Chapter 163

Chapter 163

It was Yan Bubu's birthday, but he had no expectations, even hoping Feng Chen would forget it.

Whether Feng Chen genuinely forgot or his silent prayers worked, at lunchtime, Feng Chen didn’t suddenly produce a set of papers from behind, nor did he mention anything about the birthday, just reminding him to pay attention in class and not to write notes so haphazardly that he couldn't understand his own writing.

When it was time for class, Yan Bubu kept looking back as he returned to the classroom. Although he wished Feng Chen would forget his birthday, he felt upset when it seemed like he really had.

Feng Chen waved at him without saying anything, then turned and entered the sentinel class.

Yan Bubu walked heavily, feeling increasingly disappointed.

So disappointed that he thought even getting a set of papers wouldn't be so bad.

But he also thought that maybe Feng Chen was waiting for the evening when there were fewer people around, to take out the papers at home and solemnly hand them to him, saying, "Yan Bubu, happy birthday."

Thinking of this scenario, Yan Bubu’s spirits lifted, and he began to look forward to the set of papers after dinner.

In the afternoon, Cai Tao and Ding Hongsheng went out on a mission, and Wang Suizi and Chen Wenchao each went to visit their aunt and father respectively. After Yan Bubu and another person got their dinner from the cafeteria, they brought it back to the dormitory to eat.

As usual, Feng Chen took a folding table from the wall, set it up in the corridor in front of the bed, and arranged their meal boxes on it.

"Let's eat."

"Okay."

Yan Bubu absentmindedly picked at the food in his bowl while sneaking glances at Feng Chen across him eating. He looked over so often that Feng Chen tapped his bowl with his chopsticks, "Eat properly, the food is getting cold."

Yan Bubu picked up a piece of potato, tentatively asking, "Brother, what should I do after dinner?"

Feng Chen, without looking up, suggested, "Visit the four kids at the welfare institute?"

When the central city collapsed, Yan Bubu had evacuated with four children from the welfare institute. He often visited them now, and they were very affectionate with each other.

"Not today, I just visited them yesterday. I want to do something else," said Yan Bubu.

Feng Chen hummed, "How about a walk near the plantation? The corn is tasseling, it looks pretty nice."

"A walk... Let's do that tomorrow. There's something else today, something important," Yan Bubu hinted.

"What important thing?"

Yan Bubu held his breath, focusing, "Like, doing some exercises, for example."

Feng Chen looked impressed, "Not bad, thinking about doing exercises. Then after eating, you can do your exercises, and I'll go to the military department."

Yan Bubu's face fell, and he clattered his chopsticks onto the small table.

"What's wrong? Why the sudden temper?" Feng Chen glanced at him briefly, continuing to eat unhurriedly.

Yan Bubu stared hard at Feng Chen, watching him take another bite of carrot, and finally couldn't hold back, shouting, "Where's my set of papers? Huh? You promised to give me a set of papers, where are they?"

"Why are you being so loud?" Feng Chen looked up at him.

Yan Bubu's face turned red with frustration, "So what if I am loud? You clearly promised to give me a set of papers, but you completely forgot about it."

Feng Chen swallowed his food, slowly picked up a napkin to wipe his mouth, and reached out to ruffle Yan Bubu's hair, who slapped his hand away.

"You always say Binunu has a bad temper. Look at yourself now. What's the difference between you and it?" Feng Chen asked.

Binunu, lying on the bed, glanced at them with a sideways eye.

"So what if I'm being foul? I want to be foul. You broke your promise, didn't give me the papers, and now I can't study!" Yan Bubu continued to yell.

A sentinel passing by the half-open door commented, "He really loves studying, doesn’t he? Why stop him?"

His guide also popped in, offering Yan Bubu, "I have a few sets of papers. Do you want them? You just have to write my name on them."

After they left, Yan Bubu lost his appetite and went to lie on the bed, turning to face Binunu on the inside.

Hearing Feng Chen's approaching footsteps and the bed sinking under his weight, Yan Bubu knew he sat beside him and deliberately moved outward, trying to push him off the bed.

But Feng Chen sat firmly, unmoved by Yan Bubu's efforts. After a silent struggle, he let out a soft chuckle.

Feeling even more aggrieved, Yan Bubu couldn't hold back and turned his head with tearful eyes to yell, "You're laughing—"

Shush, shush, shush...

Several sets of papers fluttered in front of his eyes.

Yan Bubu's remaining words were stuck in his throat, his eyes slowly lighting up.

