Too many female prisoners, a special forces soldier transmigrates and marries wildly.

Time seemed to stand still in the darkness of the cellar.

Wang Zhen would deliver simple food and water on time every day, and briefly inform them of the situation outside: the rain had stopped, the checks were still very strict, Laoyadu was blocked by the state army, and it seemed that someone was being secretly searched in the city, but there was no fanfare and no sign of pursuers finding this place.

On the afternoon of the third day, Lin Feng was meditating when he suddenly heard footsteps above him that were more hurried and heavy than usual, followed by the sound of a wooden cabinet being moved quickly! The cellar entrance had been opened, and Wang Zhen's low, anxious voice came through: "Brother Lin, my sister Yingzi is going downstairs to hide. The boss is coming to inspect. My husband went back to his parents' house, so only my sister is home. This morning, Old Li's house in the next alley was burgled, causing widespread panic. My sister is timid and scared being home alone, so she came to the night patrol station to find me, hoping to hide for a few days. Who would have thought the boss would suddenly come to inspect? Sigh."

A moment later, a slender figure, carrying a faint, fresh scent of soapberry, hurriedly descended the steps. The girl was about seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a slightly worn floral cotton jacket and skirt, a dark apron tied around her waist, her dark hair simply tied back with a wooden hairpin, her cheeks flushed with nervousness and haste, and she carried a small bundle. As she reached the bottom of the steps, she saw Lin Feng in the shadows, and was startled, staring at him with wide eyes, filled with surprise and unease.

Lin Feng nodded slowly to her and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry for startling you, young lady."

Yingzi patted her chest, slightly calming down. Using the dim light filtering through the cracks in the cellar entrance, she carefully examined Lin Feng. He was wearing her brother's old uniform, tall and straight, but pale-faced, his lips bloodless, his brows bearing an unyielding weariness and a hint of coldness. Underneath the clothing on his left arm and back, she could vaguely see bandages. Was this the person her brother had mentioned earlier, the one sent to hide by higher-ups?

"You...you are Brother Lin?" Yingzi asked softly, her voice clear and crisp, with a hint of local accent.

"It's me," Lin Feng said.

Then there was silence.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Feng noticed that she hadn't sat down yet, so he said, "I'm sorry to trouble you, young lady. This cellar is simple. If you don't mind, please rest over there." He pointed to a relatively dry corner on the other side of the cellar.

"Mmm." Yingzi responded softly, carrying her small bundle, and walked to that corner, sitting down against the earthen wall, but her eyes still couldn't help but look at Lin Feng.

A long time passed.

"Brother Lin, is your injury still very painful?" Yingzi asked softly.

"Much better, just superficial wounds," Lin Feng replied.

"That's good." Yingzi seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Brother Lin, if you don't mind, I... I'll help you change your dressing? I'm gentle, and I used to treat my brother's wounds often."

Lin Feng wanted to refuse, but looking into Yingzi's clear eyes, which held concern and a hint of timidity, he swallowed the words he was about to say. He nodded: "Thank you for your trouble."

Yingzi quickly got up, picked up the small porcelain bottle and a clean strip of cloth, and came over. Lin Feng sat down with his back to her, unbuttoned his shirt, revealing the bandaged wounds on his back and left arm.

Yingzi carefully untied the old, blood-stained, and medicine-stained cloth, dampened a clean cloth with water, and gently wiped the skin around the wound. Then she opened the porcelain bottle, poured out some pale yellow medicinal oil with a cool, herbal scent, warmed it in her palms, and applied it evenly and with moderate pressure to the wound. Her fingers were slender and somewhat rough (obviously from years of hard work), but her movements were exceptionally gentle and careful, as if afraid of hurting him.

The medicated oil brought a cool, stinging sensation, but it was quickly replaced by a warm, soothing feeling. Lin Feng closed his eyes, able to feel the girl's focused breathing and the gentle touch of her fingertips behind him. This feeling of being meticulously cared for was somewhat unfamiliar to him. Shi Xiu and Liu Yun would also take care of him, but that was more like the concern of family. The care from this girl behind him carried a strange, cautious tenderness.

"All done," Yingzi said softly, re-bandaging the wound with a clean strip of cloth, her movements neater and more precise than Lin Feng's own. She then helped Lin Feng straighten his clothes.

