Eighteenth Years of Spring

第二十八年春

eighteenth-years-of-spring

In the Turbulent Spring of Youth, Only You Captivate (1) Part 1

As if a current had passed through her, Yu Hao&#x27;s whole body felt tingly and numb. Her toes couldn&#x27;t help but curl as she lay limply on the bed, squinting to peek at him.



 The lights in the room were off. Outside, the moonlight was piercing and the wind was crisp. It poured through the window, scattering a clear radiance across the floor. The cold wind blew the curtains, making them ripple like waves.



 Lu Huaizheng braced himself with one hand on the bed, his other cradling the back of her head as he forcefully pressed her towards him. He tilted his head, bit her lower lip, and sucked it gently. The man&#x27;s normally cool eyes were now filled with a roguish charm. Yu Hao felt so dizzy and light-headed that she thought the ceiling above was about to collapse.



 This time, Old Li wasn&#x27;t around.



 His kiss wasn&#x27;t as domineering as last time, and he wasn&#x27;t in a hurry to thrust his tongue in. He just held her lips, teasing and licking them gently.



 Moreover, this man didn&#x27;t have the habit of closing his eyes when he kissed. His deep eyes remained fixed firmly on her. Yu Hao deliberately avoided his gaze, so he tilted his head to kiss her, intercepting her line of sight. The more she tried to hide, the more he refused to let her go, a mischievous smirk hanging on his lips.



 Gradually—



 His smile faded. Cradling Yu Hao&#x27;s head, he slowly pressed her down onto the pillow. He was no longer teasing her with light, playful kisses, but lowered his head and heavily captured her lips, forcefully prying them open and tracing the warm inside of her mouth to hook her tongue.



 The moment their tongues touched.



 Yu Hao&#x27;s heart trembled, and she tried to pull back.



 After being pressed onto the pillow and teased by Lu Huaizheng for a while, he looked down and saw her eyelashes trembling faintly. He slowly pulled back, shifting to her ear, nibbling and pecking at its delicate shell. He whispered coaxingly, &quot;Scared?&quot;



 After asking, he went back to kissing her lips, pecking them lightly bit by bit.



 He was actually being very proper, only kissing her and not letting his hands wander. Yu Hao was kissed until her head was swimming and she couldn&#x27;t tell which way was up. Her reply was fragmented, the mumbles swallowed by his mouth, &#x27;...Your eyes...are so red.&#x27;



 Lu Huaizheng braced himself with one hand on the bed, while the other continuously supported the back of her head so she wouldn&#x27;t get tired. This left him no free hands to do anything else. Although his mind was reeling with desire, he stayed proper, afraid of scaring her.



 He seemed to have a particular fondness for her ears.



 He bit her earlobe and licked it. Yu Hao was ticklish and kicked her legs trying to get away, but he pulled her back each time and held her firmly, mumbling, &quot;If you move again, I really won&#x27;t be leaving tonight.&quot;



 Stunned, Yu Hao obediently shrank back, closed her eyes, and let him kiss his fill.



 Until—



 Yu Hao suddenly felt the warmth leave her lips. Opening her eyes, she saw Lu Huaizheng still in the same position, propped up on one hand, his head slightly tilted as if listening to something outside. Yu Hao asked in a low voice, &quot;What&#x27;s wrong?&quot;



 &quot;Your senior sister is back.&quot; He lowered his head and a helpless smile, the kind that comes from being interrupted, touched the corner of his mouth.



 Yu Hao&#x27;s face flushed. She sat up abruptly, leaning against the headboard to straighten her clothes and hair. Lu Huaizheng also pushed himself up and sat on the edge of the bed, his legs spread casually and shoulders slumped. In the faint moonlight, he watched her flustered attempts to tidy up. Then he turned on the bedside lamp for her, reached out to slowly tuck a few loose strands of hair behind her ear, and said softly, &quot;Don&#x27;t panic, she&#x27;s still at the first-floor landing.&quot;



 Yu Hao couldn&#x27;t find her original hair tie, so she casually grabbed a pen from the nightstand and deftly twisted her hair into a bun at the back of her head, then looked at him, a little at a loss.



 Lu Huaizheng had seen this skill before. Back in high school, he&#x27;d seen her tie her hair like this once. It was halfway through P.E. class, her hair tie had snapped, so she&#x27;d used a pen to roll it up. In any case, she couldn&#x27;t let her hair down.



 Now, this simple action seemed to transport him back to the past, and he watched her, slightly lost in thought.



 When Zhao Dailin entered the room, this was the scene that greeted her.



 Yu Hao was dressed neatly, her hair tied up cleanly without a single stray strand, leaning against the headboard. Lu Huaizheng sat on the edge of the bed, hunched over with his elbows on his knees. The two of them were pretending to have a serious discussion—



 To be precise.



 It was Yu Hao, all by herself, feigning seriousness and putting on a one-woman show, discussing the case with the man by the bed.



 &quot;We still don&#x27;t know if the other party has accomplices, but I can be sure that he is not a militant—&quot;



 Lu Huaizheng didn&#x27;t pay her any mind at all.



 Looking up, he saw Zhao Dailin come in. Without any reservation, he gave her a magnanimous nod as a greeting before turning back to ruffle Yu Hao&#x27;s hair and call her out directly, &quot;Alright, stop pretending. Your Senior Sister Zhao is an experienced woman, she gets it.&quot;



 Yu Hao glared at him.



 Lu Huaizheng stood up with a smile and pinched her puffed-out cheeks instead.



