Embedded Files
Psst! We're moving!
Shen Yihuan’s injury wasn’t severe, and she was able to have the stitches removed and the dressing changed after a few days.
Qiu Ruru and Gu Minghui also returned to Beijing after staying for a few days.
Once she could finally put weight on her leg, Lu Zhou drove Shen Yihuan back to the military camp. It was like welcoming some important figure; as soon as the car stopped at the camp gate, they saw many people standing there, craning their necks to look at them.
Shen Yihuan was a little puzzled and turned to Lu Zhou, asking, “Why are they all here? Have you delayed training for too long?”
Lu Zhou glanced at them: “Wait here for a bit.”
He opened the door, got out, and called out, “He Min.”
He Min responded, waving from afar, then ran over, smiling and saluting: “Captain Lu.”
“What are you all standing here for?”
“Aren’t we all here to see our sister-in-law finally return? Is her injury all healed?”
Lu Zhou frowned slightly: “Take your team back and continue training.”
“...” He Min conceded, clapped his hands to re-form the team, and led them back to the training ground. Before leaving, he patted Lu Zhou’s shoulder and whispered, “We have information on the firearms you had sent over earlier this time.”
Lu Zhou paused, walked back to the car, squatted down with his back to Shen Yihuan, and turned his head: “Come on.”
Shen Yihuan stretched her leg: “I want to be carried, not piggybacked.”
Lu Zhou’s movements halted. Without hesitation or further words, he circled his arm under her knees, easily picked her up, and walked towards the dormitory building.
At the dormitory door, he held her with one hand, cradling her, took out the key, opened the door, and placed Shen Yihuan directly on his bed.
He took out the medicine box.
He held Shen Yihuan’s ankle and placed her leg on his thigh, his gaze lowered. His hair had grown longer, and stray strands cast short shadows on his forehead, making him look incredibly focused and serious.
The wound had healed quite well, but it still couldn’t bear force.
Shen Yihuan’s legs were pale, and the dark red streak on them always looked more striking. Lu Zhou frowned and put a new gauze dressing on her.
“I’ll go ask He Can if there’s any scar cream later,” he said.
Shen Yihuan leaned on the bed, watching him lazily: “Don’t you have any here?”
“No.”
That’s right, otherwise, how would he have so many scars on his body?
“Lu Zhou, what if this scar doesn’t go away?”
He didn’t speak.
Shen Yihuan asked again, “If my leg isn’t pretty anymore, will you still like me?”
He immediately replied, “Yes, I will.”
“I’ll like you no matter what,” he added.
Shen Yihuan’s eyes curved into a smile, coaxing him: “Then smile for me.”
Lu Zhou narrowed his eyes slightly, put her leg back, leaned against the chair back, his chin slightly raised, and his lips curved in a very perfunctory smile.
Shen Yihuan “tsk”-ed. Since the first day she was injured, Lu Zhou had been extremely good to her, staying by her side almost constantly. She didn’t even have to ask for drinks or food; they were always there by her lips.
But he just didn’t smile much.
Although Lu Zhou didn’t smile much to begin with, now no matter how Shen Yihuan teased him, he wouldn’t react.
She knew Lu Zhou blamed himself, but this shouldn’t be his fault.
She was a little worried.
She kicked Lu Zhou’s leg, looking at her scar and tilting her head, saying, “How about I get a tattoo? I heard a lot of people get tattoos over scars, and then you can’t see them. What should I get tattooed?”
Lu Zhou: “Don’t get one.”
“Huh?”
“It’ll hurt.”
“But I want to.”
Shen Yihuan looked at him. The young girl’s lips were red and teeth white, smiling obediently, as if deliberately trying to please him. She murmured his name a few times, saying, “How about I get a boat tattooed, Zhou (舟)?”
Lu Zhou moved a little closer to her: “Aren’t you afraid of pain?”
“I just want to get one.”
“I’ll find you temporary tattoo stickers.”
“...” Shen Yihuan rolled her eyes, “I think your IQ isn’t very high. Can’t you tell I’m trying to coax you?”
Lu Zhou genuinely didn’t realize.
Shen Yihuan straightened her arm, palm up, and wiggled her fingers: “Come closer.”
Lu Zhou leaned in.
Shen Yihuan placed her hand on his chin, scratched it, and immediately smiled.
The man still sat on the chair, leaning his upper body forward, maintaining the pose obediently, letting the young girl scratch his chin, like stroking a dog. His eyes were downcast, softening his usual sternness, making him appear docile and endearing.
“Oh, little lion.”
Shen Yihuan then poked his chin with her index finger: “Little lion, smile for me.”
Lu Zhou grabbed her mischievous wrist, not pulling it away, just holding it: “Stop it.”
Shen Yihuan ignored him, directly using both hands to pull his face outward: “Smile quickly.”
It wasn’t until Lu Zhou finally showed a less perfunctory smile that Shen Yihuan reluctantly withdrew her hands.
He didn’t stay long in the dorm. He poured her water, prepared snacks for her if she got hungry, and even moved his laptop to the bed before leaving.
