He was a disabled military officer who doted on his research work in the Northwest.

That's all for today!

Mu Qinghan suddenly grabbed the nearest physics book on the table and slammed it down on her lap. The movement was so forceful that even the teacup on the table shook.

Shen Tang's hand was suspended in mid-air, and she was so frightened that she pulled it back.

Before she could say anything, Mu Qinghan had already shoved the wheels of his wheelchair with both hands—the metal scraping against the blue brick floor made a piercing "screeching" sound. He didn't even call out to Xiao Li, nor did he look at her; with his head down, he practically fled out of the main room.

The wheelchair lurched as it rolled over the threshold, and the physics book nearly slipped off his lap. He grabbed it, his knuckles turning white.

The sound of a wheelchair receding into the distance could be heard in the courtyard, growing increasingly urgent, until finally the door to the study on the east side slammed shut.

Shen Tang was the only one left in the main room.

She sat in the chair, staring at the half-finished test paper and a steaming cup of tea on the table, her face full of bewilderment.

"...What's wrong?"

She recalled what had just happened—her cousin wouldn't let her call him that, and neither would Commander Mu. Calling him Qinghan-ge... and he ran away?

baffling.

Shen Tang shook her head and looked down at herself—the collar of her thin shirt was open. She then realized this and reached out to button it up.

"She probably doesn't want anyone to see her leg hurting," she muttered to herself, not thinking any further.

After all, in her understanding, Mu Qinghan was a patient whose condition had been fundamentally damaged, so she did not connect his abnormal behavior with "that kind of thing" at all.

Shen Tang picked up her pen and finished the remaining challenging questions in three minutes. She put away the papers and returned to the east wing.

……

In the study.

Mu Qinghan locked the door from the inside.

He sat in the darkness, his back pressed against the back of the wheelchair, his chest heaving violently. Sweat trickled down his temples, dripping onto the collar of his military uniform, leaving a small dark stain.

The physics book was still on his lap. He didn't remove it.

Because of what lay beneath the book—he understood better than anyone else what it meant.

Mu Qinghan closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and leaned against the chair. In the darkness, only his own heavy breathing could be heard.

a long time.

He raised his right hand and covered his eyes.

His expression was obscured by his fingers. But his Adam's apple bobbed several times, as if he were swallowing some surging emotions.

The part of the body that was sentenced to death.

Alive.

……

The next day, in the evening.

As usual, Shen Tang took her lunchbox to the hospital. Today she made shrimp and egg custard with a little spiritual spring water, which is good for bone and nerve repair.

When she pushed open the hospital room door, Mu Qinghan was leaning against the headboard reading a book. When he saw her come in, he visibly stiffened for a moment, his gaze quickly sweeping over her before he lowered his eyes and forced them back to the pages of his book.

Shen Tang noticed that he had deliberately pulled the blanket up to his waist and abdomen today.

"It's probably a lingering effect of the leg pain last night; I'm feeling cold today," she thought.

"Shrimp and egg custard, eat it while it's hot." Shen Tang opened the lunchbox and placed it on the bedside table, then pulled up a chair and sat down.

She hesitated for a moment, then spoke up: "Last night... I wasn't careful enough."

Mu Qinghan paused for a moment as she turned the pages of the book.

"That nickname—Brother Qinghan—was just something I said offhand." Shen Tang's tone was as calm and natural as possible. "If you feel awkward about it, I'll change it back to my original form—"

"No need to change it."

Mu Qinghan interrupted her. His voice was calm and his tone was indifferent, showing no trace of the disarray he had displayed the previous night.

He turned a page in the book, which had been stuck on the same page ever since she came in, but Shen Tang hadn't noticed.

"We call her that in private," he said, his gaze remaining fixed on the pages of the book, not looking at her. "In public, we'll stick to the usual name, to avoid trouble."

Shen Tang looked at him.

His expression was indifferent, and his attitude was casual, as if it were an insignificant decision.

