“Borrow my greatcoat?”
Lei Li followed the direction of her finger and glanced at the old military coat hanging on the rack.
It was the one he had worn on the front lines for several years. The lining was sheepskin—old, yes, but undeniably warm.
Still, that excuse was far too flimsy.
Just moments ago she had claimed she was delivering a family letter. After being exposed, she now said she was cold.
Did this woman ever tell a single truth?
Lei Li withdrew his gaze and looked Bai Luoluo over again.
The shawl she was wrapped in was cashmere as well, but it clearly didn’t block the wind very well.
Her slender calves, exposed to the air, were trembling slightly, and her whole body was shivering faintly along with them.
The smudges of soot on her face, paired with those watery, timid eyes, made her look…
Honestly, rather pitiful.
Like a stray cat with nowhere to go.
For a split second, the defenses in Lei Li’s heart loosened.
This single-story house really was cold. It was only normal that a delicate southern young lady like her couldn’t take it.
But he quickly hardened his heart again.
This was life.
If he didn’t let her suffer a bit, she would never understand how people lived here, never put herself in the right position.
“If you’re cold, go back and pile on a few more quilts.”
Lei Li rejected her coldly. “That’s a military greatcoat, not something for you to wear as pajamas.”
“There’s nothing but dirt and sweat on it. Miss Bai loves cleanliness so much—aren’t you afraid you’ll get an allergy if you wear it?”
He said that purely to needle her.
After all, earlier that day she had shown nothing but disgust toward the filthy canteen.
Unexpectedly, Bai Luoluo didn’t take the bait at all.
Right now, the only thing in her head was the system’s countdown.
【Time remaining: 3 minutes.】
【Warning: If the task fails, the host will immediately trigger the ‘Loss of Taste’ punishment, with an additional ‘Severe Cold’ debuff.】
Bai Luoluo panicked.
Why did this man have so much pointless talk?!
It was just a lousy coat—was it really worth being this stingy?
“I don’t mind!”
She took a step forward, her voice urgent. “I’ll just borrow it for a moment. Can’t I even wear it here for a bit to warm up?”
As she spoke, her eyes were fixed straight on the coat, as if it were some priceless treasure.
Lei Li was completely baffled by her reaction.
Was a worn-out coat really worth her eyes lighting up like that?
“No.”
Lei Li didn’t want to waste words with her anymore. He turned around to pick up the documents on the table. “If there’s nothing else, go back. I have work to do.”
Seeing that he was about to kick her out, Bai Luoluo completely lost her composure.
If she got driven out now, the task would fail completely!
She didn’t know where the courage came from—perhaps desperation makes people reckless.
Instead of obediently turning to leave, Bai Luoluo took advantage of the moment when Lei Li turned his back and shot toward the coat rack like a small cannonball.
As long as she touched it!
Even if she only hugged it once!
Her movement was too fast—far too sudden.
On top of that, her high heels didn’t fit well to begin with, and she had stepped in plenty of dust when she came in.
Just as her hand was about to touch the collar of the military coat—
Her heel suddenly slipped.
“Ah!”
A short cry escaped her lips.
Bai Luoluo completely lost her balance, her body uncontrollably tipping backward.
And right behind her—
Was Lei Li, who had just turned around.
Lei Li only felt his vision blur as a figure carrying a faint fragrance crashed straight into him.
It was pure instinct.
He reflexively opened his arms and firmly caught the woman who had thrown herself into his embrace.
“Bang!”
Two bodies collided solidly.
Bai Luoluo felt as if she had slammed into a wall.
Were this man’s chest muscles made of stone? They were so hard it hurt!
But none of that mattered.
What mattered was that in that instant, a scorching heat passed through the thin layer of his military shirt and transferred without reservation to her icy body.
Warm.
So warm.
Like a dying person grasping the last match.
The system’s notification sounded like heavenly music as it exploded in her mind.
