Chapter 314 Feeling Powerless
Jiang Zhizhi felt it was a dream, but the dream felt so real; she could hear his voice and feel his body temperature.
He hesitated for a moment, then suddenly opened his eyes, reached out and touched the side, then touched it again.
Zhou Xiye chuckled and pressed down on her fidgeting hands: "So easily alert?"
This time, Jiang Zhizhi was fully awake. She suddenly sat up and leaned on Zhou Xiye, reaching out to turn on the bedside lamp. After closing her eyes to adjust to the glaring light, she looked down at the man lying there and found him to be a complete stranger.
She exclaimed and slumped down beside him, "What... why is your face so badly injured?"
Zhou Xiye is even darker than before, and his skin tone is uneven with some peeling. This is the result of severe sunburn.
Jiang Zhizhi knew that this was the result of being exposed to strong sunlight after sea training. Compared to Zhou Xiye and the others' high-intensity training, his was probably considered good. In severe cases, the skin on the face could be peeled off.
She reached out and touched his face with a pained expression: "Does it hurt?"
Zhou Xiye smiled and held her hand: "It doesn't hurt, you've gotten used to it. Let's rest first, and chat again tomorrow, okay?"
Jiang Zhizhi felt a lump in her throat, her heart aching. It was the first time she had seen such exhaustion and bloodshot eyes in Zhou Xiye's eyes, indicating that he hadn't had a proper rest in a long time. "Lie down quickly. I've been researching something lately. I'll put some on your face first, it'll make you feel much better. I'll put some on your body tomorrow, so it won't disturb your rest, okay?"
She had a lot to say to Zhou Xiye, but looking at him lying motionless on the bed, she felt a pang of heartache and kept quiet.
Zhou Xiye nodded, closed his eyes, and said, "Okay, I'm really tired. I'll sleep for a while."
The first three months were filled with high-intensity training, and the last half month consisted of jungle island-seizing exercises and wilderness simulated warfare.
The Wilderness Simulation War was a study he made based on the training plan written by Jiang Zhizhi, and he wanted to know how to break through an siege under extremely harsh conditions.
The exercise ended yesterday, and we returned to Beijing in the afternoon and arrived back in the evening.
The leader knew Zhou Xiye's identity—Zhou Chengzhi's son—so after getting off the plane, he suggested that Zhou Xiye go home and visit his family first.
In the past, Zhou Xiye would have resolutely refused to make exceptions, but this time, he followed the arrangements and went home by car first.
For some reason, this simulated war stirred up a lot of emotions in him, as it felt too real.
They will one day be driven to a dead end, fighting like cornered beasts with no chance of winning.
Zhou Xiye fell asleep almost instantly. When Jiang Zhizhi returned from the bathroom with the ointment, she heard Zhou Xiye snoring softly.
The ointment was something she suggested researching with Jin Huaiying after Zhou Xiye left. Sunburned skin is difficult to repair and very painful. Also, for some people with poor health or low immunity, sunburn may cause other complications if not treated promptly.
So she and Jin Huaiying studied and developed it together, and now they can try it on Zhou Xiye. If it works well...
We can ask Zhou Chengzhi later if this ointment can be put into military production for use by soldiers stationed on islands and border plateaus.
Carefully applying the ointment to her fingers, she gently rubbed it evenly onto Zhou Xiye's face.
The ointment is moisturizing and cooling, and also has anti-inflammatory properties; it feels very comfortable when applied to the face.
Zhou Xiye's brows relaxed, and he fell asleep peacefully.
After applying the medicine, Jiang Zhizhi sat on the edge of the bed and observed carefully for a while. She sighed inwardly, thinking how lucky Zhou Xiye was to have such good looks, otherwise he would be so ugly.
Thinking about it, she covered her mouth and laughed as she turned off the light. She quietly climbed into bed and lay down next to Zhou Xiye. She snuggled closer to him and only fell asleep peacefully with her face pressed against his arm.
...
The next morning, Fang Hua returned from a walk and was startled to see Zhou Xiye suddenly appear in the living room: "Xiye? Good heavens, when did you get back? I was taking a walk outside just now, and I didn't see you."
Zhou Xiye smiled slightly: "I came back last night, but it was too late to bother you."
Fang Hua walked quickly to Zhou Xiye and asked, "How come your face is so badly sunburned?"
With a look of heartache and reluctance, she wanted to reach out and touch him, but was afraid that Zhou Xiye would not be happy.
After washing up, Jiang Zhizhi smiled and took Fang Hua's arm: "Mom, I applied some ointment to him, and he's much better now. After he eats, I'll apply some more ointment to his body, and he should recover quickly."
Under the lights last night, Zhou Xiye's face was still quite bad, with some areas of his skin wrinkled.
When Jiang Zhizhi woke up this morning, she noticed that Zhou Xiye's skin tone wasn't as dark, and the peeling areas were much more moisturized, so the medicine seemed to be working quite well.
Fang Hua still felt sorry for Xi Ye and called out to Sister Chen, "Little Chen, fry some eggs in the morning, buy a chicken in the morning, and make some chicken soup to nourish Xi Ye."
Sister Chen responded and quickly went to the kitchen to prepare.
Zhou Xiye quickly advised Fang Hua, "Mom, there's no need to go to so much trouble. Just eat normally."
Fang Hua objected: "How can that be? Look how much weight you've lost. Training must be really tough, right? You should eat well when you get back. How many days can you stay home?"
"Three days. Report to the school on Sunday afternoon."
Fang Hua calculated the days and was still quite satisfied: "It's good. Spend more time with Zhizhi. She's been very busy while you were away. She has to go to school every day, study with Teacher Jin, and see patients in the hospital when she comes back at night."
She said with some pride, "Our house is practically a clinic now. All these people come at the right time, figuring out when Zhizhi is out of school, and they all come to wait at home."
My home, which used to be quiet and deserted, is now bustling with activity every day.
However, the people in the hospital are all considerate and will not disturb Jiang Zhizhi after 8 o'clock unless it is an emergency, knowing that she still needs to study and rest.
Zhou Xiye looked at Jiang Zhizhi with some surprise: "So amazing?"
Jiang Zhizhi winked at him playfully: "There's something even more amazing, I'll show you later."
She knew Zhou Xiye was really tired. Even when he woke up in the morning, he didn't bother her. He was clearly exhausted.
Therefore, she also needed to give Zhou Xiye some treatment.
At breakfast, Jiang Zhizhi recounted the recent events that had occurred in the compound, with Fang Hua adding to the story.
Hearing that Li Simin had gone to the Northwest with the research team, I was quite surprised: "Will his body be able to adapt to the climate of the Northwest?"
Jiang Zhizhi nodded firmly: "Yes, definitely. I even had him bring some traditional Chinese medicine. His health has improved a lot recently."
Zhou Xiye nodded: "That's good. The climate in the Northwest is still quite harsh, especially in the places they went to... the conditions were even worse."
Jiang Zhizhi exclaimed, "Do you know where they went?"
Zhou Xiye nodded: "I know, but it's a secret."
Jiang Zhizhi chuckled, then brought up Sun Xiaoyue again: "Sun Xiaoyue married Jiang Donghua. Sun Xiaoyue is currently in Jiang Donghua's hometown. I wonder how she's doing..."
During this period, Jiang Donghua was unusually low-key, but he studied very hard every day, secretly striving to be the top student in the class.
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