The two of them hadn’t seen each other since graduating from high school.

The Xu Yun in Lin Luxiao’s memory had a jet-black bob cut that fell to her jaw, a warm wheat complexion, not fat but not slender either — the kind of girl whose smile showed her back molars. She didn’t quite match the tall, willowy young woman with long hair and a delicate oval face standing in front of him.

Xu Yun smiled, extended a hand toward him first. “What’s the matter? Don’t recognise me?”

Lin Luxiao scratched his brow, reached out and shook it, then pulled his hand back. “No, just — running into an old classmate here. Bit of a surprise.” Then his gaze dropped to the insignia on her shoulder. His brow rose slightly — a touch of teasing in his voice. “Look at that. Doing well for yourself.”

Yang Zhenggang, afraid of where this was heading, cut in: “This is the Chief of Staff from the Fire Supervision Department. Not really your place to be making jokes.”

Xu Yun smiled, her eyes on Lin Luxiao, unperturbed. “It’s fine. We’re old classmates. Old Yang, where’s my room?”

Yang Zhenggang was about to answer when Lin Luxiao looked over. “What room?”

Xu Yun: “I’ll be training here until the show wraps. If you’re not giving me a room, where do you expect me to stay?” Then, with a touch of self-deprecating humour: “We’re close enough anyway — can’t I just stay with you?”

Lin Luxiao furrowed his brow. “Stop being ridiculous. After all these years, how are you still this shameless?” Then he looked to Old Yang: “If she’s staying here, why did no one file a report with me? How do I not know about this? What’s Director Meng playing at? He’s practically set up his headquarters in my unit — sending people left and right!”

She’d known this about him since high school — Lin Luxiao never minced words, went straight for it, never cared about giving offence. That quality had driven her to love and hate him in equal measure all these years. Even after she’d dated a handful of other men, their personalities all had some shadow of Lin Luxiao in them somewhere. She still didn’t know exactly what it was about this man she couldn’t let go of — he could say something insufferable one moment, and yet she loved precisely that carefree, doesn’t-give-a-damn way he carried himself.

On the surface she always liked to stand her ground with him. Xu Yun arranged her expression into a wounded one. “You’re that unwilling to have me? Fine. Old Yang, where’s my room?”

Lin Luxiao shoved his hands into his pockets and let out an amused sound. “What kind of attitude gets someone to Chief of Staff?”

Xu Yun turned her face away and fired back: “Says the man with the same kind of attitude who’s still just a company team leader.”

Yang Zhenggang was finding this quite entertaining — until Lin Luxiao caught his expression and swept a look at him. “What are you grinning for. Take her and go — I need to make a trip to the brigade.”

Yang Zhenggang heard this and went pale. “You’re not about to go and irritate Director Meng again, are you? You’ve already forgotten those five hundred push-ups?”

Lin Luxiao fixed him with a gaze sharp enough to cut — each look like a blade to the heart — the message clear: “Did you know about this all along?”

Yang Zhenggang looked conveniently away. Answer given.

Lin Luxiao gave a cold laugh. “Your exact words were what — ‘Old Yang never betrays his brothers’? And here I am, practically laid out on Director Meng’s chopping block.”

“The things Director Meng wants done — do I have the power to stop him? Luxiao, that’s a bit of an unfair accusation. Old Yang hasn’t done anything wrong by you.”

By this point Lin Luxiao had already turned, grabbed his hat, put it on, and walked out.

Yang Zhenggang heaved one sigh after another.

Xu Yun was still puzzling over everything she’d just heard. It took her a moment to come back to herself, until Old Yang said: “Come along, Chief Xu. I’ll take you to your room.”

Xu Yun watched that retreating figure, and something settled quietly in her chest. It was true — seeing him, her heart had leapt up with a sudden, wild joy.

