The wind at the station was particularly strong.

As soon as Yu Hao nodded, her hair was blown across her entire face. She felt she must look exactly like Sadako crawling out of the television. She brushed her hair back and heard him adjusting the collar of his jacket, wrapping it tightly around her as he asked with a smile, “Did you need something from me?”

“Can’t I find you without having a reason?” Yu Hao countered.

Lu Huaizheng raised an eyebrow, pursed his lips, nodded, and remarked: “Of course. You rarely take the initiative to find me, I’m a bit flattered.”

Yu Hao reflected seriously and asked directly: “Was I very harsh to you in the past?”

Lu Huaizheng looked down at her from his height: “Want the truth?”

Yu Hao nodded solemnly once more.

Lu Huaizheng broke into a smile, tilting his head slightly as he looked at her, and answered honestly: “Remember when we used to play cards together? Jia Mian said you were like a machine, wearing the same expression whether you won or lost.”

Yu Hao also remembered, “But you said at the time that this was the expression of someone destined for great things, showing no emotion on your face.”

“Right, that’s good,” Lu Huaizheng nodded and said, “Aren’t you doing great things now?”

After saying this, Lu Huaizheng led her back.

By the time Yu Hao returned to the psychological counseling room, she belatedly realized that he had smoothly evaded that topic without her noticing. He’d gone in circles without actually answering, which suggested that she probably hadn’t treated him very well in the past.

But how should one be good to someone?

After the afternoon rest period ended, Yu Hao created a group chat and posted a question in it.

“Please describe how you show kindness to someone, with specific examples.”

The group included her limited circle of friends: Shen Xiyuan, Zhao Dailin, Ye Tingfei, two graduate students she had previously mentored and had a good relationship with, and even Professor Han was pulled in. Including herself, there were seven people in total.

No Song Xiaotao or Yuan Jing.

Yu Hao was quite clear in her likes and dislikes; when she liked someone, she liked them, and when she didn’t like someone, she was quite direct about it. In any case, they had created several small groups behind her back.

Zhao Dailin responded the fastest, sending several emoji packs and typing out a string of words.

“What kind of madness is this?”

Ye Tingfei: “Little junior sister has a conscience, after all, I’m deeply gratified. No need to be polite, just treat Senior Sister Zhao and me to a meal.”

Zhao Dailin: “Why would I want to eat with you?”

Graduate student Chai Lan: “What kind of group is this? Oh, is that Professor Shen from the neighboring department I see in the group?! Wuwu… starry-eyed, Professor Xiao Shen!”

Graduate student Wang Jia: “How do you know that’s Professor Xiao Shen?!”

Graduate student Chai Lan: “Someone in our department has added Professor Shen’s WeChat, it’s this avatar, and the WeChat name seems to be Professor Shen’s English name.”

Zhao Dailin: “Sherlock Lan.”

Only Shen Xiyuan was seriously answering the question: “Give her money.”

Everyone: “…”

Professor Han: “Yu Hao, are you researching a new topic again?”

Ye Tingfei: “This isn’t research on a topic, she’s researching a person now, right? Little junior sister, are you dating someone?!”

This remark awakened everyone in the group, and messages exploded like a bomb, frantically scrolling across the screen.

Zhao Dailin simply switched to private messaging her, sending dozens of WeChat messages, all saying, “Damn, is it Lu Huaizheng?! Are you two together?!”

After sending dozens of messages.

“Playing dead won’t help, if you don’t tell me, I’ll go straight to ask him when I go to work on Tuesday.”

Only then did Yu Hao reply: “Don’t do anything rash.”

Zhao Dailin: “Hmph.”

After sending this, Zhao Dailin picked up her water cup and took a sip.

Her phone dinged again, and she leisurely picked it up, holding half a mouthful of water, tilted her head to glance at it, but upon looking closely, the next second, she spat it all out—

Yu Hao replied: “If I bring up marriage with him now, will he think I’m crazy?”

Zhao Dailin hurriedly grabbed several tissues to clean up, then replied: “Wait—let me clean up first.”

After Zhao Dailin had cleaned up, she walked out of the lab and called her. When the call connected, she solemnly asked into the phone: “Let me ask you a few questions first.”

“Go ahead, senior sister.”

“Has he expressed his love for you?”

“No.”

