Huo Yunzheng’s arm caught against Tushan Yao’s waist, and his entire body went rigid for half a second.
Light.
The woman was absurdly light. Even through her padded coat, he could feel the shape of her ribs, as though he had scooped up a bundle of dry kindling.
But just as he was about to hand her over to the medic beside him, an indescribable sensation exploded from his palm.
It was tingling and numb, shooting up his arm like an electric shock. Or perhaps like suddenly gulping down a mouthful of ice water in the height of summer, sending a refreshing chill from his scalp all the way to his heels.
At the same time, something flashed through his mind.
The woods. The moon. A cold fragrance.
A pair of icy hands.
The images were shattered like broken glass, impossible to piece together into anything complete.
But the sense of familiarity was too strong—so strong that Huo Yunzheng’s pupils contracted sharply.
He lowered his head.
The unconscious woman in his arms was rubbing herself against his chest.
Not sliding down unconsciously. Rubbing.
Both hands were clutching the lapels of his military uniform, her knuckles white, like a drowning person grasping the last piece of driftwood.
She had buried her entire face against his chest, breathing rapidly and greedily.
Huo Yunzheng’s brows drew tightly together.
He had fought and struggled on battlefields for so many years. What kind of scheme had he never seen?
How could an unconscious person have more strength in her hands than when she was awake?
“C-Commander—”
The few soldiers beside him stared in shock.
Their Regimental Commander Huo, the Living Yama publicly recognized throughout the military region, had been stationed here for four years without saying more than three sentences to any female comrade.
Even the little nurse from the logistics office had been reduced to tears when she brought him a thermos of hot water—and now he was actually holding an unfamiliar woman?
An enamel basin fell from one soldier’s hands with a loud clatter and rolled a long way across the ground.
The female soldier’s mind worked quickly, and she hurried forward. “Reporting, Commander! We encountered this comrade at the train station. She said she was a military family member here to visit relatives, but she isn’t in very good health—”
Before she could finish—
“Dad!”
A shrill, babyish cry exploded in everyone’s eardrums—precise, clear, and extraordinarily penetrating.
Tushan Xiaobao rushed forward and wrapped both arms around Huo Yunzheng’s leg.
He tilted his face upward. Tears circled twice in his eyes, then rolled down with perfect precision on the third round.
“Dad! Mom walked such a long, long way to find you! She’s been coughing up blood the whole time. She was almost sick to death—you can’t abandon us!”
The entire scene fell silent.
Even the wind stopped.
The soldiers’ heads turned back and forth between Huo Yunzheng and Xiaobao like winding toy roosters.
This child—
The thick brows, high nose, square chin, and that fierce look when he knitted his brows—
Wasn’t this a miniature version of Regimental Commander Huo?!
Huo Yunzheng lowered his head and met those large, dark eyes, round as black grapes.
Their eyes locked.
At that moment, his mind experienced a rare blank.
In ten years of military service, Huo Yunzheng had never faltered even while commanding a thousand men in battle. Yet now his mouth opened and closed, and not a sound came out.
Deny it?
With this face standing right in front of him, what the hell could he deny?
Admit it?
Admit what? He did not even know who this woman was!
“Commander, this…” The female soldier’s voice trembled.
“Medic!” Huo Yunzheng ignored her and called out coldly, “Come take her.”
Two medics hurried over and reached out to take Tushan Yao.
The moment their hands touched her arm, Tushan Yao let out a muffled groan in her unconsciousness. The hand gripping Huo Yunzheng’s uniform not only failed to loosen but clenched even tighter.
The medics did not dare use force, so they looked up at Huo Yunzheng.
Huo Yunzheng ground his back teeth and tried to pry her fingers loose.
“Cough—”
At that, Tushan Yao’s throat emitted a suppressed cough, and the last trace of color in her face vanished in an instant.
Huo Yunzheng’s hand froze in midair.
“Forget the stretcher.”
He bent down, scooped her up in his arms, and carried her straight toward the infirmary.
