Xu Fangfei swore that this was the strangest request she had heard in her eighteen years of life.
Looking at Zheng Xiye’s handsome face and the calm, unruffled expression on it, Xu Fangfei fell silent. She thought to herself that she really had not noticed before that he actually had such a weird side to him.
She had seen people who deserved to be beaten up, but she had never seen anyone who deserved to be bitten. She was not some kitten or puppy. Why on earth would she bite him for no reason?
After a few seconds of silence, Xu Fangfei lowered the right hand that had been rubbing her head. When she spoke again, her tone carried a hint of helplessness as she said dully, “Judging from how you look, you should be fine. I still need to help my mom buy soy sauce, so I’ll be going now.”
After saying this, she stopped going back and forth with him. She carefully put her phone away into her pocket, turned around, and continued down the stairs.
She had only taken two steps when the person behind her suddenly spoke again, calling her to a halt once more.
Zheng Xiye said, “Xu Fangfei.”
The low, heavy timbre of his voice drilled clearly into Xu Fangfei’s ears. Her gaze flickered slightly, and her steps stopped unconsciously.
In her memory, he usually called her little brat, student girl, and all sorts of other nicknames. He rarely ever called her by her full name.
Just now, when he called out “Xu Fangfei,” his volume was not loud, and the pauses between the three syllables were quite distinctive. It sounded unhurried, playful, and carried an intimate ambiguity.
So this was how her name sounded when spoken by him…
As Xu Fangfei stood there dazed, Zheng Xiye had already taken long strides down the stairs and stopped on the step one level above her.
The difference in their height and build was already obvious to begin with. With the added height of the stairs under his feet, Xu Fangfei had no choice but to tilt her neck upward to meet his downward-looking gaze.
Xu Fangfei felt puzzled. “Do you still need something?”
Zheng Xiye’s black eyes fixed on her as he asked, “I’ve noticed you haven’t been going to school lately. Are you on break?”
Xu Fangfei nodded. “Yes. It’s still summer vacation. School doesn’t start until the end of August.”
Zheng Xiye asked again, “What do you usually do in the afternoons?”
“Huh?”
Xu Fangfei froze for a moment, not understanding why he suddenly asked this. Subconsciously, she answered honestly, “I usually stay at home reading and doing homework in the afternoons. When I get tired from studying, I listen to music on my phone.”
Zheng Xiye curved his lips slightly. “You really are very well-behaved.”
From childhood to adulthood, the word teachers and elders used most often when praising her was “well-behaved.” But for some reason, hearing this familiar word used by him made Xu Fangfei feel embarrassed, even causing her face to redden uncontrollably.
Her cheeks flushed, the girl replied in a soft voice, “I’ll be starting Grade 12 when school begins. I should be studying harder.”
The stairwell was quiet. The afterglow of the setting sun poured in, dim and warm. Zheng Xiye saw the girl completely bathed in light. Her fair skin looked delicate enough to break at a touch, almost translucent. The halo of light wrapped around her, outlining a soft, fine fuzz along her facial contours. Her cheeks were pink, and her lowered lashes were thick and slightly curled, like soft feathers. With each blink, they stirred a faint tingling in his palm.
Zheng Xiye’s gaze darkened slightly. After a pause, he said, “Take a break tomorrow afternoon. Consider it time to relax. I’ll take you to see an exhibition.”
Hearing this, Xu Fangfei instantly lifted her head to look at him, her clear black-and-white eyes filled with surprise.
She hesitated for half a second. “What exhibition?”
“A friend’s daughter is a painter. She’s holding a solo exhibition at the Cultural Palace tomorrow and gave me two tickets,” Zheng Xiye replied.
Xu Fangfei still felt puzzled and tilted her head. “Two tickets. You could go with one of your other friends. Why do you want to take me?”
Zheng Xiye said calmly, “Because I only want to go with you.”
Xu Fangfei: “.”
Zheng Xiye lowered his gaze to her and asked evenly, “What about you? Do you want to go see the exhibition with me?”
Xu Fangfei stood frozen in place, utterly stunned. Inside her chest, her heart rate suddenly fell into complete disorder, pounding so hard it felt as if it might leap straight out of her throat.
After quite a while, she finally suppressed all her emotions and gently nodded. After hesitating for two seconds, she asked again, “What time tomorrow, and where exactly is the location?”
“Tomorrow afternoon at two o’clock. Just wait for me at the entrance of the residential compound,” Zheng Xiye said. “I’ll take you there.”
*
After returning home from the small convenience shop downstairs, Xu Fangfei walked into the kitchen and placed the light soy sauce on the stove. A trace of a smile she herself had not noticed surfaced at the corner of her lips as she said to Qiao Huilan, who was cutting vegetables, “Mom, I bought the soy sauce.”
