Xu Ze left the laboratory shortly after twelve. The graduate student dormitories were located outside the campus, in a separate apartment-style building. It would take about twenty minutes to walk there.
It was raining again. During this period, the capital had been experiencing intermittent torrential downpours.
Xu Ze had left his umbrella at the military hospital, so he took a communal umbrella from the rack in the lobby of the laboratory building before heading outside.
A message popped up in the department group chat. The deputy director said they had received a notice from the municipal government. Landslides and mudslides had occurred in several mountainous areas around the capital, and personnel evacuations were currently being organized. Hospital 195 would likely need to establish several more medical teams to provide assistance in the suburbs.
Everyone was instructed to keep their phones on and remain on standby at all times.
As the military hospital with the most comprehensive system among the twenty-six Alliance nations, Hospital 195 had originally been established to serve as a medical support base during wartime. Its regulations were therefore particularly distinctive. It only provided services to war casualties, government officials, military officers and soldiers, and their family members. Ordinary patients were rarely admitted.
In recent years, as military conflicts had decreased, the workload at Hospital 195 had eased somewhat. Aside from providing medical support to the frontlines, it had also begun taking on other medical responsibilities.
After replying to the message, Xu Ze turned off his phone and quickened his pace.
Being on standby meant they could be dispatched at any moment. He had slept less than five hours in total yesterday. If he hurried back to the dormitory now, he could get a little more rest.
After taking a shower, Xu Ze went over his experimental data once more. Then he put down his phone and turned off the lights.
He was extremely tired and should have fallen asleep quickly. However, as his mind, which had been filled with work, gradually emptied, it was like the background applications on a phone being closed one by one.
In the end, the only thing remaining on the screen was the same unchanging screensaver.
The screensaver in Xu Ze’s mind was Lu Heyang.
He lay in the darkness with his eyes open, feeling dazed and bewildered.
Even now, Xu Ze still hadn’t quite processed what had happened. He suspected he was dreaming. Otherwise, how could he possibly be so lucky as to encounter someone he hadn’t been able to see for so many years—not once, but twice in a single day?
For a long time, the image that had repeatedly surfaced in his mind was the last time he had seen Lu Heyang outside that private hospital all those years ago.
Xu Ze had been constantly worried about Lu Heyang’s glands and pheromones. For quite some time afterward, he had shamelessly kept in touch with He Wei, asking about Lu Heyang’s condition.
But he didn’t dare ask too frequently. Every time, he would force himself to wait about a month before asking again.
Then, more than eight months later, He Wei finally told him that after undergoing seven full medical examinations and four physical fitness tests, Lu Heyang had passed every requirement and had been admitted to the Alliance Air Force Aviation University.
Xu Ze had forgotten exactly how he felt at the time. He only remembered that after receiving the news, he had accidentally dropped and shattered a test tube.
A classmate beside him had asked why he was so happy despite having broken a test tube.
After that, Xu Ze stopped bothering He Wei with questions.
He Wei was busy too. More importantly, Lu Heyang’s life would no longer have anything to do with him—or perhaps it had never had anything to do with him from the very beginning.
Xu Ze raised his right hand and sniffed his palm.
There was no trace of pheromones anymore. All he could smell was the fresh fragrance of his body wash.
At six in the morning, the ringing of his phone woke Xu Ze before his alarm could.
It was a nurse from his department.
“Doctor Xu, we’ve just received a notice. The situation is rather urgent. We need to leave right now.”
Xu Ze immediately got out of bed. “Okay.”
He took five minutes to wash up and get dressed, then went to wait at the intersection.
Ten minutes later, the rescue vehicle arrived. The team consisted of a surgeon, two nurses, and Xu Ze, making four people in total.
“All the hospital’s helicopters have been dispatched,” one of the nurses said. “It’s been raining continuously in the mountainous areas, and large-scale landslides have occurred in several places. Nine rescue teams already set out at dawn.”
Xu Ze put on his white coat, placed his phone inside a waterproof bag, and asked, “What’s the situation with our team?”
“We don’t know the number of injured people yet. We’ll find out when we reach the scene.”
Nearly an hour later, the vehicle entered the mountainous region.
The situation was worse than they had imagined. Rubble and sand had slid down and piled up everywhere. Police officers and firefighters were clearing the roads.
The rescue vehicle struggled forward slowly for more than ten minutes before Xu Ze said, “I’ll get out here.”
“The vehicle can’t go any farther. We’ll walk together,” the surgeon said.
The four of them put on transparent raincoats, took the first-aid kits and two lightweight stretchers, and got out of the vehicle. Under the guidance of a police officer, they headed toward the village.
“Where are the General Bureau’s helicopters?” the surgeon shouted over the rain as they trudged through the mud.
