Perhaps because they had tossed and turned quite late into the night, Cong Yixing joined Jiang Ding for a rare morning of sleeping in.
It was nearly ten o’clock by the time he got up. He spent an hour tending to work before starting a pot of the mung bean porridge Jiang Ding had specifically requested yesterday, adding lilies and red dates to the mix.
Porridge shouldn’t be paired with anything too greasy, so Cong Yixing stir-fried some bok choy—a favorite of hers—and fried a plate of scallion egg pancakes. He didn’t wake Jiang Ding until the meal was ready.
Jiang Ding was exhausted from the previous night’s activities and was reluctant to get up, grumbling as he finally pulled her out of bed. She didn’t even wash her face, planning to go back to sleep right after eating.
In the middle of their meal, Cong Yixing’s phone rang.
They had just discussed his family yesterday, and today he was receiving a video call from the family group chat.
“It’s my younger brother. I’ll take it in the study,” Cong Yixing said to Jiang Ding, phone in hand.
It wasn’t that he wanted to keep secrets from her; rather, during a previous video call with his family, he had caught a glimpse of Jiang Ding looking dejected. He suspected it reminded her of her own relatives.
Cong Yixing was sensitive to such things. From then on, he tried his best to avoid talking to his family in front of her.
Jiang Ding hadn’t yet realized this was his way of being considerate. She shook her head and said, “The air conditioner in the study isn’t on. Just take it here.”
Cong Yixing didn’t argue and connected the call.
Since the dining table was a bit far from the air conditioner, they were eating at the coffee table in the living room to stay cool.
Sitting across from him, Jiang Ding couldn’t see the screen, but she could hear a lively hubbub of voices and children calling out for their uncle. It sounded like the whole family was there.
Usually, these calls involved lengthy greetings: Mother and Father Cong asking if the kids had eaten and what they had, or the two uncles teasing the little ones. Most of the time, it was just lighthearted, trivial small talk.
But today, the video quickly went silent because Cong Yixing’s younger brother, Cong Yi’an, who was serving in the military in the capital, clearly had serious business to discuss.
“We’re going into lockdown training,” he said.
“We’re transferring immediately. I only have ten minutes to talk to the family.”
“I might be out of contact for a long time. I’m sending a phone number to the group—it belongs to our superior. If there’s an emergency, call this number to find me.”
Cong Yi’an then addressed his eldest brother: “The air conditioners at home are years old, right? It’s time to replace them. Get several new, high-power models.”
“Buy plenty of food to keep at home. Flour, rice, oil, vegetables, fruit, meat—buy it all. No room? Then buy a large freezer, the kind of big ones they have in supermarkets.”
“Stock up on medicine, too. Mom’s blood pressure medication, the medicated patches Dad always uses, and stuff for heatstroke and clearing heat. Get everything ready.”
“Don’t worry about the money. I’ve mailed my salary card home; it’s already on its way. Mom and Dad know the PIN. Spend it freely—it’s fine even if you spend it all.”
These words of concern seemed ordinary, but his tone was stern, almost commanding. Cong Yixing’s expression grew grave as he said to his brother, “I’ll quit my job and come back.”
Cong Yi’an replied, “No. Stay in Yu City. A big city is always better than a small county town.”
He seemingly couldn’t speak too plainly, but fortunately, Cong Yixing understood. He asked, “If something special happens, the response in a big city will be faster?”
Cong Yi’an gave a vague “Mm,” almost inaudible.
“Then I’ll go back and bring Mom, Dad, eldest brother, and sister-in-law here.”
This time, before Cong Yi’an could respond, Mother Cong’s frantic voice cut in: “We’re not going! There’s so much news about cars spontaneously combusting. Driving back at a time like this… do you want to lose your life?”
“I can leave at night. If not that, I’ll take the high-speed rail. Even though the frequency has decreased, at least it hasn’t stopped. A round trip only takes a few hours.”
Father Cong added, “Where would we stay if we went? Why leave a perfectly good home to go squeeze in with you? Don’t come back for us. We aren’t going!”
Cong Yixing insisted, “I’ll rent another apartment in our complex for you to stay in. Dad, didn’t you hear what Little Brother said? If… if something happens, a big city is better than a county town!”
