An 80s female translator was spoiled rotten by a rough and jealous man.

Chapter 345 Greed
The movie on the screen showed a scene of equipment exploding inside the space station. In the picture, orange-red and golden flames, along with silvery metal fragments, burst and scattered like a suspended and broken rain of flames.

The dimly lit auditorium was suddenly brightened by two degrees, the light seemingly penetrating the screen and spilling onto the heads and shoulders of the front-row audience.

Each frame of the dynamic scene is highly realistic, with excellent special effects that create a strong visual impact. The sound effects are also exceptionally intense, making for a great audiovisual experience and an overall immersive experience.

The explosion in the film escalated, and the plot reached its climax. Everyone present was deeply involved, as if they were there, and they were truly holding their breath for the astronauts.

Just then, Huo Qingshan felt something soft slip into his palm, which was clenched into a fist at his side.

At the same time, he heard a soft whisper beside him: "I'm scared."

Huo Qingshan turned his head and saw the girl sitting next to him with her neck hunched over, her head slightly lowered, her eyes closed, and her eyelashes trembling in the light and shadow.

It wasn't all lies, nor was it all an act. Meng Youyou still suffers from some lingering post-traumatic stress disorder. Some emotional wounds are hard to heal completely; they always change something from the inside out, leaving a permanent mark on her, deep within her.

She couldn't stand the sound of explosions and gunfire. When she occasionally passed by the shooting range in the camp, she would instinctively quicken her pace and move away as fast as she could. But it wasn't really that serious. With a little effort, she could endure it alone and do it without anyone around her noticing, and she could even fool a professional psychologist.

At this moment, let's act nine parts and be one part real, going with the flow just right.

Huo Qingshan felt that the small hand in his palm was slightly cool, and the knuckles were trembling slightly. Without hesitation, he gently tightened his grip.

The deafening roar filled her ears, and shockwaves rippled continuously, engulfing her from all directions. Occasionally, a few helpless cries of humans could be heard. The fiery light emanating from the large screen shone through her closed eyelids, and Meng Youyou's eyes seemed to sense the scorching waves rushing towards her. She subconsciously bit her lip and closed her eyes even tighter.

Perhaps due to the extended focus on explosion scenes in the film and the escalating intensity, this stress reaction was the most severe she had experienced since returning to this world. Not only her limbs, but her entire body soon began to tremble uncontrollably.

After enduring more than two minutes of the long movie, Meng Youyou's mind was filled with a dark cloud, rapidly expanding, filling, and blocking, and the feeling of suffocation was rising. Meng Youyou tried to take deep breaths, which was her usual adjustment technique. The effect was not immediate, but it usually got better slowly.

Someone... seemed to squeeze her fingers? Then, her hand was completely enveloped between two large, dry, rough palms, tightly, perfectly sealed. His hands were large and warm, radiating strength and warmth.

Even though the hand that was wrapped up was only a small part of her body, at this moment, Meng Youyou felt a huge sense of security welling up in her heart, filling every corner of her heart. The gloom gradually dissipated, and her anxiety and discomfort were relieved to some extent.

This was what she craved. Meng Youyou couldn't remember what it felt like the last time she was held firmly by such a pair of hands with calloused palms.

Meng Youyou suddenly felt an urge to cry.

She suddenly felt that people shouldn't be so pessimistic. Some mental illnesses may just be due to not finding the right cure, and there's no need to lose heart too early.

Meng Youyou had long realized that after waking up from her "sleep," she no longer dared to dream too much. Having witnessed and experienced many heart-wrenching losses, she felt that happiness was hard to come by, even harder to find, and even harder to hold onto for long.

So she kept forcing herself to give up her greedy habits, but old habits die hard. Whenever greed arose, she would do her best to suppress it, as if doing so could help her avoid potential suffering.

But in that instant, her ambition, stirred by some unseen force, surged wildly, and she began to believe again... that things would be alright, that everything would be alright—Meng Youyou, you can have so much beauty and happiness beyond your imagination, you must believe that none of it will ever leave you again.

But remember, God's gifts are not reserved for the timid. Blame him for being cowardly, but haven't you also lost a lot of courage?

Simply for this long-lost peace and warmth, Meng Youyou unilaterally decided to forgive his previous hot-and-cold behavior. Compared to the man's numerous flaws, she cherished the irrepressible flutter of her heart and the irreplaceable tranquility he brought her. He was her stimulant, and also her calming agent.

Meng Youyou thought that holding her hand in the packed theater was the limit of what this man could possibly do. However, to her utter surprise, he suddenly stood up from his seat, took her hand, bowed to the person next to him and said "Excuse me," and then pulled her out of the back door of the auditorium.

"Why are you so scared? Those are all fake, just science fiction movies." He hugged her in a secluded corner and whispered gently in her ear to comfort her.

Meng Youyou buried her face in his chest, and the tears she had just managed to suppress suddenly burst forth. The girl sniffed and said, "Then hold me a little longer, and I won't be afraid anymore."