Lu Zhou didn’t use his computer much; there were only a few icons on the desktop.
Shen Yihuan, having nothing to do, randomly clicked on a few folders, all of which were encrypted.
Boring.
Just as she was about to close the computer, she noticed a different folder. The other folder names were work-related, but this one was just the original “New Folder.”
She raised an eyebrow, wiggled her finger, and clicked it open.
Inside were all photos of Shen Yihuan, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, sorted chronologically from earliest to latest. The first photo was from a high school sports day.
That day, Shen Yihuan was holding a sign, wearing a basketball jersey and black athletic shorts with white trim. She had a bright smile, with the class banner placed on the ground, her arm resting on it, talking to a friend beside her.
Shen Yihuan was a little confused and continued to scroll down.
Photos from sophomore year, junior year, the summer after high school graduation, freshman year of college, sophomore year of college...
There were very few photos of Lu Zhou; usually, it was just Shen Yihuan alone.
Judging by the angles, Lu Zhou probably didn’t take most of them himself. Shen Yihuan had seen many of these photos herself; she was too famous back then, and her photos were in the school’s online forums and even neighboring schools’ forums.
But she found it hard to imagine how Lu Zhou had secretly collected her photos.
Was it like this since their school days, or after they broke up?
She continued to scroll down.
And then she was enveloped by various complex emotions: surprise, shock, helplessness.
The last few photos were of her from when she was abroad, and photos of her working in the studio after returning to China. Interspersed were a few blurry photos, taken with a phone, of magazine layouts, with poor resolution.
Shen Yihuan clicked on one, leaning in to look.
It was a magazine interview after she had just won a photography award, with a partial transcript of the interview.
She had forgotten those words after she said them. The questions were provided in advance of the interview, and she had thought through her answers, reciting them like a book, completely shaping herself into a positive, sunny, and good young person.
Lu Zhou knew best that those words weren’t what she truly thought in her heart, yet he still carefully and seriously took pictures of that content, uploaded them to his computer, and arranged them in order.
________________________________________
Lu Zhou rushed to the training ground.
He Min had been leading the training these past few days in his absence.
“How’s the injury on your hand?” Lu Zhou asked.
He Min dramatically waved his hand: “It’s all good already. Now that you’re back, I can train with the team again.”
“Rest for a few more days.” Lu Zhou sat on the grass, lighting a cigarette, “How’s the investigation into that batch of firearms coming along?”
“Do you remember our previous face-to-face arrest operation with Li Wu?”
“Yes.”
During that operation, they had seized many smuggled firearms, but Li Wu still managed to escape.
And this time, after being suddenly shot at in the desert, Lu Zhou had to steal one of the enemy’s vehicles to rescue Shen Yihuan and the others. At the same time, it also counted as seizing a small amount of firearms and ammunition from the car’s trunk.
During Shen Yihuan’s days in the hospital, he had already notified people to take these back for investigation.
“The parts in those guns are the same as Li Wu’s batch from last time, and the model match is also very high.”
Lu Zhou’s hand, holding the cigarette, paused.
These types of gun smuggling arms dealers each have their own manufacturing sources. To ensure the stability of their supply, parts are also self-produced and self-sold. After precise comparison, the source of these seized firearms can be determined.
Lu Zhou: “So, this time it was Li Wu?”
“Highly likely.” He Min asked, “But didn’t you say it wasn’t Li Wu last time we were on night patrol? So now there are two groups of people trying to kill you?”
Lu Zhou took a drag from his cigarette, not answering.
He couldn’t think of any reason why he would be so painstakingly targeted, even suffering a series of attacks with less than three days between them.
He Min asked, “The group that shot at you this time, did they leave any survivors? Didn’t you ask what the situation was?”
Lu Zhou said, “No.”
“Didn’t leave any survivors, or didn’t ask...”
“Didn’t leave any survivors.”
He Min’s movements paused. He turned his head and saw Lu Zhou under a cloud of pale smoke, his eyes dark and unreadable. He understood almost instantly.
Here, he had spent the longest time with Lu Zhou. They were assigned to Xinjiang from Beijing in the same batch.
He patted Lu Zhou’s shoulder and asked in a low voice, “Is it because of Photographer Shen?”
Lu Zhou didn’t answer that question, only saying, “This time it was indeed my operational error; I didn’t control myself.”
“It’s hard to leave survivors in that situation,” He Min reasoned. “And there were three ordinary civilians there. It’s hard to say if leaving survivors would have made the situation uncontrollable.”
After training, Lu Zhou followed the team to the mess hall at the very end.
He sent a message to Shen Yihuan as he walked, telling her to stay in the room and that he would bring the food back.
Shen Yihuan didn’t reply.
Lu Zhou took a tray and served himself food.
The mess hall aunties were very happy to see him, always greeting him with “Captain Lu,” “Captain Lu.”
“Captain Lu, why are you coming to the mess hall to eat today? Didn’t that young lady come to cook for you?” one of the aunties asked.
Lu Zhou stopped: “What?”
