"Summer!"
Jiang Ciyou had just stepped out of the ward when the young soldier, Xiao Ning, dashed toward her. She instinctively recoiled to create some distance. "Wait, stop! I'm filthy."
Her scrubs were still stained with a patient's vomit, but Xiao Ning didn't care in the slightest. "So what? On the battlefield, people puke from fear all the time."
The innocence of youth hadn't yet faded from his face, yet he spoke of the cruelty of war as if it were the most mundane thing in the world.
Jiang Ciyou's brow furrowed slightly, but Xiao Ning ignored her hesitation. He reached out and grabbed the ties of her surgical gown, his fingers deftly undoing them as he grinned playfully. "Have dinner with me tonight? I saw you eating with the Captain earlier. You have to treat everyone equally, you know!"
Thinking of that cold, distant man, Jiang Ciyou shook her head helplessly. "What kind of dinner was that? It was clearly a mission debriefing."
Xiao Ning's eyes lit up. He flashed a brilliant smile, revealing his two signature canine teeth.
"That's even better! I was worried I was going to be 'the other man'..." He patted his armored chest. "I even put on my full combat gear. I figured if the Captain wanted to beat me up, I could tank a few extra hits."
Seeing his carefree, happy-go-lucky demeanor, the gloom shrouding Jiang Ciyou's heart finally dispersed. She let out a laugh, reaching out to ruffle Xiao Ning's hair. "Honestly, how old are you? Do you even know what 'like' means? ...Come back and talk to me when you're eighteen."
"It's a deal! Then Summer must not be with anyone else. You must, must wait for me to turn eighteen!" Xiao Ning's eyes shone with startling brightness, burning with the unique stubbornness and sincerity of youth.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Xie Chi had finally pried the entire truth from Wen Zhishao's mouth.
The unit's most virtuous doctor had framed an innocent woman, attempted murder, and then hired a hitman to finish the job.
In contrast, the "born villainess" Jiang Ciyou had never hurt a soul.
After admitting everything, Wen Zhishao abandoned all pretense, finally shedding the mask of hypocrisy she had worn for so long.
There was not a shred of remorse in her eyes, only a chilling fanaticism. "Everything I did, I did for your own good."
"Jiang Ciyou's existence is a stain on you! She tarnished your honor and humiliated you! I couldn't let her ruin you! That's why I did all of this."
"You can hate me, but you know in your heart that if you continued to be entangled with Jiang Ciyou, you would lose everything... Xie Chi, I did it all for you."
Her twisted expression was hideously grotesque. Xie Chi looked at her calmly, only one word echoing in his mind.
Excuses.
Why should he live in a bright future envied by the world, while Jiang Ciyou had to be reduced to dust and bones?
There was no logic in this world that justified trampling on a human life like this!
He kicked Wen Zhishao's hand away. His tone held no ripples of emotion, yet it sent a chill straight to the bone.
"Now, you can start repenting."
He looked down at her from his full height.
"Pray that Ciyou is safe and sound. Otherwise... I guarantee you will regret ever appearing before me."
Xie Chi became desperate to find Jiang Ciyou.
To that end, he didn't hesitate to mobilize all the connections and power of the Xie family.
His actions drew significant criticism. Many accused him of "abandoning public duty for private affairs" and "desecrating the honor of a soldier."
But Xie Chi didn't care.
However, every scout he sent out returned with the same crushing news: "Base bombed... no remains found."
"Repeated searches of the blast zone... no signs of life."
"She is on the missing persons list... probability of survival: extremely low."
Xie Chi didn't believe it.
He refused to admit that the stubborn, vivid girl who had loved him with her entire life could just die like this.
She had to be alive somewhere, waiting for him to take her home.
Just like the day they first met.
After receiving yet another hopeless report, Xie Chi boarded a plane alone, heading for her last known location—Country X in Africa, the Doctors Without Borders base.
The moment the plane landed, he jumped into an off-road vehicle sent by the local military and sped away.
Four hours later, the car slowly came to a halt. Xie Chi pushed the door open and froze.
The scene before him was less a base and more a massive graveyard. Everywhere he looked, there were ruins leveled by artillery fire, and broken limbs scattered amidst the rubble...
No wonder... everyone said she was dead.
In a bombing like this, how could anyone survive?
Xie Chi stumbled. The person beside him immediately reached out to support him, but he pushed them away roughly.
He walked forward, trembling. With every step, he couldn't help but think: How scared must she have been?
He still remembered how, in the past, whenever he stayed late at the training grounds, the lights at home would always be on. When he pushed open the door, that petite figure would be curled up on the sofa.
He would always sigh helplessly, carrying her to bed with a tenderness he hadn't even realized himself.
And she, half-asleep, would always mumble, "Goodnight."
Mother Xie had reminded him many times to maintain boundaries, saying Jiang Ciyou was a young woman after all.
But every time, he answered without hesitation: "I only see her as family."
They were ten years apart. He had practically watched her grow from a scrawny little girl into a graceful young woman. For years, he had been her Shifu. This made him certain he would never fall for her.
Even if a strange emotion occasionally flickered in his heart, he never dwelt on it.
But now...
Looking at this scorched earth, a belated regret twisted in his heart like a serrated blade. The agonizing pain made his knuckles turn white as he clenched his fists. He didn't know why it hurt this much; he only felt that the pain was worse than death.
It was as if something had died before it ever had the chance to bloom.
He bent over in agony, the tears he had forced back crashing into the scorched soil, vanishing instantly.
Just then, his phone rang violently. In a trance, he tried to hang up but accidentally pressed answer.
"Captain Xie, Miss Jiang has been found! She's in the desert—"