The two of them stayed locked in that intimate, kinda embarrassing pose for a long while, their minds still spinning awkwardly.
From an outsider’s view, it looked like the man was cupping the woman’s face with his long hands, leaning down to kiss her deeply, while the woman had her arms wrapped around his neck, actively kissing him back. Her slender, fair arms hung over him, forming a striking contrast with the tanned bronze skin on his neck—super stimulating and visually intense.
They were in this narrow, rundown little wooden house, kissing like they couldn’t bear to stop.
But in reality, Shen Nan hadn’t actually kissed her.
After that very first moment where he really did take a little advantage of Zhou Zuizui, he stopped. He just stayed super close in an affectionate way—their noses almost touching, breaths mixing and tangling together, full of ambiguity.
Zhou Zuizui was smart. She knew what her mysterious, hard-to-pin-down husband did for a living. From the start, when Shen Nan got all close and flirty, talking to her like a rogue, she guessed it—
He was probably on a mission, hiding from someone, or maybe trying to mislead them.
Her face was shielded by Shen Nan’s hands, blocking the view of anyone peeking from outside.
The two stared at each other silently. Zhou Zuizui looked into Shen Nan’s deep eyes and kinda zoned out. His eye sockets were deep-set, thick brows over big eyes, those pitch-black eyes shining bright with little sparks of fire in them.
It had been two years since they’d seen each other. She never imagined their reunion would be like this.
Shen Nan looked into Zhou Zuizui’s eyes and saw they were calm, no big emotions—like she was looking at a stranger. Totally different from the person who’d just been all intimate with him on the street.
Just when Zhou Zuizui couldn’t take his gaze anymore, Shen Nan suddenly tilted his head a bit.
In that instant, Zhou Zuizui snapped back, slapped his hands away, and pressed her lips together.
Shen Nan stepped back one pace, watching her without saying a word.
Only after she finished all that did he say: “Sorry.”
The reason he’d suddenly changed his attitude and affectionately called her “wifey” was because someone was tailing them. As for why, Shen Nan had a pretty good guess.
Zhou Zuizui looked up at him, her eyes flickering slightly. She was a bit annoyed about what he’d just done, but she stayed calm and asked: “When did you get back?”
“A couple days ago. Didn’t have time to tell you.” She was cold, but Shen Nan was even colder—his voice low and deep, no emotions at all.
Like the guy who’d just teased her and acted all lovey-dovey wasn’t him at all. Even though it was just an act for show, Zhou Zuizui still felt a little angry.
They were husband and wife, after all. Even if there were no real feelings, they’d at least slept together once… And he comes back without even saying a word.
Thinking about it, she let out a cold huff, feeling something different stir inside her.
This guy—two years apart, and he was still just as distant as ever.
“Are you on a mission?” Zhou Zuizui couldn’t help asking one more thing.
Anyone would be shocked if they dreamed about someone last night and then ran into them for real today. For once, her dream had come true.
Shen Nan didn’t say anything, and Zhou Zuizui understood. That was his way of confirming it. Soldiers had their duties—missions were confidential. He couldn’t tell his wife, let alone his parents.
Zhou Zuizui didn’t plan to pry further. No need to dig deep with a husband she hadn’t seen in two years.
Anyway, back then, their marriage had been forced—like ducks being driven onto a perch.
After a moment of silence, Zhou Zuizui looked at the quiet, reserved man in front of her and asked one more thing: “Do you need my help with anything?”
Shen Nan lowered his eyes, gave her a deep, steady look, and said in a low voice: “Not for now. You go back first.”
Zhou Zuizui pouted a little, just about to say something, but Shen Nan stopped her again.
“Wait.”
“What?”
Shen Nan stared at her intently for a few seconds, then reminded her softly: “Try to stay in as much as possible these next few days. It’s not safe outside.”
Hearing that, Zhou Zuizui’s eyes darted around playfully. She let out a light laugh, reached out, hooked his chin with her finger, and lifted it teasingly. A bit surprised, she said: “You actually bothered to tell me that?” She smiled, shrugged, and agreed super casually: “Bye.”
