She lounged lazily on the bed, her fair legs swaying leisurely, occasionally kicking forward in an irregular rhythm.
Yan Ye slowly straightened up. The woman’s jet-black hair cascaded loosely behind her, and the cardigan she wore was tied rather loosely. Through the gap in the collar, one could glimpse her smooth, delicate skin, as fine as jade.
His eyelids twitched involuntarily, and he hurriedly turned his back to her.
“Tie your collar properly before you speak.”
Xu Xiaoyue glanced down at her shirt. The weather was hot, and she had already undone the top button, revealing only a small patch of her collarbone.
In later times, this would be considered quite modest attire.
“I won’t tie it. It’s too hot. This is just right.”
“Are you going to eat or not?” Xu Xiaoyue looked at the man’s back and asked again.
“Ahem…” Before Yan Ye could refuse once more, a few coughs came from the doorway. The old man who had left earlier had now returned.
“Xiao Yan, the female comrade has already spoken up, yet you’re still acting coy here, like a bashful young girl.”
“Uncle Wang, please don’t talk nonsense,” Yan Ye hurriedly denied.
Xu Xiaoyue reached up and gently touched the neatly bandaged wound on her head. Propping herself up on the edge of the bed, she slowly stood up. “Uncle Wang, how much is the consultation fee? I’ll pay you.”
With that, she reached for the bag beside her. Fortunately, Liu Ye had given her some money before she left, so she wouldn’t be too embarrassed now.
Uncle Wang glanced at Yan Ye outside the door, as if sensing something unusual, and said with a smile, “You’re being too polite, comrade. Since you’re Xiao Yan’s partner, why bother paying?”
Hearing this, Xu Xiaoyue shook her head vigorously. “Uncle Wang, you’ve misunderstood…”
Before she could finish, Yan Ye interrupted from the side, “Aren’t we going to eat?”
Xu Xiaoyue looked at the old man. “Uncle Wang, would you like to join us?”
“At my age, I won’t intrude on your fun. You young folks should go on your own.”
Seeing that Uncle Wang truly didn’t want to go, Xu Xiaoyue didn’t press further and followed closely behind Yan Ye as they left.
Just outside the door, a Phoenix-brand bicycle with its distinctive “28-inch” frame stood prominently at the entrance of the alley.
“Leaving the bike right here at the door… Aren’t you afraid it might get stolen?”
As soon as Xu Xiaoyue finished her remark, the man standing beside her gave her an inexplicable look and walked straight toward the bicycle.
With one long stride of his legs, clad in military trousers, he sat firmly on the bike, gripping the handlebars tightly. He turned the bike around and stopped right in front of Xu Xiaoyue.
“Get on.”
With just those two words, Xu Xiaoyue finally understood the meaning behind Yan Ye’s earlier glance.
In these times, it was likely that no one would dare to steal a vehicle belonging to the military.
The alley’s path was winding and narrow. At first, Xu Xiaoyue only held onto the hem of the man’s clothes, but gradually, her hand unconsciously moved to Yan Ye’s lower back.
She even leaned in close to his back and sniffed lightly, looking utterly innocent. “You smell really nice. What perfume are you wearing?”
A vein throbbed on Yan Ye’s forehead. The sensation at his waist was impossible to ignore—the cool touch of her fingers brushing against his firm muscles, causing a surge of heat beneath his clothes.
With one hand gripping the handlebars, he used the other to tug his shirt free. “If you can’t hold on properly, just grab my clothes.”
"Oh, I see." Xu Xiaoyue mumbled, no longer looking around, and obediently held onto the hem of the person's clothes.
The signboard with the four large characters "State-Run Restaurant" was strikingly prominent. Xu Xiaoyue let go and nimbly hopped down.
Yan Ye glanced at her, then parked the bicycle to the side.
Xu Xiaoyue took the lead and stepped inside, where a wave of heat immediately hit her. She wrinkled her delicate nose. In these times, there was no air conditioning, and the indoors were stuffy and hot, filled with a mixture of various smells.
