The next morning, when Shen Nan left, he leaned down to kiss her. Zhou Zuizui slapped his face away with one hand.
Shen Nan: “……”
He lowered his eyes and looked at the woman sleeping deeply in his bed. Her face was buried in the dark blanket, her back exposed. His gaze darkened for a second. But in the end, he didn’t do anything else. He let her be.
She must really be exhausted after spending these two days with him.
He gave a low laugh, kissed the corner of her mouth, and said softly: “I’m leaving.”
No response.
Zhou Zuizui was sleeping really soundly — too tired, too sleepy.
When she woke up, it was already quite late.
Last night and the day before… she and Shen Nan had gone at it for so long. Her waist and back ached, and she felt drained.
She rubbed against the blanket, reached out to feel the spot next to her — empty and already cold.
Zhou Zuizui froze for a second before opening her eyes to look. Shen Nan had left at some point.
She thought back — it felt like she had been half-aware, but also like she wasn’t really conscious at all.
Thinking about it, Zhou Zuizui couldn’t help but laugh.
She turned her head, grabbed her phone, and checked the time. It was already 11 a.m. She really slept a long time.
When she turned again, she saw a small note left on the bedside table. She gave a soft laugh.
Somehow she felt satisfied. Even though he was gone, her heart felt completely full.
……
After Shen Nan returned to the unit and just finished training, he was called to the office.
“Captain Shen, the battalion commander wants you in his office.”
Shen Nan nodded: “Got it.”
When he arrived at the battalion commander’s office, the man inside looked up at him.
“Reporting!”
The battalion commander gave a hum-laugh and glanced at him: “Come in.”
Shen Nan walked in, took off his cap, sat down as instructed, then asked: “What’s the matter, sir?”
The battalion commander looked at him: “Someone came looking for me.”
Shen Nan paused, raised an eyebrow while sitting in the chair, and looked at the battalion commander in front of him. After thinking for a moment, he asked: “My dad? Or who?”
The battalion commander lowered his head and smiled: “You kid, you know everything.”
Shen Nan wasn’t exactly sure, but he could roughly guess what was going on. The unit he was in now had a high-risk mission profile. His parents wanted him to leave and transfer to a safer team.
But Shen Nan wasn’t willing.
In this world, someone always has to stand on the edge of danger. If not him, then someone else.
The reason he joined the army and became a soldier was exactly for this — to shed blood and give his life if needed, to protect the country. So what was wrong with walking on the front line of danger?
The battalion commander gave a light hum: “Your mom called my superior.”
The battalion commander thought for a moment and said seriously: “Your mom doesn’t mean anything bad. Now that you’ve been transferred back, if possible, she just wants you to get a relatively stable job. And now that you’re married, her meaning is pretty obvious.”
Parents always worry, even when their kids are grown.
Especially for parents of someone in Shen Nan’s line of work. Shen’s mom could understand, but understanding didn’t stop the worry. Seeing how things were between them now, she probably thought Shen Nan and Zhou Zuizui’s relationship was good, so maybe she could convince him to change jobs or switch units.
Shen Nan was quiet for a moment, then looked at the battalion commander: “Smoke?”
The battalion commander: “Go ahead.”
The two men sat together smoking. Smoke filled the office. Shen Nan exhaled a puff and turned his head to look at the certificates displayed in front of him: “From the day I enlisted, I’ve never been afraid.”
The battalion commander paused, then gave a deep hum in agreement: “Your mom will probably go talk to your wife to convince you too.”
Hearing that, Shen Nan raised an eyebrow at the battalion commander with complete confidence: “Don’t worry, sir. My wife’s side is fine.”
The battalion commander couldn’t stand his smug look and directly shooed him away: “Get out! Can’t stand you, you stinky kid. Deal with your mom and your wife yourself.”
“Yes, sir.”
Shen Nan saluted, turned, and left.
Once he stepped into this place, he never thought about backing down. Not before, not now, and definitely not in the future.
No surprise — the battalion commander’s guess was right.
Right after Shen Nan left, Zhou Zuizui had a visitor: Shen’s mom.
She looked at Shen’s mom suddenly appearing at the door and froze for a second: “Mom, why are you here?”
Shen’s mom gave an awkward laugh, blinked at her: “Have you eaten lunch yet?”
Zhou Zuizui pressed her lips together. Her eyes curved into a smile as she looked at Shen’s mom, who was smiling too: “Not yet. Have you eaten, Mom? Want to eat together?”
Shen’s mom nodded: “Sure, let’s go out to eat.”
The two went out for lunch. After sitting down and ordering, Zhou Zuizui finally understood why Shen’s mom had come to find her.
After hearing Shen’s mom’s request, Zhou Zuizui went quiet.
