Lying through one's teeth

I stood at the entrance of the magnificent hall, dressed in a white pantsuit. The hall was adorned with flowers and filled with guests. Sweet and festive wedding songs played from the speakers, and a fat, big-eared emcee was passionately delivering auspicious words on stage. My father paced back and forth beside me, constantly adjusting his tie.

At the far end of the ceremonial platform stood a man with his back to me. He had very short hair, a tall and straight posture, and wore a well-fitting black suit. He held a bouquet of red roses in one hand.

The emcee announced loudly into the microphone, "Please welcome the bride!"

The guests all looked towards the entrance, and I looked around as well. Besides me, there wasn't another woman in a formal dress. As soon as my father heard the command, he quickly grabbed my hand, bent it into his elbow, and led me inside.

As the wedding march began, the guests erupted in enthusiastic applause. I walked step by step toward that figure, my heart filled with astonishment. Was this my wedding? Was that my groom? I hadn't even been dating yet, how could I be getting married?

The back view was so familiar, so familiar that the name was on the tip of my tongue but I just couldn't say it.

After rambling on and on, the emcee asked, "Are you willing to marry Qi Aifeng?" The person behind him said, "Yes."

How strange! I was already standing next to the groom, but he was still facing away from me. No matter what angle I looked at him from, all I saw was his back. The emcee asked me again if I would marry him. I thought to myself, I don't even know who the groom is, so what right do I have to say yes? I loudly replied, "No!"

The words had barely left my lips when the lights dimmed, the music abruptly stopped, and the obese emcee and my father vanished without a trace. A chilling wind seemed to blow from nowhere into the once magnificent hall, and all was silent. The guests sat motionless in the shadows, like soulless puppets. The flowers withered and decayed in an instant, gray cobwebs dangled from the balloon arch, and old cracks appeared on the gleaming marble floor. Only the LED screen continued to silently play photos of me from childhood to adulthood.

The screen flickered with blue light, casting an eerie glow on the figure in front of me. The man remained with his back to me, the bouquet of flowers hanging from his hand now bare, just a stem. He spoke in a sinister tone: "You don't want to?"

"I don't want to! What can you do to me? I'm not easily scared!" I looked around and saw a knife next to the nine-tiered cake with moldy green spots on the champagne table. I grabbed it and shouted, "Hey! Monster, show your true form right now!"

The man suddenly turned around: "Then go die!"

Watching helplessly as the flower stick in his hand transformed into a submachine gun and he pulled the trigger without hesitation, I yelled, "Holy crap! It's you!" and lunged off the stage.

I was covered in a cold sweat and my body ached all over. My eyelids felt as heavy as lead. I could hear a jumble of sounds in my ears: voices, footsteps, car horns, the rumble of gunfire, and the crackling of electricity.

Someone walked quickly to my side and slapped my face repeatedly, saying, "Qi Aifeng, Qi Aifeng." Then they raised their voice, "Dr. Cao, come here, the patient has woken up."

I couldn't open my eyes. I felt someone's hand touching my body. After a while, two fingers pried my eyelids open a small crack. Everything in front of me was white, and I couldn't see anything clearly.

A strange male voice said, "She has woken up, but she is very weak. Let her rest well, and keep her eyes in a dark place."

A familiar male voice said, "Weak? She was really strong when she was swearing just now."

I:......

One footstep faded into the distance, another approached. My lips trembled as I struggled to utter, "Yu...Yu..."

He squeezed his fingers and said, "I'm here. You can't stand the light, so don't open your eyes yet. Take your time to adjust."

"Oh, you said...you said, Gao Chen...is dead?" Returning to reality from the terrifying dream, as my mind slowly cleared, this was the first question that jumped into my head. An earthquake struck, I was buried, he came to rescue me, and then told me Gao Chen was dead.

Yu Zhongjian didn't answer for a long time, and I got impatient: "Say something... say something!"

He said in a deep voice, "Aren't you concerned about your own injuries? Why are you concerned about him first?"

"I...I'm still alive, aren't I? Tell me, what happened to him?"

"Dead."

"How...did he die?"

"He was crushed to death."

I was struck dumb, speechless for a long time. My whole body trembled uncontrollably, my nose stung as if it would explode, and my eyes welled up with tears. How could this be? He was so outstanding, quick-witted, and intelligent—how could he be dead? This is impossible!

