Yu Hao had been sitting in her office for a while when she suddenly heard a loud “Bang!” from outside, like the mournful cry of an iron basin being abruptly smashed.
She stood up, opened the door, and looked up toward the sound.
Lu Huaizheng and Instructor Tang were still standing in place. They had also turned their heads at the noise. Old Tang quickly identified the location: “Seems to be coming from the performing arts troupe.” After speaking, he put his hands on his waist and let out a long sigh. “These girls never give me peace. I’d better go see it. Hey, why don’t you come with me to check on Sui Zi? That little girl doesn’t listen to anyone but you.”
…
Before Lu Huaizheng and Old Tang even went upstairs, they could already hear the furious quarreling from the dormitory building. Lu Huaizheng was surprised that the usually soft-spoken girls could be so ferocious and unreasonable when arguing in private.
“Sui Zi, don’t think that just because you’re young, everyone has to accommodate you. Don’t think we don’t know about that pathetic thing between you and Lu Huaizheng. Who the hell cares? I won’t indulge you.”
“There’s nothing between me and Huaizheng-ge!” Sui Zi retorted in a shrill voice.
The other person sneered, “Didn’t you secretly climb into Lu Huaizheng’s dormitory because you wanted to get into his bed? A single man and woman compromising discipline—you dare to do it but are afraid of people talking about it? I didn’t report you to the military headquarters, and that’s already giving you face.”
Sui Zi looked at the female student with some shock, her voice choked: “How can you, as a girl, say such things?”
These things had only been gossiped about privately when people had nothing better to do. No one had ever dared to say them to Sui Zi’s face. Occasionally, people would joke about Sui Zi and Lu Huaizheng, and Sui Zi had explained hundreds of times, but in their eyes, it just seemed like a cover-up. Sui Zi grew tired of explaining and stopped, letting them think what they wanted. She felt these people all had impure thoughts.
At these words, even Lu Huaizheng froze downstairs, with one foot on the step, his expression more bewildered. When had he and Sui Zi become the subject of such rumors?
“You and Sui Zi?” Instructor Tang looked at him with an expression of utter disbelief. The next second, he sighed, put his hand on Lu’s shoulder, and said earnestly, “I thought you liked Dr. Yu. Your relationships with women are too messy, which damages discipline! Let me tell you, I’ve watched Sui Zi grow up since she was little. You can’t just take advantage of her and think that’s the end of it! If what they’re saying is true, you must take responsibility for Sui Zi, otherwise Old Tang won’t let you off even as a ghost—”
Tang Mingliang’s words had just fallen when he caught sight of a figure behind him. He turned around casually and saw Yu Hao standing there stiffly like a wooden post. Old Tang realized that his previous words might have been inappropriate. He clicked his tongue and smiled at her, “Little Yu, don’t mind—”
Lu Huaizheng suddenly turned his head. The midday light was somewhat dazzling. Yu Hao hadn’t entered the corridor yet and was standing under the glaring sunlight, her whole person glowing white.
Since the age of five, he had been skilled at observing people’s expressions, deliberately saying pleasant things that delighted adults and made them extremely happy. Then he had spent eight years removing this hypocritical face and had rarely deliberately studied someone’s expression again.
That day, Lu Huaizheng “resumed his old trade.”
Once again, he carefully and cautiously observed Yu Hao’s expression at that moment. Unfortunately, the light was too bright, and a sudden breeze came from somewhere, causing tree shadows to sway, the interplay of light and shadow covering her face, which didn’t take up much space to begin with.
When she came closer, Lu Huaizheng saw her smile at Tang Mingliang. He pondered—it was the most ordinary kind, a polite smile without any particular meaning.
Lu Huaizheng now had only one thought in his mind.
He wanted to strangle Sui Zi.
No, better to strangle himself.
…
Zhao Dailin had been lying down for a midday nap when she heard movement outside, so she got up to take a look.
As a result, she heard someone’s big gossip. Originally, she was curious to see what else these young girls would say, leaning against the railing with her eyes narrowed, watching happily. Who knew that when she turned her head, she would see Lu Huaizheng standing at the stairs, with Yu Hao following behind.
Zhao Dailin gave Lu Huaizheng a look that said, “You’re on your own.”
Lu Huaizheng felt a headache coming on. His usually high emotional intelligence seemed inadequate now. If only all problems in the world could be solved with a gun—simple, direct, quick, and final.
Yu Hao didn’t linger but went straight back to the dormitory and closed the door.
The corridor was a mess as if a tornado had swept through. The gray-white walls were covered with water stains, and basins were scattered all over the floor. Some unfortunate person’s basin had been smashed in several places.
Seeing this scene, Tang Mingliang became angry too, the fire in his chest burning fiercely, mainly feeling sorry for the basins: “What are you doing?!”
