Silence.

The car was so quiet that one could almost hear the buzzing of flies. However, this season hadn’t brought flies yet.

Oh, it was Old Li humming a tune while driving.

Yu Hao listened carefully and remarkably managed to make out the lyrics—

“You are my lover, a woman like a rose, with your fiery lips, making me endlessly ecstatic in the midnight…”

…

…

Though the song suited Old Li’s age, paired with the current situation, Yu Hao couldn’t help but think inappropriate thoughts. Embarrassed and annoyed, her face turned as red as the few scattered maple leaves outside the mountain. She simply turned away, ignoring Old Li’s mischievous nature.

Inadvertently, she caught sight of herself in the rearview mirror and looked somewhat… unseemly.

Her eyes glistened with moisture, her face flushed, and her hair was completely disheveled. She liked to trim her hair regularly, always keeping the length at chest level, habitually tied in a refreshing ponytail or loosely twisted into a bun at the back of her head.

She had left in a hurry this morning and had just casually twisted her hair twice at the back of her head.

When that man kissed her, one of his hands went directly through her hair from beside her ear, showing no understanding of gradual progression. His large palm firmly gripped the back of her head as he fiercely sucked on her lips.

It was truly intense; even now, the edges of her lips still ached faintly. At that moment, Yu Hao had instinctively shrunk back into her seat. He impatiently frowned, simply leaning his entire body in, firmly holding the back of her head and pulling her toward himself, deepening the kiss without any hesitation.

Yu Hao was caught off guard, with all her words drowned in this passionate, lingering kiss.

Back in high school, when he wanted to kiss her, Yu Hao had imagined his kiss would be somewhat cautious and exploratory, perhaps gentle like a breeze, or just a light touch like a dragonfly skimming water. In her memory, he had always been that clean and pure young man.

Who would have thought that for their first kiss, he would give her a deep French kiss, executed with such skill? Compared to Yu Hao, she appeared inexperienced and awkward. When his tongue pressed in, it traced along the thick, smooth inner lip to entice hers. Surprisingly, it was cool. Yu Hao touched the back of his neck—it was burning hot. His entire body was hot, except for his tongue.

When he touched her, it was like a silkworm cocoon breaking open to release that brilliant flame. Yu Hao’s heart trembled as she clutched the thin fabric of his t-shirt. Her body softened against the chair, and that trembling sensation seemed to penetrate from her toes to the top of her head, even making it difficult to breathe.

Lu Huaizheng noticed and knew she was physically overwhelmed. With one hand supporting the seat, he moved the hand that had been holding the back of her head to pinch her chin instead. He withdrew his tongue and instead bit her lower lip, gently grinding for a moment.

Then his lips moved down, stopping at her chin, giving it a light peck.

That marked the end.

Thinking about it now, she still felt it was too improper. Yu Hao looked at herself in the mirror—her lipstick had been smudged all over by him, with only a faint layer remaining on her lips. In the current daylight, she looked particularly disheveled and unkempt.

Moreover, Old Li had been present. If he gossiped with others after returning, she wouldn’t want to go out for days…

Lu Huaizheng—just thinking about this name now made her heart race…

By the time Yu Hao had returned her hair, the car was steadily driving into the military compound.

Yu Hao, with a flushed face, unbuckled her seatbelt, eager to get out of the car. Unexpectedly, Old Li called out to her.

“Dr. Yu.”

Yu Hao turned back, bewildered.

“Old Li has been driving in the military for nearly twenty years and has seen all kinds of situations. I’ve known Captain Lu for four or five years, though not quite eight or nine. Captain Lu knows how to use people’s talents; he understands what kind of person Old Li is, so he didn’t bother to remind me verbally. But I can see that you’re a very conservative young lady, Dr. Yu. Captain Lu is young and vigorous, in his prime. I understand completely, so you don’t need to worry that I’ll go back and gossip about this—” At this point, Old Li sighed: “For all these years, Captain Lu has kept silent about his personal affairs, which is why everyone is especially keen to gossip about him. If I went back and told everyone about this, I reckon your days wouldn’t be so peaceful, Dr. Yu. Without saying more, Captain Lu must feel the same way. I understand him.”