Qiao Huilan heard the cheerfulness in her daughter’s tone and could not help turning her head to look at her. Seeing the little girl’s flushed cheeks and sweet, faint smile, Qiao Huilan felt a little suspicious and asked, “Did you run into something good? Did Grandpa Chen’s grocery shop have a big clearance sale, or did you win a prize buying soy sauce?”
Xu Fangfei was baffled. “Mom, what clearance sale, what prize. No.”
Qiao Huilan moved a bit closer and examined her face carefully. “Then why are you grinning like this, so happy? I thought you got hit by a pie falling from the sky.”
“I… I’m always smiling, aren’t I?” Xu Fangfei cleared her throat guiltily, then deliberately scrunched up her brows and nose and made a funny face. “If I don’t smile, should I pull a funeral face instead?”
Seeing her whole little face wrinkle up like a small bun, Qiao Huilan was amused and burst out laughing. “Alright, alright. Go wash your hands. It’s time to eat.”
Xu Fangfei happened to be hungry. Smelling the aroma, she craned her neck eagerly toward the pot, her stomach rumbling. “What are we having tonight?”
“A few days ago, the fish stall at the market was having a promotion. Shrimp was being sold at a discount,” Qiao Huilan said. “I bought some. Tonight I’m making tomato, egg, and shrimp soup for you and your grandpa.”
Looking at the shrimp and red tomatoes bubbling in the pot, Xu Fangfei suddenly thought of the meal Zheng Xiye had treated her to before. There had also been a shrimp dish then, called blanched red shrimp. The shrimp were bright red and plump, and a single serving cost several hundred yuan.
Thinking of this, Xu Fangfei asked subconsciously, “Mom, shrimp should be pretty expensive, right?”
“Fresh shrimp are expensive, but I bought frozen shrimp, and they were on sale. We can afford to eat them occasionally. You use your brain a lot at school. You need more nutrition,” Qiao Huilan said, curving her lips slightly as she looked at Xu Fangfei with affection. Her voice softened. “Feifei, your top priority right now is studying. Focus wholeheartedly, without distractions. You don’t need to worry about things at home at all. Mom’s here.”
Xu Fangfei moved her lips, wanting to say something, but in the end, she said nothing.
She silently turned on the tap, washed her hands, and left the kitchen.
Frozen shrimp were much cheaper than fresh red shrimp, and the taste could not compare at all. But that night, eating the shrimp soup her mother made, Xu Fangfei felt incomparably satisfied and happy. In her heart, this bowl of shrimp soup surpassed all the delicacies in the world.
After dinner, Xu Fangfei took the initiative to wash the dishes. Seeing that she could not persuade her daughter otherwise, Qiao Huilan had no choice but to let the little girl do it. She herself went into her father’s room to help the elderly man turn over and massage him.
“Dad, is this pressure alright?”
“It’s good, it’s good.” Grandpa coughed twice, then suddenly said, “Huilan, Feifei will be starting Grade 12 when school begins, right?”
Qiao Huilan skillfully patted the old man’s limbs to keep the blood flowing smoothly. Before long, fine beads of sweat had already appeared on her forehead. She answered, “Yes.”
Grandpa fell silent for a while, then said again, “Find some time later to go back to the hometown and withdraw the five thousand yuan I have saved at the rural credit cooperative.”
Qiao Huilan was puzzled. “What are you taking that money out for?”
“Feifei will take the university entrance exam next June. I’ll pay her first year’s tuition,” Grandpa said. “This is settled.”
“What’s settled?” Qiao Huilan frowned deeply. “That’s the money you saved your whole life for your coffin. Can it be touched?”
“If you don’t touch that money, where are you going to scrape together Feifei’s tuition?” As he said this, worry crept onto his aged, weary face. “Even if you manage to borrow the tuition, once she goes to another city, she’ll need money every month for food and living expenses. You’ll still have to arrange her allowance. The road ahead is long, and nothing will be easy.”
Qiao Huilan lowered her head and said without showing emotion, “It’s still early. Focus on recovering from your illness. Don’t worry about anything else.”
“How can I not worry?” Grandpa let out a heavy sigh. “You feel for your daughter. I also feel for my daughter.”
Qiao Huilan’s hands suddenly stopped mid-massage. After a long moment, she said, “Dad, this time you have to listen to me. Even if I have to sell blood or sell a kidney, I absolutely will not touch your coffin money.”
The two went back and forth arguing endlessly, neither noticing the slender figure outside the door.
