Despite Liang Qiuchi’s efforts to improve Mo Xin’s relationships with others, breaking the ice wasn’t something that happened overnight. When it was Mo Xin’s turn for night duty again, he found himself alone on the roster.

Mo Xin, as usual, woke up early and washed his face before leaving.

Glancing at the mirror unintentionally, he seemed to think of something, checked the time, and quickly washed his hair with cold water.

When he arrived at the guard post, there were still two minutes until 4 am.

Not late.

However, there was no one else in the guard post except for two new recruits waiting to hand over duty.

Mo Xin lowered his eyelids, quickly signed his name on the duty roster, and stood alone at the post for quite some time. It was only fifteen minutes later when he checked the time again.

He was used to being alone, but tonight he felt that time was passing too slowly, and it was a bit boring.

He casually picked up the recently signed duty roster and flipped back to his previous duty records from a few days ago, staring at the signature next to his name in a trance.

“What are you looking at so seriously?”

The sudden voice behind him made Mo Xin instinctively want to retaliate, but his arm was predictably held back by someone.

Then, with a smile on his face, Liang Qiuchi appeared in front of him.

“Although your instinctive reaction is quick, you shouldn’t be distracted while on duty,” he said.

“…Why did you come?” What Mo Xin wanted to ask was “Why are you late,” but the words turned around before he could say them.

Liang Qiuchi smiled and said, “I woke up and came out for a walk.”

Mo Xin grunted, looking down and saying, “Once you’re done, you can go back.”

Liang Qiuchi didn’t respond, reaching out to touch his head. “Did you wash your hair? Why is it still wet?”

Mo Xin slapped away his hand. “Short hair dries quickly.”

Liang Qiuchi then shifted his gaze to Mo Xin’s thin camouflage vest and said, “Wait here for a moment,” before walking away.

Mo Xin kept his eyes on the direction where he disappeared. In less than five minutes, Liang Qiuchi came running back.

“Here, put this on,” Liang Qiuchi tossed a combat uniform to Mo Xin’s arms. Seeing Mo Xin not moving, he urged, “I’ve worn this only once, not dirty.”

“I didn’t mean that,” Mo Xin said, looking down to fasten his buttons.

Liang Qiuchi then placed a hat on his head. “Last time I told you to wear more, but you didn’t listen. Washing your hair in the middle of the night, don’t think just because you’re young, you can take liberties. There’s field training in a few days, if you get sick and feverish again, I won’t care about you.”

Mo Xin raised his eyelids to look at him. “You’re so young, yet you’re lecturing me.” He adjusted the hat and said, “And I’m not that weak, I don’t just fall sick.”

“But how did you get a fever during field training that day?” Liang Qiuchi asked.

“…New to the place, couldn’t adjust to the environment,” Mo Xin said.

“But you indeed don’t need me to take care of you when you’re sick,” Liang Qiuchi chuckled, taking the machine gun from his hand and continuing to stand on guard. “You can fight off two people with a fever, so fierce, I should be more worried about the others.”

Liang Qiuchi’s combat uniform was too big for Mo Xin. While rolling up his sleeves, he heard Liang Qiuchi saying this and paused, turning his head to look at him. “Why did you lie that day?”

“Hmm?” Liang Qiuchi met his gaze.

“You didn’t tell the instructor the truth that day.”

“That…,” Liang Qiuchi realized, “they weren’t entirely innocent, I didn’t need to add fuel to the fire. If it were me, I might have acted the same way.”

Mo Xin raised an eyebrow. “You would?”

“Don’t believe me?” Liang Qiuchi smiled. “I used to have quite a temper, doesn’t seem like it, huh?”

Mo Xin shook his head. Although Liang Qiuchi had scolded him sternly a couple of times, most of the time Liang Qiuchi was gentle and cheerful towards him.

As radiant as the sun.

He wanted to know more.

So he asked Liang Qiuchi, “Why did you come to military school? Following in your father’s footsteps?”

