Yu Hao sat in the office for a while when she suddenly heard a loud "Bang!" from outside. It sounded like the mournful cry of an iron basin suddenly shattering.

She stood up, opened the door, and followed the sound with her gaze.

She saw Lu Huaizheng and Instructor Tang still standing in the same spot. They both turned their heads at the sound. Old Tang quickly identified the direction: "Sounds like it came from the Cultural Troupe's side." After speaking, he put his hands on his hips and let out a long sigh. "These girls really don't give me a moment's peace. I have to go take a look. Hey, why don't you come with me to see Sui-zi? That little girl doesn't listen to anyone, only you."

...

Before Lu Huaizheng and Old Tang even went upstairs, they could already hear the sounds of an irrepressible argument from downstairs. Lu Huaizheng hadn't expected that the girls, who were usually so quiet and meek, could be so fierce and unreasonable when they cursed people in private.

"Sui-zi, don't think that just because you're young, everyone has to give in to you. Don't think we don't know about that sordid affair between you and Lu Huaizheng. Who the hell cares? I'm not going to spoil you."

"Nothing happened between me and Brother Lu!" Sui-zi retorted in a shrill voice.

The person sneered, "Didn't you sneak into Lu Huaizheng's dormitory back then just to get into his bed? A man and a woman alone, corrupting morale. You dared to do it, so why are you afraid of people talking? The fact that I didn't report you to the Military Region Headquarters is me giving you face."

Sui-zi looked at the girl in shock, her voice choked, "How can you, a girl, say such things?"

These words were usually spread as gossip in private when everyone was bored. No one had ever dared to say them to Sui-zi's face. They would occasionally joke about Sui-zi and Lu Huaizheng, and Sui-zi had explained it hundreds of times, but in their eyes, it was just a poor attempt to cover things up. Sui-zi grew tired of explaining and stopped, letting them think whatever they wanted. She felt that this group of people had impure thoughts.

As soon as these words were spoken, even Lu Huaizheng downstairs froze, one foot on the stairs, his expression even more bewildered. When did the rumors about him and Sui-zi get to this point?

"You and Sui-zi?" Instructor Tang looked at him with an even more incredulous expression. The next second, he sighed, put a hand on his shoulder, and said earnestly, "I thought you liked Dr. Yu. Your relationships with women are a bit too messy, it's detrimental to discipline! Let me tell you, I've watched Sui-zi grow up. Don't you dare take advantage of her and think you can just forget about it! If it's really like what they're saying, you have to be responsible for Sui-zi, or else Old Tang won't let you off even as a ghost—"

Tang Mingliang had just finished speaking when he caught a glimpse of a figure behind him out of the corner of his eye. He casually turned his head and saw Yu Hao standing there stiffly like a wooden post. Old Tang came to his senses, stared at the girl, and realizing his words had been inappropriate, smacked his lips and said to her with a smile, "Yu Hao, don't mind me—"

Lu Huaizheng turned around abruptly. The midday sun was a bit glaring. Yu Hao hadn't entered the corridor yet; she stood under the dazzling sunlight, her whole body so pale it seemed to glow.

From the age of five, he had been good at reading people and saying what they wanted to hear, coaxing adults until they were stunned and overjoyed. Then he spent another eight years shedding this hypocritical mask and rarely made a conscious effort to study someone's expression anymore.

That day, Lu Huaizheng "returned to his old trade."

He once again cautiously and carefully studied Yu Hao's expression. However, the light was too bright at that moment, and a gust of wind blew from somewhere, causing the tree shadows to sway, casting mottled light and shadows over her already small face.

When she got closer, Lu Huaizheng saw her smile at Tang Mingliang. He figured it was the most ordinary kind, a polite smile with no particular meaning.

Lu Huaizheng had only one thought in his mind right now.

He wanted to strangle Sui-zi.

Forget it, he might as well strangle himself.

...

Zhao Dailin had been lying down for a nap. Hearing a commotion outside her door, she got up to take a look.

As a result, she heard some major gossip about someone. Originally, she had been curiously watching to see what else these little girls would say, happily leaning against the railing with narrowed eyes. Who knew that with a turn of her head, she would see Lu Huaizheng standing at the top of the stairs, with Yu Hao following behind him.

Zhao Dailin gave Lu Huaizheng a 'you're on your own' look.

Lu Huaizheng felt a headache coming on. His usually high emotional intelligence seemed insufficient now. If only everything in the world could be solved with a gun—it would be simple, direct, satisfying, and final.

Yu Hao didn't linger. She went straight back to her dorm and closed the door.

The corridor was a mess, as if a tornado had swept through. The pale gray walls were covered in patches of water stains here and there. Washbasins were scattered all over the floor, and some unlucky person's basin was even dented in several places.

