The girl raised her face.  

Her voice was soft and sweet, tinged with innocence: “What’s wrong?”  

She blinked her dark, bright eyes and stared straight at him, her delicate expression carrying a hint of bewilderment.  

She seemed not to understand why he had pushed her away.  

Or why he had shouted at her so harshly.  

Shen Zhanwu met the girl’s gaze, and the words he had been about to blurt out suddenly stuck in his throat, turning heavy and inscrutable.  

His chest felt tight.  

The thunderous sound of his heartbeat grew louder and louder in his ears.  

Yet the distance between them wasn’t far.  

Still very close.  

Close enough that their shallow breaths mingled and intertwined.  

The girl’s hip, nestled against the blanket, pressed firmly against his thigh, and her slender, pale fingers still rested on his arm.  

Her fingertips were slightly cool.  

Every bit of her radiated dependence on him.  

A girl with such a soft temperament, coming alone to an unfamiliar city with no relatives to rely on—the only person she could be close to was probably him.  

At this thought, Shen Zhanwu’s dark eyes abruptly softened. “Don’t do this. If outsiders see, it won’t be good for your reputation.”  

Ruan Qingzhi asked softly, “You don’t like me hugging you?”  

Shen Zhanwu’s expression stiffened slightly, his thin lips pressing together. “…I’m just not used to it. In the future—”  

Ruan Qingzhi suddenly leaned in, her soft lips brushing against his ear as she cut him off, murmuring, “In the future, I’ll only hug you when we’re alone, just like earlier. Okay?”  

Her words, slow and tender, didn’t sound like a request.  

But an invitation!!  

Shen Zhanwu’s pupils trembled, his large hand gripping the blanket tightly.  

His heartbeat spiraled out of control.  

Just like those crumpled folds in the sheets.  

In truth, from the moment Ruan Qingzhi had thrown herself into his arms, the heat in Shen Zhanwu’s ears had been steadily rising.  

And now, at this moment, they were completely red.  

Shen Zhanwu mustered his patience once more, gripping the girl’s slender arm to pull her further away, deftly sidestepping the topic.  

“Thank you for going out of your way to make congee for me.”  

Ruan Qingzhi stared at the man’s flushed earlobes and said gently, “And thank you for preparing lunch for me.”  

Shen Zhanwu glanced at the coffee table, pausing before getting to the main point: “You… where did you get the money?”  

He had given her two yuan.  

After deducting the cost of the bathhouse, she should have had about thirty or forty cents left.  

But that remaining amount wouldn’t have been enough for her to buy all these ingredients to make him a bowl of congee.  

When that heavy box of congee had been pressed into his hands,  

It felt just like his heart—  

Sinking, weighed down.  

The only image Shen Zhanwu could conjure was her solitary figure hurrying through unfamiliar streets, buying meat and rice for him, and the way she must have cautiously pleaded with others.  

Rather than asking where the money came from, what he truly cared about was whether she had been wronged in the process…  

Ruan Qingzhi lowered her eyes. “My family gave it to me.”  

Shen Zhanwu raised an eyebrow, his tone sharpening. “Your family?”  

Naturally, Ruan Qingzhi sensed the skepticism in his voice, but she couldn’t very well say the money had been stolen.  

All she could do was mumble, “I… jumped into the river once…”  

Shen Zhanwu’s brow furrowed, his dark eyes fixed on her.  

A sudden silence fell between them.

Perhaps it was because the man’s aura had grown too heavy, but Ruan Qingzhi suddenly didn’t dare to look at him.  

Instinctively turning her head, she caught sight of the newspaper she had bought earlier. Her face brightened, and she quickly pulled it out: “Look, I also bought a newspaper! It says the Shengyang Power Plant will officially start operations by the end of the month. Does that mean we’ll have electric lights then? That’s better than back home—we still used kerosene lamps there—”  

Before she could finish, a shadow loomed over her.  

Shen Zhanwu suddenly leaned forward and pulled her into his arms.  

The man’s movement was abrupt, but the force with which he encircled her was gentle.  

Ruan Qingzhi froze. “What’s wrong?”  

He remained silent.  

She waited quietly for his answer.  

Shen Zhanwu’s fingertips trembled faintly as they brushed over her slender back. His Adam’s apple bobbed several times before he finally spoke in the most ordinary tone: “You’re too thin. You need to eat more every day.”  

The girl, however, laughed when she heard this. “I thought you were going to tell me not to jump into the river again.”  

Shen Zhanwu’s hand merely swept over her hair.  

He said nothing more.  

If a person hadn’t been driven to utter despair, who would gamble with their life? Who would willingly give it up?  

Having never endured such suffering himself—  

What right did he have to tell her that her way of coping was wrong?  

It was just…  

That river water was so cold…  

Ruan Qingzhi seemed to sense the faint tremors in the man’s body. Her expression softened, and she patted his shoulder lightly, smiling. “I’m actually really hungry right now. I feel like I could eat a whole lot.”  

Shen Zhanwu: “Then let’s eat now—”  

Just then, another startled exclamation came from the doorway. Li Kanshan covered his eyes dramatically and groaned, “I’ll… wait outside…”  

You two just keep hugging.  

Shen Zhanwu’s face darkened. “…”  

Ruan Qingzhi suppressed a quiet laugh.  

The three of them sat down to eat. Seeing how thin the girl was, Shen Zhanwu picked up several pieces of meat and placed them in her bowl. “Eat more.”  

“Mhm, mhm, mhm!”  

Ruan Qingzhi buried her head in her meal like an excavator.  

She was starving!  

This was the first proper meal she’d had since arriving in Shengyang!  

In this era of hardship, the care Shen Zhanwu had put into preparing these two dishes was evident.  

Afraid she might hesitate to serve herself, the man kept placing meat into her bowl.  

Li Kanshan, chewing on his chopsticks, glanced between them a few times.  

Suddenly, he stretched his neck and said, “Deputy Battalion Commander, your wife’s cooking skills are amazing. This congee smells incredible.”  

Shen Zhanwu sipped his congee.  

The faintest lift of his brow said everything without words.  

Li Kanshan felt full after just a few bites—emotionally. He sighed. “No wonder Deputy Battalion Commander never liked Dr. Lin. Anyone would prefer someone like Sister-in-law.”  

As soon as the words left his mouth, both people across from him looked up sharply.  

Li Kanshan immediately ducked his head.  

He shoveled down a few more mouthfuls, set down his bowl, wiped his mouth, and bolted—claiming he was heading back to the barracks to apply for family housing for the deputy battalion commander.  

Not long after Li Kanshan left, two uniformed police officers strode in, their faces stern.  

“Who here is Ruan Qingzhi?”  

Ruan Qingzhi instinctively looked up. “Me?”  

What’s going on?

“Take her away!!”  

With that, they rushed forward and seized the girl by her arms.