Zhao Dailin asked from the other end of the phone, “Then, have you two slept together? Was it so good that you want to sleep with him for the rest of your life?”

“…” Yu Hao’s ears turned red, “No.”

“Then what are you thinking?! Twelve years, it’s been twelve years since you two saw each other, do you know what he’s thinking? A woman proposing marriage—he should be ashamed!”

Just as she was saying this, someone gently knocked on the door.

Yu Hao held the phone and turned around to see Lu Huaizheng in casual clothes, arms crossed, leaning against the doorframe, his knuckles still resting on the door.

Yu Hao covered the mouthpiece and hurriedly said: “I have to go, something came up.”

She hung up and tossed the phone aside like a hot potato, pretending to be calm as she leaned back in her chair, waiting for him to enter.

Lu Huaizheng straightened up, walked in, and leaned against her desk with his arms folded across his chest. He bent down to look at her and noticed her ears glowing red. His gaze instinctively swept toward the phone she had just tossed aside, but it was already dark. He looked back at her, “Who were you on the phone with? Why is your face so red?”

Yu Hao turned her eyes away, consciously avoiding his pressing gaze, “With my senior sister, you know her, Zhao Dailin.”

“What did your senior sister say,” he lowered his arms, resting both hands on the edge of the desk, still looking down at her, “that made you embarrassed?”

“Nothing, just nonsense.”

Lu Huaizheng smiled, cleared his throat, and pretended to be serious as he tapped the desk: “Call your senior sister.”

Yu Hao looked up at him blankly, speaking word by word like a typewriter, with pauses between each: “What. for?”

Lu Huaizheng, still supporting himself with both hands on the desk, casually picked up her phone that had been tossed aside, waved it, and said seriously: “When I was studying in Venezuela, I learned a reconnaissance technique that can reverse-trace the content of your previous phone call. This is very common abroad, haven’t you seen it?”

Yu Hao shook her head in confusion.

Lu Huaizheng handed her the phone and pointed: “Come on, call her and see, let me show you.”

Yu Hao thought of the earlier conversation and her brain shrank in alarm, “I won’t call.”

Seeing her nervous state, Lu Huaizheng decided to stop teasing her. He lowered his head, put down the phone, and finally smiled, his dark eyes quite meaningful, “Do you believe everything I say? Hmm? Aren’t you studying lie detection?”

“Why do your lies…”

“Sound so convincing?” he smiled dismissively.

When people lie, they have some subconscious movements—this is basic lie detection. In criminal interrogations facing basic liars, Yu Hao’s judgment was more than adequate. But for those with high psychological quality, she needed to combine heart rate monitoring and some special patterns to decide. It was difficult to tell if someone was lying based on just one conversation.

“I never learned any call monitoring counter-reconnaissance techniques in Venezuela, but I did learn from an FBI intelligence officer how to successfully evade a lie detector, so don’t be discouraged.”

“Why learn that?”

He shrugged without answering.

But Yu Hao realized—probably to avoid revealing military secrets if captured by terrorists or other organizations?

She also thought of what Lu Huaizheng had said to the recruit at the station.

This is just an ordinary job, with no special label.

After transferring schools, she had imagined more than once what an adult Lu Huaizheng would be like. Had he become bad, would he be a gentleman, or perhaps a successful business elite? She had even wondered if, since he didn’t like studying, he might not be able to make money in the future, unable to support himself, begging under a bridge. If she met him then, should she give him money?

The one thing she never imagined was that he would join the army.

Later, she felt she had overthought it. Someone like him would probably do well anywhere. He never had much hostility before, digested all negative energy himself, didn’t like to gossip, and never criticized the shortcomings of friends around him.

She should have known.

Although he lacked seriousness, he never compromised on matters of principle, like during his military training. How could such a passionate man ever turn bad?

“Don’t you ever use the special military passage?” Yu Hao asked.

Lu Huaizheng was startled for a moment, then realized what she meant and said without emotion: “I haven’t gone out much. For official business, meetings, I always ride with the leaders. I don’t like being treated as a special group, it feels like being treated as intellectually disabled.”

Hearing this, Yu Hao couldn’t help but burst into laughter, with shallow dimples rippling at the corners of her mouth.

Lu Huaizheng leaned on the desk, hands in his pockets, tilting his head to watch her laugh for a while. His eyes flashed like falling meteors as if looking at something rare, then he lowered his head, smiled, and turned away.

