow to sleep, and realized there was no trace of his scent left on it—she couldn’t hold back her tears anymore.

Pouting, her voice choked with emotion, she clung to the pillow as if it were Sheng Zexi himself, pouring out her grievances.

“When are you coming back?”

“This pillow… after just a few days without you, it doesn’t smell like you anymore.”

“Brother Xi, I miss you. Please come back soon.”

She mumbled into the pillow for a long time before finally drifting off to sleep, a single glistening tear still hanging from the corner of her eye.

At that moment, far away, Sheng Zexi had just completed a battle and achieved victory.

Not only that, but he’d been charging at the very front, earning the most merit and taking down the most enemies.

During the post-battle rest, his comrades all praised Sheng Zexi’s bravery, saying that if he hadn’t been at the front, they might have been wounded or even shot.

Sheng Zexi just raised his eyebrows and said nothing.

In truth, the reason he could do this was because of the invisible bulletproof vest he wore.

Two days earlier, they’d been ambushed. At that moment, to protect his comrades, Sheng Zexi had taken a bullet aimed straight at his chest, right over his heart.

He hadn’t even had time to react.

All he could do was try to avoid a direct hit to the heart.

But getting shot was inevitable.

Yet, in reality, Sheng Zexi wasn’t hit at all.

The bullet, when it was about five centimeters from his chest, seemed to hit some invisible barrier and suddenly dropped to the ground.

Only Sheng Zexi saw this miraculous scene.

He was utterly shocked.

He immediately realized it was the invisible bulletproof vest Ningning had told him about at work.

Although he’d believed her, hearing about it was nothing compared to witnessing it firsthand.

Throughout the whole thing, Sheng Zexi hadn’t felt anything unusual.

He remembered Ningning saying that the vest covered his entire body—head, torso, arms, and legs.

And it had unlimited uses. As long as Ningning didn’t “take it off” from her end, it would keep working.

Sheng Zexi thought: If that’s the case, does that mean I’m invincible on the battlefield? Can I charge even further ahead?

So, that’s exactly what he did.

He led the charge.

While his comrades worried that he’d get hurt or even killed in such a hail of bullets, Sheng Zexi not only wiped out all the enemies but returned completely unscathed.

If Gu Jianing had been there, she would have known that in the future she’d glimpsed, this battle was supposed to have casualties and injuries.

Even Sheng Zexi himself was originally meant to be seriously wounded in this very fight.

But now, because Sheng Zexi wasn’t hurt—and because he’d taken out most of the enemies—the battle ended in a swift victory, with zero injuries and zero casualties.

As everyone praised Sheng Zexi’s bravery, if those defeated enemies could still speak, they’d definitely say: “Yes, he really is that brave. It’s like he’s wearing some kind of invincible armor—bullets drop before they even reach him! How are we supposed to fight that? Who wouldn’t be brave with protection like that? We barely had time to react before we were shot in the head.”

To keep herself from missing Sheng Zexi too much, Gu Jianing tried to stay busy.

During the day, she attended training classes; at night, she’d go into her space to study or make ointments and pills.

It turned out that keeping busy really did help—her mood improved a bit.

Zhang Shuwan, of course, noticed that Gu Jianing was missing Sheng Zexi. Sometimes during meals or conversations, she’d see Gu Jianing zoning out, her eyes full of longing.

Having been through it herself, Zhang Shuwan understood exactly what was going on—Gu Jianing was thinking about Captain Sheng.

All she could do was comfort Gu Jianing, reminding her that as military wives, their men were heroes defending the country, so they had to be even braver.

“Sister Shuwan, I understand.”

To help Gu Jianing feel better, Zhang Shuwan would come chat with her whenever she had time, and would bring Guoguo along to keep her company.

One day, Zhang Shuwan knocked on Gu Jianing’s door. “Tonight is the Lantern Festival. The Beijing Art Troupe is performing tonight—do you want to go? If you do, let’s go together.”

“I heard this is their last show—they’re leaving tomorrow.”

Gu Jianing thought for a moment, then nodded. “Let’s go together.”

She still hadn’t settled the score with Li Shuyao over the human trafficker incident. Gu Jianing was not one to let go of a grudge.

Soon, evening arrived. Gu Jianing and Zhang Shuwan, with Guoguo in tow, walked behind Lin Xing, and the group quickly reached the auditorium.

Sitting in her seat, Gu Jianing couldn’t help but think of the last time she came here with Sheng Zexi. This time, he wasn’t by her side.

Suppressing her sadness, Gu Jianing leaned over to chat with Zhang Shuwan while mentally browsing the system’s exchange store."