“They’ve all been deployed. Over there—”
The police officer pointed toward the southeast.
“That area is in even worse condition, and the villages are scattered quite far apart. Most of the helicopters have been sent there. Flying helicopters in rainy weather is also quite restricted, so progress will be slower.”
The narrow path was covered in wet, soft mud. They practically slipped and stumbled their way forward.
An old bridge stood at the entrance to the village. Murky floodwaters surged over its surface and rushed downstream.
Most of the houses had already collapsed under the force of the mudslides and flash floods. Rescue workers were evacuating injured villagers and bringing them to an open area outside the village, where they were being given temporary shelter.
The medical team split into two groups. The surgeon and one nurse stayed outside the village to treat the wounds of the people who had been rescued, while Xu Ze and the other nurse entered the village to assist with the rescue operations.
As Xu Ze ran across the bridge, splashing through the water, he even felt the entire structure swaying beneath his feet. He looked up. Heavy, gloomy clouds hung low overhead, pressing down almost against the mountaintops, looking as though they might come crashing down at any moment.
“Colonel, here are the figures for this batch of supplies.” Inside the base warehouse, Song Yuke handed a folder to Lu Heyang. “Also, the city government just notified us that they need three helicopters dispatched for support. I need your signature on this.”
Lu Heyang glanced at the list of helicopter pilots assigned to the mission, then took out a pen and signed it.
“The weather is bad. Remind everyone to be careful when they go out on missions.”
“Understood.” Song Yuke said, “The Army Command’s meeting will begin in an hour and a half. A section of the expressway has been blocked by a landslide, so it’s impassable. We’ll have to take a helicopter to get there.”
Lu Heyang was reviewing the supply figures. He nodded. “We’ll leave in half an hour.”
“Give me your hand!”
The rescue workers lifted a crossbeam. Xu Ze lay prone on the rubble and shouted to the little boy trapped beneath a collapsed wall.
The boy struggled to reach out his hand. Xu Ze grabbed it and pulled his entire body free. His leg appeared to be broken. There was an open wound, and his leg was covered in blood and muddy dirt. He was also clutching a little brown dog in his arms.
Xu Ze knelt beside the stretcher and gave the boy’s wound a quick cleaning before bandaging it. The rain hadn’t stopped. Xu Ze had no idea what time it was anymore. The sky was frighteningly dark and gloomy, almost like nighttime.
“You go on ahead. I’ll search this area one more time.” A rescue worker shouted to Xu Ze as he ran toward another pile of rubble.
“Don’t be afraid. We’re going to the hospital soon.” Xu Ze placed the little dog on the stretcher beside the boy’s hand and spoke to him.
The boy obediently nodded. Xu Ze and the nurse lifted the stretcher and began moving toward the bridge. They had barely taken a few steps when Xu Ze heard a strange sound, like a train passing through a tunnel.
He turned around and saw that part of the enormous mountain behind them was moving. A dark mass was advancing toward them. The rescue workers not far away froze for a brief moment before immediately breaking into a run, shouting, “Hurry! Run!”
There was no time. Xu Ze put down the stretcher, hoisted the boy onto his back, and prepared to flee. The rescue workers on the opposite bank were also getting ready to rush over and help them. However, in just a few seconds, the water level in the river surged, sweeping away the stone bridge and cutting off their only escape route.
“Over there.” Xu Ze quickly surveyed their surroundings and made an immediate decision.
Several people gathered on a relatively high pile of rubble. The voice of a colleague on the opposite bank came through the rescue workers’ walkie-talkie.
“We’re already contacting a helicopter to come get you. Stay safe!”
The nurse stood close beside Xu Ze, holding the little dog. Their raincoats had long since torn apart, and no one knew where they had been discarded. Everyone’s clothes and hair were soaked through by the rain. Whenever the wind blew, a bone-chilling cold swept over them.
The pile of rubble was like an isolated island, gradually being surrounded by the mudslide and floodwaters. It was getting smaller and smaller.
On the way back after the meeting, Lu Heyang had the pilot take a detour toward the mountainous area.
“It’s been raining nonstop, and there aren’t any suitable places to land in the mountains. Helicopter rescue is very difficult.” Song Yuke looked down. “Visibility is extremely poor.”
Lu Heyang was wearing his headset. Through it, he could hear the base pilots reporting on the rescue operations.
“What are the exact coordinates?” Lu Heyang asked.
The pilot reported a string of numbers. Lu Heyang compared them with the current location displayed on the cockpit screen and said, “It’s very close. You don’t need to change course. We’ll make a detour there.”
“What happened?” Song Yuke asked.
“Two doctors, one rescue worker, and a little boy are trapped in the village.” Lu Heyang paused. “There’s also a little dog.”