The girls all turned their faces away, refusing to speak. Sui Sitian was still sobbing in the crowd.
Tang Mingliang shouted again in anger, feeling these girls were truly troublesome. But seeing Sui Sitian’s restrained face, crying like a beauty in distress, his heart softened, and his tone eased: “What exactly happened? Why are you all so confrontational? Sui Zi, you talk.”
Tang Mingliang had his bias, deliberately giving Sui Zi the first chance to speak, which made the remaining girls exchange contemptuous glances with each other.
This matter couldn’t be explained in just a few words. Friendships between women are inherently complex, and all conflicts accumulate slowly over time in daily interactions. No one knows where the last straw will fall. What might seem like a small matter to men can be the trigger that ignites their conflicts.
Their dissatisfaction with Sui Zi might have begun long ago when they were at the Military Arts Academy, gradually accumulating over the years, big and small issues piling up into a basket. Perhaps the real resentment started from the last time Sui Zi sat at the leaders’ table, and bits and pieces began to emerge.
That morning, Sui Zi’s dance shoes, which had been drying on the balcony, were taken by someone who then put their shoes there. When Sui Zi found them to wear, she discovered the shoes were still wet. But that evening was the last performance, and she couldn’t wear her shoes, which made her irritated. She went to confront that person but was immediately retorted with no guilt at all. Sui Zi felt unhappy and said a few more words, and then that person directly smashed the basin, which started this whole incident.
As Sui Zi explained intermittently, the whole story sounded particularly absurd to Lu Huaizheng and Tang Mingliang, these two grown men. It was a trivial matter, yet the women had the talent to turn it into such an embarrassing situation.
Yu Hao had been sitting in the room for a while before getting up to pour herself a glass of water.
The sound of water was crisp, but her attention was outside. After a while, Sui Zi dropped another bomb.
“Xiao Hui took my things.”
The female soldier Xiao Hui immediately had tears in her eyes, completely losing her composure. She raised her hand angrily, pointing at Sui Zi, rushing forward to hit her with her hands waving, but was held back by others. Red-eyed, she shouted, “You’re lying!”
“This matter can be big or small. Sui Zi, are you sure?” Tang Mingliang asked.
Sui Zi nodded, “Yes.”
Tang Mingliang looked at Lu Huaizheng, then turned back to ask, “What did you lose?”
Sui Zi said, “A ring, a ring my grandmother left me.”
“When did you lose it?”
“Last year, when we went to perform at the base. I couldn’t find my ring, and the day before, I saw Xiao Hui touching my things.”
While small squabbles could be overlooked, stealing involved a matter of character. Instructor Tang felt that even if this matter needed to be addressed, it wasn’t his responsibility. He considered reporting it back to the art troupe for them to handle internally.
Then Zhao Dailin spoke up.
“This is easy to solve.”
Lu Huaizheng and Instructor Tang turned their heads at her voice. Instructor Tang asked, “You have an idea?”
Zhao Dailin leaned against the railing, nodded slightly, and lifted her chin toward the two girls. “There’s someone who knows which of them is lying.”
Yu Hao was holding a cup, one hand supporting herself on the edge of the table, leaning casually against it as she drank water.
Suddenly, she sensed a brightness in front of her.
She turned to look. The door had opened a crack and was slowly widening. The midday light filled the entire dormitory through the gradually expanding gap.
Lu Huaizheng appeared at the doorway.
The light and shadow elongated his figure, tall and straight. Yu Hao stared at the shadow on the ground for a while before turning back, lowering her eyes to continue drinking her tea.
“Yu Hao, can you come out and help?”
After that day, the first time Lu Huaizheng spoke to her was actually for Sui Zi’s sake. Yu Hao felt bitterness in her heart as if she had put berberine in that cup of tea. Her expression was impatient, and she wanted to be firm for once and refuse, but as she turned her head and inadvertently saw his eyes full of deep emotion, her heart softened again.
She couldn’t refuse him.
Every glance from him, even a casual one, seemed full of meaning to her.
She put down her cup and nodded.
…
Yu Hao and Sui Zi sat alone in the psychology room for five minutes, neither of them speaking.
Yu Hao sat with her arms crossed, leaning back in her chair. When working, she was somewhat forceful. Those clear eyes of hers had a penetrating power, like a sharp sword that could pierce straight into your heart, mercilessly pulling out those little dark thoughts hidden deep inside.
After scrutinizing her for five minutes, Sui Zi spoke first: “I’ve seen you before.”
“Oh?” Yu Hao raised an eyebrow.
Sui Zi smiled, “On Huaizheng-ge’s phone, a photo of you two from high school.”