Xu Fangfei stood outside, silently listening to her two closest family members argue and rack their brains over her future tuition. Her heart was filled with mixed emotions, so uncomfortable it felt as if she had swallowed a gall bladder whole, bitterness spreading across her lips, teeth, and tongue.
Returning to her room, Xu Fangfei shut the door behind her, leaned against it, and stood dazed in the darkness.
After a long while, she raised both hands and wiped her face hard, then turned around and went back out.
Qiao Huilan had finished massaging her father. She was sitting on the sofa, holding a pen and recording expenses. Hearing footsteps, she paused her pen and looked up.
“Mom,” Xu Fangfei said. “Don’t you think what Eldest Aunt said actually makes a lot of sense?”
A trace of confusion appeared on Qiao Huilan’s face as she asked, puzzled, “What did your aunt say?”
Xu Fangfei replied, “For our family, applying to a military academy is the best choice.”
Hearing this, Qiao Huilan slowly put down the pen in her hand. The expression between her brows suddenly became somewhat complicated. She stared steadily at her daughter in the distance for quite a while before beckoning. “Feifei, come here.”
Xu Fangfei walked over, took her mother’s hand, and sat down beside her.
A few soft wisps of hair fell beside the girl’s ear. With eyes full of affection, Qiao Huilan tucked the hair behind her ear and said softly, “For our family, a military academy is the optimal choice. But for you personally?”
Xu Fangfei froze.
Qiao Huilan said, “Mom knows you’re sensible. Applying to a military academy would indeed save the family a large sum of money. But Feifei, I’ve already asked around. Studying at a military academy is very tough. It’s fully closed management, early mornings and late nights. Both body and mind are exhausted. It’s not suitable for girls.”
Xu Fangfei shook her head and disagreed. “Things boys can do, girls can also do. If boys can endure hardship, why can’t girls?”
Qiao Huilan’s opposition to her daughter applying to a military academy was actually very simple. She was just afraid that Xu Fangfei would suffer and have a hard time. Unfortunately, her education level was not high, and she was not eloquent either. She could not come up with more forceful arguments to persuade Xu Fangfei, so the topic could only be set aside for the time being.
*
Early the next morning, as soon as Xu Fangfei got up, she told Qiao Huilan that she would be going out in the afternoon.
Qiao Huilan was bending down at the doorway, squatting to change her shoes, and casually asked, “Where are you going?”
Xu Fangfei did not hide anything and answered Qiao Huilan honestly and in detail. “That neighbor brother said he has two tickets to an art exhibition and can take me to have a look.”
Qiao Huilan did not react for a moment. “Which neighbor brother?”
“The neighbor who helped us fix the water pipes before.”
“Oh, the young man from 3206.” That young man downstairs was warm-hearted and kind, and had helped Qiao Huilan and her daughter quite a lot. Qiao Huilan had always had a good impression of him. She nodded and smiled. “Go ahead. Be back before dinner.”
After taking care of her grandpa’s lunch, Xu Fangfei washed the dishes and tidied up the kitchen. When she came out and checked the time, it was already past one in the afternoon. She did not dare delay any longer, dried her hands, returned to her room, took off her nightdress, and changed into a short-sleeved top and a pair of jeans.
After changing, she looked at herself in the mirror.
The girl in the mirror had a small, fair face that made people feel comfortable just looking at it. But perhaps because she had not slept well the night before, faint dark circles were visible beneath her eyes, making her look a little listless overall.
Xu Fangfei stared at herself in the mirror for a while, then took out a hair tie, gathered her thick, long hair together, and tied it into a ponytail at the back of her head.
She looked in the mirror again. Sure enough, she looked much fresher and more energetic.
She smiled at herself in satisfaction.
*
Near the main gate of No. 9 Courtyard on Xiwang Street, an old man sat inside the cashier area of his own grocery shop, eyes closed, basking in the sun, leisurely and at ease.
Zheng Xiye happened to walk up to the grocery shop. He took out his cigarette case and looked. There were indeed no cigarettes left. He turned and walked into the shop. Before he could say anything, the old man at the counter spoke first.
Without opening his eyes, the old man said, “The cigarettes haven’t been restocked yet. Many kinds are gone.”
Zheng Xiye swept a glance over the cigarette cabinet, which was about eighty percent empty, and asked, “What do you have?”
“Only Yuxi and Huanghelou.”
“Give me a pack of Huanghelou.”
Only then did the old man reluctantly lift his eyelids, fish out a pack of Huanghelou from the cabinet, and raise his hand to toss it to Zheng Xiye.
Zheng Xiye caught the cigarettes, paid, and left.
