Late at night, Gu Beichen couldn’t sleep because he was thinking about Lin Su, so he came out of his temporary residence and saw that the core office was still emitting a faint light.
Gu Beichen felt a pang of anxiety when he thought of the girl who liked to stay up late. He quickly went to his office and, sure enough, saw the person who was drawing with her head down.
He sighed; with such dim lighting, his eyes must be hurting again.
Fortunately, he had made preparations when he returned today. He quickly went back to his temporary residence, picked up the simple desk lamp he had made himself from the discarded parts he had asked Huang Weiguo, and headed towards the office.
Upon hearing footsteps, Platoon Leader Zhan turned around nervously and saw that it was none other than Regiment Commander Gu Beichen.
He thought to himself, “Is this guy made of iron? He just came back from a mission and then came here to do another one. I thought I should at least let him rest for one night before I took on the night shift.”
Unexpectedly, the other party didn’t appreciate it at all. It was already past midnight, and they were still out and about. They might as well just go to sleep.
Just as he was thinking this, Gu Beichen patted him on the shoulder: “Go back and rest, I’ll take care of things here!”
Platoon Leader Zhan still hesitated: “Isn’t this inappropriate?” How could he let his superior work the night shift while he went to sleep?
Commander Gu gave him a cold look, and Platoon Leader Zhan immediately turned around and started running!
Who wouldn’t want to rest? But after running a couple of steps, Zhan’s feet involuntarily stopped.
He turned around and saw, lo and behold! His regimental commander, Gu, was staring intently at Comrade Gu. If there was nothing fishy going on between the two of them, he’d rip his head off and give it to them as a stool.
It’s just that, tsk tsk, it seems like the king is willing, but the goddess is indifferent! If the people in the military region saw their cold-faced Gu Tuan’s infatuated look, I don’t know how many jaws would drop.
Waaah~~ I really want to stay and watch the drama unfold!
This is fresh gossip from Commander Gu and Comrade Gu!
He’ll have plenty of gossip to tell when he gets back.
However, when Battalion Commander Gu gave him a death stare, Platoon Leader Zhan turned and ran.
No amount of gossip can compare to my own future! Sigh! The gossip about the leader isn’t good to hear!
Seeing that the flies had all left, Gu Beichen quietly walked into the office, pulled a cord over, and placed the desk lamp on Lin Su’s desk.
Lin Su felt a bright light before her eyes, which made her eyes feel uncomfortable. She looked up and met Gu Beichen’s vast eyes.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively rubbed her sore eyes with the back of her hand.
“Don’t move!”
Gu Beichen’s voice was urgent and deep, carrying an undeniable force as he suddenly grabbed her wrist.
Lin Su froze, looking at him in confusion.
Gu Beichen frowned, his gaze fixed on her eyes, his tone more serious than ever before: “Your hands are dirty, covered in ink!”
Lin Su was taken aback. She looked down at her hand that had been grabbed and saw that her fingers and the back of her hand were stained with ink. This must have been from when she was repairing the printer.
She looked up blankly again and saw a clear reflection in Gu Beichen’s eyes, with a dark patch around one of her eyes making her look like a panda.
“……”
The feeling of social death has never been so clear and concrete.
Gu Beichen’s heart was burning hot, as if it were about to melt.
He was incredibly grateful for his sleeplessness tonight; otherwise, how could he have glimpsed beneath the ice that she still retained this vivid, occasionally revealed, confused yet genuine quality in front of him?
He dared not laugh out loud, for fear of startling the cat, which had rarely let its guard down.
He quickly pulled out a clean, neatly folded handkerchief from his pocket, a habit he had developed after being with Lin Su.
This absent-minded cat often gets herself all dirty, so he has to constantly find something to wipe her face.
Later, he simply started carrying a handkerchief, and even though Lin Su was no longer by his side, he kept this habit.
This is where it comes in handy.
“Don’t move.” His voice was softer than the night breeze, yet carried an undeniable force.
He held her chin firmly with one hand, and with the other hand, he dipped the corner of his handkerchief into the water in the glass next to him.
Lin Su’s body stiffened, and she subconsciously wanted to back away, but his gaze held her firmly in place.
There was no mockery in his eyes, only a kind of almost devout focus.
Slightly coolHis touch was gentle as he wiped her eyelids, his movements as careful as if they were fragile treasures. His fingertips occasionally felt the subtle trembling of her eyelids through the thin handkerchief.
At such close range, he could count her trembling, drooping eyelashes and smell the faint ink in her hair, a scent unique to her.
Years later, he was once again so close to her, close enough to feel her warm breath brushing against his neck.
Lin Su kept her eyes tightly closed, and the temporary shutdown of her vision amplified all her other senses.
The warmth from his fingertips, the familiar, crisp scent of sun-dried soapberries on his body, forcefully invaded her breath.
My heart went out of rhythm in my chest, pounding so hard it hurt.
She should have pushed him away, but her body craved this moment of warmth and tranquility, stiff as a stone. Only her gradually blushing ears betrayed the turmoil in her heart.
“Okay,” he said in a low voice, his voice a little hoarse.
Lin Su suddenly opened her eyes and once again met his deep gaze, which was filled with emotions she dared not discern.
She hurriedly turned her face away, snatched the handkerchief, which was already stained with black ink, from his hand, and clutched it in her palm, as if she wanted to grasp something or cover something up.
“Thank you.” Her voice was barely audible, with a slight, almost imperceptible tremor.
To hide her embarrassment, she forced her attention back to the table, her gaze falling on the uniquely designed, softly lit desk lamp. “This lamp…”
“I made it myself,” Gu Beichen replied casually, finding an outlet for his turbulent emotions. “I used discarded parts.”
The light here is too dim; it hurts my eyes. You… always liked to read in the dark.
A surge of emotions, a mixture of grievance, nostalgia, and bitterness, rushed into Lin Su’s heart like a torrent, making her nose sting and her eyes burn.
So, he remembered everything!
She was almost immersed in this long-lost, warm light that carried her memories.
Just then, her fingertips unconsciously traced a blank space on the drawing, and the sensation jolted her awake.
These hands, not long ago, were mending clothes for the child and lulling him to sleep.
That small, soft body that depended on her was her real world in the West.
In an instant, she was pulled out of that momentary, tender dream. All the emotions that had just surged up did not vanish like smoke; instead, they were pressed back into her heart by something heavier and more realistic.
She composed herself, focused her attention, and turned to the foreign language text in the documents.
She must be faster and stronger!
Gu Beichen neither approached nor left.
Just now, he clearly felt that Lin Su had once again raised her hard shell.
It was as if that slight loosening from before had never existed.
He was not discouraged. Instead, he picked up Lin Su’s enamel mug, went out, poured a cup of hot water, and gently placed it on the table.
He leaned against the edge of a table not far away, silently guarding the light and the people within it. He knew that some ice needed light and patience to slowly melt.
Tonight, to have this moment of peace and to see her face for a moment is already an immense blessing from heaven.