Reborn as the Villain's Wife, I Shine in 80s-Chapter 532 - 516 Jiang Jinghuai sacrificed

If only he were just injured.

Jiang Jingshan felt a dull ache in his heart, and his thoughts suddenly flew back to that day. The massive explosion rang out, billowing smoke brought searing waves of heat that sent him flying and crashing to the ground, his skin severely burned.

Wave after wave of explosions nearly tore his eardrums apart.

He shook his head lightly, emerging from the tumultuous storm, his eyes reddening:

"No, sister-in-law, Jinghuai... he’s fallen."

Fallen—these two words signify glory, the highest honor for a soldier. But to Jiang Jingshan as family, fallen meant something far beyond honor—it meant death.

Life, when resilient, can be extraordinarily tough, yet when it departs, it takes but a moment.

Were it not the irrevocable truth, he truly wouldn’t want to believe it.

"What did you say..."

Tian Sangsang staggered backward, nearly collapsing to the side.

A thunderous roar—her mind was about to explode.

Fallen. Ever since becoming pregnant, she seldom considered this possibility. She believed life was an extraordinary gift, as she nurtured a tiny life within. As a result, her eyes brimmed with infinite hope for life.

She seemed to have forgotten, forgotten that people could fall.

The antonym of birth is death.

She forgot that her husband’s job was dangerous.

She forgot that her husband could fall at any time.

She only knew that he wouldn’t leave her.

That prideful confidence.

Even if, at times, he truly wasn’t the best, even if he had broken her heart deeply, she had never once thought he would die. She believed he wouldn’t leave her, believed he couldn’t leave her.

When did she start forgetting that? She couldn’t recall.

"Sangsang!" The eldest aunt hurried forward to support her wavering body, whispering in her ear: "Don’t collapse, you must hold on." As a daughter-in-law, Sangsang was unquestionably wronged. The eldest aunt understood that her family was far away, that her relations with her husband’s family weren’t very close. Her sole reliance was on Jinghuai. Her son was too young, and she carried another child in her womb. For a pregnant woman—with six months done and three more to go—her husband falling was the most cruel blow imaginable.

Yet for families like theirs, the privileges and honors they enjoy are hard-earned.

Behind the glory lies sweat and blood.

For women of such families, they must always be prepared.

Tian Sangsang grabbed the eldest aunt’s hand, forcing herself to stand upright.

"Second brother, what did you just say? Who fell?" Two clear streams of tears slipped down her cheeks.

"Fallen... fallen, how could this possibly be?"

"I don’t believe it. It can’t possibly be him."

She murmured incoherently, her nerves fraying.

How dare he, how could he? She refused to believe, absolutely refused to believe. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The eldest aunt and Jiang Jingshan helped her frail figure into the living room, their eyes fixed on her swollen belly, worried that something might go wrong. He had fallen a few days prior, but it was only early this morning that Jiang Jingshan returned home.

Upon arriving, he informed both the family and their Fourth Uncle’s household immediately.

Hearing the news in the morning, Fourth Aunt collapsed in grief. Fourth Uncle took her to the hospital, their home was entirely in chaos.

Thinking of Tian Sangsang’s pregnancy—three months away from delivery—they discussed whether to tell her or not. Ultimately, they decided to inform her, coming to her in the afternoon.

Tian Sangsang curled up on the sofa, her body trembling uncontrollably. Pregnant as she was, in the eyes of the eldest aunt and Jiang Jingshan, she seemed like a fragile bundle, pale and ready to break at a touch.

"I don’t believe it." She kept shaking her head, repeating those four words to Jiang Jingshan.

Her shoulders quaked with sobs.

How could anyone bear to strike her down further?

"I’m sorry." Jiang Jingshan could only offer this apology. He was alive, but his fourth brother was gone. He even thought, why wasn’t it him instead? He even thought, couldn’t they both have survived somehow?

The living room grew unearthly quiet.

Exhausted from crying, the baby in her womb stirred. Tian Sangsang wiped her tears, her hand resting on her belly. "Baby, are you grieving too? Poor thing, you haven’t even been born, and already you may never meet your father."

She had only ever wanted a family—one that wasn’t broken and scattered like her past life’s. One not as hard and bitter. But now, faint understanding dawned on her: life is a string of hardships; you’ll never know what trials await. The only thing you can do is face them with strength.

No one is spared suffering. To live without pain only means the destined tribulations have not yet arrived.

"Second brother... are you certain?"

Jiang Jingshan nodded.

"I want to know what happened."

Jiang Jingshan hesitated.

"Otherwise, when my child asks one day, I won’t even know how to tell them about their father’s sacrifice."

Jiang Jingshan drew a difficult breath; the details were classified, he couldn’t disclose everything.

"Our team was sent to the border for an anti-drug mission. We tracked their base—it stored tens of thousands worth of drugs. Jinghuai carried explosives inside and detonated them. He perished along with them."

"..."

"How is that possible?"

"That’s impossible!"

Tian Sangsang’s eyes widened in shock, just as she had calmed down, her emotions surged wildly again.

She clenched her teeth, then held her belly and wailed loudly: "He ended up dying together with others. Did he think about us? Did he think about Yanyan? He just abandoned us like this? He promised he’d return before I gave birth. He promised. How could he commit such a suicidal act, how could he break his word? How am I supposed to believe this?"

Indeed, how could it be? Jiang Jingshan wanted to say it couldn’t be, but amidst the flying flames, he saw Jinghuai do it. He saw him, decisively and resolutely, sacrifice himself for the mission.

He knew why Jinghuai did it, he had reasons to believe it.

Because Jiaqi had once died in that place. That knot in his heart never unraveled.

"We couldn’t even recover his remains... his body wasn’t found." In an explosion like that, the bomb left nothing but dust, nothing at all.

The world ultimately grew silent, with only the earth to accompany one’s solitude.

Tian Sangsang suddenly latched onto a lifeline, lifting her tear-blurred eyes, desperately and sorrowfully:

"You said his body wasn’t found—could it be he’s still alive?"

Jiang Jingshan replied: "We searched everywhere. The site was in the mountains; we practically scoured every inch yet couldn’t find him." It wasn’t as though the thought hadn’t crossed their minds—they had conducted thorough searches everywhere. Despite knowing the bomb couldn’t have blasted him too far, they still looked. But the facts allowed no room for hope.

Perhaps you missed a spot, she despondently thought as she wiped away her tears.

She adamantly refused to believe that Jiang Jinghuai was truly gone. With his departure, her life suddenly seemed to hit a dead end. All her joys and sorrows were interconnected with this man: love, hatred—it was all beyond words. Now, in the moment of complete loss, could she ever feel joy or sorrow again?

If those joys and sorrows had nothing to do with him, then what meaning would they hold?