Not long after noon, most nearby residents were holed up at home taking afternoon naps. The usually bustling, rundown street was deserted and quiet. Even the scolding voices of neighbors had disappeared. Only the blazing sun hung overhead, baking people until their whole bodies felt lazy, as if they could not muster the energy to do anything.
Zheng Xiye lazily leaned against the car door, tossed a cigarette into his mouth, and was just about to squint and light it when, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of a streak of fresh milky white.
He stopped moving, turned his head, and slowly directed his gaze over.
Inside No. 9 Courtyard, a little girl with a crossbody bag and a ponytail walked over at an unhurried pace. She was not wearing a dress today, but a white short-sleeved top and knee-length pants. The hem of the pants stopped right at her knees, revealing two slender, well-proportioned legs. Thin but not bony, their color was even smoother and milky white than her top.
Zheng Xiye fell silent for a few seconds and took the unlit cigarette out of his mouth.
“I told you to meet at two o’clock. It’s only one fifty now.” Zheng Xiye glanced at his watch, raised an eyebrow lightly, and let his gaze fall back on the girl. “So early?”
Xu Fangfei pinched the strap of her bag with her fingers and said, “I didn’t have anything to do at home, so I came down early.”
She lifted her eyes to look at him and could not help asking, “What about you? Why are you also here so early?”
“I ran out of cigarettes, so I came down to buy some,” Zheng Xiye said casually. “Smoking one cigarette takes three minutes. Waiting for the smell to completely dissipate takes another five minutes. So I came down early, so I wouldn’t reek of smoke and bother you.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Fangfei was dumbfounded.
Zheng Xiye was still holding that pack of Huanghelou. His long fingers casually played with it twice before putting it back into the cigarette case. “I just didn’t expect you to come early too.”
Xu Fangfei truly had not expected that the reason this man showed up early would be this.
It was actually because he was afraid that after smoking, the smell would not have dissipated in time and would bother her.
A warmth rose inexplicably in her heart, while the tips of her ears quietly grew hot.
Xu Fangfei’s cheeks flushed red. She pressed her lips together and said softly, “If you want to smoke now, I can move farther away first and come back after you finish.”
“No need.” Earlier, when the craving hit, but the moment he saw her, Zheng Xiye felt as if he did not want to smoke that much anymore.
He opened the front passenger-side door for her and did not say anything, only looked at her calmly.
Xu Fangfei understood the meaning of that look and quickly walked over, obediently bent down, and sat in the car.
Zheng Xiye went around to the other side and got in as well.
But after getting in, he did not make any further moves. He did not speak, nor did he start the car. He just sat there, turned his head slightly, lowered his eyelids, and stared at her without saying a word, his gaze fixed on her.
At first, Xu Fangfei could still force herself to remain calm, eyes forward and mind steady. But after Zheng Xiye stared at her so directly and without any attempt to avoid it for a while, she finally could not hold it anymore.
She turned to look at him and said awkwardly, “Why are you staring at me like that?”
Zheng Xiye said, “Last time you sat in my car, what did I teach you?”
Xu Fangfei froze.
Zheng Xiye met those bright, bewildered eyes. He said nothing. In the end, he could only lean over closer to her, pull the seat belt from above the seat across her front, and fasten it securely into the buckle.
Xu Fangfei’s whole body was almost pressed tightly against the seatback. Her face was burning red, her heartbeat chaotic, as she stared blankly at Zheng Xiye while he did everything.
After fastening her seat belt, his tall body withdrew back to his own seat.
“…Sorry,” the little girl bit her lip. Her left fingers unconsciously rubbed the pad of her right thumb as she squeezed out a few words. “I forgot again.”
“It’s nothing.”
Zheng Xiye took in Xu Fangfei’s tiny, unconscious movements, noticed something, and his brow creased slightly. A moment later, he withdrew his gaze and started the engine.
The car pulled away from Xiwang Street, heading toward Lingcheng Cultural Palace. The drive would take about twenty minutes.
Several minutes passed, and the interior of the car remained completely silent. No one spoke.
That kind of quiet only made Xu Fangfei, who was already nervous, feel even more uneasy. She cleared her throat. After hesitating for quite a while, she finally gathered the courage to speak. “By the way, last time I heard you mention military academies. Have you looked into them before?”
Zheng Xiye kept his eyes on the road and answered naturally, “I’ve heard bits and pieces. I know a little.”
Xu Fangfei said, “Oh.”
Zheng Xiye glanced at her sideways. “Why do you want to apply to a military academy?”
“I heard my aunt say that tuition at military academies is fully waived, and the state also provides a monthly living allowance to students.” As she spoke, Xu Fangfei lowered her head slightly, and her voice softened as well. “My family’s conditions aren’t very good. I don’t want my mom to work herself too hard.”
