The wealthy military officer spoils his wife excessively

Lu Zheng forced a smile, his hoarse voice audible only to himself.

He arrived in the Golden Triangle a step earlier than Su Su, while they were still enjoying the romantic beaches of Pattaya. What Nie Suwen didn't know was that from the moment she stepped into Chiang Mai, a pair of eyes had been silently watching her from beginning to end.

So when she was taken away by the angry Hao Haiyun, he would "coincidentally" push open the door and enter; so when she came out alone late at night, he would silently follow behind her, just in case she encountered danger.

Even though she knew nothing, and even though she was still wary of him.

In the early morning, Nie Suwen woke up satisfied.

This was her longest and most peaceful sleep in months, a complete darkness, without even a single disturbing dream.

When I woke up, I was a little confused about where I was, thinking that I was still at home in Beijing.

Outside the door, there was the constant sound of footsteps, as if there was some kind of group activity.

She rubbed her eyes, slipped on her slippers and got up. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Hao Haiyun, dressed neatly, standing at the door.

For some reason, when he saw himself waking up with a bare face, a suspicious dark red appeared on his usually aloof face.

He made a fist, placed it under his chin, coughed lightly, and asked her, "You're awake?"

"Oh... um."

Suwen casually replied, then looked at the servants coming and going outside and asked, "What are they doing?"

"We're going to Chiang Rai today. Tang is preparing gifts for his friends." Hao Haiyun's voice was thick with nasal tone, clearly indicating that he hadn't slept well last night.

Suwen counted the boxes of gifts with surprise. So many boxes of gifts must belong to a very important friend.

She raised her head and asked, "When are you leaving? Why didn't you wake me up?"

Hao Haiyun walked over and helped her pull up the open collar of her pajamas, brushing aside the stray hairs by her ear, and said with a hint of concern, "The road to Chiang Rai is not easy to travel. You're not feeling well right now, and your back will hurt if you ride an elephant for a while."

Suwen recalled his experience riding the elephant that day and, as expected, backed down.

When will you be back?

"Tang's friend is very hospitable. He might let us stay there for the night. If all goes well, we'll be back tomorrow night."

Suwen nodded, and Hao Haiyun patted her head again: "Hurry up and go wash up, there's still time to have breakfast with you."

Suwen went inside to wash up and changed her clothes. When she came out, Tang and Tan Xiaolin were already sitting in the restaurant, having almost finished eating. They were chatting and waiting for Hao Haiyun to come down.

Suwen saw that Xi was also there, so she sat down next to Tang and slowly drank her tea. When Hao Haiyun came down, she winked at him flirtatiously. Tang, who was next to her, remained calm and had a smile on his face.

Suwen noticed that Chai, who had been standing behind Xi last night, was the most composed of everyone, showing no expression no matter who came. It wasn't until he noticed Suwen's gaze that he suddenly looked up at her.

His clear eyes seemed to hold a sharp wound.

Suwen, wearing a type of soft-soled leather shoe commonly worn by local women, stood on the earthen embankment of the poppy field, the sun directly overhead, as a caravan of elephants slowly passed in front of her.

Sitting on the elephant, Hao Haiyun looked back at Su Wen, who was standing in the poppy field with her neck tilted back. The bright South Asian sun shone on her, weaving a fuzzy halo around her. In that instant, Hao Haiyun felt an urge to make a certain promise.

He held the elephant's saddle, and the servant made a gesture. The mahout immediately patted the elephant's leg, and the elephant lowered its body. Hao Haiyun slid off the elephant's head in an instant and landed in front of Su Wen.

It had only been a day since he left, yet he felt a deep unease. Perhaps Suwen was right; he was afraid. Even though he had brought her to the Golden Triangle, he still felt that she could disappear from his sight at any moment.

"Don't wander around alone." His voice was cold, a stark contrast to the stifling, oppressive air.

Suwen glanced at the elephant behind him and remained silent.

Hao Haiyun realized he had said the wrong thing while she was silent. What he wanted to say was: Stay here and wait for me. However, he didn't say it.

He sighed inwardly and glanced at her again: "If you're bored, I'll take you for a walk around the city when I get back."

She instantly beamed and raised her arm to wave at him.

Hao Haiyun smiled, turned around, climbed onto the elephant, and the elephant caravan gradually disappeared into the distance. After the entire entourage had left, Su Wen saw a pale gray figure blend into the crowd and walk away.

She paused for a moment, looked around, and quickly followed. The servants who brushed past her ignored her; with Tang gone, no one treated her as a guest, and besides, they couldn't understand each other's language. The servants not only didn't stop her, but deliberately avoided her.

Lu Zheng knew she was following him at a moderate distance, but he didn't turn around. He maintained a steady pace as he walked to the garage behind the mansion.

