Two seconds later.

Lu Huaizheng probably felt he’d been a bit indiscreet. He lowered his head, pretending to cough, then turned his gaze away, casually tossing out: “Really? Impressive.”

Yu Hao didn’t notice and nodded solemnly, “Yes.”

Lu Huaizheng’s lips curled slightly as he decided to stop this pointless chat. “Get some sleep. The second half of the journey is even steeper.”

Yu Hao wanted to talk with him longer but noticed his somewhat cold attitude and didn’t dare speak further. She obediently said “Oh,” closed her eyes, and began to rest.

“Speak up early if you’re not feeling well, don’t force yourself,” he added one last instruction before closing his eyes.

Yu Hao responded with a soft “Mm.”

Warm sunlight streamed through the bus windows, filling the cabin with a cozy glow that made everyone drowsy. The young woman beside him fell asleep shortly afterward.

Lu Huaizheng didn’t sleep at all. Usually, in these situations, he and Sun Kai were responsible for everyone’s safety in the vehicle, requiring more vigilance than usual. With this additional person beside him, he was especially cautious, keeping his eyes half-closed to rest while occasionally opening them to check on Yu Hao’s condition.

The vehicle wound its way upward along the steep mountain range, with towering blue-green mountain faces on one side and cliff edges sharp as if carved by knives and axes on the other. The winding mountain path was treacherous and rough, a yellow mud road with visible traces of wear, perpetually damp in these deep mountains, making it muddy and difficult to traverse. The wheels pressed over it, bouncing and jolting violently.

The driver was an old hand from the military unit who drove quickly. Though his control was steady, it couldn’t compensate for the steep mountain road.

Lu Huaizheng looked down at Yu Hao, whose head was bobbing from the vibrations. He reached over to tap the driver’s shoulder and said quietly, “No need to hurry, we’re not pressed for time.”

The old driver acknowledged with a “Yes.”

Lu Huaizheng was still leaning forward with his hand on the driver’s seat when the vehicle emerged from the mountain peak. The scenery suddenly opened up before them, and under the bright direct sunlight, they drove onto flat terrain. The antennas of the border radar station were faintly visible in the distance.

The driver asked, “Captain Lu, we’re approaching the radar station. Do you need to stop and greet them?”

Lu Huaizheng thought for a moment, waiting until the car had rolled forward several dozen meters before saying with narrowed eyes, “Apply the brakes now, slow down gently. Sun Kai and I will go say hello. Don’t wake Dr. Yu and the others.”

The old driver complied, pressing down with delicate control as if stepping on cotton.

When the vehicle stopped, Lu Huaizheng turned around and called for Sun Kai. As he grabbed his cap and prepared to exit, he noticed that there was no curtain at Yu Hao’s window. Earlier, the mountains had blocked the light, but now on the flat road, Yu Hao was completely exposed to the blazing sun, her face flushed from the heat.

Lu Huaizheng reached back without hesitation and pulled over the curtain that was thoroughly shielding a soldier behind them, using it to cover Yu Hao’s window, blocking out all light.

The sudden brightness in the back row was piercing, and the soldier awoke in confusion, looking bewildered.

Yu Hao was now awake. Seeing him put on his cap, she thought they had arrived and quickly sat up, rubbing her eyes. “Are we here?”

Sun Kai was the first to exit. Lu Huaizheng tilted his head up to fasten the strap under his chin, his neck showing clean, smooth lines. “Not yet. Go back to sleep; I’ll wake you when we arrive.”

He then got off the bus.

Yu Hao pulled the curtain open a crack and peered out.

She saw him and Sun Kai heading toward the radar station. Before they even reached the entrance, someone came out to meet them, saluting them both. They chatted briefly at the door, and shortly afterward, an older soldier emerged. After exchanging some words, Lu Huaizheng and Sun Kai glanced at each other with a smile and went inside.

Yu Hao was watching intently when suddenly a head popped up beside her ear. Zhao Dailin was staring at her ominously. “Spying? I didn’t know you had this habit.”

Yu Hao ignored her, lowered the curtain, and leaned back in her seat, pretending to doze.

Zhao Dailin chuckled again. “Hey, I’ve asked around for you. Lu Huaizheng hasn’t officially dated anyone in years. And recently, when his superior tried to set him up with a department director’s daughter, he refused.”