Both of them had smiles they couldn’t hide at the corners of their mouths.

Outside the window, the vines quietly merged into the fence, as if a nameless flower had bloomed in the corner of the wall, standing brilliantly, creating a harmonious atmosphere.

After a moment of silence, Lu Huaizheng tapped her desk again.

“Call your senior sister.”

Yu Hao stopped smiling, “Huh? Still calling?”

“There’s a meeting at three, the leader wants her to come, both of you.”

“So you did have business with her earlier.”

“What else?”

…

It was the same conference room as before, but this time Professor Han wasn’t there, replaced by Zhao Dailin. Yu Hao sat in her seat, nearly having her hand twisted off by Zhao Dailin.

Lu Huaizheng sat across from them in his military uniform, listening attentively to the leader’s task assignment.

Zhao Dailin applied heavy force, pinching Yu Hao’s hand hard, making it turn red. Yu Hao inhaled sharply in pain, the movement quite large, causing the man opposite to glance coldly in their direction, his expression stern and serious, gesturing for Yu Hao to be more attentive.

Yu Hao bit her teeth and turned to glare at Zhao Dailin.

Zhao Dailin reluctantly withdrew her hand, using lip language to indicate, I’ll deal with you later.

Li Hongwen didn’t notice, turning to Lu Huaizheng and saying, “You and Sun Kai will lead the team for a month-long border training. Have Yu Hao and Dr. Zhao go with you.”

Yu Hao was about to speak.

Li Hongwen: “I’ve already spoken with Professor Han. Your work here should be your priority now. When Xiao Liu returns, you can go back.”

Yu Hao wanted to ask where the training would be.

Lu Huaizheng glanced at her and said to Li Hongwen: “It’s just a month, they don’t need to come.”

“Shut up. I haven’t settled accounts with you about that recruit in your team yet. In the past, hasn’t Xiao Liu gone with you on every mission?”

“I can go,” Yu Hao said immediately.

Zhao Dailin lazily raised her hand, “I can go too.”

“The conditions aren’t that comfortable, situations can arise at any time. Do you two think you’re going on vacation?” Lu Huaizheng stared steadily at Yu Hao.

Zhao Dailin smiled, “Captain Lu, you might not understand our field. We don’t just sit comfortably in an office reading literature and writing papers all day. Last year, Yu Hao and I stayed in an impoverished mountain area for two months for research. There was no water, we had to walk several miles just to bathe, and we almost…”

Yu Hao pinched her hand, making her realize that it wasn’t appropriate to mention this. She instinctively stopped, changing tack, “…fell… down… Anyway, there’s no hardship we can’t endure.”

After listening, Li Hongwen nodded with satisfaction and made a decision: “Leave tomorrow!”

…

When they arrived at the border, Yu Hao and Zhao Dailin’s plane with military doctor Shao Feng was the last to land. Lu Huaizheng and his team were already waiting in neat formation on the spacious lawn.

After getting off the plane, Shao Feng carried his suitcase beside Yu Hao and said: “I just heard from the political instructor that Captain Lu has once again achieved a standard zero-meter landing.”

Zhao Dailin asked: “What’s a zero-meter landing?”

Shao Feng explained to them: “A standard zero-meter landing refers to when paratroopers jump from the air, treating the entire ground as a target. Each paratrooper has a fixed landing point before jumping, which is called the bull’s-eye. If the paratrooper lands precisely on that bull’s-eye after opening the parachute, it’s called a zero-meter landing.”

“Is that impressive?” Zhao Dailin raised an eyebrow.

“Very impressive. There’s usually an error margin—some miss by dozens or hundreds of meters. Good ones are off by just a few meters. I haven’t seen many who can land so accurately; Captain Lu is one of them.” After saying this, Shao Feng looked at Yu Hao and chatted with her, smiling: “Dr. Yu, I heard you knew our Captain Lu before?”

Yu Hao was about to answer when she saw the man at the front of the formation, with one arm holding his military cap, squinting in the glaring light as he impatiently glanced in their direction.

Shao Feng was so frightened that he immediately shut up and hurriedly pulled Yu Hao into the formation.

Halfway there, he noticed that the man’s expression seemed even more impatient. Suddenly realizing something, he immediately let go and quietly stood at the end of the formation, very politely maintaining a ten-centimeter “safe distance” from Yu Hao.