The wealthy military officer spoils his wife excessively

She ran all the way to the west wing courtyard and kicked open the door to Lu Zheng's room with a thud.

He practiced assembling a gun in his room—a .24mm American light machine gun with 15 detachable parts. Lu Zheng took 32 seconds to assemble it from disassembled to complete assembly. He raised the assembled machine gun, aligned the sights, aimed at the door handle, and gently pulled the trigger. Just then, the door opened, and through the sights, he saw Nie Suwen standing angrily in his doorway.

He slowly lowered the gun, placed it on the table, and looked at her.

Suwen calmed her anger, walked over, and asked him, "Do you have any bullets?"

"No."

She picked up the gun; it was extremely heavy. With difficulty, she raised her arm and aimed outwards.

"That's not how it works, you can't aim accurately like that," Lu Zheng said.

"I do not believe."

This self-righteous woman. He sighed, stretched out his arm, and reached around from behind Suwen to grasp her arm, pressing his head against her side to instruct: "Look, relax your upper arm, use your forearm, like this..."

The two men on one side of the machine gun were embracing each other. They could smell each other's breath and the gunpowder from the muzzle, so savage and fierce.

The air suddenly froze.

It's unclear whether it was him grabbing her finger that was on the trigger, or her suddenly kissing his lips first.

She touched him briefly and then left, looking up at him defiantly.

He was angry. What was she doing?

Lu Zheng snatched the guns away and slammed them on the table. At the same time, he grabbed the back of her head with one hand and pulled her toward him, wanting to see clearly what she was up to.

She shouldn't have kissed him; once she did, she shouldn't have left.

The next second, Lu Zheng's lips, filled with anger, impatience, and long-suppressed emotions, pressed fiercely against hers—no, not a kiss, but more like a bite.

His hand slipped inside her smooth Thai silk dress, finding her softness. She stiffened sensitively, her vine-like arms wrapping around his neck, hooking around him, and she stood on tiptoe. He broke through her teeth, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other teasing the flames on her body. His advances softened, becoming tender and lingering, intoxicatingly passionate.

However, his professional habits had made him sensitive and patient, and another voice in his ear told him to calm down.

"Have you already forgotten your husband back home so quickly..." His voice escaped softly from the wet kiss.

Su Wen groggily opened her eyes, looking down at the man who held her in his superior position. Black trousers, a tight vest, a blend of primal instinct and delicate grace in every muscle, outlined sharply by the light filtering into the room, revealing cold, hard lines. Yet his eyes were unexpectedly calm, dark and unfathomable, showing no sign of lust.

Was her feeling wrong? She looked at him in confusion. This face had no resemblance to Lu Zheng at all. Why was she so crazy to think that he was Lu Zheng, and even tested him with her body time and time again?

Once she calmed down, she realized that her actions were absurd, but at that moment, her subjective intuition was in control.

If it wasn't Lu Zheng, who else would care for her unconditionally and treat her well? Who else would shield her with their own body in a life-or-death situation?

That intuition that drew her to believe and rely on couldn't be wrong; there would be no one else but him!

She reached out and stroked his body, slowly moving downwards towards his already erect penis, her touch both agile and insidious.

Lu Zheng grabbed her hand.

"What? You don't want it?"

“I want her,” he said, pulling her closer until their bodies were pressed together, face to face, chest to chest, belly to belly, greedily and eagerly feeling her softness and warmth. “Of course I want her, ever since I met you.”

Suwen suddenly grabbed his collar, trying to tear it open to see if there was a poppy-shaped tattoo on his body.

Lu Zheng, who was holding her, suddenly froze, grabbed her hand, and when she tried to break free, he held it firmly.

Suwen couldn't understand his silence. She touched and caressed him with her leg: "The body doesn't lie. If you want it, tear off your mask. Tell me, who are you?"

“I can kiss you here,” he said slowly, reaching out to place his hand on her lips. “Here,” he stroked her chest, “and here.” His hand rested on her navel, sending shivers down her spine.

"You can do whatever you want, any way, for as long as you want. Do it to your satisfaction, until you beg me to let you go, no problem, no problem."

Her body yielded, unable to move, and she stared fixedly at him, her soul struggling with its own.

“But not now,” he frowned slightly, giving her a light kiss on her stubborn lips to calm his desire. “Right now, we both have other thoughts on our minds. This isn’t me in front of you. I don’t like this.”

He spoke slowly, as if by magic, suppressing her involuntary passion and anger.

