April on Earth, a Hint of Joy (45)

On the way back to the station.

Lu Huaizheng was still driving, Yu Hao was in the passenger seat, and Shen Xiyuan sat in the back.

Amidst the verdant mountains and wilds, the winding and rugged narrow path was like a meandering river. Surrounded on all four sides by hazy mountain ranges that surged like giant waves through the sky, they stood between heaven and earth with a lofty, unyielding spirit, possessing their own majestic aura.

The military jeep sped along the misty mountain road. This wilderness was where Lu Huaizheng could let loose; it was considered his turf.

Shen Xiyuan was different. He had been pampered since childhood, and this was the first time in his life he had taken a long-distance car to such a place. Other than staying in the mountains for a few days with his brother Shen Mu as a child, he had never been up such a high mountain, let alone one so steep that it required a four or five-hour drive.

Coupled with Lu Huaizheng's wild driving, Shen Xiyuan felt a bit carsick. He thought it would be embarrassing to say so, so he just closed his eyes to rest for a while, but found that the dizziness grew stronger. His stomach started to churn, the contents slowly climbing up his esophagus.

Yu Hao quickly noticed something was wrong and turned her head to ask him, "Senior Brother, are you not feeling well?"

Shen Xiyuan's face was deathly pale, as if a layer of white paint had been brushed over it. In the end, he couldn't hold it in and gave a slight nod.

Yu Hao glanced at Lu Huaizheng, who had been driving seriously without a word since they got in the car. He reacted quickly, calmly glancing at the rearview mirror inside the car. The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. He leisurely turned the steering wheel and pulled the car over to the side of the road.

When Yu Hao helped Shen Xiyuan out of the car.

She suddenly realized the scenery was familiar; it seemed they were back at the spot where they had broken down earlier. She looked around warily and saw that beautiful woman sitting in a convertible sports car, smoking a cigarette. The car's side profile was very recognizable; it was a small Maserati, worth at least three or four million.

Lu Huaizheng said this village was called Yanluo, and it was inhabited by the Lahu people. There were only a few households. At the entrance of the village stood a stone tablet, inscribed with elegant red characters—Yanluo.

Shen Xiyuan squatted by the roadside, dry-heaving while holding onto a tree. He hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch; his stomach was empty, so there was nothing to throw up.

Yu Hao didn't have any tissues, so she subconsciously turned her head and asked Lu Huaizheng, who was in the car, "Do you have any tissues?"

How could he have tissues in his car?

Lu Huaizheng turned off the engine and got out of the car. When he returned, he had a pack of tissues in his hand, which he handed directly to Shen Xiyuan.

"Thank you," Shen Xiyuan said.

Lu Huaizheng leaned against the car door and replied casually, "You're welcome."

Yu Hao handed the remaining half-pack of tissues that Shen Xiyuan had used back to Lu Huaizheng. The man leaning against the car door was taken aback, and then heard her say, "Give it back to that beautiful lady, thank you."

Lu Huaizheng folded his arms, looked down, and didn't understand, "What?"

'Who would want tissues he got by selling his looks.'

Yu Hao glared at him, just about to speak.

That beautiful woman came over at some point, carrying two bottles of water in her hand. She stood smiling between them and handed one bottle to her and one to Shen Xiyuan. Then she offered a cigarette to Lu Huaizheng.

Shen Xiyuan took the water. Yu Hao didn't. She politely said, "Thank you, but no."

The beautiful woman raised an eyebrow, but not seeming to mind much, she tossed the bottle of water into Lu Huaizheng's car. Then she turned to chat with Lu Huaizheng, jutting her chin towards Yu Hao and Shen Xiyuan, "Your friends?"

Lu Huaizheng was looking down, cupping his hands around the flame to light a cigarette. Hearing her question, he lifted his eyelids, his hand paused slightly, then quickly lowered again. He hummed in affirmation with the cigarette in his mouth, took a drag to light it, then took it from his lips, holding it between his fingers, and exhaled lightly.