It must have been near the winter break of their first year of high school. It had been snowing then. Lu Huaizheng had forcibly pulled her to take a photo together in the snow. No beauty filters, no effects, just two silly heads huddled together.
“Is that so,” Yu Hao said carelessly. “Don’t change the subject.”
“Oh.” Sui Zi obediently said, “Then go ahead and ask. How do you test?”
“For the questions I’m about to ask you, you only need to answer yes or no.”
Sui Zi nodded.
“Are you Sui Sitian?”
“Yes.”
“Twenty-five years old this year?”
“Yes.”
“Do you dislike Xiao Hui?”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever had intense physical conflicts with her?”
“No.”
…Yu Hao asked a series of daily questions, and Sui Zi answered them all fluently, without blinking.
Yu Hao then put a heart rate monitor on Sui Zi. Sui Zi curiously fiddled with it, and Yu Hao slapped her hand away with a warning: “Don’t touch it.”
Sui Zi pouted pitifully and stopped moving: “Sister Yu Hao, are you this fierce with everyone?”
Yu Hao ignored her and readjusted the device, taking notes on the data.
Sui Zi muttered softly: “No wonder %#&*—”
She spoke more and more softly, and Yu Hao could barely hear the latter part.
Sui Zi continued, “Sister Yu Hao, my relationship with Huaizheng-ge is not what people outside say. We’re not that kind of relationship.”
Yu Hao: “Oh.”
Sui Zi: “I don’t like Huaizheng-ge that way.”
Yu Hao: “Oh.”
Sui Zi: “I know Xiao Hui likes Huaizheng-ge. She pretends to disdain him on the surface, but every time she goes to the Air Force compound, the first person she looks for is Huaizheng-ge. I dislike Xiao Hui. She has a kind of perverted voyeuristic desire. I used to discover that she liked to read my diary secretly, so I deliberately wrote some ambiguous words in my diary for her to see. I just like to see her miserable, angry, jealous, and frustrated with nowhere to vent.”
Only then did Yu Hao look up, tapping her pen on the table: “Then you’re also perverted.”
Sui Zi continued talking to herself: “Huaizheng-ge only has you in his heart. I’ve seen him staring at that photo of you two on his phone several times.”
“Lying,” Yu Hao saw through her immediately.
Sui Zi scratched her head and admitted: “Okay, actually just once. His eyes were all red, looking pitiful.”
“When was that?”
“When he was in military school, I think. Grandpa Lu had just passed away, and the news came late. He didn’t even make it for the last goodbye. He was probably very sad then, so he thought of you.”
“Then why did you climb into his dormitory?”
“Hmph, I won’t tell you. You were too fierce just now.”
“Fine.” Yu Hao wasn’t falling for that. “Then let’s start the next test.”
Sui Zi: “…”
After completing two rounds of tests with Xiao Hui as well, Yu Hao took the evaluation report and walked out of the psychology room.
Lu Huaizheng was leaning against the wall.
Yu Hao stood at the doorway and handed him the documents.
Lu Huaizheng took them, flipped through two pages without understanding, and raised an eyebrow at her while holding the documents.
Yu Hao put her hands in the pockets of her white coat, leaned against the wall, and looked at him. “What result do you hope for?”
Lu Huaizheng had no particular hope. He lowered his gaze to look at her, also turned sideways, crossed his arms, and leaned against the wall, smiling as he said, “I hope it’s a misunderstanding, so I won’t have to write any reports.”
Yu Hao nodded, “Neither of them is lying.”
His smile faded.
“The item wasn’t taken by Xiao Hui. Sui Zi did indeed see Xiao Hui touch her things. Sui Zi is convinced in her heart that Xiao Hui took it, but it truly wasn’t her. Congratulations, you don’t need to write a report.”
Yu Hao slapped the evaluation report against his solid chest and turned to go back in.
Lu Huaizheng held the documents to his chest, still leaning against the wall. In the dusky sunset, he lazily called out:
“Yu Hao.”
Yu Hao turned back. In the fading sunset, she seemed to see again that handsome young man from years ago, momentarily dazed. A phrase came to mind—
“A corridor inch of yearning ground, ten years of footprints, ten years of heart.”
Before Yu Hao could react, the man’s silhouette had straightened up and was coming toward her. The man’s broad back suddenly blocked her, pushing her against the wall. Yu Hao’s back pressed against the cold wall, with his solid body in front of her. Suddenly, she felt a shadow cover her eyes, and the next second, the warmth of his palm gently covered her eyes.
Near her ear was his deep breathing, scorching and close, spreading like wildfire from her eyes down to the depths of her heart.
She suddenly heard Lu Huaizheng say next to her ear:
“Lean closer if you’re afraid. I know you saw it.”