Meeting again

The wolf in sheep's clothing inside the room had no idea his cover had been completely blown. He was still shamelessly sharing his tricks for wooing his sweetheart.

Ye Ruan puffed out his cheeks, torn between anger and amusement.

He listened a little longer, but Gu Cheng grew increasingly shameless. With his ears burning, Ye Ruan simply jumped down from the second floor and hurried away.

Poor Gu Cheng, who had planned to lie in wait at the hospital, ended up waiting for three whole days.

He went from brimming with confidence to looking utterly disillusioned with life, sitting on the balcony smoking with world-weary resignation written all over his face.

Fang Ci privately thought he deserved it.

Xu Chu mocked him. "All right, quit pretending to be depressed. You have to leave the hospital today. Your Headquarters Team has already come storming over."

Gu Cheng flicked the ash off his cigarette and sighed. "Leave me alone. Let me mope for a while."

"Xu, when can I leave?" Fang Ci asked impatiently.

Xu Chu shrugged. "That's not up to me. The doctor decides. But you'll be here for at least another week. You broke a bone, remember?"

Fang Ci looked disappointed. "At the assembly in a few days, Ye Ruan will definitely..."

"Buddy." Gu Cheng exhaled a cloud of smoke. "Keep pining after my bunny, and I'll break your third leg too."

Fang Ci: "..."

Xu Chu burst out laughing. "Why are you carnivores all so possessive?"

Gu Cheng smiled, then said meaningfully, "Partners are hard to find these days. Once you find one, getting them into bed is the safest bet."

Fang Ci couldn't hold back a laugh.

Xu Chu said helplessly, "No wonder that bunny ran away. You never stop being a shameless flirt."

The day before the assembly, Ye Ruan finally deigned to show himself before the Third Team.

Ye Ruan wore a black combat uniform, his rabbit ears drooping beside his face. In the sunlight, his red eyes looked like freshly washed gemstones, clear and translucent.

"Captain!" Tang Tang shouted excitedly, running straight toward Ye Ruan.

Ye Ruan beamed, spread his arms, and lifted Tang Tang into a hug. He spun her around twice before setting her down.

The girl smiled sweetly. "Captain, I missed you so much."

"I missed you all too." Ye Ruan ruffled her hair.

"So you finally decided to come back."

A tall, sturdy young man walked over. His grayish eyes gave him a somewhat cold appearance, but his smile felt like a warm spring breeze.

"He Zhou." Ye Ruan smiled. "Long time no see."

"It's only been two months. Not that long."

He Zhou laughed heartily and wrapped his arms around Ye Ruan.

"But I still missed you."

Ye Ruan patted his back and released him, then glanced around. The other twenty-odd team members stood obediently in three rows.

These team members had always been afraid of him before.

But this time, what they felt most upon his return was how much they had missed him.

One moose special person couldn't help giving a goofy grin.

"Captain! We really couldn't get used to you being gone!"

Ye Ruan raised his eyebrows. "What couldn't you get used to?"

The moose special person scratched his head. "No one beat us up during sparring, no one watched us when we messed up, and no one threw water on us when we couldn't get out of bed."

Ye Ruan: "..."

For a moment, he couldn't tell whether the guy had missed him or wondered why he hadn't kicked the bucket in City H.

He Zhou shook with laughter beside him.

Ye Ruan shot him an icy glare.

"He Zhou, take them on ten laps around the training grounds. No lunch until you finish!"

He Zhou stopped laughing. "I was wrong, Captain."

Tang Tang hurriedly pleaded in a quiet voice, "Captain, we just missed you so much. We only finished a field training march yesterday. We haven't slacked off at all."

"That's more like it."

Ye Ruan lifted his chin slightly and swept his gaze over them.

"Even if the First and Second Teams have always looked down on our Third Team, we can't spend our days slacking off."

"Now that I'm back from City H, I've decided to have the Third Team compete against the First and Second Teams."

At those words, everyone grew excited.

There was never a shortage of people on the team eager to stir things up.

"Awesome! When the Second and Third Teams were first formed, we got the short end of the stick because we were younger. Otherwise, how could that bunch on the Second Team ever outrank us?"

