Jasmine for you

After holding the kiss for just a few seconds, Ye Ruan let him go, bent down, and slid off the hood, then sauntered back to the vehicle.

Gu Cheng had nearly had his soul stolen by the little rabbit.

He stood there for a while, cleared his throat, licked his lips, and rubbed the back of his head before leaving, trying hard to suppress the smile tugging at his mouth.

Meanwhile, Ye Ruan returned to the vehicle in an excellent mood and sat in the passenger seat, continuing to twist his Rubik's Cube.

Ren Fei'er, who had been drawing with a pencil and notebook, suddenly looked up, her bright eyes seeming to see straight into his heart.

"Ye Ruan."

"What is it?"

Ren Fei'er sat on her little stool, cradling her chin in both hands.

"What exactly are you and the other men and women?"

Ye Ruan's fingers paused. "Soldiers."

Ren Fei'er smiled. "You're all so amazing. Could I become as strong as you?"

Ye Ruan answered matter-of-factly, "It's very hard."

"But I really want to become strong, so I can protect those girls from getting hurt again."

Ren Fei'er's young face was full of resolve. "They bullied them just because they were pretty."

"When I first saw those women, they were so, so pretty, wearing beautiful dresses. But... my bad daddy and the others beat them."

The flowers had withered before they could bloom.

"There's nothing wrong with wearing dresses, and being beautiful wasn't their fault either."

Ye Ruan gently tapped Ren Fei'er's forehead.

"The ones at fault were the bad people who broke those flowers."

Ren Fei'er hugged Ye Ruan's arm.

"So, Ye Ruan, could you help me become strong?"

There were precedents for this at the Special Person base.

They would recruit soldiers with special abilities, or those who had already become elite soldiers at a young age.

But such cases were extremely rare. As far as Ye Ruan knew, in all these years, only the First Team had a human member.

Still, Ren Fei'er's performance while taking her revenge had been truly surprising.

Calm and ruthless.

Ye Ruan fell silent for a moment, then turned to face her and rolled up his sleeve.

An ugly scar marked his cool, pale forearm.

"I got this injury when I was five. Just because I was half a second too slow during training, glass from an explosion stabbed into my flesh."

Ye Ruan softened his voice. "I've had so many injuries like this that even I can't count them."

"If you've made up your mind, I might be able to help you."

Ren Fei'er's eyes widened. "I have! I want to become really, really strong!"

"All right."

The door opened, and Gu Cheng climbed in carrying a pile of things.

Ye Ruan's gaze was immediately drawn to the small bunch of flowers in his hand.

Gu Cheng knelt on one knee before Ye Ruan, set the flowers on his lap, then picked up a pair of black-and-white sneakers and put them on him.

"Jasmine." Ye Ruan brushed his fingers gently over the flowers.

Holding Ye Ruan's ankle, Gu Cheng tied the laces and asked:

"Do they fit? Are they too big?"

Ye Ruan shook his head. "They're just right."

Gu Cheng smiled. "Your feet fall between sizes. Of course army boots a size too large would rub. Once we get back, I'll have a few pairs custom-made for you."

Ye Ruan wore a size 39.5. There were no army boots that fit, so he could only wear a size larger.

"Okay." Breathing in the fragrance of jasmine, Ye Ruan leaned closer to Gu Cheng, the sunlight making his red eyes look crystal clear.

He held the flowers in his hand. "Were the flowers just something you picked up along the way?"

Gu Cheng played with Ye Ruan's ankle, occasionally scratching his calf lightly.

"The flowers were in the shoe shop's window. The glass had broken, and the rain brought them back to life, but they weren't blooming very well. I picked the few good ones for you."

Gu Cheng's voice was low. "Jasmine for you, a wish that you'll never leave."

That was why, the moment he saw the jasmine, Gu Cheng had been eager to gather a bouquet for Ye Ruan.

Ye Ruan blushed, cradling the little bunch of pure white jasmine, unwilling to put it down.

"Thank you."

Gu Cheng could only remain serious for so long. Seeing the little rabbit's lovely smile, his eyes filled with affection.

"If you want to thank me, give me a kiss. That would show you mean it."

Ye Ruan turned to look at Ren Fei'er.

