"The military train has arrived ahead of schedule. The platform has been cleared. Please prepare, sir!"
The communications officer's voice rang out outside the compartment, breaking the predawn silence.
Su Mingfeng's eyes snapped open. He had barely slept all night. He looked at Nuannuan, who was sleeping soundly on the bed. Her breathing had become much steadier, and the flush on her face had faded somewhat.
The big snow leopard kitty was still lying beside the bed, its enormous head close to Nuannuan's little hand, its tail resting lightly on her blanket. Like a loyal guardian, it never left her side.
Su Mingfeng rose gently, moving carefully for fear of waking Nuannuan. He went to the window and drew back the heavy curtains.
A pale, fish-belly white appeared on the horizon. Beneath the lead-gray sky, the platform of Capital West Station stretched out in silence. It was deserted, with only a few dim yellow lamps swaying in the wind and snow.
Tall buildings stood all around, their walls painted with eye-catching red slogans.
"Sir, your father and mother are already waiting," Zhang Li said in a low voice.
Su Mingfeng's heart clenched. He was taking Nuannuan back to the home where she should have belonged, back to the people who loved and missed her. But at the same time, he felt immense pressure.
He did not know how his father and mother would react when they saw Nuannuan in her current state. He did not dare imagine it.
"Prepare to disembark," Su Mingfeng said, his voice a little hoarse.
The military doctor had already changed Nuannuan into clean clothes. Though she was still wearing one of Su Mingfeng's uniform shirts, so oversized it looked like a sack, at least it was clean.
He carefully picked Nuannuan up and wrapped her snugly in a thick military overcoat.
The big snow leopard kitty rose too. It glanced at Nuannuan, then at Su Mingfeng, a low whimper rumbling in its throat.
"You..." Su Mingfeng looked at the snow leopard, unsure what to do with it. Take it off the train? That was unheard of in the capital, in a military compound. Leave it here? Would it go?
The snow leopard seemed to understand his hesitation. It stopped whimpering and simply watched Nuannuan in Su Mingfeng's arms with its ice-blue eyes. Its gaze was filled with reluctance to part and worry.
"Sir, we've arrived," the communications officer urged again.
Su Mingfeng took a deep breath. He knew this was no time to hesitate. Holding Nuannuan, he strode out of the compartment.
The train door opened. A blast of icy wind struck his face. A dark green jeep stood on the platform, its headlights on. Several figures stood beside it.
At their head was an elderly man in military uniform. Despite his advanced age, his bearing remained ramrod straight. His hair was graying, and his face bore the marks of the years, but his eyes were sharp and deep. He was Su Zhenbang, the patriarch of the Su family and one of the nation's founding heroes.
Beside him stood an elderly woman with a gentle air, dressed in a dark padded jacket, her hands clasped tightly together. Anxiety and worry were written all over her face, and her gaze kept straying toward the train door. This was the matriarch of the Su family, Lin Wanyi.
Behind them stood several soldiers in uniform, along with an ambulance.
With Nuannuan in his arms, Su Mingfeng stepped off the train, one step at a time. Every step felt like treading on the tips of knives. He could feel everyone's eyes fixed on the tiny figure in his arms.
"Mingfeng!" Su Zhenbang's voice held a trace of suppressed emotion.
Lin Wanyi had already hurried forward. When she saw the child in Su Mingfeng's arms, wrapped tightly in a military overcoat with only her little head showing, her body shuddered.
"Nuannuan... is it Nuannuan?" Lin Wanyi's voice trembled. She reached out, wanting to touch Nuannuan's little face, yet afraid of disturbing her.
Su Mingfeng nodded, his throat feeling as though a stone had lodged in it. He could not speak. He could not tell them what this child had endured over the past five years.
Lin Wanyi's gaze settled on Nuannuan's pale little face. Though the military overcoat covered her, the bloody scab on Nuannuan's forehead was still clearly visible. Her little mouth was slightly open, her breathing faint. She was as frail as a fallen leaf in the wind.
"My Nuannuan..." Lin Wanyi's tears instantly broke free. She reached out a trembling hand and gently stroked Nuannuan's cheek. Its icy touch made her heart feel as though it were being cut by knives.
Su Zhenbang came over too. As he looked at Nuannuan in Su Mingfeng's arms, complicated emotions surged in his deep eyes. There was the joy of reunion, heartache, and, more than anything, uncontrollable fury.
He saw the wound on Nuannuan's forehead and her frail body. He had spent his life on the battlefield and witnessed countless matters of life and death, yet never had he felt such heartache as he did at this moment.
"Mingfeng, what... what exactly happened?" Su Zhenbang's voice was low, carrying a restrained authority.
Su Mingfeng carefully handed Nuannuan to the military doctor who had hurried over before turning to face his father. He stood ramrod straight, but his voice carried fatigue and self-reproach he could not conceal.
"Dad, Mom... I failed to take good care of Mingyue and Nuannuan." He lowered his head, his voice hoarse.
Lin Wanyi was already sobbing too hard to speak. She clutched Su Zhenbang's hand, her body trembling slightly. Su Zhenbang's face was livid. Without a word, he walked to Nuannuan's ambulance and watched the military doctors anxiously load her inside.
"Reporting, sir!" Zhang Li ran over, his gaze flicking toward the train carriage from time to time.
Su Mingfeng knew what he was looking at. He glanced back. The enormous snow leopard was sitting quietly in the carriage doorway.
It had not stepped off the train or made a sound. It simply watched silently with its ice-blue eyes as Nuannuan was placed in the ambulance. Its gaze was full of reluctance to part and worry, like a loyal dog that had been abandoned.
A trace of complicated emotion welled up in Su Mingfeng's heart. He knew this fierce beast probably would not leave easily.
"Keep it... here for now," Su Mingfeng told Zhang Li. "Post someone to watch it. Don't let it hurt anyone, and don't let anyone hurt it."
Zhang Li froze for a moment, then promptly acknowledged the order. "Yes, sir!"
The ambulance siren pierced the predawn silence. Su Zhenbang and Lin Wanyi climbed into the ambulance, and Su Mingfeng followed right behind them. The jeep started up and followed closely behind the ambulance as they sped toward Military Region General Hospital.
The morning wind in the capital was bitterly cold. The Su family's precious pearl, lost for five years, had finally returned to her native soil. But her return came with tremendous pain and an unknown storm.
The entire Su family was shrouded in this sudden grief. Meanwhile, the loyal snow leopard watched the ambulance recede from the empty platform, its gaze never leaving the white vehicle carrying Nuannuan.