Chapter 226: Cold and Heartless

When Rongzhen woke up early, she was awakened by the heat and felt the temperature soaring again.

There was only a pool of water left in the ice basin placed on the floor in the middle of the dormitory. The melted ice and the water vapor evaporated from the high temperature made the room feel very unpleasant after a night of brewing. It was hot and sticky.

While the others were still asleep, she quickly climbed down and went outside to use the toilet and take a shower.

But she wasn't the only one who had this idea. The bathroom quickly became crowded, and the temperature was not much different from that in the dormitory or outside.

Where there are many people, there is a lot of gossip. Even when they are busy, they can still exchange information and share what they have.

Rongzhen occupied a squat toilet and clearly heard someone telling everyone about the strange thing he discovered this morning while taking a shower.

"...A grown man got his balls kicked out of him. He must have been up late at night doing something bad and got caught and punished..."

Upon hearing this, Rongzhen's eyes darkened as she recalled what happened on the way home from get off work last night.

She had never expected that in the strictly managed official survival base, there were people who dared to commit crimes against the law, taking advantage of darkness to rob female comrades who were returning home late in a remote place on the road.

So when that person rushed towards her with his private parts exposed, she directly used the long-lost kick that could end her family lineage, and did not panic and not know how to resist as the other person expected.

Not only did she resist immediately, she also almost kicked his weapon to pieces.

Note, it's almost.

It’s not that Rong Zhen’s skills have deteriorated, but he held back a bit because this is the official base. Otherwise, he would definitely let the other party taste the feeling of losing everything.

But according to the insider sister outside, the gangster's baby egg was kicked to pieces, which was obviously inconsistent with the effect of her kick at that time.

Could it be that the gangster wanted to take the opportunity to frame her?

It seems unlikely. No matter how much he hates her, he wouldn't deliberately destroy himself.

Maybe something else happened after she finished fixing him and left.

Rongzhen guessed that after taking care of the three urgent needs of life and taking a quick shower, he did his things step by step while waiting for the official personnel to come to his door.

She didn't believe that the gangster would keep his mouth shut after suffering such an injury. She was afraid that he was eager to expose her so as to take revenge.

Even if the other party attacked first with malicious intent, she probably couldn't escape the charge of excessive self-defense.

But Rongzhen has no regrets. If it happens again, she will only kick harder.

After waiting for a long time, almost a whole day passed, but no one showed up. Instead, the gangster was publicly used as a typical example to warn others.

Rongzhen felt relieved when she heard this. Although she didn't know what had happened and no one came to her to ask about the situation, she was very happy to see that the other party got the lesson he deserved.

Someone, who had hidden his achievements and fame, was scratching his head as he wrote his self-criticism, squeezing out words one by one like toothpaste, much to the amusement of his teammates, who sneered at him with gloating glee: "We asked you to play the hero, but now you see how hard it is. Hurry up and write! The captain will come to inspect it himself soon."

Another teammate asked curiously, "Hey, Brother Zhu, who kicked that beast before you crippled it? That kick was incredibly precise, perfect for us to shine on our exploration team."

"She has her own work and won't come." Zhu Yan struggled with the words he wrote and answered without raising his head.

The team members' eyes lit up immediately. "Oh my, there really is such a person! Who is she? Which department does she work in? Do you like her? Does she know how much you've devoted yourself to her? How did you two get together? When can we have our wedding?"

A barrage of questions bombarded Zhu Yan's head. He looked up, rolled his eyes, and said in a humming voice, "Don't mention it. She doesn't like me."

"That's impossible. You're so handsome, young and energetic. Which girl can refuse you?" His teammates didn't believe him and thought he was being Versailles.

Zhu Yan slumped his shoulders. "But she's avoiding me now."

"Now? Did you do something bad to her in the past?" The smart teammate hit the nail on the head.

Zhu Yan stopped talking immediately and buried his head in writing his self-criticism.

Now everyone understood that he had hit the nail on the head, and began to enthusiastically give him various suggestions.

Zhu Yan felt dizzy after hearing this and didn't have time to finish writing his self-criticism. He was scolded by the team leader who came to inspect and was stuffed into the team that was leaving for exploration in another city the next day.

Rongzhen came to work early that morning and saw him standing outside the pharmacy department. She was about to walk past him without paying any attention to him, but he reached out to stop her and apologized.

"I'm sorry, it was my fault that night. I shouldn't have kissed... ugh!"

Zhu Yan's extremely honest bald mouth was covered by Rong Zhen in time. He could only blink his clear eyes and look at her, trying to let her see his sincere attitude and exchange his sincerity for hers.

This was the conclusion his teammates reached after discussing it in the middle of the night after he was penalized.

No matter who is right or wrong or what happened, it is always right to make your attitude clear and apologize sincerely.

Little did she know that Rongzhen was almost frightened by his aggressive apology. Listen to what he wanted to say. Is that something that can be said in public?

If she hadn't quickly covered his mouth, the colleagues around him who were listening intently would have heard it.

"Shut up and follow me!"

Rongzhen glared at him fiercely and pulled him to a corner.

Zhu Yan was pulled over obediently, just like a big dog with raised eyebrows and eyes who was being scolded by his master but didn't know what he did wrong.

