Ling Huanwu's lips twitched as she listened to Zhou Jiuzhen's words, and she quickly pulled him into the hotel.
As the elevator doors slid open, Zhou Jiuzhen instinctively gripped the strap of his canvas bag, his knuckles turning white.
His faded old military uniform was reflected in the mirrored wall, standing out starkly against the backdrop of the glittering hotel lobby.
His Adam's apple bobbed, but he didn't say anything. He just quickened his pace to catch up with Ling Huanwu's back.
The room card beeped as it opened the door. Ling Huanwu had just turned around when she saw Zhou Jiuzhen standing frozen in the doorway, his eyes wide like copper bells.
"Come in." She smiled and walked in. Just as she put her luggage down, she heard a "bang" behind her.
Looking back, Zhou Jiuzhen bumped into an automatic sensor door. Before he could regain his footing, the door slowly closed, trapping his elbow.
He grunted, frowned, took two steps back, stared at the door for a long time, and then squeezed out through gritted teeth, "This thing... bites?"
Seeing the Hong Kong people pointing and whispering behind her, Ling Huanwu quickly pulled the person into the elevator.
Upon arriving at her room, she busied herself unpacking her luggage when she heard another "whoosh."
Turning around, I saw Zhou Jiuzhen standing at the shower room door, holding a showerhead in his hand, pressing the switch on the wall with a wary expression. Hot water dripped down his sleeves, leaving dark stains on his military uniform.
“This lump of iron… how come it’s flowing water by itself?” His voice was a little tense, as if he were confronting some enemy. “Our well in Stone Village still needs to be pumped hard.”
Just as she was about to explain, Zhou Jiuzhen moved to the toilet and squatted down to examine the silver button.
He hesitated for a long time before pressing the button. The "whoosh" of the flushing water startled him so much that he jumped up and knocked over the nearby trash can as he backed away. The aluminum can rolled twice on the carpet, making a jarring sound.
Zhou Jiuzhen stood frozen in place, his ears turning slightly red. After a long while, he whispered, "This outhouse... why is it making more noise than the bugle call from the company headquarters?"
Ling Huanwu couldn't help but laugh out loud and handed him a towel to wipe his hands.
When Zhou Jiuzhen took it, his gaze swept over the digital clock on the bedside table. The numbers were flashing on and off. He stared at it for a while, then suddenly turned and asked, "This clock... doesn't need to be wound?"
"Need not."
He didn't ask any more questions, but touched the old pocket watch that Wang Guihua had left him in his pocket; the metal case was polished to a shine.
After a few seconds of silence, he pointed to the slowly spinning air conditioner on the ceiling, his voice a bit deeper than before: "That little window... it's spinning quite happily, but isn't it drafty?"
Before he could finish speaking, he reached for the air conditioner blades, which knocked over a glass on the table, spilling water onto the carpet and creating a small, dark stain.
Zhou Jiuzhen frantically wiped the mess, muttering, "This place... has so many rules."
Ling Huanwu felt a little soft-hearted looking at his clumsy and tense appearance.
Zhou Jiuzhen had spent his life battling the wind and sand in the Gobi Desert and pushing himself on the training field; he had never seen such sophisticated gadgets before.
She went over and pressed his hand down: "Don't wipe it anymore, the waiter will take care of it."
Zhou Jiuzhen looked up at her, his eyes still showing some lingering unease. It took him a while to finally manage to stammer out, "This room... must cost a lot per night, right?"
"Yes, it's expensive."
His Adam's apple bobbed again. He looked down at his wet military trousers and lowered his voice even further: "If I had known... I could have just found a train station to tide me over."
As soon as he finished speaking, the TV on the wall suddenly turned on automatically. The news anchor's voice startled him, and he instinctively dodged to the side, his hand unconsciously reaching for his waist.
The place was empty; the guns had long been taken away.
"This box... can actually hold a person?" He stared at the screen, his brows furrowed, his tone serious with disbelief. "It's far more bizarre than shadow puppetry."
Ling Huanwu laughed so hard she couldn't stand up straight. Zhou Jiuzhen felt a little embarrassed when he saw her laughing. "What are you laughing at... I'm just telling the truth."
Seeing Zhou Jiuzhen's serious yet dazed expression, she couldn't help but step forward and gently hug his waist, burying her head in his chest to listen to his strong and powerful heartbeat.
She knew he was actually exhausted, but in order not to worry her, he forced himself to blend into the surroundings and wanted to put her at ease.
She knew that he hadn't eaten a single meal in the two days since he arrived from the island.
In a corner where she couldn't see him, he hid and vomited up everything he had eaten, feeling so unwell.
These past few days, he has been unable to sleep at all. After she falls asleep, he will tiptoe out of bed and sit there somewhere until dawn.
Ling Huanwu held his stiff body, looked up at the man with dark circles under his eyes, and felt extremely sad. "When Auntie was little... did I hold you like this?"
Zhou Jiuzhen stood there blankly, seemingly lost in memories.
She then boldly nudged his knee with her knee, and taking advantage of his momentary loss of balance, she pulled him down onto the hotel bed.
Before he could react, she had already rolled over and was half-lying on top of him, her arms tightly wrapped around his back, her cheek pressed against his warm neck, gently patting his back as her mother-in-law had done countless times before.
“I know you’re hurting,” she said, her voice muffled against his neck, slightly hoarse from the fabric rubbing against him. “My mother once told me, holding my hand, that the night she brought you home, you had a fever and could only fall asleep in her arms like this. You would cry as soon as she put you down. She said you look fierce, but you’re actually more afraid of the dark than anyone else…”
The male protagonist's shoulders trembled suddenly, and a suppressed sob escaped his throat.
She didn't look up, but tightened her arms around him, slowed the pace of patting his back, and hummed a tuneless melody as if soothing a baby.
That was the lullaby his foster mother always sang to him.
She had heard her mother-in-law use the same method to lull the triplets to sleep, and she tried to imitate her mother-in-law's singing, albeit haltingly.
"Go to sleep for a while," she said, her breath warm against his skin. "I'm here. Just treat me like your mother. I won't let go."
Zhou Jiuzhen finally stopped struggling. His stiff body gradually softened, and in the end, he buried his face in her shoulder like a child, his breathing becoming heavy and long.
Ling Huanwu remained in that position, her arms aching and numb, but she dared not move. She could only feel the dampness in the back of her neck being gradually dried by the warmth of her clothes.
The neon lights outside the hotel window spilled over the edge of the bed, casting the intertwined shadows of the two people on the wall, like intertwined vines, quietly generating a warmth that could withstand the cold winter in the quiet night.
*
Inside the villa.
Qin Jinshen stroked Ling Huanwu's photo with one hand and sipped red wine with the other, feeling dizzy.
Suddenly, the study door was pushed open.
Guard Ma rushed in, panting, and shouted excitedly, "Sir, I've received word that my sister-in-law has arrived in Hong Kong!"
Qin Jin, still drunk, looked up and, upon hearing the news, dropped his wine glass to the ground.
He wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, too excited to do anything.
The next second, he rushed out like a gust of wind.
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