Hearing this, Zheng Xiye tugged lightly at the corner of his lips, his expression unreadable, and said calmly, “Over the years, quite a few fresh graduates who apply to military academies have this exact mindset. It’s very common, and very reasonable.”
Xu Fangfei looked at the young man’s handsome yet cold, sharp profile and did not know what to say for a moment.
Zheng Xiye continued, “But you only know that military academies waive tuition and provide living allowances. Have you ever thought about why the state subsidizes military cadets?”
Xu Fangfei thought for a moment and said, “I know. Because soldiers are sacred.”
An eighteen-year-old girl’s inner world was pure and beautiful, but also overly idealistic. She could only see the tip of the iceberg above the surface. Hearing her answer, Zheng Xiye gave a faint smile, his expression gentle. “Whether soldiers are sacred or not, I don’t know. But the hardship is real. Not just physically. Exhaustion, injuries, and bleeding are only the most basic, everyday things. The psychological trials and tempering are the hardest to endure.”
Xu Fangfei looked at him, tilted her head slightly, and did not speak.
“Once you put on that uniform, it means taking on the responsibility of protecting the country and its people. There’s no retreat, no giving up. Devoting yourself completely, dying wrapped in horsehide,” Zheng Xiye said as he stared straight ahead, his words slow but firm. “I suggest you think very carefully before making a decision. You’re a young girl. There’s no need for you to shoulder such a heavy burden.”
Xu Fangfei continued to gaze at Zheng Xiye without blinking.
At that time, in her youth, she did not understand the icy darkness and surging storms hidden deep in this man’s eyes. Nor did she truly grasp what his words “no retreat, no giving up, total devotion, dying wrapped in horsehide” really meant. She heard them vaguely, without clarity.
What Xu Fangfei did not know was that these things she half understood and half did not understand, would in the years to come, completely merge into her blood. They would spread within her, diffuse, condense, and become one with her life, accompanying her for a lifetime.
After Zheng Xiye finished speaking, the car fell silent once again.
Only after quite a while did Xu Fangfei come back to her senses, as if waking from a dream, and reply, “Mm, okay. I’ll think about it seriously again.”
Zheng Xiye did not speak further. His gaze drifted lazily over the scenery outside the window, seemingly without purpose. Before long, the black SUV pulled over and came to a stop.
“Wait for me.”
After dropping those words, he left Xu Fangfei in the passenger seat, pushed open the car door and got out by himself.
Xu Fangfei was confused and did not know what he was going to do. She leaned toward the window and looked outside, seeing him walk into a shop by the roadside.
Her gaze lifted slightly, landing on the shop sign:
[Peace Pharmacy]
She felt puzzled, but obediently stayed seated in the car and waited.
A few minutes later, Zheng Xiye returned, carrying a white plastic bag in his hand. It was unclear what was inside.
Xu Fangfei asked worriedly, “Did you go to the pharmacy to buy medicine? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”
Zheng Xiye did not answer. He closed the car door behind him, then lowered his eyelashes and took something out of the plastic bag.
Hmm?
Yunnan Baiyao adhesive bandages?
Xu Fangfei blinked in confusion.
Zheng Xiye tore open the bandage packaging, then turned to look at her and said, “Give me your hand.”
Xu Fangfei: ?
Not knowing what he was about to do, Xu Fangfei blankly extended her left hand.
Zheng Xiye said, “The other one.”
She pulled back her left hand and extended her right hand instead.
Zheng Xiye lowered his eyes and held the girl’s slender, fair, soft hand. His movements were gentle, and his expression unusually focused. Then he carefully wrapped the adhesive bandage around that small, lovely thumb.
Xu Fangfei’s eyes flickered suddenly, and in the next instant, her entire face flushed crimson with unstoppable force.
At noon, when she was washing dishes, she had accidentally been pricked by the sharp wire of a steel scouring pad, leaving a cut on her right thumb. Such an insignificant little wound, and he had actually noticed it?
“Why didn’t you treat it yourself when you got hurt?” Zheng Xiye’s fingertip brushed lightly, almost imperceptibly, over the slender finger wrapped in the bandage. He lifted his eyes to look at her, his tone calm. “Were you saving it for me to feel sorry for you?”
°.✩┈┈∘*┈˃̶୨୧˂̶┈*∘┈┈✩.°
Ayalee: Sorry for the short update. As the translation is still ongoing, I will only unlock 1 chapter every week. Once the translation is completed, I will unlock 1/2 chapters every week then. Thank you for reading!