Inside the helicopter bound for Area A.
The three of them tacitly agreed not to mention what had happened in the office. Jiang Nuan felt her acting was flawless, and Jiang Ce seemed perfectly willing to pretend he hadn’t seen anything either.
Only Lu Shiyan’s attitude remained unchanged from beginning to end.
Of course, he had always been the sort of person who would do whatever he wanted in broad daylight and deal with the consequences afterward.
Jiang Nuan had nothing else to do on the helicopter, so she spent the entire journey eating from the huge bag of snacks Jiang Ce had bought.
There were potato chips, mini cakes, preserved-plum candies, seaweed rolls, tangerines, and even a whole row of individually wrapped nut bars. The variety was ridiculous. Jiang Nuan suspected Jiang Ce had swept through the entire snack store on Commercial Street, clearing out every item on the recommendation wall.
The cabin was kept nice and warm, while the roar of the engines had been reduced to a faint background hum by the soundproofing.
The two of them took turns eating, the constant crunching making it feel like they were holding a full-blown snack-tasting party.
Jiang Ce bit into a potato chip, his eyes lighting up. He tipped the bag toward Jiang Nuan. “This brand’s tomato flavor is better than the ones we had before. Try one.”
Jiang Nuan glanced at her glistening fingers. She had just peeled a tangerine. “Sure. Let me find a wet wipe first—”
The chip was already at her lips.
Jiang Ce’s hand was large, making the chip between his fingertips look especially tiny.
Jiang Nuan opened her mouth and bit it.
“Tastes good,” she said, chewing as she gave her verdict. “This flavor tastes like real tomatoes simmered down.”
“The package says it’s made by reconstituting freeze-dried tomato powder.” Jiang Ce turned the bag around to show her. “It’s more fragrant than the regular air-dried kind. I bought several bags.”
“Then let’s save two for Qinian. He likes tomato-flavored snacks too,” Jiang Nuan said.
She remembered that back at the base, she had opened a bag of tomato-flavored fries. Qinian had happened to pass by, taken one, and said, “Not bad.” After that, whenever he saw her eating them, he would always mooch a couple.
Jiang Ce leaned in close to her ear with the air of someone sharing a secret. “Sure. But you probably don’t know this—he only said he liked them because you did. He was just agreeing with you. He actually prefers wasabi flavor.”
“…Does this guy have to pretend even about what flavor he likes?” Jiang Nuan burst out laughing. She rummaged through the bag, pulled out an unopened packet, and held it toward the other side.
She asked Lu Shiyan, “Want some chips?”
After all, Captain had been sitting beside them with his eyes closed for a long time. It wouldn’t do to act as if he didn’t exist.
Lu Shiyan was leaning back in his seat with his eyes shut, the collar of his Governor’s uniform buttoned all the way up. “No.”
Fine. If he didn’t want any, he didn’t want any.
Jiang Nuan curled her lip and turned back to rummage through the snack bag.
Then he spoke again. “Your hand.”
Jiang Nuan didn’t understand. Her hands paused. “What?”
Lu Shiyan opened his eyes, his gaze falling on her fingertips, still sticky with tangerine juice and crumbs from the chips.
He took a wet wipe from the inner pocket of his uniform jacket and tore open the package. Then he grasped her wrist.
With a tug, he turned her hand over, palm facing up.
Then he wiped each of her five fingers clean, one by one.
The wet wipe was cool, carrying a faint minty scent.
But his fingertips were warm.
His thumb held her knuckles in place while his index and middle fingers, wrapped in the wet wipe, moved from her fingertips down toward their bases.
When he reached the spaces between her fingers, he even separated them so the wipe could pass over every spot completely.
The sensation was strange.
It was a kind of… excessively meticulous care.
Before she could say, “I can do it myself,” her hand had already been cleaned.
All five fingers were spotless. He hadn’t even missed the dirt beneath her nails.
“Thanks,” she said stiffly.
