Chapter 1125 — Valentine's Day Special: Xiao Ning's Story, Part 10

But having feelings did not mean he could act on them as he pleased.

Wei Zhao drew a deep breath and fought down the urge to look back. He fixed his eyes on the distance and quietly took in every sound and stir around them.

The pack had clearly gone far away. They had not the courage to linger.

Blushing, Yu Ning pulled up her pants, washed her hands with snow from the ground, then rose and walked over to Wei Zhao's side.

"All done? Shall we head back?" Wei Zhao asked, sensing her approach.

"Mm, but I don't want to go back yet. Will you sit with me at the mouth of the cave and look at the stars?" Yu Ning said. "The sky here is clearer and cleaner than in the city. You can see so many more stars."

"All right." Wei Zhao did not refuse. He felt there were things that had to be laid out plainly between them now. The nature of their relationship had to be made clear.

Yu Ning and Wei Zhao sat at the mouth of the cave, the fire burning behind them, and neither felt particularly cold.

"Today is Valentine's Day..." Yu Ning began. She was a little annoyed by Wei Zhao's silence. If you did not speak to him first, he might as well have been a wooden dummy, never saying a word.

"Is it...? I think it's already over," Wei Zhao replied.

"This has been the fullest, happiest Valentine's Day I've ever had!" Yu Ning ignored his mood-killing remark and went on. "On this Valentine's Day, when I'm sixteen, I think I've found the person I like..."

Wei Zhao's heart gave a jolt. He knew perfectly well what Yu Ning meant. She actually intended to confess her feelings to him in a place like this!

It might have looked like a good thing, but Wei Zhao did not see it that way. He had to rein in the horse at the edge of the cliff and strangle this romance in its cradle before it had even begun.

"You're only sixteen. You're too young to understand what love is. In a place like this, after everything we've been through together, perhaps you've mistaken it for love. It isn't!" Wei Zhao cut her off. "When you go back home, you'll find it all laughable."

"No, I know what I'm thinking. What's so young about sixteen? In ancient times girls were having children by then! And you're only sixteen yourself, aren't you? What gives you the right to lecture me?" Yu Ning shot back, agitated. She was not about to accept his cutting off her confession.

"Is that so? Then go on," Wei Zhao said. Her stubbornness left him somewhat helpless, and he was already turning over in his mind how to talk her around.

"Ying, I like you!" Yu Ning finally said the words she had held down for so long. When she had finished, she let out a long breath, as though she had completed some great undertaking.

"What do you like about me?" The reason Wei Zhao had let her continue was precisely that he wanted to settle this matter at its root.

"You make me feel safe. Earlier, because I made trouble, in that dangerous situation, you could clearly have run off on your own, but instead you threw yourself into protecting me without a thought for yourself. You even got hurt because of my willfulness, and you never complained once!" Yu Ning said. "In that moment, I fell for you!"

"Miss Yu, don't you think that's a laughable notion? I'm a guard, here to keep you safe. Anyone else in my place would have done the same! My duty is to answer to my superiors. What does that have to do with throwing myself into saving you?" Wei Zhao said coldly. "Put another way, if the person I was protecting weren't you, I would still have thrown myself in just the same!"

"I don't care. You're the first man in sixteen years to walk into my heart, and you'll certainly be the last!" Yu Ning shook her head stubbornly. "I like you, and that's that. When I get back I'll tell my father and mother to contact your superiors and have you transferred to me, to guard me and no one else!"

"Ha, fine then. Wait until you can actually get me transferred." Wei Zhao was quite confident on that point. If he had been one of Feng Tianlong's men, he might have had some misgivings, but in fact he and Feng Tianlong stood on equal footing. Wei Zhao merely assisted Feng Tianlong's department with certain matters; the idea of anyone ordering him about was out of the question.

Yu Ning caught a hint of something in his tone, but she did not give up. "Then if that won't work, from now on, every time there's a mission, I want you to come with me!"

"Fine, suit yourself!" Wei Zhao explained, somewhat resigned. "But what I want to tell you is this: people like us can't afford love! I could die at any moment. I can't give you what you want. If you're wise, you'll give this up quickly. It's better for both of us."

"I won't! From now on I forbid you to do such dangerous work. Why don't you just quit and stay with me?" Yu Ning said imperiously.

"Ha, all right then. I don't like you. I already have a girlfriend," Wei Zhao said, left with no other choice.

"..." Yu Ning fell silent. His explanation left her at a loss. If Wei Zhao had simply rejected her feelings, she would not have cared so much, but he had said he already had a girlfriend. What hope did she have then?

"Enough. That's all I'll say. Don't bring this subject up again." Seeing Yu Ning fall silent, Wei Zhao breathed a quiet sigh of relief. It seemed his words had done some good after all.

"No!" Yu Ning suddenly cried out. "You're lying! Didn't you say earlier that people like you can't afford love? Then where did this girlfriend come from?"

"That..." Wei Zhao had not expected his own excuse to contradict itself so plainly, and he was briefly embarrassed. But in a situation like this, the more he tried to explain, the worse it would get. Resigned, he turned his head away and ignored her.

After a while, seeing that Wei Zhao still had his head turned and would not look at her, Yu Ning was the first to relent. "All right, all right. Let's not talk about this for now. Then let's talk about something else, all right?"

"Talk about what?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Tell me how you used to spend your Valentine's Days," Yu Ning said.

"If I don't make a point of noticing, I don't even know yesterday was Valentine's Day. It's always been like that. Either I'm out on a mission or I'm sitting at home," Wei Zhao said flatly. "Pretty dull, isn't it? The truth is, I'm just a dull person."

"I see... Then does this Valentine's Day feel special to you?" Yu Ning asked.

"Didn't we say we weren't talking about this?" Wei Zhao did not take the bait.

"Oh... Then how about I tell you about my past?" Yu Ning thought she ought to let Wei Zhao understand her history. Perhaps once she had spoken, he would feel obliged to tell her his own; otherwise he would be too embarrassed not to, wouldn't he?

"All right," Wei Zhao answered mildly.

"When I was little..." Yu Ning began to tell him about her past, and Wei Zhao listened quietly at her side. He truly listened with care, trying to understand this girl's history. Of course, all of this could only be buried at the bottom of his heart from now on...

Gradually, a pale streak of dawn appeared at the edge of the sky. Morning had come. And Yu Ning, overcome by drowsiness, slowly slumped into Wei Zhao's arms and fell asleep.

Wei Zhao did not push her away. He simply savored the warmth of that moment in silence...

This Valentine's Day, Wei Zhao would remember forever, kept in his heart and never spoken of again.

From the distance came the roar of a helicopter engine. Perhaps Feng Tianlong had found their position and sent a rescue craft. It was all about to end...

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