"Okay," he agreed, pulling her closer and unconsciously nuzzling his chin against the top of her head. For a moment, he seemed surprised by his own action, but after a brief pause, he didn't pull back; instead, he continued to nuzzle her head. Meng Youyou blinked in surprise in his arms, savoring the touch from above her head, then nuzzled his chest with her nose in response.

He used to like to rub her hair whenever he felt like it. Meng Youyou finally glimpsed a glimpse of how he initially loved her: gentle, patient, and tender.

...

After lights out, Jiang Fu had already gone to sleep, while Meng Youyou sat alone at the table, with an orange-yellow lamp lit.

Under the desk lamp, the girl lowered her eyes, held her pen, and crossed out another item on the list in her notebook: "Holding hands at the movie theater." After that, she remained silent, staring blankly at the lines of text on the page, gradually drifting into a daze.

The events she crossed out were like pebbles thrown into a lake one after another. Although there were many of them, perhaps they weren't big enough to make a ripple—he showed no signs of regaining his memories.

He said to take it slow, but Meng Youyou wouldn't listen to him.

In peacetime, many things can't be replicated. You can't just find a landmine somewhere, let him step on it for a whole day and night, and then have her appear like a divine intervention to save him? The mere thought is absurd!

Or deliberately cause a huge explosion, injure yourself, and end up in the hospital so he'll take care of you? What else could that be but insane!
Or perhaps she could give herself a penicillin injection to see if she has an allergic reaction, and then have him rush her to the hospital? That would be like asking for trouble!

Here, there is no Zhang Yong, no Zhong Heng, no Grandma and Cui Yan, no June 24th Incident and no war; there are only the two of them.

If he continues at his current pace, the concentration of those few familiar stimuli will only be gradually diluted.

Take your time? ...By then, the daylily will be completely cold.

Meng Youyou was getting increasingly anxious. She watched as each item on the list was crossed off, the opportunity slipping away bit by bit, and the longer she delayed, the slimmer her hope became. If she waited until the very last item was crossed off, she didn't know what method she could possibly use to bring back his memory.

Whether she falls in love again or not, and whether she regains her memories or not, are two different things, and Meng Youyou is unwilling to only grasp one aspect.

...

In the early hours of the morning, most people who have worked all day are in a deep sleep.

The man lay on his back on the bed, his limbs maintaining an almost rigid, orderly posture even in sleep. His arms were flat at his sides, his eyes were closed, but for some reason, his brow furrowed and relaxed repeatedly. This state did not last long; his hazy consciousness alternated between dreaming and waking, and suddenly, in the pitch-black room, the man opened his eyes.

Huo Qingshan had another dream, but this one was different from the others—extremely bizarre. He couldn't quite tell if it was a dream, or…that person's memory?
When he held the girl's hand tonight, a strange sense of familiarity suddenly welled up inside him—as if he had experienced a similar moment before? But Huo Qingshan knew clearly that he had never had a similar experience. He had never liked any girl in his life before, let alone gone to the movies with any girl.

Not only this time, but also last weekend when he carried her back to the neighborhood after leaving the mall. It was a short distance, and she was perched on his back, so light and alone. As they walked, he felt a strange sense of familiarity with her weight, the soft touch against his skin, the forearms wrapped around his neck, and the slender legs he supported with his arms. But no matter how hard he thought about it, almost racking his brains, Huo Qingshan was absolutely certain that in his past twenty-seven years, he had never carried a girl on his back.

In his dream, he seemed to have found the answer.

It consisted of fragmented pieces, strung together in a disjointed manner, like the earliest choppy cartoons. The old-fashioned TV was connected to a satellite dish, and the signal was poor. The overall resolution was low, the picture quality was blurry, and there were even large areas of screen tearing and stuttering. The damaged areas of the picture moved randomly within the frame, choppy and jerky.

Due to this interference, Huo Qingshan was able to capture few elements from it, but he was still deeply impressed after reading it.

The first frame focuses on a mountain path at night, with grass and gravel scattered everywhere, the view somewhat blurry, as if they are descending a mountain; the second frame is a glimpse of two pale forearms in his peripheral vision, presumably someone is on his back; the third frame is too blurry, but the sound is clear, a woman's voice, crying and complaining: "How come there are so many rats and snakes on this mountain? It's terrifying!" The fourth frame shows the girl craning her neck from the side, half of her face coming into the man's view.

Huo Qingshan could only see the other person's eyes and nose, but that was enough to determine who the person on his back was.

If those images are all memories from this body's past, then the reason they appeared at this critical juncture seems more like a blatant warning, a warning not to act recklessly!
Huo Qingshan threw off the covers and got out of bed. Without turning on the light, he walked to the wardrobe in the dark, squatted down, and opened the bottom drawer. His fingertips reached into the fabric and touched a paper object, but he stopped a moment later.

(End of this chapter)