Feng Chen playfully shook a few papers, "Who wants to do these exercises? Raise your hand, and I'll give them to you."

Yan Bubu, feeling slightly embarrassed, turned and buried his face in the pillow, a smile hidden beneath it as his anger dissipated.

"Did Binunu raise its paw? Wants to do the exercises? Alright, then I'll give this set to Binunu."

Startled by Feng Chen's words, Yan Bubu quickly lifted his head, only to see Binunu clutching the set of papers in its tiny claws.

Binunu, sensing Yan Bubu's gaze on its papers, clutched them more tightly and scurried off the bed, as if afraid he would snatch them away.

Yan Bubu was dumbstruck, staring at the papers in Binunu's claws. Binunu then turned its back to him, hugging the papers to its chest.

"Mine, that's my birthday present, my exercises..." Yan Bubu incredulously turned his head slowly towards Feng Chen.

Feng Chen said, "I thought you didn’t want the papers, so I asked that question. If you wanted them, you should've said so earlier, and I would've kept them for you."

"What about mine? You gave my papers to Binunu, where are mine?" Yan Bubu banged on the bed, "I want to do the exercises! My whole set? Military theory, cultural basics, guide knowledge, three whole papers! Just gone like that! My papers..."

"Calm down, just calm down..." Feng Chen grabbed Yan Bubu's hands, pulling him up from the bed. Yan Bubu leaned back, closing his eyes, and Feng Chen wrapped his arms around his waist, lifting him off the bed.

Yan Bubu lay back in Feng Chen's arms, his limbs hanging limply. He turned to look at Binunu, who was happily examining the papers, feeling even sadder, his nose tingling, "…Those were my papers."

"Those weren't your papers," Feng Chen's voice, tinged with a hint of amusement, sounded in his ear. "I've prepared another birthday gift for you. Those papers were meant for Binunu, as today is also its birthday."

Yan Bubu instantly fell silent, tilting his head to look at Feng Chen's face, "I have other papers?"

"Not papers."

"Then what kind of problem is it?"

"It's not a problem either," Feng Chen said softly, "I won't make you do papers or solve problems."

Yan Bubu stared blankly at him, then asked eagerly, "Do you want to know what the gift is?"

"Yes," Yan Bubu replied.

Feng Chen said, "If you want to know, then stand up properly and comb your hair. Look at it, it's all over the place like a bird's nest."

Yan Bubu quickly jumped down and briskly combed his hair with a few strokes, "I'm ready."

Feng Chen took the comb from his hand, redid his hair, and then took his hand, beckoning, "Binunu, Sasaka, let's go outside for a walk."

Binunu was showing the paper to the black lion and, hearing this, tried to put it away but couldn't find a suitable place. The black lion picked up the paper and placed it in a hanging cabinet.

Binunu walked towards the door, then turned back to check the window. Making sure it was securely shut and no one could steal its paper, it finally relaxed.

Feng Chen, leading Yan Bubu and the two quantum beasts, left Whistle Toward Academy and turned left, heading towards the edge of the camp.

"Where are we going?" Yan Bubu asked, looking around curiously.

"Shh... Don't let others discover us," Feng Chen said, guiding him away from a guard, "It's darker over there. We'll walk that way to see your birthday gift."

Yan Bubu's heart raced with excitement.

Having to sneak around to see a birthday gift – what mysterious and wonderful thing could it be?

They avoided the soldiers, moving slowly through the unlit blind spots, eventually leaving the camp and entering the desert.

Excited, Yan Bubu's face flushed, "Did you hide my birthday gift in the desert?"

"Yes, it's in the desert."

Feng Chen lifted Yan Bubu onto the back of the black lion and then climbed up himself. The black lion, carrying both of them and gripping Binunu, charged into the darkness ahead.

The howling of the wind and sand grew louder, and soon there was no light around. Feng Chen turned on a forehead light, illuminating the area ahead. Mutants stirred and rushed towards them, but before they could get close, they were struck down by Feng Chen's psychic power.

"Haha, this is so much fun... ack!" Feng Chen, who always followed the rules, was doing something thrilling and out of character for the first time. Yan Bubu laughed excitedly, getting a mouthful of sand.

"Don't talk," Feng Chen shouted, and quickly covered Yan Bubu's head with a large gauze cloth he had prepared to protect him from the sandstorm.

The black lion ran forward for about half an hour, then turned and ran toward the right front, slowing down only when a sand dune appeared in the near distance.