Xu Xiaoyue took two steps back. She had always been sensitive to odors, and if it weren't for treating someone to a meal, she would have turned around and left.
"Why aren't you going in?"
Yan Ye walked up behind her, his gaze shifting to the small blackboard overhead displaying the "Today's Menu."
Xu Xiaoyue rubbed her nose and walked further inside, too embarrassed to explain the reason, afraid Yan Ye would think she was too delicate.
"Hello, you two. What would you like to eat? All the meat today was freshly purchased early this morning."
Yan Ye turned to look at the woman beside him, who was hanging her head. The exposed nape of her neck was so slender it seemed as if it would snap with a light pinch, and her complexion was so pale it looked as though she hadn't eaten for days.
Before Xu Xiaoyue could speak, he listed several dishes: "Steamed perch, braised pork ribs, pig's trotters stewed with goji berries…"
All were light and flavorful main courses. Xu Xiaoyue silently lowered her head, calculating the money in her pocket and praying that the bill wouldn't exceed her budget later, or else she'd have to stay behind and wash dishes to pay off the debt.
The waiter noted the order on his pad, then looked up at the two of them. "Will there be four of you dining? Would you like me to arrange a private room?"
Yan Ye raised an eyebrow and corrected him, "Two. We'll just sit anywhere outside."
The striking combination of a handsome man and a beautiful woman drew many glances as soon as they appeared.
"Wang Jianhua, is that man standing over there Regiment Commander Yan?" Several female comrades from the cultural troupe craned their necks to look.
Wang Jianhua lowered his head to pick up food with his chopsticks and replied without thinking, "Impossible. Regiment Commander Yan is at home right now. Why would he come to a state-run restaurant?"
"But that silhouette really looks like Regiment Commander Yan," one of the female comrades whispered, glancing around.
Wang Jianhua set down his chopsticks and looked up, catching a glimpse of the man's profile. He squinted, studying it carefully. Well, damn, it really was Regiment Commander Yan.
"Regiment Commander Yan?" he called out tentatively, and to his surprise, the man actually turned around.
Xu Xiaoyue also heard the call. With her excellent memory, she immediately recognized him as the man who had apprehended the two traffickers at the train station and taken them to the police station.
"Should we go over?" Yan Ye asked, looking at Xu Xiaoyue.
Xu Xiaoyue nodded. She hadn't had the chance to thank him properly last time, as they had left in a hurry.
"Regiment Commander Yan, what brings you here?" Wang Jianhua's gaze swept over Yan Ye before settling on Xu Xiaoyue behind him.
Back on the train, he had sensed there was something unusual about the interaction between these two. He never expected to run into them in Beijing as well.
Xu Xiaoyue glanced at Yan Ye and briefly recounted what had happened in the alley.
"Regiment Commander Yan, you really have quite the luck with the ladies. Beijing is so big, yet you managed to run into her."
Wang Jianhua nudged the man with his elbow and lowered his voice.
Yan Ye shot a glance at Xu Xiaoyue before fixing his dark eyes on Wang Jianhua. "If you keep talking nonsense, you'll be doing an extra ten kilometers with weighted gear when we get back."
Xu Xiaoyue was entirely focused on her meal, completely unaware of the conversation between the two men.
Wang Jianhua was never one to hold back his thoughts. As he eyed the nourishing dishes spread across the table, he couldn’t help but speak up again.
"Steamed perch, pork ribs with goji berries… Who ordered all this? Someone feeling a bit weak, huh…"
Xu Xiaoyue choked on her words, glancing up at the man whose expression had darkened.
"Wang Jianhua, later at the barracks, you’ll carry twenty pounds of weight and run an extra fifteen kilometers. I’ll be watching you myself." As soon as the words left his mouth, Yan Ye set down his chopsticks.
Wang Jianhua nearly let out a wail of despair. He couldn’t understand why—when everyone in the unit often teased Regiment Commander Yan about other female comrades—things became so intense the moment Xu Xiaoyue was involved.
"It’s you?!" At the next table, a clear, bright female voice suddenly rang out, her gaze fixed directly on Xu Xiaoyue.