Tushan Xiaobao followed closely behind, running in small, hurried steps, both hands clutching Huo Yunzheng’s trouser leg for fear of being left behind.
Behind them, the soldiers exchanged bewildered glances.
“I… I’m not seeing things, am I?”
“The commander carried a woman?”
“That child called him Dad?”
“The commander… has a child?!”
The news grew wings and spread through half the military region within ten minutes.
The infirmary.
Tushan Yao was placed on a camp bed while two medics hurriedly took her temperature and examined her.
Huo Yunzheng stood beside the bed, looking down at his chest—
His uniform had been pulled into two deep creases, and in that spot, a faint trace of cold fragrance still lingered.
It was exactly the same as the scent on his fingertips that morning five years ago.
“Reporting, Commander. The patient’s temperature is low, and her pulse is extremely weak. It appears to be long-term malnutrition combined with deficient qi and blood. She needs—”
“Let her lie there for now.”
Huo Yunzheng interrupted the medic and turned to look at Tushan Xiaobao, who was crouching beside the bed.
Xiaobao was holding Tushan Yao’s hand and calling softly, “Mom, Mom, wake up…”
Huo Yunzheng crouched down so that he was at eye level with Xiaobao.
Up close, the absurd sense of déjà vu from that face became even more intense.
“What’s your name?”
“Tushan Xiaobao.”
“How old are you?”
“Four.”
Huo Yunzheng rapidly calculated in his mind.
Four years old, plus ten months of pregnancy—
Five years ago.
Five years ago, he had been carrying out a mission on Kunlun Mountain. He had been seriously wounded and fallen unconscious, and after waking, a section of his memories had been missing.
A coincidence?
“What’s your mother’s name?”
“Tushan Yao.”
“She said your dad is a soldier?”
Xiaobao nodded. His bright, round eyes fixed on Huo Yunzheng. “Mom said my dad is called Huo Yunzheng, and he’s a regimental commander.”
The words landed with force and echoed once around the infirmary.
Several soldiers peeking in through the doorway all drew a sharp breath.
Huo Yunzheng’s temples throbbed twice.
He wanted to say that this was impossible.
He had never been with any woman—
But that blank stretch of memory was like a black hole. It proved nothing, yet it denied nothing either.
“Knock, knock, knock!”
The door was pushed open.
An officer rushed in, panting for breath. It was Political Commissar Zhao from the military region.
“Old Huo! I heard that you—”
Political Commissar Zhao’s words caught in his throat the instant he saw Xiaobao.
His gaze lingered on Huo Yunzheng’s face for three seconds, then on Xiaobao’s face for three seconds.
Then the political commissar slapped a palm down on the table.
“Well, look at you, Huo Yunzheng!”
“Political Commissar—”
“Don’t call me Political Commissar! Take a good look at that face yourself! How is it any different from one you carved out yourself?!”
Zhao Gang was so angry that he began pacing in circles.
“When did you pull this stunt, you brat? During your rest period or while you were on a mission? You got someone pregnant and then just patted your backside and left? How can you face that uniform you’re wearing?!”
The corner of Huo Yunzheng’s mouth twitched.
“Old Zhao, I haven’t even—”
“Haven’t what? The child is already four! Four!” Zhao Gang pointed at Tushan Yao on the bed.
“Look at that mother and child. Do you see how thin they are? They came all this way to find you, and that girl nearly lost her life on the road!”
Tushan Xiaobao listened from the side and chose his moment with impeccable precision.
He pulled the half piece of corn cake from his pocket—the piece hard enough to smash walnuts—and held it out in both hands as he walked over to Old Zhao.
“Uncle, an auntie on the train gave me this.”
Xiaobao sniffed, his voice trembling.
“Mom couldn’t bear to eat it. She said she had to save it for me. But I couldn’t bear to eat it either. I wanted to save it for Mom. We came from Kunlun Mountain. We spent two days and two nights on the train, and Mom only drank a few mouthfuls of water…”
Zhao Gang’s eyes immediately reddened.
He took the half cake and weighed it in his hand. It was hard as a rock, and there were tooth marks along the edge—Xiaobao had bitten it twice, discovered that it was too hard, and put it down.