Seeing this scene, Tang Mingliang also became angry, his chest burning with rage, mainly because he felt bad for the washbasins. "What are you all doing!!"

The girls all turned their faces away, refusing to speak. Sui Sitian was still sobbing uncontrollably.

Tang Mingliang roared again, finding this bunch of girls extremely annoying. But when he saw Sui Sitian's face, tear-streaked yet trying to hold back her sobs, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy and softened his tone. "What on earth happened? Why be so confrontational? Sui-zi, you tell me."

Tang Mingliang had his own selfish motives, deliberately giving Sui-zi the first chance to speak. This caused the remaining girls to exchange disdainful glances with one another.

In truth, this matter couldn't be explained in just a sentence or two. Friendships between women were inherently complicated. All conflicts were the result of slow accumulation over time, and no one knew where the last straw would be. Perhaps in the eyes of men, it was just a small matter, but it was precisely the trigger for their conflict.

Their dissatisfaction with Sui-zi probably had its roots long ago, back in their time at the Military Arts Academy. Gradually over the years, major and minor issues had piled up. The real resentment likely began to surface in bits and pieces after Sui-zi sat at the leaders' table last time.

This morning, the dance shoes Sui-zi had left to dry on the balcony were taken by someone who then put their own shoes in their place. When Sui-zi found her shoes to put them on, she discovered they were still wet. But tonight was the final performance, and she couldn't wear her shoes. This annoyed her, so she went to confront that person. Who knew the other person would shut her down with a single sentence, showing no guilt whatsoever. Sui-zi was unhappy and said a few more words, which led to the other person throwing down their washbasin, and that's how this whole thing started.

As Sui-zi recounted the story intermittently, it sounded particularly absurd to the two men, Lu Huaizheng and Tang Mingliang. It was such a trivial matter, yet these women had the ability to turn it into such an ugly situation.

Yu Hao sat in her room for a while, then got up to pour herself a glass of water.

The sound of the water was crisp, but her attention was on the commotion outside. After a moment, Sui-zi dropped another bombshell.

"Xiao Hui took something of mine."

The female soldier called Xiao Hui instantly felt her eyes redden. Losing all composure, she raised her hand and pointed angrily at Sui-zi, lunging forward as if to hit her. She was held back by others and roared with red eyes, "You're lying!"

"This matter could be serious or trivial, Sui-zi, are you sure?" Tang Mingliang asked.

Sui-zi nodded, "Yes."

Tang Mingliang glanced at Lu Huaizheng, then turned back to ask, "What did you lose?"

Sui-zi said, "A ring, the one my grandmother left me."

"When did you lose it?"

"Last year, during the company performance tour. I couldn't find my ring, and the day before, I saw Xiao Hui going through my things."

Everyday squabbles were one thing, but stealing involved a person's character. Instructor Tang felt that even if this matter needed to be handled, it wasn't his place to do so. He considered reporting it back to the Cultural Troupe and letting them handle it internally.

But then Zhao Dailin spoke up.

"This is easy to solve."

Lu Huaizheng and Instructor Tang turned their heads at the sound. Instructor Tang asked, "You have an idea?"

Zhao Dailin leaned against the railing, nodded slightly, and jutted her chin towards the two girls. "There's one person who will definitely know which of them is lying."

Yu Hao was holding a cup, one hand braced on the edge of the table, leisurely leaning against it and drinking water.

Suddenly, her vision brightened.

She turned her head to look. The door was ajar and slowly opened wider. The midday light poured through the widening gap, filling the entire dormitory.

Lu Huaizheng appeared at the door.

The light and shadows elongated his figure, making him look tall and slender. Yu Hao stared at the shadow on the floor for a moment before turning her head back, lowering her eyes to continue drinking her tea.

"Yu Hao, can you come out and help with something?"

After that day, the first time Lu Huaizheng spoke to her was for Sui-zi's sake. A bitterness welled up in Yu Hao's heart, as if from the tea she had just been drinking. Her expression was originally impatient, and she wanted to be firm and refuse for once. But when she turned her head, she inadvertently saw the deep emotion in his eyes, and her heart softened again.

She couldn't refuse him.

Every look from him, even a casual glance, felt filled with deep 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 spoke.

Yu Hao leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed. She was a bit assertive when she worked. Her clear eyes were penetrating, like a sharp sword that could stab directly into your heart and mercilessly drag out the little dark secrets hidden deep inside.

After studying her for five minutes, Sui-zi was the first to speak, "Hey, I've seen you before."

"Hmm?" Yu Hao raised an eyebrow.

Sui-zi smiled. "On Brother Huaizheng's phone. A photo of you two from high school."

