An overwhelming kiss rained down on Su Yemang.
Fiery… urgent…
Su Yemang recalled the events of the day.
She had sensed that Xiao Ye was acting strangely.
He had lost control…
Driven by some drug induced desire.
“Xiao Ye…”
The bed in the master bedroom had creaked for hours.
The next day.
5 a.m.
Xiao Ye put on his military uniform and stepped out of the master bedroom.
He stood at the door, his eyes heavy with the weight of a night long storm.
He lit a cigarette “burn…” the tip scalded his palm, while in his mind he imagined Su Yemang… just like last night. The image of her sleeping with another man.
“Burn…” the cigarette tip seared the same palm lines again.
He closed his eyes. Xiao Ye, you don’t deserve to feel pain.
She was married, having a child with another man.
He pulled open his shirt…
Another cigarette… burned his chest.
The unbearable reality forced him to pull out his military knife, cutting his arm again, then wrapping it haphazardly with cloth.
The surface pain was tolerable; his heart hurt less.
Last night, Su Yixin had fallen into the ice hole. Xiao Ye had prepared the medicine and left it in the living room.
He went to the backyard to add firewood, heat water, and finally made some fried dough and side dishes, keeping them warm in a pot.
After finishing, he scaled the wall and left the Su household again…
The morning wind was sharp; he coughed heavily, his neck reddened.
Dogs barked in the distance… followed by…
The reconnaissance camp.
The military doctor changed the bandages on Xiao Ye’s cut arm.
Guard Zhu Que stepped out holding the bloody bandage. “Captain Xiao… hasn’t changed a bit. Bad mood, so he punishes himself.”
The doctor sighed. “This is a psychological issue now.”
In the office,
Xiao Ye anxiously rubbed his forehead.
The homeless man and the woman had been caught, but Shen Yuetao had already been taken away early in the morning by her vice commander father, who had sent a car for her.
Xiao Ye could only have the homeless man and the woman give statements and write a report with witnesses.
Just as he finished, a scout ran in.
“Captain Xiao! Trouble! Dust explosion at Gate 1 of the back mountain…”
Xiao Ye’s eyes went cold. “1st Company, A Squad, Border Defense Battalion. Follow me immediately to the back mountain.”
Back Mountain.
Gate 1.
A female soldier was protecting a male soldier, both collapsed on the dust covered slope.
Xiao Ye’s expression darkened. “Fu Yang!” he shouted and dashed over.
The recorder noted, “It’s Chemical Defense Battalion Commander Fu Yang, and his guard Wei Xiaoqing.”
After a while, Su Yemang and the military research institute team arrived.
She had just stepped out of the vehicle.
Their eyes met.
Xiao Ye caught sight of the mark on her neck his kiss from last night.
He clenched his fists… nails digging into his burned palm… then walked over, voice low:
“Professor Su, please check the radiation levels of the injured.”
“Understood,” Su Yemang said, taking out a detector.
Five minutes later.
She rubbed her frostbitten hands. “All readings are normal. Both comrades have no radiation sickness.”
“Mm.” Xiao Ye’s gaze was sharp as an arrow.
His eyes swept over her hands, brow furrowed.
Next, he removed his gloves and handed them to her.
Su Yemang whispered, “No need.”
Xiao Ye said nothing. He took her hand and put the gloves on.
The moment his fingers touched hers, they recoiled immediately.
These hands…
Last night, he had… gripped them firmly against the headboard…
His face went ashen. He grabbed his military cap and placed it on her head.
Then he bit his lip, speaking sternly, “Send them immediately to the Military District General Hospital.”
“Yes!”
The medical team swiftly carried them away.
After Fu Yang and Wei Xiaoqing were taken, Xiao Ye climbed to a high vantage point, scanning the surrounding forest. Every lookout point, binoculars aimed at the border line.
Snowflakes suddenly began to drift.
Through the morning mist, a flock of old ducks flew past.
Su Yemang watched snowflakes fall on Xiao Ye’s shoulders, her eyes misty.
What had Xiao Ye endured over these five years?
He had once said he hated rules and regulations most of all how had he ended up in the military?
