Chapter 77

Chapter 77

Back at base after their health screenings, Cheng Jing had Zhao Lei and Huang Qian stay behind to help while the rest returned to their dorms.

That's when everyone found out Yang Kai lived in the building next to theirs.

Cheng Jing took Zhao Lei and Huang Qian to the command center to report the mission, count and exchange the Superpower Cores for points, and split the shares accordingly.

Everyone got a cut from today's haul, while their saved cores were split separately.

Points could be exchanged at multiple locations across the base, including a dedicated office in the command center.

To avoid drawing attention, Cheng Jing had already pulled the cores from his spatial ring and split them into separate bundles.

He exchanged one batch at the command center while assigning Zhao Lei and Huang Qian to exchange the rest under the radar at other locations in the base.

True to form, he kept one charm-ability Superpower Core for his collection.

As for the dual-attribute Superpower Zombie’s core, since it was the main mission objective, he exchanged and submitted it along with the others.

For one, Yang Kai had seen it, making substitution impossible. Secondly, mutant zombie cores from cannibalistic variants were more valuable for research, so handing it over to the base’s research institute was reasonable.

However, Cheng Jing didn’t expect this dual-attribute mutant core to be worth 200 times more than the price of a normal Superpower Core—just one netted him 6,000 points.

Previously, there had been no heads-up about this. After receiving the points, the staff repeatedly reminded him not to disclose it:

This was classified as base intel, on a need-to-know basis.

Cheng Jing nodded, asking no further questions. After exchanging the points, he turned and entered the duty office to submit his report.

In total, apart from Yang Kai’s share, their squad had racked up 13,000 points since they began collecting cores.

Their teammates had already discussed and insisted that no matter how many points they earned from exchanging cores, every last point would go to Jiang Nian for safekeeping.

Without Jiang Nian, they wouldn’t have lived so comfortably in the apocalypse—not even going hungry once. They owed him big time.

Besides, Brother Nian needed points to run his business and start a farm, so it was essential for him to have a reserve. They’d focus on earning, and he’d handle the management—simple as that.

Cheng Jing didn’t hesitate either, directly dumping all the points into his little hamster's account.

…

After wrapping up the remaining tasks and submitting the report, Cheng Jing returned to the dorm past 10 p.m.

Jiang Nian, now in loungewear, was humming a tune behind the closed kitchen door as he prepared a late-night snack—that notoriously stinky viral dish: luosifen (river snail rice noodles).

They hadn’t had a proper meal all day, and the hot weather called for something bold and appetizing. The sour, spicy, and savory luosifen was the perfect choice.

With a tablet propped on the kitchen cabinet, Jiang Nian followed a mukbang tutorial, adding all sorts of toppings:

Fried eggs, crab sticks, duck feet, braised pork trotters, mini sausages, tiger-skin chicken feet, and greens—the sight alone was mouthwatering.

“Need any help?”

Cheng Jing walked in after taking off his jacket, the uniquely pungent aroma of luosifen hitting his nostrils and hitting him like a truck—equal parts appetizing and bracing.

Jiang Nian, busy watching the cooking video, nudged him away:

“No need, Brother Jing. Just go rest and set the table. We’ll be eating soon.”

A handsome guy being present would throw him off his game.

He never used to eat luosifen, but since Brother Jing liked it, he tried it to pursue him and gradually got addicted. Now, if he goes too long without it, he gets serious cravings.

Especially when he’s not hungry, a bowl hits the spot.

Back in their college days, they’d hit up restaurants on breaks. Honestly, restaurant versions weren’t as pungent as this.

Soon, a loaded pot of luosifen was served on the table. The two dug in across from each other. Jiang Nian flipped open his spatial ring’s freezer and pulled out two soy milk cartons.

Drinking soy milk with luosifen was a recommendation from the shop owner when they ate at a physical store.

The midnight meal weirdly felt like a throwback to their old days.

After eating for a while, Cheng Jing suddenly piped up:

“I just saw Zhou Li in the duty office at the command center.”

“Zhou Li?”

Jiang Nian paused mid-bite on a chicken foot:

“The person in charge of the Qingyun City West District settlement?”

“Yeah.”

Cheng Jing nodded:

“He came with Yang Kai. He served with Department Head Wang from the base’s infrastructure department, and Department Head Wang is Yang Kai’s uncle.”

Tonight, it happened to be Department Head Wang on duty at the command center. When he entered, the two were chatting over tea.

“No way! It’s all insiders!”

Jiang Nian chuckled, took a sip of soy drink, and asked:

“What did he say to you? Who else came besides him?”

Gotta admit, Yang Kai’s got serious connections. He was envious.

“There were others, but I didn’t see them… He didn’t say much for now. They’ll probably invite us for a talk tomorrow afternoon. Don’t roam off—come home for lunch, and I’ll swing by to get you.”

As he spoke, Cheng Jing casually grabbed a tissue and wiped the chili oil off Jiang Nian’s chin and lips, then scooped the last two chicken feet into his bowl.

“Got it. I’ll go check on the shop’s renovation progress tomorrow morning and come back.”

Jiang Nian nodded, then lowered his head to continue slurping the noodles. Side-eyeing his boyfriend’s brooding look, he ribbed him:

“Just with Department Head Wang’s pull, your ‘fling ex’ could join our team. If Yang Kai really likes you and Department Head Wang puts pressure on us, we’d be stuck in a soap-opera love triangle—minimum 30 episodes or a 500k-word slow burn.”

Lately, he’d been binge-reading/watching cheesy angst-fests. They were over-the-top, but some bits got to him.

“Stop being weird.”

Cheng Jing sighed, glancing at the tablet on the couch behind him and politely reminding him:

“Lay off that trash. It’ll rot your brain.”

He couldn’t stand plots where couples blew up tiny issues into full-blown drama, leading to exhausting misunderstandings and shoehorned happy endings. Exhausting just to watch.

"Heh heh~"

Jiang Nian's mind stirred upon hearing this:

"Then, Brother Jing, why don't you talk to me about something meaningful?"

Seeing that scheming look, Cheng Jing had a bad premonition:

"About what?"

Jiang Nian grinned with a fox-like grin:

"Tell me about your life during the two years we were apart. You never told me about it."

He hadn’t dared to ask before, but now he did. Whether in life or love, he had gotten his second wind, and it was time to revisit this "old history."

This was probably an inevitable path for every couple who reconciled after a breakup.

"Did my two years in the army, finishing my studies and starting a career right before discharge—I was swamped."

Cheng Jing answered truthfully. Back then, he never slept more than five hours a day, and whatever rare free time he scraped together was spent pining after a certain someone.

"Ohhh..."

Jiang Nian nodded, pondered for a moment, then asked:

"So... you never thought about seeing someone new to take your mind off things?"

After the breakup, he'd half-hoped Brother Jing would find someone better—because he deserved it—but he also feared that someone better would wipe out every trace of what they once had.

Truth is, people are selfish at heart.