Under the moonlight

"How can I help?" Huang Meng saw that he looked serious and didn't seem to be joking, so he must really have something on his mind. Could it be related to what happened earlier? But what could she do to help? Several questions popped into Huang Meng's mind.

Xu Ao seemed to see through her thoughts, adjusted his glasses and said with a smile, "Come to my office with me, and I'll explain it to you slowly. Whether you help me or not is up to you in the end."

Huang Meng nodded and prepared to follow Xu Ao. Li Linlin, who was standing next to Huang Meng, quickly stepped forward and took Huang Meng's arm when she saw that she was going to walk with Xu Ao. She looked at Xu Ao with a smile.

Huang Meng was a little uncomfortable with her sudden intimacy. She looked down at the hands wrapped around her arms and looked at Li Linlin with some confusion, but her eyes were fixed on Xu Ao and the pink on her face betrayed her.

Seeing Li Linlin's apparent intention to follow them, Xu Ao said to her, "I'm sorry, this matter can only be discussed with Huang Meng herself. You can't go with her." As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Meng felt the grip on her arm tighten. Sure enough, she looked up and met Xu Ao's inquiring gaze. The slight blush on her face, already showing signs of girlish infatuation, turned even redder after being rejected by Xu Ao. She slowly lowered her hands, tilted her head slightly, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, smiled awkwardly, and whispered, "Oh, well, okay then~"

Huang Meng smiled at her without saying anything, and then left first, letting Xu Ao comfort the young girl's wounded heart.

Huang Meng was standing at the entrance of the third-floor hallway. When she saw Xu Ao walking over, she smiled and said, "You're here!"

With a hint of mockery in his smile, Xu Ao glanced at her without saying a word, walked to the office door, opened it, and stepped aside to let Huang Meng go in first. He then turned around, went in, and closed the door.

"Sit wherever you like."

"it is good"

Xu Ao sat opposite Huang Meng, his hands resting on the table as he looked at several sheets of paper. Huang Meng leaned back in her chair, watching his movements, waiting for him to speak.

Huang Meng noticed that his hands were really beautiful. Unfortunately, she was a hand fetishist, so she took a closer look. The man's hands were white and delicate, with long, slender fingers and neatly trimmed nails. When his fingers moved, the knuckles were even more distinct.

As Huang Meng was staring intently at his hands, Xu Ao neatly put down the papers in his hand, looked at her, and said, "Hello, we invited you here today to ask you to help us with translation."

Huang Mengde's thoughts were pulled back. She sat up straight, looked into Xu Ao's eyes, and said, "Hmm? You've asked me to be your translator? What do you mean?"

Xu Ao extended his left index finger and pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose, saying seriously, "We are preparing to have a talk with those mercenaries and ask them to let our supply ships in. After all, given our status as an embassy, ​​I think they should agree. We have seen your information, and you can speak S language. We would like to ask you to act as our translator when we talk to them."

"But I see there are quite a few staff members in the embassy. You should all be able to speak S language, right?" Huang Meng asked curiously. How could an embassy not have anyone to act as a translator?

"Yes, that's how it is. The staff you see now are all of us. The diplomatic staff went home for vacation before the bombing started. As you know, those who want to leave can't, and those who want to enter can't. This city is completely isolated. Among the people we left behind, some speak S language, but they have to stay at the embassy to manage things. With so many people stranded at the embassy, ​​we can't send all our staff out."

Huang Meng listened quietly to him for a long time without saying anything. She thought about it and realized that it made sense. But she was just a recent college graduate. Could she really be a good translator for the embassy?

Seeing her head bowed and silent, Xu Ao sighed and said, "It's okay if you're scared. We'll think of another way. We won't make things difficult for you."

These words immediately touched Huang Mengde's sore spot. She suddenly raised her head, leaned forward close to the table, stared at Xu Ao, and said slowly, "I'm afraid? Hehe~ Have you ever experienced the fear of bombs flying around your head and not knowing which one will land next to you or even on you?"

Have you ever seen corpses lying next to you, even if they were standing next to you one second and stopped breathing the next?

Have you ever seen desperate parents weeping over the corpse of their child? Some of those children were only a few days old, and when they died, their bodies were covered in blood, and their remains couldn't even be pieced together properly.

Have you ever seen someone who's been hit by a bomb and lost half their body, but before their brain can even register what's happening, their body is running as if driven by muscle memory?

Huang Meng became increasingly agitated as she spoke, her hands began to tremble uncontrollably, and tears streamed down her face. Trying to calm her uncontrollable emotions, she stood up and paced back and forth around the table. Xu Ao watched her quietly without saying a word.

Huang Meng walked up to him and continued, "Do you know what those people did to the city? There wasn't a single piece of land intact, not a single building intact. It was practically riddled with holes! We, the survivors, didn't dare to close our eyes to sleep every single day, for fear that we would be blown up while we were sleeping. Have you ever experienced that feeling?"

There was no food, no water, and we had to constantly evade sudden attacks. Do you know how I survived those days?

Huang Meng started crying as she spoke. She had been suppressing her emotions for too long, from the beginning of the bombing until now. Even though she was relatively safe at the embassy, ​​she had never told anyone about it. The horrific images and sounds she had seen and heard during those days were deeply etched into her mind; she couldn't forget them even if she wanted to. The fear and repression of being on the verge of death had long since pushed her to the brink of collapse, and she was only barely holding on by her will to survive. Surrounded by strangers, she could only hide her emotions deep inside and pretend to be someone she wasn't. So now, even just a single sentence from Xu Ao was like a needle piercing through her facade. Her grievances, fears, and anxieties found an outlet, and once opened, they couldn't be stopped.

Huang Meng covered her face with her hands, letting the tears stream down her cheeks, down to her pointed chin, and then fall silently. Xu Ao watched her cry so hard that even her shoulders were trembling, and slowly stood up and hugged her.

He didn't know what to say to ease the fear and helplessness that had been building up in her heart for so long. Xu Ao hugged her and gently patted her back again and again. He remembered the day he first met this girl. She had fainted at the door, her beautiful hair had lost its luster and covered half of her face. Her brows were furrowed and her long eyelashes were still trembling slightly.

She must have low blood sugar. When Xu Ao picked her up, her small body was light but still had the strength to pinch his arm hard. Her brows were tightly furrowed and her bloodless lips moved slightly. Only when Xu Ao got closer did he hear her say, "Put me down. Who are you?" Even when she was dizzy, she was still vigilant. Xu Ao felt a little sorry for the girl in his arms. After he took her back to her room, he fed her some sugar water, and she finally fell asleep peacefully.