Pregnant and Pampered: The Heiress in a Military Compound

After Xie Changyi got out of the car, she was about to close the door when she suddenly remembered what her secretary had told her that day. She turned her head to Xie Changning and said, "Come to my place tomorrow morning. I have something to talk to you about, concerning our parents."

Xie Changning nodded. "Alright."

Her message delivered, Xie Changyi turned and left.

After Xie Changyi left, only Yue Yihan and Xie Changning remained in the car. Sitting in the driver’s seat, Yue Yihan gazed at Xie Changning’s profile, his lips parting as if to speak.

However, the moment his eyes landed on her face, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

Seeing his hesitation, Xie Changning finally turned to face Yue Yihan. "What did you want to say to me?" His mouth opened, then closed, then opened again.

She had been waiting for what felt like an eternity, but he hadn’t said a single word.

Yue Yihan parted his lips, swallowing the longing in his throat. "It’s nothing. I’ll take you to the guest house."

"Yue Yihan... don’t tell me you miss me, but you’re too afraid to say it?"

The car had started, and Xie Changning had been racking her brain for a while, trying to guess what Yue Yihan could possibly want to say to her. In the end, a sudden thought struck her, and she blurted out the question.

A sudden screech of tires filled the air, and a moment later, Xie Changning felt the car lurch to a halt.

Xie Changning clutched her seatbelt as she was jolted in her seat. She looked at Yue Yihan in surprise. In her experience, he rarely lost his composure like this.

’Don’t tell me I actually guessed right?’

"I... You could tell?"

When it came to Xie Changning, Yue Yihan was a closed book, completely unable to express his feelings.

Now that she’d seen right through him, the tips of his ears were burning. He was clearly embarrassed. He had slammed on the brakes out of sheer excitement, and now he watched her nervously.

Seeing that Xie Changning was unharmed, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hm?" Xie Changning looked at Yue Yihan, astonished, only to see him staring at her nervously.

As their eyes met, Xie Changning suddenly saw something in Yue Yihan’s gaze: emotion.

Yes, emotion.

Before, Xie Changning would never have been able to recognize such a look. For some reason, today, she saw it with perfect clarity.

’It’s as if Yue Yihan’s eyes hold feelings for me.’

’He... seems to like me?’

This discovery surprised Xie Changning. What surprised her even more was that she didn’t mind seeing that emotion in his eyes. In fact, she was even a little happy about it.

Xie Changning frowned slightly. ’Something about this feeling isn’t right.’

"If you don’t like it, I’ll—"

Seeing the change in Xie Changning’s expression, Yue Yihan quickly started to say that he wouldn’t trouble her with these feelings again.

But before he could finish, Xie Changning’s voice reached his ears. "It’s not that I don’t like it, but... I’ve never really thought about... us... before."

This was despite the fact they were already married and had two children.

In Xie Changning’s mind, Yue Yihan had always just been her partner; she had never delved deep into the matter of their feelings.

Only now, seeing him like this, did she begin to truly consider their relationship.

Hearing her say that, Yue Yihan secretly let out a sigh of relief.

From the very beginning, he had assumed that Xie Changning had been dragged into this mess against her will. He felt guilty; she was an innocent party.

That was why he had never revealed his feelings to her. This time, however, he hadn’t seen her in so long that he couldn’t quite hold them back. Otherwise—

He would never have let them show.

In Yue Yihan’s mind, his feelings would likely only be a burden to Xie Changning.

He was content with the fact that she didn’t hate him.

Yue Yihan had long since resigned himself to the idea that they would spend their lives together just like this, and he wouldn’t ask for anything more.

Xie Changning watched the silent man before her, wondering what he was thinking. She tilted her head, considering for a moment, before speaking slowly, "Don’t overthink it. Just take me to the guest house. I’m tired."

The topic was a bit awkward for both of them.

It was best for both of them not to delve any deeper.

Yue Yihan understood. He didn’t press the issue, simply nodding and driving Xie Changning back.

When they arrived at the guest house, Yue Yihan walked Xie Changning to her room. Only after she went inside did he turn to leave.

What Xie Changning didn’t know was that while she was washing up, Yue Yihan remained downstairs. He sat in his car, watching the window of her room, and only left after she turned off the light.

The moment Yue Yihan returned to the family housing compound, his adjutant, who had been waiting at the entrance, pulled him toward He Liuzhang’s office.

"Commander, the Brigade Commander wants to see you."

"What for?"

"I don’t know. He’s being all mysterious about it. The Brigade Commander wouldn’t tell us, just that you were to go to his office the moment you got back."

Yue Yihan followed the adjutant toward He Liuzhang’s office, his mind elsewhere.

When they reached the Brigade Commander’s office, the adjutant scurried off, leaving Yue Yihan to knock on the door. "Reporting! Yue Yihan!"

"Enter."

He Liuzhang’s voice came from within the office.

Yue Yihan pushed the door open and entered He Liuzhang’s office. He saluted the Brigade Commander, who then gestured amiably for him to sit in a nearby chair.

"You were looking for me, sir?"

"Yes. Take a look at this."

He Liuzhang pushed a manila envelope across the desk to Yue Yihan and motioned for him to open it.

Yue Yihan glanced at He Liuzhang. When his superior nodded for him to proceed, he opened the folder without ceremony and began to flip through the documents inside. The more he read, the graver his expression became.

"Current technology isn’t that advanced, so investigating your background takes time. Thankfully, it didn’t take an excessively long time."

At He Liuzhang’s words, Yue Yihan looked up.

He Liuzhang had mentioned this to him last year—that his parents might be from Beijing, because a couple there was searching for their son.

By the time He Liuzhang found out, their investigation had already led them to Yue Yihan.

Yue Yihan hadn’t paid it much mind when he first heard. As far as he was concerned, it didn’t matter who they were. He had grown up with He Liuzhang and Liu Changyou playing the role of his parents.

Even if they did find him, he didn’t think he would feel any particular closeness to them.

What if they weren’t satisfied with him? Or what if some friction arose when he went to acknowledge his lineage, leading them to grow tired of each other? It would be better to have no parents at all.

"Is this evidence reliable?"

The first words out of Yue Yihan’s mouth were a challenge to the evidence.

He Liuzhang had watched him grow up. He could tell what crap he was about to spout before he even opened his mouth.

So, as Yue Yihan spoke, He Liuzhang shot him an annoyed glare. "Don’t think I don’t know you don’t want to meet them."

Yue Yihan fell silent.

"You need to try and understand your parents," He Liuzhang sighed, trying to reason with him. "The country was in the chaos of war back then. You... getting lost wasn’t something they wanted."

If they had truly abandoned you, that would be one thing. But it’s clear your family didn’t abandon you—you were lost.