Arriving at the corner, Rongzhen shook off his hand and said bluntly: "That night was an accident. I fought back at the time, so I don't care about it. You don't have to take it to heart."

"But you left." Zhu Yan couldn't help but interrupt.

Rong Zhen looked at him coldly. "I'm leaving because it's good for both you and me. When you kidnapped me, you also provided me with supplies and a place to survive the cold. It's even. You've got what you wanted, and I want my freedom, too."

There's no such thing as freedom. I just don't want to stay with him anymore, for fear that I'll be dealt with one day, which might lead to the failure of the mission.

Seeking benefits and avoiding harm is everyone's survival instinct. Forgive her for not wanting to get involved in this trouble again.

Zhu Yan's lips trembled, and he couldn't say anything corny like "I can accompany her to find freedom". He had used up all his strength to apologize.

His stubbornness and pride would not allow him to be humble.

Although his teammates had taught him countless tricks to please girls before he came here, his mind was blank now. He could not remember anything except staring at her with grievance and discomfort.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault..."

"I told you, you don't have to apologize. Just stay away from me and be well. I will be very grateful to you."

This was the last conversation between Rong Zhen and Zhu Yan before he left, and then he disappeared from her life.

I heard that the base leader sent a team to the neighboring city to find the official survival base there and open up a life channel on both sides.

Those who go there are all good soldiers selected from hundreds of thousands, and there are also some people who have made mistakes and been punished and need to make amends.

At first, Rongzhen just heard her colleagues discuss this matter and didn't think it had anything to do with her. It was not until the exploration team left that someone found her and gave her a points card.

"This is what Brother Zhu asked me to give you before he left. He said he wouldn't need it outside, so it's perfect for you to improve your life. It contains points he's accumulated from several missions with us. You can buy a lot of things at the base. Take it and spend it. Don't let his kindness go to waste."

Zhu Yan's teammate who came to deliver the card observed Rong Zhen's reaction and didn't say anything good for Zhu Yan, but his words and actions showed the same meaning.

Rongzhen's drooping eyelashes trembled. She didn't expect that even though she had told him that day how cruel and heartless he was, he still remembered to leave something for her before leaving.

No wonder he disappeared. I thought he really listened to me. It turns out he was going on a mission with the exploration team.

He probably knew that she would never accept the gift, so he left the points card to her.

Because the points on the card have a time limit and will be invalid if not used after that time, he knew she would definitely not be willing to waste them.

But Rong Zhen still declined politely: "I don't want it. Since he saved it with great effort, you can spend it for him first. When he comes back, you can pay him back."

Zhu Yan's teammates were surprised and not surprised by this. They felt that Zhu Yan was not targeting the wrong person. At least this girl was not greedy and had good character.

Rong Zhen, the greedy ghost who is madly trying to fill the space: ...

"Do you know why Brother Zhu was punished to join the exploration team in Lincheng? He didn't have to go originally." Teammate Zhu Yan changed the subject, and the question he suddenly asked made Rong Zhen raise his eyes.

Rong Zhen: "Punishment? Could it be related to me?"

Otherwise, this person would not have brought up this topic with her at this time.

But no matter how she thought about it, she couldn't figure out how she could have implicated the other person. Apart from those few accidental encounters, they had no connection at all.

She refused to take the blame.

Zhu Yan's teammate nodded and then revealed: "It's because of the hooligan you taught a lesson that night..."

Rongzhen's heart skipped a beat, but she listened to him calmly until the end, and finally understood what happened to the gangster after she left that night.

It turned out that Zhu Yan had not left that night, but had silently fallen behind her and accompanied her back to the dormitory. He witnessed with his own eyes the gangsters who appeared on the road being severely punished by her, and then he completely defeated the gangsters after she left, trying to cover up the traces of her actions, but the truth was still discovered by experienced officials.

Then he took all the responsibility and intimidated the gangster so that he would not reveal the truth when he defeated him.

"He wanted to keep it a secret, but he didn't realize everyone had sharp eyes and could see through his little tricks. Luckily, the person he taught a lesson was a bad guy, and the higher-ups wanted to use this as an example to set an example. Plus, with the captain guaranteeing him, he didn't get severely punished."

However, if he continued to stay in the base, he would always attract more attention and be easily attacked by some people with ulterior motives. So the captain simply sent him out under the pretext of punishment to keep him out of the spotlight. When he came back after performing meritorious service, everything would be easy.

"So, his heart towards you is sincere. If he did anything wrong in the past, please be lenient with him for this matter. After all, he's only eighteen years old. It's normal for him to be young and ignorant, impulsive, and have a bad temper. If you think there's something wrong with him, just ask him to change, and he'll definitely obey. We all see clearly that he's not ungrateful."

Zhu Yan's teammate spoke a lot from the bottom of his heart, praising the guy to the skies. He secretly said that he must ask the real boss to treat him to a meal when he comes back, otherwise it would be a shame for all the talk he had said.

Rong Zhen reacted quickly after being shocked, suppressing the complex emotions surging in her heart. The corner of her mouth twitched as she said, "You also said he's only eighteen. Are you encouraging high school students to have premature love?"

Zhu Yan's teammates: "!!"

I accidentally got myself into trouble.

Oh, never mind. The meal card has been delivered and he can leave.