The hand holding my fingers tightened its grip, and I couldn't break free. There was no one to wipe away my tears, so I just let them slide down my temples to my cheeks, cold and lifeless.

"Where's Han Bo... Zhou Yi, Xiao Hei, Xiao Zhang, and the other team members?" I asked with difficulty, afraid of hearing any more bad news.

"fine."

"Where is Xiao... Xiao Qing?"

"Alive."

"Everyone else is alive, except for Gao Chen... who is dead?"

"yes."

Tears welled in my eyes, and after a few words, I opened them easily. Without looking at the surroundings or the layout, I squinted for a moment to adjust to the light before looking directly at the man sitting next to me.

"Are you... even human? How could you lie to me about something like this? I'd be a complete idiot if I believed you!"

Yu Zhongjian looked at me expressionlessly: "If you don't believe me, why are you crying?"

He was wearing a military uniform, not the kind of bare, civilian-style training clothes, but a proper military uniform, the same standard camouflage combat uniform as Gao Chen. He wore the rank insignia of two bars and three stars on his collar, along with armbands and a soft chest badge. Combined with his short haircut, lean facial features, pale but not ashen skin, and wolf-like focused and cold eyes, he exuded a chilling aura.

"I didn't cry, my eyes are dry." She tried to pull her fingers away, but her arm hurt as soon as she moved. "Don't keep holding me, let go."

He didn't loosen his grip, and even expanded his hold from his fingers to his entire palm, though he wasn't using as much force. "Mind your own business. Do you know you were buried for three days, unconscious for ten days, suffered secondary brain damage, internal bleeding, fractures in both arms and legs, and severe dehydration? You almost became brothers in misfortune with Lao Lin?"

I was startled and quickly moved my left hand fingers and both toes; they were still there. Apart from the pain all over my body, it wasn't anything serious.

"Are you alright?" I asked hesitantly.

"You're alright? You won't be bedridden for six months."

It was only then that I took a good look around. It was a military tent, sparsely furnished. The only things I could see were a table, a pile of ammunition boxes, a bed I was on, and another folding bed diagonally opposite me. Presumably to protect my eyes, the small windows on both sides of the tent were covered with curtains, but natural light filtered in through the gaps in the doorway and under the tent, and it wasn't too bright.

As we spoke, someone outside reported military intelligence, requiring Yu Zhongjian to handle it. Another deafening explosion rang out in the distance. I realized I wasn't in any safe place, but rather on the front lines of the battle against the zombies. It was utterly unbelievable that he hadn't treated me on the spot, but instead transported me from Ningcheng to here.

He finally let go of my hand and got up to leave. I quickly said, "You still haven't told the truth. How is Gao Chen? Is he injured? Where is he injured?"

He strode out, his tone extremely harsh: "Dead!"

I never expected that the person who would take over the shift would be Liu Meili, who was supposed to be far away in Jinyingshan. She appeared a second after Yu Zhongjian left, as if she had been eavesdropping outside the tent the whole time.

What brings you here?

"I came by helicopter." Liu Meili looked like she had found her pillar of support and rushed to my bedside crying, "Xiao Qi, you're finally awake! If you hadn't woken up, Dr. Cao and I would have been tortured to death by that Yu guy."

"What happened? Are Xiao Hei and the others alright? Gao Chen, are you okay?"

"It's okay, listen to me..."

Two weeks ago, a sudden earthquake struck Ningcheng, with a magnitude of at least six or seven. Houses collapsed, streets cracked, and in seconds the city was reduced to ruins. The Howard Johnson Hotel collapsed, burying our team of over a hundred people under the rubble. However, some of us escaped unharmed—the team leaders who had been discussing matters in the lobby that night. Zhou Yi reacted the fastest, followed by Zhang Yanhuang, while Han Bo and Xiao Hei were a step slower and sustained minor injuries from falling rocks.

They waited for the aftershocks to subside before beginning to dig through the rocks to rescue people, and used radio to request assistance from nearby teams. The tremors were strongly felt in Liucheng, 200 kilometers away. Early that morning, Yu Zhongjian mobilized almost half of his frontline troops to Ningcheng, and one or two thousand men were concentrated to dig through a large hotel – the rescue was incredibly fast. Teammates were pulled out one by one; although they all had broken legs and arms and were bleeding from head wounds, none of them died.