【Ding! Large-scale physical contact with the Child of Fortune detected!】【Contact level: S-rank (embrace).】【Task evaluation: Over-fulfilled!】【Extracting fortune value… Cold-resistance buff activated…】
A surge of warmth spread rapidly from where their bodies touched, flowing through Bai Luoluo’s limbs and bones.
Her frozen hands and feet instantly regained feeling, and the bone-deep chill was swept away completely.
Bai Luoluo felt so comfortable she almost let out a hum.
Instinctively, she shrank closer, burrowing deeper into that source of heat.
This was basically a human-shaped furnace!
Ten thousand times better than that broken coal stove!
Her small hands clutched tightly at the fabric at Lei Li’s waist, her cheek pressed against his burning chest as she greedily soaked up the warmth.
The air seemed to freeze at that moment.
The lounge was so quiet that only the sound of their breathing could be heard.
And the powerful, steadily quickening heartbeat in Lei Li’s chest.
“Thump, thump, thump…”
Lei Li’s entire body stiffened.
The woman in his arms was impossibly soft.
Even wrapped in that slightly dirty shawl, it couldn’t block the transmission of that soft sensation.
Even more fatal was that scent.
Even with coal dust smudged on her face, even after being blown by the cold wind for so long…
That scent—uniquely hers, expensive and cloyingly sweet like roses—still stubbornly forced its way into Lei Li’s nose.
Mixed with the tobacco and sweat already lingering in his lounge, it produced an extremely strange yet intoxicating chemical reaction.
Like a strong liquor.
So potent it made his scalp tingle.
Lei Li was a normal man.
And not just that—he was a man in the prime of his life, one who spent his days surrounded by a bunch of monks-in-uniform.
This sudden encounter with warm, soft jade was, to him, nothing short of the highest level of psychological assault.
His Adam’s apple rolled hard.
His large hand was still stiffly braced at her waist, and that delicate curve made his palm burn.
For a brief moment, he even found himself unwilling to push her away.
But the instant that thought surfaced, it was brutally strangled by reason.
What was she doing?
Sneaking into his lounge in the dead of night under false pretenses.
Borrowing the coat was a lie—throwing herself into his arms was the truth, wasn’t it?
Was this her so-called “borrowing warmth”?
This was playing with fire.
Lei Li’s gaze darkened instantly. The trace of lingering ambiguity vanished at once, replaced by deep disgust and the fury of being schemed against.
He hated this kind of tactic more than anything.
What did she take him for?
One of those spoiled playboys in the world of fame and profit, who could be reeled in with a crooked finger?
Did she think that using such a cheap beauty trap would soften his heart? That he’d treat those blueprints as bargaining chips and bend to her every whim?
Dream on.
“Enough!”
A furious shout exploded beside Bai Luoluo’s ear.
Immediately afterward, a tremendous force came from her shoulder.
Lei Li shoved her away violently.
The movement was rough, merciless.
Bai Luoluo was still immersed in that warm embrace and completely unprepared. With that push, she staggered backward several steps.
Her lower back slammed hard into the edge of the desk behind her.
“Hiss—”
The piercing pain made her suck in a sharp breath, tears instantly springing to her eyes.
This time, it truly hurt.
Clutching her waist, she stared at the man in front of her in disbelief.
Everything had been fine just moments ago—how had he suddenly turned hostile?
Lei Li stood there, his chest heaving violently.
He wiped hard with the back of his hand over the spot Bai Luoluo had touched, as if trying to scrub away something filthy.
Those deep-set eyes were now filled with nothing but contempt and rage.
“Bai Luoluo, what are you doing?”
His voice was cold as ice shards.
“Is this the kind of conduct your circle teaches?”
“Sneaking into a man’s office in the middle of the night and throwing yourself at him?”
“Who do you think I am—one of those flies that only know how to buzz around your skirt?”
Bai Luoluo froze.