Zhao Gang turned his head and looked at Huo Yunzheng as though he could kill him.
“Huo Yunzheng, are you even human?”
Huo Yunzheng’s Adam’s apple moved.
He wanted to say that the matter had not yet been investigated.
He wanted to say that he had absolutely no impression of this woman.
He wanted to say that Huo Yunzheng had always acted honorably and had never owed anyone anything—
But when he looked down at the half piece of cake, then at the woman on the bed, thin as a bundle of bones, and the four-year-old child desperately holding back his tears—
All those explanations lodged in his throat.
“Political Commissar.” Huo Yunzheng drew a deep breath, his voice sinking.
“Five years ago, I was carrying out a mission on Kunlun Mountain. After suffering severe injuries and falling unconscious, I lost part of my memory. The child’s age matches the timeline, and his appearance also…”
He paused.
“I’ll take responsibility.”
When he said those four words, even he felt somewhat dazed.
Zhao Gang’s expression finally softened a little.
“Of course you’ll take responsibility! Write a marriage application tomorrow and submit a report to me! The organization will investigate and verify everything, but until then, you must make proper arrangements for this mother and child.”
“Yes.”
Zhao Gang glared at him once more, snorted, and turned to leave.
The infirmary fell quiet.
Huo Yunzheng stood where he was, staring at Tushan Yao on the bed.
She was still asleep, her brows faintly furrowed and her breathing so shallow that it could scarcely be heard.
But her complexion was slightly better than before, and a faint trace of color had returned to her lips.
During the few minutes he had carried her inside, she had remained pressed against his chest the entire time.
That tingling sensation still had not completely faded.
“Dad.”
Xiaobao tugged at his trouser leg.
Huo Yunzheng lowered his head.
Xiaobao raised that miniature version of his own face and said seriously:
“Mom’s asleep. Could you… not go too far?”
“When she leans against you, color comes back into her face.”
Huo Yunzheng froze for a moment.
He looked at Tushan Yao on the bed, then at Xiaobao.
This child’s powers of observation were not like those of a four-year-old.
“…I’ll stay right here.”
Xiaobao nodded, climbed onto the camp bed, squeezed in beside Tushan Yao, and clutched the corner of his mother’s clothes with one small hand.
Then he closed his eyes and muttered something.
“Mom, I got Dad. First step.”
His voice was so soft that Huo Yunzheng did not hear him clearly.
“What did you say?”
“I said—” Xiaobao rolled over. “Good night, Dad.”
Huo Yunzheng stood beside the bed with his hands in his trouser pockets, an indescribably complicated expression on his face.
The infirmary door was not fully closed, and hushed whispers drifted in from the corridor.
“Does the commander really have a son?”
“Who exactly is that woman?”
“She’s really… tsk, tsk.”
“Shh! If the commander hears you, you’ll be cleaning the toilets tomorrow!”
Huo Yunzheng raised his foot and kicked the door shut.
With a bang, the corridor instantly fell silent.
He pulled over a chair, sat down beside the bed, and stared at Tushan Yao’s face.
What exactly had happened on Kunlun Mountain five years ago?
Tushan Yao’s fingers moved in her sleep, reaching unconsciously toward him.
The instant her fingertips brushed the back of the hand he had rested on the edge of the bed, she seemed to touch a source of warmth. Her entire body shifted slightly toward him, and the furrow between her brows smoothed out.
Huo Yunzheng did not pull his hand away.
He stared at the finger resting against his hand and remained silent for a long time.
————————————————For those who do not like little bonus scenes, you may skip this part————————————————
Bonus Scene:
Regimental Commander Huo, staring at the marriage application: I clearly have no memory of this. Where did this child come from?
Xiaobao, passing by: Dad, stop thinking about it. Look at my nose and eyes. If you didn’t father me, was I sent as a gift for topping up your phone?
Regimental Commander Huo: …Fine. I admit defeat.
Yaoyao, half-asleep: Wonderful. This power bank has such a strong charge…