She still remembered high school. Lin Luxiao and Da Liu’s crowd had always carried themselves with an ease that set them apart from the other boys in class — not the obnoxious kind of bravado, but something they seemed born with. Good-looking, a roguish danger behind those eyes, and when he smiled that crooked half-smile —

Love.

What would it feel like, to be loved by someone like him?

She had imagined it. More than a few other girls had, too. She knew, because how else would she know —

It was one of the top high schools in the province — the kind you got into through grades, family money, or being a top recruit from another county. Everyone walked in with their own particular pride. The girls were no exception — and quite pronounced about it.

Xu Yun had her share of pride too. It ran so deep she never breathed a word of it to anyone — even when Da Liu kept teasing her about it later, she’d kept her mouth firmly shut. Once, pressed past her limit, she’d snapped: “Who likes him? Liking him would be worse than liking a dog. He’s a hooligan. I can’t stand him.”

She had probably looked pretty rattled by then. Da Liu had gone a bit quiet and didn’t dare bring it up again after that.

At the time, plenty of other girls had been caught in the same strange trap.

Liking him — but refusing to admit it. The few brave enough to own it became targets for the others, and after that nobody dared say it out loud anymore.

All those hidden currents swirling beneath the surface — Lin Luxiao himself had been completely oblivious. The occasional pink letter found under his desk had been snatched up and torn open by Da Liu for group entertainment; Lin Luxiao would simply lean back in his chair, head bent, and smile faintly without comment.

He only ever talked with Da Liu about weapons, tanks, warships. The girls’ small, tender feelings he treated as if he didn’t notice — sometimes genuinely didn’t, but other times he was plainly pretending. She could always tell. He was like a walking encyclopaedia, especially on military hardware. After class the boys would cluster around him to discuss armaments and mechs; he answered every question without trying to show off, entirely easy to be around. Many of the boys in class had him as their idol. Only one hadn’t — Xu Yun remembered him, her old desk-mate. Uninterested in all things military, studied morning to night, did problem sets every spare moment, the back of his head already peppered with grey-and-white strands at barely sixteen.

One day a group of boys were at the back of the classroom gathered around Lin Luxiao discussing military academy applications.

Her desk-mate gave a cold snort. “No ambition. Joining the military is the most useless thing a person can do.”

Xu Yun was curious and asked what he planned to do with his life. The boy said loftily that he was going to change the world in science. Xu Yun thought — with that drive of his, he probably could. Her desk-mate studied with ferocious intensity, topping every ranking — major exams, minor tests — holding the number one spot without fail. Lin Luxiao was different; he seemed to study as a hobby. He never worried about where he ranked, and after every exam he went home to sleep.

She’d later heard Da Liu explain it: “His grandfather set him a rule — first or second doesn’t matter, as long as he stays in the top three, nobody’s getting a beating. He has no competitive spirit whatsoever. Just enough to survive. He wants to go to military academy — having more marks than he needs doesn’t help anything. Better to go home and play a few more rounds of chess with his grandfather.”

After that, Xu Yun suddenly felt a flicker of pity for her old desk-mate.

He’d spent everything trying to defend that first place. Driven himself half-grey doing it. And the person he took as his rival simply didn’t have him in his sights at all.

In Xu Yun’s eyes, a man like this — she was unlikely to find another like him in her lifetime. And she hadn’t — so she’d never quite let go of the memory of him.

……

Lin Luxiao had just driven into the brigade when someone stopped him. He rolled down the window, looked up, and took in the person standing there. Lin Mei slapped the roof of his car. “Hey, big brother — come down. Let’s talk.”

Lin Luxiao didn’t bite. “I’m going to see Director Meng. Wait here.”

Lin Mei kept hold of the car window. “Don’t bother. He’s in a meeting. Come down first. I need to talk to you.”

Lin Luxiao released the seatbelt, pushed the door open, got out, and closed it. He leaned against the car door, looked down at Lin Mei from above, glanced elsewhere. “What?”