 &quot;I&#x27;m leaving. Get some sleep.&quot;



 Zhao Dailin glanced at her little junior sister and deliberately teased her, &quot;Looks like I came back at a bad time?&quot;



 Yu Hao slid all the way under the covers, hiding her face.



 Lu Huaizheng stood by the bed, looking down at her. After a moment, Yu Hao quietly lifted a corner of the blanket, revealing a pair of dark, sparkling eyes, as if tentatively asking, &#x27;Is Senior Sister Zhao still standing there?&#x27;



 Lu Huaizheng glanced at Zhao Dailin, then bent down to stroke her head, comforting her softly:



 &quot;Your senior sister is just teasing you. Go to sleep.&quot;



 Not long after Yu Hao lay down, Lu Huaizheng chatted with Zhao Dailin at the door for a while.



 Zhao Dailin spoke bluntly, &quot;To be honest, I&#x27;ve known Yu Hao for so long, but I&#x27;ve never seen such a childish side to her. I don&#x27;t know if it&#x27;s because I spend less time with her, or if she&#x27;s just used to wearing a mask in front of people, even me.&quot;



 Lu Huaizheng chuckled and looked down. &quot;When I knew her in high school, her mask was even thicker than it is now. I don&#x27;t know what she&#x27;s been through all these years.&quot; His tone was regretful.



 &quot;She&#x27;ll tell you when she&#x27;s ready.&quot;



 Zhao Dailin looked up at the night sky and smiled after hearing that. She lit a cigarette for herself and offered one to Lu Huaizheng, who, for a change, shook his head and refused.



 &quot;What&#x27;s this, quitting smoking to become a dad?&quot; Zhao Dailin teased him.



 Lu Huaizheng smiled and shook his head. He had actually always been a light smoker, and barely smoked at all in recent years, only having one occasionally when the thought struck. He wasn&#x27;t really addicted. But ever since seeing her at the wedding banquet that day, he&#x27;d found his craving for cigarettes had grown.



 Zhao Dailin put the cigarette back in the pack and said casually, &quot;Have you and Yu Hao thought things through?&quot;



 &quot;What counts as thinking things through?&quot; he asked in return.



 Zhao Dailin didn&#x27;t know how to respond to that and stared at him, stunned.



 Lu Huaizheng stuffed his hands into his pockets, his gaze fixed on the distance. He squinted and said, &quot;Do you believe that in this world, there&#x27;s always one person waiting for you? Not the kind of person who just happens to show up when you happen to want a relationship or need company. But rather, you always feel that this person, the one you&#x27;ll spend the rest of your life with, should be her. If such a person exists, I think it&#x27;s her. So I don&#x27;t want to hesitate anymore, because I&#x27;ve never had a choice.&quot;



 His words left Zhao Dailin deeply stunned. She didn&#x27;t react for a long time after Lu Huaizheng had left, lost in a daze. &#x27;Does such a person really exist?&#x27;



 Then, Sun Kai&#x27;s face appeared in her mind.



 She thought she must be going crazy.



 ...



 At 3:20, the sky was still pitch black, and the clock ticked on, neither fast nor slow.



 Lu Huaizheng returned to the break room and carefully went through all the materials Yu Hao had organized. She had marked all the suspect&#x27;s characteristics in red pen.



 Here was a summary of all the clues that could be gathered from him so far.



 Not a local, suffering from a serious illness, sexually promiscuous.



 His gaze moved further down the page.



 Yu Hao had written—



 No leg hair.



 Lu Huaizheng frowned slightly. &#x27;What kind of clue is this?&#x27;



 Skin painting.



 Seems to be hiding something.



 Lu Huaizheng helped Yu Hao by completing the rest of the maps, gathered all the materials together, and stood up to leave the Conference Room.



 A soldier holding a rifle stood at the door of the Solitary Confinement Room.



 Seeing him approach, the soldier gave a crisp military salute. Lu Huaizheng nodded slightly, peered inside through the window, and spoke to the soldier at the door, &quot;Has anyone gone in?&quot;



 The soldier stood ramrod straight, his hands pressed firmly against the seams of his pants. &quot;No, sir! Only Dr. Yu and Captain Sun!&quot;



 Lu Huaizheng nodded and tilted his chin toward the lock.



 &quot;Open it.&quot;



 The soldier immediately opened the door.



 The lock creaked, and the door swung open with a bang. The person sleeping inside startled awake. Seeing an unfamiliar face, he lost interest, rolled over, and went back to sleep.



 Lu Huaizheng had the soldier close the door.



 The lights in the Solitary Confinement Room were off, and it was pitch-black. Only a sliver of moonlight shot through the barred window, casting a round patch of light on the floor and giving the room some brightness. The back of the person on the bed barely stirred.



 Lu Huaizheng pulled a chair over, placed it by the head of the bed, and then sat down, tugging at his pant legs.



 He leaned back against the chair.



 There was still no movement from the bed.



 He lifted a leg and planted his foot on the edge of the bed with extreme arrogance. Suddenly, he kicked out hard. With a harsh creak, half the bed instantly tilted, its leg hitting the wall. A small dent appeared in the gray-white wall, and dust began to trickle down.



 The soldier outside the door heard the loud commotion and couldn&#x27;t help but poke his head in at the window to see. He found Lu Huaizheng leaning back in his chair with his back to the door, his posture lazy, one foot still resting on the bed.



 Was he about to use &#x27;extrajudicial punishment&#x27;?



 Should he pretend he hadn&#x27;t seen anything, or...just hadn&#x27;t seen anything?



 The person on the bed woke up and turned to glare at him.

In the Turbulent Spring of Youth, Only You Captivate (1) Part 1

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