“Oh, that pretty young lady from Beijing. She said her leg was injured; I saw her limping in, and she even asked if she could borrow our kitchen.”
Lu Zhou frowned slightly: “What did she borrow the kitchen for?”
“Please don’t scold her! She said she wanted to cook something for you herself, so I lent it to her. We have big pots here, so it’s hard to cook a small amount. Look, that big pot of porridge over there is all hers.”
The mess hall auntie didn’t know the relationship between the two and was worried that the famously strict Captain Lu would criticize Shen Yihuan.
Lu Zhou was silent for a moment, then said, “Please serve me a bowl.”
“That girl already poured a thermos full and said she wanted to bring it to you to try.”
His phone vibrated. A message from Shen Yihuan: I’ve finished serving your food. Come back quickly and eat.
________________________________________
When he pushed the door open, Shen Yihuan was sitting on a chair, her injured leg propped on another chair, taking out dishes one by one from an insulated box.
Lu Zhou walked over: “Why did you go to the mess hall to cook?”
“I wanted to cook for you, of course,” Shen Yihuan said matter-of-factly.
“Which one did you make?”
Shen Yihuan pointed to a bowl of porridge: “I can’t make anything else, just this. When I learn other things later, I’ll cook them for you.”
Lu Zhou took off his jacket. He moved a chair, sat down, and picked up the bowl of porridge. Without using a spoon, he took a big gulp directly.
“Is it good?”
“It’s good.”
Shen Yihuan added another spoonful of porridge: “Then drink more.”
“Mm.”
This feeling of sitting face-to-face, with simple home-cooked dishes in front of them, vividly unfolded the picture of their future life together in front of Shen Yihuan.
Lu Zhou drank two bowls in a row. Shen Yihuan poured him a third bowl, but he didn’t use the spoon again, eating other dishes.
When Shen Yihuan urged him to take a sip, he would.
Shen Yihuan took a sip herself. The porridge was a simple one, plain porridge with a bit of sugar, making it sweet.
She watched Lu Zhou eat, paused, and asked, “...Do you not like sweet things?”
“Not really.”
“Then don’t eat it,” Shen Yihuan said, reaching for the bowl of porridge.
Lu Zhou intercepted her hand: “I’ll drink it if you made it.”
“No,” Shen Yihuan looked at him seriously, “Don’t force yourself just because it’s me. It makes me not know what you like or dislike to eat, even now.”
Shen Yihuan looked at him and said, “You don’t like sweet things, I’ll remember that.”
Lu Zhou felt Shen Yihuan was acting strange: “What’s wrong?”
“I looked at your computer.”
Lu Zhou’s face showed a momentary blankness, then he quickly realized: “Those photos?”
“Mm.”
Shen Yihuan scooped up the porridge, gently blowing on it, and lowered her eyes: “Those photos, where did you get them?”
“Saved them before.”
“Why save them?”
And there were so many.
Lu Zhou looked at her: “They’re pretty.”
“...” Shen Yihuan was stunned for a second. The guilt and self-blame she felt from seeing that folder were turned into laughter by Lu Zhou’s words.
“What about the later ones, from when I was abroad? Where did you get those?”
Shen Yihuan had changed her phone after going abroad. During that time, she hadn’t posted much, only a few photos, posted on an empty account with no acquaintances. Now they were all in Lu Zhou’s folder.
Lu Zhou looked straight at her: “I can check your identity information.”
Shen Yihuan froze.
Lu Zhou continued, a hint of helplessness and coldness in the corner of his mouth: “That social media account was verified with your ID, so I could see it.”
He looked up, seeing Shen Yihuan’s shocked expression, and asked in a low voice, “Are you scared?”
“A little... unexpected.” Shen Yihuan remembered something, “Then you also knew where I lived abroad?”
“Yes,” Lu Zhou said softly, “It’s too late to be scared. I won’t again...”
He didn’t finish. Shen Yihuan stood up and hugged him, propping one leg up, burying her face in his chest, her voice muffled: “I later received a few envelopes with renminbi in them. Was that... from you?”
Lu Zhou was silent for a long time, then finally said, “Yes.”
Shen Yihuan sniffed: “Since you knew where I lived, did you never think of coming to find me?”
“I didn’t dare to think what I would do to you after finding you.”
When he said this, his voice was a little deep, his tone cold and hard, yet it also felt like a storm was brewing, sending shivers down one’s spine.
“Are you deliberately trying to scare me?” Her voice was a little annoyed.
Lu Zhou rubbed the long hair of the young girl in his arms: “No, did you forget I almost choked you to death before?”
“Lu Zhou.”
Shen Yihuan’s voice was muffled against his chest. She could feel her trembling eyelashes on the exposed skin of her neck.
“Can you trust me this one time? This time, I’ll treat you well. I won’t leave.”
“Don’t scare me.”
“Okay?”
Shen Yihuan’s voice was very soft, right next to his ear, like a plea, yet it made Lu Zhou willingly obey.
He said in a deep voice, “Okay.”
Google Sites
Report abuse