Li Yaoxin first saw Lu Huaizheng when she was very young. He probably didn't remember. He was carrying a water gun, running wild through the alley with a few other boys, chasing each other. He splashed her with water. The other boys were unwilling to apologize; only he came over, smiled, and said sorry to her. The second time she saw him was in the Military Unit, where he was lecturing someone with a stern face, his brows sharp, which added to his handsome aura.

Actually, he looked best in a military uniform.

Tonight, he was dressed very casually, very casually, not formal at all. Li Yaoxin immediately had a bad feeling. Not long after they sat down, Li Taiping exchanged a few pleasantries with Li Hongwen and then turned the topic to the two of them.

“Young Lu.”

Hearing someone call him, Lu Huaizheng looked up, his gaze frank, neither servile nor overbearing. “Yes.” Perhaps because he had been in the military for a long time, his eyes looked at everyone without fear or flattery, which was very comfortable.

“Old Li has mentioned you to me more than once. He said you are very courageous and were very calm when handling the emergency on the plane last time.”

“That's all because my leaders taught me well.”

As he said this, he smiled and poured a cup of tea for Li Taiping. His fingers pressed down on the lazy Susan, turning it until it stopped right in front of the man. Then, impassively, he poured another cup and turned it to her, but without looking at her. He hadn't given her a proper look since he entered the room. Li Yaoxin was conflicted at that moment. While angry, she also thought her taste was excellent; she liked men who were this arrogant. When someone who treated everyone with disdain started to care for someone, how thrilling would that be.

“Don't be so modest. How many years have you been in the service?”

“Including my time at the Military Academy, eight years,” he answered truthfully.

Li Taiping nodded in satisfaction and said, “In all these years, have you had a girlfriend?”

Lu Huaizheng thought for a moment and said bluntly, “I have. In high school.”

Li Yaoxin was quite surprised. She hadn't expected him to have had a girlfriend in high school, though with his looks, it was true that many girls would have thrown themselves at him. Who knew that Lu Huaizheng had just made a spur-of-the-moment decision to categorize Yu Hao as an 'ex-girlfriend'.

When he said that, Li Hongwen could no longer control his expression. Under the table, his hand fiercely pinched Lu Huaizheng's thigh, signaling him not to go too far and to rein it in. His glare was like a machine gun, rat-a-tat-tat, almost drilling a huge hole in Lu Huaizheng's head.

Li Taiping frowned, glanced at Li Yaoxin, and seeing that his daughter's expression was unchanged, he said with a chuckle, “What does one know in high school? That doesn't count.”

He negated it with a single sentence.

Li Taiping smiled and said again, “Young Lu, you're so young and handsome, not messy like some of the young people these days. Look, Yaoxin just came back from abroad. You two can exchange contact information to communicate more. Isn't adding each other on WeChat popular among young people now? Yaoxin doesn't have many friends in the country, and you two have known each other since you were children. Even as a big brother, you should take good care of our Yaoxin.”

Li Taiping's words made it impossible for Lu Huaizheng to refuse. If he didn't add her, he would seem ungracious.

But he didn't really use WeChat; he was someone who had practically cut ties with all social media. Even if he added her, he wouldn't use it much. After adding her on WeChat out of a final sense of courtesy, Lu Huaizheng's patience ran out. He looked at Li Taiping and said, “Director Li, I won't beat around the bush with you. My parents passed away early, and I've always lived with my aunt. My personality is actually quite flawed, and my views on marriage are also quite unhealthy. Yaoxin's circumstances are so good, she can definitely find someone with better conditions than me. If she were with me, I'm afraid she would be wronged.”

Li Hongwen chimed in from the side, speaking quite convincingly: “Director Li, this is my fault. When the Political Commissar mentioned it to me, I thought it was a good thing and agreed right away. But I didn't expect this kid to have his own ideas. He said he'd met Yaoxin before and has always seen her as a little sister, with no other intentions. All the flowery praises I usually heap on him, you can just treat them as a joke. He's really not an honest kid, quite a troublemaker. Besides, you can't force matters of the heart. I'll treat tonight's dinner as an apology to you and your daughter.”

Li Taiping slammed his hand on the table, hissed, and pointed at Lu Huaizheng in disbelief. “No, Old Li, what do you mean by that? Are you saying this kid doesn't even think my daughter is good enough for him?”

In the end, they offended Li Taiping. But fortunately, Li Taiping wasn't an unreasonable person. With Lu Huaizheng and Li Hongwen, the master and apprentice duo, playing good cop, bad cop, they finally managed to placate him and sent him home obediently.

When they arrived, Li Hongwen and Li Taiping got out of the car one after the other. Li Yaoxin, however, hesitated to open her door. Lu Huaizheng rested one hand on the steering wheel and glanced at the rearview mirror. The girl's eyes were fixed on him. He turned his head slightly to look out the window, waiting for her to get out with perfect gentlemanly conduct.