Yu Hao kept her eyes closed. “I know.”

Zhao Dailin exclaimed, “Oh my! Seems like you two are progressing faster than I imagined. I was just telling Captain Sun that since you’re both so reserved, I figured it would take at least half a year to make any progress.” She sighed, “Their job isn’t easy either. I heard from Captain Sun that Lu Huaizheng was specially recruited by their Staff Officer Li. They had known each other since military school, and he had particularly high expectations for Lu, also very strict. When others had to run ten or twenty laps during training, Lu had to run fifty. When Lu Huaizheng first arrived, he was quite a troublemaker, difficult to handle, with a bad temper, always opposing his instructors and taking unconventional approaches to tasks. Later, something happened during a mission, and he underwent psychological treatment for a while. His personality has become much more reserved since then.”

“What happened?” Yu Hao asked.

Zhao Dailin shook her head. “Captain Sun said it involves military secrets, so he couldn’t tell me.”

Just then, Zhao Dailin spotted Lu Huaizheng and Sun Kai emerging from the radar station. “We’ll talk later. Let me make room for your Captain Lu.”

Yu Hao felt an inexplicable flutter in her heart at the words “your Captain.”

Nothing was even official yet.

Lu Huaizheng and Sun Kai boarded the bus. After instructing the driver to start moving, they each handed a package of compressed biscuits to Yu Hao and Zhao Dailin. Yu Hao accepted hers, and Lu Huaizheng removed his cap and sat down beside her. “The comrades at the radar station knew we had female personnel in our unit and specifically provided these. Have something to eat; we’ll arrive soon.”

“Thank you.”

From the moment she’d boarded the bus until now, Yu Hao had said “thank you” countless times—for the seat, for the water, and now for the biscuits.

After Yu Hao finished eating, Lu Huaizheng casually took her empty wrapper and tossed it into a nearby trash bin, remarking offhandedly, “You don’t need to be so polite with me in the future.”

Yu Hao looked at him.

Lu Huaizheng twisted open a bottle of water and took a couple of gulps, then added, “By all accounts, it’s only right that I take care of you.”

“Okay,” she smiled and said sincerely, “You’ve matured a lot since before.”

Lu Huaizheng lowered his head and smiled.

It was now nearly five o’clock. As the sun was setting in a sky filled with colorful clouds, Yu Hao observed his sharply defined profile, familiar yet carrying a hint of strangeness.

Once, a fortune teller had described him as having “the chin of a swallow and the neck of a tiger”—a noble appearance that in ancient times would have marked a prince or a general. Later, when Yu Hao read in “The Biography of Ban Chao”: “Born with the chin of a swallow and the neck of a tiger, one who flies and eats meat, this is the countenance of a lord of ten thousand miles,” she couldn’t help but think of him.

She had once asked him, “Could you have been a great general on the battlefield in your past life?”

The young man at that time had replied, “No, no, no, in my past life I must have been an idle prince, and you were a little maid in my mansion.”

Thinking of this, Yu Hao smiled again, suddenly looking up to ask him, “Do you remember what the fortune teller said back then?”

He couldn’t recall the fortune teller’s words clearly, but he remembered that day when he accompanied her to the bookstore. Somehow this girl had come out empty-handed, without even her wallet. In that era before mobile payments like Alipay, he had ended up paying. Of course, even if she had brought money, he wouldn’t have let her pay.

On the way back to school, she had insisted on paying him back, but he refused. They even argued about it, and in the end, he was the one who approached her to make peace, joking shamelessly, “Forget about the money, how about you let me kiss you instead?” Yu Hao’s face had darkened instantly, and she didn’t speak to him for several days.

Thinking about it now, he realized how crude he had been, blurting out whatever came to mind.

Yu Hao’s unexpected question left him confused. He turned to her with a puzzled look: “What is it?”

Before he could finish his question, the bus suddenly braked hard and came to a stop. Everyone lurched forward, and Lu Huaizheng reached out to restrain Yu Hao, his long arm firmly pressing her back against the seat.

The next second, he and Sun Kai exchanged glances.

The driver turned around, looking at Lu Huaizheng: “Seems like we’ve got a flat tire.”

Lu Huaizheng said, “I’ll go check.”

Just as he stood up—

“BOOM!”