With that, without waiting for Shen Nan to react, she held her head high like a proud white peacock and turned around without any hesitation, walking away.
Shen Nan stared at her slim back for a long time, his eyes dark and deep.
On the other side, a few minutes after Zhou Zuizui left, Xiao Tong finally came back to Shen Nan.
The two of them had been followed earlier. Xiao Tong had gone off to buy something, so they’d split up. He had no idea that in just that half hour apart… the captain he admired so much had a pretty special encounter!
Looking at his captain’s cold, expressionless face, Xiao Tong asked quietly: “Master Shen, they spotted us.”
Shen Nan let out a soft “Mm,” turned his head to look out the window. The morning sun was blazing hot, almost blinding. He squinted a bit, pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, took a drag. Smoke filled the air. After thinking for a moment, Shen Nan looked at Xiao Tong: “Did you find where they’re staying?”
“Yes!” As soon as the topic came up, Xiao Tong’s eyes lit up. He looked at Shen Nan with total admiration and said excitedly: “Master Shen, you really guessed right! The inn they checked into is at the end of another alley. Right next to the inn is a tavern, and beside the tavern is a lake—the biggest lake in Qingyue Ancient Town.”
Hearing that, Shen Nan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He asked in a low voice: “What’s the tavern called? Can people stay there?”
“It’s called ‘Drunk and Walking With You.’ No, you can’t stay there.”
After hearing the name, Shen Nan went silent.
“Master Shen.” Xiao Tong gave him a suspicious look when he didn’t say anything and called out: “Should we go check it out?”
Shen Nan thought for a second, then shook his head: “Book two rooms at a nearby inn.”
“Yes, sir.”
The two of them got moving right away.
…..
After checking in and getting settled, Shen Nan and Xiao Tong discussed routes in the room while receiving messages from the rest of the team.
He sat by the window, glanced up at the shop diagonally across from them, thought for a long while, then finally lowered his head and sent a message to someone.
Back at the tavern, Zhou Zuizui went straight upstairs to her room to catch up on sleep. Her daily routine was pretty good, but she had to get a full nine hours every day, or she’d have no energy for anything.
By afternoon, she had just woken up when Qiuqiu came over to report the latest from next door.
A few new guests had checked into the inn next door. They looked kinda fierce and scary, so Lin Ping wasn’t too comfortable and came to let her know. Both places belonged to Zhou Zuizui. Sure, they’d hosted all kinds of weird guests before, but if something seemed suspicious, Lin Ping would always say something.
Lin Ping was one of the staff at the inn next door.
“Sister, do you think they might be a bunch of bad guys?”
Even though they were in this ancient town near the border and had seen all sorts of people and things, Qiuqiu still got scared.
Zhou Zuizui propped her head up, thought for a moment, then turned to Qiuqiu: “Did you see those guys?”
“No, Lin Ping told me not to go over. He said they look really intimidating and scary. Plus, after eating, they all went back to their rooms to rest and haven’t come out since.” She repeated everything Lin Ping had told her.
Zhou Zuizui nodded and comforted Qiuqiu: “Alright, then don’t go over there today.” After thinking a bit more, she looked down at a message on her phone and asked: “How many days did those guys book the rooms for?”
“Three days.”
“No big deal. Tell them to just treat these people like normal guests for the next few days—don’t get nervous. Maybe they just don’t look very friendly, but there won’t be any real trouble.” She said that, but deep down, Zhou Zuizui herself felt a faint unease.
Ever since getting bumped into earlier and then seeing Shen Nan, she’d had this feeling that something might happen in the ancient town.
But she couldn’t quite put her finger on what.
Qiuqiu happily agreed: “Okay.”
Right after she said that, a new message popped up in their WeChat group.
Lin Ping: Two more guests just arrived. These two also look tall and strong—the kind who walk with a lot of power.
