Chapter 144

Chapter 144

A moment later, Shen Juanjuan raised his head, his face flushed as he asked, "Chen Hongliang, why did you say I like him? The kind of liking I talked about isn't the kind a younger brother has for an older brother."

"Who said your feelings for him were brotherly? We've known for a long time that you like Brother Chu Ya."

"The way you look at Brother Chu Ya, even a pure-hearted young man like me would blush and feel embarrassed to look more than once."

"Mm-hmm."

...

Shen Juanjuan let out a wail and covered his face, then asked, "Is it that obvious?"

"It's that obvious," they all replied in unison.

Surrounded by everyone, Shen Juanjuan listened with his head bowed, remaining silent for a long time before speaking, "Don't you think I... am that kind of person? He is my brother..."

Tang Yuanyuan patted his shoulder, "We don't think you're that kind of person. We thought you knew your identity and understood that you were his childhood bride."

Everyone chuckled softly, and Shen Juanjuan joined in, but then he sobered up and said, "I only started having these thoughts recently."

"It's not that recent. Last year, you were worried about your brother dating a guide, and you went to the military base every day to spy on them," Lin Duozhi whispered. "I even helped you keep watch, only to find out later that the guide had a sentinel."

"I'm actually fine. Do you remember that kid from Longhua Residential Area? He was always worried about his parents giving him a younger sibling, just because he didn't want anyone new to come into his life and take away his parents' love for him." Shen Juanjuan began to speak fluently, "My situation now is just that I don't want another person to come between my brother and me, living with him every day. My brother would cook for him, take walks with him, prepare delicious meals in the morning before going to the military base, and sleep with him at night..."

The more Shen Juanjuan spoke, the louder his voice became, his tone growing more urgent, his expression fierce, and his features contorting.

"Juanjuan." Lin Duozhi quickly tugged at him.

Shen Juanjuan suddenly stood up, gritting his teeth, "He dare! If he dares to find another guide, I'll break his legs and lock him in the house forever!"

Silence fell over the rooftop. Shen Juanjuan's breathing gradually slowed as he looked down at the others.

"What's wrong with you all? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Everyone stared at him without speaking. He turned his head, took a deep breath, and finally admitted loudly, "Alright, I like him."

As soon as these words left his mouth, the pent-up frustration in his heart dissipated, and his breathing became smooth. Joy surged within him, swelling into a powerful emotion that throbbed in his chest, urging him to share, to tell everyone.

"Yes, I like him." He turned to face the group again, his expression resolute, his eyes bright: "Not the kind of liking a younger brother has for an older brother. Now I'm telling you everything."

Shen Juanjuan sat cross-legged on the roof.

An hour later.

"... The way he cuts vegetables is so beautiful, much better than those uncles in the canteen. Of course, I'm not talking about looks; there's no comparison there. I mean his movements." Shen Juanjuan mimicked the cutting motion, his right hand moving up and down, "He stands very straight, this finger pressing against the handle of the knife..."

Tang Yuanyuan and the others lay on the roof, their eyes vacant as they gazed at the sky. Wang Xiaoxi yawned and nodded absent-mindedly.

"Huff... huff..."

Liu Sijin's eyes were blank, "Yu Datou snores so loudly. Who shares a dorm with him?"

"Me," Chen Hongliang replied.

"Can you sleep?"

"Alright."

"... The way he cooks is also beautiful, just a slight movement of the forearm, which moves the wrist, unlike those uncles in the canteen who shake their whole bodies..."

"Shen Juanjuan, can you stop talking?" Tang Yuanyuan finally spoke up.

Shen Juanjuan said, "Don't you want to hear about cooking? How about cleaning instead?"

"No, we don't want to hear anything else." They all stopped him, "We've been listening all night. Talk about something else."

"Then—"

"Then, has Brother Chu Ya matched yet?" Liu Sijin, fearing he would start talking about Chu Ya doing laundry, quickly interrupted.

"Matched?" A hint of confusion appeared on Shen Juanjuan's face, "I don't know, I never asked."

"You mentioned earlier that you almost misunderstood him today. Has Brother Chu Ya matched with any guides?" Lin Duozhi asked.

Tang Yuanyuan sat up, "Every sentinel-guide pair undergoes testing after turning sixteen, and our information is recorded in the database. It's even more likely for Brother Chu Ya. We just don't know who he has matched with."

All sentinel-guides in Linya City have their information stored in the Angel Army's database, and those who haven't deeply bonded are matched. Generally, each person can match with four or more compatible partners, and the military provides opportunities for them to interact, such as working on missions or training together, to foster relationships.

