Henry was being pulled into conversations by the elders, but his eyes kept drifting to her. When he saw her dazed look, he knew she was drunk.
"Dad, Mom, Liz is drunk. I'll take her back first."
Mother Xu quickly touched Liz's face when she heard that, and felt how hot it was. She hurriedly told them to go rest.
"Take her back to rest. There's honey in the kitchen cabinet, make her a cup of honey water."
"We're here, you two go back first."
Henry nodded, said goodbye to the elders, and held Liz's arm to take her home.
Although drunk, Liz was still somewhat conscious, just weak. Her legs couldn't step firmly on the ground.
Outside, because there were many people, Henry didn't dare to act too close to her, especially since they weren't married yet. But once they got home, Liz leaned fully against his chest. Henry sighed, squatted down, picked her up, and carried her to the bedroom.
The moment she touched the bed, Liz let go of him and hugged the blanket, falling asleep instantly. Henry felt like he was being used and tossed aside, which made him laugh helplessly. He bent down to take off her shoes and cover her with the quilt before going downstairs to make honey water.
"Liz, drink some honey water."
He helped her sit up. Liz frowned and almost knocked over the cup he handed her. Luckily, Henry reacted quickly and pulled it back.
"Be good, drink a little."
He coaxed her patiently. Liz was the type who softened when treated gently. Even drunk, she wasn't the kind to make a big scene.
"Drink some, you'll feel better tomorrow."
He put the cup by her lips again. Liz leaned against him, and when he felt her soft body in his arms, his hand froze.
She held onto his wrist, lowered her head, and sipped from the cup. After tasting the sweetness, she didn't resist anymore.
Henry felt his body heat up. Drunk, Liz liked this warmth and wanted to snuggle closer to him.
Holding the cup, Henry looked down at her, his eyes full of thoughts. The feelings he had hidden for so long couldn't be hidden anymore.
Liz looked up at him, confused when she saw the affection in his eyes. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned close.
"You… do you like me?"
Her voice was soft and spoiled, carrying a bit of arrogance. Her actions were unreasonable, her gaze proud.
Henry leaned back, but she kept moving forward. Their distance grew smaller until he had nowhere to retreat.
"Why don't you answer me? That's very rude, do you know?"
Unreasonable, yet very polite.
She puffed her cheeks in anger, eyes full of complaint and dissatisfaction. Henry closed his eyes, breathing fast.
"You're drunk. Rest first."
"I'm not drunk. You still haven't answered my question."
Liz was stubborn. When she wanted to know something, she wouldn't stop until she got an answer.
When she was a child, she always carried a doll and followed him around, asking nonstop: "Brother Ry~ I'm going back to Su City with Grandpa and Grandma, will you miss me?"
If he didn't answer, she would ask the same question every day until she got a reply.
Henry remembered that because of his answer back then, Liz left without saying goodbye. He quickly opened his eyes to look at her.
This time, his eyes were serious and firm, as if giving both his past self and Liz an explanation.
"Yes."
Hearing this, Liz's lips curved up. Her smile was sweet, and she became even more clingy, sitting directly on Henry's lap and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.
"If you treat me well in the future, I'll treat you well too."
Her words were sincere and passionate. Henry's pupils shrank. His dark eyes were completely filled with Liz.
She leaned her face against his chest. His eyelashes trembled slightly, and then he asked softly the question in his heart.
"Then you…"
Before he could finish, he heard her steady breathing by his ear. He looked down and saw that she had already fallen asleep. He smiled helplessly.
Were you going to say… do you like me?
...
Liz slept very well and didn't wake up until noon the next day. Her parents also woke up late, so their first meal together was lunch.
Right after lunch, Henry's parents and Henry came over. They had already bought train tickets to Kyoto.
"Henry went to buy the tickets this morning."
"The tickets are for tomorrow afternoon at two. They're all soft sleeper tickets."
"Counting the guard, there are seven people in total. Your father, I, and the guard will be in one compartment. You and Henry will be in another."
"There will be many people on the train, so Henry needs to stay alert along the way."
Henry's parents arranged everything carefully. Liz's parents, though only in their fifties, didn't have the energy of young people anymore. Being in the same compartment as Henry gave them peace of mind.
"Alright."
With the travel time set, Liz's parents began to pack. Especially the meat and perishable food at home, which had to be eaten today.
They only prepared two sets of clothes to change, one new set for Liz's wedding, and some money and ration tickets. Everything else they left behind.
The one with the most luggage was Liz. She had her dowry and plenty of clothes to take. After all, once married, she would live with the army.
Before coming to Haishi, Henry had already submitted the marriage report. The house hadn't been chosen yet. They had to get the marriage certificate before she could officially move into the army family housing.
There weren't many houses in the military compound, only two available. Recently no one else had gotten married, so the leaders reserved one for Henry.
Since he hadn't married at his age, the leaders were anxious. When they heard he was finally getting married, they cared about it more than anyone else.
After getting the certificate, Henry planned to discuss with Liz which house she liked better. Then he would call the political officer to confirm and ask his comrades to help clean and prepare it.
As for furniture, they could buy and arrange it after arriving.
Liz's things were heavy. Just her dowry chest alone weighed a lot. She decided not to bring winter clothes for now; her parents could send them later once she settled in the army.
Liz had a lot of things, while Henry still only had one travel bag. Henry naturally took on the job of carrying the heavy stuff.
Liz was packing, and Henry was helping her put things into the bag. But the whole time, he kept watching her face.