Lin Mei gave a secretive smile. “I went home with my dad a while ago, and Director Meng was there too. You’ll never guess what I heard your dad saying to Director Meng.”

Lin Luxiao bent down and lit a cigarette. “If you’re going to keep me guessing, forget it.”

Lin Mei pouted — she’d known all along he wasn’t someone who liked being played for suspense. “Your father said he’d found you a girl. A Chief of Staff, just promoted recently. Your father likes her a lot — so he asked Director Meng to send her to your unit after a little while. You’ve stirred up something lately, haven’t you — otherwise why would your father be so urgently trying to find someone to keep you in line?”

Lin Luxiao looked thoroughly unsurprised. He was tall — he had to look down even as he stood there, eyes lazily tracking her. “That’s it?”

Lin Mei: “You already knew?”

Lin Luxiao took a drag, let his gaze drift away, shook his head. “You work in intelligence, and this is the speed you operate at? How does anything ever get done?”

“She’s already at the unit?”

He had his cigarette between his teeth, gave a vague noncommittal grunt, and said nothing.

Lin Mei clicked her tongue in admiration. “Director Meng’s methods are famous for a reason. Swift and decisive. Impressive.”

Lin Luxiao let out a derisive laugh, put the cigarette out and tossed it into the nearby bin, then patted her on the shoulder. “I’ve got a piece of intelligence for you in return — Meng Chen is getting married.”

That knocked Lin Mei’s expression sideways. “Getting married? Why didn’t I know about this? Who’s the girl? Where’s she from? Does Director Meng approve?”

Lin Luxiao looked at her with amused patience. “Didn’t you say you weren’t interested? Why all the questions?”

Lin Mei: “Just tell me.”

He drawled: “What do I get out of it?”

“I hear there’s a rumour you’re tangled up with some minor actress. If you’re going to take a stand against your father, you’d better not get on my bad side — otherwise the next time your father goes after you, I might not be able to stop myself from joining in and giving you a few extra kicks.”

“Like I’d be scared.” He raised an eyebrow — arrogant to the bone.

Lin Mei conceded. “Fine — I’ll keep an eye on your father. That’s the best I can do.”

Lin Luxiao turned and opened the car door. “Deal. I got this from Da Liu, so take it with however much salt you think it deserves. Apparently the girl is a communications university student, just graduated. Meng Chen dragged her to register the marriage the moment he finished his degree. His father found out and kept him locked up for a while. They’ve recently cut all ties. Work it out yourself.”

He drove off. Lin Mei stood there gnashing her teeth.

……

The meeting on the fifth floor broke up. A stream of people came flowing out of the conference room. Meng Guohong was at the front — and in one glance he spotted the tall figure standing outside his office door. A cold sound registered inside him.

Lin Luxiao stood leaning against the wall with his arms folded. Many of the seniors filing out knew Lin Luxiao and were glad of the chance to see him, clapping him on the back with a word of praise: “Good showing in this examination, boy.”

Lin Luxiao stood smartly at attention and gave a clean military salute.

Meng Guohong ushered him inside. He dropped his cap on the desk, turned his back, and said: “Results are out. You’re first.”

Lin Luxiao closed the door — and paused. Slowly shut it. “Director Meng.”

He said it with a particular sincerity — different from the measured, formal tone he usually used. In Meng Guohong’s ears, this was him pulling out the emotional card. Same as when he was small and wanted something from him.

Meng Guohong: “Speak.”

Lin Luxiao stepped up to the desk. “When I was young I always thought of you as someone uniquely fair-minded — so there were things I’d tell you that I wouldn’t tell my father. I thought you’d understand. Now it seems you and my father are fighting on the same side.”

Meng Guohong’s brow pinched, unamused. Both eyes fixed on him, sharper than any arrow.

