Chen Chen lowered his head and choked back tears as he recounted what had happened that night.
His legs gave way, and he knelt down in front of Ning Yuan, burying his face in his hands. Pain and self-blame crashed over him like waves, almost drowning him completely.
"I'm sorry, sister-in-law, it's all my fault! I'm useless! I flew the plane back, but I couldn't save the captain..."
Chen Chen wept uncontrollably, regret and self-blame gnawing at his heart like venomous snakes.
Ning Yuan felt a buzzing in her head, and the world before her eyes began to spin.
She managed to steady herself by holding onto the table beside her, her fingertips turning pale. She took a deep breath.
Ning Yuan closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and forced herself to calm down.
Now is not the time for grief and self-blame. Rong Zhaonan's fate is uncertain; she cannot collapse.
"Aheng, help him up." Ning Yuan's voice was devoid of any emotion, as if the shock and grief she had just experienced were merely an illusion.
Aheng quickly stepped forward to help Chen Chen up, then looked at Ning Yuan with concern.
"Don't worry too much, Captain is a lucky guy, he'll be fine!" Aheng comforted her, but she knew that this was probably just wishful thinking.
Ning Yuan didn't say anything, but quietly walked to the window and looked at the dark sea outside.
The sea breeze howled, stirring up waves like a ferocious beast ready to devour its prey.
"I'm going to the dock to wait for news." Ning Yuan opened her eyes, her gaze firm and her tone leaving no room for doubt.
"Damn it! It's the middle of the night and the wind is so strong. Ningning, you should wait for news in the Treasure Pavilion. I'll let you know as soon as there's any news."
Ah Heng felt that Ning Yuan was not in a good state and wanted to persuade her to give up the idea.
"No need to say anything, I have to go. Or you can just knock me out!" Ning Yuan stubbornly interrupted Aheng.
Helpless, Ah Heng could only silently follow Ning Yuan, accompanying her out of the Treasure Shop and to the dock.
The sea breeze howled, the waves rolled, and the dark sea surface resembled a giant beast ready to devour its prey, exuding a chilling aura.
Ning Yuan stood on the dock, her gaze fixed on the dark horizon in the distance, as if trying to see through the boundless darkness to find the figure that haunted her dreams.
Her mind was in a daze, and all the noise on the dock seemed irrelevant to her. Only the sound of the waves crashing against the shore pounded on her eardrums and her heart.
Time passed second by second, and every second felt like torture to Ning Yuan.
Just then, several Hong Kong police officers, soaked to the bone, escorted a group of people from the harbor and were talking indignantly.
Several Hong Kong police officers angrily discussed how outrageous the foreign warship was, completely disregarding international regulations and daring to directly fire upon Hong Kong government law enforcement vessels; it was simply lawless!
Ning Yuan discovered that they were the same group of Hong Kong police officers who had chased after them earlier, and they were escorting several trembling guys who looked like the group of desperate criminals.
"Damn it! What a rotten day, I almost died in the sea!" A short, stout Hong Kong policeman cursed as he walked, shoving the prisoner next to him.
"Those foreigners are really going too far! They just open fire without warning, they clearly want to kill our brothers!" a young Hong Kong policeman cursed angrily, while vigorously twisting the seawater off his police cap.
“Exactly! If we hadn’t run fast, we would probably be fish food by now!” Another older Hong Kong police officer echoed with lingering fear.
He touched his bulletproof vest, which was soaked with seawater, and added, "I wonder how that Flying Tigers colleague who fell into the sea is doing, whether he's alright..."
"Don't even mention it! Those shells were fired so fiercely that the sea was full of dead fish. How could anyone possibly dodge them? The sea turned red the moment the shells hit it!"
The young Hong Kong police officer who had spoken earlier lowered his voice, his face filled with grief and suppressed anger.
"We don't have our own warships..."
For the first time, Ning Yuan hated herself for being able to speak and understand Cantonese.
Listening to their description, she could almost see the scene of Rong Zhaonan falling into the water: the dark sea, the deafening sound of gunfire...
After a few shells were fired, the sea was covered in blood.
Chen Chen spoke incoherently, her mind preoccupied only with what to do next, but now that everything was done… that scene began to uncontrollably replay in her mind.
Her heart felt like it was being gripped tightly by an invisible hand; she had difficulty breathing, and her vision blurred.
She clenched her fists, staggered, her vision went black, and her body fell limply backward.
"Xiao Ning!" Aheng rushed forward with lightning speed, grabbing Ning Yuan's waist to prevent her from falling over.
