Ling Zheng had already noticed her expression and also looked in that direction.
Everyone was surprised and, following the gazes of the two, remained silent for a moment.
Beside the spacious staircase leading to the luxurious banquet hall, on a rather inconspicuous sofa, the man in black was sitting quietly, a cigar between his fingers, burning quietly. The glorious lights cast a golden silhouette on his tall figure, making his all-black stature even more unapproachable. Although his facial features and expression couldn't be clearly seen, he was just casually leaning on the sofa, his long legs straight, his arm draped over the back of the sofa, and his silver cufflinks shining brightly.
Two military police officers were standing quietly in the corner. If one wasn't paying much attention, it would be really hard to notice their existence.
The man's identity was obvious. Different from these young and high-spirited soldiers, he exuded an air of calmness and aloofness that kept people at a distance.
"The director of public security?" Someone sighed softly. "I heard that he only danced with the forty-year-old female deputy mayor tonight."
"Do you guys want to make a bet?" Su Mi's voice came.
"Bet on what?"
"Bet that he'll dance with me."
In the mayor's banquet hall, the floor was polished, the music was playing softly, and the lights were brightly lit.
Some people spent the whole night lingering in the dance floor, trying their best to attract attention, but not necessarily succeeding. While others, who sat almost in the same place throughout the night, were noticed by many.
For example, Shang Zheng.
For example, Su Mi, the only female officer present.
So, when the petite and beautiful female officer stood up without any warning and walked straight towards the director of public security at the diagonal position of the hall, many gazes immediately fell on the two of them.
However, the instigator seemed completely unaware, maintaining a smiling and proper military bearing, and came to a halt in front of the director of public security.
"Sir, may Su Mi have the honor?"
With a clear voice and a smiling face. Only the slightly flushed complexion betrayed her nervousness.
The man was silent for a few seconds.
Su Mi wondered if he hadn't expected that she would approach him in public.
He then stood up and slowly extended his hand towards her. "Second Lieutenant, it's my honor."
Su Mi placed her hand in his palm. He grasped her hand firmly with his other hand and led her to the dance floor. When his calloused and rough fingertips, which had thick calluses, pressed closely against her no longer smooth and flawless fingers, Su Mi couldn't help but feel a slight shock.
The people in twos and threes in front saw this couple and quickly made way, with various gazes falling on them. However, Shang Zheng's pace didn't slow down in the slightest. Soon, he led her to the very center of the dance floor.
She took a deep breath – her waist had already been encircled by powerful hands, and her waist and chest were instantly forced to press close to the cold and hard black uniform – even his dancing posture was highly controlling.
"Little Wildcat?" A low voice came, and she looked up, a bit embarrassed. The silver crystal lights were like flowing water, tracing a faint luster along his handsome contours. His pitch-black eyes were like ancient wells that had remained calm for thousands of years, without a ripple. In this state, his aloof and dark aura remained unchanged, but compared to her memory, he seemed to have a somewhat illusory radiance.
"Sir..." She heard her own voice full of anticipation. "When can I return to your side?"
Shang Zheng didn't answer immediately.
His large hand slowly caressed and slid along the slender waistline beneath her military uniform. Just as his eyes were now sizing up the almost completely transformed girl in front of him.
Her once soft long hair was now all tied up, tucked under the flat military cap, neat and tidy. Her still fair face no longer had the slightest hint of the pale and sickly look. Instead, it had a ruddy glow of vitality. There were even two faint red scars on her forehead that hadn't completely faded, testifying to her previous hand-to-hand combat with the terrifying Zerg.
In her memory, her eyes always unconsciously showed fear and evasion. Now, they still had a submissive look, and there was even a bit of genuine nervousness. But those eyes were so bright, as if they had been washed by a spring, cleansing away the dust and restoring their original clarity.
Since entering the door, she had been standing among those tall and burly young officers, conspicuous but not out of place. It could be seen that they didn't reject or look down on her. On the contrary, their words and actions showed care and attention towards her.
It seemed that she had had a good time in the past six months.
"Xi Ting will notify you." He said calmly.
Su Mi nodded and remained silent, concentrating on following his steps.
"Who is that man?" Shang Zheng suddenly asked.
Su Mi followed him as they turned around and saw Ling Zheng leaning against the wall, looking at them with a complicated expression.
"Ling Zheng." Su Mi said in a natural tone. "The captain of the air force."
"Do you remember what I said?"