Zhou Zuizui read it and asked: Send me the names of everyone who’s checked in.
Lin Ping: Got it. Zuizui sis, you stay away from the inn today.
Young and beautiful people always attract extra attention.
Zhou Zuizui: I know. What are the names of these two new ones who just checked in?
Lin Ping was replying to messages while handling check-in. He looked at the message from Zhou Zuizui, glanced up at the two men standing in front of him, then down at the IDs in his hand. Just as he was about to reply to her, the group that had checked in that morning came out from the back courtyard and looked over at him.
“Waiter.”
Lin Ping quickly responded: “Hello, how can I help you?”
Qiangzi—the skinny guy following the leader—said: “That wine we drank at lunch, where’s it from? Our Brother Bao wants to try some more. It tasted pretty good.”
Lin Ping exchanged a quick look with Xiao Ren, who had run over from the other side, and hurriedly asked: “Really? You guys take a seat first, I’ll go grab some for you.”
“No need.” The man called Brother Bao waved his hand casually and looked at him: “Just tell us where to buy it. We’ll go ourselves.”
Seeing the situation, Lin Ping had no choice but to say it was next door.
After getting the answer, the group headed straight out. Watching them leave through the door, Lin Ping quickly sent a message to Zhou Zuizui: Boss, those guests are heading to the tavern now, saying they want to drink. You and Qiuqiu stay out of sight, okay? Let Lin Mu handle them.
Zhou Zuizui didn’t see Lin Ping’s message right away—she was replying to someone else. By the time she saw it, those guests had already walked into the tavern.
She paused for a second, looked up calmly at the men coming in.
The guy in front glanced over at Zhou Zuizui’s side, then found a table and sat down on his own.
“Waiter, bring a few bottles of wine.”
“Coming right up.”
A guy from the staff responded—it was a young male employee named Lin Mu.
Catching Zhou Zuizui’s eye signal, Lin Mu smiled brightly and handed over the menu, sounding a bit overly flattering: “Brothers, what would you like to drink?”
Qiangzi took a look, pointed with his finger: “The inn next door gets all their wine from your place?”
“Yes.”
Qiangzi nodded slightly and turned to the man in the main seat: “Brother Bao, what do you feel like drinking?”
The man called Brother Bao paused, glanced back at Zhou Zuizui’s direction, narrowed his eyes a bit, and said: “Anything’s fine. We’ve still got real business to handle later.”
“Yes, yes, of course.”
After Zhou Zuizui had Lin Mu and Qiuqiu serve the wine, she got up to head out through the back courtyard to check on the inn next door. But before she could step out, someone called her back.
“Hey, beautiful, hold on a second.”
Brother Bao turned to look at Zhou Zuizui, sizing her up from head to toe for a good while before smirking: “Beautiful, have we met somewhere before?”
Zhou Zuizui stopped in her tracks, turned back to the men, gave a faint smile, and said: “Sir, isn’t that pickup line of yours a bit too old-fashioned?” She raised an eyebrow, not a hint of fear in her eyes—she looked totally bold and confident.
Brother Bao let out a snort, stared straight at her, and reminded her word by word: “This morning, there was a really tall guy with you.”
He left it at that—point made.
Hearing that, Zhou Zuizui parted her lips slightly, gave a shy, fake-modest little smile, pressed her lips together as if embarrassed: “Oh, so that’s what sir was talking about.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, eyes smiling as she looked at the men in front of her: “Yeah, that was me. Is there a problem?”
Brother Bao narrowed his eyes, sizing her up from head to toe again: “What’s your relationship with that guy?”
“My husband, of course.” Zhou Zuizui answered without hesitation, her tone super affectionate: “Why? Is there something wrong?”
Brother Bao let out a cold laugh, pressing her aggressively: “You sure about that?”
“Absolutely.” Zhou Zuizui was just about to say more when a lazy, husky male voice came from the stairway on the side: “Wifey, what are you busy with? Why aren’t you coming back to bed yet?”