A soft snake was lying on the ground, flicking its tongue. It had yellow spots with black edges. At first glance, its pattern was vibrant, but it was actually non-venomous and had a very gentle temperament. It was a corn snake, common in this area. Behind the Military Unit was a corn snake farm, and occasionally a few mischievous ones would slip in, lying limply on the ground and watching you.

This type of snake had a mild temperament and was not aggressive. After a few visits, it became familiar with the soldiers. Sometimes, after combat training, they would occasionally see it on the ground, recognize it at a glance, and squat down to pat its head: "Xiao Huang, it's you again."

Even the girls from the Cultural Troupe, like Sui-zi, who didn't come often, had seen this snake several times. They joked that it was a female, definitely a female, and that it must have taken a fancy to one of the soldiers. Otherwise, why would it be so attached to this plot of land?

Yu Hao was blocked by him, her eyes covered. His scorching breath was on her, her heart pounded erratically, but she didn't understand what he had said.

He was pressing too close, and she couldn't breathe. With her head down, her voice sounded fragmented, "See...what?"

'So she didn't see it.' Lu Huaizheng let out a breath of relief. He looked back at Xiao Huang, which was lying on the ground and shot him a cool glance, as if to say, 'You're the only one making a fuss—'

At the same time.

Sui-zi walked out of the house and was startled to see Xiao Huang on the ground. She was about to subconsciously call out Xiao Huang's name when she turned and saw Lu Huaizheng pinning Yu Hao against the wall, one hand covering her eyes, his index finger placed on his lips, shushing her.

Sui-zi clicked her tongue but obediently kept quiet.

Then she bent down, quietly approached, and skillfully picked up Xiao Huang and carried it away.

When Sui-zi was young, she had raised a snake. She had been fascinated with these strange, soft-bodied creatures since childhood. While other girls' rooms were filled with all kinds of dolls, her room was a zoo. Later, her brother couldn't stand it anymore. One time when he went to the bathroom, the snake was cooling off on the doorframe and accidentally fell, landing right around his neck. At first, her brother thought it was something like a belt, but when he touched it, it was slippery and it moved. He was so scared that he stuffed it directly into the toilet. Afterward, he threatened to sever their sibling relationship, telling Sui-zi, "It's either me or it, it or me."

After Sui-zi had walked away, Lu Huaizheng released his hand. He took a small step back in his military boots, stuffed both hands into his pockets, and looked down at her. He felt awkward again, rubbed the tip of his nose with the back of his hand, and put it back in his pocket. He did this twice but couldn't squeeze out a single word.

As the masculine presence faded, Yu Hao opened her eyes. The light behind him was glaring, and she felt a bit unaccustomed to it. She squinted slightly. His silhouette was blurry, a blurriness that made him look indescribably handsome as he watched her without a word.

"You..."

"You..."

The two spoke at almost the same time, one looking down, the other looking up. Their gazes met, then shyly darted away, and they both fell silent. They stood in the golden-dusted light of the sunset like a flower and a leaf—the flower resting on the leaf, the leaf protecting the flower. Words unsaid, their expressions were a book of unspeakable thoughts.

Lu Huaizheng smiled, "You go first."

Yu Hao was no longer coy. She met his eyes and asked with the directness and childishness of a child asking for candy:

"Give me back the photo on your phone."

Lu Huaizheng was taken aback. "What photo?"

"The one you forced me to take with you in the snow. Sui-zi said you still have it."

He had always been reluctant to change his phone. He felt that if he did, looking at that photo again would feel different somehow. After that brick phone broke, he exported the photo, and even asked Lin Chang to search everywhere for another out-of-production brick phone. He bought one, imported the photo back into it, purely to keep the memory.

He smiled, looking down at her condescendingly, "I do still have it. Didn't you say you didn't want it back then?"

Yu Hao deliberately put on a stern face. "Even if I don't want it, I'm not letting you keep it. Next time you get your phone, you have to delete the photo. Who knows what perverted things you're doing with my picture."

Lu Huaizheng was completely unabashed, his skin as thick as a city wall. He admitted it generously, nodding, "I have done quite a few perverted things."

"Have you no shame?"

Again, that nonchalant smile. "Threw it away the day I met you."

"Your skill at sweet-talking girls really hasn't changed at all."

"Wrong," Lu Huaizheng corrected her. "Not sweet-talking girls, just sweet-talking you."

"Shameless," Yu Hao huffed.

He smiled too, then glanced at the sun's position to gauge the time. His smile faded, and he looked at her seriously. "I'm going back to Beijing tomorrow."

Yu Hao was suspicious. 'So soon?' she wanted to ask.

Whether it was from the heat or the stuffy sunset glow, small beads of sweat formed on Yu Hao's forehead. Lu Huaizheng subconsciously raised his hand to wipe them away, and while he was at it, he tucked the few stray strands of hair by her ear behind it.

Yu Hao's brain came to a sudden halt, unable to function. Her chest tightened slightly, and she gasped for air like a little fish.

After tucking her hair, Lu Huaizheng's dark eyes were full of moving affection, like ripples blooming on a river on a summer night, stirring her heart. He placed a hand on her shoulder, looking down at her intently, his voice full of temptation, "When I get back from Beijing, can we talk?"

Yu Hao stood stiffly with her back against the wall. "Talk about what?"

"What do you think we should talk about?" He deliberately moved closer, a meaningful smile on his face as he teased her, "The betrothal gift?"