Actually, from the moment she saw Shen’s mom show up this morning, Zhou Zuizui had already guessed roughly why. It was either about Shen Nan or asking her to move back from the old town. But she didn’t think Shen’s mom would care much about the old town — that was her own business. Even if Shen’s mom didn’t approve, she would talk to Shen Nan about it, not come straight to her.
So the only thing left was Shen Nan’s job.
A couple of days ago when they were at home, she had heard Shen’s mom mention once that Shen Nan’s job was too dangerous, etc. She hadn’t paid much attention then, but now she understood.
She lifted her eyes and looked at Shen’s mom, who looked full of worry. She could understand a mother’s feelings — worrying about her child. Especially since Shen Nan wasn’t young anymore. It really was time to consider changing jobs.
But—
The moment Zhou Zuizui thought about that blood-boiling profession, thought about all the things that man had done, the words just wouldn’t come out.
This was Shen Nan’s dream, something he wanted to do. Even though she was his wife now, she wouldn’t force him to leave the military.
After a moment of silence, Zhou Zuizui looked up at Shen’s mom, not sure what to say.
“Mom.”
Zhou Zuizui paused, then said softly: “I probably can’t convince him.” To push this away, she deliberately made their relationship sound a bit stiff: “Mom, you know too… Shen Nan and I only just started seeing each other again not long ago. Asking me to convince him to change jobs definitely won’t work.”
She watched Shen’s mom’s expression carefully and added cautiously: “Mom, you know Shen Nan’s personality. Once he decides something, ten cows can’t pull him back. And our relationship isn’t that great either. We…”
Shen’s mom listened and let out a quiet sigh: “Yeah… how did I get so silly and come to you?”
Zhou Zuizui: “……”
That sounded… a little pitiful somehow.
But no denying it — Shen’s mom gave up the idea.
Even after seeing Shen’s mom off, Zhou Zuizui never brought it up to Shen Nan. And Shen Nan never asked.
For the next two days, Shen Nan didn’t come home. He did call Zhou Zuizui twice though.
She was happy to have some space. Zhou Zuizui wasn’t the type who, once in a relationship, wanted to stick together every second. She had her own things to do.
This time coming back, besides promising Shen Nan to come see him, Zhou Zuizui also had her own work.
Back in the old town, besides running the inn, she had other things keeping her busy. But that work was relatively relaxed for her. No one would guess that, besides being a small business owner, she was also a writer.
Back then, Zhou’s dad and mom wanted to cultivate her temperament so she could speak better in the future. They specially chose a completely useless major for her in university — Chinese Language and Literature. Both she and Xia Wen studied the same thing. Later they even forced her to take Classical Literature as an elective.
Zhou Zuizui studied it all. Her speaking didn’t improve, but it made her fall in love with reading.
From books, she developed an even stronger longing for freedom. If she hadn’t married Shen Nan so early back then, Zhou Zuizui would probably have been forced by her family to take the postgraduate exam in that field.
Thinking about it, she couldn’t help laughing.
When Xia Wen arrived, she saw that weird smile on her face and raised an eyebrow: “What are you laughing about?”
Zhou Zuizui gave her a sideways look, checked her watch: “You’re late.”
She reminded her without changing expression.
Xia Wen choked, then said helplessly: “You don’t know what happened at work today. I almost died from anger.”
Xia Wen was a chief editor. Originally she did news, but her temper wasn’t suited for it — she couldn’t help lecturing “trash” people. She couldn’t control herself, so later by chance she switched to editing. The first book she handled for publication was Zhou Zuizui’s.
Because of Zhou Zuizui, in just a few years she had already risen to chief editor.
Hearing that, Zhou Zuizui took a sip of tea: “What happened?”
Xia Wen rolled her eyes: “Two editors fought over a cover design.”
This kind of thing happened often in publishing houses. Sometimes an editor books an illustrator for a cover, and it gets snatched away — not impossible.
Zhou Zuizui gave a light laugh: “Tough work for our big chief editor.”
Xia Wen glanced at her: “Forget that. When are you starting your new book? Your readers are all urging you.”
If you had to pick who looks the least like an author, it would definitely be Zhou Zuizui. She only writes one book a year — just one — but that single book sells out like crazy every time. And this woman never uses Weibo or any other social media, never shows her face, and never does promotions for her own stuff. Up to now, a lot of her readers still don’t even know if this author is a man or a woman.
Because even though she writes female romance novels, every single one of them is basically a horror movie.
Zhou Zuizui thought for a moment, then said softly: “I don’t really feel like it. You know I just write for fun.”
Back then she was suppressed too much by her family, so Zhou Zuizui loved watching exciting stuff and dramas. After a while she started writing herself. By the time she graduated university, she already had hundreds of thousands of words written. It was Xia Wen who suggested she submit them for publication, and that’s how it turned into what it is now.
Xia Wen: “……”
People really can make you die from jealousy — this is exactly that kind of situation.