Lin Luxiao gave a faint pull at the corner of his mouth. “When I was a boy, I genuinely looked up to you. Truly. I thought — you go out in all weather; when everyone else was running out of the fire, you picked up your gear and walked straight in. And that one time — Da Liu’s family had a gas stove catch fire. You grabbed the gas tank and ran it out the door yourself. I remember it clearly. You were wearing that yellow-striped fire suit — flashing like a warning beacon. The reason I wear this uniform — that’s mostly down to you. My father has said so: your service medals are half yours. You pushed to transfer me into the brigade — mobilised so many people: Director Zhang, the old team leader. I accepted, buckled down, studied, passed the exam. And now you want to help me find a wife too. Xu Yun — she and I were high school classmates. She couldn’t stand me back then; thought I was unruly. We genuinely aren’t suited. I mean it. Don’t let things drag on and waste her time.”

Meng Guohong turned the words over carefully. This was probably the longest single speech Lin Luxiao had delivered to him in years.

“How do you know she couldn’t stand you? That’s your imagination. She likes you very much. I asked how she felt about it — she’s entirely willing.”

Lin Luxiao was agitated. “You might as well be a people trafficker. She’s willing — I’m not.”

Meng Guohong’s temper surged up, and he smacked the table. “Don’t come to me here with your emotional appeals. This isn’t my idea alone — your father is of the same mind. If you really object, go home and take it up with him. And — if Xu Yun truly isn’t to your taste, fine — that can be shelved. But first sort out this promotion transfer. If it goes sideways, you’ll have plenty to deal with!”

The implication in Meng Guohong’s words was plain: objections? Go argue with your father.

……

Back in the dormitory, Xu Ya walked in and had a piece of gossip for the room: “A woman officer has come to the unit — her name is Xu Yun. Apparently she’s an old high school classmate of Team Leader Lin’s.”

Yan Dai finished doing her makeup, getting ready to go for her solo post-shoot interview. “Pretty?”

Xu Ya: “Fairly — not comparable to celebrities, but among regular people she’d be considered good-looking. Rather stand-offish, though. I tried talking to her and she barely responded.”

Yan Dai made a dismissive sound. “She’s a Chief of Staff. Were you expecting her to come up and beg you for an autograph?”

Xu Ya wasn’t implying that — “Not that — I just overheard Xiao Jiu’er and Yang Zhidao talking. The sense of it was that she came down from the division, and there’s an effort to set her up with Team Leader Lin. Think about it — a company leader paired with a Chief of Staff? Team Leader Lin’s background has to be significant.”

Nan Chu slowly rose to her feet, chewing her candy, and drifted out. Xu Ya called after her: “Where are you going?”

Nan Chu didn’t look back, voice unhurried. “The bathroom.”

……

Nan Chu was standing at the washbasin. She had twisted the tap on. Xu Yun was bent over washing her face, ponytail hanging down; she straightened up while drying off, looked into the mirror, and their gazes met. Xu Yun turned to her with a smile. “You’re Nan Chu. I know who you are.”

Nan Chu was quietly surprised. She smiled back. “Chief of Staff Xu.”

Xu Yun: “You’re very beautiful.”

It was a sincere compliment — or perhaps more accurately, Nan Chu was genuinely the most striking woman Xu Yun had encountered up close, in face and in figure alike.

Nan Chu lowered her head and slowly washed her hands. “Thank you.”

She turned off the tap, dried her hands, and stepped out. Just outside the bathroom was the corridor turning. Lin Luxiao was leaning against the wall with his arms folded, looking, from that expression of his, as though he’d been waiting — and was not at all pleased about it.

Their eyes met and both looked away in the same instant.

Nan Chu curved her lips slightly. From behind came a voice: “You’re here.”

Lin Luxiao made a quiet sound, his gaze moving past Nan Chu to where Xu Yun stood behind her, washbasin in hand. His expression grew even more reluctant. “What did you need?”

Xu Yun said: “Wait for me — I’ll go back and change, then come out.” And with that she ran back to her room.