For a moment, Yu Hao felt that his wild and unrestrained nature was actually still there.

Just like at this moment.

The way he leaned against the car door smoking matched the glamorous woman beside him too perfectly.

The woman's resentful words from earlier couldn't help but circle in her mind—

"You haven't come to see me in a long time."

There was a question she had been unwilling to think about deeply.

In these twelve years, he must have been with other women, right? Chen Rui said he was a virgin, but Yu Hao had always thought it was a joke. With his flirtatious nature, Yu Hao felt he must have been with women. This feeling was too strong, just like the vibe the two people across from her were giving off now.

During the latter half of the mountain drive, no one spoke. Shen Xiyuan leaned listlessly against the back seat. The front of the car was dead silent.

When the car entered the Military Region, before it had come to a complete stop, Yu Hao was the first to open the door and get out. She nearly stumbled and fell to the ground. Lu Huaizheng slammed the car door shut, got out, and immediately launched into a lecture: "Don't you know to open the door only after the car has stopped? Do I have to teach you such a simple thing?"

Yu Hao ignored him, took the documents from the back seat, and turned to leave.

Lu Huaizheng pulled her back, completely ignoring whether Shen Xiyuan was present or not. "What's with the temper? Stand properly!"

Yu Hao was pulled upright.

Just then, Sun Kai and others were preparing for training. They slowly sauntered over, scanned the group with a smile, and asked Lu Huaizheng, "Shao Feng was looking for you all noon, said you haven't taken your medicine today." After speaking, his gaze swept over the other two people. Seeing their appearance, it seemed they had just returned from outside. "You went out?"

Lu Huaizheng looked down at Yu Hao and hummed a faint "mm".

Hearing this, Yu Hao abruptly raised her head, her panicked gaze crashing into the calm, dark depths of his eyes.

'He didn't take his medicine?'

His expression didn't change.

Seeing that this big shot was in the middle of lecturing someone, how could he dare to get involved? Sun Kai waved his hand, preparing to lead his men away.

Lu Huaizheng called out to him, "Wait a second."

"Huh?" Sun Kai turned back.

The sunlight was scorching, but Lu Huaizheng's gaze was even hotter than the light, fixed solely on Yu Hao. After a long moment, he finally retracted his gaze and glanced at Shen Xiyuan, who had been standing gracefully to the side the whole time. He introduced him to Sun Kai, saying, "This is Shen Xiyuan, Yu Hao's senior brother. Professor Han asked him to come over. You take him to the room next to mine to put his things down. I'll go file a report with the general district later."

Sun Kai nodded and came over to lead the man away.

Unexpectedly, Shen Xiyuan had recovered his spirits. He looked directly at Yu Hao and asked, "Junior Sister, shall we go together?"

Before Yu Hao could answer, Lu Huaizheng cut in, "She'll come later."

Shen Xiyuan ignored him, waiting for Yu Hao's answer instead.

Yu Hao was stunned for a moment, then said, "Senior Brother, you go on ahead. I'll find you later."

Shen Xiyuan smiled faintly, full of grace, "Alright."

Sun Kai led Shen Xiyuan towards the Dormitory Building. The rest went to training. Only the two of them were left on the training grounds. The sun beat down scorchingly.

Yu Hao was the first to ask, "You didn't take your medicine today? Didn't you say you did?"

The sun was strong on the training grounds. Lu Huaizheng turned slightly, enveloping Yu Hao completely in his shadow. Only then did he reply nonchalantly, "I'll take it in a bit."

Yu Hao didn't notice this gesture. Seeing his careless attitude, she glared at him, exasperated and furious. Unable to hold back, she kicked him hard. "Why don't you just not take it at all! That'll solve everything, and save me from worrying about you all day!"

Lu Huaizheng didn't dodge. The heel of her high heel kicked his calf, hard and without warning. That kick was truly forceful.

