Beneath the warm glow of the lamp, the tip of the long spear emitted a faint chill.
This... She actually hid a long spear in her own room?!
Lin Qiye swallowed hard and spoke hastily, "No, Sister Hong Ying... I just wanted to ask... do you have paper and pen?"
Hong Ying paused, "Why do you need paper and pen so late at night?"
"To write a letter."
"Ah... well, I think I do. Just wait here!" Hong Ying set her long spear aside and went back into her room to rummage through her belongings.
Standing at the doorway, Lin Qiye could clearly see the interior of Hong Ying's room.
To his surprise, Hong Ying's room was very simple, even bordering on austere.
In this room, there was only a hard bed, a desk lamp, a writing desk, and a plush toy placed beside the bed.
There were no unnecessary decorations, no expensive mattresses, no sofas, no air conditioning... Lin Qiye found it hard to imagine that in such a luxurious villa, Hong Ying's room could be so spartan.
It was more fitting to call it a monk's cell rather than the master bedroom of a villa.
The only thing in the room that matched Hong Ying's age was the adorable plush toy.
"I found the paper... here!" Hong Ying's eyes lit up as she held a pen and a few sheets of paper and walked to the doorway, handing them to Lin Qiye.
"Sister Hong Ying, do you usually... sleep here?"
Hong Ying turned her head to look back and nodded, "As a guardian of the night, one cannot indulge too much in material comforts. We must constantly temper our will... If this villa weren't my parents' legacy, requiring regular upkeep, I might have sold it long ago and gone back to live in the dormitory."
Lin Qiye fell silent for a moment. "I see, thank you... Goodnight."
"Goodnight, you should get some rest too." Hong Ying smiled and waved at him before gently closing the door.
Lin Qiye walked downstairs and sat on a chair in the living room, turning on a bright lamp above his head.
On the table, there was a sheet of paper and a pen.
The lonely chirping of cicadas faintly sounded outside the window, the scorching heat of the summer night dissipated after the rain, and the silhouette of the leaves cast by the moonlight...
Lin Qiye picked up the pen and sat at the table, motionless.
After an unknown amount of time, he began to write on the paper, his hand moving lightly.
He wrote down the first line of words on the paper.
"To Aunt, to Yang Jin..."
...
"Mom, mom!"
Yang Jin shook her aunt, who was sleeping on the dining table, and called out softly.
His aunt opened her groggy eyes, slowly raised her head, and rubbed her sore neck, asking, "What's wrong? Did your brother come back?"
Yang Jin shook his head, "No, but there's a letter under the door crack."
"A letter?"
"Yeah! It seems like it's from Brother."
"Lin Qiye? Hurry, hurry, open it and take a look!" His aunt urged anxiously, taking the letter from Yang Jin's hands as she spoke, the two of them leaning in together to read it carefully.
After a while, his aunt put down the letter with trembling hands, sitting dumbfounded.
"Mom, Brother said he's joining the army." Yang Jin picked up the letter and turned to look at his aunt.
"Joining the army... Joining the army? How... how did this happen so suddenly?" His aunt murmured to herself, "He never mentioned it before..."
"No, Brother did mention it before." Yang Jin nodded earnestly.
"He did?"
"Yeah, he used to tell me in private that his biggest dream was to join the army, but his eyes were never good, so he temporarily gave up on that dream." Yang Jin paused, then pointed to a few words on the letter, "And look, Brother said in the letter that after his eyes got better, he secretly applied to join the army, but because he was afraid you would object, he didn't tell you. He secretly took the train to Urumqi last night..."
"That doesn't make sense."
"What doesn't make sense?"
"This letter was only delivered to you this morning. According to what it says, he should already be on the train!" His aunt's mind suddenly cleared up for once!
"Um..." Yang Jin scratched his head, "Actually, I only found this letter this morning, it's possible it was there last night and I just didn't see it."
"But, but this is too sudden!" His aunt couldn't accept this fact, "And what if his eyes act up again when he's in the army? What do we do then? No... no, I can't rest assured! I have to go to the government, I have to bring my nephew back!"
His aunt stood up anxiously, not even caring that she was wearing slippers, and rushed out of the door.
Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks.
Outside the door, two men in military uniforms were standing awkwardly, seemingly about to knock.
If Lin Qiye were here, he would immediately recognize that these two were Chen Muye and Warm Ink.
