Chapter 1153 — All-Purpose Comfort

Wei Zhao glanced toward the tent where Gu Mengyao and the others were sleeping; all seemed quiet there, so he did not go over to disturb them. Instead he and Feng Xiaoxiao went off alone to the seashore and sat down on the sand.

"It's so dark..." Feng Xiaoxiao curled up and nestled closer into Wei Zhao's arms.

"The hours before dawn are the darkest of all." Wei Zhao smiled and drew her tight against him. "Cold?"

"I'm all right. A little cold, but the moment you hold me I'm not cold anymore!" Feng Xiaoxiao smiled sweetly. "Wei Zhao honey, look — there are still stars in the sky!"

"Mm..." Wei Zhao nodded, and his thoughts could not help drifting back to the border of a certain small European country, to that night he had spent with Yuning.

That day, too, it had been the small hours; the two of them had sat at the mouth of a cave, gazing at the scattered stars in the sky — how very much like tonight.

Yet in the blink of an eye, the scene was the same but the people were not.

The stars were the same stars as before, but the one beside him was now Feng Xiaoxiao.

In those days Wei Zhao had been utterly lost about the life ahead of him. He had not known where he would go, nor when his days of drifting from place to place would ever end. Back then he had not dared to speak of love; his attitude toward it had been to run from it. He could give Yuning no promise, and he could not give her the life she wanted.

She was a delicate flower raised in a greenhouse, and he — he belonged to an entirely different world from hers. So Wei Zhao had chosen to flee.

(See Chapters 001–010, Valentine's Day Special: The Little Ning Arc.)

Though in the several operations that followed, his contact with her had shown Yuning to be not so fragile as he had imagined, Wei Zhao still did not dare cross the line by a single step, always keeping his own position firmly in mind. He did not want Yuning to live in fear on his account; she deserved a settled, happy life — did she not?

But though that love stayed buried in his heart, the relationship between Wei Zhao and Yuning grew ever more ambiguous... until that one time when the Yu family stepped in to intervene.

Wei Zhao frowned; he did not want to think any further.

Let bygones be bygones. At least Wei Zhao was content now, and happy.

This assignment had let Wei Zhao truly become part of the great city, had made him an ordinary man, and had given him real feelings.

The reason Wei Zhao had finally opened his heart was the word of the old man back home. The old man had promised that this would be the last assignment of Wei Zhao's life — that once it was done, he could retire and settle down in Songshan City. That had freed Wei Zhao from his old misgivings about a life of drifting, and only then had he opened his heart and accepted Tang Zhi and Feng Xiaoxiao.

"Wow! How romantic!" A startled cry from behind pulled Wei Zhao's thoughts back to reality. He did not need to look to know that the speaker was Xiaoshu; only she had that flustering, easily-excited nature.

"You're all awake?" Wei Zhao turned around. Sure enough, the young lady, Xiaoshu, and Tang Zhi had all come.

"How can you two be so romantic? Cuddling by the sea in the middle of the night — I'm jealous!" Shen Yushu looked at Feng Xiaoxiao with a grin. "How about you and I trade places?"

"Trade what?" Feng Xiaoxiao blushed a little, but said, "Isn't there still a spot on Wei Zhao honey's other side? You go sit on the left!"

"Hee hee, then I won't stand on ceremony — Brother Arrowhead gets a girl on each arm!" Shen Yushu laughed and made to sit down.

But Gu Mengyao caught hold of her. "Stop making trouble. Let's fix some breakfast to welcome the sunrise."

"Oh, right!" Shen Yushu remembered that there was still a task this morning — she was to fry a sunny-side-up egg for Feng Xiaoxiao. So she obediently went off with Gu Mengyao and Tang Zhi to fetch things from the car and get ready.

"I feel so happy!" Feng Xiaoxiao rested her head on Wei Zhao's shoulder and quietly savored the serenity of the moment.

"If you like it, we can come watch the sunrise by the sea often from now on — every year," Wei Zhao said.

"Mm!" Feng Xiaoxiao's nose prickled and a faint sorrow crept in. Every year, was it ... perhaps this would be the last time in her life she would watch the sunrise from the seaside.

Wei Zhao had more or less guessed what Feng Xiaoxiao was thinking, and it only hardened his resolve to find some way to cure her.

The stars in the sky gradually faded, and above the sea and the horizon a pale pre-dawn whiteness began to appear.

"It's about to get light," Wei Zhao said. "Another new day."

"Yes — another day alive!" Feng Xiaoxiao sighed with feeling.

By this time, the young miss, Xiaoshu and Tang Zhi had already readied the cooking gear for the picnic.

"Brother Arrow, everything's ready — we can start now!" Shen Yushu came running over to say.

The preparation work was something they could manage, but the rest would have to be done by Wei Zhao himself.

"Xiaoxiao, wait for me a moment — I'll go make some breakfast," Wei Zhao said.

"Can't you ... not go? I don't want you to leave me ..." Feng Xiaoxiao said, a little clingy.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely have breakfast sorted before sunrise!" Wei Zhao said with a smile.

"Mm, all right then — I'll wait for you!" Feng Xiaoxiao nodded.

Wei Zhao stood up and walked with Shen Yushu over to the spot where they had lit the fire the day before. He had the flames going in no time, but when he looked at the eggs on the ground he was stumped again. Yesterday they had done a barbecue, and all it took was setting the food on the grill — but these fried eggs, without a griddle or a frying pan, how was he supposed to fry them?

"If only I had a frying pan ..." Wei Zhao said with a bitter smile.

"We do!" Shen Yushu casually handed him a frying pan.

"Huh? You brought a frying pan too?" Wei Zhao blinked. "Do you have a spatula as well?"

"That too! For the all-purpose Shu, it's no problem at all!" Shen Yushu handed him a spatula.

"Uh ... all-purpose Shu indeed. Truly all-purpose ..." Wei Zhao gave a wry smile, unsure whether to praise Shen Yushu or give her a scolding.

When he had been driving, Wei Zhao had felt the car was heavy. Since Shen Yushu had even brought along a frying pan and a spatula, the trunk probably held a great deal more besides.

But right now Wei Zhao had no time to fret over such things — the pressing matter at hand was frying the eggs.

Wei Zhao quickly fried several eggs, gave some to Tang Zhi, the young miss and Xiaoshu, and carried the last two at a brisk pace over to Feng Xiaoxiao. "Here, eat up!"

Catching the aroma of the fried eggs, Feng Xiaoxiao was instantly stunned.

"How did you know I wanted fried eggs while watching the sunrise?" Feng Xiaoxiao asked, delightedly surprised.

"I didn't know. I just made them at random." Naturally Wei Zhao could not admit that he had peeked at Feng Xiaoxiao's phone. "Isn't this what people usually have for breakfast?"

"But here, right by the sea... I never imagined you could actually fry eggs!" Feng Xiaoxiao said, lifting the plate before her with delight.