Emma's mind was filled with a buzzing noise as she faced the explosions for the first time. The shells seemed to be detonating around them without end.
It wasn't until the loud noises ceased that the desperate sounds of people fleeing around them became apparent.
Lying on the ground, Emma felt the person on top of her shielding her with their entire body. She didn't dare to move when she smelled the scent of blood.
The person on her back seemed lifeless.
Until, with a voice barely above a whisper, she asked, "Jason, are you there?"
Are you there?
Please, please answer me.
It felt like an eternity before a hoarse voice finally responded, "I'm here."
Just two words, but they were like a message from heaven.
He's here, he's alive.
Jason had used his body to shield her, and his back was severely injured by the debris, with a piece of shrapnel lodged deep in his back.
However, they couldn't return to Haifa immediately because their car had been destroyed in the bombing.
Emma could only take him back to the shop owner's place.
The owner, staring at the wreckage outside, kept muttering, "I want to go home, I want to go home. This place is not for humans."
Emma asked the owner to contact the embassy after settling Jason down.
The owner, dazed, suddenly seemed to come to his senses: "Right, the embassy, we need to contact the embassy to send me home."
But when the owner tried to make a call, he found there was no signal on his phone.
As the owner was about to break down, Jason, who had been sitting quietly, finally spoke up, "I have a satellite phone."
Emma and the owner looked at him in surprise.
Indeed, they quickly got in touch with the embassy, but it was busy dealing with the sudden offensive from a neighboring country, which had launched over four thousand shells into Israel, most of which were intercepted by the air defense system.
However, some did hit the ground.
The embassy was short-staffed, but they told them that if they could get to Tel Aviv as soon as possible, they would arrange for them to return home.
"Damn it, they're trying to steal my car," the owner exclaimed after hanging up the phone, staring at the only intact car outside, which was being surrounded by several locals who seemed to want to break the window and drive away.
The owner jumped up but didn't dare to intervene.
In such a situation, it was a true test of human nature. He didn't dare to stop them, fearing he would be beaten to death.
But Jason, who had been sitting quietly, suddenly stood up. He walked to the door and glanced at Emma, "You stay here, I'll keep the car safe."
Emma wanted to stop him, but he pulled out a gun from his waist and walked straight out.
She immediately followed, and seeing the gun in Jason's hand, the owner also found the courage to follow.
Jason, holding the gun, looked at the locals coldly. He first told them in English, "This car is ours. If you want to leave here, we can help you escape. But you can't take the car."
At this moment, covered in dirt and with his hair nearly gray from dust, his dark eyes were so intense that no one dared to move.
Everyone was just trying to escape. With Jason holding the gun, everyone had to follow his orders. Women and children could leave first in this car.
No one dared to object to this decision, so the local men immediately went back to bring their wives and children.
When more than twenty people gathered around the minivan, the owner, in despair and frustration, exclaimed, "Why the hell do Jews love having so many kids?"
Jason was unmoved. He looked at Emma and said slowly, "Jing Xi, you drive."
Emma looked at him, "What about you?"
"Wait for me to find a car, and we'll meet in Tel Aviv."
Emma almost laughed in anger. She stared at Jason and said firmly, "I won't."
"Emma," Jason's face was already pale, but his eyes were so fierce, the aura of a leader pouring out and pressing down on her.
He called her name directly, clearly frustrated with her disobedience.
But the next second, he said softly, "Jing Xi, be good, listen to me."
Emma looked at him; she shouldn't be feeling weak at this moment, but she couldn't help it. Her dark eyes filled with tears, but she tried hard not to let them fall.
She choked out, "If being good means leaving you and going alone, I'd rather be willful."
Jason's voice softened again, "The bombing has ended now, there's no danger. As soon as I find a car, I'll catch up with you."
Finally, Emma looked at him pitifully, tears almost falling: "Jason, don't ask me to leave."
Her voice was so soft it almost made him explode.
Damn it.
The usually calm and composed man, at thirty years old, for the first time in his life, cursed in his heart.
In this hell on earth, he had found his Achilles' heel.
"Look at us, we're comfortable. Not only do we have a car, but we each have a seat. It's much more comfortable than those locals who are crammed into a small minivan with dozens of people," the boss said with a grin.
An hour ago, while Jason and Emma were at an impasse, the boss, who had run back to the store to grab his belongings and flee, heard Jason's satellite phone ringing. That's when they found out that a car from Haifa would be heading to Tel Aviv.
It just so happened that Emma could stay, and the boss simply gave away the old minivan to the locals. Wherever they wanted to drive it was fine with him.
Now, they were sitting in a bus provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, preparing to return to Tel Aviv.
The bus was filled with people who had narrowly escaped the bombing, and everyone was discussing the sudden airstrike, expressing that it was safer back home.