They argued back and forth, but Cong Yi’an clearly didn’t have much time. He said, “Stop arguing. Instead of wasting time on the road, listen to me and buy… more things.”
He evidently couldn’t even use the word “hoard,” but fortunately, there was an unspoken understanding among the family.
The eldest brother, Cong Yijin, who was naturally quiet and had barely spoken during the first half, finally said, “I understand everything you’ve said. I’ll handle things at home, don’t you worry.” He paused and then continued, “I don’t know where you’re being transferred to, but no matter the situation, you must protect your own safety.”
Mother Cong chimed in quickly: “Yes, yes, safety is the most important. Don’t try to be a hero no matter what, you’re still young, do you hear me!”
Father Cong also said, “While responsibility is important, your own safety is also vital.”
Cong Yi’an was two years younger than Cong Yixing, twenty-three this year. He hadn’t been great at school, but he excelled in physical fitness. He enlisted after graduating from a junior college and hadn’t been home for nearly two years.
He was just a fresh graduate when he left, and in his family’s eyes, he was still a child who hadn’t grown up. But seeing him now in the video, he had become a reliable young man with a resolute face.
After listening seriously to his family’s exhortations, he spoke to Cong Yixing uneasily before the video disconnected: “Second Brother, Yu City is quite good. Don’t go running around.”
“Alright. You too. Be careful with everything.”
The video disconnected.
Jiang Ding had listened in a daze for a long while, forgetting even to eat.
Cong Yixing had been deep in thought, but seeing her holding her chopsticks like an idiot, the heaviness in his heart lightened slightly.
He asked Jiang Ding, “What kind of ritual is this?”
Jiang Ding snapped out of it, followed his gaze to her right hand holding the chopsticks, and couldn’t help but laugh as well.
She put down her chopsticks, having lost her appetite for food. She asked him impatiently, “What did your brother mean?”
In truth, Cong Yixing wasn’t entirely sure either. Cong Yi’an’s video call was rushed, and there were clearly many things he couldn’t say directly, only giving cryptic warnings.
He could only infer from his brother’s behavior that something major was about to happen, something related to the mentioned lockdown training. But lockdown training might just be a story to soothe the family; what was he actually going to do?
Trying to untangle his thoughts, Cong Yixing spoke slowly: “Because a major event is likely about to happen that ‘could cover the entire country,’ his unit has to transfer for ‘lockdown training.’ Before that, they were given ten minutes of communication time to warn their families to make preparations, but they couldn’t be too obvious about it…”
“Replacing high-power air conditioners, storing more food even if it means buying another freezer, big cities responding faster… Yu City is quite good,” Cong Yixing mused, then suddenly asked Jiang Ding, “What’s so good about Yu City?”
Jiang Ding listened intently. Sometimes her reactions were lightning-fast, and she said almost immediately, “…Inland? Plains? Logistics hub?”
Cong Yixing shook his head gently. “No, there must be more than that.”
Jiang Ding thought hard, and a flash of inspiration hit her: “The military hospital! There’s a military hospital over by Dongqiao. Didn’t we see several military jeeps passing by when we went there for dinner last time?”
Cong Yixing realized it too. “Right! And we’ve seen fully loaded military trucks!” He opened the maps on his phone and said, “Remember once when we were looking at travel routes, I noticed a large blank space on the map, but when we drove past, we saw there were buildings? That section near the road even had isolation fencing!”
Jiang Ding got a little excited as she followed his lead: “So there’s a troop nearby?!”
Cong Yixing nodded and then shook his head. “I think I heard there were troops stationed in Pingshan County to the east of Yu City, but that blank space on the map is in the eastern suburbs of Yu City, quite far from Pingshan County.”
Jiang Ding: “One of my roommates is from Pingshan County. I’ll ask her.”
Now there was no mood for eating. While Jiang Ding contacted her roommate, Cong Yixing cleared the half-eaten meal from the table. He was absent-minded while washing the dishes, still thinking about the matter.
