As soon as she entered the water, Zhao Mingyue's mind went blank from the icy cold. It was so cold! She surfaced, took a few deep breaths, and paddled to get used to her surroundings. Then, she surveyed her surroundings and swam towards a child who was bobbing up and down. Shen Xuyue had already swum ahead to another child who was a little further away.

Tang Weihua and Li Chunmei had already taken off the lifebuoy and threw it to Zhao Mingyue: "Little Zhao, catch!"

Zhao Mingyue took the lifebuoy and swam to a tourist who had fallen into the water, throwing him one: "Take this lifebuoy." Then she turned to save the child. The child was already frozen stiff; his cotton-padded clothes had absorbed water and were pulling him into the water like stones. At first, the child moved a couple of times, but then stopped moving and slowly sank into the water.

Zhao Mingyue quickly lifted the child up and swam towards their boat with him, saying, "Sister, catch the child. Wrap him in my clothes." As she spoke, she struggled to lift the child up.

The people on the boat quickly took the child aboard and began first aid by removing his clothes. Meanwhile, Shen Xuyue had already handed the child to Qian Sisheng and his group on their boat, which was closer to him. Both of them hurried back to help the adults.

The two adults were each holding a lifebuoy, struggling to stay afloat in the water. Zhao Mingyue and Shen Xuyue supported the two adults as park lifeguards rushed towards them in a rescue boat. The rescue boat, powered by a diesel engine, was quite fast and quickly reached them. Zhao Mingyue and Shen Xuyue worked together to push the drowning tourists onto the boat, and they themselves were pulled onto the boat as well. Everyone hurriedly made their way to shore.

The younger child had already lost consciousness, while the older one was still conscious. Adults and children alike were wailing and crying, as lifeguards struggled to resuscitate the unconscious child. Zhao Mingyue and Shen Xuyue reached the shore, soaked to the bone, their lips blue with cold, their teeth chattering in the wind. Being on land was actually colder than being in the water. The lifeguards drained water from the unconscious child and performed CPR, pumping air into his chest. After a while, the child finally awoke, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Their classmates said, "What are you going to do? Quickly find a place to change your clothes, we'll take off our clothes and give them to you to wear."

Shen Xuyue put his arm around Zhao Mingyue and said, "No need. I'll go across the street to find someone to help me change. Do you want to continue playing or go back first? Mingyue, come with me."

Their cotton-padded coats were given to the two children. Two male classmates took off their own cotton-padded coats and draped them over Shen Xuyue and Zhao Mingyue, saying, "Let's stop playing and go home."

Shen Xuyue said, "Then you guys go back first. I'll be back once I've settled in."

Several classmates asked worriedly, "Are you really alright?"

"It's alright, don't worry, I have acquaintances around here."

Zhao Mingyue trembled uncontrollably as she followed Shen Xuyue out of the park gate, across the road, and onto the other side. Zhao Mingyue knew that this area was the core of the Republic. Shen Xuyue led Zhao Mingyue to the gate of a large compound, where the guards were armed. Seeing the two of them, who were soaked to the bone, they said, "Stop! What are you doing here?"

Zhao Mingyue looked at Shen Xuyue with confusion, wondering why he had come to Zhonghai. Shen Xuyue said, "Comrade, I'm looking for Commander Song Huacheng. Please inform him."

"Commander Song is out today. He's not home," the guard said expressionlessly.

Shen Xuyue said, "Then I'll go find his wife. I'm a relative of his family. Could you please inform her? We just saw someone fall into the water at Beihai Park, and we went in to rescue them. We'd like to go to his house to change our clothes. We're all university students."

Seeing their reaction, the guard hesitated for a moment, then nodded, went into his post to make an internal call, and then poked his head out to ask, "What's your name? Which school do you go to?"

“Shen Xuyue, from Tsinghua University.” Shen Xuyue gasped, both of their lips were blue from the cold. “Mingyue, are you cold? I didn’t expect you to jump down too.”

Zhao Mingyue's teeth chattered, and her voice trembled slightly as she spoke: "I'm a very good swimmer. There are two children in that water. If we wait even a little longer, they'll drown. We can't wait."

The guard poked his head out and waved to them: "Go in."

"Thank you, comrade!"

In such a heavily guarded place, without even identification, they were let in with just a few words, which shows the simplicity of people's hearts and the stability of the society. Shen Xuyue took Zhao Mingyue's hand and quickly walked inside. They found the place with ease, and someone was already waiting at the door. The person was a middle-aged woman in her fifties or sixties. When she saw the two of them, she was very surprised: "Xuyue, what happened? Why are you all wet? Did you fall into the water? Come inside quickly."