He entered the coordinates and switched the navigation to the new destination. At the same time, he said to Song Yuke, “Report our mission details and route to the base control center.”
“Understood.”
Xu Ze sat on the rubble, holding the boy and trying to keep his legs as straight as possible. The mudslide seemed to have temporarily stopped after advancing more than ten meters, but the floodwaters in front of them were still rising. They would probably reach their feet soon. This pile of rubble wouldn’t hold out much longer.
“Will someone come rescue us?” the little boy, whose face was filthy, suddenly asked Xu Ze, whose own face was just as dirty.
“Yes,” Xu Ze answered him.
A few seconds later, a faint thudding sound came from the sky. Xu Ze raised his head and saw a grayish-black helicopter clearing the distant mountaintop, its navigation lights flashing as it approached.
The rescue worker beside them immediately switched on a signal light and raised it high to indicate their exact location.
“There isn’t anywhere to land,” the pilot said.
“Keep the aircraft steady and lower the altitude as much as possible.” Lu Heyang unfastened his seat belt and said to Song Yuke, “Open the cabin door.”
“Okay.”
The helicopter’s rotors churned up violent gusts of wind, and moisture sprayed against their faces. Through his blurred vision, Xu Ze vaguely saw an Alpha pull open the cabin door, while another Alpha jumped down from the cockpit.
His vision was extremely unclear. Xu Ze handed the boy to the Alpha and shouted over the deafening noise of the helicopter, “His leg is broken. Be careful!”
The other person seemed to glance at him before nodding and taking the boy into his arms.
With both hands free, Xu Ze wiped his eyes. His vision cleared a little, allowing him to see the Alpha’s profile as he turned around.
Song Yuke stood inside the cabin and took the little boy from Lu Heyang. Then Lu Heyang climbed inside as well, leaned down, and pulled the nurse and rescue worker up.
Finally, he reached out his hand toward the doctor standing in the rain, whose entire body was covered in mud and whose features were almost unrecognizable.
“Dr. Xu, give me your hand.”
Rainwater went up Xu Ze’s nose, making him cough several times. He wiped his eyes again. His usually calm expression began to look somewhat dazed and bewildered, but he still reached out to Lu Heyang without the slightest hesitation and was pulled effortlessly into the helicopter.
As he stood up, Xu Ze suddenly pitched forward and fell against Lu Heyang. The impact forced Lu Heyang to take a step backward. He was just about to steady Xu Ze by the shoulders when a pair of arms suddenly wrapped tightly around his waist.
It was unmistakable that Xu Ze wasn’t simply clinging to him because he had lost his balance. His arms were wrapped around him far too tightly. It was more like an embrace—an embrace driven by emotions he could no longer control, so forceful that even his breathing trembled.
It was as though he had a thousand things he wanted to say, yet he was completely unable to put any of them into words.
But it lasted only a moment. Xu Ze quickly let go.
Lu Heyang raised his right hand and held it in the air for a moment before patting Xu Ze on the back. “It’s all right now.”
Xu Ze stepped away from him, lowered his head, and nodded. Then he turned around and pulled the cabin door shut.
Song Yuke had already returned to the cockpit. The rescue worker was reporting the situation over the walkie-talkie, while the nurse was checking the little boy’s injuries. Xu Ze walked over and crouched down as well. He removed the bandages on the boy’s leg, which were already soaked through, and cleaned the wound again.
“Does it hurt a lot?” he asked softly.
The boy nodded, then said, “It doesn’t hurt too much if I don’t move.”
“We’re going to the hospital now. Just hang in there a little longer.” Xu Ze took the wet wipes the nurse handed him and helped clean the boy’s face.
The drenched little dog whimpered a few times, then shuffled over to the boy and curled up tightly against him.
Xu Ze also sat on the floor with his back against the cabin wall, wiping his face and hands with wet wipes. Compared to the outside, the lighting inside the cabin seemed particularly bright. It illuminated Xu Ze’s face, neck, collarbones, and fingers as the mud was gradually wiped away, revealing his fair skin beneath.
He kept wiping mechanically for a long time, his mind elsewhere. Then Xu Ze stopped and looked up. Lu Heyang was leaning against the doorway to the cockpit, and their eyes met.
It was a scrutinizing gaze. Their eyes met for no more than two seconds before Xu Ze was the first to look away.
The helicopter landed on the helipad atop Hospital 195. The rain in the city center had just stopped, and the sky was visibly much brighter. The orthopedic doctors were already waiting. As soon as the helicopter touched down, the little boy was transferred onto a stretcher trolley.
He grabbed Xu Ze’s sleeve. Xu Ze bent down and heard him say, “Thank you, Doctor.”