"Yes, I've always remembered." Hardly had she finished saying this when she was surprised to see Ling Zheng put down his glass and stride towards them.
What was he coming for? Usually, she just took his flirtatiousness as a joke. Why was he looking so frantic now? Su Mi quickly sent him a look, but he seemed not to have seen it and walked even faster.
Actually, Su Mi had misjudged Ling Zheng. The reason he finally couldn't hold back and came over wasn't because of jealousy, but because of worry.
It all started when everyone was looking at Su Mi dancing gently with the darkest man in the city in surprise. Suddenly, someone said, "Su Mi was born in the Lango District? The military police have done a lot of bad things there. She wouldn't be impulsive enough to do something stupid... That would be like hitting a stone with an egg!"
Everyone was looking at Su Mi's dancing posture, pressed close to Shang Zheng, and the more they looked, the more they felt something was wrong. Otherwise, how could Su Mi, who usually kept a distance from men and was pure and self-respecting, take the initiative to ask a man to dance?
Moreover, the tone in which she left just now was so strange, floating, as if she had become a different person.
Ling Zheng had the closest relationship with Su Mi and immediately couldn't sit still. And the look Su Mi gave him just now also seemed to have a sense of "farewell" in his eyes, so he finally couldn't hold back.
"Director Shang, hello!" Ling Zheng walked up to the two of them, his hearty voice interrupting their intimate dancing. "I'm Captain Ling Zheng. I've long heard of your great name."
Shang Zheng let go of Su Mi and curled the corners of his mouth into a faint smile. "Nice to meet you."
Su Mi saw his cold eyes above the smile and couldn't help but feel a chill. However, Ling Zheng had already looked at her. "Xiao Mi, they called you over. They said they have something to ask you."
"Oh, I'll go over later. You go back first." Su Mi smiled at him. However, Ling Zheng wouldn't listen. He smiled at Shang Zheng and stepped forward to grab her arm. "Don't dawdle. A lot of people are waiting."
Su Mi had no choice but to look at Shang Zheng. "Sir, I'll take my leave first."
She didn't think too much. She thought Shang Zheng would surely let her go, after all, her relationship with him was secret.
"Don't go." Shang Zheng's calm voice came.
Su Mi felt as if her world had come to a standstill. Looking up, she saw Ling Zheng suddenly raise his eyebrows, while Shang Zheng remained arrogant and motionless.
She had already attracted some attention when she came to invite him to dance. It was understandable for the director of public security to dance with the meritorious female officer, but now, with Ling Zheng here, why did he abruptly say "Don't go"?
Ling Zheng simply couldn't associate the dark and violent director of public security with the simple and kind-hearted Su Mi. He then thought, could it be that Shang Zheng had already sensed that Su Mi was going to harm him? So he wouldn't let her go?
So he grasped Su Mi's hand tightly, looking at Shang Zheng without fear, and his tone became even more flirtatious and smiling. "Sir, you're joking. We're leaving."
Su Mi immediately pulled her hand free forcefully and hissed at Ling Zheng. "You go first."
"Be obedient!" Ling Zheng also roared back at her without yielding. In a hurry, he actually bent down and hoisted her onto his shoulder.
The guests had already been attracted by the commotion here and all stopped dancing and chatting, looking at them in surprise.
However, Ling Zheng couldn't go any further – two military police officers blocked his way with a smirk. Seeing this, all the other comrades ran over and surrounded the two military police officers.
The atmosphere instantly became tense and stiff. The military and the military police were facing off against each other, and everyone present was at a loss.
"What...?" Ling Zheng turned his head, looking at Shang Zheng with an overbearing air. "I'm taking my own woman away. Does the military police also have a say in this?"
All the comrades surrounded them, and now Su Mi couldn't scold Ling Zheng either.
You Mo-nian rushed over upon hearing the news and walked up to Shang Zheng, asking in a low voice, "Director Shang, what's going on?"
Shang Zheng waved his hand at him and looked at Ling Zheng with a smirk. "Your woman?"
Su Mi punched Ling Zheng hard on the neck, causing him to loosen his grip with a pained grunt. Su Mi took the opportunity to slide down and hissed at him. "Shut up." Then she looked respectfully at Shang Zheng. "Director, we soldiers often joke around. We're just colleagues, and we got a bit carried away. Our loyalty remains unchanged. Please forgive our rudeness."
Although her words were a bit ambiguous, the meaning was clear.
