Intimacy

Chapter 02

"...just passing by."

After saying this, Yu Xixi fell silent, her tongue licking the remnants of sugar residue on her molars. Despite feeling agitated, her expression remained ordinary.

The man's face was cold, staring at her with indifferent yet openly assessing eyes, like a wolf, yet also like a hawk.

Yu Xixi had long since averted her eyes imperceptibly, looking elsewhere, her palms sweaty.

After a moment, "You're with that group of people."

His voice was deep, low and steady, devoid of the usual intonation of a question.

"...God knows how much I dislike men from the Special Forces coming out, with their astonishing insight and judgment, making it impossible to hide anything from them at a glance."

The atmosphere instantly became awkward to the extreme.

Fortunately, the surroundings were noisy and chaotic, and few people noticed the peculiar situation on Yu Xixi's side. The military jeeps had all come to a stop, surrounding the central area. The second generation, who had been arrogant just a moment ago, all had their faces changed, looking at each other, unsure of what to do.

Several timid rich young ladies were on the verge of tears, trembling as they spoke, "We were just following Young Master Han, it has nothing to do with us..."

"Damn, I knew something was wrong a long time ago. You still surrounded them, and now it's a big mess."

"That beat-up car, who the hell knows it belongs to the military district!"

"Can you guys shut up!"

Yang, the assistant who had smashed the car earlier, was frightened by the scene, standing next to Han Sifei, unable to speak properly, "Young Master, what should we do now?"

Han Sifei's expression was also unsightly, scanning the terrified hangers-on, squinting, and asking, "Who came out of the jeep?"

Yang shook his head, "Don't know." After a pause, he pointed around, then lowered his voice with a bitter expression, "But with such a show of force, whoever they are, we're not going to have an easy time."

Han Sifei gritted his teeth, cursed, and kicked the car tire fiercely, "Damn it!"

Han Sifei, the young master of the Han family, was in a bad mood, but he still had to say what needed to be said. Yang, the assistant, pondered for a few seconds and, with a bold face, spoke up, "Young Master, if we continue like this, it may not end well. How about...," he coughed heavily, "how about we swallow our pride and apologize? After all, we did accidentally scratch their car..."

Han Sifei glared at him.

Yang, the assistant, shut up immediately.

The night breeze was slightly cool, and Yu Xixi stood still for a moment, her thin high heels supporting her weight, her ankles sore. She pursed her lips, glancing at the impeccably dressed man in military uniform. The streetlight was a dim orange, he was facing sideways, not wearing a military cap, his short crew cut hair rugged yet handsome, expressionless, occasionally flicking a metal lighter, making a "ding" sound.

Yu Xixi noticed his epaulettes, solemn brown-green, with two bars and one star, indicating the rank of Army Captain.

At this moment, footsteps approached from afar.

She looked up and saw another young military officer in civilian clothes walking over, his smile hearty, "Zheng-ge, when did you return to Cloud City? Why didn't you say anything?"

Qin Zheng lit a cigarette, "The organization made a temporary adjustment."

"Are you still going to Lan City?"

"Can't say for sure."

"How are the troops you brought this year?"

"Alright."

The two men chatted and reminisced, while Yu Xixi stood by, feeling as if she had been struck by lightning. If she remembered correctly, Qin Zheng had gone to Lan City after graduating from a top military academy, and then spent six years in the Special Forces. During these six years, the number of times this man had returned to Cloud City could be counted on both hands.

But now...

"Are you back in Cloud City permanently?"

Out of nowhere, a sweet and slightly trembling voice interrupted their conversation abruptly, sounding surprised, with a rising tone that was a bit off, a bit ridiculous, forcibly breaking the dialogue between the men.

Both men turned their heads simultaneously.

Jiang Chengye seemed to just notice there was a pretty girl here, looking surprised; while Qin Zheng's cold black eyes stared at her, cigarette in hand, a faint arc appearing at the corner of his mouth, hinting at a smile.