"Aunt Fang, it's nothing. We were just playing in Beihai Park when we saw someone's boat capsize, so we went down to rescue them." Once inside, the warm heating finally made them feel more comfortable. Shen Xuyue said, "Mingyue, this is Aunt Fang, Huaihai's mother. Aunt Fang, this is my girlfriend, Zhao Mingyue."

Zhao Mingyue quickly bowed and said, "Hello, Aunt Fang!"

Aunt Fang turned to look at Zhao Mingyue, her surprise evident on her face. She nodded and simply said, "Xuyue, go to your brother Hai's room and find some clean clothes. I'll go find some clothes for this girl, and then you two go to the bathhouse and take a shower. Warm up quickly."

“Okay, thank you, Aunt Fang.” Shen Xuyue entered a room without hesitation. Aunt Fang went to another room and came out with clothes and a towel after a short while: “Girl, you can wear my daughter’s clothes. She is taller than you, so the clothes may be a little big.”

At this point, Zhao Mingyue had no choice but to accept the fact that there were dry clothes: "It's alright, it's fine, thank you Aunt Fang."

Shen Xuyue also found some clothes and asked, "Aunt Fang, is the bathhouse still the same old place?"

"If it's not the usual place, then where is it? Here, take these two tickets." Aunt Fang handed two bathhouse tickets to Shen Xuyue.

Shen Xuyue said, "Mingyue, let's go take a bath."

This was Zhao Mingyue's first time taking a bath in such a high-standard place. The conditions were indeed much better than ordinary bathhouses, and it was very clean. Zhao Mingyue turned on the hot water and rinsed herself for about fifteen minutes before her body gradually regained sensation. Only then did she take off her wet clothes and begin to shower.

After she finished showering, she felt as if she had been reborn. She breathed a sigh of relief, changed her clothes, and went out. Shen Xuyue had already come out. He had taken less time than Zhao Mingyue and had been waiting for her. The two stood in the courtyard, their eyes met, and they couldn't help but smile.

Shen Xuyue stopped laughing: "I never expected to run into something like this while just strolling in the park."

"That's right. Luckily, nothing serious happened." Zhao Mingyue smiled.

Seeing her wet hair, Shen Xuyue suddenly recalled that summer evening when he saw Zhao Mingyue, soaking wet and with her hair dripping, running shyly past him with her arms crossed. He never expected to see her like this again today. Shen Xuyue's gaze softened: "Let's go back to my Aunt Fang's house."

Zhao Mingyue followed him back to the Song family home. Aunt Fang said, "Are you all washed up? Are you not cold anymore? Come and sit down. We'll have lunch at Aunt Fang's house. Drink some ginger soup first, so you don't catch a cold." Aunt Fang had already prepared ginger soup for them. Seeing that Zhao Mingyue's hair was still dripping wet, she went to get a dry towel to dry her hair and handed her a comb.

"Thank you, Aunt Fang." Zhao Mingyue accepted them one by one.

Aunt Fang sat down on the sofa and said, "Xuyue, did your boyfriend also go into the water to save people?"

Shen Xuyue smiled and said, "Yes, Mingyue is a very good swimmer. When she first came down into the water, I was quite startled. But luckily she went into the water too. The child she rescued was almost beyond saving. If it had been any later, he probably wouldn't have made it."

Aunt Fang shook her head and said, "These people are really something. Why would they go boating in this season? It's so cold, it's so dangerous. If they hadn't run into you, they would have been dead for sure."

Shen Xuyue winked at Zhao Mingyue. Aunt Fang definitely didn't know that they were actually rowing a boat too. Shen Xuyue asked, "Aunt Fang, where's my Uncle Song?"

Aunt Fang said, "He went to a meeting and won't be back at noon."

"Hai-ge didn't come back either? What about Xiao-rui?" Shen Xuyue asked.

"Huaihai went to the army. Xiaorui went to her tutoring class. She'll be back in a bit, and we'll eat together then." Aunt Fang checked the time. "It's eleven o'clock. I'll go cook. Please sit down and don't be shy. There are sweets and snacks here, help yourselves." With that, she got up and left.

Only Zhao Mingyue and Shen Xuyue remained in the room. Zhao Mingyue finally had a chance to look around. The Song family lived in a courtyard house, and their room was the living room converted from the main hall. A portrait of Chairman Mao hung on the wall, and the sofas were decorated with lace armrests, giving it a very elegant look. On the coffee table was a pot of daffodils nearing the end of their bloom. Against the wall, a mahogany cabinet held a tape recorder and a radio, two thermos flasks, and a set of blue-and-white porcelain teacups. The room was impeccably clean and spotless.