Nan Chu watched him for a moment. She pulled her gaze away, unbothered, stepped past him, and headed back toward the dormitory.

As she passed him, she heard him clear his throat quietly.

Nan Chu ignored it.

He cleared his throat twice more. Then she was stopped — “Wait.”

Nan Chu turned to look at him. Lin Luxiao let go of her, leaned against the wall, and looked at her. He was just about to say something when a figure emerged from behind — Liu Xiahan, carrying her washbasin. She greeted Nan Chu, called out to Team Leader Lin as well, then walked a step or two further along before seeming to remember something and turned back to Nan Chu. “I just heard Yang Zhidao say the hook-ladder building climb is tomorrow. We’re doing it in pairs — have you found a partner yet? We could pair up.”

Lin Luxiao’s gaze went instantly very focused, both eyes fixed straight on Nan Chu.

Nan Chu considered it. “I’ll figure it out tomorrow.”

Liu Xiahan gave a nod, then turned back to Lin Luxiao: “Good night, Team Leader.”

Lin Luxiao looked at her, let out a quiet half-laugh. “You too.”

Liu Xiahan left.

The corridor was back to just the two of them. Nan Chu looked at Lin Luxiao. “Anything? If not, I’m heading in.”

Lin Luxiao’s eyes flicked up with that characteristic self-assurance: “What kind of attitude is that? Is that what you want — a kiss before you’ll behave?”

Nan Chu rolled her eyes. “Get lost.”

He really had lost any semblance of formality between them now.

Lin Luxiao checked quickly in both directions, confirmed no one was around, then curved his mouth — a half-threat: “Tomorrow you are not pairing up with him. Is that clear?”

“What’s it to you?”

“Tomorrow at noon, meet me at the back of the hill after lunch. If you dare not show — try it.”

“I won’t. Go with your Chief of Staff Xu — I’m not interested.”

Nan Chu couldn’t resist jabbing at him.

Lin Luxiao’s eyes widened. “Why are you dragging her into this?”

“Done talking. I’m going.”

Lin Luxiao grabbed her arm and lowered his voice. “Eat fast tomorrow noon and come over. Don’t let anyone see you. Do you hear me?”

Nan Chu flipped her hand to shake him off. “I said — did I say I was coming?”

Damn girl.

……

Xu Yun had changed and come back out. Lin Luxiao was leaning against the wall, head tipped back. He heard footsteps, dipped his chin. “What did you need?”

Xu Yun straightened her collar, steeled herself, and said: “Lin Luxiao — let’s give it a try.”

The man across from her startled — as though he’d heard something absurd. He looked genuinely baffled. “What did you say?”

There were still soldiers coming and going behind them, washing up, heading to bed. One by one, they stopped.

But Xu Yun paid no attention to any of them. As if she’d made a decision of enormous consequence, she said: “I know you’re single — you have been for years. I liked you since high school. My pride was too much then, I always said the opposite of what I felt — I was fond of you on the inside but kept a look of disdain on my face. After I found out you’d gone to military academy, I wanted to ask Da Liu about you so many times, but never had the nerve. But now I think — this reunion of ours has to mean something. I can’t keep running from it. I genuinely like you, and I want to be with you.”

Lin Luxiao looked down at her from beneath half-lowered eyes. “You think this is fate?”

Xu Yun kept her head down. “Maybe there was some human intervention — but that’s part of fate too, isn’t it?”

Before Lin Luxiao could say anything, the cheering erupted. The firefighting soldiers waved their washbasins, toothbrushes, and towels and roared, one wave overtaking the next.

“Get together!”

“Get together!”

“Say yes!”

“Say yes!”

……

The noise brought the whole company out. Even the people next door had heard. The three women came out wrapped in their outer coats. Nan Chu stood at the back, chewing her candy, her gaze resting without expression on the two of them.

Xu Ya, who was never one to be a bystander when there was chaos to join: “Say yes! Say yes!”