He didn't know how much she remembered about what happened when she was drunk yesterday. She looked like she remembered nothing, and that made it hard for him to ask.
Seeing him distracted, Liz quickly grabbed her snow cream from his hand.
"Don't squeeze my cream and ruin it."
"Sorry."
Henry came back to his senses and quickly continued packing. Liz glanced at him, then turned back to pack, but the corners of her lips curved slightly. Henry didn't notice.
"System Chlo.8, does Henry really have a crush on me?"
"Yes."
System Chlo.8 repeated everything that happened yesterday and even told her about when she and Henry were kids, close like childhood friends.
"But why don't I remember?"
"You lost part of your soul before, so it's normal you don't remember."
"Your soul is becoming more complete. You'll naturally remember later."
Liz understood. Still, she didn't expect Henry to secretly like her. What kind of man was he?
"He's too…"
She felt it was strange. To like her since childhood was way too early.
"What's strange? When you returned to Su City, you were six. He was already thirteen."
"At that time, he didn't fully understand love. But when boys reach seventeen or eighteen, their feelings awaken."
"And after that, of course, he knew who he cared about."
"But when he turned eighteen, he found out he was infertile, so he locked his heart away."
Liz did the math. If he started liking her after that, then he had secretly liked her for thirteen years.
"That beast!"
System Chlo.8 rolled its eyes in the system space. It knew its host would be this oblivious.
"Host, that's called pure love."
"System Chlo.8, but when he was seventeen and his feelings awakened, I was only ten! Isn't that beastly?"
"I just said boys' feelings awaken at seventeen or eighteen. I didn't say that's when he realized he liked you."
"Then when did he realize it?"
Liz really wanted to know. Once she was curious, she would never let it go. System Chlo.8 couldn't escape.
"The records show that at twenty-four, he admitted he had someone he loved."
"That was when you were seventeen and went with your grandpa to the Kyoto compound to treat patients."
"Your grandpa often took you to Grandpa Henry's house. Henry would secretly watch you from his window."
"After seeing you, he couldn't sleep, thinking about you every night."
When System Chlo.8 told the story of his secret love, its voice carried less of its usual machine-like tone and more human feeling.
It needed to spread this news to the poop system next door, so that one wouldn't seem too filthy compared to it.
After knowing the answer, Liz also remembered. When she was 17, her grandfather did take her to Kyoto.
At that time, her grandfather was treating a patient in the courtyard in Kyoto. She often appeared there with him, and her grandfather would also take her to the Zhou family.
Grandpa Zhou, Grandma Zhou, Father Zhou, and Mother Zhou didn't live in the same building, but in the one next door. Henry's room was on the second floor, and once the window opened, he could see Grandpa Zhou's backyard.
Back then, Liz often played in that backyard. She didn't expect that Henry had already started secretly liking her at that time.
A trace of sweetness rose in Liz's heart. It seemed that her marriage with Henry might really last until the end.
That night, the Zhou family stayed for dinner. Mother Xu cooked almost all the food at home, afraid that in the hot weather it would spoil if left too long.
The next day, Liz followed her parents and the Zhou family onto the train to Kyoto. She carried a small bag, while the rest of the luggage was carried by Henry.
It was her first time riding a train from this era. To reach the soft sleeper carriage, they had to pass through the hard seat area first.
At that time, trains didn't have many restrictions. Whatever you could carry on, you could take. Chickens, ducks, even large objects—so long as you had the strength to carry them, no one would stop you.
In the hot weather, the train was full of sweat smell mixed with chicken and duck droppings. Liz held her breath, not daring to open her mouth.
Henry walked in front to clear the way. After squeezing through the crowd, they finally reached the soft sleeper carriage.
The two carriages were next to each other. Father Zhou and Mr Xu, as well as Mother Xu, all had higher positions, so traveling meant they had to stay alert.
Yesterday, Henry had also bought the spare sleeper ticket in Zhou Father and Mother's carriage, so no one with bad intentions could take advantage of it.
Once they got inside, the carriage had two bunk beds. Mr Xu and Henry took the lower bunks, while Mother Xu and Liz took the upper ones.
After tidying up, everyone was covered in sweat. Even Liz couldn't avoid the irritation brought by the hot weather.
They sat on the lower bed to rest. Luckily, Liz had brought three bamboo fans. Everyone could use them to cool off.
She kept one fan for herself, gave the other two to her parents and Zhou's parents, and then handed her fan to Henry beside her.
He took it and fanned her. Sitting close together, both of them could enjoy the cool breeze.
"Dad, Mom, I'll go get water."
Henry took the two kettles from the carriage to fetch hot water. On the train, whether fetching water or using the toilet, you had to line up.
"Alright."
With a strong young man like him around, the journey was much more comfortable. At least, they all felt safe.
When Henry came back with water, Mother Xu brought out the lunchboxes she had prepared in the morning. They filled cups with hot water, then placed the lunchboxes on top to heat up the food.
She had only prepared enough for one meal. In this weather, too much food wouldn't keep. Since they weren't short of money or ration tickets, they could just buy food on the train instead of forcing themselves to eat spoiled food.
After eating, they wiped off sweat with wet towels and lay down to rest early.
Before sleeping, Liz wanted to go to the toilet. Since she was on the upper bunk and Henry was on the lower, he would notice any movement she made.
As soon as she sat up, Henry got up and asked what she was doing.
"What's wrong?"
"I want to go to the toilet."
"I'll go with you."
Liz climbed down, put on her shoes, and told her parents. Then the two of them walked together toward the train's toilet.