Yu Hao showed no intention of shutting up, and her accusations became more intense. She drunkenly swayed her head and asked the dumbfounded Xiang Yuan across from her: “Tell me, is your brother angry? Why hasn’t he contacted me for so long? I heard from Chen Rui that they actually don’t have such strict rules there and still have plenty of rest time. Even if he doesn’t have a phone, why couldn’t he borrow one from Xu Yan Shi to contact me? Doesn’t he know people miss him…”

The small bar was dim, with a few weak wall lamps casting a soft glow in the hall. Zhao Dai Lin and Xiang Jia Mian were slumped over the table, fast asleep. Jia Mian occasionally emitted faint snores. Zhao Dai Lin, in her sleep, slapped his face, leaving five bright red fingerprints, cursing: “Stinking man.”

Jia Mian remained completely oblivious, sleeping with his mouth open.

Xiang Yuan glanced at the man not far behind, whose expression showed slight coolness. He had removed his jacket at some point and hung it on the sofa back, wearing only a white t-shirt and pants—simple yet clean.

He was half-leaning on the sofa at the adjacent table, not looking in their direction, head slightly lowered and turned to the side, mouth half-open, tongue seemingly lightly pressing against his cheek, as if deep in thought.

Seeing his reaction, Xiang Yuan understood that Lu Huai Zheng was truly angry with Yu Hao. Strangely though, this newlywed wife still had no idea what she had done to upset him.

Xiang Yuan tentatively asked: “Sister-in-law, did you two argue before my brother left?”

Yu Hao was hugging Jia Mian’s most prized possession—no, not that—an expensive bottle of foreign liquor, probably aged over ten years. Lu Huai Zheng and his friends had tried to cajole it open for years without success, but tonight, Sister Zhao had persuaded him to open it. Xiang Yuan couldn’t help feeling nervous for her brother.

Hearing Xiang Yuan’s question, Yu Hao tilted her head, thinking carefully, her eyes extremely innocent: “No.” After a pause, she suddenly said: “But we did fight.”

Xiang Yuan was surprised: “Fight?”

Yu Hao was drunk, eyes closed, nodding: “Yes, fight. He took off my clothes, I took off his clothes, then we fought in bed. He stabbed me ten times… just ten times.” Saying this, she let out a satisfied burp, confidently patting her chest, “Burp, I can handle it. Even ten more times wouldn’t be a problem.”

What kind of person was Xiang Yuan? A “little yellow person” who had seen countless films. As soon as Yu Hao spoke, she understood, even visualizing the scene. She instinctively looked back at the man behind them. Lu Huai Zheng had already lost all patience and was walking quickly toward them.

Xiang Yuan covered her eyes and turned away, completely unable to face this man on the verge of explosion.

When he arrived at the table, Xiang Yuan automatically shifted to the side, clearing the space opposite Yu Hao.

Yu Hao had her eyes closed, swaying back and forth, hugging the wine bottle, with half her head resting on it, her mouth squished into a beak shape. She smacked her lips, mumbling: “Saying he likes me, it’s all lies. After getting the marriage certificate, knowing I can’t run away, he starts using cold violence. What’s so great about a military marriage? I’ll divorce him, I’ll divorce him. I’ll make him furious.”

Xiang Yuan couldn’t bear to watch, genuinely nervous for her, and fearing Lu Huai Zheng might misunderstand, she said softly: “Brother, try to understand. Sister-in-law misses you terribly.”

Lu Huai Zheng remained expressionless.

Xiang Yuan tried hard to salvage Yu Hao’s image: “Really, a lot has happened while you were gone…”

Lu Huai Zheng interrupted with a cold laugh, “No need to explain to her. She’s so capable—wanting to make me furious after two months without contact. If I go on a mission for a year or more in the future, won’t she turn the world upside down?”

Xiang Yuan hurriedly explained: “No, brother, you’re misunderstanding her…”

Just then, from across the table: “Hmm?”

Both looked up.

Yu Hao had opened her eyes at some point and was now hugging the wine bottle, looking at Lu Huai Zheng with a silly smile. She smacked her lips happily, adjusting her head to a more comfortable position: “I’ve noticed I see you every time I drink.”

Then she turned to ask Xiang Yuan: “Xiang Yuan, do you see him? My husband.”

Xiang Yuan sighed, thinking, “This girl has finally realized it,” and was about to tell her, “Yes, your husband has been here for a while.”

But then Yu Hao shook her head, mumbling quietly: “Appearing when you’re not supposed to, not appearing when I miss you. Appearing at times like this will scare people to death. This hallucination is too frightening.”

Opening her eyes again, she found the man still in front of her, glaring fiercely.

Yu Hao couldn’t contain her anger: “You’re glaring at me?”