"Thank you." Lin Feng finished dressing, turned around and thanked him.

"You're welcome." Yingzi blushed slightly, packed her things, and retreated to her corner.

The cellar fell silent for a moment, broken only by the soft breathing of the two people. The atmosphere was somewhat awkward.

"Brother Lin," Yingzi couldn't help but speak again after a while, her voice soft and filled with curiosity, "You... are you from the north? My brother said there's a war going on in the north, it's very unsettled."

"Yes, I came from the north," Lin Feng replied briefly.

"War...is it very scary?" Yingzi asked, her eyes filled with fear of the unknown and a hint of longing.

Lin Feng remained silent for a moment, as if the smoke of war on the border, the blood of his comrades, and the scimitars of the Di Rong cavalry flashed before his eyes... Those memories were cold and bloody, not suitable for telling to a simple girl.

"Yeah, it's horrible," he finally said.

Yingzi seemed to sense the heaviness in his tone and his reluctance to talk more, and sensibly didn't press him further. She hugged her knees, rested her chin on them, and gazed at the sliver of light at the cellar entrance, saying softly, "Although the prefecture is big, I think it's not as good as our countryside. The countryside may be tough, but there's not so much fighting and backstabbing. My brother said that working in the city looks glamorous, but you have to be careful every step of the way. One wrong word, one wrong action, and you might..." She didn't finish her sentence, only sighing.

Lin Feng glanced at her. Although the girl was young, she was clearly not naive and had her own understanding of the hardships of life and the complexities of human nature.

"Your brother is a good person," Lin Feng said.

"Yes!" Yingzi nodded vigorously, her eyes revealing dependence and pride. "Although my brother has a straightforward temper and can be stubborn at times, he has a good heart and is good to me and Mom. It's just... he's too honest and doesn't know how to flatter his superiors, so after working in the Military Command for so many years, he's still just a squad leader." Her tone was a little heartache and a little helpless.

The two of them chatted quietly in the dim light of the cellar. Yingzi did most of the talking, recounting amusing anecdotes from the countryside, life in the prefecture, and her slight uncertainty about the future. Lin Feng mostly listened quietly, occasionally offering a brief response. But this brief exchange strangely dispelled the suffocating loneliness and oppression of the cellar, and made time pass more quickly.

As night fell, the cellar was plunged into complete darkness. Under the cover of darkness, Wang Zhen quietly brought in some simple food and water, gave a few more instructions, and then hurriedly left to patrol the night.

Yingzi spread out the thin quilt she had brought and said to Lin Feng, "Brother Lin, your injury hasn't healed yet, sleep here, it'll be warmer."

"No need, I'm used to it." Lin Feng shook his head and remained sitting on the haystack.

"No...no, that won't do." Yingzi was a little anxious. "You're injured, you need to rest properly. I'm healthy, I can sleep on hay without any problems." As she spoke, she reached for the blanket.

"Miss Yingzi," Lin Feng called out to her, his voice unusually steady in the darkness, "Listen to me. I'll sleep here, closer to the entrance, so I can detect any movement immediately. You sleep in that corner, it's relatively safer there. Make sure you're covered up properly, the cellar gets chilly at night, don't catch a cold."

His tone left no room for argument. Yingzi hesitated for a moment, her grip on the blanket tightening, but ultimately she didn't insist further, saying softly, "Then... alright then. Brother Lin, be careful too."

"Um."

They lay down. Silence returned to the cellar, broken only by their even breathing. The darkness amplified all their senses; Lin Feng could clearly hear Yingzi's soft turning and the faint scent of soap wafting from her. This made him slightly uneasy, but more than that, he felt a long-lost sense of closeness with someone, even though the other person was a nearly unfamiliar young woman.

After an unknown amount of time, Yingzi seemed to have fallen asleep, her breathing becoming long and steady. Lin Feng, however, remained alert, closing his eyes to rest, his ears listening for any unusual sounds outside the cellar.

In the latter half of the night, the temperature in the cellar dropped even lower. Lin Feng heard a few suppressed coughs coming from Yingzi's direction, along with the rustling sound of clothes rubbing against each other as she curled up. She seemed a little cold.

Lin Feng sighed silently, stood up, picked up his old uniform that Wang Zhen had given him, and gently walked over to cover Yingzi's curled-up body with it.