A tremendous explosion erupted from ahead, instantly spraying mud and water in all directions. The surrounding trees violently swayed amid the deafening roar!

The bus shook violently, trembling as if about to shatter in the sunset’s glow.

Lu Huaizheng immediately lunged forward to shield Yu Hao, turning his back to the explosion. One hand braced against the seat, his entire body arched protectively in front of her, while his other hand hovered over her head.

Before Yu Hao could react, everything went dark as someone threw himself toward her. She instinctively closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the sensation was distinct—Lu Huaizheng’s chest pressed against her face. He had unbuttoned a few buttons of his camouflage uniform when he got off the bus earlier, and the warmth of his chest was tangible.

His commanding voice resonated from above, his chest vibrating slightly.

“Everyone stay where you are. Sun Kai and I will go check.”

After speaking, Lu Huaizheng looked down at Yu Hao, seeing her worried and bewildered expression. He forced a smile and placed his hand briefly on the back of her head. “It’s fine, don’t worry.”

He then exchanged a glance with Sun Kai, and they disembarked one after the other.

The moment his foot touched the ground, a colorfully painted hand suddenly shot out from under the bus, lunging directly for Lu Huaizheng’s ankle. His reaction was lightning-fast—he shifted his landing point and with a countermovement of his foot, dragged the person out from under the bus in a tumbling motion. The person moved with agility and trained precision, instantly springing up from the ground.

At that moment, three more people emerged from behind, covered in something resembling turf, surrounding Lu Huaizheng and Sun Kai.

Yu Hao peered through the curtain.

Lu Huaizheng and Sun Kai stood back-to-back. Lu Huaizheng’s gaze swept carefully over the four men, each with faces painted in vibrant colors, making them difficult to identify.

Sun Kai asked, “Who are they? Can you tell?”

After a moment, Lu Huaizheng replied unhurriedly, “Our people. Probably sent by Old Tang.”

Sun Kai exclaimed, “Ah! Damn, this Old Tang gets more idle every year, and his welcome ceremonies get more boring.”

Lu Huaizheng patted his shoulder. “I’ll leave them to you. I’ll go check the tire.”

Sun Kai groaned, “Seriously? You’re worried about the tire at a time like this?”

The four men opposite them looked confused. Had they been found out? Should they still fight?

One of them grew impatient and called out: “Captain Lu.”

Lu Huaizheng turned back, smiling. “Where’s your instructor?”

The four men looked at each other, and then finally broke into smiles. One of them in the middle removed his turf covering, revealing his camouflage shirt, and scratched the back of his head with a grin. “As expected, nothing escapes your notice.”

Lu Huaizheng smiled. “You didn’t puncture our tire, did you?”

Zhong Lei hurriedly said, “Not at all! Our original plan was to ambush you when your vehicle reached the town ahead. Who knew you’d get a flat tire here and stop for so long? We couldn’t wait any longer, fearing you might continue on foot, so we improvised and used the smoke bomb. Just a coincidence—”

“Why are you guys lying in ambush here? Shouldn’t you be training in broad daylight?” Lu Huaizheng raised an eyebrow.

Zhong Lei smiled sheepishly. “We heard that you and Captain Sun were coming this year. The brothers have missed you both, so we organized a small team to welcome you in advance. Instructor Tang is waiting for you at the entrance. He said we’d be recognized within three seconds…”

Sun Kai scanned the area. “What about those two new guys? I haven’t seen them before.”

Zhong Lei looked back. “Yes, they joined last year. They’ve long admired you and Captain Lu, and insisted on coming with me…”

Lu Huaizheng had already gone to inspect the tire. Sun Kai raised his hand as if to deliver a playful slap. “Stop the flattery. Look at what you’ve done—there are two female doctors in the vehicle. You nearly scared them to death.”

“Dr. Xiao Liu? She’s tough as nails. Would she be afraid of this?”

Sun Kai glanced at Lu Huaizheng, who had walked to the rear wheel. He first kicked it a couple of times, and seeing the tire wasn’t flat, he crouched down, tilting his head to examine it from front to back. “They’re newcomers, much more delicate than Xiao Liu.”

“Are they pretty?” Zhong Lei couldn’t help asking.