"The Second Team's no fun. If we're taking someone's spot, let's take the First Team's!"

Watching them all grow excited, He Zhou laughed and said:

"All right, even if you pin the other two teams down and beat them senseless, it won't help. We'll only have a chance to change our designations if our captain beats theirs."

Every member of the three teams wore an identification tag around their neck.

The First Team's IDs began with A, followed by a number.

The Second Team's IDs began with B.

The Third Team's began with C.

A different designation meant a different status-and different pay.

The thought of money made everyone even happier.

Three more days passed.

The members of all three teams arrived at the assembly hall early.

Commander-in-Chief Cai Hao stood on the podium with a thunderous expression.

When he saw Gu Cheng and the others strolling along in the distance with their hands in their pockets, looking as casual as if they were wandering through a market, his temper flared.

"Gu Cheng!"

Cai Hao roared, "Can you hurry up?!"

Gu Cheng glanced at his watch. "It's not time yet, is it?"

Yu Jingjing drawled, "Exactly. We're taking a little stroll to help digest our breakfast. We ate too much... Oh, speaking of that, the cafeteria lady really knows how to cook."

Lu Jiayi said, "Right. Those noodles with peppercorn chicken this morning were amazing. I heard they're serving them again tomorrow."

They played off one another, leaving the Headquarters Team standing there completely ignored.

Only an aisle separated the Second Team's seats from the First Team's.

Song Ting said disdainfully, "A bunch of complete thugs."

Lou Yu didn't want trouble. "Keep it down."

Once Gu Cheng finished strolling and sat down in the front row, he turned to glance at the Third Team.

All their members were present. Only the captain's seat remained empty.

Yu Jingjing was even more anxious than he was. "Boss, will Little Ye Ruan show up today?"

Gu Cheng squeezed his knuckles and smiled. "If he doesn't come today, I'll go straight to his door. Might as well propose while I'm there."

"Badass."

On the other side, He Zhou asked quietly, "Tang Tang, why isn't the captain here yet? The Commander-in-Chief looks ready to kill someone with his eyes."

Tang Tang blinked. "I don't know either. Could he have overslept?"

He Zhou looked around and noticed that several higher-ups had arrived too.

"He Zhou!" Cai Hao bellowed. "Where's your captain?!"

In an instant, everyone from all three teams turned to look at He Zhou.

He Zhou had no choice but to steel himself and stand. "Maybe... since he just got back from City H, he's still adjusting to the time difference?"

Everyone's expressions turned peculiar at his answer. They wanted to laugh but didn't dare.

Cai Hao's face darkened further. "Go! Take a few people and find him. I want him here within ten minutes!"

"No need."

The half-closed doors to the hall were pushed open.

Ye Ruan stepped inside. His black combat uniform made his skin look even paler, and his slender, long legs ended in military boots. He looked sharp and immaculate.

With his white hair and blood-red eyes, Ye Ruan attracted intense interest even from those who had rarely seen him before.

Now that he had appeared, the curious team members couldn't help turning to look at him in unison.

Ye Ruan swept his bright red eyes around the hall. The moment his gaze met Gu Cheng's nearby, his hand at his side unconsciously clenched.

Gu Cheng never seemed to tire of watching him, his gaze following Ye Ruan every step of the way.

His teammates' astonished murmurs reached his ears.

"Holy shit, the Third Team's captain keeps getting more..."

Yu Jingjing leaned back with a smile. "More what?"

The man laughed. "Good-looking. When I happened to see him a few years ago, he was still a short little kid."

Facing the eyes of over a hundred people, Ye Ruan remained completely composed. He calmly walked to the front row and sat down.

Two aisles and five seats now separated him from Gu Cheng.

Ye Ruan lowered his lashes. After that first glance at Gu Cheng, he hadn't dared look again.

But... Gu Cheng's gaze felt almost tangible as it landed on him, brazenly sweeping over him from head to toe.

Suddenly, someone whistled.

In front of everyone, Gu Cheng raised his voice and asked:

"Third Team captain, are you seeing anyone? If not, how about we get to know each other?"