At this time, the vice-captain also rushed over. The usually kind and friendly vice-captain's expression clearly changed. He stroked his small beard and slowly said to Ling Zheng, "What's wrong, Captain?" He glanced at the military police. "Since when did the military police start meddling in things in the sky?"
This statement made the eyes of the officers behind him look fierce, and the faces of the military police instantly darkened, making the atmosphere even more tense.
"The award ceremony is about to begin." You Mo-nian spoke, with a semi-commanding tone. "Everyone, go back and sit down." Since he was mediating personally, everyone had to give him face, and the onlookers began to disperse.
However, not everyone would give him face.
"Come here." A low voice rang out. It was Shang Zheng, looking straight at Su Mi as if everyone else and everything else didn't exist.
"Don't go." The officers were all like lions about to bristle, standing in front of Su Mi.
Su Mi smiled wryly in her heart. She looked around and saw hundreds of eyes looking at her.
Under the crystal lights, each face was either handsome and noble or had elaborate makeup. However, in Su Mi's eyes, they gradually became blurred, and only Shang Zheng's smiling face was as clear and vivid as a statue. Each step Su Mi took was extremely difficult, like floating on water, and she could easily fall if she wasn't careful.
She finally walked up to Shang Zheng.
"Whose woman are you?" Shang Zheng's voice was so close, yet it seemed to come from the depths of the universe. He spoke softly and slowly, but in Su Mi's ears, it seemed to weigh a thousand pounds.
Su Mi looked up at his dark eyes.
"Let them know." His smile deepened, with a sense of wantonness and unruliness.
Everyone was waiting, everyone was watching. Ling Zheng muttered a curse under his breath, which surprised the officers.
Su Mi took a step forward. Before she could make any move, she was already scooped up by Shang Zheng around the waist, forced to press close to his broad and warm chest. His cold lips were already pressed heavily onto hers, and his powerful tongue forced its way in.
Vaguely, a gasp was heard from around them.
Yes, who could have thought that the newly promoted female air force officer was related to the director of public security? And how could Su Mi have thought that Shang Zheng would actually demonstrate her belonging in public.
She stared wide-eyed. Those calm and unruffled eyes were now closer than ever before, right in front of her. And his cold lips and tongue were forcefully entwining, crushing, teasing and caressing her lips, kissing her until her heart pounded and she gasped for breath.
The gasps around them disappeared. At some point, scattered applause began to ring out, and finally it became a continuous chorus. Throughout the whole process, Su Mi was held tightly and pinned down, helplessly allowing him to devour her breath and lips and tongue.
After a long time, so long that her head began to feel a bit dizzy and her face was flushed red, he finally let her go.
"Tonight." He gave her a heavy look and dropped two words, then walked towards the VIP seats without looking back.
Su Mi stood there, lowering her head under the envious, surprised, jealous, puzzled and contemptuous gazes around her.
Tonight, he said tonight.
She looked up and saw that the originally brilliant crystal lights seemed to have dimmed a bit.
Turning around, she saw her comrades looking at her with strange expressions, and Ling Zheng wasn't among them.
"He... is my boyfriend." She walked over and could only offer this explanation.
"What are you doing!" Someone said unhappily. "We thought he was going to harm you, and that's why Ling Zheng stepped in."
"Sorry." She was silent.
Finally, she sat down in the arranged seat. The music started to play, and Ling Zheng sat down beside her, his face ashen. She reached out and poked his thigh. "Sorry."
"Nothing." Ling Zheng didn't look at her and said coldly. "Just consider it my own delusion."
Su Mi felt a bit choked up and a bit sad.
The award ceremony proceeded quickly. The vice-president of the Union who had come from afar, along with You Mo-nian, presented silver medals to Ling Zheng, Su Mi, and the other officers who had participated in the battle that day.
Su Mi stood among a group of men, her military uniform straight and her medal shining brightly under the intense lights, feeling as if everything in front of her was a blur of white. Many people were looking at her. She knew that. Because of the unexpected "performance" just now, she had become the topic of the day and would surely be on the front page of the newspaper tomorrow.
But that man, she really couldn't figure him out.
At this moment, he was sitting upright in the VIP seats, wearing a strict and straight military police uniform, looking aloof and cold, as if everything in the world was a lowly and insignificant existence to him. She knew he was cold and ruthless and that the way he managed the military police team was lawless.
But what was the reason for this kiss?