earplugs
Even in midsummer, the evenings in the mountains are still chilly. The wind carries thousands of miles of ice and snow, blowing into the heart from the other side.
Shi Youchen finished his inspection for the day and arrived at his residence, carrying a bag of equipment. It was already dark. He approached the door and was about to take his key from his pocket when he heard a faint noise, which seemed to come from inside the house.
In an instant, his fingers froze there, about to stretch, and did not move.
"Could there be thieves in a place like this?" Just when he suspected that he had heard it wrong, a louder noise came from inside, as if answering him, "You heard it right."
There was no way that sound could be made by some small animal.
Shi Youchen turned his wrist and reached for the telescopic electric baton tied to the side of the backpack.
"Da da da" the sound of obvious human footsteps suddenly approached the door. Burdened by his luggage, Shi Youchen only had time to lean sideways against the wall and hide his body in the darkness at night.
"Ka--" the door opened, and just as the electric baton was about to touch his face, the person who opened the door reached out and grabbed it.
The light from inside the house leaked out, and a large part of it was blocked by the tall figure.
Shi Youchen and Ying Yungui looked at each other in bewilderment.
"I thought there was a thief in there."
"I thought there was a thief outside."
They both finished their words at the same time, then laughed out loud. Shi Youchen relaxed completely, followed Ying Yungui's gesture, took off the bag from his back, and handed it to him, rubbing his wrist as he walked into the house.
"How did you know I was here?" Shi Youchen took off his windproof cap and hung it on the wall hook, then turned to ask the "uninvited guest" he hadn't seen for over a month. "I remember the mission location was kept strictly confidential."
He was sentenced to guard the border for three months. Every day he was either patrolling the border area here or on his way to patrol. He had not seen any living creature other than himself in more than a month. Fortunately, the place where he lived was well supplied with all the necessary supplies for survival. Even the house was a brick and tile house, which was rare in the plateau area.
"You're right! I wandered around for a long time before I confirmed it was this building. But when it was almost dark and I still didn't see you, I came in to get ready." Ying Yungui washed his hands and brought the steaming pot to the table. "The former residents of this area must have moved away not long ago. From the outside, you can't tell which building is occupied or not."
"Huh? So how did you find this place?" Shi Youchen asked casually, but his attention was completely attracted by the pot of soup.
Ying Yungui brought dishes and a hot towel and placed them in front of him. "When you were punished, you only mentioned guarding the border. District 8 has more than one border. After much thought, I think this area bordering District 7 is the quietest and safest."
Shi Youchen paused as he wiped his hands. He hesitated and said, "You? If you interfered with this matter, wouldn't it be difficult to explain to the association?" Ying Yungui said nonchalantly, "Who cares? Those guys are used to treating people differently based on their status. If I really let them do whatever they want, I'm afraid you won't be able to escape unscathed."
The implication is that Ying Yungui already knows everything that happened.
Shi Youchen's appetite, which had finally been aroused, vanished completely in an instant. He lowered his hand and said seriously, "I deserve the punishment, and I accept it. You shouldn't get involved. This has nothing to do with you."
"No, you can't stay here, go back now." The more he thought about it, the more inappropriate it seemed, and he wanted to kick the person out immediately.
Ying Yungui was holding the bowl and chopsticks. After he finished speaking, he stared at him quietly for a moment, then smiled brightly: "Okay." Then he walked straight to the door and pushed it open. The whistling wind outside immediately rushed into the room, blowing his thin clothes tightly against his chest.
"A-choo—" A loud sneeze echoed back and forth near the door, and Shi Youchen heard it clearly. "You came here like this?"
Ying Yungui held the door and turned around, looked at Shi Youchen with a wrinkled expression, and nodded.
“…”
In the end, he relented and agreed to let Ying Yungui stay here for one night, but he had to leave tomorrow. He thought that there would be no other problems, but he didn't expect that the real problem would suddenly appear before the two of them before going to bed -
"This bed..." Ying Yungui hadn't expected that while the downstairs had all the ingredients, kitchenware, water, and electricity, the most important resting environment upstairs was like this. "You didn't bring it here yourself, did you?"
This bedroom cannot be described as clean and tidy. It is simply a "bare house". The only bed is a single folding bed. Ying Yungui has no doubt that if he really lies on it, it will retire on the spot the next second.
Shi Youchen coughed lightly and said, "No." He really wasn't lying. Whether it was the association's deliberate arrangement or something else, this bed was indeed the original one here, perfectly implementing the concept of not letting the punished enjoy anything.
"I'll sleep on the floor and you sleep on the bed." Shi Youchen was about to turn around and get something for sleeping on the floor from the cabinet when Ying Yungui stopped him: "Stop it. Anyone who sleeps on the floor in this kind of weather must be crazy." He looked at the few pieces of furniture in the bedroom, and then with a flick of his finger, he dismantled the half-person-high table, broke off some of the legs, and put it next to the bed.
"I'll sleep on top of this."
It was late at night, and without extra bedding or cushions, the stiff tabletop was making Ying Yungui uncomfortable. Covered with the same quilt, Shi Youchen noticed his tossing and turning and silently suggested, "Why don't we switch? Anyway, I..."
Before he could finish his words, he was suddenly interrupted by a soft voice: "Do you still remember Lu Quezhi?"
Shi Youchen suddenly regained consciousness, his throat tightening slightly. In his trance, he remembered that Ying Yungui probably didn't have many memories of Lu Quezhi, especially the most important one, when the three of them investigated the Mo family together.
Just as he was thinking about how to change the subject, he heard Ying Yungui say, "When I took Lin Zhouze to the association's sanatorium, I met a servant of the Lu family. I used to see him often around Lu Zhiqi."
