I Became the Mother of His Child

"No need," Song Yuanhuan looked at Xu Xiuxiu sternly, his expression cold but his gaze extremely gentle, "Tiger Wolf Military Region in Z City has entered a state of alert, and many villages around Z City have already been affected by flooding. As a soldier, it is my duty to fight at the front lines of danger. In ten minutes, I will lead a team to Big River Dam near Z City to support the flood control efforts and prepare for potential breaches. The dam is old and poses great risks, and the team originally deployed there lacks manpower. I'm worried about you and don't feel at ease, so I brought some food back on my way to support the efforts; I've placed it all in the living room, remember to sort it out tomorrow morning. When I came in just now, I also saw that the house seems well stocked with food." Song Yuanhuan was drenched and had initially intended to embrace this petite woman fervently but restrained himself due to his soaked condition.

"Xiuxiu is really clever, knowing it's better to be safe than sorry," Song Yuanhuan praised with a smile that temporarily lit up his stern face, but it quickly disappeared, and he reverted to his serious demeanor.

"Is the situation that serious?" Xu Xiuxiu was surprised by the sudden urgency. "Be careful, don't recklessly throw yourself into danger. Think about us four at home, waiting for you to return safely." For a moment, Xu Xiuxiu thought about stopping Song Yuanhuan from going, especially since as a Lieutenant Colonel, his deployment indicated the severity of the flood might be even worse than she had anticipated.

In her past life, she had seen reports on the dangers of flood control. The flooding was still a headache many years later; no matter how advanced technology became, natural and man-made disasters were unavoidable. While Song Yuanhuan spoke, she couldn't help but feel a tingling in her nose from emotion, but the little rationality that remained fought her reluctance, and she ended up giving cautious advice.

She didn't dare voice any ominous thoughts nor wish to distract Song Yuanhuan, as her current self didn't want to expose her vulnerability. Song Yuanhuan was a soldier, a brave soldier, and she, Xu Xiuxiu, a military wife, couldn't afford to be weak even as her courage was on the brink, but she still held on to her belief.

"There, I will take good care of myself, don't worry, okay?" Song Yuanhuan raised his hand and gently stroked Xu Xiuxiu's head. "I promise I'll come back unscathed."

"Okay," Xu Xiuxiu nodded, her nose sour.

Xu Xiuxiu rarely allowed herself to be vulnerable, and sensitive as Song Yuanhuan was, he could not fail to notice. However, with the mission imminent and the limited time, his brief return home itself was already a breach of military rules. He could not delay further. Thus, turning around, Song Yuanhuan decisively hurried away again.

When Xu Xiuxiu heard the faint sound of the door closing, her upheld emotions immediately dissipated, causing her to slump to the floor for several minutes trying to gather strength before climbing into bed to hold her three children and fall asleep again.

...

The first day's torrential rain had a massive impact on F Province. After continuous rain for two nights and a day, by the next morning, numerous flooding issues had emerged in F Province and Z City. The water level outside kept rising, reaching nearly one meter, which was quite frightening. Some low-lying areas with old and damaged houses even began to suffer extensive damage and collapse.

The news on TV was also heavily reporting on various issues of the flooding in F Province. Due to continuous rainfall, the signal was intermittent, but it was still clear from the sparse and unclear TV reports just how serious the flood situation was. Now, apart from the three clueless children, the four adults at home weren't relaxed or comfortable at all. Although the TV screen wasn't clear because of the signal, the broadcast voice could still be heard very clearly. All being adults, they found the situation somewhat unbearable and were all frightened by it.

After hearing the news report, Song Yuanming secretly felt fortunate for his sister-in-law's foresight the day before, then he looked at Xu Xiuxiu with a gaze that was elusive and admiring.

Xu Xiuxiu could be said to be the most anxious among the four adults. After all, Song Yuanhuan was always in dangerous places, and only she knew this at home. Even with strong determination supporting her, she still had to admit that she was extremely worried about that man.

Then another day of prolonged heavy rainfall passed, and that night, the emergency news reported that the Big River Dam near Z City had breached. Floodwaters surged extensively into nearby villages and farms, even sweeping away a number of soldiers, which nearly pushed Xu Xiuxiu to the brink of collapse.

Xu Jingjing and Song Yuan Yao seemed to notice something wrong with Xu Xiuxiu, so they promptly took over the responsibility of caring for the three children from Song Yuanming, even handling all domestic matters such as chores and meals.

Xu Xiuxiu seemed somewhat dazed, which relieved her a little. However, before going to bed after tidying up at night, she still insisted that the three children sleep with her. She could no longer stay calm by herself and needed the children by her side, otherwise she felt she would go insane.

Another night passed until dawn, and the first thing Xu Xiuxiu did upon waking up was to draw the curtains and check the weather outside the window.

Outside, large raindrops showed no sign of letting up, and after a night's accumulation, the gloomy sky still seemed on the verge of collapse. At the small flower bed not far from Hai Chao Garden's building, the plants and flowers had been beaten down by the rain, some of them broken and fallen on the ground. Looking around, there were few pedestrians in the complex, occasionally someone walking carefully with an umbrella.

"Sigh! It seems I can really rest for a while," Xu Xiuxiu sighed silently, her emotions growing even more complicated.

Three consecutive days of stormy weather, such natural disasters could easily lead F Province and Z City as second-tier cities and provinces into decline and decay. She wondered how Song Yuanhuan was doing. Did he save many people? Was he bravely standing on the front line?

"Sister-in-law, you're up!" Song Yuan Yao was very helpful. These past two days, Aunt Luo was on leave, and originally, Xu Xiuxiu, as the sister-in-law, would have been cooking. But Song Yuanhuan took over all the household chores, "I made porridge, come and have some!" Song Yuan Yao was also quite concerned about the continuous rain outside but didn't feel much of that unease at home, so her overall mood was still not bad.

"Okay! Thank you, Yuanyao." Xu Xiuxiu washed up and then sat down at the dining table to eat breakfast.