He didn't move, but he sucked in a sharp breath of cold air and grimaced in pain for a moment.

Normally, a blow like that wouldn't have been enough to immobilize him, but perhaps due to the medication he'd been taking the past few days, his physical condition was not what it used to be. That kick from Yu Hao actually made him cramp up with pain. If he hadn't been gritting his teeth, he almost would have cried out.

When he looked up again, the girl had already marched off, full of righteous anger. He leaned against the car door and laughed helplessly.

The next day.

Lu Huaizheng and Sun Kai walked into the canteen after training and saw Yu Hao and Shen Xiyuan eating face-to-face. Sun Kai found an empty table and sat down. He secretly sized up Lu Huaizheng, his heart full of doubt. Prodding his chopsticks, he whispered in Lu Huaizheng's ear, "I say, after all that trouble, you brought back a love rival for yourself?" At this point, he gave Lu Huaizheng a thumbs-up, both mocking and admiring him. "When it comes to being broad-minded, I have to admire you."

Lu Huaizheng lowered his head, his expression blank. "Don't trouble yourself. You'd better worry about yourself."

Sun Kai paused, smacking his lips. "What do you mean?"

Lu Huaizheng revealed his usual faint smile.

With him, when he had a straight face, he usually wasn't angry. When he was truly angry, his face would carry this kind of placid smile. It made Sun Kai's hair stand on end. "I ran into Xu Yanluo today. She asked me, 'Captain Sun, how come he hasn't come to see me in so long?'"

Sun Kai was scared. "What did you say?"

"I said, your Captain Sun just had a big fat baby boy and is at home nursing the child." Lu Huaizheng glanced at him sideways with a cold smile.

"Damn, does this Xu Yanluo have to be like this! I saved her once, and now she really wants to pledge her life to me?"

But Lu Huaizheng's gaze was fixed on the other side. He said faintly, "The girl is stubborn. Find some time to make things clear with her."

Sun Kai raised an eyebrow, looking righteous and as if he were facing death with equanimity. "Fine, I'll go tell her tomorrow. When the time comes, I'll tell her everything that happened that night, bit by bit. 'Miss Xu, actually, the man who dug you out of the mudslide that night wasn't me. The man who held up the roof beam for two hours for you wasn't me either. As for me, I was just responsible for digging some dirt on the side. That brave and great man is the one right beside me...'"

"Go ahead." Lu Huaizheng finally withdrew his gaze and shot him a cold look. "If you want to die, go ahead and say it."

Sun Kai clicked his tongue, no longer joking, and said resentfully, "What's been going on with you and Yu Hao these past two days? Watching her being all chummy with that Shen guy all day, don't you feel bad?"

What can I do if I feel bad?

He was the one who brought him here, so he had to endure the jealousy and anger. Things between him and Yu Hao were unsettled to begin with. He had even less right to demand that they not see each other.

From beginning to end, he hadn't blamed anyone for this matter. After that day, his superior had called and given him a harsh dressing-down. How could he have let someone exploit such a loophole? In their daily training, it was emphasized again and again to prevent sneak attacks. He must have lost his mind that day.

He didn't blame anyone but himself.

Sun Kai suggested half-jokingly, "How about the boys and I tie him up and give him a beating to let you vent some steam."

Although he knew he was joking, Lu Huaizheng couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Are you nuts? Don't forget who you are. Besides, with Shen Xiyuan's physique, how many of your blows could he withstand?"

Sun Kai expressed his strong agreement on this point.

Over there, the two of them had already stood up.

The two of them said something, and Yu Hao smiled. Shen Xiyuan habitually patted her hair. Then they walked out of the canteen 'intimately'.

After the two had walked some distance away.

An earth-shattering sound came from the canteen entrance, like a thunderbolt hiding a towering rage.

"Bang!"

A row of chairs had been kicked over by someone.

...

There was still a little over half a week left of the training deployment in Yunnan.