The little girl knew exactly what to do and promptly pulled her little blanket over her head.

"Hurry up, you two. If you take more than two minutes, I'll suffocate."

Gu Cheng couldn't help laughing. "Never mind. Save it for tonight, when no one's around."

Ye Ruan said nothing. Still holding the flowers, he wrapped his arm around Gu Cheng's neck and kissed him with quiet passion for over ten seconds before pulling away.

Ye Ruan pressed his lips together, numb from Gu Cheng's kisses and looking as though they had been stained with cherry juice.

"My sweet bunny, I adore you."

Gu Cheng planted another kiss on Ye Ruan's cheek, pulled him into his arms, and spent a while affectionately cuddling and fussing over him.

A wolf was living like a dog, fond of licking the rabbit and biting him too.

Ye Ruan twitched his nose and said softly, "Gu Cheng, let's go find them. Jingjing must be really worried about us."

"Okay, let's go!"

Full of energy, Gu Cheng stepped on the accelerator and hit the road again with the little rabbit and the little girl.

Following the strips of cloth Yu Jingjing and the others had left, Gu Cheng pursued them until he suddenly slammed to a stop at an intersection!

Seeing the change in his expression, Ye Ruan turned to look. His drowsiness vanished completely, replaced by terror.

The bus...

The bus Yu Jingjing had been driving lay overturned at the intersection, thick smoke billowing from its shattered windows.

The advertisement printed on its side had been burned beyond recognition.

"Zombies." Ye Ruan stared blankly at the ordinary zombies shuffling slowly around the street corner.

They were familiar faces.

Without a word, Gu Cheng got out with his submachine gun.

Ye Ruan turned and warned, "Fei'er, stay in the vehicle and don't make a sound."

Ren Fei'er said, "Okay."

Before getting out, Ye Ruan carefully set the little bouquet of jasmine aside.

The flowers had wilted, but their faint fragrance still lingered on his fingertips.

Gu Cheng circled the bus. Inside lay several charred bodies, but he couldn't make them out clearly through the door.

Ye Ruan shot the zombies wandering toward them. Gu Cheng's expression was grim, his grip on his gun so tight that his knuckles had turned white.

Without another word, Ye Ruan leaped onto the overturned bus and, heedless of the heat, grabbed the door on the driver's side.

His flesh made a horrifying sound as it burned against the scorching metal.

He moved too fast. By the time Gu Cheng pulled him down into his arms, Ye Ruan had already ripped the door off and tossed it aside.

"Ye Ruan!"

Gu Cheng caught Ye Ruan's wrist and opened his hand. His once soft, pale palm was burned.

"You really are..."

Gu Cheng's heart ached terribly. "Go back first."

Ye Ruan broke free. "Check inside first."

Gu Cheng wasn't the only one worried about the others. Ye Ruan was just as terrified for them.

Gu Cheng picked up a steel pipe and turned a charred body over. Even after looking for a while, he couldn't tell who it was, but there were three bodies near the driver's seat.

"It's not them." Ye Ruan took Gu Cheng's hand and let out a relieved breath, resting his forehead against his arm.

The bodies' frames were far too small. Among their First Team teammates, even Yu Jingjing was 1.78 meters tall.

"Let's look farther ahead." Gu Cheng wrapped an arm around Ye Ruan's shoulders and led him back.

Once his wound had been bandaged, Ye Ruan saw that Gu Cheng still looked very displeased. As Gu Cheng stood up, he hugged him around the waist.

Ye Ruan pressed his cheek against Gu Cheng's abdomen. He was about to say something when Gu Cheng gave his head a light rap.

"Acting cute won't help. I'll punish you once we've found them."

Ye Ruan puffed up indignantly. "I just wanted to find out who the bodies inside were as quickly as possible!"

Gu Cheng slipped his hands beneath Ye Ruan's arms and hoisted him up, lifting his feet off the floor.

"There was a steel pipe right there on the ground, but you just had to use your hands?"

Ye Ruan was so angry his rabbit ears nearly popped out:

"Then look at it from where I was standing! You're taller than me! How was I supposed to see the steel pipe that had fallen under the bus? You big, tall wolf!"