The two of them gazed at each other. Her eyes seemed to hold a clear spring within them, rippling with faint light whenever she smiled. He watched her for a while, and it felt as though a willow branch had brushed across his heart — an itch he couldn’t bear. He reached up, cupped the back of her head, and pulled her down to his lips, saying in a low voice, “My legs can’t move for now, but my arms and hands are perfectly fine. Bring me the bath towel — I’ll give you a proper wash. I promise not a single spot that needs washing will be missed.”

Hongdou deliberately let herself lean in closer, and just as her lips were about to touch his, she suddenly stopped, pushed him back, and laughed as she made to get off the bed. “Even now you’re still thinking such thoughts. What if you pull open your wound? You wouldn’t feel sorry for me, but I’d feel sorry for you. Lie there properly and behave.”

He Yunqin reached out to catch her but failed, watching helplessly as she disappeared into the washroom, his heart itching with frustration. He slumped back onto the bed. “Yu Hongdou.”

Water splashed inside the bathroom — Hongdou had started washing up. Hearing his voice, and imagining the look on his face right now, she couldn’t help laughing to herself inside, but afraid it would make him get out of bed despite his wound, she deliberately didn’t answer.

He Yunqin, who had never thought much of his injury before, now — hearing her laughter, not too near, not too far — felt keenly just how inconvenient a leg wound could be. He wanted to move, but feared aggravating the wound and delaying its healing, so he had no choice but to lie obediently still. What was only a few minutes felt like several hours.

Fortunately, Hongdou finished bathing quickly and came out of the washroom carrying tooth powder, a towel, and other items.

At the bedside, she dropped the hot towel into a basin, and under his burning gaze, slowly climbed onto the bed, then pulled back the covers over him and began unbuttoning his nightshirt, one button at a time.

The instant her fingertips touched his skin, his muscles immediately went taut. He drew in a deep breath and helplessly looked up at the ceiling.

He should have known — if he’d just wiped himself down quickly, none of this would be happening. Having her bathe him was somehow more unbearable than the pain of his wound itself. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to tell her to stop. He endured it for a while, and finally had no choice but to lower his eyes, following her every movement with his gaze, and said with a laugh, “I haven’t been home in two days. Be a good Hongdou and wash me from head to toe.”

Unhurried, Hongdou finished removing his top, turned to wring out the towel, then turned back and began wiping him down bit by bit, saying, “You’ve been out there rolling in dust and grime. You changed into clean clothes on the outside, but underneath you’re still dirty. Don’t worry, I won’t miss a single spot that needs it.”

Every touch of her hand made his heart itch a little more. He thought it over and, refusing to give up, rubbed the bridge of his nose and said in a coaxing tone, “Do you remember that night we stayed at that other house? I think what we did on the couch that night was pretty good.”

Was he asking her to straddle him? Hongdou shot him a startled glance, turned her face away, and continued wiping him down, saying slowly, “The doctor said it hasn’t even been sixty days yet — no intimate relations.”

She put extra emphasis on those last three words.

He Yunqin froze. As a first-time father, there was indeed much he didn’t understand — so there were things forbidden now? What else was off-limits besides this? At the thought, most of the various ideas in his head were immediately dispelled, and he grew considerably more well-behaved.

However, when she got to wiping down his legs, a certain part of him rose so conspicuously that it became impossible for her to ignore.

She looked at him. “He Yunqin.”

“What.”

“Could you calm down a little?”

“Can’t calm down.”

“Careful, you’ll pull your stitches.”

He raised an innocent eyebrow. “It’s nowhere near the wound — how would it pull anything? Why don’t you have a good talk with it, tell it to behave, and maybe it’ll listen to you.”

She glanced at him. “As long as you stop thinking all sorts of nonsense, it’ll naturally behave.”

He gave a half-smile. “That’s asking the impossible — you’re personally bathing me and forbidding me from thinking nonsense at the same time.”