However, the military only provides matching data and creates conditions for interaction; there are no strict requirements. While it's good if sentinel-guides develop feelings for their matches, if they choose not to, their decisions are respected. Nowadays, when guides enter heat, they can use suppressants, although using suppressants during the second breakthrough reduces the chances of advancing to a higher level compared to deep bonding with a sentinel.

Listening to Tang Yuanyuan, Shen Juanjuan realized that Chu Ya might have multiple matches.

He began to recall the people around Chu Ya, such as his adjutant or logistics soldiers, suspecting that they might be his matches, and a sense of vigilance rose in his heart.

Tang Yuanyuan and the others also began to whisper among themselves.

"Have we been matched too?"

"Of course, we have."

"Ah! Then who are my matches? Why don't I know?"

"... Don't look at me like that. Although we spend a lot of time together, I'm definitely not the one the military assigned to you."

No one had thought about this before, and now realizing they had matches, everyone felt both excited and nervous.

Chen Hongliang's eyes sparkled, "Can we see our match information?"

"Sure, but you can only see it in the Information Archive, which is that small building next to the institute."

"If we go to the Information Archive and request to see the matching information, will they let us?"

"They won't."

Everyone fell silent. Tang Yuanyuan casually remarked, "The Information Archive isn't a very important department, so there are no guards. It shouldn't be hard to get in."

Chen Hongliang shrugged indifferently, "Why don't we check it out?"

Liu Sijin stretched lazily, "We have nothing else to do anyway. Let's go and see who Brother Chu Ya matched with."

"Right, let's see who Brother Chu Ya matched with."

Shen Juanjuan also wanted to go; he had to know who Chu Ya's matches were. That way, he could ask Brother Yun Tuo to send those people far away, so they wouldn't get close to Chu Ya.

Because of his relationship with Xiao Rui and Xu Wangduo, Shen Juanjuan was more familiar with the security around the institute than the others. He said, "Although it's easy to get into the Information Archive, it's in the same compound as the institute. Sneaking into that compound is practically impossible."

"You're right, the military's protection of the institute is too tight. Not even a fly can get in."

Just as everyone was feeling disappointed, Shen Juanjuan added, "I have a way to get you in."

"You have a way?"

Shen Juanjuan gave a mysterious smile, "Of course."

The institute used to be the Bitao Building, and the Information Archive was once the restaurant of the Bitao Building. It has since been renovated into an institution for collecting and matching Sentinel-Guide information.

The orphanage was quite far from the Information Archive, so they took a bus. Because quantum animals cannot be separated from their owners for long, after walking down several streets, Teddy Bear, who had been playing with Black Wolf in Longhua Residential Area, automatically returned to Shen Juanjuan's mental domain.

"Awooo!"

Teddy Bear was angry in Shen Juanjuan's mental domain.

"I'm taking you to a fun place. Spot and the others are there. You two can pull out Little Shatter's feathers."

"Awoooo!"

"Shen Wangwang knows you're with me, and it will go to the Angel Army to find Shen Miaomiao." Shen Juanjuan patiently coaxed, "Come out and take a look. We're about to go somewhere, sneak in, sneak into the house, and sneak to find things."

The word "sneak" piqued Teddy Bear's interest. It closed its mouth and emerged from the mental domain onto the bus.

The leopard cub and whale calf, along with other quantum animals, greeted it happily. The parrot perched on the handrail huffed disdainfully.

The bus continued down the long street, and the speaker repeatedly broadcast a weather forecast, urging people still outdoors to return to safe locations.

"There's going to be an eight-level storm tonight."

"Yeah, the port is closed, and no boats can go out to sea."

"Then we'll head back to the orphanage quickly after we find out."

After getting off the bus, they walked for a bit and arrived at the institute.

The institute was heavily fortified, with two squads of soldiers guarding the tightly closed gates and electric fences on the high walls. If any suspicious person breached this line of defense and entered the premises, the automatic defense system would activate, and the guns that appeared on the walls could eliminate them.

"What are you here for?" The soldiers stopped them before they could approach the gate.

Shen Juanjuan replied, "I'm looking for Dr. Xu."

"Looking for Dr. Xu? Do you know him?" The soldier looked suspiciously at the young man in front of him, his face growing more wary.

"Can you contact him? Tell him Shen Juanjuan is looking for him."

As soon as he finished speaking, the soldiers exchanged glances and continued to scrutinize Shen Juanjuan, but their gaze was different from the initial wariness, filled more with uncertainty and curiosity.

"Are you that Shen Juanjuan?" one soldier asked hesitantly.

Tang Yuanyuan immediately responded, "Yes, he is that Shen Juanjuan."