Lin Luxiao looked at Nan Chu. His eyes were full of helplessness.

As the shouts built to a peak, Lin Luxiao shoved both hands into his pockets, ran out of patience, and let out a single explosive shout: “All of you — get the hell inside.”

The cheering cut off.

“Three seconds. Anyone not inside runs laps.”

“One.”

He had barely finished counting before — whoosh — the corridor, crowded moments ago, emptied in an instant. Not a soul left in sight.

Lin Luxiao looked down at Xu Yun. “I’m declining.”

Xu Yun’s head snapped up. Her eyes were already full of tears. “Don’t be so quick to refuse. I know you might not like me yet — but Director Meng also hopes… give us some time together…”

Lin Luxiao was completely out of patience. “Whatever Director Meng promised you, go sort it out with him. I already have someone I like. Understand?”

This — this was more startling even than the words “I decline.” Lin Luxiao, someone he liked — what would that person be like? The woman loved by him — what would she be like?

Jealousy bloomed and spread like a fever.

But the one thing she had left was pride — enough to make her force herself to be still. Xu Yun quickly dabbed at the corner of her eye. “Consider it like I said nothing.” She turned and walked away.

……

For the entire morning of hook-ladder building climb training, Lin Luxiao had a face like a thundercloud. Everyone assumed it was because of last night’s scene with Xu Yun — being publicly confessed to, having to publicly refuse. Awkward enough to put anyone in a foul mood. So they let him scowl through the morning.

At lunch, Lin Luxiao finished eating quickly, threw a glance at Nan Chu, and left.

He’d timed it — this felt like the safest window. The “eyes” should still be at lunch. He just needed Nan Chu to eat fast, as he’d asked.

By the time Lin Luxiao had smoked two full cigarettes leaning against the tree at the back of the hill, Nan Chu finally appeared. He put out the cigarette, walked over, and pulled her along, steering her around behind the small woods. “What took you so long?”

The two of them were like a pair of young lovers — hiding together behind the trees.

Nan Chu made a low, dismissive sound. “I had to slip away without anyone noticing.”

Lin Luxiao rumpled her hair. “I wasn’t even angry, and you’re still in a mood? What did I say yesterday? You deliberately got under my skin this morning, didn’t you?”

Nan Chu leaned her back against the trunk, tilted her head, and watched him from beneath her lashes. “Want an explanation?”

“Go ahead.” Lin Luxiao’s expression wasn’t really the face of a man who wanted an explanation.

“Yang Zhidao said they’d be mixing the groups — men and women together. Xu Ya has a thing for Mu Ze; if I pair up with him, she’d hate me. I’ve already made an enemy of Yan Dai — I can’t afford to make another one, or my days here get harder. Zheng Ping clearly has a soft spot for Yan Dai, so even if I went running after him he might not pair with me. As for Liu Xiahan —”

Lin Luxiao braced a hand against the tree trunk and didn’t let her finish. He ducked his head and caught her lip between his teeth, drew on it with intent — then worked his tongue in, pushing deeper, little by little. This man’s kiss was like the man himself: deeply commanding, not a breath of mercy, entering without relent. After a while Nan Chu went boneless; he shifted to the corner of her mouth and bit down hard. “That one likes you.”

Nan Chu looped her arms around his neck, swayed into him, pressed close, and turned her face up into the kiss. Lips and tongues entwined, insistent, desperate — like two people who’d never touched the heights of intimacy, yet found in kissing a hunger all its own.

Since he liked her — then he liked her. No thought of the future; right now, all he wanted was to press her into his very bones.

That was Lin Luxiao.

Righteous and generous, clean and decisive, hard as iron — yet carrying within him a tenderness as full as any ocean, and the most sincere love in the world.

Once he loved, he loved without retreat.

“But I like you.” The girl was breathless from kissing, face buried at his ear, and said it very quietly.

“I’ve held myself back from you for a long time,” he said.