The March mornings were still filled with a damp sea breeze, so strong it was hard to open one's eyes.
Zhou Jiuzhen came out in a hurry, wearing only a military shirt and no coat.
He was carrying the coat he had prepared for Ling Huanying in one hand, his fingers already numb with cold.
When the wooden door of the police station creaked open, he almost immediately stood up straight, a glimmer of light breaking through the bloodshot eyes, like someone who had been waiting for the sunrise finally seeing the horizon.
But when the police officer said, "New evidence has been found, so Ling Huanwu cannot be released for the time being," the light in his eyes instantly went out. He felt as if his bones had been removed, and he slammed his head against the door frame.
"Impossible..." His voice trembled, and the bag in his hand twisted out of shape. "Huanwu wouldn't even dare to kill a duck, how could she... What kind of evidence did you get? Someone must have framed her!"
The police officer patted him on the shoulder, reassuring him and assuring him that they would continue their investigation.
But Zhou Jiuzhen wouldn't listen. He suddenly squatted down, ran his hands into his messy hair, and his shoulders trembled uncontrollably.
The wind blew in through the crack in the door, making the old scar on the back of his head ache.
That was left behind by him last year when he protected Ling Huanwu during the storm surge.
At that moment, he silently vowed in his heart that as long as he was there, no one could hurt his Huanwu.
But now, standing in the courtyard of the police station, he can't even bring her out of these cold walls.
“Comrade, call your Captain Sun out here,” Zhou Jiuzhen looked up, his face covered in tears mixed with snow, his voice hoarse as if it had been sanded, “I promised her I’d take her back today. She’s never been in a detention center before… she’s afraid of the cold…”
No one spoke again; only the wind swirled the fine raindrops, which fell on his hunched back, as if burying him and his unspoken hopes in the boundless cold...
In the following days, Zhou Jiuzhen repeatedly tried to find Captain Sun, but Captain Sun seemed to be deliberately avoiding him and could not be found.
Finally, after waiting behind the big tree at the entrance until midnight, he saw Captain Sun, who was extremely exhausted, come out of the police station.
Zhou Jiuzhen quickly emerged from behind the tree and shoved a large nylon bag into Captain Sun's hands. "Old Sun, could you please take these things to my wife? Thank you!"
Captain Sun was exhausted from going out late at night when he was startled by someone suddenly jumping out from behind a tree.
"Battalion Commander Zhou, you're going to scare people to death, you know? Didn't I tell you not to bring anything in? Take it back right now, and take a whole bag of it! Do you think you're going on a long trip and staying at a guesthouse?!"
Captain Sun subconsciously took the nylon bag, opened it, and glanced inside.
You won't believe it until you see it, and what you find will shock you.
The bag contained practically everything.
There were a bunch of snacks in one bag, including crispy biscuits and a big bag of dried tangerine peel candy, as well as all kinds of cosmetics that were in high demand at the supply and marketing cooperative, such as lipsticks and face creams. Not to mention that big bag of thermal underwear. Was he worried that his wife would be cold in prison?
Captain Sun reached inside again and pulled out a hard object.
Upon opening the bag, it turned out to be a brand new urine bucket.
Captain Sun was utterly speechless. "What are you doing? Are you worried that your wife can't go to the toilet, or that we're abusing her?"
Zhou Jiuzhen looked at the urinal, and his eyes welled up with tears. When he spoke again, he found his voice was hoarse.
“She sometimes gets up at night, and I’m afraid she’ll be scared…”
The thought that she might encounter mice in the dark at night made his heart ache.
"They all live in the same room. Has anyone bullied my Huanwu? And..."
He asked a series of questions, making Captain Sun's head buzz, and he reached out to stop his incessant instructions.
"Alright, alright, Battalion Commander Zhou, I'll tell you the truth. If we follow the rules, you can't bring any of these things in!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Jiuzhen's shoulders slumped instantly.
Captain Sun couldn't bear it and comforted him, "But don't worry, there are no prisoners on our island. Your wife has a room all to herself, and it's incredibly spacious!"
"Honestly, if you really want your wife out of here, the best thing you can do is to ask a criminal investigation expert from the city to come and do fingerprint identification and other things. Our island simply doesn't have the technology to solve the case and find the real culprit."
Zhou Jiuzhen's eyes lit up instantly upon hearing this. "You're right, then why don't you go and invite them?"
Captain Sun rubbed his aching temples and sighed, "Don't you know our island is going to be relocated? Pilots have been sent here from above, saying we have to move the island immediately. Experts predict a storm surge will arrive in a week, so we need to be ready to evacuate the people at any time."
"Therefore, the leadership has decided to send technical personnel to investigate your wife's matter after this relocation!"
"But as you know, once the storm surge arrives, it becomes impossible to collect physical evidence and fingerprints at the scene..."
After hearing Captain Sun's words, the hope that had just been ignited was extinguished again. He said anxiously, "A week? How can Huanwu endure that? Besides, what if the fingerprints disappear when a storm surge comes? What can she do to get those criminal investigation experts to come up with?"
Captain Sun handed him the nylon bag and suggested, "Although we can't really talk to each other, I heard that the first-generation trace evidence technician in the city is an old acquaintance of Commander Zhao. Although Commander Zhao has retired, if you can get him to put in a good word, the technician will definitely be able to find time to come to our island..."
Zhou Jiuzhen stood there, stunned, his mind filled with the images of him and Zhao Tingguo severing ties a few days ago.
Captain Sun also said many things to persuade him to reconcile with his family, and worried that if a storm surge occurred in advance, Ling Huanwu, who was in detention, would be in danger.
Zhou Jiuzhen recalled the terrifying scene of the last storm surge and could no longer listen to anything else. He just nodded numbly and went home.
He looked at the bag of things that hadn't been delivered, and surveyed the empty room, every corner of which held memories of Ling Huanwu's smiles and tears for him.
He clutched the red string tightly in his hand, and on that narrow bed filled with her scent, he cried uncontrollably, just like when he was nine years old.
Inside the detention center.
Ling Huanwu stared blankly at the stir-fried garlic sprouts and cured pork that Captain Sun had just brought in.
She picked up her chopsticks, took a bite, and put it in her mouth.
She knew it was Zhou Jiuzhen who made it from just one bite.
Only he would pour the jar of tonic wine they had hidden in their space when stir-frying cured meat.
Tears streamed down her face as she held the metal lunchbox, sobbing uncontrollably.
In the end, they ate all the food in the lunchbox.
She murmured to herself, "I must eat my fill so I'll have the strength to go out."
Because her Jiu Zhen was waiting for her outside.
Little did she know that after thinking about it all night, Zhou Jiuzhen opened the door to greet the first rays of dawn and made a momentous decision, all for the sake of rescuing her from the detention center as soon as possible.
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