"From the Angels Association, the food convoy?" the soldier asked.

"Yes, we still have the Shen Juanjuan team in the Angel Army."

The soldiers were surprised, "Wow, you've grown so much. In the stories, he was just a kid."

Over the years, whenever Shen Juanjuan mentioned his name outside, he would hear such conversations, so he didn't shy away, allowing them to look at him freely and even smiled, "It's been so many years since the story. Of course, I'm not a kid anymore."

The soldiers' attitudes immediately changed. One of them took out a scanner to verify his identity. After confirming everything was correct, he contacted someone and then told Shen Juanjuan, "Dr. Xu is busy. He asked you to wait in the reception room."

Shen Juanjuan led the group into the compound smoothly and realized that not only were there guards at the main gate, but there were also soldiers inside the institute. He hadn't been to the Bitao Building for several years. Now, the entrance had been replaced, and the previously open second-floor windows were sealed, turning the entire Bitao Building into an airtight fortress.

The soldiers at the entrance needed to verify their identities again before they could enter the building. Tang Yuanyuan immediately tugged at Shen Juanjuan's sleeve, and he understood, saying to the soldiers, "Dr. Xu is still busy. Let's wait in the courtyard to avoid disturbing his work."

This Bitao Building was heavily guarded. If they went in now, it would be much harder to sneak out to the Information Archive later.

Teddy Bear was also looking around, pointing out various places to the other quantum animals and even circling to the side wall, pointing to the sealed second-floor window, indicating where he had killed zombies before.

Hearing that they wanted to stay in the courtyard, the soldiers readily agreed. These teenagers were better off outside than inside the building, where they might wander around out of curiosity.

"I lived here for a while during the early days of the zombie outbreak, you know?" Shen Juanjuan asked.

"I know," Tang Yuanyuan nodded and added, "Can you show us around the courtyard?"

"There's not much to see over here. It's just a bare area. There's a small forest over there. I'll take you to see it."

Seeing the group heading towards the small forest, and knowing that the other end of the forest was the Information Archive, which wasn't a highly secured area, the soldiers let them go.

The Information Archive was unattended, and the lock was the simplest kind. Chen Hongliang inserted the wire he had prepared into the lock, while the others gathered around to watch.

"Are we going to get caught?" Wang Xiaoxi asked nervously.

Chen Hongliang was about to speak when Shen Juanjuan, who had been watching him closely, shouted, "Keep it down!" Chen Hongliang lowered his voice, "No, and even if we do get caught, it won't be a problem. They won't beat us; at worst, they'll send us to the military headquarters."

"Ah..."

"Don't listen to Chen Hongliang. In Linya City, who would dare to catch Brother Juanjuan? Even if they did, Dr. Xu would let us go, and isn't the military headquarters my territory?" Shen Juanjuan put an arm around Wang Xiaoxi's shoulder, "Brother Yun Tuo, Brother Xiao Rui, Brother Miaomiao—whose orders don't they follow? They wouldn't dare!"

The group whispered among themselves as Chen Hongliang fiddled with the wire.

"Chen Hongliang, can you actually pick the lock?" Tang Yuanyuan asked.

"I should be able to."

"Should be able to?!"

"Last time we went to the cinema, didn't that black-faced guy in 'End of the Road' do it this way?"

Liu Sijin decisively pushed the silent Yu Datou forward, "Yu Datou is most familiar with mechanics, let him try."

Yu Datou took the wire and unlocked it in just two minutes. The quantum beasts stayed outside to keep watch while the others entered the room.

"Xiao Sui, don't argue with them. There are sentry guides over there; if they hear any noise, they'll come to check and expose us," Tang Yuanyuan warned the parrot.

"Got it, got it, nagging."

Although the information archive had been renovated, it was still spacious with high walls and few rooms. Apart from the main door, there were no windows.

They quickly found the records room. Although the devices storing the information required passwords to access, there were stacks of file folders in large cabinets, containing matching information for the sentry guides. They began to sift through the files slowly.

"How long will this take?" Chen Hongliang looked at the pile of file folders.

Shen Juanjuan had already opened a folder and was flipping through it quickly, "It's not that many. There are only about three thousand sentry guides in all of Linya City."

"That's still over three thousand files!"

"Dumb, each folder is labeled with age groups. We can search by age." Tang Yuanyuan picked up a folder, "For example, the people in this folder are 25 years old, so they definitely aren't who we're looking for. We can put it back."

"By filtering like this, it will be easier to find Brother Chu Ya."

"Right, right, it will be easy."

Shen Juanjuan glanced at the labels on the folders the others had selected and whispered, "Aren't we looking for Shen Miaomiao? Except for Lin Duozhi, you've all picked folders for sixteen or seventeen-year-olds. How could Shen Miaomiao be in those?"

