Leaving the sanatorium, Ren Minghang sat in his car for a long time, only to start the engine when the car behind him honked several times.
"Inviting Xia You to have dinner at home, how am I supposed to bring this up," Ren Minghang and Xia You, in true meaning, had only connected once on the phone, plus a meal, and even that was an invitation sent out by Lin Yi. And this time, is Lin Yi supposed to step in again?
"No, I’ve got to speak up. If they understand that Xia You and I are just ordinary friends, that’ll be clear enough. No, even if we’re just ordinary friends, my parents would still say, ’Then invite her over for a meal as an ordinary friend.’ " Scratching noises near the car door, Ren Minghang was as if unhearing.
A Rand Military District army bus grazed past the car. "Still... better to make things clear with her. That seems more feasible. I’ll do just that. I’ll tell Xia You frankly that I like her, and then bring her home to meet my parents. That will solve the problem. If she doesn’t like me, we can start as ordinary friends," Ren Minghang clarified things for himself, steered the wheel, and headed towards Rand Military District.
At six o’clock sharp, just as Xia You and Mo Xixi were preparing to leave work, someone from the logistics department notified her that someone named Ren Minghang was waiting for her outside the military region. It was also fortunate that Ren Minghang had the rank of Sergeant; otherwise, his car wouldn’t be allowed to park in the parking lot outside Rand.
These past few days, Xia You had just returned to the military region. The "Golden Splendor" case, although concluded, still felt somewhat amiss to her, hoping to participate in the follow-up unit of the case. However, Lin Yi said that the case was now being jointly handled by the National Security Department and the Armed Department, so if she wanted to join the follow-up unit, it had to be approved by the heads of both departments. Xia You was not confident that Lu Xun would sign off on that, so she had to set her plans aside.
As for the matter with Simon, it was also thanks to Ren Minghang, or rather, the Ren Family’s help that it was resolved so smoothly. It was on the way home with Lin Yi that day when she truly learned about Ren Minghang’s family background. Putting aside his family background, Xia You still needed to express her gratitude to him; however, she was still hesitant about the request Lin Yi had raised.
As dusk approached, the skies over Rand Military Region in the mountains were adorned with continuous blush of sunset and flocks of birds returning home. After greeting a few colleagues who boarded the bus, Xia You walked on the wide military road, thinking about what to say to Ren Minghang later.
From behind her came the sound of a whistle, bold enough to occur in the "Rand Military Region" by only one person.
"0, are you alone? I can give you a ride on my way out." Yu Xiaonan was recently quite pleased with himself; with the "Golden Splendor" case, he took credit for the work of two departments, receiving a first-class merit from Lu Xun. He was advised to do well recently, eyeing for a promotion to Sergeant at year-end evaluations. Military rank, to Yu Xiaonan, was a minor matter, but reaching Sergeant level would mean his personal car no longer had to pay daily ingress and egress fees. In the "Rand" military region, soldiers at the Sergeant level could drive personal cars into the region without paying parking fees, Lieutenant levels enjoyed certain vehicular subsidies, and Officers had their own parking spaces - for many male military personnel who loved their cars as much as their wives, a personal parking space was not a small temptation.
The sprawling area of the military region was somewhat astonishing; Xia You, who usually took the bus, did not feel its vastness until today. She walked a distance, her mind still a mess, but looking at the time, half an hour had already passed, and she had not even seen the outline of the main gate of the military region. She didn’t mind walking until dark, but Ren Minghang might have been waiting outside for who knows how long. Being an honest person, he didn’t even make a phone call but had the logistics department notify her instead.
"Hurry up and get in, I have some ’Military Road’ matters to ask you about," these days, Yu Xiaonan was getting the hang of "Military Road," the maps, and the mission system, and after messing around by himself for a while, he was looking for people to team up with. He didn’t know at which stage Xia You was currently on "Military Road," but as a fellow newbie, he felt a sense of kinship with Xia You, hence he always directly referred to her as ’0’ when they met.
Hearing him mention "Military Road," Xia You also recalled the woman who had appeared at the temporary stop. Because of the "Cai Yang Incident," she hadn’t logged into "Military Road" for several days. If that woman was just an ordinary traveler, she would have probably already left by now.