When life ends, would our souls disappear into nothingness? And if that wasn’t the case, where would it go then? 

This question had never crossed Xia Lei’s mind until today. The query bothered him, taunting him in silence. 

“Mmph…!” moaned Tang Yuyan as she tossed around the hospital bed. The moment her eyes opened, she screeched, as if she had gone crazy. “No!” She flailed her arms. “Leave me be! Go!” 

It was clear that in her mind, she was still on that mountain. 

Xia Lei quickly held her arms down and consoled her. “Shhh, it’s alright, it’s alright. We’re safe now.” 

Tang Yuyan’s gaze fell on Xia Lei. Once she saw his face, she was immediately stunned into silence.

“You’re safe now. Look around, we’re at the military hospital,” said Xia Lei in a soft voice. 

“Lei Zi!” cried Tang Yuyan as she embraced Xia Lei. Her hands enveloped his waist tightly fearing that he would disappear if she did not.   

“There’s nothing to worry about. It’s all in the past now.” Xia Lei comforted her as he stroked her back.

Tang Yuyan raised her head from within the tight embrace and her eyes locked onto Xia Lei’s face. 

“Lie down and rest, Yuyan. The doctor said you’re fine. All you need is some rest along with some saline and glucose drip. You’ll be well in no time,” said Xia Lei. 

As soon as he uttered his last word, Tang Yuyan’s arms were around his neck, pulling him in for a kiss. 

Xia Lei froze. He wasn’t expecting her to kiss him now! Taking advantage of his shock, Tang Yuyan’s clumsy tongue wormed its way into the opening of his mouth and found his tongue. 

Her moist, plush cherry lips along with her wet, soft tongue. At this very moment, it felt as if the world was wet and it needed to be set ablaze.

Xia Lei wanted to stop her in favor of her frail body needing to recover. However, his tongue was too occupied to do so. The man couldn’t utter a single word. Pushing her away would be the fastest solution but the palm on his waist found no strength to stop this.

The male brain had no control over its body on an occasion like this.  

Tang Yuyan slipped a hand under his shirt, allowing her fingers to explore his hard abs. It then traveled south until it touched...

Xia Lei jolted, quickly catching her hand.

Amid such a heated moment, Tang Tianlong and Zhang Yumei entered the room. 

Everyone froze at the sight. The atmosphere immediately became tense. Tang Yuyan’s tongue was still in Xia Lei’s mouth, one hand under his shirt while the other was in Xia Lei’s grip. The man still had his hand on her waist too!

The real answer behind this shocking scene was that Tang Yuyan had kissed Xia Lei out of nowhere and helped herself into his shirt before he stopped her. Unfortunately, her parents had interpreted the situation differently. Xia Lei had taken advantage of her and was in the midst of dragging her hand down to his crotch!

One second later… 

Tang Tianlong and Zhang Yumei turned away at the same time. 

Xia Lei and Tang Yuyan quickly separated themselves, red with embarrassment. Tang Yuyan’s face was especially blushed, her cheeks were as red as a sweet cherry. 

Cough cough.

Tang Tianlong cleared his throat before turning around.  

Zhang Yumei followed suit with an awkward cough before approaching their daughter behind her husband. 

Xia Lei quickly stood up. “Please have a seat, Uncle Tang and Aunty Zhang. I’ll go get you some water.” 

Tang Tianlong flashed him a smile. “No need, no need.” 

Zhang Yumei glanced over to Xia Lei. “Thank you for your hard work, Lei Zi.” 

“It’s alright, it was nothing. I’ll excuse myself now.” Xia Lei wanted nothing more than to leave.   

Without wasting a second, Tang Tianlong grabbed his arm. “Lei Zi, what do you mean? We just arrived and you’re leaving already? I guess we old folks should leave instead.” 

Zhang Yumei added, “We’re sorry for interrupting you both. We’ll head out for a walk.” The woman went forward to grab her husband’s arm and was about to leave! 

“T...Then I’ll stay, you can keep chatting with Yuyan,” Xia Lei replied awkwardly.

Tang Yuyan sat at the bedside, her head lowered, face red as she played with her fingers. She looked like a child who had been caught by her parents. However, the corners of her mouth were curling into a smile, her joy poorly hidden.

And so, the awkward silence enveloped the room for another minute. 

“Lei Zi, let’s talk outside,” Tang Tianlong said, unable to stand the awkward tension. 

Xia Lei returned a swift nod. “Okay.” 

After the men left the room, Zhang Yumei moved over to sit on the edge of the bed. She whispered, “You two have progressed pretty quick! This is all because of your father. I heard the doctor said that Xia Lei was taking care of you in the ward so I told him to check on you later, but he got impatient and insisted to see you. But look at what he did, he interrupted your happy moment.”

Tang Yuyan rolled her eyes. “Mom, what are you talking about? Be it happy or not, this is a hospital. We can’t do anything like that here!”

“Even if you’ve done it, it’s okay. He’s not married, you’re not married. You’re not a child anymore, you shouldn’t waste your youth away. Plus, isn’t this the norm?”

Tang Yuyan looked at her mother with a weird gaze. “What’s the norm?”

“You know... that.”

The corner of Tang Yuyan’s lips curled up. “I don’t understand what you’re saying. Your logic is so weird.”