Yu Hao looked at him, speechless.

She gazed at Old Li and wondered vaguely if there was a type of person who lived righteously and uprightly, without pretense or empty talk, who simply treated others sincerely and always gained true friends in return.

In high school, although she had verbally dismissed his friends as a bad crowd, sometimes she truly envied the friendship between him and his group. They were always together during and after class, playing basketball, eating, gaming, pranking teachers… And if they were caught, they would push Lu Huaizheng forward.

Thanks to the good impression left by his formidable demeanor, as well as his position as the school basketball team captain, whenever something happened, he was always the one responsible for bantering with the teachers.

Until one time, when the two of them were still not particularly close.

Yu Hao couldn’t resist sneaking out during Chinese class to smoke a cigarette in the bathroom. Lu Huaizheng, who had seen her pass by outside the window, also secretly slipped out the back door.

As it happened, Yu Hao was smoking in the bathroom when Lu Huaizheng’s homeroom teacher passed by and saw her. She first saw Lu Huaizheng at the door, walking over in confusion. “Why are you out during class time?”

Yu Hao, suddenly hearing the teacher’s voice, was startled and immediately put out the cigarette. However, the sharp-eyed homeroom teacher noticed and rushed in to check, finding Yu Hao bent over washing her hands.

The trash can was still emitting bluish-white smoke.

“You’re smoking in the bathroom?!” Lu Huaizheng’s homeroom teacher could hardly believe it.

Yu Hao kept her head down, washing her hands without speaking.

Then, Lu Huaizheng quietly raised his hand beside her. “I… was smoking.”

The homeroom teacher was even more incredulous, her voice rising sharply, “Are you telling me that you were smoking in the girls’ bathroom?”

“I… went in by mistake.”

Lu Huaizheng said, looking embarrassed.

In fact, at that time, Lu Huaizheng hadn’t even learned how to smoke. He was then punished with writing a 2,000-word self-criticism to be read under the national flag on Monday. He made only one request: “Can we not mention the girls’ bathroom?”

Perhaps it was this kind of foolish earnestness that always surrounded him with a group of good friends, both then and now.

…

Lu Huaizheng arrived at the airport rather late. Chen Rui stood anxiously at the boarding gate, looking around, as agitated as an ant on a hot pan, turning in circles. The cold female voice mechanically repeated the boarding announcement… Finally, after the last reminder, amid the golden splendor of the airport hall and the tide-like flow of passengers, he saw a familiar figure approaching.

Lu Huaizheng was tall and distinctive in appearance, and easy to recognize. He wore a black baseball cap pulled low, covering half his face, but Chen Rui still recognized him at a glance and waved a hand at him.

Lu Huaizheng spotted him and quickened his pace. Chen Rui handed him the bag, and the two were escorted aboard by an attendant.

The two rarely took civilian flights. During the journey, Chen Rui wanted to speak several times but hesitated. Seeing Lu Huaizheng resting with his eyes closed and a cold expression, he dared not disturb him. However, if their superiors saw him like this later, it would surely result in a scolding.

“Captain Lu,” he finally spoke up.

Lu Huaizheng didn’t open his eyes but made a sound of acknowledgment.

Chen Rui said, “Didn’t you look in the mirror before leaving?”

“What?”

Lu Huaizheng slowly opened his eyes and turned to look at him.

After a few seconds of silence, Chen Rui pointed to the side of his face with his index finger and said, “Here, it seems to be… a woman’s lipstick. The flight attendants… have been trying to tell you several times.”

…

On the way there, Lu Huaizheng sensed that the way people looked at him today was somewhat different from usual. He typically attracted a lot of glances when walking around but never paid much attention to it.

Previously, it was mostly women who looked, but today even men are looking. He should have realized it then.

Lu Huaizheng leaned against the bathroom wall with his arms crossed, looking down with a smile. He had lost his mind. After smiling, he straightened up, bent over to turn on the faucet, and after washing his hands, used his thumb to wipe the lipstick off his face in the mirror, doing so methodically.