Back covered in both bullet wounds and multiple knife cuts.
Inside Su Yemang, a soft place in her heart suddenly collapsed.
Her mind was full of memories of his village bully self from five years ago.
Xiao Ye suddenly looked back.
He saw Su Yemang staring at him; he rubbed his eyes, thinking it was a trick of the light.
Looking again, he saw her brown eyes glimmering with tender affection, as if full of warmth, as if full of melancholy.
Just like five years ago when she had lain in his arms, the eyes like shimmering water.
Was she really looking at him like that?
Xiao Ye suddenly wanted to laugh, and yet wanted to cry.
The sun rose high, and birds chirped in the back mountain forest.
Xiao Ye called out, “Wrap it up!” and drove off from the back mountain.
Passing by Su Yemang, he briefly looked away, but through the rearview mirror, he kept his eyes on her, watching her figure shrink in the distance…
Afternoon.
Border Defense Battalion office.
Xiao Ye rolled up his sleeves; new scars added to old knife wounds.
He opened a drawer for bandages and casually touched an old photograph.
He stared at the woman in the blue and white dress, his gaze vacant.
“Su Yemang… what am I supposed to do with you?”
The words scraped like sandpaper.
The next day.
Su Yemang heard that the Cultural Troupe had sent an expert to repair the stage lights.
She guessed it was her brother, Su Yechuan, and hurried off after work.
At the entrance of the residential compound, she suddenly collided with a woman.
“Sister Yun Ruo! What’s wrong, why are you running so fast?” Su Yemang held her forehead, asking.
Yun Ruo looked excited. “Oh, it’s Xiaomang! The troupe’s stage light is broken, and I took the chance to practice while no one’s around.”
Su Yemang felt a lump in her throat. “Sister Yun Ruo, are they bullying you?”
Yun Ruo laughed cheerfully. “Ah, it’s fine. Some practice is good enough.”
After speaking, she left.
Su Yemang was about to follow when someone called out, “Professor Su, there’s a strange woman at the North Gate of the military district claiming to be your relative!”
Su Yemang’s vision went dark. “Alright, I’m going…”
Cultural Troupe.
The dance rehearsal room was dark. Su Yechuan squatted beside the stage, fixing a light.
Suddenly, footsteps approached outside.
He peeked out and saw a tall, slim woman step onto the stage.
Her exotic, striking face.
It was Yun Ruo.
Su Yechuan’s lips curved slightly.
Why was she here for practice now?
She wore a practice outfit, stretching her limbs with a look of enjoyment, then began to dance gracefully.
Su Yechuan hid in the shadows, watching her.
Yun Ruo continued practicing but suddenly felt something off, like a sigh nearby.
In the dim light, she couldn’t see clearly around the stage, but she shook her head and kept dancing.
At that moment, a few female troupe members passed the stage door.
“Oh, isn’t this the capitalist daughter, secretly practicing dance here?”
“Ah, trying to win an award again, huh?”
“Shut up!”
A man in work clothes stepped forward.
He walked to the door, eyes deep and icy, glaring at them.
The female soldiers’ previously blank expressions instantly brightened with fear.
Su Yechuan’s voice was stern. “How can you even say that about the capitalist daughter?! Aren’t you afraid of being criticized?”
“Ah, sorry, sorry…” the women stammered, bowing and fleeing.
Yun Ruo paused, her gaze catching a familiar silhouette.
She smiled. “Master, are you here to fix the lights?”
“Am I disturbing you?”
Su Yechuan turned around.
Yun Ruo’s smile froze.
He walked over, raising his hand covered in lamp dust, intending to touch her but it hovered in the air.
“Yun Ruo.”
She immediately stepped back. “Su Yechuan, it’s you again!”
She lowered her eyes, inhaling a cold breath.
Su Yechuan’s body wavered, injured, and said, “You really don’t want to see me?”
Yun Ruo nodded. “Yes.”
Then she stamped on the stage and turned to run away.
North Gate of the military district.
A middle aged woman grabbed Su Yemang. “Yemang, I can’t live like this anymore! That man drinks every day, hits me and your cousin. You have to help me take a gun and stop him!”