She glared back fiercely, and feeling it wasn’t enough, her drunken body leaned forward, using her forefinger and thumb to pinch Lu Huai Zheng’s cheeks, shaking them: “What right do you have to glare at me!”

Xiang Yuan dared not look at Lu Huai Zheng’s expression: “Brother, please be patient. My sister-in-law is drunk tonight. Between husband and wife, you fight and then makeup. There’s nothing that can’t be overcome. Um, the old man called, I need to go home first.”

Lu Huai Zheng said coldly: “Sit down!”

Xiang Yuan’s hand holding her bag trembled. She shrank her neck and leaned back.

Yu Hao paused, looking at Xiang Yuan, then at Lu Huai Zheng, her eyes still confused and uncomprehending: “How… can it speak?”

Xiang Yuan clutched her bag to her chest, saying softly: “Touch him if you don’t believe me. He’s still warm.”

Not having paid attention before, Yu Hao now touched him, randomly feeling the top of his head. The bristly hair felt very real, as did his sharp features—just like his usual appearance.

It seemed something terrifying had happened.

Her heart pounded wildly. She couldn’t believe it, absolutely couldn’t believe it, thinking she must be dreaming: “Lu Huai Zheng?”

“Sobered up?” The man smiled coldly.

“When… did you arrive?”

“When you said you wanted a divorce.”

Yu Hao bit her lip, silent, moisture gradually building in her eyes, glistening with tears. With one blink, large teardrops began falling, astonishing Xiang Yuan nearby. Such acting skills! Tears coming on command, truly crying with the intensity of Meng Jiang Nü collapsing the Great Wall!

“Who told you not to contact me for two months?”

Lu Huai Zheng laughed in anger: “I was working.”

“Xu Yan Shi was also working. How could he send messages to Xiang Yuan?”

“He’s not military.”

“Chen Rui is military, right? He also called home.”

“Because I didn’t bring my phone.”

“Why could others bring phones but not you?”

“Because I didn’t want to bring one.”

Yu Hao was stunned: “Why didn’t you want to?”

He suddenly lowered his head, silent, turning his head slightly. After a long moment, he stood up: “Do you want to go home with me first?”

“Of course I do,” she said eagerly.

Lu Huai Zheng finally smiled, bending down to lift her horizontally into his arms.

The man’s familiar warm breath came close, his muscles tightly tensed. Yu Hao obediently put her arms around his neck, her hand gently moving through his black hair, the familiar touch evoking emotions.

After carrying Yu Hao to the car, Lu Huai Zheng didn’t rush home. Instead, he took everyone else home first before driving back to his place.

In the car, the man was silent, the window open wide.

The night was thick, stars in the sky like shining diamonds gleaming brightly. In the deep night, there were few cars on the street, just a sparse few speeding on the highway.

Yu Hao curled up in the passenger seat, her head against the window frame, hair flying in the wind, whipping around, her head splitting with pain, half-conscious.

Yet her eyes remained firmly fixed on Lu Huai Zheng, who was driving attentively beside her.

This man was truly inexhaustibly attractive, whether silent, angry, indifferent, joking with others, saying this and that without leaving a trace, or smiling—every expression fascinated her.

Yu Hao felt herself captivated.

She greedily looked at him, her gaze moving downward inch by inch. The wind rushed in, pressing his t-shirt tightly against his chest and abdomen, outlining his firm, full figure, and his exposed thighs. He leaned back in the driver’s seat, controlling the steering wheel with one hand, his other elbow propped on the window ledge, head tilted and supported by his hand.

Occasionally he would tug at his shirt, adjusting his sitting position.

Leaning slightly to one side, his casual manner emerged. While turning a corner, as he steered, he suddenly asked: “Sobered up yet?”

The wind howled around them. Yu Hao turned her head, saying softly: “I’m not drunk, just have a bit of a headache.”

Lu Huai Zheng put down his supporting hand, reached down to press a button, and the window closed. The wind was blocked outside the car, the small space suddenly becoming confined. The car instantly grew quiet, and she could now clearly hear that the car radio had been playing a single song on repeat.

“Love is like blue skies and white clouds, clear for thousands of miles, then suddenly a storm, with nowhere to hide, always catching people by surprise…”

Yu Hao felt a resonance in her chest and brain, and couldn’t help humming along.

Lu Huai Zheng: “You’re not drunk?”

Yu Hao happily: “No, I’m not.”

Well, looking at her behavior, she was still drunk.

Lu Huai Zheng reached back for her bag, rummaged for her phone, and tossed it to her: “Call your parents first, tell them you’re staying at a friend’s house tonight.”

Yu Hao lowered her head, saying quietly: “No need to call, there’s no one at home.”

“Where are your parents?”