I was the most unlucky one; the place where I was buried was the deepest. The team members in the next room were all dug out, but they still couldn't find me. Many people thought I was dead, but only Yu Zhongjian and Han Bo refused to give up. The two of them scraped away almost several layers of the ground at Haosheng, and finally found me trapped under stone slabs and steel bars in a pit five meters deep.

Liu Meili leaned closer to me and said, "Xiao Hei told me that the guy surnamed Yu carried you away without caring about the lives of the other team members. They are still recovering in Ningcheng. I went there yesterday. Anyway, the minor injuries are being taken care of by the seriously injured. Apart from the lack of medical care, they are all fine."

"Gao Chen isn't dead?"

Liu Meili shrank her neck and glanced warily at the tent entrance, then whispered, "What do you mean 'dead'? It's just a shoulder and back injury. You should avoid mentioning Gao Chen in front of that Yu guy. I mentioned asking Gao Chen to come see you the other day, and he almost glared at me to death. He made me clean guns and move ammunition all day. I'm a nurse here to take care of a patient, why should he make me do these things!"

My heart started beating normally again, and I relaxed completely: "Just don't listen to him, he can't do anything to you."

"No? Hmph." Liu Meili smiled horrifiedly. "He sent a helicopter up the mountain without even saying hello to my uncle and aunt, and brought me here without a word. He wouldn't let me take care of the whole bunch of wounded in Ningcheng, he only made me take care of you. When you were unconscious, he would find fault with me and Dr. Cao eight times a day! That Yu guy is different now, he's an authorized commander, not the mentally ill guy we could bully back in the veterans' quarters."

I closed my eyes wearily and said calmly, "I didn't mean to mess with him. I'm relieved to know that everyone is alright."

Liu Meili leaned closer to my ear and said in a hushed voice, "Let me tell you, his intentions are as clear as day. Everyone knows he's interested in you. Those soldiers outside ask me how my sister-in-law is all the time. Look at the mess this has made! He did save your life, so you should think it over carefully."

I thought to myself, somewhat resentfully, "What's there to weigh? If he were buried, I'd risk my life to save him! Brothers in arms, bosom friends, that's how it should be." But despite these thoughts, I still felt a strange, indescribable feeling. With the zombie horde pressing in, he still dared to send so many soldiers to the rescue, and he wasted two or three days searching for me. Wasn't that a bit too much of a favor?

As for whether he or she had feelings for me, I didn't hear anything.

When Liu Meili arrived, I realized that my injuries weren't as serious as Yu Zhongjian had made them out to be. My head was broken, I was dehydrated, and my arm was indeed fractured, but the claim that I wouldn't be able to get out of bed for six months was pure nonsense. My legs were only injured, not broken; it wasn't like he said, that both my arms and legs were completely broken.

Amidst her nagging complaints, I drifted off to sleep. I slept soundly and didn't have any of those strange dreams. When you're powerless, you have to accept reality and be content with the status quo. He told me to stay on the front lines to recover, so I'll stay. With him protecting me, I have nothing to worry about.

While recovering from my injuries on the front lines, I woke up and fell asleep to the sound of gunfire every day. I did nothing else but listen to Yu Zhongjian issuing various orders outside the tent. Liu Meili and I would change our dressings, get massages, and eat inside the tent, followed by another round of complaining about him. We exchanged many interesting anecdotes about the Yu "family," creating countless imaginative versions of his background, which amused us immensely.

During that time, Liu Meili went to Ningcheng twice more to deliver medicine. She wanted to tell me about Gao Chen and Xiao Qing when she returned, but I always interrupted her after she started to speak. Seeing the surprise and annoyance in her eyes, I knew it wasn't something I wanted to hear. What could I do? Let them be!

After ten days in the military tent, the artillery fire gradually subsided, and the troops prepared to move to the next point of attack and defense, which was also the location of the largest zombie group. More than forty male members of our Huaicheng Detachment, both lightly wounded and uninjured, rushed over and were no longer carrying out guerrilla missions. Yu Zhongjian incorporated them into the main force to confront the zombies head-on.

When I saw Han Bo and the others standing in front of me, I was overjoyed. I tried to jump out of bed, but dizziness quickly made me back to reality. A group of people rushed over to help me, shouting and preventing me from moving.

