The night grew deeper. The rain still hadn’t stopped.
Thunder outside sounded as if it would split heaven and earth apart. Occasional flashes of lightning lit the room in a ghastly white.Su Man curled inside the military coat; the pain in her back and ankle made sleep impossible. She could only half-close her eyes and listen to Lu Zhan’s steady breathing.
The man lay with his back toward her, sleeping in a posture as straight as standing at attention.
The air inside hadn’t yet settled from the earlier chaos, yet a heavier tension quietly approached.
Su Man’s ears twitched.
Something was wrong.
Besides the rain, footsteps echoed in the corridor again.
This time they weren’t chaotic like Zhao Guihua’s tantrum — they were steady, powerful, uniform. The sound of multiple pairs of military boots on concrete.
Su Man’s eyes flew open. Her heart jumped to her throat.
“Commander…” she whispered, trying to wake him.
Lu Zhan had never been fully asleep. A second before she spoke, he had already sat up. Even in the dark, his frighteningly sharp eyes locked onto the door.
He heard it too.
Knock, knock, knock.
The knocking sounded again.
No yelling. No hysteria. Only restrained authority that suffocated the air.
“Comrade Lu Zhan, are you asleep?”
A deep middle-aged male voice came from outside. Not loud, yet unmistakably commanding.
Su Man’s face turned pale and she began trembling uncontrollably.
She recognized the voice.
In her previous life she had never entered the compound, but she had heard it countless times in newspapers and radio broadcasts.
Political Commissar Zheng Guobang — famous for being impartial and intolerant of wrongdoing.
That shrew Zhao Guihua had actually brought this big figure here!
Lu Zhan’s expression darkened instantly, darker than the night outside. He jumped off the bed and swiftly pulled on his military trousers. The muscles of his bare torso tightened, every line filled with explosive force.
“Hide.” He glanced down at Su Man, voice cold as ice.
Su Man panicked and tried to crawl under the bed.
“No.” Lu Zhan grabbed the back of her collar like lifting a chick. “The commissar’s here. A place like under the bed won’t fool anyone.”
According to regulations, if the commissar personally inspected, every corner could be searched.
Su Man nearly cried. “Then what? The window?”
“Third floor. Jump and you’ll be crippled.” He cut her off, scanning the narrow dorm quickly, finally fixing his gaze on the large standing wardrobe in the corner.
An old red-pine wardrobe — deep and spacious.
“Inside.” He pointed.
Ignoring her ankle pain, she scrambled over.
Just as she opened the door, Lu Zhan suddenly frowned, eyes fixed on her.
Her cotton jacket was soaked, dripping mud and smelling sour. Worse — two buttons had burst open earlier, revealing the coarse undershirt clinging tightly to her body from the rain.
Her figure was outlined clearly.
Lu Zhan’s Adam’s apple bobbed; his gaze darkened.
“Take it off,” he ordered.
Su Man froze, covering her chest. “What?”
“You want my wardrobe smelling like mud?” He gave her no time to react. He grabbed a white shirt from the chair — tomorrow’s uniform undershirt — and threw it over her head.
“Wear this.”
He shoved her straight into the wardrobe.
“If you don’t want to die, hold your breath.”
Click.
The wardrobe shut just as the voice outside grew more insistent.
“Lu Zhan? Open the door. Someone reported you’re hiding a fugitive. This is serious — I must personally investigate.” Commissar Zheng’s tone hardened.
Lu Zhan inhaled slowly, adjusted his breathing, took a cigarette from the table but didn’t light it, then walked calmly to the door.
In that instant, all his irritation and killing intent vanished, replaced by lazy annoyance as if just awakened.
The door opened.
The corridor light stabbed inside.
Four or five people stood there.
At the front was Commissar Zheng in a Zhongshan suit, stern-faced. Beside him the nervous security chief wiped sweat, not daring to meet Lu Zhan’s eyes.
At the very back — Zhao Guihua, returned.
Having found backing, her spine straightened, triangular eyes gleaming viciously.
“Commissar! Him! I saw it clearly — that girl entered this room! He refused to let us search, he must be guilty!”
Leaning against the doorframe, Lu Zhan saluted lazily, bronze skin gleaming under the light. The freshly bandaged wound seeped faint blood, giving him a savage edge.
He didn’t look at Zhao Guihua.
“Commissar, what brings you here in the middle of the night?”
Zheng Guobang frowned deeply.
“Watch your attitude, Lu Zhan! This woman knocked at my house crying you hid her runaway daughter-in-law. Our army values discipline and conduct. If no one’s here, why refuse inspection?”
Lu Zhan sneered, blocking the doorway.
“I’m a regimental officer. This may not be a confidential room, but it’s not for some civilian shrew to search at will. If word spreads, where does my reputation go? The military district’s reputation?”
“Don’t bully people with rank!” Zhao Guihua shouted. “She didn’t go back to the village! Only your light was on — you took a fancy to her looks!”
“Shut up!” Lu Zhan snapped, eyes fierce as a wolf.
She shrank behind the commissar.
“Lu Zhan!” Zheng barked. “A search will settle it. If no one’s here, she apologizes and I’ll personally write a report for you. Now step aside!”
As a superior officer, refusal would be insubordination.
Lu Zhan ground his teeth and moved aside.
“Please.”
His gaze at Zhao Guihua was ice-cold — like looking at a corpse.
She rushed in first.
“Little slut! Let’s see where you run!”
She rummaged wildly — under the bed, behind curtains, under the table.
Lu Zhan folded his arms, watching.
The room was simple, clear at a glance.
“Nothing?” Covered in dust from under the bed, she saw nothing. Then her eyes locked onto the large red-pine wardrobe.
“In there!”
She shrieked, pointing. “She’s definitely inside! That cabinet can hide two people!”
All eyes focused on the wardrobe.
Lu Zhan’s fingers curled slightly.
Commissar Zheng’s face darkened. If a woman was found there, Lu Zhan’s future would be ruined.
“Open it,” Zheng ordered.
Hands trembling with excitement, Zhao Guihua grabbed the handle.
“Come out, you little vixen—”