By the time he had finished cleaning up slowly, Jiang Ding had gotten her answer. “Her family is from Pingshan Township, under Pingshan County. The ‘Ping’ in Pingshan County refers to Mount Pingshan. Her home is right in front of the mountain. According to her, there are indeed troops in the mountains; they occasionally hear the sounds of drills and have seen fighter jets fly in. They haven’t seen military trucks, but the elders there say there’s a specially built military road in the mountains that many locals know about. However, since Pingshan has been a restricted area for decades, no one has seen it or knows where it leads.”
Cong Yixing hadn’t expected her to find out so much. He asked, “Didn’t you move out in your sophomore year? You’re still on such good terms with your roommate?”
Jiang Ding wrinkled her nose. “What do you mean by that? I have such a good personality, I can get along with anyone!”
In Cong Yixing’s eyes, Jiang Ding was actually quite solitary. At least since they started dating, she was almost always with him and rarely socialized with others. He was actually very happy about this, but sometimes he worried—worried she didn’t have friends to hang out with, worried that a lack of people to talk to would make her too withdrawn.
But looking at it now, he might have been wrong. Although Jiang Ding was clingy with him, it wasn’t that she didn’t communicate with others at all.
He quickly apologized: “My mistake. Our baby has a great personality and a great temper, the best in the world.”
Jiang Ding didn’t hold it against him and returned to the main point: “So even if that area in the eastern suburbs isn’t it, there is definitely a major troop station within Yu City.”
Cong Yixing added, “So if something really happens, at least there are troops here, so things won’t fall into chaos.”
“Yeah. I wonder what exactly is happening. Does it have anything to do with the abnormal weather?”
“Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t. But what’s certain is that whatever is about to happen is something neither the country nor individuals can control, so we can only prepare as much as possible to face it.” Cong Yixing finished and then said, “I’ll call home again to talk in more detail. Is there anyone you want to notify?”
Jiang Ding lowered her eyes. “No.”
Cong Yixing patted the top of her head comfortingly. For a moment, he hesitated, unsure how to say what was on his mind.
He said he was going to make a call, but now he sat beside her without moving. Jiang Ding looked at him and asked, “Do you have something to say to me?”
She thought Cong Yixing might want to persuade her to contact the parents she hadn’t seen in years, but she didn’t expect him to say: “Things happened so suddenly at noon, and I said I wanted to bring my family over without consulting you. I’m sorry.”
Jiang Ding was stunned. “Why are you apologizing?”
In Jiang Ding’s mind, they were a family. Forget about special times—even normally, if he wanted to bring his family to Yu City, as long as they weren’t going to live in the apartment she was renting, he didn’t need to say anything to her.
But Cong Yixing clearly thought differently. He said, “Isn’t it said online? Marriage is two people forming a new family. Since we’re planning to get married, we’re essentially family now. Although my parents and brothers are still my family too, I should still consult you and get your consent before making any decisions.”
He continued, “I know you lack a sense of security and often overthink things. Now that I’ve apologized first, you can’t overthink it anymore, okay!”
Jiang Ding: “…” She wasn’t actually that sensitive; did Cong Yixing think she was too fragile?
Seeing Jiang Ding’s speechless expression, Cong Yixing knew he had overthought it; she didn’t mind at all.
But he still gave her a heads-up: “Since we’ve determined Yu City will be safer, when I call home later, I still want to try my best to persuade them to come. Even if I don’t go back for them, I can rent a house first and have them take the high-speed rail themselves. The ‘meeting the parents’ we talked about for the Mid-Autumn Festival might have to happen early now. Are you afraid?”
Jiang Ding thought for a moment and said, “No.”
Seeing how carefully Cong Yixing treated her now, putting her first in everything, she was certain that even if she didn’t get along with his family, he would definitely side with her. So, Jiang Ding wasn’t afraid.
Cong Yixing was on the phone for nearly an hour, with both sides pushing and pulling. Jiang Ding grew sleepy as she listened and went back to the bedroom for a nap.
As she slept, she felt someone join her.
This was a man who was warm in winter and cool in summer, with a lean build, firm muscles, and smooth, elastic skin.
Yes, very suitable for holding while sleeping.
Jiang Ding adjusted her posture, hugging the slightly cool human-shaped pillow, and fell into a deep sleep.