Quick Wear: Cousin, Come to the Bowl Quickly

The night breeze swept through the courtyard, carrying a hint of autumn chill, enveloping the two people embracing under the osmanthus tree.

After a long while, Shen Jingyuan seemed to regain some of his composure. He slowly lifted his head from Lin Xi's neck, looked down at her, and asked in a hoarse voice, "How is things at home?"

Lin Xi leaned against him and recounted everything that had happened at the Lin Mansion in recent days.

“Mom is very worried about you, but she is in good spirits and prays for you and Dad every day.”

"Two more elderly servants left the mansion, so I paid them an extra three months' salary."

“I learned some first aid and nursing from Red Cross nurses, and the condition of the injured people who were temporarily taken in at home has stabilized.”

"The children we took in are also sensible; they help with light chores like cleaning..."

She chattered on and on about trivial things, but Shen Jingyuan stared intently at her face, listening very carefully, as if trying to etch every word she said into his heart.

Only when Lin Xi seemed to have finished saying what she had been holding back for so long, her voice gradually lowered and she finally fell silent, did he raise his hand, cup her face, and gently stroke the faint dark circles under her eyes, and say softly, "You've lost weight."

Somehow, this sentence became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Lin Xi's carefully maintained composure shattered instantly, and large tears welled up in her eyes without warning, sliding down her cheeks and landing heavily on Shen Jingyuan's hand, burning his heart and causing it to clench.

"Don't cry..." He frantically tried to wipe the tears from her face with his fingertips, but the more he wiped, the more tears she shed.

Lin Xi bit her lower lip, trying not to cry out loud, but silently shed tears. After a while, she took a deep breath, reached out again, and hugged Shen Jingyuan's waist tightly. She buried her face in his hands and said in a muffled voice, "Tomorrow... we're going to Tongxian?"

"Hmm." Shen Jingyuan tightened his arms, pursed his lips, and his jawline was taut. "We'll depart at five o'clock."

"You must... protect yourself." Lin Xi's voice trembled slightly, a hint of suppressed emotion in it.

"Okay." He spoke calmly, trying to give her confidence. "The main force of the Japanese army has been defeated. This seemingly fierce counterattack is nothing more than a last-ditch effort. I will be careful."

"Even if you beat a dog into a dead end, it will bite you to the death." Lin Xi raised her head, tears still clinging to her eyelashes, but she looked at him intently and said solemnly, "The more serious the situation, the more we must not let our guard down. I want you to come back safe and sound."

“I know.” Shen Jingyuan nodded solemnly.

Lin Xi then released one hand, took out a small, dark blue cloth amulet from her coat pocket, took Shen Jingyuan's hand, and placed the amulet into his palm.

"This is for you." She looked at him with unusual seriousness, even a rare stubbornness in her eyes. "There's something I gave you inside. Open it only if you're in any danger."

Shen Jingyuan had never believed in gods or Buddhas, let alone these peace charms, but at this moment, holding this small cloth charm that still carried her body heat, he felt it weighed more than a thousand pounds.

"Okay, I promise you, I will definitely... come back safely." He solemnly held the amulet in his palm and put it into the pocket of his shirt.

Lin Xi hugged him again, her arms tightening around him, and said in a muffled voice, "Remember what you said."

After a long while, she seemed to have finally made up her mind. She slowly let go of him, took a step back, and created some distance between them.

In the darkness, her eyes were still red and swollen, but she tried to give him a not-so-good smile. "I should go back now. My mother is still waiting for me at home."

Shen Jingyuan's Adam's apple bobbed, a thousand words stuck in his chest, but in the end, they all turned into a single, "Okay."

He watched her turn around; her slender figure appeared particularly frail in the dim light. Just as Lin Xi was about to step into the night ahead, a strong sense of reluctance and impulse suddenly surged into his heart.

"Xixi!" He took two steps after her and grabbed her wrist.

Lin Xi paused, turned around, and asked with a puzzled look in her eyes, "What's wrong?"

Shen Jingyuan looked at her. The moonlight shone on her face, outlining her delicate eyebrows and eyes, her straight nose, and her lips that he had kissed countless times, exactly the same as the ones in the Fengtian rainy night hotel years ago.

An impulse suddenly surged into his heart, swirling on his tongue, almost bursting out.

He suddenly wanted to tell her that the person who carried her down the mountain back then wasn't Xu Yucheng, but him.

This secret became a hidden thorn in his heart the moment he learned why she "loved" Xu Yucheng.

Later, when they got together, he had the chance to speak, but seeing that she had finally let go of the past and only had eyes for him, he felt that whether he spoke or not seemed less important.

He already has her present and future, so why disturb her peace of mind with an old story?

But at this moment, facing the impending battlefield where life and death were uncertain, he suddenly felt a strong impulse.