Sun Kai pushed his head. “You’ll see when we get on the bus.” He then saw Lu Huaizheng extract a large chunk of brick from the mud, toss it aside with a clang, confirm there were no other issues, and walk quickly back, patting Sun Kai’s back to signal they should board. “All clear. Let’s go.”

The four men followed them onto the bus. As soon as they entered, the entire cabin erupted with excitement. The soldiers who hadn’t seen each other for a long time howled with joy, enthusiastically ruffling each other’s hair in a boisterous welcome. Finally, Zhong Lei’s gaze settled on the two women in the front row, and he asked Lu Huaizheng, “Captain Lu, are these the new female doctors in your unit?”

Lu Huaizheng hooked his hand around the back of Zhong Lei’s head and pushed him toward the seats in the back row. “None of your business.”

After the commotion among the men subsided, the vehicle finally set off again.

By the time they reached the border defense station, night had fallen completely. The mountain air was crystal clear, and the night sky stretched like an immense star chart, scattered with countless stars.

Just as Yu Hao was about to disembark, she felt a dull ache in her lower abdomen, followed by a sudden flow. A steady stream was beginning to emerge.

Due to the exhaustion from the journey, her period had arrived early.

Worried about staining the seat, she lifted her hips slightly. As she did, Lu Huaizheng—perhaps having been watching her all along—reacted with remarkable sensitivity, glancing over at the slightest movement beside him.

The posture was extremely awkward and unseemly, especially with him watching. Yu Hao felt mortified and promptly sat back down. This time, she feared her pants were probably stained.

She felt utterly embarrassed, like sitting on needles, and couldn’t bear to look at him. She covered her face and pretended to look out the window. Lu Huaizheng’s voice, tinged with suppressed laughter, came from beside her. “What’s wrong? Are your legs falling asleep?”

“No,” she replied.

“Just a bit longer, we’re almost there.”

This time they truly had arrived. In the distance, Yu Hao finally saw the illuminated red characters of the border defense station.

The soldiers disembarked one after another. Yu Hao remained seated, unwilling to move, hoping to get off after everyone else had left.

Lu Huaizheng wasn’t in a hurry either, sitting beside her and waiting.

Instructor Tang came directly to the bus door to greet Lu Huaizheng and Sun Kai. “How was your journey? Everything smooth?”

Sun Kai laughed. “Old Tang, you’re too bored.”

Instructor Tang, hands behind his back, chuckled deeply. “I told them that Captain Sun takes down opponents in one second during every competition, but they wouldn’t believe me. They insisted on trying. I said if they couldn’t win, they should quickly reveal their identities to avoid getting their arms broken and legs twisted—that wouldn’t be worth it. Seems like there wasn’t much of a fight?”

Sun Kai pointed to Lu Huaizheng beside him. “Huaizheng recognized them at a glance.”

Instructor Tang wasn’t old, just over thirty, not tall—about 5’7″—with a square face. When he smiled, his eyes narrowed to slits, with crow’s feet radiating out like grains of rice.

“Well, now that you’re here, things will liven up. The cultural troupe that came to perform at our station a few days ago is still here. They said they were specifically waiting for you before leaving.”

Sun Kai teased, “Waiting for us? You mean waiting for Captain Lu. Those girls, ah—”

Instructor Tang smiled, then looked at Lu Huaizheng. “What’s keeping you? Aren’t you getting off?”

Lu Huaizheng glanced at Yu Hao, who finally stood up slowly from her seat. As soon as she stood, gravity took its inevitable toll. Yu Hao was on the verge of tears. She discreetly looked back and was relieved to see that her thick pants hadn’t stained the seat.

After all the luggage was settled, Yu Hao went to the bathroom to use the last sanitary pad from her bag. She overheard several female soldiers from the cultural troupe coming out from their showers, their voices resonating loudly.

“Did you see Lu Huaizheng?”

“Yes, and Sun Kai is here too. I heard Sun Kai is getting married. Among the officers in the airborne brigade, Captain Lu is the only remaining golden bachelor.”

“Lu Huaizheng has been in the spotlight these past few years, and he’s about to be promoted to major. Many people have their eyes on him. Remember last time? Sui Zi came out of Captain Lu’s dormitory, and both of their eyes were red. I asked Sui Zi about it later, but he wouldn’t say anything. I bet they have something going on.”