The so-called black oddly-shaped object was a USB drive tucked into the seam of Yu Hao’s bag, which Professor Han had used during the morning presentation. Before Lu Huaizheng pulled her away, Yu Hao suddenly remembered, took the bag from Lu Huaizheng’s hand, dug it out, held it between two fingers, and looked at the sentry: “Is this it?”

The sentry first glanced at Lu Huaizheng.

Lu Huaizheng looked down at Yu Hao once, then shifted his gaze elsewhere and gave a slight nod. Only then did the sentry dare to take it. After confirming there was no issue, Lu Huaizheng pulled Yu Hao away.

The sun was setting in the west, drawing several splendid clouds at the edge of the sky. In this season of lush grass and flying orioles, the sunset glow spread in thousands of gentle rays, though the trees remained unmoved by the romantic scene.

A shiny black Mitsubishi was parked at the military district gate, with the driver’s window open. The driver, wearing black sunglasses, was leaning back in his seat, fingers tapping a rhythm leisurely. Seeing someone striding over from a distance, the driver hooked his sunglasses down his nose for a closer look, recognized them, and immediately straightened his posture, sitting upright in the driver’s seat. As they approached, he put on a sheepish smile: “Captain Lu.”

Lu Huaizheng grunted in response, walked straight around the front of the car, and stuffed the person behind him into the passenger seat—stuffed, without asking Yu Hao’s opinion at all, pushing her in with considerable force.

Then with a “bang,” he slammed the door shut. He quickly walked back to the driver’s side and tapped on the car door, his voice emotionless, “Get out.”

The driver obediently got out of the car and closed the door.

Lu Huaizheng directly took off his cap, then removed his uniform jacket and tossed it to the back seat. After opening the driver’s door, he remembered something and turned to tell the driver, “The leaders will be sending Professor Han off later. You drive them.”

The driver nodded.

“We’re leaving.”

After saying this, Lu Huaizheng turned and jumped into the car. While fastening his seatbelt, he glanced at Yu Hao in the passenger seat, saw that she had already obediently buckled her seatbelt, slightly pursed his lips, withdrew his gaze, turned the steering wheel, and roared off. In the rearview mirror, the driver stood at attention, saluted him, and watched him drive away.

The black SUV exited the military district, speeding steadily along the asphalt road. Rows of tall, elegant white poplars stood proudly on both sides, with tender buds sprouting from their bare branches, like sentries who had been on duty for many years, loyally and selflessly serving the city.

Yu Hao thought he resembled them—tall yet full of security.

The man, having shed his youthful immaturity, appeared particularly profound.

Lu Huaizheng wore only the standard shirt, with a navy blue tie neatly knotted at his neck. He probably felt a bit stuffy and unconsciously loosened his collar, then saw himself in the rearview mirror, thought it looked unprofessional, frowned, and tightened it again, his expression slightly impatient.

Lu Huaizheng drove quite fast, but steadily. The car left the military district and merged onto the city’s main road, moving slowly like a snail in the endless flow of traffic.

Yu Hao kept her eyes on the scenery outside the car. In recent years, she had increasingly enjoyed observing these strangers she encountered by chance.

For instance, a young girl in the passenger seat of a Cayenne was coquettishly teasing the man driving; a couple in a BMW was arguing endlessly about fuel costs; a woman in a Toyota had road rage, frantically honking her horn at the traffic flow…

In a daze, she witnessed all facets of human life, the chaotic world where people and ghosts walked side by side.

And the man beside her guided her, calmly moving through it all.

Lu Huaizheng drove very quietly, saying little, pressing the gas pedal at a moderate pace as he followed the traffic flow. At red lights, he would rest his hand on the window sill, supporting his chin as he waited. He was very attentive when driving, generally yielding, and not rushing.

Yu Hao rarely saw someone drive so peacefully. She had once ridden in a colleague’s car—a person who was quite gentle in daily life. But once behind the wheel, the person would become like a firecracker, ready to explode at the slightest provocation, cursing all the way. If someone accidentally cut them off, they would become so furious they could almost bite the steering wheel.

After entering the city, as more people appeared, some noticed his military license plate and couldn’t help but take a second look. Lu Huaizheng simply raised the car window. The whooshing wind and bustling human voices were immediately blocked outside as the window rose, making the car interior suddenly extremely quiet and narrow.

In the tranquil space, Yu Hao felt each of his breaths become particularly clear, and her heartbeat gradually intensified, thumping loudly. Her temples slightly swelled as she recalled the scene of Lu Huaizheng snatching the sanitary pad earlier.

The man’s hands were slender yet powerful, holding that thing with some awkwardness—the same hands that drew guns and fired, engaged in combat flying, yet appeared helpless with women’s items.

It was somewhat endearing.