She glared at him, held her composure for a moment, then couldn’t help but want to laugh. She finished cleaning him up from head to toe as quickly as possible, put the things back in the washroom, then climbed onto the bed and delivered her fragrant self into his arms. “There, that should keep it in line now.”

He lowered his head and breathed in the familiar scent of her hair, smiling. “Still feels like a dream.”

Hongdou looked at him for a moment, wrapped her arms around his neck, tilted her head up to kiss him once, then touched his lips with her fingers. “Still feels like a dream?”

His gaze deepened; he seized the moment to pull her close, pouring all the longing he’d felt for her these past few days into a deep, ardent kiss. Compared to the fear and worry of the past few days, this closeness now felt like nothing but a dream. They kissed for who knew how long — though a fierce desire should have risen within them, deep down he felt only satisfaction and quiet peace.

The kiss went deep, and slow.

When she woke in the morning, the sunlight was beautiful. She lay quietly in his arms, gazing at him.

The He family’s plane was to depart that afternoon. He had slept poorly the second half of the previous night, having been woken by the pain in his wound, but had endured it silently for fear of waking her. When she’d startled awake from a nightmare, he had already been lying quietly in the dark for some time, his body drenched in cold sweat.

Her heart ached for him. As she got him his pain medication, she asked him, displeased, “Why didn’t you wake me?”

He smiled. “It’s not that I didn’t want to — it just wasn’t as bad as you’re imagining. Besides, too much pain medicine isn’t good either.”

She knew he was simply sparing her worry — how could it not have hurt, sweating that much. Fortunately, he fell asleep quickly after taking the medicine. After the past several days of risking his life and racking his brains over the gold bars, even someone as young and healthy as He Yunqin had pushed himself too hard. He slept deeply and soundly this time; when she rose from his arms that morning, he was still fast asleep.

She put on her robe at the bedside and turned to look at him — his handsome face bathed in the morning light. At a glance, she felt only steadiness and peace of mind. After watching him for a while, she curved her lips, turned, and went to the washroom to freshen up.

The whole morning, she was busy making phone calls to Gu Yun and other friends and relatives.

By noon, Wang Bide arrived.

During the days when He Yunqin had been trapped in the war zone, He Mengmei and Mrs. He, unlike outsiders, had known some of the inside details of the affair.

After this whole ordeal, feeling that Wang Bide and Yu Chongyi’s loyalty was worth a thousand pieces of gold, the family was naturally grateful to both of them. Though the household was in chaos over the departure, the moment they heard Wang Bide had come, they hurried to have him shown in.

Hongdou was just then feeding He Yunqin porridge. On hearing the servant’s announcement, she personally went out to greet him. “I was just about to call you, Detective Wang.”

Wang Bide asked, “Is He Yunqin doing better?”

Leading him inside, Hongdou smiled and said, “Much better. How’s your packing coming along, Detective?”

He Yunqin had mentioned earlier that Wang Bide was technically one of his subordinates. Now that He Yunqin was heading to Chongqing, Wang Bide, as his subordinate, would have to go too, whether he wanted to or not — it was only that he still had matters to attend to and couldn’t leave just yet.

Hearing Hongdou’s question, he waved a hand. “I’ve got so much material it would take half a plane to move it all — I’ve decided not to bother moving it for now. We’ll be back in Shanghai eventually anyway. There’s just one particularly thorny matter I need to ask He Yunqin about.”

By then he had already entered the inner room, and the moment he saw He Yunqin, he said, “Those two chubby little rascals have been making a racket at my agency, driving me half out of my mind. You’re the one who insisted on saving them, and now you’ve dumped them entirely on me and won’t lift a finger. Come on, give me some idea — what are we actually going to do with these two children?”

Hongdou knew he meant the Pengs’ two children. Now that the false couple was dead, the children had reverted to being orphans, and with most personnel about to leave Shanghai, where the children would go was indeed a problem.

He Yunqin looked at Wang Bide. “The organization has too many dangerous activities going on regularly, and the children are too young — we can only send them to an orphanage, or find a reliable family to take them in.”