He wanted to leave a more complete and clear image in her heart; he wanted her to know that from the beginning until now, it had always been him.

What he feared even more was that if he didn't speak up this time, he would have no chance.

However, as the words reached his lips, looking at her remarkably serene face in the night, he forcefully suppressed the impulse.

By saying it now, he might have no regrets. But what if... what if he doesn't come back?

Given her personality, once she learns the truth, the bond between the two of them will likely become an even more unbearable burden for her.

He couldn't be so selfish. He wanted her to be well, and even without him, he wanted her to try her best to live a good life.

So, the confession that was on the tip of his tongue took a turn in Shen Jingyuan's throat and became a sentence completely opposite to the original.

"Xixi, if... I mean, if." His voice was low and hoarse, each word uttered with difficulty, "If, by any chance, I really... can't come back, don't... don't wait for me. You're still young, in the future..."

"Shen Jingyuan! Shut up!" Before he could finish speaking, Lin Xi interrupted him sharply.

She turned around abruptly, took a step back to face him, looked up at him with red eyes, but her gaze was fierce as if she wanted to bite him.

She raised her hand, stuck her fingertip hard into his chest, and said through gritted teeth, word by word.

"You dare say such unlucky things again? Listen to me, Shen Jingyuan! You're mine in life and in death. If you dare to die out there, I'll jump into the Huangpu River right now! I'll chase you all the way to the underworld and settle the score with you properly! I, Lin Xi, mean what I say!"

Her eyes were wide open, her eyebrows were raised, and her face showed a reckless and arrogant demeanor, which vaguely resembled that of the spoiled, bright, and fearless Miss Lin from back then.

Shen Jingyuan looked at her, his heart aching as if poked by that finger, yet also feeling a mix of emotions—a bittersweet feeling—from her "threat."

Looking into her red eyes, he swallowed all his words, raised his hand, and gently took her fingers that were poking his chest, enveloping them in his palm. He nodded very solemnly.

"it is good."

Later, the battle of Tongxian was indeed as brutal as hell on earth.

The remnants of the Japanese army fought desperately, launching a frenzied counterattack. The intensity and brutality of the battle far exceeded expectations.

Even though Shen Jingyuan was a veteran of countless battles and had long been mentally prepared, he still narrowly escaped death several times.

In the final battle to defend the command post, the Japanese army launched a concentrated and fierce attack, with artillery shells almost leveling the small building where the temporary command post was located.

At the last moment, Shen Jingyuan ordered a retreat while he covered the rear. However, he was hit in the chest and abdomen by a stray bullet from an explosion, and blood instantly soaked through his uniform.

In his hazy consciousness, he felt excruciating pain tearing at him, and a chill spreading rapidly. The roar and sounds of fighting in his ears gradually faded away, as if in another world.

However, just before his consciousness was about to sink into darkness, he suddenly remembered the amulet that Lin Xi had given him.

With his last ounce of strength, his hands trembling, he pulled out the small, dark blue cloth bag soaked in blood from the inner pocket pressed against his chest.

With bloodied fingers, he clumsily untied the rope. Inside, there were no images of gods or Buddhas, no rune diagrams, only a wax-sealed pill the size of half a peanut, and a small folded piece of paper.

He unfolded the note, which contained only a single, concise yet powerful word.

eat.

Without hesitation, and without even having time to think about what it was, Shen Jingyuan mustered his last strength, bit open the wax seal with his teeth, and swallowed the half-pill along with the mouthful of blood.

He didn't remember much after that, only vaguely feeling a strange, hot yet cool current of energy bursting from his abdomen, forcibly sustenance his last vestige of life.

When he opened his eyes again, several days had passed. He was lying in a field hospital, his body wrapped in bandages, and every movement was excruciatingly painful.

The military doctors all said that given his injuries and the amount of blood loss he had lost, it was nothing short of a miracle that he survived.

But Shen Jingyuan knew that if miracles truly existed in this world, his miracle had always been only Lin Xi.

After the war ended and Japan surrendered, he was sent back to Shanghai.

The day Lin Xi came to pick him up, seeing him covered in bandages, she cried so hard she almost fainted. Seeing her like that, he completely gave up the idea of ​​telling the truth about what happened back then.

Some secrets are destined to be buried, but as long as she is safe and happy, he is willing to carry this regret with him until he lies in his coffin.

But he never expected that the secret he was determined to bury would be revealed by Lin Xi herself on such an ordinary afternoon in such an unexpected way.

At this moment, looking at the person who was crying loudly in front of him, feeling her hot tears soaking through the fabric of his clothes, Shen Jingyuan felt that his heart was almost filled with guilt and regret.

He tightened his arms around her, lowered his head, and gently pressed his lips to her tear-dampened temples, his voice soft and gentle.

"Xixi, don't cry... It's my fault, I was wrong."