Under the moonlight

They sat quietly, hand in hand, gazing at the distant sea. Several seagulls had vanished without a trace, and the shimmering silver light on the water slowly turned golden. The sun, hanging low on the horizon, cast its last rays, but was gradually pulled down by the night. Until the sky lit up with twinkling stars, Huang Meng, like a docile kitten, was fast asleep on Xu Ao's lap. Xu Ao gently shifted his numb bottom, not daring to wake the sleeping girl.

Huang Meng was only awakened when the man lying next to her couldn't contain himself and started shouting insults. She opened her eyes, looked at the darkening sky, and sat up abruptly. She turned to look at Xu Ao, then at her hand still resting on his lap. As if electrocuted, she stood up abruptly and stammered, "Um, I fell asleep this afternoon." She wanted to explain that she didn't know when she had fallen onto his lap, but she didn't know how to say it. She could only stand there blankly, her eyes glazed over, her fingers frantically brushing the stray hairs from her ears.

Xu Ao rubbed his sore and numb legs and laughed. Huang Meng glanced at him, her sharp eyebrows softening, and a beautiful smile appeared on her lips, revealing a small tiger tooth, making her look both handsome and a little cute when she smiled.

Seeing that she was staring at him in a daze, Xu Ao's smile deepened. He then stretched out his arm, gesturing for her to pull him up. Huang Meng immediately felt embarrassed, as if she had been caught peeking, and quickly looked away while reaching out to pull him up.

Xu Ao stood up, raised his wrist to check the time, and saw it was already 8 p.m. His expression turned serious. He pushed up his glasses and walked up to a mercenary. Huang Meng followed closely behind. He turned to look at Huang Meng behind him, then said to the mercenary, "I want to see your commander."

The mercenary shook his head with a disdainful smile after Huang Meng finished translating. The men behind him, who had been waiting impatiently for a day without food or water, felt they were being held captive. They angrily stood up and walked up to the mercenaries, shouting loudly. Although they couldn't understand each other's language, their angry expressions alone were enough to provoke each other. Just as tensions were about to rise, one of the mercenaries shouted from a distance, which Huang Meng clearly heard.

"Let them in."

Huang Meng said "Let's go" to Xu Ao and walked over first, with Xu Ao following behind, and the other men quickly followed.

They arrived at the same room as that morning. It was the same two people who came in with fake smiles. They said to Huang Meng, "Haha, we're really sorry to have kept you waiting so long. It was all a misunderstanding. Just now, our people at the blockade said on the walkie-talkie that your people guaranteed with the national flag that you were all from Country C. Now we believe you. Haha, we can drive over and deliver your supplies to you."

After translating what he said, Huang Meng looked at Xu Ao, whose eyes were cold and unreadable. He said coldly, "No need, we'll drive it out ourselves."

Seeing Xu Ao's serious and indifferent expression, the man's smile faded, and the feigned smile disappeared from his eyes. The group fell silent, a dangerous atmosphere filling the air. Just as Huang Meng was starting to worry, the mercenary suddenly switched back to his feigned innocence, laughing loudly, "Haha, no problem, you can use your own cars, but you must bypass the main city area. Our cars will lead the way to the embassy." After translating his words, Huang Meng roughly understood their intentions.

Country C has always been friendly and united, and has a history of helping other countries. He was afraid that we would secretly send supplies to people trapped in the main city.

Xu Ao understood their thoughts and sneered, "Hmph, the uniform I'm wearing now tells me I can't violate my country's diplomatic principles and not interfere in other countries' internal affairs. So today, wearing this uniform, I'll only ensure the safe delivery of our supplies back to the embassy; it's my duty. But if one day I take off this uniform, whether I'll extend a helping hand is another matter." Huang Meng turned to look at Xu Ao beside her. He remained calm and serious, seemingly showing no emotional change, but his hands, hanging at his sides, were already clenched into fists.

They waited for the supply ship on the shore, while also notifying their colleagues at the embassy to drive in. Because the main roads in the city were severely damaged and filled with collapsed buildings and piles of rubble, they were unable to pass through. So they followed the mercenaries' vehicle and detoured to the port.

While waiting, Huang Meng suddenly asked Xu Ao a question.

"If one day you were in the same situation as me, and saw them escape death, would you set aside your so-called principles and reach out to help them?"