“An orphanage?” Wang Bide shook his head repeatedly. “I know the ins and outs of orphanages better than anyone — from the director down to the caretakers, everyone skims off the top. And with the chaos of war right now, they can barely feed themselves, let alone look after the children in their care. Have you ever walked past an orphanage? Every child in there looks pale and malnourished. Send these two chubby boys there and they’d waste away within days.”

He Yunqin truly couldn’t bear to send the children to an orphanage, and said thoughtfully, “Then have them come with us to Chongqing. Once we’re there, we can properly find a family to adopt them. As long as we know their background well, the children shouldn’t suffer.”

“These two can eat and they can make a racket — no one who takes them in is going to like it.”

He Yunqin frowned. “This won’t do, that won’t do either — why don’t you adopt them yourself, Detective Wang?”

Wang Bide, who had just sat down, sprang up from his chair as if launched by a spring.

Hongdou glanced up at Wang Bide. Though his face showed sheer astonishment, it was, rare for him, not laced with any disgust — something stirred in her heart. She lowered her head to think it over: Wang Bide had a fierce face but a kind heart, and had always been alone. Though he lived a carefree life, there must be moments of loneliness. The two children had no one else in the world; if Wang Bide were to raise them properly, it might be the best solution for everyone. But how it would ultimately turn out depended on what Wang Bide himself decided.

It was a good while before Wang Bide finally spoke. “No, no, that’s a terrible idea. I’m doing fine on my own — why would I go looking for trouble to pile onto myself?”

Though he said this, his tone wasn’t entirely resolute.

He Yunqin and Hongdou exchanged a glance; both understood Wang Bide’s temperament well enough not to push him.

He Yunqin merely said, “I really didn’t think this through properly just now — an orphanage isn’t right for them. Why don’t Hongdou and I take the children to Chongqing with us for the time being, and we’ll figure out which family to give them to once we’re there.”

Hearing that He Yunqin meant to take the children away, a flicker of reluctance crossed Wang Bide’s face. It was a good while before he muttered, “Going back and forth like this is such a hassle — I’m heading to Chongqing in a couple of days anyway. Might as well just bring the children along myself.”

He Yunqin smiled slightly, tucking his arms behind his head, and seized the opening. “Let’s get this straight beforehand — whoever brings them to Chongqing is the one who adopts them.”

Wang Bide had just pulled his flask from inside his coat and was about to drink from it. At these words, his expression changed several times, and he gave a reluctant, heavy snort. “Fine, I’ll adopt them. Worst comes to worst, I’ll just cut back on rations a bit. If it really turns out I can’t manage to raise them, I can still find them a good family later — it won’t be too late.”

Hongdou smiled. “The two children are being handed over to you, Detective — the older one is only five, the younger one two. It’ll be many years yet before they’re grown, so for the sake of your health, you’d best cut back on your drinking.”

Wang Bide paused, took another sip anyway, but in the end tucked the flask back into his coat.

Hongdou glanced at He Yunqin with a smile, choosing not to call Wang Bide out on it, and rose calmly instead. “We’ll be setting off right after lunch. Detective, why don’t you stay and have a meal with us?”

Wang Bide waved a hand. “I still need to rush back and sort out dinner for the two chubby rascals.”

By the time the He family’s plane reached Chongqing, it was already deep in the night.

Quite a number of people had come to meet them — either local dignitaries who had dealt with the He family before, or Shanghai merchant families relocating south, all bringing their households along, every one of them dressed in glittering finery.

At the residence, Hongdou accompanied He Yunqin’s stretcher out of the car. Just as He Zhuyun had said, the place had a serene and secluded charm, and if not for the crush of guests coming and going at the moment, it would truly have made a fine place to recuperate.

Before they even went inside, she saw Duan Mingyi and He Ningzheng getting out of another car. Duan Mingyi and her mother-in-law each took a side, entertaining separate groups of female guests. He Ningzheng’s face was dark, carrying the air of a coming storm.

Author’s Note: Second update after 10:30, this Hong Dou Sheng Min Guo – Chapter has a red envelope.