"Mama, Daddy hasn’t co back yet; we’re waiting for Daddy here," Feiyang lifted his head and said to Xia Xiao.
Feiyue also nodded, his little face earnestly added, "I want to build a house and live here so that when Daddy cos back, I can see him."
Xia Xiao’s nose tingled with emotion, hoping in her heart that Gao Jiaxing would return soon, safe and sound.
Suddenly, she heard Feiyang shouting towards the seaside, "Daddy’s back, Daddy’s back!"
Feiyue, too, leaped up, nearly running into the sea, "Daddy’s back, Daddy’s back!"
"Where?" The Military Wives, preparing to leave, looked out towards the boundless sea, but could discern nothing.
Xia Xiao looked around and didn’t see anything; Shitou said, "He’s really back."
"Where? I don’t see him," Xia Xiao searched and searched.
"Mama, there, over there," following the direction of Feiyang’s pointed hand, Xia Xiao focused on one spot, seeing just above the water’s surface a faint protrusion.
But she couldn’t be sure, it seed like a rock or sothing similar. However, as everyone watched intently, the vessel, Gao Jiaxing and the others were on, slowly, little by little, grew larger.
Once they recognized it was the familiar ship, the Military Wives all beca happy, joyous smiles spreading across their faces.
Although they had spotted it from afar, waiting for the ship to dock still required ti. At that mont as the sun set, the horizon of the sea was awash with sunset glow, the fiery red sky made the large ship solemn and majestic in the dying light.
They had returned—the soldiers had all co back.
The Military Wives at the seaside even started waving excitedly towards the slowly approaching ship, shouting in exhilaration.
Yet there was no movent on the ship; the soldiers stood with solemn faces, and soon enough, people carrying stretchers appeared, one by one, two by two, three by three, four by four...
The Military Wives instantly cried out in alarm, unable to stop themselves from covering their mouths.
Who was injured, who had an accident?
Xia Xiao’s heart also tightened with worry; where was Gao Jiaxing? Why hadn’t she seen Gao Jiaxing?
"Xuegang, where is he?" Li Shengi already called out, her heart fluttering with panic.
Liu Yuanchao and Gao Jiaxing were also slowly disembarking from the ship; seeing the familiar n, everyone gradually breathed a sigh of relief.
Only Wang Yuncai rushed towards the stretchers, calling out in anguish, "Ai Guo, Ai Guo."
Liu Yuanchao said, "Look after them."
Mu Xingzhi and Lin Xiang imdiately went to attend to the soldiers on the stretchers, and Zheng Xianghong also rushed over to help—no one wanted to see any more death at that mont.
At that ti, Xia Xiao was too concerned about Gao Jiaxing to care; she hurriedly asked Zheng Xianghong, "Mom, what dicinal herbs do we need to boil?"
As soon as Zheng Xianghong ntioned dicinal herbs, Xia Xiao dashed towards the army kitchen—not mainly for the herbs, but for the spring water.
But upon returning ho to find the herbs, Xia Xiao knew them well since Zheng Xianghong liked to gather and dry herbs; she quickly picked a few types of herbs and headed to the kitchen to cook them.
After Xia Xiao had prepared the dicinal decoction and added spring water, she imdiately brought it to the tent; the injured soldiers had already been brought into the tent.
"Give it to them first," Zheng Xianghong ordered.
Wang Yuncai’s heart was in turmoil, although she sowhat looked down on Li Aiguo, she still didn’t want him to die.
"Get out, all of you," Liu Yuanchao commanded sternly. "Don’t crowd around."
Mu Xingzhi nodded at the Military Wives, "Let’s all go out, don’t crowd; the soldiers must be hungry when they return. Go and cook."
Xia Xiao had already added spring water to the dicinal broth and, without lingering, went to cook with the others.
While Zheng Xianghong and Mu Xingzhi stayed to care for the injured alongside Lin Xiang, Xia Xiao said to Gao Jiaxing, "You watch the child. I’ll go cook."
This ti, eight soldiers had been injured, so seriously, others less so. For those who were seriously injured and unconscious, it was uncertain whether they were in life-threatening condition.
Still, Xia Xiao thought that as long as they were breathing, her spring water might be able to save them. However, she wasn’t certain in her heart.
Wang Yuncai stayed to take care of Li Aiguo, not moving an inch, watching him closely, moving the soldiers who saw her.
They thought to themselves that if their n were in the sa situation, they wouldn’t be able to remain calm either.
Of the eight injured soldiers, only Li Aiguo was married; the others were single.
He Xuexiang was fine, so both Li Shengi and Dong ihua’s heightened anxiety dropped back to relief, grateful beyond words.
Li Shengi said to Dong ihua, "You go help with the cooking. I’ll stay here."
Dong ihua nodded and followed Xia Xiao and the others.
During cooking, everyone was silent, not knowing what to say, so there was a wordless understanding among them.
The al was simple, focusing on quantity over anything else. After the Military Wives finished cooking, Liu Yuanchao led the soldiers to the canteen to eat.
After the al, Xia Xiao went to see the injured; Zheng Xianghong and Mu Xingzhi were still there.
They were busy administering injections, taking dicine, and wounds had been dressed and bandaged.
Xia Xiao said, "Mom, let watch over him. You go eat, okay? And sister-in-law, Dr. Lin, you go eat too."
Zheng Xianghong shook her head, "Better to watch over them. I won’t be at ease if I leave. So have been injured for days and so have been unconscious for a few, so seriously. You bring the food here."
Xia Xiao nodded, and Xu Chunhua said, "I’ll go get the food," and then she left, with several other Military Wives following her.
After eating, Dong ihua returned and took over for Li Shengi.
Soon enough, Xu Chunhua and Li Xiaoyan brought food for Zheng Xianghong, Mu Xingzhi, Lin Xiang, and even Wang Yuncai.
By the ti everyone finished eating, it was already dark. Gao Jiaxing took his sons to bathe, and though he often had training, he was no stranger to caring for his sons.
In the evening, Zheng Xianghong, Gao Jiaxing, and Liu Yuanchao were all watching over the injured in the large shelter, and Xia Xiao still hadn’t had a chance to ask Gao Jia what had happened.
The next morning, Xia Xiao finally heard bits and pieces — Li Aiguo and his comrades had been injured during training. The training was extrely dangerous, and due to the severity of their injuries, the training was halted to prevent endangering their lives; they were even rushed back.
The details of the training were a secret, not even divulged by Gao Jia.
Li Aiguo had the most serious injury, causing his recovery to be slow. At this point, it was impossible for Xia Xiao to use her spring water to help.
Previously, she had used the spring water because she didn’t want anyone to lose their life, but now that there was no life-threatening danger, she didn’t bring out her spring water again.
Xia Xiao was extrely agitated, even counting the days away, looking forward to the day she could return to the production team and eagerly tell Yang Xuehua the good news.
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