But the tips of his ears were red.

The redness stretched from the earlobe all the way to the auricle, and was particularly noticeable under the harsh white light of the ward.

Looking at the two bright red ears, Shen Tang suddenly felt a string in her heart being gently plucked, as if she had glimpsed something she had overlooked.

"Okay." She smiled slightly, not pressing for a reason. But as she handed him the spoon, her voice was softer than usual: "Then—Qinghan-ge, eat it while it's hot."

Mu Qinghan's hand trembled slightly as she took the spoon.

The porcelain spoon tapped against the rim of the bowl, making a crisp "ding".

He expressionlessly scooped up a large mouthful of steamed egg custard and stuffed it into his mouth, burning his lips until they turned red, but he didn't even flinch.

Shen Tang looked at his "I'm perfectly normal, nothing's wrong" expression, and the corners of her mouth curved up even wider.

She couldn't quite describe her feelings, only that Mu Qinghan seemed different now, a little silly, and... a little cute.

……

Leaving aside Mu Qinghan's matter, Shen Tang continued to approach Teacher Lu.

Their after-class interactions have become a regular pattern.

After the combined classes on Wednesdays and Fridays, Shen Tang would stay in the classroom until all the other students had left before asking Lu Yanzhi questions.

She controlled it well—she only threw out one or two questions that "seemed to be at a student's level but were somewhat profound" each time, so that she would not reveal her true level, but would be enough to make Lu Yanzhi feel that this student had potential, so that he could talk to her more and the topics could be more in-depth.

Sure enough, through her unremitting efforts, Lu Yanzhi gradually discovered that this girl named Shen Tang had an amazing intuition about agriculture, especially soil improvement, which seemed to have touched on the bottleneck of his current research.

The discussion lasted longer than usual that Friday.

When Shen Tang looked up at the window, only half of the setting sun, with its golden-red edge, was hanging on the Gobi Desert line.

"It's getting late." Lu Yanzhi glanced at his watch, frowned, and said, "You live in that compound? It's getting dark; it's not safe for you to walk back alone. I'll walk you part of the way."

Shen Tang was looking for an opportunity to steer the conversation toward "growing vegetables in saline-alkali soil," and this was exactly what she wanted—the road from the school to the compound passed right by the wasteland behind her house.

If Lu Yanzhi could see the land with his own eyes, the conversation would naturally flow.

"Then I'll trouble you, Teacher Lu." She slung her backpack over her shoulder and followed Lu Yanzhi out of the teaching building.

In the late October evening, the shadows of the poplar trees were stretched long by the setting sun. The two walked along the dirt road behind the school toward the military compound, talking as they went.

Lu Yanzhi's discussion consistently revolved around saline-alkali soil microorganisms: "The biggest problem right now is the lack of physical samples. If we could find a piece of saline-alkali land that has already been successfully improved—even if it's just a small piece—and isolate active bacterial strains from the soil, then the entire research direction could take a giant leap forward."

Shen Tang listened, and the corners of her mouth curved slightly.

Active bacterial strains? The microbial communities attached to the roots of the crops she grew in her space were ready-made samples.

But she couldn't just say, "I have some in my backyard. The vegetables you stole last time were mine. They were freshly planted then, so it wasn't okay. But it'll definitely work this time."

That would be too abrupt, making it seem like she had always had ulterior motives and was scheming.

It will only be natural if he discovers it himself.

After walking for about ten minutes, the two could see the row of poplars outside the compound wall in the distance.

Shen Tang slowed her pace.

"Teacher Lu, you said there's a lack of physical samples..." She glanced to the left as if by accident—in that direction, separated by a low wall and a few clumps of withered grass, was the saline-alkali land behind her yard.

"Actually—" She hesitated, feigning reluctance, "My place is just up ahead, inside the compound. If you're not in a hurry…why don't you come in and sit for a bit? I can get you a glass of water, and—"