Ying Yungui closed his eyes, his arms folded behind his head. "That day, he was accompanied by a middle-aged woman who didn't look like someone with special abilities. I later inquired about her and learned that she was named Wang Lingyi and was Lu Quezhi's mother."
"..." Shi Youchen leaned sideways, "Really? That's quite strange."
In the darkness, Ying Yungui opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling calmly: "That kid can't really have any relationship with the Lu family, right?" Speaking of this, some pictures flashed through his mind, and the last one seemed to be frozen above the ceiling.
Shi Youchen's voice was very soft, as if he was extremely sleepy: "How is that possible? Don't think too much about it."
The moonlight lifted a crack in the curtains and penetrated into the room, falling directly on Shi Youchen's face as he turned sideways to face the window, making his already bright pupils even more cold and desolate.
"You..." The person behind him just started a syllable, and Shi Youchen yawned and said, "I'm going to sleep. I have to get up early tomorrow." Then he turned to the other side, and one corner of the quilt, which was not very big to begin with, was pulled, but he forgot that there was a person covering the other end of the quilt.
Ying Yungui was swept toward the window, almost touching Shi Youchen's back. Fortunately, he managed to control himself in time, leaving a few fingers of space and a few layers of clothing between them.
The person who said he wanted to sleep did not loosen the tightly stretched quilt, and the person who was brought here was even more distracted and had no intention of sleeping.
After a moment of silence, someone finally spoke first: "Your... heartbeat is too loud, it disturbs my sleep." After a rustling sound, a heat source approached Shi Youchen's head.
The soft earplugs were gently placed in his ears. Ying Yungui's voice was low and contained a hint of laughter, sounding hazy: "I'm sorry, I can't quiet it down for the time being, so I'll have to ask you to use this for now."
How could such a thing be blocked... Shi Youchen closed his eyes helplessly, but the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up slightly.
In the end, the fatigue of the whole day suppressed the slight discomfort, and Shi Youchen fell into a deep sleep with very light breathing.
Ying Yungui didn't fully turn back to the rigid table, nor did he retreat from Shi Youchen's bed. He simply leaned sideways, a few fingers' distance from him, watching Shi Youchen's back as he slowly calmed his heartbeat, and only fell asleep in the latter half of the night.
The next morning when Shi Youchen opened his eyes, Ying Yungui was still sleeping soundly.
The noise of getting up didn't wake the other person. Shi Youchen rolled out of bed quietly. His shoulders were aching from not moving much all night. He gently rubbed the sore area and noticed that Ying Yungui was still lying on his side in the same position as last night.
In desperation, he reached out to tuck in the corner of the quilt for the person who was still sleeping, and then wanted to move him to the bed which was slightly softer than the table, but the moment he reached out, he felt a little sticky and wet.
Shi Youchen paused, then carefully pulled open Ying Yungui's collar from behind and saw layers of scars hidden by the thin fabric. Several of them had cracked again under prolonged pressure, and tissue fluid and blood had already seeped out.
...
Ying Yungui hasn't had a good night's sleep for a long time. Ever since Shi Youchen came back from District 12 with the medicine, he has been dealing with him while taking care of Lin Zhouze, and also taking time to deal with the purchase of medicinal materials in District 13.
Fortunately, although Lin Zhouze's eyesight has not recovered significantly after trying the medicine, his mental state has obviously stabilized a lot, and his personality has gradually become somewhat like before, except for one thing - Yan Zhiyuan must never be mentioned in front of him.
After being busy for a while, he finally had some free time, but due to the association's regulations, he could not visit Shi Youchen directly. So Ying Yungui took the excuse of a mission and came here on his way back. Therefore, the injuries he suffered during the mission had not been fully treated.
He had a rare good night's sleep. Although his body did not get enough and comfortable rest, mental rest was more important to him.
Being with Shi Youchen, he felt calm and content.
Ying Yungui opened his eyes in the morning light and felt the warmth on his back.
Shi Youchen withdrew his hand. His calves were numb from squatting for so long. He stood up and said condescendingly, "Get up when you wake up. Go back quickly. I have to go on a mission."
Ying Yungui's voice was filled with heavy bubbles, and he teased him as usual: "Why, do you feel sorry for me?"
This time, I heard that cold voice with an unnatural tone: "Yes, so can you go back and get a full body check?"
The person at the table jumped up, his eyes not looking like he had just woken up at all. He stared at his beloved beside him with bright eyes, and said happily and firmly: "Really?"
Shi Youchen didn't say anything else: "I'm going out. Breakfast is downstairs. Send me a message when you arrive at the base. And don't forget to ask about Lin Zhouze's recent situation." After saying that, he put on his equipment in one go, pushed the door open and left.
Ying Yungui sat there in a daze for a while, then he walked quickly to the window as if waking from a dream, only in time to see Shi Youchen's figure disappear in the distance.
"Fortunately, you didn't forget it." Ying Yungui's eyes darkened. Of course, he didn't just come to take a look, but he heard that Lu Ming spoke for Shi Youchen and was worried that he would take action, so he hurried to confirm it face to face.
The moment he became a level 7 psychic, Lu Ming was no longer the elder he simply admired in his heart.
"As long as you don't remember, you'll be safe." Ying Yungui knew Lu Ming's arrogance, so he believed it.
He put on the coat left by Shi Youchen and found that the pain in the back of his shoulder disappeared when he moved. It seemed as if he remembered something. He went downstairs with a smile on his face, thinking -
If every day from now on could be like last night and today, he would be willing to suffer any amount of injuries.
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