"Who are you?" His aunt frowned and asked.
Chen Muye and Warm Ink glanced at each other, and a gentle smile appeared on Warm Ink's face as he gave his aunt a not-so-standard military salute.
"Hello, are you Mrs. Wang Fang, Lin Qiye's guardian?"
"Yes, I am."
"We're from the Cangnan Military Affairs Office, here to deliver some procedures and subsidies for Lin Qiye's enlistment."
"The Military Affairs Office?" His aunt asked suspiciously, "What is that place?"
"It's... responsible for matters related to new recruits." Warm Ink replied vaguely.
"Oh... well, come in and have a seat first." His aunt stepped back a few steps to let the two men in, then turned around to make tea for them, "I was just about to find you guys, something doesn't seem right about this! "
As Chen Muye and Warm Ink sat down, the latter heard his aunt's words and broke out in a cold sweat.
Warm Ink leaned close to Chen Muye's ear and whispered, "Captain, can we really get away with this?"
"What are you afraid of? All our documents come from the regular army and are entirely genuine!"
"But, but you only submitted Lin Qiye's application yesterday, it doesn't make sense for the documents to arrive so quickly, does it? Are you sure... these are real?"
"..." Chen Muye's mouth twitched slightly, "Soon, they will become real."
"But I don't understand. We could have waited for the official documents before coming here. Why the rush?"
"We're not in a hurry, Lin Qiye is." Chen Muye glanced at his aunt who was busy in the kitchen and whispered, "He's afraid his aunt won't believe the contents of the letter and will go to the government to verify it directly. But those officials at the grassroots level don't know about our existence... do you understand what I mean?"
"I understand."
Warm Ink nodded, sitting up straight and flashing a standard smile.
"Mrs
. Wang Fang, please rest assured, we are from the regular army, and Lin Qiye's enlistment in Wulumuqi has been approved. There are no problems at all!"
Yang Jin, who was standing by, could only shake his head in resignation.
His aunt's body trembled, the tea cup in her hand slipped and fell onto the table, and she turned stiffly, staring wide-eyed and opening her mouth:
"He, he didn't go to Urumqi?!"
Beneath the warm glow of the lamp, the tip of the long spear emitted a faint chill.
This... She actually hid a long spear in her own room?!
Lin Qiye swallowed hard and spoke hastily, "No, Sister Hong Ying... I just wanted to ask... do you have paper and pen?"
Hong Ying paused, "Why do you need paper and pen so late at night?"
"To write a letter."
"Ah... well, I think I do. Just wait here!" Hong Ying set her long spear aside and went back into her room to rummage through her belongings.
Standing at the doorway, Lin Qiye could clearly see the interior of Hong Ying's room.
To his surprise, Hong Ying's room was very simple, even bordering on austere.
In this room, there was only a hard bed, a desk lamp, a writing desk, and a plush toy placed beside the bed.
There were no unnecessary decorations, no expensive mattresses, no sofas, no air conditioning... Lin Qiye found it hard to imagine that in such a luxurious villa, Hong Ying's room could be so spartan.
It was more fitting to call it a monk's cell rather than the master bedroom of a villa.
The only thing in the room that matched Hong Ying's age was the adorable plush toy.
"I found the paper... here!" Hong Ying's eyes lit up as she held a pen and a few sheets of paper and walked to the doorway, handing them to Lin Qiye.
"Sister Hong Ying, do you usually... sleep here?"
Hong Ying turned her head to look back and nodded, "As a guardian of the night, one cannot indulge too much in material comforts. We must constantly temper our will... If this villa weren't my parents' legacy, requiring regular upkeep, I might have sold it long ago and gone back to live in the dormitory."
Lin Qiye fell silent for a moment. "I see, thank you... Goodnight."
"Goodnight, you should get some rest too." Hong Ying smiled and waved at him before gently closing the door.
Lin Qiye walked downstairs and sat on a chair in the living room, turning on a bright lamp above his head.
On the table, there was a sheet of paper and a pen.
The lonely chirping of cicadas faintly sounded outside the window, the scorching heat of the summer night dissipated after the rain, and the silhouette of the leaves cast by the moonlight...
Lin Qiye picked up the pen and sat at the table, motionless.
After an unknown amount of time, he began to write on the paper, his hand moving lightly.
