Huo Tingzhou first nodded to Professor Li and the others, then draped the thick coat he had brought over Jiang Si's shoulders.

Then he offered a gentle explanation.

"Uncle Chen is home. The military region's work ended early today, so I came to pick you up on my way."

Is it on my way?

Jiang Si didn't believe it, but with so many people present, she ultimately didn't say anything.

Huo Tingzhou has been like this lately, probably because he's about to leave, and he seems unusually clingy.

Whenever he has free time, he always tries to find a way to pick me up from get off work.

Jiang Si knew without asking that he had probably been waiting outside for a long time.

"Professor Li, we'll be going now." Jiang Si turned around and said goodbye to Professor Li and her other colleagues.

After they finished speaking, Huo Tingzhou stepped forward and put his arm around Jiang Si's shoulder.

"Be careful, the stairs are a bit slippery."

As he spoke, he tilted the umbrella almost entirely towards her.

If there weren't so many people watching, he probably would have just picked the person up and carried them to the car.

Even so, the intimacy between the two was still naturally evident.

It still drew gasps of amazement from the crowd.

Suddenly, topics like "a perfect match" and "their relationship is so good" popped up one after another.

Even Professor Li, unusually, remarked, "Xiao Jiang has good taste!"

Ling Yunfei remained hidden in the crowd, his gaze fixed on the scene.

I knew she was beautiful when I first saw her in the newspaper, but I only realized how beautiful she was after meeting her in person.

The beauty shown in the newspapers is far less than a tenth of her actual appearance.

As if sensing something, Huo Tingzhou suddenly looked back before getting into the car.

Unexpectedly, their eyes met across the distance.

Huo Tingzhou's expression instantly turned cold, and he remained silent.

But he possessed an aura of authority that came from long-standing positions of power, an aura of quiet authority that commanded respect without anger.

Even from a distance, it created an inexplicable sense of oppression.

Ling Yunfei instantly felt like he was being suffocated by the pressure.

In the end, he could only look away, awkwardly touching his nose to hide his embarrassment.

"What's wrong?"

Because there were many people blocking the view, Jiang Si did not see Ling Yunfei's figure.

She shook his hand. "The rain seems to be getting heavier again. Let's get in the car quickly."

Upon hearing this, Huo Tingzhou's expression softened instantly. "Okay."

He carefully protected her as they slowly descended the slippery steps.

After Jiang Si got into the car.

Then they went around to the other side and got on the bus.

Inside the car, seeing Jiang Si take out a clean handkerchief from her bag, Huo Tingzhou immediately stepped aside to cooperate.

"Who were you looking at just now?" Jiang Si asked casually as she wiped the wet stray hairs from his forehead.

Huo Tingzhou didn't intend to hide it from her. Although she had backed down, she was still an uncertain factor for him.

He stated directly, "I saw that person from the Ling family, Ling Yunfei."

"Oh, it's him."

Jiang Si wasn't too surprised by this, and said while wiping.

"I heard Professor Li mention it during the meeting today."

"They said their First Engineering Bureau has taken on a project in another city, and they might be busy for a while."

"Go to another city?"

"Um."

Jiang Si nodded; she wasn't entirely clear on the specifics either.

"It seems that a state-owned cement plant in Longcheng was going to expand, and the Ministry of Construction assigned the project to them."

After saying that, she gently ran her fingers through his slightly damp hair.

"Your hair seems to be covering your eyes a bit. I'll cut it for you when we get back."

Ever since I cut Huo Tingzhou's hair on Qiongzhou Island, neither he nor his third uncle have gone out for haircuts anymore.

Jiang Si bought a set of hair-cutting tools specifically for this purpose.

As for their skills, they've naturally gotten better and better.

Huo Tingzhou smiled slightly after hearing this, "Okay."

"Oh, right."

Jiang Si seemed to suddenly remember something important, and her hands paused.

"They called you to the General Military Region early this morning, are they about to leave?"

She was referring to her job as an instructor at a flight school in Heilongjiang Province.

"Hmm." Huo Tingzhou responded, then reached out and took a brown paper envelope from the back seat.

Jiang Si took it, opened it, and glanced inside. It was a beautifully crafted invitation to the "Patriotic Support for the Military Commendation Conference".

The date is set for this weekend.

There was a train ticket underneath the invitation.

It's the Sankeshu Railway Station from Beijing to Harbin, and the departure time is also this weekend.

In other words, he's going to Heilongjiang Province this weekend.

Although it was still early, and he had several days before he was to depart.

But Jiang Si was worried, so she started packing her luggage that very night.

In the past, he would pack his own luggage when he went on missions.

Basically, all I need are a few changes of clothes and some daily necessities.

But this time the situation is different; he will be staying there for more than three months.

Thinking that it was only March and that it would probably be cold in Heilongjiang Province for a while longer, Jiang Si made a special trip to the department store the next day.

I bought him several outfits, from top to bottom and inside to outside.

She basically provided everything you could think of.

After packing, I ended up with three large bags of luggage.

Jiang Si tried to lift it, and good heavens, she almost couldn't lift it.

"So many, can you carry them all?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes." Huo Tingzhou nodded.

Although many of the things here can be bought there, they are all a token of his wife's affection, and Huo Tingzhou is reluctant to take any of them away.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!