"...?" The question was sudden, and Yu Xixi herself felt embarrassed, clearing her throat awkwardly and saying, "I... just asked casually."

Jiang Chengye pondered for a few seconds, realizing something, suddenly grinned, leaning towards Qin Zheng, "Brother Zheng, is this our little sister-in-law?"

Qin Zheng flicked his cigarette ash, silent.

Jiang Chengye glanced at his expression, puzzled, "No? Then why is this girl here?"

Qin Zheng casually uttered a few words without much tone, "Passing by."

While speaking, his eyes remained fixed on her, blatantly wandering over her. Yu Xixi pursed her lips, feeling annoyed by his gaze, gritted her teeth, and rolled her eyes fiercely - look, look, look at this, it's like he's never seen a woman in eight hundred years because he's been in the army.

She felt a bit frustrated, hesitating on how to say goodbye, when suddenly, footsteps approached from afar.

Yu Xixi turned her head and saw Han Sifei walking towards them with a sullen expression, followed by his assistant Yang, who was smiling awkwardly.

Before long, the two of them stopped.

Han Sifei's gaze swept over the tall and straight military man, pursed his lips, then looked at Yu Xixi, walked over, and lowered his voice, "Xixi, I have something to take care of. You go back to your car first and wait for my call."

She refused, "I want to go home."

After causing such a scene, who would still be in the mood to play?

Han Sifei frowned, "Xixi..."

"Happy birthday." Yu Xixi interrupted with a faint smile, turned around, and walked past him towards her parked car.

As she passed by Qin Zheng, a magnetic voice sounded in her ear, low and deep, rich like wine, yet seemingly indifferent, "Aren't you just passing by?"

"...?" Remembering her earlier fabrication, Yu Xixi's face flushed, turned her head; the man was tall, looking down at her, his mouth slightly curved, forming a smile that seemed like a smile yet not.

In an instant, she glared fiercely at him, took big strides, and left.

Qin Zheng leaned against the car door, raising his eyes.

The sound of high heels faded away, the streetlights outlined her slender figure, fair skin, black curly hair draped over delicate shoulders. It seemed like she was angry, her steps were heavy, as if stomping, cute and funny.

He raised an eyebrow.

The little girl had grown up.

The aftermath of that night was heard from others.

It was said that early the next morning, the chairman of the Han family took his son into the military district compound to apologize, not returning until late in the evening.

But compared to these irrelevant gossip, Yu Xixi was more concerned about Qin Zheng's return to Cloud City.

After inquiring from various sources, this news was confirmed - the organization made a temporary adjustment and temporarily transferred Captain Qin Zheng back to Cloud City, still in charge of training matters for the Special Forces.

"Temporary?" Yu Xixi's eyes lit up, changing her hand to hold her phone, "Are you sure it's temporary? Then when will he be transferred again?"

She pondered for a moment, then started looking for a contact named "Qin Zheng" in her address book, a string of numbers appearing before her eyes.

These eleven digits were extremely unfamiliar, cold and piercing.

Taking a deep breath, Yu Xixi stabbed into a blank message page, typing: Captain Qin, now that you're back in Cloud City, can we take a moment to dissolve that ridiculous engagement we made when we were children? If I remember correctly, you're also in your late twenties, and being tied to an engagement is not ideal for finding a partner.

After editing, she checked countless times to make sure there were no typos, signed her name at the end, and then hit send.

Glancing at the time, it was already eleven thirty in the evening. Military personnel usually had strict and regimented routines, so at this time, Qin Zheng should already be asleep, perhaps he would only see it and reply tomorrow morning.

She pondered, yawned, and lay back on the bed.

Suddenly, a "ding" sound, a new message came in.

Yu Xixi casually opened it, her eyes drooping, the sender: Qin Zheng; the content of the message was just one cold line: "The old man wants to see you, come with me to the compound tomorrow."

"..." Um.

So, did he completely ignore her message...?