"You really...aren't him?" Suwen reached out and touched his cheek in a daze. His thin features and firm yet soft skin certainly didn't seem fake. She had been too delusional, thinking there was some kind of disguise technique written in books. He gently embraced her, and she tried to push him away, but found she had no strength at all.

She leaned against him, stunned. The scent was so similar, the feeling so familiar. Why, why wasn't it him?

Tears streamed down her cheeks. She missed Lu Zheng terribly, to the point that even if she grabbed someone in a foreign land who looked nothing like him, she would mistake him for him!

If Chai were to nod now, she would stubbornly believe him, and then, in front of him, she would cry like a child, telling him all the hardships and grievances she had endured over the past few days. Only him.

Lu Zheng held her quietly, feeling the tears from the corners of her eyes slowly soaking his clothes and burning his skin. His heart also burned with the same heat.

For a fleeting moment, he wanted to hold her tight, take her away, and leave the Golden Triangle, leave this chaotic, hellish place.

The door creaked open again behind Suwen, and Suwen felt the body holding him stiffen.

She turned around in Lu Zheng's arms and saw Xi standing at the door. Her surprised eyes flickered when she saw the two of them embracing, and then a look of understanding crossed her eyes.

She cleared her throat and said to Lu Zheng, "The leader wants to see you."

Lu Zheng slowly released Su Wen and nodded: "I'll go right now."

Suwen only saw his back. Then, Xi also left.

For the next few days, Suwen did not see Xi's bodyguard again.

Time seemed to stand still, the only change being the weather, sometimes sunny, sometimes rainy. Occasionally, I would pass by the railings of the stilted house where they used to sit; the tall horizontal bars were bare, and a gust of wind would occasionally blow by, bringing a damp and sultry atmosphere.

During the meal, Xi still sat next to Tang, acting according to Tang's wishes. Only, someone was missing behind her—the man who always stood quietly behind her, expressionless, like the wind of the subtropical rainy season, dissipating into the scent of plants and grass.

He is not Lu Zheng. So one day, she will forget him.

She remained in the Golden Triangle, and Hao Haiyun refused to let her go. Servants took care of her daily needs, but none of them spoke Mandarin.

Sometimes she goes out for a stroll, sometimes she watches TV. Of course she can't understand it, but there are always women crying or kneeling and grabbing men's legs on screen, probably repeating: "Don't go, don't go."

On a gloomy day, she fell asleep under the banyan tree in the courtyard, dreaming of Lu Zheng, who loomed before her, out of reach. Even in her dream, she knew struggling was futile; she called out to him from afar, "Wait a little longer, I'll see you soon."

When Suwen woke up, she was covered in sweat.

A shadow flashed across the tree, but she was not alarmed.

In the Golden Triangle, her every move was under the watchful eyes of others.

That day, she was drawing water from the well under the banyan tree to wash her face when someone forcefully pushed her head into the basin from behind. Suwen's hands gripped the edge of the basin. She couldn't breathe, but she was quiet and didn't struggle.

A full minute passed before the force was released, and Suwen looked up to see what was behind her.

That evening.

She glared at Suwen, furious and embarrassed.

“You might as well keep me occupied for a while longer,” Suwen said, wiping her face with a towel and looking directly into her eyes. “This is pointless. I’ve learned to swim; what’s a minute of holding my breath?”

"I can kill you anytime I want..."

“But you dare not,” Suwen interrupted her. “I am an important guest of your leader, and you dare not disobey him.”

"You're nothing to the chief!"

“I am nothing, but,” Suwen stood up and walked past her, “I was brought by Hao Haiyun. He is cooperating with your leader, isn’t he?” She smiled, “Hao Haiyun cares about me a lot. If I die, your cooperation will fall apart, and your leader will not let you go.”

Xi said through gritted teeth, "You don't have many days left. I really don't understand how a man would be willing to die for a woman as fickle as you. Hai's life is too worthless. I feel sorry for him."

Su Wen, who was about to leave, was startled. She turned back, stood in front of her, a smile on her lips, but her eyes were as cold as ice: "That person is your bodyguard. Whether he lives or dies, what does it have to do with me? You're feeling sorry for him now? He's been missing for so many days, and you've been living your life happily, haven't you?"

“That’s different, he came for you.”

"Who is he?"

Xi glared at her, about to say something, when she suddenly realized what she was doing and a wicked smile appeared on her lips: "Don't try to trick me into saying anything. I won't tell you a single word."

Suwen finally laughed: "Why should I care about the life or death of someone who is insignificant to both of us?"