When the black lion circled behind the dune, Yan Bubu found that the whistling wind that had been in his ears stopped, and the world suddenly became silent.

Looking around curiously, Yan Bubu wondered if Feng Chen had hidden his birthday gift somewhere in the dune. Feng Chen, however, pulled him up halfway up the dune to a flat area to sit down.

Feng Chen turned to look at Yan Bubu, who, anticipating the gift, was both excited and nervous, smiling foolishly at Feng Chen.

"Now, I'm going to give you your gift," said Feng Chen.

Yan Bubu nodded eagerly, "Haha, yes."

While responding, he glanced around the platform, curious where Feng Chen had hidden the gift and how he would present it.

At that moment, Feng Chen covered his eyes with his hand, counting softly, "One, two, three."

Yan Bubu held his breath, his heart beating faster than Feng Chen's count.

With a soft click, Feng Chen turned off his forehead light and also removed his hand from Yan Bubu's eyes.

Yan Bubu blinked, first looking at Feng Chen's hands, finding them empty. He then leaned forward to check behind Feng Chen, but there was nothing.

"Brother?" Yan Bubu called out, puzzled.

Feng Chen didn't respond, just gazed at him tenderly.

Yan Bubu was about to ask again when he suddenly realized something, turning his head in surprise to look around.

He saw the soft white glow of the fine sand below the cliff, the silhouette of the dune behind him, the person in front of him, and Binunu and Sasaka sitting on another platform nearby.

Feng Chen had turned off his forehead light, yet the area was still illuminated!

The light was not bright or dazzling, but it outlined objects clearly.

Yan Bubu looked up, trying to see if high-pressure sodium lights were installed on the top of the dune behind them, but as he lifted his head, he froze like a statue.

In the thick blackness of the sky, the part directly above them appeared as if a black curtain had been torn open, and brilliant starlight cascaded down like rain or a waterfall.

Yan Bubu stared motionlessly upwards, while Feng Chen just watched him with focused attention.

"When you were six, you drew a picture and said you hoped your birthday gift would be watching the stars with me. On your seventh birthday, I held you unconscious in the boat, hoping you would wake up and that if the rain stopped, the stars would appear. That was the luckiest day of my life; my prayers were answered. You woke up, and the stars appeared too..."

Feng Chen wrapped his arm around Yan Bubu's shoulder, and Yan Bubu leaned his head against it, quietly listening to his deep voice.

"That night, I told you I hoped to watch the stars with you on your ninth birthday, tenth, eleventh, twelfth... every birthday thereafter. But with the extreme cold, we never saw the stars in the sky again, and I've never been able to

"Brother, is this your magic?" Yan Bubu withdrew his gaze and turned to Feng Chen, his eyes dreamlike, "This must be your magic, right?"

Feng Chen explained, "The last time the academy sent us to the desert to search for Chen Liuwei, I accidentally discovered this place. The desert naturally lacks shy grass, so the concentration of dark matter isn’t as heavy. This particular dune cleverly splits the airflow in two, leaving this gap free from dark matter."

Yan Bubu stared intently at Feng Chen, then slowly shook his head after he finished speaking, "No, it's not the dark matter or the airflow of the dune. This is your magic..."

Feng Chen looked at him and smiled, "Yes, this is my magic."

Yan Bubu again looked towards the desert, seeing the sand grains coated in a layer of silver by the starlight, the world so wondrous and unreal.

As he was immersed in this feeling, a small square box suddenly appeared before him.

He recognized the box instantly; it was the same one he had used to package the necklace he gave to Feng Chen, and he couldn’t help but laugh, picking it up, "Brother, have you kept this all along?"

"I've always kept it. Open the box and see."

Yan Bubu did as told, lifting the lid to find a necklace inside.

— A black leather cord with a diamond-shaped, thin gold metal plate at the end.

"Isn't this the necklace I gave you? Why..." Yan Bubu's words trailed off as he saw Feng Chen pull out a similar necklace from under his collar.

Yan Bubu looked at the two identical necklaces, exclaiming in surprise, then picked up the one from the box, holding it up to examine closely.

The pendant of the necklace slowly spun in the air, its angled surfaces glittering under the starry sky, barely revealing three engraved characters.

Yan Bubu's heart stirred, guessing the pendant bore the words "I love you." He leaned in, about to read it aloud, "I—"

He only got out the word "I" before stopping.

The following words were clearly not "love you." He scrutinized closely, "...also am."

I also am... I also am...

Yan Bubu: ???