He wrote down the first line of words on the paper.
"To Aunt, to Yang Jin..."
...
"Mom, mom!"
Yang Jin shook her aunt, who was sleeping on the dining table, and called out softly.
His aunt opened her groggy eyes, slowly raised her head, and rubbed her sore neck, asking, "What's wrong? Did your brother come back?"
Yang Jin shook his head, "No, but there's a letter under the door crack."
"A letter?"
"Yeah! It seems like it's from Brother."
"Lin Qiye? Hurry, hurry, open it and take a look!" His aunt urged anxiously, taking the letter from Yang Jin's hands as she spoke, the two of them leaning in together to read it carefully.
After a while, his aunt put down the letter with trembling hands, sitting dumbfounded.
"Mom, Brother said he's joining the army." Yang Jin picked up the letter and turned to look at his aunt.
"Joining the army... Joining the army? How... how did this happen so suddenly?" His aunt murmured to herself, "He never mentioned it before..."
"No, Brother did mention it before." Yang Jin nodded earnestly.
"He did?"
"Yeah, he used to tell me in private that his biggest dream was to join the army, but his eyes were never good, so he temporarily gave up on that dream." Yang Jin paused, then pointed to a few words on the letter, "And look, Brother said in the letter that after his eyes got better, he secretly applied to join the army, but because he was afraid you would object, he didn't tell you. He secretly took the train to Urumqi last night..."
"That doesn't make sense."
"What doesn't make sense?"
"This letter was only delivered to you this morning. According to what it says, he should already be on the train!" His aunt's mind suddenly cleared up for once!
"Um..." Yang Jin scratched his head, "Actually, I only found this letter this morning, it's possible it was there last night and I just didn't see it."
"But, but this is too sudden!" His aunt couldn't accept this fact, "And what if his eyes act up again when he's in the army? What do we do then? No... no, I can't rest assured! I have to go to the government, I have to bring my nephew back!"
His aunt stood up anxiously, not even caring that she was wearing slippers, and rushed out of the door.
Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks.
Outside the door, two men in military uniforms were standing awkwardly, seemingly about to knock.
If Lin Qiye were here, he would immediately recognize that these two were Chen Muye and Warm Ink.
"Who are you?" His aunt frowned and asked.
Chen Muye and Warm Ink glanced at each other, and a gentle smile appeared on Warm Ink's face as he gave his aunt a not-so-standard military salute.
"Hello, are you Mrs. Wang Fang, Lin Qiye's guardian?"
"Yes, I am."
"We're from the Cangnan Military Affairs Office, here to deliver some procedures and subsidies for Lin Qiye's enlistment."
"The Military Affairs Office?" His aunt asked suspiciously, "What is that place?"
"It's... responsible for matters related to new recruits." Warm Ink replied vaguely.
"Oh... well, come in and have a seat first." His aunt stepped back a few steps to let the two men in, then turned around to make tea for them, "I was just about to find you guys, something doesn't seem right about this! "
As Chen Muye and Warm Ink sat down, the latter heard his aunt's words and broke out in a cold sweat.
Warm Ink leaned close to Chen Muye's ear and whispered, "Captain, can we really get away with this?"
"What are you afraid of? All our documents come from the regular army and are entirely genuine!"
"But, but you only submitted Lin Qiye's application yesterday, it doesn't make sense for the documents to arrive so quickly, does it? Are you sure... these are real?"
"..." Chen Muye's mouth twitched slightly, "Soon, they will become real."
"But I don't understand. We could have waited for the official documents before coming here. Why the rush?"
"We're not in a hurry, Lin Qiye is." Chen Muye glanced at his aunt who was busy in the kitchen and whispered, "He's afraid his aunt won't believe the contents of the letter and will go to the government to verify it directly. But those officials at the grassroots level don't know about our existence... do you understand what I mean?"
"I understand."
Warm Ink nodded, sitting up straight and flashing a standard smile.
"Mrs
. Wang Fang, please rest assured, we are from the regular army, and Lin Qiye's enlistment in Wulumuqi has been approved. There are no problems at all!"
Yang Jin, who was standing by, could only shake his head in resignation.
His aunt's body trembled, the tea cup in her hand slipped and fell onto the table, and she turned stiffly, staring wide-eyed and opening her mouth:
"He, he didn't go to Urumqi?!"