From the moment Jason and Emma got on the bus, neither of them spoke a word.
It wasn't until they arrived in Tel Aviv and checked into the hotel provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that they broke their silence. Jason's injuries were promptly treated; fortunately, they were only superficial and not serious.
Emma stayed by his side, but she still didn't speak to him. Not a single word.
It was only because many people left in a hurry and lost their passports that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs set up a special location in the hotel to handle passport issues.
Emma's passport was also lost, so she was preparing to handle it as well.
Jason stood by her side; they had been inseparable since getting off the bus, yet they hadn't exchanged a word.
Until Jason finally spoke in a low voice, "Are you planning to never speak to me again?"
Emma still didn't speak.
Jason looked at her, "Jing Xi, the situation at the time wasn't that urgent."
"Why did you still let me go?" Emma turned her head and looked at him with a cold expression.
Jason was stunned.
Could he say that he was just worried and didn't want her in danger? He feared the bombing would come again and wanted to get her away first.
The next second, Emma blurted out, "If leaving you meant escaping with my life, I'd rather die with you."
After saying this, both of them were stunned.
Even the people nearby, hearing their argument, looked over.
Their clothes were more disheveled than anyone else's, covered in dust and dirt to the point that their faces were barely recognizable.
Finally, Jason laughed. His handsome face was dirty, but his eyes were still bright as he softly said, "We don't have to die. I still have to watch you live to a hundred."
Emma listened to him in a daze.
Then he asked the question that Emma would never forget in her life.
"Jing Xi, will you marry me?"
When Jason asked this, Emma looked up at his eyes, the ones she found stunning from the first moment she saw them.
Emma didn't know how many seconds she considered it. She only knew that in the end, she looked at him and said with great seriousness, "I do."
That year, Emma was 23 years old, and Jason was 30.
Emma woke up in the morning and took a deep breath. Jason, who was drinking porridge across from her, looked up at her and chuckled, "Why are you so heavy-hearted so early in the morning?"
Could it be anything but heavy-hearted?
The newspaper agency had given her an interview task, and she couldn't help but hit someone in the company.
Not long after she left the police station yesterday, her phone ran out of battery. Because of Xiao Yichen's birthday banquet, she didn't find a place to charge it. Moreover, at the banquet, she encountered Su Yiheng and didn't have time to pay attention to her phone.
When she got home after 11 p.m. and charged her phone, the messages came in like they were free.
They were all from Huàzhēng.
The other party had directly complained to the newspaper agency, and it was said that the advertising department was extremely angry. Now even the editor-in-chief knows about this matter.
The voice messages Huàzhēng sent her were all dozens of seconds long.
But because it was too late when she saw them, Emma didn't reply to her, fearing it would disturb her rest at night.
At this moment, Emma didn't speak, and Jason gently put down his spoon, "Worried about the newspaper agency?"
He guessed this matter right away.
Emma smiled, her expression not so serious, and shrugged slightly, "The thing has already happened, and I don't regret it. As for how the newspaper agency punishes me, I will accept it."
Jason's mouth hooked up, revealing a light smile, "If there's anything, call me anytime."
After a pause, he said softly, "Call me directly next time."
Yesterday, when the police station asked her to call someone to bail her out, she called Tang Mian. In fact, calling Tang Mian was equivalent to telling Jason.
Emma nodded and hummed softly.
The feeling of having someone to rely on wasn't bad. Even when she was at the police station, she wasn't afraid. She knew that even if Jason wasn't in Shanghai, he would send someone to bail her out.
She just didn't expect that he would happen to come back from Beijing.
Emma had been living with Jason at Star River Bay, a villa where Jason frequently stayed before their marriage.
"I'm thinking of turning the room on the second floor into your walk-in closet. What do you think?" Jason asked in a low voice as they got in the car.
Emma was taken aback for a moment and thought before saying, "It's not necessary."
Jason remained silent, and noticing the change in his expression, she quickly added, "I don't mean I don't want to live here. It's just that I don't have that many clothes, and the wardrobe in our room is enough for me."
Emma's style of dressing always leaned towards simplicity and comfort, and she indeed didn't have a large collection of clothes.
Jason let out a soft chuckle, and upon hearing it, Emma immediately warned, "Don't buy a bunch of clothes and bags for me."
She had seen this plot play out in many idol dramas and was afraid that Jason might want to indulge in the role of a leading man from such a show.
"Okay, I won't buy," Jason said with a smile on his face.
Emma nodded contentedly, but then Jason leaned over and knocked on the front seat, asking, "Where's my wallet?"
He didn't like carrying many things on him; aside from his phone, everything else was managed by Tang Mian. Tang Mian, taken aback, quickly retrieved Jason's wallet from his briefcase.
The wallet was particularly thin, made of soft lambskin.