Xu Ze smiled and shook his hand.
Lu Heyang was talking to the pilot. As the stretcher trolley passed by him, the little boy, lying flat on it, looked at Lu Heyang and saluted him.
There were many people gathered on the helipad, and the scene was somewhat chaotic. Lu Heyang hadn’t even looked in their direction, yet he still noticed. He stopped talking and turned slightly, returning the boy’s salute with a crisp, natural military salute.
The boy probably hadn’t expected the colonel to notice him and return his salute. He looked a little surprised, then broke into a smile.
Xu Ze stood not far away, watching the scene through the moving crowd. The sky after the torrential rain was a deep blue, casting the entire city in a bluish hue. It looked like something out of a dream, yet Xu Ze felt he had never dreamed of a scene quite so beautiful.
“Dr. Xu, go take a shower and change your clothes. Then have something to eat and get some rest.”
“Okay.” Xu Ze came back to his senses and nodded.
Before leaving, he glanced in Lu Heyang’s direction once more. He hadn’t expected Lu Heyang to be looking at him too. Xu Ze froze for a moment. Before he could turn away to avoid his gaze, Lu Heyang started walking toward him.
He had only taken a few steps when Song Yuke stopped him and handed him a communicator. Someone was calling for him.
Xu Ze remained standing there for a while longer. He thought that Lu Heyang had probably just been walking in this direction and hadn’t actually intended to find him. When another nurse called for him to go change and get some rest, Xu Ze brushed the rainwater from his chin with the back of his hand and quietly walked away.
After showering, Xu Ze planned to stop by the nurses’ station to sign in before going to eat. As he passed the intensive care ward area, he saw through the floor-to-ceiling glass wall that Lu Heyang and the hospital director were walking through the lobby, talking as they went. Eventually, Lu Heyang shook hands with the director and turned to walk out through the automatic doors.
Lu Heyang took out his communicator to check his messages. A moment later, as though sensing something, he raised his eyes and glanced to the side. When he realized it was Xu Ze, the wariness between his brows faded. He gave a faint smile and asked, “Is Dr. Xu waiting for someone?”
“No.” Xu Ze shook his head. He knew he shouldn’t have stopped walking and stood here so suspiciously, but pretending to be composed in front of Lu Heyang was simply too difficult. He had never been any good at it.
Only when Lu Heyang approached did Xu Ze remember that he had forgotten to put his wristband back on after showering. He took it out of his pocket and fastened it around his wrist, unsure whether Lu Heyang had caught the scent of his pheromones.
The wristband was issued uniformly by Hospital 195. Lu Heyang lowered his eyes to look at the inside of Xu Ze’s wrist. His skin was very fair, making the several old scars there particularly conspicuous. They looked like cigarette burns.
Lu Heyang instinctively furrowed his brows slightly, though he himself didn’t notice the gesture.
The two walked side by side. Lu Heyang spoke first. “Were you close to He Wei in the past, Dr. Xu?”
“We got along fairly well.” Xu Ze’s neck and back stiffened completely as he answered. “But we haven’t been in touch for a long time.”
“He Wei will be returning to the capital in a little while,” Lu Heyang said. “He was injured during a mission, so he’s been transferred to the General Bureau to recuperate.”
“Is it serious?” Xu Ze asked.
“It’s all right. He just hasn’t been back for a long time, and his parents are worried about him, so they’ve asked him to return to the capital and rest for a while.”
Xu Ze nodded. “That’s good, as long as he’s okay.”
“He Wei would be happy to know you’re so concerned about him.” Lu Heyang glanced sideways at Xu Ze. “Are you going to get something to eat, Dr. Xu?”
“I was going to… sign in first.”
“Then I’ll be going.” Lu Heyang stopped at the end of the corridor.
Xu Ze instinctively wanted to say “Goodbye,” just as he would when parting with anyone else. But his throat moved, and in the end, all he managed to say was, “Okay.”
After Lu Heyang went to take the elevator, Xu Ze signed in at the nurses’ station. Then he walked into a passageway nearby and sat down on a bench. Bending his upper body forward, he buried his face in his hands and took a deep breath.
He had almost counted exactly how many words Lu Heyang had just said to him.
His phone rang once. Xu Ze stared blankly at it for a few seconds before opening the message. It was a private message from the head nurse:
Dr. Xu, we’re organizing medical examinations for the military in a couple of days. You’ve worked very hard today. If your project at school isn’t urgent, would you like me to assign you to the Air Force or Navy base in the western part of the city? It’ll be a little easier than doing examinations at the hospital.
Xu Ze stared at the few lines of text for a long time. In the end, he replied:
It’s okay. Just keep the original arrangements as planned.