Chapter 216: Look At Me Now

The woman stepped aside before the delivery truck reached her, catching the daughter’s shoulder and pulling her clear.

On the rear display, Hanchuan watched the damaged vehicle climb onto the apron and strike the folding table. Papers scattered beneath the overhang while the flashlight rolled across the concrete.

The truck stopped against a pillar and people jumped from the rear before the cab door opened, some carrying bottles and others clutching whole packs.

One man landed on his knees and struggled upright without releasing his water. Someone beneath the overhang grabbed the pack and pulled him backward.

They were too far away for Hanchuan to hear the words being shouted. He could only watch people crowd around the open cargo doors.

"Keep going," Hanchuan told Zeyu, looking from the display to the road. "There’s nothing blocking us ahead."

Beside him, Zhiyi watched the woman retrieve her flashlight. She stood with it at her side while people hurried past her toward the truck. Then the building disappeared behind the wall.

Jingwei left the rear view open. Hanchuan checked it twice before allowing himself to look away. No vehicle followed them.

The thinning dust let their headlights reach the shuttered stores on either side of the road. They passed a bus shelter with one glass panel still standing.

Behind it, two people crouched beneath a blanket stretched over a shopping cart, holding its corners against the wind.

"Take the next clear place off the road," Hanchuan told Zeyu. "Somewhere we can stop without pulling into another crowd."

"I’m looking," Zeyu replied, rolling one shoulder before settling his hands on the wheel again. "I could use a few minutes."

Beyond the next intersection, a closed tile showroom stood behind a low concrete wall. Its windows were covered from inside, and a broken sign lay near the entrance.

"Try the forecourt on the left," Shichen suggested, pointing through the windshield. "There’s no overhang, and that entrance should give you plenty of room."

Zeyu slowed while Jingwei checked the approaches.

Hanchuan looked at Zhiyi, who was sitting upright with one hand over the cushion against her ribs.

She hadn’t complained, but her shoulders eased whenever they stopped, as though she had been waiting for the movement to end.

"We’ll stay inside," Hanchuan told the others. "Let’s give Zeyu somewhere he can take his foot off the brake."

Zeyu drove through the entrance and turned to face the road, leaving space around the mobile base. Even after stopping, he kept both hands on the wheel until Jingwei finished checking the cameras.

"I can’t see anyone around us," Jingwei said. "I’ll keep watching the entrance and the showroom."

"Then I’m staying right here for a minute," Zeyu replied, finally leaning back.

Hanchuan unfastened his belt. With the outside volume lowered, he could hear the cooling system and the cupboard Shichen opened behind him.

"I’m making sandwiches," Shichen announced. "Does anyone want something else?"

"Whatever you’re having is fine," Zeyu told him, accepting the water Qinghe offered.

"Make one for me too," Jingwei added without looking away from the displays.

Qinghe came to check on Zhiyi. She told him her ribs hurt, her ankle ached, and she wanted to lie down again. Hanchuan waited until Qinghe had finished before moving the cushion aside and lifting her.

This time, he carried her through to the bed. Her cheek rested against his shoulder until he lowered her, and he waited while she moved a pillow behind her back.

"Leave that one where it is," Zhiyi said when he reached to adjust it. "I’ve put it there so I can lean against it."

Hanchuan withdrew his hand and drew the blanket over her legs. He was smoothing it around her ankle when she caught his wrist.

"You’ve already checked that," Zhiyi reminded him. "Come and sit beside me."

He looked once more at the support beneath her leg, then sat on the edge of the bed. She kept his hand between hers while the sounds from the kitchenette reached them through the doorway.

"Where did you put the plates?" Shichen called after opening another cupboard.

"Above your left shoulder," Jingwei answered from the front.

Zeyu gave a tired sigh. "I built the kitchen, and somehow I’m the only one who still has to open three cupboards to find anything."

Hanchuan was listening when Zhiyi ran her thumb over his fingers.

"Your hands are cold," she said, turning his palm upward.

"I hadn’t noticed," Hanchuan replied. He watched her tuck his hand beneath the blanket beside hers, then leaned forward when the movement pulled at her injured side.

Zhiyi looked up before he could reach around her.

"I can hold your hand," she told him. "You don’t need to help me do that."

Hanchuan stopped and let her settle it where she wanted. Then he bent to kiss her forehead, lingering when she tilted toward him.

"I’ve missed having you to myself," he admitted, brushing his thumb along her cheek as he drew back. "Even with you sitting beside me all evening."

Zhiyi studied his face. "You’ve hardly looked at me except to ask whether something hurts."

"There was always something outside I needed to watch," Hanchuan said. He turned his hand beneath hers and threaded their fingers together. "Every time I thought we could stop, something else happened. I wanted a few minutes where I could just sit with you."

He could still picture the fire beneath the bus and the people pushing around the open boxes.

Whenever Zhiyi had moved beside him, he had checked whether she was in pain before returning his attention to the windows.

Now she lay within reach, waiting for him to finish looking past her.

"You can look at me now," Zhiyi said, drawing his hand closer against her.

Hanchuan brushed away a strand of hair caught near her mouth. A faint crease marked her cheek where it had rested against his shirt. She watched him while he touched it, then turned her face enough to press her lips against his palm.

He wanted to take her home and lie beside her in their own bed. The thought came with such relief that he nearly suggested it before remembering how long she had waited to leave Xiling.

Before he could decide what to say, Shichen appeared in the doorway carrying two plates.