Han Bo had lost weight and his voice was hoarse: "Take it easy, we're all having a really tough time. The whole team is injured, we need food, water, medicine and caregivers. I haven't had a good night's sleep in the past ten days."

Looking at the haggard group, I said with heartache, "You've all worked so hard. We're injured and can't fight anymore. How about we contact a transport team to go back? The front lines really don't need our numbers."

Han Bo shook his head: "We've been playing for so long, what's the point of going back now? Go ask the team members who wants to go back. Even those with broken legs don't want to go back! If we finish what we start, victory is just around the corner."

Helpless, I waved my arm in a cast and said, "Heaven is blind, determined to smear our glorious history of battle. I can't hold a gun anymore, so I can only cheer you on from behind!"

Zhou Yi said, "In a magnitude 7 earthquake, more than a hundred people survived. This is not because Heaven is blind, but because it is taking care of us!"

Yes, it's really amazing how our team is. Since its formation, no matter what dangers we've encountered or what injuries our members have suffered, we've maintained a zero-death record. Is it divine favor, or just our incredible resilience?

Everyone else agreed with the I Ching, saying that we were lucky, blessed, and awesome, and each of us felt like we were the darlings of heaven.

"Love the wind".

A call made my smile fade. I saw Yu Zhongjian and Gao Chen walk in from outside the tent. He was wearing a sling like me, and there was a scabbed abrasion on his neck below his ear.

Didn't that guy surnamed Yu say Gao Chen was dead? How does it feel to stand shoulder to shoulder with a ghost? I asked him again and again, and he kept giving the same answer, even after Liu Meili called him out on the spot once, he still wouldn't change his story. This pervert has gone from a hidden curse to an open one, and even though I'm covered in wounds and living under someone else's roof, I can't do anything about him.

"You're here. Are you alright? Are you hurt?" I said, but my eyes were fixed on the tent flap, as if I had a feeling that someone else was about to come in behind him.

But it didn't happen. The apple-faced girl who was always by his side, practically glued to his waistband, didn't appear.

“It’s nothing, um…” He glanced at the people in the tent before speaking gently to me, “I want to talk to you, alone.”

His voice was gentle, but his eyes burned like fire as he stared straight at me, his anticipation and eagerness evident.

Han Bo, Zhou Yi, and the others didn't say a word and walked out on their own. In a short while, only three people remained in the tent. Yu Zhongjian seemed not to understand the meaning of being alone and stood rooted to the ground like a wooden stake.

I wanted to say yes, but his eyes still seemed unfamiliar and complicated, so I was reluctant to look him in the eye and instead glanced at Yu Zhongjian.

"good......"

"Let's talk another day. The troops are about to move. Everyone, get out and get on the vehicles quickly. Don't waste time." Yu Zhongjian interrupted the second half of my "okay" and waved me away without further ado.

Gao Chen was somewhat taken aback. He glanced at Yu Zhongjian, then at me, pursed his lips tightly, and turned to leave.

I was also taken aback: "Are you crazy? Didn't you say we'd be leaving in two hours? Why can't they talk to me for ten or eight minutes? What's the rush?"

Yu Zhongjian raised an eyebrow: "Didn't you hint that I should help you push him away?"

I raised my head in surprise: "When did I hint at anything? Are you saying I looked at you just now? There were only the two of you in the tent. If I wasn't looking at him, I was looking at you. Who else could I be looking at!"

He said nonchalantly, "Oh, maybe I misunderstood. Alright, since we've already started, let's set off two hours early!" With that, he stepped forward, scooped me up in his arms, and picked me up.

"I don't need you to carry me, I can walk by myself!"

"Your leg is broken and you can't walk."

"...My leg isn't broken at all! You're blatantly lying! That's outrageous!"

“I said it’s broken, and it’s broken,” he said, his hands gripping my waist and legs like iron clamps. Looking down at me, he said very seriously, “I am the commander, and everything on this battlefield must be done my way!”

I didn't want to think about the looks people gave me after he carried me out of the tent; I just felt a heavy burden in my heart. I could no longer deceive myself. Yu Zhongjian didn't admire any girls; he liked me, he always liked me! When his childish crush didn't get a response, he transformed into a domineering CEO, intending to force himself on me.

Thinking about that dream makes me panic. Is this a warning? If I reject him, given his twisted personality, will he really pull out a gun and shoot me dead?