Li Feng stood from his chair, and for the first time in hours, he actually smiled—a real, tired, genuine curve of his mouth that reached his eyes, that softened the sharp lines of his face. He looked ten years younger and ten years older all at once.
"Welcome back, Miss Zhou," he said, voice thick with emotion he no longer tried to hide, with relief that had no place to go but out.
"Thank you, Li Feng," Zhou Yuxi said, lifting her head just enough to meet his gaze. Her eyes were still wet, but her voice was steady. "For keeping him alive. For holding him back. For everything. I know what you risked."
"Always," Li Feng said simply, offering a small bow of his head before slipping quietly toward the door, pausing only to look back once, to commit the image to memory: his boss and his boss's wife, alive, together, holding on.