Xu Ao lowered his head and pondered for a while, then looked up at the bright moon in the sky and said in a low voice, "I don't know, I don't know what I'll do." He looked at the deep, dark night sky, where darkness covered everything, with only the area around the moon showing a faint afterglow. Even with so many stars gathered, the night was still vast and shrouded the world.

Huang Meng didn't say anything more. At least he spoke his mind honestly, without any of that empty rhetoric or grandiose claims.

About half an hour later, they were pulled back to their senses by the sound of a car horn. The men stood up as soon as they saw the car in the distance. When the car got closer, a bright red hue on the roof came into view, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Knowing they were in the wrong, they didn't say anything more and quickly helped unload the supplies onto the pickup truck. After they finished loading, they consciously sat in the car behind. As they got in, Chen Che, in the driver's seat, glared at them fiercely a few times, then looked behind them with a worried expression.

After Chen Che got out of the car, he saw that Xu Ao and Huang Meng were both alright. The tension on his face disappeared. He ran up to Xu Ao and asked with concern, "Senior brother, are you alright?" Xu Ao shook his head without saying anything, while Huang Meng looked at Chen Che and said, "We're fine."

Chen Che then smiled, his eyes crinkling as he revealed his white teeth. This cheerful and straightforward demeanor seemed slightly out of place with his neat and tidy buzz cut.

"It's good that you're alright. Let's go back quickly. Everyone was worried about you." Xu Ao and Huang Meng walked to the pickup truck in the back. The men, being quite sensible, huddled together in the back of the truck. Xu Ao and Huang Meng didn't stand on ceremony and opened the door to sit in the back.

Led by the vehicle in front, the car slowly drove out of the port. There were almost no streetlights along the way, only lights at the checkpoints set up by the mercenaries. They set up five checkpoints in just half an hour, leaving no way out for the mercenaries.

Huang Meng thought of Nasha again. Gazing at the endless darkness outside the car window, she wondered how Nasha and her family were doing. She did have selfish motives; if they successfully obtained the supplies as planned today, she genuinely wanted to secretly send some to them. However, Xu Ao's words had made her waver. She wasn't sure if she could interfere in these matters, or what impact it would have on the embassy and her country. Just as Xu Ao had said, at times like these, every word and action needed to be cautious; their skin color and language represented Country C.

Huang Meng sighed softly, closed her eyes, and leaned her head back on the car seat. Sometimes people really feel helpless. Facing people who have helped them before, but now unable to lend a helping hand, this feeling of helplessness and powerlessness can gradually drain the enthusiasm in a person until they become a completely cold machine.

The car arrived at the embassy smoothly. The mercenaries' vehicle had already stopped at the edge of the blockade line. Since they were already outside the main city area, there was no need for them to get any closer to the embassy.

It was late at night when the car entered the embassy. The lobby was still lit, and many people were sitting there. Xu Ao quickly walked into the lobby and briefly explained the situation of the supplies to everyone. He had thought that these people were waiting anxiously because they were concerned about the supplies, but to his surprise, no one seemed inclined to leave after he finished speaking. Xu Ao looked at everyone with a puzzled expression. At this moment, Jiang Ying stepped forward and walked up to Xu Ao. She gave Huang Meng, who had followed Xu Ao in, a deep look, and then her gaze fell on Xu Ao's questioning face with endless tenderness.

Li Linlin saw Huang Meng in the crowd and rushed over excitedly: "Sister Huang Meng, you're finally back! You have no idea, something big happened at the embassy while you were gone!" Huang Meng guessed that she was referring to the few people who had secretly slipped out, smiled and said nothing.

“Here’s what happened. After you left, those guys stole our uniforms and ran out. By the time we discovered the warehouse door lock had been pried open, they were already gone. At the time, we didn’t know who stole the clothes or what they were going to do with them, so we didn’t tell you about it for fear of affecting you. It was our fault for not doing our job properly.” Saying this, Jiang Ying looked at Xu Ao with eyes full of guilt. Xu Ao looked at Jiang Ying with a cold gaze and nodded, saying, “And then?”

"Later, Xiao Zhang went into the warehouse to check and found that in addition to the few sets of uniforms that had been stolen, some medicines were also missing. As you know, medicines are the most scarce and in short supply among the materials. We checked the list and found that the missing medicines were all medications for treating asthma."