During the lunch break, having nothing to do, she casually asked the junior squad leader about Lu Huaizheng. The squad leader became quite excited, his eyes shining as he spoke:

“I came quite late, so I missed many events and have only heard about them. But last year at the military skills competition, I saw the captain’s gun drawing and shooting—it took less than a second, 0.7 or 0.8 seconds. Anyway, incredibly fast. While others were still loading their guns, his shot had already been fired. And there was another time when an unidentified fighter jet appeared in our airspace—this was a level-one alert. Who knew what might be dropped from above? If it were a bomb, the civilians below would suffer… That day, the captain was patrolling with a recruit. The captain tried more than a dozen languages to communicate with the other side, asking them to withdraw immediately, but the aircraft just circled at an altitude of 10,000 meters. After a two-hour standoff, the captain radioed the leaders to report the situation, saying they had prepared for the worst and would try to minimize casualties. You know how much effort, resources, and money it takes to train an Air Force pilot, especially someone like the captain. If something went wrong, some would rejoice while others would mourn. Yet he still had the leisure to joke over the radio, asking which country the guy was from, saying he’d been forced to speak almost every language under the sun. At that time, several leaders looked grim, but there was no choice—to protect our airspace, anyone’s sacrifice was inevitable. So they gritted their teeth and gave the order, with one leader’s eyes turning red as he secretly turned away to wipe his tears. In the end, after the captain’s final warning in English, the aircraft withdrew, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. When the recruit came down, following behind the captain, he had wet his pants… But no one laughed at him then, because everyone has the right to be afraid in the face of death.”

…

Yu Hao thought they would drive to the destination in complete silence.

But the man beside her, while checking the rearview mirror and turning the steering wheel, casually dropped a question:

“How have you been these past few years?”

As if they were truly old friends who hadn’t seen each other for years, the sentiment in his voice evoked mixed feelings.

“Pretty good,” Yu Hao’s gaze fell on the passing scenery outside the window. “And you?”

Lu Huaizheng didn’t respond for a long time. As they passed through an intersection, his hand rested on the window sill waiting for the red light, his gaze fixed outside. As the car started moving again, he spoke nonchalantly: “In this line of work, being alive and uninjured is considered not bad.”

“What made you decide to join the army?” Yu Hao was quite curious.

“Just passing time,” he looked straight ahead, the car moving in an orderly manner, his answer quite honest.

At first, he hadn’t thought much about it—he’d joined on impulse. Not long after enlisting, he met Li Hongwen, who took a particular liking to him and had been mentoring him in his current position.

Protecting the country, shedding blood across the skies—talking too much about it became empty words. He had always felt it wasn’t much different from an ordinary job: still receiving wages and bonuses, having pay deducted and being disciplined for mistakes, just having to be more mindful of his image in public.

When on missions around the world, others would write long, emotional farewell letters, but his only contained two sentences.

Live as a hero, die as a mighty spirit.

No regrets.

His mother had passed away when he was very young, and his father followed a few years later. He had grown up with his aunt, and his maternal grandfather still didn’t approve of him. The only person he had thought about during the deep nights…

He didn’t want to hand that letter to her either.

Later, he couldn’t even be bothered to write those two sentences.

“Thank you for driving me back,” Yu Hao took the initiative to speak.

“You’re welcome.”

He hummed lightly: “Anyway, it’s the last time.”

Just as he finished speaking, the car stopped right at the entrance to the research institute. Lu Huaizheng turned off the engine, his expression indifferent, not looking at her, and reminded her: “We’re here.”

He was entirely like a professional driver.

Yu Hao touched the door handle and said a soft thank you.

“Wait.”

She paused and turned back.

Lu Huaizheng wasn’t looking at her. He leaned back in his seat, his gaze fixed outside as he slowly lowered the window. The blurry tree scenery gradually became clear as the car window slowly descended to his chin. Then she heard him ask casually:

“Do you have time on Saturday night?”

Yu Hao seriously considered her Saturday plans.

She did have plans, but they could be adjusted. She would need to check her schedule when she got back.

Lu Huaizheng rested one hand on the steering wheel, his index finger tapping it intermittently, appearing very patient.

“I need to go back and confirm with Professor Han,” she said truthfully.

The corner of his mouth twitched upward. He withdrew his hand from the window sill, sat up straight, and lowered his head to fiddle with the radio, saying casually: “Forget it, pretend I didn’t ask.”

A moment of silence.

“What a coincidence?!”

Suddenly, a face appeared outside the car window—actually, two faces: the newly-wed Song Xiaotao and her fellow graduate student Yuan Jing. In the entire institute, these two had the closest relationship. Since Song Xiaotao got married, she has been trying to introduce Yuan Jing to several of her husband’s childhood friends, especially Lu Huaizheng.

But when they saw Yu Hao’s face in the passenger seat, both were somewhat dumbfounded, and Song Xiaotao’s smile froze.

Lu Huaizheng leaned against the car, his gaze leisurely sweeping over the two of them, his voice gentle and polite: “Yes, quite a coincidence.”

Song Xiaotao looked at Yu Hao vigilantly, asking suspiciously: “What are you doing here?”

Lu Huaizheng smiled, tugged at his collar, with an open expression, completely making up a story—

“Picking up a girl.”