After taking the wallet, Jason pulled out a card from it. The black card looked explosively visual between his pale, slender fingers.
Emma looked at it for a while and couldn't help but admire his hands.
After a long while, she finally asked, "For me?"
This card was something Jason had prepared for Emma long ago but hadn't found the right opportunity to give to her. After their marriage, there weren't many major expenses. Other people needed to prepare cars and houses when they got married, but Jason already had all of that.
As for Emma, she lived a very simple life and didn't have many material desires.
However, she wasn't stingy with herself either.
She didn't have much interest in designer bags but was quite interested in various interview equipment. She had a collection of voice recorders at home, all for interviews.
She also bought cameras and video cameras herself. Her first camera was bought during college and was still well-maintained.
Moreover, her computer had a high configuration because it could store the news materials she had accumulated over the years and allowed her to edit videos herself.
Jason had seen the short film "Black and White World," for which she and her roommate won a gold award in college.
The film was themed around the oldest game of Go in China. Compared to mature documentaries, it was quite naive, but it was a work from her college days.
At this moment, Jason's eyebrows were still gentle, "I won't give it to you; you buy it yourself."
Emma thought for a moment and took the card. After examining it repeatedly, she asked in a low voice, "Is this the legendary black card?"
Leaning in with a rare playfulness in her eyes.
Jason also leaned closer, his lips brushing against her ear, and deliberately whispered, "Yes, it is."
Sitting in the front passenger seat, Tang Mian wished he could open the car door and jump out right now. What was his boss doing? Playing house with his wife? And deliberately lowering his voice, afraid they would hear?
Tang Mian had never seen Jason act so childishly. The Jason he knew was always composed and calm, someone who could control the situation even in the most complex moments.
This...
Tang Mian thought that if he ever really quit, he could write a memoir of being Jason's secretary. If he included these moments, he was afraid his own boss's fans would curse him to death.
Those fans would definitely think he was talking nonsense.
At this moment, Emma felt his breath on her ear, slightly hot and lingering on her lobe, so close that she couldn't help but want to dodge.
Until Jason leaned in again and kissed her ear.
He whispered, "Don't save money for me; I make money to support you."
It is said that men should earn money to support their families. Now in his small home, there is a girl named Emma.
He supports her, he should.
Emma arrived at the newspaper office, and as it was almost time to start work, Huàzhēng rushed in, seeing her and immediately rushed over without even putting down her bag, hugging her and asking, "Emma, are you okay? I've been so worried."
"I ran out of battery on my phone after leaving the police station yesterday, and didn't get home until after eleven last night to see your message. It was too late to reply, and I'm sorry for making you worry," Emma said softly, noticing the worried expression on her face.
Seeing that Emma was unharmed, Huàzhēng finally felt relieved. However, as people around them were starting to gather, she quickly got to the point, "You have to be careful today; the big shots at the newspaper know about this. The company you visited yesterday called to complain to the advertising department."
She glanced around and lowered her voice, "They said they won't cooperate with our newspaper anymore, and it's said that the advertising department lost several million..."
Huàzhēng was trying to give Emma a heads-up, preparing her for what might come.
Seeing Emma silent, she continued, "Emma, we don't suffer losses that are right in front of us. If the editor scolds you, just let him."
When the incident happened yesterday, Wen Tang happened to return from an interview, and the expression on her face was one of gloating, which was really annoying.
Sure enough, during the morning meeting, Emma was directly called over by team leader Old Zhang, who said in a low voice, "The editor was quite angry yesterday. This matter can be big or small; you have to be smart about it."
Emma nodded.
Before going to the editor's office, Old Zhang understood the situation. He was a kind-hearted person, albeit a bit of a go-with-the-flow type. After hearing Emma's account, he sighed, "It's not your fault; it's a matter of human nature. In my opinion, those guys in the advertising department have no reason to be angry. What's the difference between this company and a scam?"
But he would only say such things now; when it came to the editor, he might not dare to speak up for Emma.
Indeed, when Emma arrived, not only was the editor-in-chief there, but so was the head of the advertising department. The advertising manager, seeing her enter, was a bit agitated and wanted to speak, but he looked at the editor-in-chief.
The editor-in-chief, surnamed Yao, was in his forties but not yet fifty.
Yao was not as angry now as he had been yesterday when he first heard about the incident. However, he asked, "Emma, tell us first why such a thing happened. You are a journalist; how could you end up fighting during an interview?"
Emma recounted the events as they happened, her tone quite calm, without excusing herself.
She just couldn't stand seeing someone deliberately deceive the elderly and even resort to violence against them.
So she wanted to hit him.
After listening, the editor-in-chief looked at the advertising manager and asked, "What do you plan to do about this?"
The manager, still not backing down, insisted, "No matter what, hitting people isn't the way. She could have called the police to handle this matter. If it's really a scam, would the police ignore it?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the other three people in the office unanimously turned to look at him.