“Not exactly,” Liang Qiuchi thought for a moment and said, “I’m just interested in this field, going to an advanced school to improve physical fitness and learn some theoretical knowledge.”

“Will you join the army in the future?” Mo Xin asked again.

“Probably,” Liang Qiuchi said.

The Federal Military Academy usually selected a few elite representatives every year to join a special forces unit for training. Apart from exercises, there were also opportunities to carry out real combat missions with official members.

Liang Qiuchi had already signed up for next year’s special training. Unless something unexpected happened, he had already stepped into the door of the army.

And it was the special forces that many passionate youths dreamed of.

He looked at Mo Xin and asked, “What about you? Why did you come here? I heard your older brother studies economics, why didn’t you join him?”

Mo Xin drifted off for a moment before saying, “Father said I was too violent.”

“Hmm?” This answer caught Liang Qiuchi off guard. “Why did he say that?”

“The person who attacked me was already begging for mercy on the ground,” Mo Xin suddenly turned his head, showing Liang Qiuchi a strange smile, “but I still pulled the trigger.”

This was the first time Liang Qiuchi saw him smile, but it left a bitter taste in his heart.

A silent atmosphere spread between the two, gradually solidifying. Mo Xin gazed at the stars slowly being swallowed by the dawn on the horizon, regretting what he had said earlier.

He clenched his fists, then turned his gaze back to Liang Qiuchi’s face.

“Do you think what I did was wrong?”

Liang Qiuchi didn’t answer immediately, just quietly looked at him with those deep eyes.

This made Mo Xin feel agonized, and he didn’t like being scrutinized like this.

Just as he was about to speak again, Liang Qiuchi suddenly raised his hand and patted his shoulder, squeezing it hard a few times.

“Stop thinking about the past, you also don’t need to ask for my opinion, after all, I haven’t experienced your situation firsthand,” 

Mo Xin breathed a sigh of relief.

“However…” Liang Qiuchi intentionally prolonged his tone, making Mo Xin’s heart skip a beat. “You smiled uglier than you cried just now. Are you suffering from facial paralysis?”

Mo Xin, with a cold face, pushed Liang Qiuchi’s hand away. “tsk.”

Liang Qiuchi cheekily pinched Mo Xin’s cheek.”Does this move? Smile for me again, let me see. If you really have facial paralysis, you should get it treated while you’re young.”

Mo Xin tilted his head back, grabbed Liang Qiuchi’s wrists with both hands, and was about to retaliate, but Liang Qiuchi withdrew his hand and attacked his armpit.

Seeing this, Mo Xin immediately fought back, trying to snatch the machine gun Liang Qiuchi held with one hand.

They exchanged a few moves, but neither could gain the upper hand.

Liang Qiuchi smiled. “Let’s have a bare-handed fight another day, what do you say?”

“And shooting,” Mo Xin also smirked. This time, it was a genuine smile from the heart, which made Liang Qiuchi feel a bit unsettled.

Liang Qiuchi raised an eyebrow. “Shooting? You dare to compare with me after touching a few guns?”

Mo Xin snorted coldly. “Underestimating your opponent is a big mistake.”

Liang Qiuchi chuckled, suddenly lifted the machine gun, removed the night vision goggles, and aimed the gun at the wilderness in the distance.

Mo Xin’s expression froze, thinking there might be an unexpected situation. He reached for the binoculars, but Liang Qiuchi stopped him, saying, “Don’t move.”

Perplexed, Mo Xin asked, “What’s going on?”

Liang Qiuchi supported the gun with one hand and beckoned Mo Xin over with the other. “Come here.”

Mo Xin approached, and Liang Qiuchi stepped aside to give him a view, gesturing for him to look through the scope.

Mo Xin pressed one eye against the scope and saw at the end of the wilderness, the golden sun burst out from the horizon, breaking through layers of clouds, magnified several times before his eyes.

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

The voice in his ear was full of gentle laughter, stirring a strange and unspoken feeling in his heart.

He whispered, “Beautiful.”