Ignoring the pain in her waist, she opened her mouth to explain. “I didn’t… I just…”
Just slipped?
Just wanted to get warm?
Who would believe that?
“Just what?”
Lei Li didn’t give her any chance to explain. He pressed forward step by step, the killing aura around him overwhelming.
“Just wanted to test whether I had any interest in you?”
“Then let me tell you.”
He walked up to Bai Luoluo and bent down slightly. That handsome face now looked almost ferocious with anger.
Staring straight into her eyes, he enunciated each word clearly:
“I have absolutely no interest in women like you—scheming, vain, and only capable of playing petty tricks like this.”
“In fact, I find it disgusting.”
“Put away that act of yours.”
“This is the military. It’s a sacred place—not your filthy arena of fame and profit.”
“Don’t dirty it.”
Every single word was like a sharp knife, stabbing brutally into Bai Luoluo’s heart.
Humiliation.
A tidal wave of grievance drowned her completely.
She had done all this to stay alive!
To avoid becoming a useless person without taste!
For the Bai family, she had donated so much money, emptied her family’s coffers.
Living in a broken house, eating food full of grit—she had endured all of it.
And now, just for borrowing a coat, she had to be pointed at and scolded for being shameless?
Was this the result of everything she had sacrificed?
The tears could no longer be held back. They fell like broken strings.
Cutting two clear tracks down her soot-smeared face, making her look even more wretched—and even more pitiful.
But in Lei Li’s eyes, these tears were nothing but crocodile tears, just another part of her performance.
“What are you crying for?”
Lei Li let out a cold laugh, not a trace of pity in his eyes.
“Since you dared to do it, you should dare to bear the consequences.”
“Stop pretending to be pitiful here.”
He turned around and pointed at the door.
“Get out.”
Bai Luoluo bit down hard on her lip, so hard she tasted blood without even realizing it.
She stared at Lei Li’s unfeeling back.
At that moment, the last shred of her幻想 about the “Child of Fortune” shattered completely.
Some damn commander.
Some hero.
He was just a blind, pig-headed bastard.
“Lei Li, you bastard!”
Bai Luoluo cursed with all the strength she had left.
Then she clutched her shawl tight, turned around, and rushed out of the lounge.
Her high heels struck the floor with sharp, rapid clicks, like the sound of her shattered dignity.
Lei Li stood where he was, listening to those footsteps fade farther and farther away.
Until they disappeared completely.
The lounge returned to silence.
That faint scent of roses hadn’t yet dispersed, still lingering at the tip of his nose, as if mocking his moment of lost control.
Lei Li irritably ran a hand through his hair.
He kicked over the chair beside him.
“Damn it!”
He cursed under his breath.
There was none of the satisfaction he had imagined. Instead, it felt as if a huge stone was lodged in his chest, heavy and stifling.
That moment just now…
Her eyes.
Those eyes filled with tears, brimming with grievance and despair.
Was it really all just an act?
If she was acting, then her performance was far too good.
Lei Li walked over to the window and lit a cigarette.
Through the glass, he saw a small figure downstairs, limping as it hurried toward the row of single-story houses on the west side of the compound.
It was Bai Luoluo.
The cold wind swept fallen leaves across the ground. That figure looked so thin, so helpless.
Lei Li’s fingers trembled slightly.
Ash fell onto the back of his hand, burning a red spot into his skin.
He didn’t move.
He just watched quietly as that figure disappeared into the darkness.
That thought surfaced again in his mind:
Did I… go too far?
But immediately after, he hardened his heart again.
Too far?
When dealing with a woman like that, you had to use strong medicine.
Otherwise, who knew what kind of trouble she might stir up in the future?
In this lifetime, Lei Li hated nothing more than being schemed against.
Even if she was beautiful.
Even if… she felt that good in his arms.
It still wouldn’t do.
Lei Li took a hard drag on his cigarette, forcibly suppressing that inexplicable restlessness.
Only, tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.