Li Yaoxin sat in the car, stubborn and stiff, for a full ten minutes. Finally, before the air could completely freeze, she pushed the door open and got out. The man in the driver's seat kept his chin propped on his hand, his gaze leisurely observing the scenery outside the window.

...

On Sunday, Yu Hao went to the Starry Welfare Institute and ran into Li Yaoxin there again.

The Starry Welfare Institute was located in the suburbs. Following a winding mountain road, passing a stretch of straight asphalt road, and going through a small pine forest, a tree-lined path, like a rugged and winding melon vine, spiraled and meandered until it reached the entrance of the welfare institute.

The white-painted sign of the welfare institute was peeling from the sun, its surface pitted and uneven. In front of the gate stood a parasol tree, like a giant oil-paper umbrella, having provided shelter from wind and rain for years, standing firm and unmoving.

Behind the heavy iron gate, along a narrow winding path, was a small, emerald-green tree. Its branches were not lush, somewhat bare, with scattered scraps of paper hanging from them. Li Yaoxin was standing in front of that tree, dressed in a neat professional skirt suit, her back slightly bent, picking up those scraps of paper and looking them over one by one.

Yu Hao walked over from the side. “What a coincidence?”

Li Yaoxin turned her head, pleasantly surprised. “Miss Yu, it's you.” She glanced around and saw that Yu Hao was alone, so it didn't seem like work. “You come here often too?”

“I come over occasionally to teach them classes and provide psychological counseling.” Yu Hao looked at her, putting her hands in her pockets. “And you?”

Li Yaoxin said, “Do you remember the client I told you about? Her child is here.”

Yu Hao nodded thoughtfully and gave her a polite smile. “May I ask a presumptuous question?”

Li Yaoxin smiled amiably. “It's fine, go ahead and ask.”

“I saw your WeChat Moments yesterday. Is that man your boyfriend?”

Li Yaoxin waved her hand. “No, it was just a blind date arranged by our elders. Why, Miss Yu, do you know him?”

“Yes, I'm not sure, but he looks a lot like a classmate I haven't seen in over ten years, so I was just curious.” Yu Hao smiled and turned around. “I'll get going then. Take your time.”

Yu Hao was particularly distracted today, so much so that even the children noticed.

“Teacher Yu, this little flower, you only drew three petals...”

Yu Hao looked at the empty space and said without batting an eye, “That's a tricolor flower.”

The child scratched his round little head. “But you didn't color it...”

Yu Hao picked up her brush and with a few strokes said, “There, it's colored.”

The child held the piece of paper, tilting his head to look left and right, then pointed with a small hand. “But Teacher, you only used one color...”

Yu Hao said with self-righteous confidence, “Who says a tricolor flower has to have three colors?”

As soon as she finished, the director slapped her on the back of the head. “What nonsense are you spouting?”

The child stretched out his short little body to pat the director's thigh. “Don't hit Teacher Yu.”

The director had a caregiver take the child away, then sat down next to Yu Hao. “What's wrong? In a bad mood? You come here to mislead the children?”

Yu Hao crossed her arms and leaned against the window, gazing at the distant verdant mountains. She lowered her head slightly, adjusting her posture. “It's nothing.”

The director was old, her body round and her steps unsteady. She looked to be over fifty, but her voice was as hoarse as a saw. “Is Professor Han's health still good?”

Yu Hao nodded. “He's quite healthy and robust.”

The director nodded. “You used to say that after studying psychology, you didn't like talking to adults anymore, that you preferred talking to children. So whenever you're in a bad mood, you come here to tease these little ones...”

Yu Hao smiled.

The director looked at her and shook her head. “You child...Don't always lock yourself up in your own world.”

...

On Wednesday, the day before they were to leave for the field research, Han Zhichen received a call from Li Hongwen, asking him to bring Yu Hao to a meeting at the Military Sub-district.

Yu Hao happened to be in Han Zhichen's office discussing the next day's research.

Han Zhichen hurriedly hung up the phone, gathered all the documents from Yu Hao's hands in one go, stacked them in a pile on the desk, and waved his hand, saying to Yu Hao, “Go get ready. You're coming with me to a meeting at the Military Sub-district.”

After hearing this.

Yu Hao lowered her head and slowly capped her pen. She glanced at the twilight outside the window, then brought her gaze back, her eyes downcast, her eyelashes casting a faint, feather-like shadow. She said indifferently, “I'm not going.”

Author's Note:

Don't be scared by the volume tag [Lu Huaizheng also made a spur-of-the-moment decision to categorize Yu Hao as an 'ex-girlfriend.'], boo hoo.

Waiting for Lu Lu to get his comeuppance.