She silently wiped his face. The Fleet Commander had striking, well-defined features—handsome in an aggressive, almost intimidating way. His eyelashes were long, long enough that she felt they could catch dust.
Humans were always forgiving toward attractive faces, and besides, he came from a privileged family and had achieved impressive military feats at a young age. That was why his icy indifference toward others and his merciless way of cutting people down with words were tolerated—though he was truly difficult to get along with.
There were some faint abrasions on his face that Yun Shui hadn't noticed at first. It was only while washing him that she discovered one wound seeping blood. The Fleet Commander didn't make a sound.
She suddenly noticed the scratch on his jaw.
A few days ago—power outage, the office, an accidental encounter—it had been caused by her shooting-star-shaped hair clip. Including the matching scar on her palm.
It hadn't been that long ago, yet it felt like a lifetime had passed.
Yun Shui's heart softened just a little.
She hesitated for a moment, then blew gently on the wound.
The Fleet Commander's brow twitched slightly—impossible to tell whether he was pleased or not.
Yun Shui went to find some alcohol to disinfect his wound.
After washing her hands, Yun Shui asked hesitantly, "Aren't you hungry?"
The Fleet Commander glanced disdainfully at the bowl of Nutritional Paste and said coldly, "I want to eat meat."
Picky and fussy. What a nuisance.
The nuisance seemed completely unaware of his own behavior. Fortunately, he only complained verbally—but when Yun Shui pressed the spoon against his lips, he still opened his mouth reluctantly and ate it.
Yun Shui fed him haphazardly. She was exhausted and wanted to quit, but before the Fleet Commander could even swallow, the next spoonful was already at his mouth. He tried to open his mouth to scold her, but the moment he did, he was immediately fed another mouthful of sticky paste, completely killing his appetite.
After finishing the Nutritional Paste, the meal came to an end. The Fleet Commander's brows were tightly furrowed.
Yun Shui pretended not to notice. Just then, a volunteer said there was an empty bed in the temporary shelter next door, and she could go rest there.
It was already dark, though not quite time to sleep, but Yun Shui wanted to go check it out first. Over the past two days, anyone who wasn't injured had no bed. The makeshift room next door only had floor space, with over a dozen people crammed into one room. Yun Shui had gotten two blankets the day before yesterday and made a crude bed on the floor. Now she finally had an iron bunk bed to sleep on next door. After making the bed, she felt a bit hungry again.
An hour later, Yun Shui returned. The Fleet Commander seemed to have dozed off briefly and was now half-awake. Yun Shui touched his forehead—it was burning hot.
She went to get fever medicine from the doctor and used a towel to cool his forehead.
The Fleet Commander opened his eyes groggily and called out in a low voice, "Yun Shui."
Yun Shui whispered, "Don't talk. You have a fever. You need to rest."
The Fleet Commander only said, "Come closer."
Yun Shui had no choice but to lean in closer to him. "What is it?"
The Fleet Commander's eyes cleared a little, but his expression was terrible as he looked at her with a reproachful gaze. "You—"
Yun Shui met his eyes nervously.
Jiang Xie's thin lips moved slightly as he looked at her with cold, merciless eyes and exposed her without hesitation: "You sneaked food."
…What?
Yun Shui was speechless. Jiang Xie lay on his back, growing somewhat indignant as he stated the facts: "I could smell it. You just ate spicy instant noodles behind my back."
Yun Shui, who had just furtively eaten a snack in the hot water room, guiltily changed the subject: "You're delirious from the fever. Get some rest."
Even with a high fever, his nose was still that sharp.
The doctor came to set up the IV drip for him. The Fleet Commander was a large man, his long legs cramped and folded awkwardly into the simple cot. There was no High-end Medical Pod here, and his weakened state made Yun Shui half worried, half inexplicably wanting to secretly laugh at him—or take a photo for posterity.
The Fleet Commander's complaints were ignored by Yun Shui. He stared at the girl expressionlessly, radiating a certain pressure. Yun Shui patted his head from a distance, trying to brush it off lightly: "You're injured, you need a light diet." By then, the other beds had mostly finished getting their medicine and bandages, so the doctor turned off half the lights.
The temporary generator hummed outside, loud and buzzing—even noisier than the lawnmowers that used to run in the neighborhood. The Fleet Commander closed his eyes reluctantly. "Too noisy. Can't sleep."
Yun Shui truly admired his energy. She even thought the Fleet Commander was one of those legendary berserker soldiers who, even with their guts spilling out, could calmly shove them back in and keep fighting.
Fortunately, the Fleet Commander always said one thing while meaning another. After maybe ten minutes, his breathing smoothed out completely, and he fell asleep.
Yun Shui stared into space for a while, then took out her communicator and snapped a photo of him.
She forgot to turn off the shutter sound—the click was unmistakable. Luckily, no one paid attention.
Her communicator's camera performance was mediocre, and in this darkness, the photo came out slightly blurred.
The composition was practically nonexistent, but the bone structure of the person in the frame was simply flawless. Yun Shui felt a pang of jealousy, tapped delete, and a confirmation prompt popped up.
She hesitated sluggishly for a moment, her finger twitching, and finally hit cancel instead. Then she long-pressed and chose "hide."
That evening, she and Bai Mingyi strolled casually through the shelter area. It was fairly lively—many of the people here were military family members or residents from the neighboring living quarters. Some people had set up street stalls outside the temporary housing.
Yun Shui stared at a bottle of juice for a few seconds, then looked away.
Bai Mingyi chuckled. "Want it? I'll—"
They exchanged a glance, then remembered that electronic payments were useless now, and neither of them had any cash on hand.
They laughed awkwardly and hurried away quickly. Bai Mingyi muttered under his breath, "Can anyone actually afford that right now?"