“My father went out of town for research, and my mother…” She leaned against the window glass, thinking, “went back to our hometown. My grandmother is sick, and my mother went back to take care of her.”

Lu Huai Zheng stroked her head: “What illness does your grandmother have?”

“Liver function issues. She’s been hospitalized these past few days.”

“Where is your hometown?”

“Quancheng, do you know it?”

“Yes, in the south, near Guangdong, if I remember correctly?”

Yu Hao made a “bingo” gesture, her drunken state fully revealed: “That’s right.”

Lu Huai Zheng smiled, putting away her phone: “Why didn’t you bring your grandmother to Beijing?”

Yu Hao shook her head, looking out the window, sighing compassionately: “She’s used to living in the countryside and doesn’t want to come to Beijing.”

“Then when I’m on leave, I’ll accompany you to visit your grandmother?”

Hearing his gentle voice, Yu Hao exclaimed: “Oh? You’re not angry anymore?”

Lu Huai Zheng cleared his throat, gripping the steering wheel tightly: “One thing at a time. I’ll settle the rest with you when we get back.”

At the building entrance, Lu Huai Zheng got out of the car first. After putting on his jacket from the back seat, he also grabbed her bag and then went to open the passenger door. One arm rested on the car roof, the other holding her bag against the window, half-bent at the waist, looking down at her: “Can you walk?”

“I can’t walk.”

He smiled: “Then shall I carry you?”

“Yes.”

He leaned half his body in, and Yu Hao obediently put her arms around his neck.

He lifted her horizontally out of the passenger seat, closed the car door with his foot, locked the car, and then looked down at the woman in his arms. Her face pressed against his neck, clutching him like some treasure, nuzzling affectionately with a pleading expression.

Unmoved by either softness or hardness, he said coldly: “Why are you holding so tight?”

Yu Hao buried herself in his warm neck: “You’re so petty.”

He fell silent.

When he opened the door and entered, Yu Hao heard him hook the door closed with his foot, telling her: “Only now discovering that? Too late.”

The room was cool, uninhabited for too long, slightly chilly. Moonlight-like water spread on the floor, adding to the coldness.

Lu Huai Zheng set her down on the sofa. His clothes had been tugged all the way, his jacket slipping halfway off his shoulder, hanging on his arm, like an ancient beauty emerging from a bath, half-concealed and half-revealed. Before Yu Hao could remind him, Lu Huai Zheng shrugged his shoulders, adjusting the fallen jacket.

She suddenly remembered that he used to make this motion often when playing basketball. His basketball jerseys were all loose and baggy, the necklines shifting around, hanging loosely. Every time he made this motion, the girls nearby would find it cool.

Later it became his signature move. Others would imitate him, but none looked as natural.

Lu Huai Zheng admitted that when he was young, he had some vanity. When playing basketball and seeing many girls, he couldn’t help showing off a bit, with little movements he had privately practiced to increase the spectacle and aesthetics of the game.

That’s what he thought then—still youthful pride.

Now he wouldn’t do that at all. As he grew older, he increasingly felt these surface things were too empty. Gradually, he even became too lazy to choose clothes when going out, grabbing whatever was closest and putting it on. Fortunately, his good physique made anything look good on him, preventing him from appearing too jarring.

Being overly concerned with appearances was a sign of inner weakness.

Lu Huai Zheng didn’t turn on the lights but went to the window to smoke.

He pulled open the curtains and opened the window, and the wind rushed in. Standing by the window, he took out a cigarette, placed it between his lips, cupped his hands around the lighter, and inhaled to light it. The lighter’s flame flickered in the night breeze, illuminating his cold features.

His brows furrowed slightly even while lighting the cigarette as if carrying a thousand worries.

Yu Hao felt his mood was off tonight.

After taking a drag, he held the cigarette outside the window, leaning against it, looking at her. Seeing Yu Hao about to stand up, he said: “Stay seated. I’ll come over after I finish.”

“I want to hug you,” Yu Hao said.

The man lowered his head, tapping ash into the ashtray, looking outside, then putting the cigarette back in his mouth for another drag, saying lightly: “Wait a moment.”

“Are you in a bad mood?” she asked.

He continued looking outside, holding the cigarette without smoking for a while. Hearing her question, he seemed to come back to himself, his slender index finger lightly tapping the cigarette butt before putting it back in his mouth. He made an affirmative sound, then quickly added, fearing she would overthink: “It’s not related to you.”

“Isn’t it? I thought you were angry about me mentioning divorce.”

He laughed self-mockingly: “I am quite angry. I was just thinking how to make you give up the idea of divorce.”

She hurriedly said, “No need to make me give it up. I’ve already abandoned the idea. I even deleted my Moments post.” She held up her phone as she spoke.

He turned to look at her, eyes mocking: “You even posted on Moments?”

Damn!

