Chapter 25

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

‘If you’re not sleeping, send me your location,’ Lei Hanping texted.

‘So… Fourth Brother is back?’

Li Yuhuan had envisioned their reunion over and over in her head. In one scenario, she imagined him appearing out of nowhere, trying to surprise her with his return. In another, she imagined finding out about the end of his mission from her brother. But from all of the scenes and possibilities, not once did she imagine this plain yet warm reunion.

When the doorbell rang, Li Yuhuan immediately went to open the door. On the other side, Lei Hanping was carrying a suitcase. His skin looked much darker than it had been three months ago, and there were still some traces of snowflakes on his gray coat. “Is it snowing outside?” Li Yuhuan asked as she stepped aside to let him in.

“Yes. I just landed,” Lei Hanping replied as he entered with his suitcase. When he saw Li Yuhuan standing helplessly with the shoe cabinet open, he guessed that she didn’t have men’s slippers at home. He took off his black leather boots and bent down to open his suitcase. He took out two small boxes, one pink box and one purple, and handed them to her, “Christmas Eve and Christmas presents.”

“…”

These two festivals had long passed. There were only eight days left before the new year. However, she quickly realized that these presents were his way of making up for missing the holidays, so she took them and said, “Thank you, Fourth Brother,”

Seeing that Li Yuhuan had no intention of opening the gift, Lei Hanping urged her, “Open it and take a look.”

Li Yuhuan didn’t know why she was a little slow with her reactions. Perhaps it was because she hadn’t seen Lei Hanping for so long that she forgot how to act around him.

When she opened the boxes, she found a pink diamond bracelet and a white diamond necklace, both of high purity. Although there was no brand manual, judging from the purity, color, and cut alone, she could tell that they were definitely not ordinary diamonds.

Li Yuhuan put away the gift first. When she returned,Lei Hanping was taking off his shirt, revealing his strong muscles, and a few new scars had been added to his back. Li Yuhuan looked at the newly added scars and felt an indescribable feeling in her heart… Something close to a heartache?

Sensing Li Yuhuan’s gaze, Lei Hanping glanced at her, then wore the bathrobe he had brought, and walked into the bathroom.

Not long after, she could hear the shower turned on. Li Yuhuan looked at Lei Hanping’s army green shirt and pants strewed on the bed. It was only then did it hit her that Lei Hanping had really returned.

After a moment of daze, she put away his clothes. Then she realized that Lei Hanping might not have eaten yet. She raised her voice and asked, “Fourth Brother, are you hungry? Do you want noodles?”

The sound of water stopped abruptly, quickly followed by Lei Hanping’s deep and magnetic voice, “Sure,”

At two in the morning, Li Yuhuan and Lei Hanping went to bed together. In the dark, Li Yuhuan didn’t feel sleepy. There was something about Lei Hanping that changed. He had become quieter and calmer.

As if reading her mind, without waiting for her to ask, Lei Hanping took the initiative, “We sent ten people on this mission. Only three returned.”

Lei Hanping’s voice was low, and his tone sounded dead like an emotionless machine. He had been in the army for more than ten years. The comrades he was with initially had either retired or changed their profession. While his comrades who were still in the army had either died or been injured in the last few years. Those who remained were all elite soldiers who had persisted for more than ten years. Out of the ten people, only three returned. Although the mission was a success, to Lei Hanping, it was a failure.

Li Yuhuan didn’t know what to say to him. Something in her heart lurched at his sombre tone. The only thing she could do was to snuggle closer to him, hoping at least the physical contact and the warmth of another body could bring him comfort.

…

The following day, Li Yuhuan saw the news notification on her phone.

The police had cracked a major transnational drug trafficking case and arrested more than 200 drug traffickers. Seven public officials had died in the line of duty during this mission…

‘Seven?’

Li Yuhuan put down the bottle of essence water from her hand and opened the news to read it carefully. She then compared it with what Lei Hanping had told her last night. With how similar the stories have aligned, she had a feeling that the mission was related to this drug trafficking case.

Lei Hanping had changed out of his sleepwear. When he saw Li Yuhuan still sitting at the dressing table, he quietly walked to the balcony and closed the sliding door behind him so the cigarette smoke won’t come inside. As he exhaled, he saw a black Rolls-Royce near the building from the corner of his eye. Something about the car doesn’t feel right with him. Relying on his keen instincts as a soldier, he sent the car number to Jiang Feng and asked him to run through the car owner’s information.

Jiang Feng was very fast. It didn’t take long for him to send all the information. When he learned that Sheng Ang was the owner of the car, Lei Hanping’s calm face suddenly broke into an insincere smile. He looked down again, but the car had already left.

Li Yuhuan finished her makeup and went to her closet to pick out some clothes. They were planning to visit the Lei family today, so she doesn’t wear anything too professional. She had just taken out a beige dress from the hanger when Lei Hanping walked in.