Huang Yanyan sat on the couch in the dimly lit living room, her mind swirling with confusion. The night had been long, and every moment since her kidnapping seemed like a blur of gunfire, fear, and uncertainty. But now, the strangest part was right in front of her—Yang Wei, the old man she had once seen as a harmless stranger, was sitting across from her, and everything about him felt different.
Gone was the warm, easy smile he usually wore. In its place was a look of quiet resolve, his face drawn with the weight of something she couldn't yet understand. This wasn't just the old man who had occasionally offered her a kind word or a bit of advice. No, there was something much deeper here—something she had yet to uncover.