Lu Shiyan gave a quiet “Mm.” He folded the used wipe and placed it in the trash bag before closing his eyes again.
Beside them, Jiang Ce was looking out the window.
Then he turned back, opened another bag of chips, and tipped it toward her.
The meaning was clear: Eat together.
He had chosen the option of pretending he hadn’t seen anything.
That tacit, thoughtful consideration eased Jiang Nuan’s tension.
The chips were good. Jiang Nuan reached out with the hand that had just been cleaned and popped one into her mouth.
Crunch.
The cabin once again filled with the alternating sounds of chewing.
*
By the time the helicopter landed in Area A, darkness had already fallen.
The moment the cabin door opened, a blast of bone-chilling air rushed in and struck their faces.
Huge snowflakes drifted down from the sky—a true blizzard, the cold sharp enough to seep into the marrow as it pressed down from above in a vast white curtain.
The snow on the ground was thick. Their boots sank into it with heavy crunches.
Jiang Nuan was wearing the winter coat she had changed into before departure, more than warm enough for Area E of Whale Harbor City.
But this was Area A.
It was only the beginning of winter, yet heavy snow had already started falling.
“Achoo!”
Her sneeze came out forcefully, and the tip of her nose immediately turned red from the cold.
A garment settled over her shoulders.
It was a down coat that reached her ankles. The fabric was soft to the touch, and the filling inside was thick and substantial. The moment she put it on, it felt like being wrapped in a warm quilt, blocking out every trace of the wind.
Jiang Nuan immediately pulled the fur-trimmed collar closed and looked back.
It was Lu Shiyan.
He stood half a step behind her. Over his Governor’s uniform, he wore only a black windbreaker. In weather this cold, he looked as if he had been forged from iron, not even shivering once.
Jiang Nuan looked down at the new cream-colored women’s down coat. It fit her perfectly.
“When did you buy a women’s down coat?” she asked in surprise.
Lu Shiyan glanced at her, his gaze lingering on the fluffy collar around her neck.
He looked as though he were inspecting the color and style he had chosen, and judging by his expression, he seemed quite satisfied.
“While packing,” he said flatly. “Your coat wouldn’t be warm enough for Area A.”
…
Captain had actually checked the temperature in Area A and prepared clothes for her.
She hadn’t even checked herself.
She hadn’t even remembered that Area A could be this cold.
Jiang Nuan tucked both hands into the sleeves of the down coat. The inner lining quickly warmed beneath her body heat.
But Lu Shiyan had always arranged things with painstaking thoroughness. This wasn’t anything unexpected. Ye Que, Shen Wu, and Qinian had left half a day earlier and had already arrived in Area A to begin investigating the situation. They were scheduled to meet up tomorrow.
He had merely… done it along the way.
Jiang Nuan felt something in the coat pocket. She slipped her hand inside and discovered several hand warmers and a pair of fleece-lined gloves.
The gloves were the same color as the coat and exactly the right size for her.
…
That didn’t seem much like something he had done “along the way.”
She pulled out the gloves and put them on. Plush fleece wrapped around her fingertips, making them almost too warm.
The heavy snow fell in vast sheets. Everything between heaven and earth was white, making it impossible to tell where the sky ended and the ground began. The buildings in the distance had been reduced to vague outlines, as if the snow were about to swallow them whole.
The snow covering the road was deep and compact. Every time Jiang Nuan took a step, her boots sank into it, and she had to pull them out with force.
It was like trying to win a tug-of-war.
Jiang Ce glanced at her without saying anything.
He walked several steps ahead of her. His stride was much longer than hers, and each step landed firmly, leaving a deep footprint as his boots packed down the snow.
Jiang Nuan stepped into his footprints.
It was much easier that way.
The snow was still falling, thick flakes settling on her milky-white down jacket and on the broad figure ahead of her.
Jiang Ce never changed his pace. It was always just slow enough for her to keep up.