It must have been from around the time of winter break in their first year of high school. It was snowing back then. Lu Huaizheng had insisted on pulling her into the snow for a photo together. No beauty filters, no filters, just two silly heads huddled together.

"Is that so," Yu Hao said nonchalantly. "Don't change the subject."

"Oh," Sui-zi said obediently. "Then go ahead and ask. How does the test work?"

"For the questions I'm about to ask, you only need to answer yes or no."

Sui-zi nodded.

"Are you Sui Sitian?"

"Yes."

"Twenty-five this year?"

"Yes."

"Do you hate Xiao Hui?"

"Yes."

"Have you had a violent physical conflict with her?"

"No."

...Yu Hao asked a bunch of other routine questions, and Sui-zi answered them all fluently without batting an eye.

Yu Hao then put a heart rate monitor on Sui-zi. Sui-zi fiddled with it curiously, and Yu Hao slapped her hand away, warning, "Don't move."

Sui-zi pouted aggrievedly and stopped moving. "Sister Yu Hao, are you this fierce with everyone?"

Yu Hao ignored her, readjusted the monitor, and picked up a pen to record the data.

Sui-zi muttered under her breath, "No wonder %#&*—"

Her voice grew softer and softer, and Yu Hao could barely hear the rest of what she said.

Sui-zi said again, "Sister Yu Hao, my relationship with Brother Huaizheng isn't like the rumors say. We're really not in that kind of relationship."

Yu Hao: "Oh."

Sui-zi: "I really don't like Brother Huaizheng."

Yu Hao: "Oh."

Sui-zi: "I know Xiao Hui likes Brother Huaizheng. She pretends to be disdainful of him, but every time she goes to the Air Service Institute, the first person she looks for is Brother Huaizheng. I really hate Xiao Hui. She has this perverted voyeuristic tendency. I found out a while ago that she likes to secretly read my diary, so I deliberately wrote some ambiguous things in it for her to see. I just love watching her get sad, angry, and crazy with jealousy with nowhere to vent."

Only then did Yu Hao look up and tap her pen on the table. "Then you're pretty perverted too."

Sui-zi continued on her own, "Brother Huaizheng only has you in his heart. I've seen him spacing out at that photo on his phone several times."

"You're lying," Yu Hao saw through her instantly.

Sui-zi scratched her head and admitted, "Okay, fine, it was just once. His eyes were all red, he looked so pitiful."

"When?"

"When he was at the Military Academy, I think. Grandpa Lu had just passed away, and he received the news late, so he didn't even get to see him one last time. He was probably really down then, so he thought of you."

"Then why did you climb into his dorm?"

"Hmph, I'm not telling you. You were too fierce just now."

"Oh." Yu Hao wasn't falling for that. "Then let's start the next test."

Sui-zi: "..."

After completing two rounds of tests with both her and Xiao Hui, Yu Hao walked out of the psychology room with the assessment report.

Lu Huaizheng was leaning against the wall.

Yu Hao stood at the door and handed him the file.

Lu Huaizheng took it, flipped through two pages without understanding, and raised his eyebrows at her while holding the file.

Yu Hao tucked her hands into the pockets of her lab coat and leaned against the wall to look at him. "What result are you hoping for?"

Lu Huaizheng didn't have any particular hope. He looked down at her, then turned sideways, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, and said with a smile, "I hope it's a misunderstanding so I don't have to write any reports."

Yu Hao nodded. "Neither of them lied."

His smile vanished.

"Xiao Hui didn't take the item, but Sui-zi did see Xiao Hui go through her things. In her heart, Sui-zi is convinced she took it, but she actually didn't. Congratulations, you don't have to write a report."

Yu Hao slapped the assessment report against his solid chest and turned to go back inside.

Lu Huaizheng held the file to his chest, still leaning against the wall. In the dim yellow light of the setting sun, he called out to her in a lazy voice:

"Yu Hao."

Yu Hao turned back. In the afterglow of the sunset, it was as if she saw that handsome youth from all those years ago again, and for a moment she was in a daze. A line came to mind—

An inch of lovesickness in the winding corridor; ten years of traces, ten years of heart.

Before Yu Hao could react, the figure had already straightened up and was walking towards her. The man's broad back suddenly blocked her view, pressing her against the wall. Yu Hao's back was against the cold wall, and his solid body was in front of her. She suddenly felt a shadow fall over her eyes, and the next second, the warmth of a palm gently covered them.

His deep breathing was in her ear, hot and close, spreading like fire from her eyes all the way to the bottom of her heart.

She suddenly heard Lu Huaizheng say in her ear:

"If you're scared, lean in closer. I know you saw it."