Dare to shirk responsibility? This adorable little one will tear down your military district!

The air in the main room was as tense as a fully drawn string.

The child on the table had a purple face, his chest was heaving violently, and the whistling sound in his throat was getting sharper and sharper, a sign that his trachea was about to completely close.

Zhang's sister-in-law collapsed to the ground, her cries hoarse, leaving only dry sobs.

Gu Changfeng stood by the table, his palms sweating profusely. He had been on the battlefield and seen severed limbs, but faced with this kind of seemingly insignificant yet deadly acute illness, his martial arts skills were completely useless.

"Needle."

Lin Wanrou's voice was cold and clear as she held out her palm in front of Meng Yaya.

Meng Yaya understood immediately, and reached into the patched satchel to rummage around. Several gleaming silver needles had already been transferred from her spatial storage to her fingertips.

It was a "family heirloom" that Grandpa Sun Shouzhen insisted on giving to her before she left Mengjia Village.

"Mom, here you go." Meng Yaya handed over the needle case, and while Gu Changfeng was blocking her view, she secretly flicked a drop of clear spiritual spring water from her fingertip into Gangzi's slightly open mouth.

Lin Wanrou took the needle case and picked up the three-inch-long silver needle with her fingers.

At that moment, the woman who had blushed at Gu Changfeng's compliment was gone. Her back was ramrod straight, her chin slightly tucked in, and she exuded an aura that made people afraid to breathe.

"What are you doing? Those are needles!" Seeing the silver needles, Sister Zhang rushed forward like a madwoman. "Don't prick my son! Do you even know how to treat him?!"

Gu Changfeng stepped to the side, blocking Zhang's wife like a mountain.

"Let her treat her." Gu Changfeng stared at Lin Wanrou's hand, his voice steady. "If anything happens, I, Gu Changfeng, will pay with my life."

Lin Wanrou's hands didn't shake.

She pressed Gangzi's Tian Tu acupoint with her left hand, pinched the needle with her right thumb and forefinger, and quickly and accurately inserted it.

Twist and thrust.

The movements were fluid and fast, so fast that it was impossible to see the technique.

Next are Hegu, Neiguan, and Shaoshang.

Four needles were inserted, in less than half a minute.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Lin Wanrou's forehead. This variation of the "Thirteen Ghost Needles" was a life-saving technique taught to her by Master Sun, which was extremely mentally taxing, and this was the first time she had tried it on a real person.

The room was eerily quiet, with only the ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner.

One second, two seconds... ten seconds.

The terrifying bellows-like sound coming from Gangzi's throat suddenly stopped.

Sister-in-law Zhang was so frightened that she couldn't catch her breath and her eyes rolled back as she was about to faint.

Just then, Gangzi coughed suddenly, followed by a long string of violent coughs.

"Wow--"

A mouthful of thick phlegm mixed with blood was spat out, and Gangzi's originally bluish-purple complexion visibly faded. The feeling of suffocation on the verge of death disappeared, replaced by a loud cry.

"She's alive! She cried out!"

Several military wives who had been watching the commotion at the door suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

Lin Wanrou swayed, clutching the last needle in her hand, and exhaled a long breath.

Just as she was about to fall, a large, iron-like hand suddenly appeared around her waist.

Gu Changfeng steadily supported her lower back, the warmth of his palms burning her through the thin fabric of her clothes.

"It's alright." Gu Changfeng looked down at the woman in his arms, his Adam's apple bobbing.

He had clearly seen the woman's focus and decisiveness when inserting the needle; it was even more steady than the sharpshooters he had seen at the shooting range. Was this really Lin Wanrou, the timid and submissive girl who had endured three years of mistreatment in the countryside?

Sister-in-law Zhang rushed to the table, hugged Gangzi, and cried and laughed at the same time.

"Thank you! Thank you, sister! You saved the only son of the Zhang family!" Zhang's wife realized what had happened and turned around to kowtow to Lin Wanrou.

Lin Wanrou was helped to stand up by Gu Changfeng, and waved her hand somewhat awkwardly: "No... it's just an emergency treatment, you still need to go to the hospital to get some medicine to consolidate the treatment."

"This isn't just emergency treatment, this is a miracle cure!" The wife of a company commander at the door slapped her thigh. "Just now, Gangzi's face was all black, I thought... but I didn't expect him to be cured after just a few needles?"

"Commander Gu, your wife is quite the hidden gem! She even has this skill?"

"Exactly! Who just called her a country bumpkin? Even the head of our military hospital might not have that kind of skill!"

Hearing the chatter around him, Gu Changfeng remained silent.

But for the first time, a faint smile appeared on his usually cold and hard face. He didn't explain, just stood there imposingly, as if displaying some rare treasure.

Meng Yaya sat on the chair, swinging her two short legs, keeping her achievements and fame hidden.

The spiritual spring water can protect the heart and reduce inflammation and swelling. Coupled with his mother's acupuncture skills, it would be a miracle if Gangzi got into trouble.

After seeing off the profusely thanking Mrs. Zhang and the crowd of onlookers, Courtyard No. 6 returned to quiet.

Lin Wanrou sat under the lamp and put away her needlework.

She heated each of the silver needles over a fire and then carefully put them back into the needle case.

Gu Changfeng sat opposite her, holding an enamel mug in his hand, not drinking a drop of water for a long time, his eyes fixed on her.

"What are you looking at?" Lin Wanrou asked in a low voice, feeling uneasy under his gaze.

"Who taught you?" Gu Changfeng asked.

"I used to work for an old man in the cowshed in the village. He taught me." Lin Wanrou didn't dare to say his full name, after all, Old Sun's identity was still a sensitive one.

Gu Changfeng nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

Having served in the army for many years, he knew that some of those sent to the countryside were actually quite capable. It seemed that his wife, during those three hellish years, hadn't had her rough edges smoothed out; on the contrary, she had secretly developed new skills.

"In the future..." Gu Changfeng put down his teacup, "Don't be too impulsive about these things. If you can't be saved, you'll be drowned in the spittle of this whole courtyard."

Lin Wanrou paused for a moment as she wiped the needle.

She looked up, her eyes unusually bright: "It's a life. It's not like I'm not confident."

Gu Changfeng was stunned.

This was the first time Lin Wanrou had ever talked back to him.

Not only was he not angry, but he felt a strange, tingling sensation inside.

"Fine." Gu Changfeng stood up. "From now on, you can save whoever you want. If you can't save them, I'll take the blame for you. You won't be the one getting spit on."

After saying that, he took the needle case from the table and casually stuffed it into Lin Wanrou's pocket, then gently patted her leg twice through the fabric with his fingertips.

"sleep."

Gu Changfeng turned around and went to make the bed.

Lin Wanrou sat there, her face as red as a large red cloth.

Meng Yaya lay on her pillow, watching these two people, whose combined age was almost sixty, engaging in innocent romance, and sighed helplessly.

Her cheapskate father is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to flirting—he's both tough and direct.

Late at night.

The courtyard quieted down, with only the occasional bark of a dog coming from afar.

Gu Changfeng lay on the outermost side, with Meng Yaya sleeping sprawled out in between. His eyes were closed, his mind filled with the image of Lin Wanrou administering the acupuncture needles.

That profile view was both stubborn and beautiful.

……

On a green train a thousand miles away, Wang Guifen sat cross-legged on a hard seat, holding a roast chicken she had somehow acquired. She gnawed on it, spitting out bones as she did so, her mouth glistening with oil as she boasted to the passenger opposite her.

"My eldest son is a high-ranking officer in the military region! We're going there to enjoy ourselves! That big jeep has to come all the way to the station to pick us up!"