The group mumbled, "We just picked a folder randomly."

Liu Sijin reminded them, "The name is at the top. Make sure it's the right one before pulling it out. Don't look at others' files."

"Understood, it's private information, we won't look."

No one spoke in the room, all focused on flipping through the files, the only sound being the rustling of pages.

Liu Sijin suddenly exclaimed, "Huh?" Everyone turned to see her staring at a file in her hand, her mouth slightly open, her expression strange and eerie.

"Did you find your own?" Lin Duozhi asked.

Liu Sijin remained silent, scanning the file quickly before slipping it back into the folder.

"Tell us, tell us who they are." Everyone perked up, Shen Juanjuan also pricked up his ears.

Liu Sijin sealed the folder, lowering her eyes, "Don't ask, don't ask about mine, and I won't ask about yours."

"How many matches did you get? You can at least tell us that, right?"

Liu Sijin raised her right hand and spread her fingers.

"Five?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Oh, you're such a promiscuous sentry guide." Everyone pointed at her.

Liu Sijin hurriedly defended herself, "This is just information matching, what does it have to do with me being promiscuous? It's not like I can do anything with all five of them, right?"

"You are, really, the more you explain, the worse it sounds." Everyone lowered their heads again, "Quick, quick, let's find our own."

Shen Juanjuan also shook his head and continued searching for Chu Ya's name in the 22-year-old folder.

Liu Sijin helped search for the others' names but seemed distracted, looking up at the others several times, wanting to say something but holding back.

"If you want to know, just ask. We won't tell anyone anyway," Tang Yuanyuan said without looking up, flipping through the pages.

Liu Sijin finally couldn't hold it in and blurted out a name, "Jing Xiangyang."

"Never heard of him."

"Never heard that name."

Wang Xiaoxi said, "I know him. He's from the Second Army of the military headquarters, a guide captain, and he's quite handsome."

Shen Juanjuan asked, "How old is he?"

"Since he's a captain in the Second Army, he must be at least twenty," Tang Yuanyuan said.

Chen Hongliang immediately said, "That's too old, no, no, that won't work."

"Mm-hmm."

"Indeed, too old."

Shen Juanjuan's face darkened: "Old at twenty? What do you mean? Twenty is as tender as can be, like water could be squeezed out, okay?"

Lin Duozhi also muttered: "Twenty-two is the best age, right?"

Chen Hongliang cleverly corrected himself: "To us, twenty is old, but once you're over twenty, like twenty-two, that's especially fresh, as if water could be squeezed out."

Once Shen Juanjuan was satisfied, Liu Sijin called out another name: "Lu Xiahei."

"Wow..."

"Ooh!"

"Tsk tsk tsk!"

Everyone wrinkled their brows and made strange sounds.

"He's in the middle class, has been black since childhood, like a coal ball."

"Now he seems a bit whiter."

"But that doesn't work. When I see him, I still think of how he looked as a kid, always with two runny noses."

...

"Alright, I seem to remember this person. He is quite black; I prefer white." Liu Sijin quickly ruled out this candidate and continued: "Pan Mei."

Lin Duozhi asked: "Pan Mei? The senior class Pan Mei?"

"Yes, that's her. She's not black, and she's twenty-two, as fresh as can be," Tang Yuanyuan smiled.

Chen Hongliang quickly shook his head: "She used to be the lice queen, and her glare is so fierce that I dare not look at her for more than three seconds."

Shen Juanjuan pondered: "Liu Sijin, this one needs careful consideration. Think about it, can you handle her intense gaze at any moment? And she's on your sister's side. If you do anything wrong, your sister will definitely beat you up."

...

Liu Sijin went through the list one by one, but all five were rejected by everyone. In the end, she said: "Forget it, I'll just go with the flow. Actually, not finding anyone might be better; I like being free."

"You're such a scoundrel, a real scoundrel. Leaving five potential matches hanging, completely irresponsible, truly heartless." Everyone chimed in.

Wang Xiaoxi sat beside Liu Sijin, laughing all the while. Liu Sijin, annoyed, lifted her arm and wrapped it around his neck: "I won't look anymore. I'll just pick someone randomly. This one isn't black, is fresh enough, and doesn't have the 'King's Gaze.' So, it's this one."

Yu Datou quickly stood up and pulled Wang Xiaoxi over: "Choose Shen Juanjuan or Lin Duozhi, not this one."

"Ew..."

"Oh oh oh oh."

The others started teasing again, making Wang Xiaoxi's face turn red. Yu Datou just scratched his head and laughed.