Shen Xiyuan had originally said he would leave on the third day, but when he heard Yu Hao and the others were also going back, he decided to stay for two more days. This would save him the trouble of transferring transportation on the way. This matter required Lu Huaizheng's approval. Instructor Tang went to discuss it with Lu Huaizheng. At that time, Lu Huaizheng was leading a group of people to do wrap-up work on the border line.

Upon hearing that Shen Xiyuan wanted to leave a few days later, he narrowed his eyes, his gaze falling on the misty mountain scenery ahead. He put his hands on his hips and snorted, "He really makes himself at home, doesn't he."

Instructor Tang said, "Your superior also called. Shen Xiyuan is a full professor, and he's here on official business after all. We should help him out if we can. He threw up so badly on the way up, he's probably traumatized about the trip down."

Lu Huaizheng: "What did Yu Hao say?"

"She was the one who came to ask."

"Fine, let her have her way," Lu Huaizheng said, turning to look elsewhere without any emotion.

The last two days were for the routine combat exercise, which required them to camp in tents on the border line.

Only Instructor Tang, a few sentries, and the two psychologists were left in the unit, as well as Shen Xiyuan, who was now freeloading.

That afternoon, Shen Xiyuan was in his dorm writing a research report. Yu Hao, Zhao Dailin, and the others were having a video conference with Professor Han in Beijing. The topic of the video call was Lu Huaizheng's psychological treatment from two years ago.

Professor Han had reviewed all the papers Di Yanni had published in domestic and international journals in recent years. The content was bold, and her wording was indeed ahead of its time. All of her research projects were indeed some of the most controversial topics in the field of psychology in recent years.

The most famous among them was—the Stanford Prison Experiment.

This experiment has been a highly controversial one in the history of psychology ever since its completion in 1971.

They randomly assigned volunteers in the Stanford Prison Experiment to be guards or prisoners using a coin toss. And in this observation, it was found that any "guard" would abuse the prisoners in that specific environment, even though in their daily lives, they were a group of psychologically very healthy and normal college students. Zimbardo explained it as—"certain specific situations will inevitably turn good people bad," while a considerable number of psychologists believe that when Zimbardo conducted this experiment, he encouraged the experimenters and led the guards in their abuse of the prisoners.

This experiment is known as a dark area in the history of psychology, and generally, no one dares to touch it.

In a report before the year's end, Di Yanni seemed to have brought up this experiment again for comparison, and even to collect data. It was said that she was even planning to gather several physically and mentally healthy college students to re-verify the experiment.

Because the topic was controversial, this matter quickly gained a lot of attention on Weibo. There was even a group of Di Yanni's "loyal fans" who were always willing to defend her bold scientific approach.

This was the most astonishing part of the whole affair so far.

Di Yanni's follower count on Weibo had already surpassed one million.

Zhao Dailin said indignantly, "Di Yanni is now trying to prove that human nature is inherently evil! You know, once this view is confirmed by her, just think about how much malice there will be in this world!"

Professor Han nodded. "Let's put this matter aside for now. Let's organize her experimental reports from the past few years first, as soon as possible. I contacted Professor Marcy Eddie a few days ago. He still appreciates Di Yanni, but perhaps he will be more careful with his words. This matter isn't that difficult, so don't panic yet. Yu Hao, how has Lu Huaizheng's physical condition been recently?"

She hadn't seen him for a few days. She only knew that Shao Feng said he was taking his medicine on time.

"He should be alright, I guess?"

Zhao Dailin organized the documents and put them in a file folder. She said casually, "I heard they're going for a combat exercise later, and they'll have to camp in tents for two nights. Didn't you know? When they get back, it'll be about time for us to go back too."

"How do you know?" Yu Hao was taken aback.

Zhao Dailin muttered, "Sun Kai told me." She frowned suspiciously and looked down at her watch. "I guess they should be leaving now? I saw them gathering just now."