He hadn’t seen it at all.

Yu Hao couldn’t help wanting to slap herself.

Lu Huai Zheng turned back, looking at the pitch-black night outside. He extinguished the cigarette in the ashtray, sighing: “If you’re like this, how can we continue?”

After finishing his cigarette, he walked back with his hands in his pockets and sat on the sofa opposite Yu Hao. His legs spread wide, hands still in his pockets, leaning back, his gaze direct and honest, without any trace of evasion, looking straight at her: “If I go on a mission in the future and have no contact for a year or more, what then?”

Yu Hao pouted: “Then I’ll have grass growing on my head.”

Lu Huai Zheng casually picked up a cushion and tossed it at her. It didn’t hit her but landed perfectly beside her.

So he was still in the mood for jokes.

He lowered his head, and pressed his lips together, pondering for a moment: “Do you feel wronged being married to me? I’m very easy to get along with. We’ve known each other for so many years; you should understand me. You can act out however you want, fighting is fighting, but don’t touch my bottom line. Some words, when men hear them too often, they start to take them seriously. Do you understand?”

Yu Hao stared at him wide-eyed.

Lu Huai Zheng remained serious, more serious than ever before. Usually carefree, his gaze always full of tolerance—tolerant toward everyone—this was the first time he looked at her so seriously and properly. That look contained a sincerity and honesty she had never seen before.

“This is my first time, and also my last time telling you this. I’m just an ordinary man. I get jealous, I get angry, I have emotions. Don’t think I’m especially magnanimous because of my job as if I can accommodate heaven and earth. I can’t accommodate that much. The only thing I can accommodate is you.” He took a breath, looking elsewhere. “I have many flaws. I’m not the perfect lover you see me as. I also have self-doubts. If you repeatedly and frequently mention divorce to me, I’ll start to doubt myself. I’ll wonder if I’m making you feel wrong if you’re unhappy in this marriage. If that’s the case, there’s no point in us being married, understand? I’m with you because I want to make you happy, to give you joy. As long as you feel happy, I can do anything. Although ours is a military marriage, Yu Hao, have I ever forced you? One day, if you truly feel being with me is a burden, as long as you bring it up, I’ll agree. So this is my bottom line. You can act out however you want, and argue however you want in daily life, but please don’t mention those two words again, okay?”

Lu Huai Zheng was truly hurt.

“I never thought about divorcing you. I was just joking. I was just angry that you didn’t contact me for so long.”

He still leaned on the sofa: “Now I’ll tell you why I didn’t contact you these two months.”

“Why?”

“Did you date Shen Xi Yuan?”

“Yes.”

He turned his head and smiled: “When was that?”

“During my freshman year.”

“Oh, that’s it. I’ve said all I wanted to say.”

Afraid he would explode if he sat any longer, Lu Huai Zheng stood up and went to the bedroom to change clothes as soon as he finished speaking.

The door wasn’t closed. With his back to her, he had just taken off his t-shirt, revealing his firm, smooth back muscles, the deeply concave spinal line gradually extending into the waistband of his belted pants—standard military-issue belt.

It still had his number on it.

Yu Hao hugged him from behind, her face against his warm, hard back muscles, nuzzling: “Is that the only reason?”

Lu Huai Zheng casually grabbed a clean cotton shirt from the closet, putting it on while saying: “If I told you now that I had dated Hu Si Qi, what would you think?”

Yu Hao clung to him, refusing to let go: “Did you two date?”

Lu Huai Zheng sighed, and after putting on his shirt, turned around, gripping her arms, sat down, and pulled her onto his lap, laughing coldly: “Unlike some people, I’m not so fickle.”

Yu Hao changed to hugging his neck: “It’s because, at that time, Shen Senior broke up with his girlfriend to help treat my illness. I felt very guilty…”

Lu Huai Zheng gripped her waist, sometimes gently, sometimes firmly: “So you compensated him with yourself?”

“I never thought I would have today. I always thought I was different from others. I planned my life to end at twenty-five. Marriage was the thing I resisted most in this life.”

Before she could finish, her lips were heavily bitten. Amid passion, she heard him ask vaguely: “Has he kissed you like this?”

Without waiting for her answer, he pressed Yu Hao heavily onto the bed, venting his frustration. In the spinning world, Yu Hao felt as if the ceiling beams were collapsing. Through her daze, she heard him whisper hoarsely in her ear, his words full of teasing: “Forget it, I’m magnanimous. I won’t hold it against you. You’d better clear all your old accounts with me now. If someday I hear even the slightest whisper about it, it won’t be just ten thrusts.”

“You seem quite proud? I heard from Senior Zhao that ten thrusts don’t even qualify as a man.”

“Then let me show you what a real man is.” He kissed her, and in an instant, stripped her completely bare.