'Senior Sister Zhao!'

Furious and flustered, Yu Hao's face flushed red. She kicked him and hastily turned to leave, but Lu Huaizheng blocked her return with an arm against the wall, completely trapping her in his embrace. He coaxed her, "I'll stop teasing. I really have something to tell you. Wait for me to come back?"

"Okay." Yu Hao looked up at him. "When will you be back?"

He shook his head. "They didn't say. I should be back after the Qingming Festival."

Yu Hao calculated, 'The Qingming Festival is still a week away.' "That long? Are you going alone?"

He nodded slightly again. "Chen Rui is going back with me. Sun Kai is staying behind to train with the team. I've already spoken with Sun Kai and Old Tang. If you need anything, just tell them. They'll send someone to town to buy it. Don't go out by yourself. I'll be in Beijing, so don't make me worry."

"Is Sui-zi going back with you?"

Lu Huaizheng gave her a long, meaningful look. Yu Hao kept her head turned, refusing to look at him. Then he looked away, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly as he said slowly:

"We're leaving at the same time, but not in the same car."

Seeing that she wasn't speaking.

He gave a grin that made you want to punch him and asked, "Was the other day because of Sui-zi?"

She remained silent.

"The thing Sui-zi gave me the other day, I asked her to bring it from Northern Xinjiang for me. My grandpa met my grandma when he was stationed in Northern Xinjiang in his early years. After they got married and had a few children—you know soldiers are never home—my grandma couldn't stand that kind of life, so she divorced him and went back to Northern Xinjiang. My grandpa never remarried, but my grandma started a new family in Northern Xinjiang. Grandpa didn't dare to disturb her again, so he remained alone all these years. Grandma used to sell ox horn combs, the yak horn kind. They met when he was buying a comb. After the divorce, Grandpa treasured that comb. But when I went back to the old house a while ago, I found the comb was gone. Our family doesn't have any heirlooms, so that ox horn comb kind of counts as one. I was afraid Grandpa would know in the afterlife and hold it against me, so I asked Sui-zi to buy a new one for me."

"But it's not the same one as before. Do you think your grandpa will blame you if he knows?"

"I'll just have to go down and apologize to him in a hundred years."

"Maybe your grandpa threw it away himself?"

Lu Huaizheng had had that thought too, but on second thought, 'Grandpa was such a sentimental person, how could he?' If it were him, he wouldn't have been able to part with it either, having cherished it for so many years. But then again, maybe when people get old, when they're about to die, in the final moments as life burns out, they suddenly have an epiphany and let go.

The wind blew gently. The sunset clouds faded a little, the sun sank in the west, and dusk fell. The wind began to carry a hint of chill.

"Sui-zi has someone she likes. I'll tell you about it when I have the chance. Stop overthinking." After speaking, Lu Huaizheng ruffled her hair vigorously. "Silly girl."

Yu Hao shook off his hand, smoothed her hair, and asked him:

"Why are you going back this time?"

He was silent. After a long moment, his tone became solemn. "There's been a military coup in Turkey. One of the masterminds is the former commander of the air force."

Yu Hao was stunned, finding it incredible. 'Just this morning, the news was all about world peace and prosperity.'

He saw through her thoughts and, leaning against the wall, gave her a brief explanation. "The news will be out soon. We don't interfere in the political affairs of other countries, but we have to protect the overseas Chinese there. As for the rest, you understand."

It's classified; I can't say more.

'War, plunder, famine...aren't the common people the ones who suffer?'

Yu Hao felt a sense of pity and lowered her head.

Lu Huaizheng noticed her mood. He placed his hand on her head and patted it comfortingly. "It's not that the world is at peace, but that we live in a peaceful country. China's history also rolled through thousands of years to arrive at this moment. The Beiping and Nanjing of the past were built on the flesh and blood of our ancestors." He smiled, withdrew his hand, and stuck it back in his pocket as he looked at her. "We study to get ahead, to change our destiny; but our ancestors studied to rejuvenate China, to change the nation's destiny. So, we should be thankful we weren't born in that era of war and chaos."

Yu Hao felt hot tears welling up, and her nose tingled.

"If we had been born in that era, I'm afraid..."

He smiled, his expression unchanged. With his hands in his pockets, he leaned against the wall next to her, turned his head, and said, "Not necessarily. Dire straits can still produce people with great aspirations. Perhaps there would still be a Lin Zexu, a Liang Qichao, a Kang Youwei...It's like the ancestral decree of the Ming Dynasty—no marriage alliances, no reparations, no ceding territory, no tribute. The Son of Heaven guards the nation's gates, the monarch dies with the state. No matter how incompetent the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were, they ultimately managed to guard the nation's gates and die with the state. On a grand scale, it's an ancestral decree. On a smaller scale, it's family tradition."

After this conversation, Yu Hao felt as if she was getting to know the man before her all over again. His features were the same, but the spirit in his bones was something she had never seen before.

When he spoke of the people's livelihood, he was compassionate; when he spoke of the country, he was filled with passion; when he spoke of history, he was vigilant and self-aware; and when he spoke of love, he was so debonair.

It was like getting to know him anew, captivating her soul without her realizing it.

Yes.

If the country is no more, where can one find a place for oneself?

Bones may break and blood may spill, but though the rivers and mountains remain unyielding, the green hills will still smile in the spring breeze.

Author's Note:

If the country is no more, where can one find a place for oneself? — Cai E