Yingzi's body twitched slightly, as if she had been startled awake, but she didn't make a sound. She simply wrapped the prison uniform covering her body tighter, and her breathing became steady again.

Lin Feng returned to his original spot and sat down again. In the darkness, the corners of his mouth curved almost imperceptibly before returning to their straight state.

The next day, the two continued to spend time in the cellar. With Yingzi's company and care, time seemed to pass less. She was a diligent and meticulous girl. She tidied up the cellar a bit, spread the dry grass more evenly, and used a cloth she had brought to wipe Lin Feng's clothes that he had changed out of (although she only wrung them out briefly).

She would still try to chat with Lin Feng, but she knew her boundaries. She no longer pressed him about his background and experiences, instead talking about everyday things, family matters, or asking trivial questions about border customs and military life. Lin Feng was still not very talkative, but he responded more frequently than yesterday, and his tone was much gentler. He even gave Yingzi some simple pointers on how to use nearby objects for self-defense, how to find cover, and how to quickly assess her surroundings if she encountered danger. Yingzi listened attentively, her eyes sparkling.

In the afternoon, Yingzi took out her needle and thread and, by the light from the cellar entrance, began mending the knife-cut tear in Lin Feng's uniform. Her fingers flew, the stitches fine and even, her expression focused. Leaning against the earthen wall, Lin Feng watched her work, and in a daze, he seemed to see the shadows of Shi Xiu and Liu Yun. Both were ordinary yet resilient women, striving to survive in a chaotic world, caring for those around them.

"Brother Lin," Yingzi said, finishing the last stitch, biting off the thread, and handing the clothes back with a shy smile. "It's mended. It doesn't look good, but it should be more durable to wear."

Lin Feng took it, looked at the fine stitches that almost completely concealed the original tear, and nodded: "Very good, thank you."

Yingzi's smile brightened. She glanced at the light streaming into the cellar and whispered, "It's getting dark again. My brother should be able to find a way to get me out tonight. Brother Lin, what...what are your plans next?"

Lin Feng paused for a moment. His plans? He was like a chess piece on a board; he couldn't completely decide where to place his next move. It all depended on how Zhou Wenyuan, the player wielding the pieces, planned his strategy.

"Wait for news," he finally said.

A flicker of disappointment crossed Yingzi's eyes, but she quickly concealed it. She took the small porcelain bottle she'd given Lin Feng the day before from her bosom and placed it in his hand: "Keep this. Even after you've healed, be careful not to get it wet, and don't exert yourself. And..." She then took the wooden hairpin that held her hair up; it was ordinary, with a simple plum blossom carved at the tip. She placed the hairpin in Lin Feng's hand, her voice almost inaudible, "This...I'll give it to you too. It's nothing valuable, but...it was left to me by my mother. Take it, consider it...a keepsake. Take care."

Lin Feng held the wooden hairpin and porcelain vase, still warm from Yingzi's touch, and looked at the girl's slightly flushed cheeks and evasive eyes. A chord in his heart was gently touched once more. He knew the weight of this gift. On this precarious escape, a token of affection from a stranger was both warmth and… a heavy burden of worry.

He did not refuse, carefully putting away the wooden hairpin and porcelain bottle. Looking at Yingzi, he solemnly said, "Thank you. Take care too. Tell Captain Wang that I will repay this great kindness in the future if fate allows."

Yingzi nodded vigorously, tears welling up in her eyes, but she held them back from falling.

As night fell again, Wang Zhen managed to distract the others, quietly came down, and helped Yingzi up. Before parting, Yingzi turned back and gave Lin Feng a deep look, a look that contained a complex mix of emotions—reluctance, worry, blessings, and a vague feeling that even she herself might not fully understand.

The wooden cabinet closed again, leaving Lin Feng alone in the cellar once more. The faint scent of soapberry and the lingering echo of the woman's soft voice seemed to still linger in the air. In his arms, the ordinary plum blossom hairpin and the small porcelain bottle felt heavy.

He leaned against the earthen wall and slowly exhaled. The two days they spent together were like a stolen, peaceful moment, briefly isolating him from the bloodshed and violence of the outside world. And that kind girl named Yingzi, and the warmth of this chance encounter, would be treasured deep in his memory like the faint light that once shone in this cellar, becoming an inextinguishable spark on this cold journey.