Perhaps it was the upright military uniform that made Shui Lian lower all her guard—he couldn’t possibly be a bad person.
She thought to herself, saving him can only bring benefits, not harm.
The unconscious Jiang Jinghuai faintly heard a woman’s gentle calling voice. His consciousness cleared up a bit as he slowly awakened. His long, narrow eyes gradually opened, and the woman’s graceful face reflected in his deep, profound gaze.
A faint fragrance lingered, not quite the sa as what he rembered.
"Comrade... comrade, you’re awake." Shui Lian said joyfully.
"You are..."
"I just happened to find you in the cave."
"You saved ?" Jiang Jinghuai hoarsely asked. All of a sudden, he grabbed her slender wrist, his dark, penetrating eyes fixed unblinkingly on her.
Fragnts of blurred mories flickered through his mind.
"Yes." Shui Lian’s heart skipped a beat. She smiled and looked down, then quickly looked up again and said naturally, "I think you must have a special identity, and I didn’t even manage to contact a doctor before you woke up."
"Thank you." Jiang Jinghuai released the grip on her hand and said faintly, "Help up."
Shui Lian imdiately and cautiously helped him up. She quietly glanced at his profile. His face was pale, but it couldn’t hide his handso features. Even though she had soone in her heart, Shui Lian couldn’t help blushing slightly.
Jiang Jinghuai glanced at her, seemingly unintentionally, and asked, "Did you see my ring? My thumb ring?"
"Wh-what?" A ring?
Instinctively, Shui Lian looked at his hands. One hand was resting on his waist, and the other was tightly clenched; there was no ring on his fingers.
"The ring I always wore—it’s gone." He said solemnly.
Shui Lian pulled the corner of her lips into a small smile. "It must be very important to you? When I saw your heavy wounds, I didn’t pay attention to much else. Could it have fallen to the ground? Let’s look for it. What does it look like?"
Jiang Jinghuai’s eyes narrowed slightly as he said slowly, "Dark green."
Shui Lian bent down, her gaze scanning the ground, but the area was overgrown with weeds. Finding a ring here would be really difficult.
Suddenly, a ring silently rolled onto the ground.
Shui Lian lifted her gaze and noticed Jiang Jinghuai’s look. Her eyes brightened as she picked it up. "Is this it?" She asked softly.
Jiang Jinghuai murmured an acknowledgnt and gave a brief thank-you before silently putting the ring back on his thumb.
...
Around noon, Tian Sangsang was heading out again to deliver food to Jiang Jinghuai.
But when she entered the cave once more, it was completely empty—there wasn’t a soul. Only a faint lingering scent, part rose, part jasmine, hung in the air and refused to dissipate. It was her scent. Ever since she began bathing alternately with rose essential oil and jasmine essential oil, the two fragrances seed to have lded into one, creating a unique aroma utterly her own.
"What the..." Tian Sangsang pouted in slight dissatisfaction, then shrugged it off. "Left without even saying a word, really..."
"At the very least, he could’ve left so money."
"Sigh, what a loss—gave my ti, gave my labor, and got nothing."
Still, it’s for the best. I didn’t really want to see him face-to-face, but I had hoped we could clear things up once he woke. Otherwise, I’d be living on edge, never at peace.
Now? Forget it.
Hospital.
"Comrade Jiang, are you sure you don’t need to lie down a bit longer? Where are you planning to go?" Facing his tall and upright figure, Shui Lian mustered her courage to speak, "Your injuries are so severe. You should take a proper rest."
It was the first ti she had seen soone so gravely injured yet acting as if nothing had happened. It seed like he was used to being hurt.
Jiang Jinghuai turned around, biting his pale lips slightly. "The troops will be coming down soon. I’m just taking a walk. If not for you today, I’d probably be dead. Truly, thank you."
He bowed deeply in a resolute gesture.
The formal display made Shui Lian feel a bit guilty. "It was nothing—it’s only right to help others."
"I’m fine now; you can head back." As if rembering sothing, Jiang Jinghuai asked in a low voice, "Do you have paper and pen?"
"I’ll borrow so from the nurse." Shui Lian quickly returned with paper and pen and handed them to him.
Jiang Jinghuai accepted them and, holding the pen, began writing swiftly. His focused and serious expression srized Shui Lian for a mont.
"Here’s my address and phone number. If you ever need anything, you can contact ," he said, raising an eyebrow with a smile on his face. But there was an impish air to that smile. "Just don’t make it sothing like..."
"Like murder or arson, sothing against military rules, right?" Shui Lian teased, laughing lightly.
Jiang Jinghuai chuckled softly, nodding quietly.
Shui Lian toyed with the piece of paper in her hand. "Hopefully, I won’t need to use it."
Jiang Jinghuai smiled faintly but didn’t reply.
Walking slowly down the street, one hand rubbing the jade thumb ring on his finger, Jiang Jinghuai lowered his gaze slightly, seemingly lost in thought.
This wasn’t a bustling street. Only a few shops and vendors were scattered about, a far cry from the prosperity of the city. On the roadside, a few boisterous children were playing a ga of toss and catch, throwing and dodging a sandbag.
"Lu Chi, you stole my ball! Give it back to !"
"Waaah~ Big brother! Lu Chi is a anie—he took my ball!"
"Jiaqi, wait. I’ll get it back for you!"
"Lu Chi, you brat! Just because I smacked you a couple of tis, you’re crying? Stop crying already."
"With that weak-willed attitude, how are you supposed to marry my sister? Maybe I should just write you off."
"No way! My mom said Jiaqi is my wife, and I’m not writing her off!"
"Brother, what’s a wife? Is it more fun than the ball?"
"I’m not Lu Chi’s wife. Lu Chi is MY wife! Hahaha~~~~"
"You made a mistake here..." At the post office, Chen Ying, who was at work, was helping a custor fill out a form. After pointing it out, she stretched lazily and glanced out the window.
A man’s lean and handso face slowly ca into view...
Boom! Chen Ying’s head felt like it exploded. She blinked in disbelief.
"Ye... Ye Jiang..."
Disregarding the fact that she was at work, Chen Ying lifted her skirt and dashed outside. She feared if she were even half a step late, she would miss sothing important.
Her heart pounded wildly as her mind went blank. She couldn’t think of what to say, nor what to do. The only thing echoing in her heart was a single fervent cry: Ye Jiang! Ye Jiang! Ye Jiang has returned!
The figure ahead noticed the commotion behind him and turned around slowly, his deep eyes locking on her.
It really was Ye Jiang!
Chen Ying’s heart filled with joy. There was no mistaking it—those eyes, deep enough to drown soone.
"Why are you following ?" Jiang Jinghuai furrowed his long brows, gazing deeply at the young woman, as though she looked vaguely familiar.
"You... you..." Chen Ying stamred. "Are you... Ye Jiang?"
Jiang Jinghuai’s dark pupils suddenly contracted sharply.
Ye Jiang—this fleeting na, like a ghost from the past—soone rembered it. It was a na that haunted him his entire life, buried deep in his mories.
"Who are you?" His low voice turned stern, his expression cold and severe.
"Do you rember? That year, when I was heading to Tian Sangsang’s ho, I encountered a snake—it was you who killed it for ."
"I’m Chen Ying."
"Chen, as in Chen Shii. Ying... not heroically, not famously, not bravely, but boldly Ying."
Chen Ying looked at him expectantly.
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