Even the commander's family lived a very simple life. To be precise, simplicity was a characteristic of the entire population in that era. The gap between the rich and the poor was small, and everyone was psychologically balanced, so the demand for material things was not so strong.

Zhao Mingyue didn't bother to find out what kind of commander this Commander Song was. In any case, he was an unapproachable figure to her, an ordinary citizen. Knowing about him would only add pressure to her.

Shen Xuyue didn't explain that no matter how high-ranking an official Uncle Song was, to him and Zhao Mingyue, he was just an elder.

Just as Aunt Fang brought the food to the table, Song Xiaorui returned. She was a typical northern girl, tall and slender with striking features, very beautiful. She spoke quickly and decisively, and dressed in a green military uniform, she looked very capable and efficient. Upon seeing Shen Xuyue, she was overjoyed: "Xiaoxu, you're here? Oh, she is—"

Shen Xuyue quickly said, "This is my girlfriend, Zhao Mingyue. You can just call her Xiao Zhao. Mingyue, this is Sister Xiao Rui."

Zhao Mingyue quickly stood up and greeted, "Hello, Sister Xiaorui!"

Song Xiaorui's surprise was written all over her face. She reached out and shook hands with her, saying, "Hello, hello!" She turned her head and glanced at Shen Xuyue a few times, probably wondering why he had brought her to his house. Had they really made up their minds?

Shen Xuyue explained, "Mingyue and I came to Beihai Park to play. We saw someone fall into the water, so we went down to rescue them. Our clothes got wet, so we came to your house to change."

Song Xiaorui suddenly realized, then looked at Zhao Mingyue and asked, "Did she go down too?"

Zhao Mingyue smiled. Song Xiaorui gave her a thumbs up, her eyes full of approval: "Great job! But what were you men doing? How could you let a girl go into the water like that?"

Shen Xuyue smiled helplessly: "All my classmates are landlubbers. Most of them can't swim, and those who can't are not very good at it."

Song Xiaorui shook her head with a smile: "These days, men are not even as good as us women. It's really pitiful."

Shen Xuyue smiled apologetically and said, "I know that a heroine like Sister Xiaorui is no less capable than any man."

“I think Xiao Zhao is the same, right?” Song Xiaorui winked at Zhao Mingyue.

Zhao Mingyue smiled slightly. Girls like Song Xiaorui, who grew up in military families, usually have somewhat masculine personalities. Song Xiaorui definitely has feminist tendencies.

Shen Xuyue said, "Xiao Rui, why are you still going to tutoring classes? Didn't you already graduate from university?"

Song Xiaorui paused for a moment: "I feel I don't have enough knowledge, so I want to take the postgraduate entrance exam."

Shen Xuyue said with emotion, "You guys are really ambitious. You're about to start graduate school, and I've only just started college."

Song Xiaorui patted his shoulder: "It's not your fault. That's just how this era is. There's nothing we can do about it."

Shen Xuyue nodded.

Aunt Fang called from the dining room, "Dinner is ready, come and eat!"

Several young people moved to the dining room. Aunt Fang said with a smile, "Our Xiaorui's idol is Mu Guiying. She's always dreamed of going to military school and becoming a heroine herself."

Song Xiaorui said, "Children should aspire to travel far and wide; isn't that what my father always taught us?"

Aunt Fang said somewhat unhappily, "Your brother has already gone to the army, and you're going too? Your father and I won't be able to see either of you."

Song Xiaorui said, "Mom, this is my nature. If you make me stay at home to be a wife and mother and a housewife, I will go crazy."

"Even if you hadn't gone to military school, you'd still be working at the research institute. Who told you to be a stay-at-home mom?" Aunt Fang looked at her daughter, her expression somewhat displeased.

Song Xiaorui said, "I've never left Beijing in my entire life. Please let me go out and see the world. Maybe in a few years, I'll want to come back."

Aunt Fang looked at her daughter and sighed, "Everyone else wants to stay at home and not go out, but you're so eager to run away. Look at Xuyue, he went to the countryside for so many years, but in the end he still came back to Beijing. Xuyue, nowhere is as good as Beijing, right?"

Shen Xuyue smiled and said, "That's right, nowhere is as good as home. It's very tough being away from home, Xiaorui, you need to be mentally prepared."

Song Xiaorui was clearly someone who had never experienced hardship since childhood and was particularly idealistic. She proudly said, "Chairman Mao taught us that we should not be afraid of death or fatigue. To make a revolution, we must bravely charge forward."

Aunt Fang said somewhat unhappily, "Alright, stop making statements here and let's eat."