When he returned to his seat with a wet face, neither of the two grown men had tissues. Lu Huaizheng didn’t mind and was waiting for it to air dry when a hand extended toward him.

He was startled and turned to look. The woman in the adjacent seat handed him a tissue, smiling and saying, “Use this to wipe.”

Lu Huaizheng felt that the woman looked somewhat familiar but couldn’t place her at the moment. He didn’t take it, saying, “No need, thank you.” After the woman withdrew the tissue, he suddenly remembered but thought about how awkward the previous encounter at the Nanjing hotel hall had been and didn’t speak up again.

However, a moment later, she greeted him first: “What a coincidence, you’re also returning to Beijing?”

Lu Huaizheng had always been quite courteous, but it was unexpected that she would have to greet him first, which seemed somewhat lacking in magnanimity on his part. He nodded very politely: “Yes, where’s your child?”

“My mother is looking after him.”

“Where’s your husband?”

“…” The woman didn’t answer, as if there was nothing to say.

Lu Huaizheng smiled awkwardly and didn’t continue the conversation.

The woman suddenly began to make intermittent small talk with him. Lu Huaizheng responded absent-mindedly. Unexpectedly, the woman turned to look at him and said, her eyes burning with some mysterious expectation: “I feel like we’ll meet again.”

Lu Huaizheng was sensitive; when he realized the other party’s motives were somewhat impure, he promptly stopped engaging.

As a result, Du Wanyin extended an olive branch: “Meeting twice must be fate. Why not exchange phone numbers?”

It wasn’t the first time a girl had asked for his number, but Du Wanyin’s caliber was unprecedented. Beside him, Chen Rui wore an excited expression. Lu Huaizheng’s voice immediately turned cold, “I didn’t bring my phone.”

It was true that he hadn’t brought it, and he didn’t want to create trouble for himself.

Du Wanyin looked at him knowingly, “Is it because I’ve been married before?”

Lu Huaizheng looked at her.

Du Wanyin explained with a bitter smile: “My husband cheated on me. This trip to Yunnan was to catch him in the act, but I didn’t want to make a scene. I bought a last-minute ticket to fly back and plan to file for divorce when I return.”

Lu Huaizheng coughed to hide his embarrassment.

Du Wanyin lowered her head.

Then she heard him say coolly: “I have a girlfriend now.” His eyes softened as he said it.

Du Wanyin was taken aback, then leaned back in her seat. “Sorry to bother you.”

Du Wanyin resembled Yu Hao at first glance, but upon closer inspection, the differences were significant. Du Wanyin’s eyebrows and eyes conveyed the charm of a mature woman, while Yu Hao possessed the cleanness of a girl, untainted by any impurities.

When she looked at you, those eyes were sincere and pure. When he kissed her, she was completely ignorant about intimate matters, even fearful. When he embraced and kissed her, her body trembled slightly, which further triggered a man’s protective and conquering instincts.

But to think about truly making her his own.

That scene…

Lu Huaizheng’s heart trembled just thinking about it.

Chen Rui, however, leaned close to Lu Huaizheng’s ear, covering his mouth and whispering: “Captain Lu, is your girlfriend Dr. Yu?”

Lu Huaizheng glanced at him sideways with his arms crossed.

Chen Rui said with a grin: “I knew it was our Dr. Yu’s lipstick from the smell!” Then he asked proudly, “So, how’s my intuition?”

“…”

The next second, Lu Huaizheng removed his baseball cap, grasped it by the brim, and repeatedly hit Chen Rui’s head hard without holding back. With each hit, he said a sentence: “You like smelling lipstick, do you?!”

“Huh?!”

“When we get back, I’ll buy you a whole case of lipstick so you can smell to your heart’s content!!”

Finally, he put the cap back on, adjusting it by the brim, and said:

“From now on, if you can’t identify what lipstick Dr. Yu is wearing by smell, you’ll run ten extra laps that day.”