Yun Shui guessed randomly, "Maybe some people have cash. Or they barter."
The next day. The weather was nice. Money was almost nonexistent.
Yun Shui was still worried the Fleet Commander might run into trouble, so she spent the night sleeping on the floor of the ward again. She woke up listlessly and slowly met the Fleet Commander's fully alert gaze.
The Fleet Commander gave a light snort, not entirely pleased. "Why did you wake up so late?"
Yun Shui rubbed her eyes. "General, I went to sleep at midnight yesterday. You went to sleep at eight."
Jiang Xie felt that Yun Shui was definitely not just an ordinary subordinate from his adjutant's office or secretariat—because she always managed to subtly talk back, showing no respect for rank, utterly presumptuous.
He looked at Yun Shui for a few seconds. This lady was probably between 160 and 165 centimeters, with a perfectly healthy BMI, though her temperament was not exactly serene. Yet she had slept directly on the floor of the ward, watching over him at all times, looking utterly loyal and devoted. Jiang Xie was a commander who kept public and private matters separate, and he decided to give her a kind face.
The not-so-serene Yun Shui simply said good morning to the Fleet Commander, frantically smoothed down her sleep-tousled hair, and got up to queue for breakfast.
When she returned to the ward, Jiang Xie's expression was grim. "Why is it still Nutritional Paste?"
The Fleet Commander's wristband was completely broken, and there was no communication device nearby.
The conditions were far from ideal, and he couldn't summon a full team of professional medical staff and caregivers to attend to him.
It was said that when high-ranking officers were injured, they were sent to the most advanced medical pods for treatment—highly efficient. But at this moment, the Fleet Commander had briefly lost all his prestige, left entirely at Yun Shui's mercy. He had even lost his memory.
Yun Shui was wicked, savoring this feeling. If she were a good person, she would probably feel sorrow over the Fleet Commander's injuries. But Yun Shui had gone through anxiety and fear, nearly scared out of her wits with her face buried in her hands outside that crude operating room, burning with worry—and now, in this moment of survival after disaster, though she did feel sympathy, she couldn't help but harbor a faint glimmer of schadenfreude.
Very faint, extremely faint. Karma: -100.
She was surprised by her own malice. Smiling, she said, "General, this is what the doctor ordered. Fortunately, there's no internal organ damage or peritonitis—otherwise, you'd have to fast from both food and water."
Jiang Xie lowered his eyes. "I'm uncomfortable. I want to take a shower."
Yun Shui struck him down: "Your wounds haven't healed yet. You can't for a while."
The Fleet Commander's expression darkened, unwilling to compromise. "I think there's sand on my back bothering me."
Actually, on the first day the wound was treated, the medical staff had given him a simple wipe-down, but perhaps it had been too cursory, nowhere near meeting the Fleet Commander's standards of cleanliness.
Yun Shui was about to politely refuse when the Fleet Commander asserted firmly, "Wiping my back a little should be fine."
"That's probably not a good idea, General," Yun Shui said, racking her brain to refuse. "You have many wounds on your elbows and arms too. Taking off your clothes would touch the wounds—unless you're wearing something with a zipper that opens from the back."
The Fleet Commander turned cold and haughty. "I don't own such improper clothing."
Yun Shui felt a laugh bubbling up. "So there's no way to wipe you down. Wait another two days until the wounds heal better."
The Fleet Commander, who had enjoyed smooth sailing and giving orders for many years, was refused. He lay in bed staring at Yun Shui like an emperor who had suffered a coup, his gaze filled with accusation and disappointment.
Yun Shui thought to herself, Just bear with it—are you the Princess and the Pea? Back when you were chasing down Star Pirates, you endured far worse conditions than this. Losing your memory is truly terrifying.
The Fleet Commander said, "I want to sit up."
His waist and abdomen couldn't exert force—the wounds would split open.
Yun Shui adjusted the bed, raising the upper half slightly, but she didn't dare tilt it too much.
After a long moment, the Fleet Commander seemed truly at his limit and commanded her, "There's definitely a particularly large pebble on my back. Please help me get rid of it."
Yun Shui could sense the Fleet Commander was about to lose his temper—his tone was freezing cold, and he wore the expression of someone who would die with grievances unredressed. She finally felt a flicker of fear. After thinking it over, she said, "I'll cut open the collar with scissors."
The Fleet Commander gave a slight nod.
Yun Shui found the scissors, gently lifted the Fleet Commander's noble head, and cut open the collar of his hospital gown from behind, revealing a small patch of skin.
She cut about ten centimeters—enough for her hand to slip inside.
The atmosphere grew strange.
Yun Shui felt as though she were scratching an itch for the Fleet Commander as she reached her hand in and pressed it against his back.
The Fleet Commander shifted slightly and directed her with an air of entitlement: "A bit lower and to the left."
Yun Shui slowly slid her hand across his back. His muscles were clearly palpable—perhaps because he was tensing them.
The Fleet Commander frowned very slightly. "Don't do it like that—too light. You can press harder. The way you're doing it tickles."
Yun Shui actually did find a small pebble.
It was only about the size of a child's fingernail, somewhat sharp, pressed into the skin. If one kept lying on it, it would indeed be quite uncomfortable.
Yun Shui forgave the Fleet Commander's insistent demand and showed him the pebble.
The Fleet Commander raised an eyebrow at Yun Shui with a "See? I told you so" look, as if waiting for her to admit she'd been wrong. He emphasized, "It was very uncomfortable. I almost thought it was a shard of glass."
Yun Shui tossed the pebble into the trash bin.
The Fleet Commander watched her back and, as if granting a reward, said with some reluctance, "Thank you."