Zhang Yumei smacked Tang Yuyan on the head. “You silly girl, you and I are both women! Why are you acting so innocent in front of your mother? Isn’t it obvious that I meant ‘that’? How is that weird in society nowadays? There are people doing it in cars or fields, so how is a hospital any different?”

Tang Yuyan looked at the woman in panic. “Mom…where have you seen it?”

Her mother glared at her. “I got bored, so I searched it up… I saw it online, of course.”

“You downloaded clips? Or did dad download them for you?”

Smack! Once again, Zhang Yumei’s palm collided with Tang Yuyan’s head, but the impact was harsh unlike the previous one.

“I was never smart to begin with and you hitting me on the head isn’t helping. What if I become too dumb for marriage? I’ll blame you forever if that happens.” Tang Yuyan rolled her eyes again at Zhang Yumei.

Zhang Yumei sighed. “Silly girl, I’m telling you this because I want you to be smarter. Xia Lei is a guy who takes relationships and righteousness seriously. If you really did it, There’s no way he wouldn’t take responsibility. As the common saying goes, for a man to pursue a woman, there’s a mountain in between them; but for a woman to pursue a man, there’s just a piece of paper between them. That paper can be pierced easily.”

“How do you pierce through it?” asked Tang Yuyan completely dumbfounded.

Zhang Yumei raised her hand again.

Seeing that, Tang Yuyan quickly hugged her head. She understood that her mother just wanted to marry her daughter off as soon as she can.

Zhang Yumei let out a sigh. “As parents, we understand your grandfather’s intentions. I was upset at your father for underestimating Xia Lei at first but in no time, he regretted it. How could women resist a man like Xia Lei? If your father had supported you back then and not pressured you, there wouldn’t have been a chance for Shentu Tianyin to slip up. Now that Shentu Tianyin and Xia Lei are divorced, you should grab the opportunity present as there might not be a second chance.” 

Her words made sense. When Tang Yuyan and Xia Lei returned from Russia, they were faced with the suppression from the China Industrial Group and Hanwu Weapons. Back then, Tang Tianlong was hostile towards Xia Lei and was adamant about keeping the Tang family out of the dispute of interest within the military industry. He chose to be a neutral party, placing pressure on Tang Yuyan. If only if he had extended support to Xia Lei when the latter was in need of allies, maybe Tang Yuyan would have been his wife instead of Shentu Tianyin. 

Zhang Yumei was right about Xia Lei’s personality, he was a man who treats relationships seriously. Based on this trait alone, there was no way Xia Lei could’ve not felt indebted to the Tang family if they had helped him when he needed it the most. 

But the past remains in the past.

Tang Yuyan spoke up softly after a beat. “Mom, it seems to be harder and harder to leave him.”

“Then stay with him. You kissed, and I even saw your hand moving towards his...mhm.” Zhang Yumei cast her daughter an awkward glance.

“He said he won’t get married anymore.”

“Ah?” Zhang Yumei’s expression changed immediately. “What does he mean? Could it be that the Tang family’s lady does not meet his minimum requirement? What was he thinking? This is too much! Let me tell you, if he’s persistent on not getting married, don’t give it to him.”

“How can I convince him to get married then?” murmured Tang Yuyan to herself.

Zhang Yumei pondered for a while before smiling all of a sudden. Then, she whispered lowly into Tang Yuyan’s ear... 

Outside the ward, somewhere in the corridor, the two men were speaking of something entirely different.

“Indian patrol squad? Americans? Even the Japanese? That’s basically United Nations Command, nice kill! Let’s see who dares to breach our borders after this!” huffed Tang Tianlong, afire with noble indignation after hearing Xia Lei’s summary.

“However, I’m the one they’re after. They want to stop the Thunder Horse Corporation’s development and eventually halt my research and weapon production here. My work is a threat to America and Japan’s state benefits. I’m certain this is merely the beginning, the end is still far from reach,” said Xia Lei. 

“What are you afraid of, son? The country will be your pillar and we, the Tang family will also support you. As long as there is anything we could help you with, feel free to reach out to the Tang family.” 

“Thank you.”

“No need to be so courteous, we’re a family now.” 

“...”

Xia Lei tried to hint that he was in grave danger, the Americans and the Japanese were after his life and could potentially bring harm to the people around him. He had expected with such words that Tang Yuyan would stop forcing him into marriage. Despite his underlying message, Tang Tianlong didn’t back down and was ready to support him. 

“Lei Zi, let’s go back in. You should stay with Yuyan. She needs you now more than ever.” Tang Tianlong patted his shoulder, as a father-in-law would.

Ring… ring…

His phone rang suddenly.

Xia Lei picked up the phone.

“I’m outside right now. Boss Shi wants to see you. Come out, I’ll send you back to the headquarters.” It was Long Bing’s voice. 

“Alright, I’ll be there.” Xia Lei hung up. 

There was no way Bureau 101 would ignore a case like this. Surely, the station was ready to take action if Shi Boren had contacted him this late at night. 

“Lei Zi, are you heading to Bureau 101?” asked Tang Tianlong.

Xia Lei gave a small nod. “Yeah, Boss Shi wishes to see me. Goodbye, Uncle. Tell Yuyan to rest well and that I’ll be back to visit her soon.”

Tang Tianlong wanted to say something but before he could, Xia Lei had left.

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