He looked up at the night sky, his expression becoming exceptionally solemn. His words were spoken clearly and calmly, yet seemed to contain a powerful force: "I have a dream of mountains and rivers."

  As his words fell, he brought the cigarette to his lips, slowly took a drag, and then exhaled an unremarkable smoke ring, with a serious expression repeating what he had just said: "A mountain and river dream where every inch of land is paid for in blood."

  He paused for a moment, probably afraid she wouldn't understand, and changed his wording: "It's that kind of thing, the mountain and river dream that guards the country with one's life."

  Qin Zhi'ai's mind flashed with many kinds of dreams when Gu Yu Sheng asked her if she knew what his dream was.

  Strive for Harvard, become a great scientist, and be the youngest elite in the business world... But she didn't know that his dream was a mountain and river dream, a mountain and river dream of one inch of land and one inch of blood, a mountain and river dream of guarding the country with one's life.

  Perhaps it was because he had spoken three sentences in a row without hearing any response from the little girl beside him, Gu Yu Sheng bit his cigarette and turned to look at Qin Zhi Ai. When he saw her staring at him intently, he too became stunned, locking eyes with hers for a long time. It wasn't until the ash on the cigarette in his mouth fell onto half of his face that he suddenly snapped back to reality. He then raised his hand and rubbed his face randomly a few times, breaking eye contact with her. Clearing his throat, he continued speaking: "I want to join the army, go to the border, and guard this land, just like in those anti-terrorism documentaries we watched on our school trip."

  Gu Yu's mentioned documentary, Qin Zhi has watched it.

  Within thirty seconds, defuse the time bomb and engage in a fierce battle with armed terrorists. The patrolling soldier was hacked to death by the suspect and sent to the hospital where he died... Every person in that documentary left words before going on a mission, which became their last words, because the person who smiled at you one second ago may close his eyes forever in the next second during the mission.

  They are really using their lives to guard this mountain and river.

  Later, Gu Yu Sheng told her a lot more, all about his dreams.

  He said he would protect this land and make sure that no one in the world would dare to invade even an inch of it again.

  He also said that the peace of this land always comes at a cost, and that cost is life. He was willing to dedicate his own life to this land.

  At that moment, Qin Zhi'ai looked at Gu Yu Sheng who was telling his dreams so seriously and felt her whole body boiling with enthusiasm.

  She never thought that this boy, who looked so clean on the surface, would have a mouth that was not quite right and a bit rude, and had an attitude of being laid back by his father's domestic violence, but in fact, he had a passionate and ambitious dream hidden deep within him.