Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“Feng Ling.” Qiao Fei abruptly leaned closed to her and paid attention to the rhythm of her breaths; he immediately then resumed performing the chest compressions.
“Breath, breath with force, Feng Ling!”
“Can you hear me? Breath with force, quick!”
Under Qiao Fei’s efficient and precise movements against her chest, Feng Ling knitted her brows from the pain of the force. Furthermore, as she had choked on water and breathed in too much smoke earlier, her lungs were unbearably painful.
She abruptly coughed again, spitting out the last of the water she had swallowed. She instinctively took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She then coughed successively before reaching out to push Qiao Fei’s hands away. She turned over, backfacing the man being her and coughed painfully and loudly.
“Feng Ling, how are you? Are you better? Can you breathe normally?” Qiao Fei stood up and approached her. He directly reached his arm out and helped her to sit up.
Feng Ling slowly opened her eyes. From the corner of her eyes, she could see the azure water and the indistinct shoreline far away. She stared in that direction for a long moment before breathing in deeply. She spoke hoarsely: “I didn’t die…”
“The cruise’s oil tank exploded. Typically, under such circumstances, there’s no doubt you would have died. But it’s likely that that oil tank has been used for too long and there wasn’t too much oil left. However, the impact of the explosion still definitely gave you some internal injuries. When we head back, we must immediately find you a doctor,” Qiao Fei wiped away the sand and water droplets on her face as he spoke. He also brushed back her scattered hair and watched her pale complexion in concern: “How do you feel right now?”
Feng Ling coughed again. She wanted to speak, but as she instinctively reached her hand up to press against her aching chest, her expression instantly froze. She lowered her head to see that her combat clothes and the black shirt underneath we’re all opened. Only the white cloth binding her chest was remaining.
She abruptly stiffened. Just as she was about to push Qiao Fei away, he sat down firmly by her side and supported her weak body. “I’m sorry, I discovered your secret. But I had no choice but to open your clothes in order to save your life. I didn’t continue after I saw what was inside… so I didn’t see anything I shouldn’t have…”
Feng Ling wanted to shove him aside; however, she did not have much strength. She could only sit there stiffly. She reached up and held her clothes together tightly, concealing her collarbones. She stared at him with reddened eyes.
The moment he met her gaze, Qiao Fei understood her intentions: “You only dressed up as a boy so that you could stay in the base, didn’t you?”
Feng Ling did not speak. However, her expression was extremely poor.
Earlier, Qiao Fei had saved her life. There was not much she could say. Furthermore, he truly did not undo her bindings underneath. In order to perform CPR, one needed to unfasten the patients clothes. Qiao Fei was not in the wrong. She did not have even the slightest reason to blame him.
“Set your heart at ease. So long as you don’t have any inappropriate motives, or plan to do anything that will threaten the base; as long as your desire to stay in the base is pure, I won’t tell anyone about this matter.” Qiao Fei watched her and recalled her typical performance. This little girl actually worked harder than all of the men in their base. On the one hand, he was filled with admiration for her, and on the other hand, he found that his heart had completely softened for her. However, he felt bad that he had unintentionally discovered her secret earlier. He spoke roughly: “I swear, I really didn’t see anything earlier.”
Feng Ling closed her eyes and relaxed.
Only she knew the method she used to bind her chest; with one glance, she understood if it had been undone.
Qiao Fei did not lie to her.
Furthermore, Qiao Fei was the vice-drillmaster of the sniper team; he was half a rank above her. After hearing the promise he had just given, it wasn’t right for her to say more.
“Drillmaster Qiao.” Her voice was slightly hoarse. Right now, the lungs felt as though they were burning. It was difficult for her to speak up: “I’m an orphan. I don’t have parents, nor do I have a home to return to. To me, XI Base is a home I’ve grown accustomed to. But the base doesn’t accept women; I had no choice but to do this. Since you already know of this, I don’t wish to explain too much, but please keep this a secret for me.”
Qiao Fei watched her for a moment and nodded: “All right, don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone. Right now, what’s most important is you need medical attention. I suspect that Boss should have almost settled most of it. When he knows that we have gone missing, he will definitely rush over to bring us back. You need to hold on.”
Feng Ling nodded weakly.
She had breathed in large amounts of smoke; that sort of thick smoke was extremely lethal. After holding strong for so long, in the moment when she most needed fresh air, she had actually fallen into the sea and swallowed quite some water. She understood that her situation was serious. If she didn’t seek medical attention, it was likely that she would suffer serious after effects. There was even a chance that she would need lung surgery.
However, at the very least, she had managed to keep her life.
Earlier, the instant she had fallen into the water, she did not think she would be able to live. But since she had managed to do so, she naturally wouldn’t allow herself to die carelessly.
“This place isn’t too far from the shoreline we were on earlier. They should be able to find us soon. I’ll support you to find a comfortable place to sit down first.” Qiao Fei supported Feng Ling up. The island had several distinct skerries. After supporting Feng Ling to sit down, he sat down next to her.
Feng Ling sat on the skerry and buttoned her shirt with great difficulty. She was expressionless as her eyes focused on the smoke not too far away.
Qiao Fei saw that Feng Ling was spending quite some strength on buttoning her shirt. Now that he knew she was a girl, he found it awkward to touch her. Earlier, when he supported her, he did not dare to hold her waist and only kept his grip around his elbow. He sat her down on the skerry as this location was eye-catching and the helicopters would easily be able to spot them.
“Right now, your lungs must be hurting with the slightest movement. Do you want me to help you?” Qiao Fei sat by the side and asked. Feng Ling stiffened and Qiao Fei coughed in embarrassment. He explained: “It’s just helping you to do your buttons and pull up the zip. I don’t have any inappropriate thoughts. It just seems really painful for you.”
“There’s no need. Thanks,” Feng Ling answered hoarsely. She finally did up the last three buttons and pulled up the zipper for her black combat jacket. She coughed twice and leaned back against the uneven skerry.