Ignoring everything else, Ah Heng yelled at the still-stunned people from Treasure Shop beside him, "What are you all standing there for! Call an ambulance!"
The crowd then realized what was happening and frantically began calling for an ambulance.
"Don't be afraid, Xiao Ning, it's okay, brother will be alright..."
Ah Heng gently patted Ning Yuan's back while comforting her, but she herself felt her eyes welling up with tears.
...
Ning Yuan had a dream...
She dreamt that she had returned to that small county town in southern China a few years ago.
The day of the college entrance examination...
The summer sun shines through the dense leaves of the mango tree, casting dappled shadows on the ground.
The air was thick with heat, and the chirping of cicadas rose and fell.
She was wearing a white polyester shirt and army green trousers, sitting on the back of his bicycle, gently wrapping her arms around his waist.
Rong Zhaonan dropped her off at school, and as she jumped out of the car, he suddenly reached out and ruffled her hair, saying, "Once you get into university, you'll be my real wife!"
Sunlight filtered through the dense mango tree leaves, dappling his handsome, well-defined face with tiny dappled patterns of light. His usually cool eyes held a gentle yet passionate smile.
She doesn't quite remember how she felt at the time, but for that instant, she remembers her heart beating very, very fast...
Then he turned around, lowered his head, and went into the examination room.
As I worked through the test papers, time ticked by... Time seemed to grow thick and sticky.
She finally finished writing and slowly walked out of the examination room.
Should I become his wife?
This is an even harder question than the college entrance exam... She failed it in her past life, will she have to take it again in this life?
But... she thought, she liked him.
She loved his long, slender fingers, and the burning passion beneath the cool exterior of his eyes when he occasionally looked at her.
She liked the goji berry and chrysanthemum tea he made for her...
I love walking with him along country lanes, and I love it when he picks bunches of wildflowers from the fields for me, saying he just picked them up...
He loved to sit with her and read English aloud every night when she was burning the midnight oil studying for her exams, and he would obsessively stack each of her papers neatly together.
She liked that he was a clean freak, but he wouldn't force her to follow his rules.
She also liked, in a vulgar way, that he let her manage his entire salary, and that he awkwardly brought her gifts...
She didn't know why she suddenly had the courage, but...
If that's who he is, then perhaps she could try taking the marriage test again...
Parents were everywhere picking up their children from the exams, their faces beaming with joy and anticipation.
However, she waited from dawn to dusk, watching the crowd disperse, the sun set, and the last glimmer of light on the horizon disappear completely.
She didn't see that familiar, tall, and aloof figure, like a poplar tree, come to meet her...
She stood stubbornly on the dark street, and suddenly, in a daze, tears streamed down her face.
...
Ning Yuan suddenly opened her eyes, and the white ceiling came into view. The strong smell of disinfectant filled her nostrils, making her head throb with pain.
She blinked blankly, and it took her a while to realize that she was lying in a hospital bed.
...She struggled to sit up, but felt weak and extremely tired.
"Oh dear, my sweet girl, don't move!"
Before Ning Yuan could react, she felt a hand gently press her back onto the bed.
Immediately afterwards, a familiar voice rang in her ear, filled with deep concern and a hint of barely perceptible panic.
"You scared me to death! How could you suddenly faint? If Ah Heng hadn't reacted quickly, you would have fallen flat on your face!"
Ning Yuan turned her head and saw that it was Madam Ning the Second. Her well-maintained face was full of worry, and her exquisite makeup could not hide the fatigue in her eyes.
"Mom...when did you go back to Hong Kong..." Ning Yuan opened her mouth, but felt her throat was dry, as if it had been burned.
"Oh, my dear girl, don't talk, drink some water first." Madam Ning quickly poured a glass of warm water and carefully held it to Ning Yuan's lips.
Ning Yuan drank a few sips of water from her hand and then felt a little better.
She immediately threw off the covers and got out of bed: "I'm going to the docks!"
How could she have become so fragile... fainting at the drop of a hat.
There's still no news about Rong Zhaonan, and I wonder how the full-scale search is going. Perhaps...
"You can't move!! The doctor said you're experiencing...too much emotional fluctuation!"
Madam Ning pressed her down, seemingly choosing her words carefully before speaking—
"The doctor said that you are suspected of being pregnant and need to rest well and avoid emotional fluctuations."
Madam Ning gently patted Ning Yuan's hand and sighed with some complicated feelings.
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