Xu Ao reached out and pushed up his glasses, which had slipped slightly off his nose. S country has a suitable temperature and high humidity all year round, and pollen pollution is more serious than in China. Therefore, some asthma medicines were specifically listed on the supplies list in case of emergency. The warehouse is registered every time supplies enter and leave. He checked from time to time and found that no one had taken these kinds of medicines. It is conceivable that it is not the people in the embassy who need them. If they do, they can just come to us to get them. There is no need to be sneaky.

Looking at Jiang Ying's calm expression, Xu Ao suddenly realized something and asked, "Do you already know who took these drugs?"

Based on his understanding of Jiang Ying, if something had happened that was beyond her control, she wouldn't be standing calmly in front of him like this, explaining the situation. As a university classmate and a colleague, he knew Jiang Ying's personality: she was strong-willed and needed to be 100% certain of everything she did, never allowing anything unexpected to happen.

“Yes, she’s in the office right now, and Xiao Zhang is watching her,” Jiang Ying said with a smile, knowing he understood her.

After finishing unloading the supplies, Chen Che and the men who had sneaked out walked into the hall together. The men followed Chen Che with their necks hunched. They saw many people sitting in the hall talking about something. Even if they were unreasonable and domineering, they were afraid that people would find their spittle offensive, so they slunk upstairs.

Li Linlin, holding Huang Meng's arm, turned her head and caught sight of those figures, glaring at them fiercely.

Chen Che saw Jiang Ying talking to Xu Ao and knew it must be about what happened that afternoon. He was sweating profusely from moving things, so he draped his coat over his arm, rolled up the cuffs, and loosened a few buttons on his shirt, revealing his fair collarbone.

Li Linlin turned her head and saw this scene. Her big eyes were instantly drawn to it. Good heavens, what an incredibly handsome guy! How come she had never noticed him before? Look at that casually loose collar, his fair skin, the collarbone faintly visible beneath it, wow~ the casually rolled-up sleeves revealing his strong forearms, his well-defined knuckles, and they even had a hint of pink! She looked up at Chen Che and found that he was also looking at her. Li Linlin quickly pretended to be nonchalant and looked away, glancing at Huang Meng. But her heart was pounding like a boiling kettle, screaming with excitement. Wow~ He's looking at me! What should I do?!

Chen Che gave Li Linlin a deep look. This girl had been staring at him the whole time, so why was he the one who got shy first? Chen Che glanced at her red, blood-red earlobes, walked over to Huang Meng and stood down, saying, "Well, it was Sister Jiang Ying who found out. She hid the medicine in her clothes, which made them bulge, and that's when Sister Jiang Ying became suspicious."

Huang Meng was listening intently when she was suddenly startled by a sound beside her. She turned her head sharply and saw Chen Che leaning lazily against the table. It must have been the table leg making the noise. There were fine beads of sweat on his forehead, and his casually open shirt collar added a touch of roguishness.

Xu Ao stared at Chen Che for a while, then turned to Jiang Ying and said, "Now that the person has been found, why are they waiting here?"

"Hey, we're waiting to see if we can bring the supplies back, and also to see your attitude."

"Exactly, we're all in the same boat now. We don't know when we'll be able to go back. That woman stole food first, and now she's stealing medicine. Supplies are so hard to come by, and she keeps stealing from us. What are we going to do?"

"Exactly. Once it happens, it'll happen again. Eventually, everyone will be sneaking around stealing, while we honest folks will remain clueless."

Xu Ao understood their demands; they simply wanted an explanation to calm them down. However, this also served as a reminder to Xu Ao that it was time to set things right.

"Don't worry, everyone. I will handle this matter properly and keep you informed of the results promptly. You don't need to be overly concerned. The warehouse mainly stores items that aren't frequently used. Our daily necessities were stored in the back warehouse after the bombing, and they are guarded by designated personnel. There are daily records of items entering and leaving, so please rest assured. It's getting late, everyone can leave now."

After Xu Ao finished speaking, he turned to Jiang Ying and said, "Go to the office."

Jiang Ying smiled and nodded, following Xu Ao towards the office. Chen Che responded and followed as well.