Suwen hid behind a tree stump outside the garage. After a while, an old jeep drove out of the garage. She was wondering whether to rush up and stop him when the sound of the car approached her hiding place. A headlight shone on her, and Suwen was instantly exposed.

Behind the windshield, a blank face appeared: "Get in." He held out his hand to her.

Suwen was stunned for a moment, not knowing when he had discovered her.

She didn't touch his hand, jumped into the jeep from the other side, and slammed the door shut.

In the driver's seat, those usually cold and hard black eyes slowly gathered a kind of tenderness in their gaze.

"You've been following me for so long, where do you want me to take you?"

The jeep had no roof, and the hot air poured onto her face. She pursed her dry lips and said frankly, "Down the mountain, to the market."

She didn't know if he would agree; perhaps he would turn around and send her back to be imprisoned. But he just chuckled. Suwen had only seen him twice before, and each time he was expressionless, cold, and somewhat stiff. This was the first time she had seen him smile. Fine lines appeared at the corners of his upturned eyes, and he laughed so heartily, without any reservations.

He said, "Who is the man who came with you? Didn't he tell you not to wander around?"

Beneath her long, curved eyelashes, her large eyes instantly became aggressive.

"And what about you? Aren't you Xi's bodyguard? Why didn't you go to Chiang Rai with her?"

Lu Zheng suppressed his emotions, composed himself, and started the jeep: "This has nothing to do with you."

Suwen turned her head and raised her face: "My affairs have nothing to do with you."

The car was going very fast. The old Jeep was roaring and humming, and it almost felt like it was about to fall apart as it drove down the winding mountain road. The speed was so fast that the chassis was slightly floating. The sweltering wind kept blowing into her face, eyes, nose and ears. Every time she turned a corner, she had the feeling that the car was about to plunge off a cliff.

The mountain road was quiet, with the chirping of insects and the sound of car engines mingling together.

Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, armed government police ordered them to get out of the car for questioning. Lu Zheng pulled out a brown booklet of identification from the car. The officer glanced at Su Wen in the car and spoke a string of words in the local language, which Su Wen couldn't understand. She looked up and peered around.

Lu Zheng turned to her and said, "They want to impound the vehicles on the mountain, so we have no choice but to get out and walk."

Suwen looked ahead and asked, "How far are we from the market?"

"Far."

"how far?"

Lu Zheng looked at the sun: "We need to take a car and then a boat to cross the river."

He waited for her to back down, but to his surprise, Suwen didn't hesitate for a moment. She jumped out of the car and said, "Okay, take me there."

Not far down the mountain was a bus station, and next to the station were vendors selling coconuts. The most authentic local drink came from a fuzzy coconut with a very hard shell. The vendor used a sharp, half-curved knife to forcefully chop it open, revealing a crack that released golden juice. Suwen licked her dry lips. Lu Zheng walked over, paid a few coins, inserted a straw into his favorite coconut, and gave it to Suwen to drink.

Suwen silently held the coconut, but her eyes were fixed on the knife that split the coconut open.

Lu Zheng said, "You wait here, I'll go buy the train tickets."

After he left, Suwen walked to the coconut stall, took out a banknote, a US dollar, waved it in front of the seller, and then said in Chinese, "I want this."

The seller's shrewd eyes darted around, and he handed her the knife.

It was made of glossy black steel, hard and incredibly sharp. Suwen ran his fingertips along the blade, held it up to the sunlight, and looked at the tip with great satisfaction.

Before Lu Zheng returned, she wrapped the knife in oil paper and stuffed it into her backpack.

They rode in a songthaew, essentially a local bus, with two rows of seats, as the name suggests. The carriage was crowded and unbearably hot. Local farmers sat in the aisle, children cried and sometimes laughed, and the noise was mixed with the music playing on the vehicle, which was rather languid. The air was filled with the fresh scent of green plants and tea leaves, mixed with the smell of human sweat and mentholatum, all mingling with the shadows of the trees.

The carriage wasn't completely enclosed. Suwen turned her head to look at the scenery behind her. Behind the city were mountains of black soil, covered with lush vegetation, rising abruptly from the ground. For most of the year, it was the rainy season, with low-hanging clouds that only reached the mountainside. Lightning flashed through the clouds, accompanied by a rumbling sound.

She had never seen such a sight anywhere else she had been.

Lu Zheng silently took the coconut she had finished drinking. The slow-moving songthaews stopped and started. In the afternoon, the sky was overcast and the air was thick with moisture. Su Wen felt a little cooler, but she felt increasingly sticky.

She began to fidget, and Lu Zheng glanced at her and said, "We've arrived at the Mekong River."

Finally, they arrived at the station. Suwen got off the train and looked south. He could clearly hear the low, quiet sound of the water, but all he could see was a vast expanse of white, with smoke rising from the Mekong River.