Emma sneered inwardly, thinking this person must be an idiot.
Of course, Editor Yao's thoughts were similar to Emma's. After his initial anger, he felt something was off. Emma, as far as he knew, was a pretty girl who could write excellent articles and was hardworking.
It was unlikely that such a girl would get into a fight for no reason.
Now, hearing the details, he felt there was indeed a reason for what happened.
At this moment, the manager angrily said, "Editor Yao, you must deal with this matter seriously. Otherwise, if we set this precedent, how will the newspaper manage in the future? Just because she doesn't like the interviewee assigned by our advertising department, she deliberately causes trouble. Isn't that too much?"
"How many meals did my people have to eat, how much alcohol did they have to drink, to bring in the sponsorship. Now, it's gone, and the loss is in the millions. Who is going to compensate for this?"
After the manager finished speaking, Editor Yao frowned deeply. Indeed, no matter how justified Emma's actions were, they had caused a negative impact on the newspaper.
At this moment, Old Zhang cleared his throat and said, "Chief Editor, I've already criticized Jing Xi. Her intentions were good, but she did make a mistake. How about this, a penalty..." He hesitated for a moment and cautiously said, "Of a month's salary?"
At this time, Old Zhang looked quite pained. He was a bit stingy and especially family-oriented, handing over almost his entire monthly salary to his wife. So, when he proposed docking salary, he felt it was the harshest punishment.
The three other people in the room looked at him again simultaneously.
If Emma hadn't been desperately restraining herself, she would have laughed out loud. Old Zhang's pained expression really made it seem like this was a huge punishment.
The advertising manager, on the other hand, looked as if to say, "Are you kidding me?"
So, there was a disagreement on the punishment for Emma.
Until the office door was pushed open and everyone looked at the person entering with various expressions. Until Chief Editor Yao stood up, walked over, and quickly said, "Editor-in-Chief, what brings you here?"
"Are you dealing with Emma's matter?"
Everyone was quite surprised, including Emma, who didn't expect her matter to be known to the Editor-in-Chief.
The Editor-in-Chief looked at them and asked, "Have you discussed it?"
At this moment, the advertising manager took the lead and said, "Editor-in-Chief, I think Emma's incident this time is too severe and very detrimental to our newspaper's reputation. At least she should be fired to serve as a warning."
As soon as he said this, Old Zhang couldn't help but speak up: "How can we just fire her? This matter is not that serious."
Emma was a bit stunned in her heart and couldn't help but look at the manager. She felt she hadn't offended this person, and he seemed to want to push her into a desperate situation.
Chief Editor Yao also frowned, thinking the punishment was too harsh.
But the Editor-in-Chief looked at the manager and smiled, asking, "Is this your opinion?"
The manager thought the Editor-in-Chief was supporting him and immediately nodded, taking the opportunity to add fuel to the fire: "I think only such a punishment can prevent such incidents from happening again."
The Editor-in-Chief nodded.
"You guys in the advertising department have attracted a bunch of messy clients to our newspaper. I haven't even started with you yet. Do you really think the editorial department is your backyard, and you can send these reporters to interview whoever you want? Before, for the sake of the newspaper, it was understandable. But you guys don't even have a bit of integrity and conscience as journalists."
"What about that health product company? Do I need to spell it out for you? This kind of trash, others don't want it, but you guys pick it up as a treasure."
The usually mild Editor-in-Chief almost pointed his finger at the manager's nose and scolded him.
Finally, the Editor-in-Chief looked at Emma and said, "Young people are energetic, but you guys should think more about what it means to be a journalist."
When Emma came out of the office, Huàzhēng was sitting on her chair as if it were a hot pan.
Seeing her come out, she quickly asked, "How is it, how is it?"
Emma subconsciously looked up at Wen Tang's position. At this moment, Wen Tang was not out for an interview but was sitting in front of the office dealing with manuscripts.
However, when Emma came out, she was also closely monitoring this side.
At this moment, their gazes collided, and Wen Tang curled her red lips, revealing a triumphant smile.
A defeated general, she thought. Emma was about to be kicked out of the newspaper office.
At this moment, Wen Tang stood up and slowly walked over, seemingly heading to the printer. But when she passed Emma's desk, she stopped, tilted her head, and gave Emma a shallow smile, speaking with regret: "It's a pity, I was looking forward to continuing to be colleagues with Jing Xi, it seems..."
Huàzhēng blinked, stunned by her words, and after a while, she stammered, "Is... is it really going to be dismissal?"
At this moment, she couldn't help but curse Wen Tang in her heart.
Emma's face was gloomy and silent, which in Huàzhēng's eyes was not good news.
Wen Tang smiled and said, "But don't worry, I will still make sure your farewell party is grand and glorious."