Chapter 102

Chapter 102

"Jian Cheng! If your eyes are too sharp, lend them to someone else!"

For a moment, Cheng Jing had the urge to stab a teammate.

"Bro, I was wrong."

Realizing his slip of the tongue had caused trouble, Jian Cheng made a zipping motion over his mouth.

After watching for a while and figuring out what had happened, Jiang Nian rubbed his forehead and turned back to organizing the shelves.

Zhao Lei, worried their captain might actually give someone a shock and disrupt work, preemptively smacked Jian Cheng on the head:

"Brother Cheng looked ready to murder him with his eyes—where did you get 'flirting' from? I swear, you must’ve lied on your resume when applying for this job. Your language scores probably never broke 10%."

Thankfully, Brother Nian wasn’t the type to hold grudges and had absolute trust in their leader. Otherwise, any relationship trouble would’ve been Jian Cheng’s fault.

"Hahaha..."

The others couldn’t hold back their laughter and piled on:

"Zhao’s right, Jian Cheng—you totally lied about your education, didn’t you? Hahaha..."

"Even gym teachers could do better."

"Hey, Jian Cheng, do you think people are flirting with you every time they glare at you?"

"..."

Rubbing his temples, Cheng Jing couldn’t deal with this nonsense anymore and simply waved them off:

"Enough. Get ready for work."

There was training in the afternoon—just wait till he ran Jian Cheng ragged!

As if reading his mind, Jian Cheng spoke up:

"Brother Cheng, this afternoon I wanted to..."

Before he could say "take off," Cheng Jing cut him off:

"Wanted to go flirt with someone? Dream on! he thought. Skip training today, and you’ll be training alone during our next group dinner."

He'd shut this motormouth up good.

"..."

The moment Cheng Jing finished, Jian Cheng darted out of the shop, turning back to wave at the others:

"Come on, clock's ticking. What’s taking you guys so long?"

Being left to train alone while everyone else enjoyed a group dinner? That punishment was no different from being exiled from the group.

Just some training—consider it just taking his lumps from the boss. Whatever.

"Pfft..."

Jiang Nian burst out laughing.

"......"

The teammates shook their heads speechlessly and walked out one after another.

It was indeed about time, and Li Shuhui also caught a ride back to the command center with the group.

Liao Yu grabbed a bucket from the back kitchen, used his superpower to crush a bunch of ice into it, and placed it in front of the small fan behind the counter. This way, the breeze would become cooler.

"This is to cool down our 'godfather'."

The higher the superpower level, the better the energy control to slow the melting of ice. This bucket of ice would last Jiang Nian till quitting time.

"Thanks."

Though this 'good son' occasionally ran his mouth, he was weirdly dependable when it came to serious tasks.

Everyone else had already boarded the vehicle, but Cheng Jing hung back, staring at Jiang Nian with a sulky look.

Jiang Nian couldn’t figure why he was sulking, but since it was his boyfriend, he had to comfort him. Since they couldn’t share a loving kiss outside of home, he just shoved a handful of assorted fruit-flavored candies into his hand:

"Keep these to yourself—don’t share with the others."

Even though the other teammates had their own, his Brother Jing was all about this kind of 'favoritism.'

"Mm."

Cheng Jing nodded, gave his fingers a squeeze, pocketed the candies, and took off for work.

After taking two steps, he turned back:

"Remember to give me the full story tonight about how you got to know those two."

His beef with Da Jun was already locked in—had they been outside the base earlier, he would’ve thrown hands.

So that was the issue. Jiang Nian quickly nodded with a smile:

"Of course, Brother Jing, just focus on work. I’ll spill all the tea when you get back tonight. I suspect they’re connected to Xia Weiwei."

Hearing Xia Weiwei’s name, Cheng Jing finally smiled:

"Good."

If it was that kind of connection, then there’d be no guilt in wiping them out.

Jiang Nian rested his chin on his hands, leaning against the counter as he watched him leave for work. He unwrapped a strawberry-flavored candy, popped it into his mouth, and sucked on it thoughtfully:

Huh, why did it feel like his boyfriend was getting tougher to handle?

"......"

Meanwhile, inside the jeep already speeding toward the outskirts of the base, Da Jun, who had been glared at by Cheng Jing earlier, still looked pissed.

Liang Xiaoyan, who had also witnessed it, needled:

"What’s wrong, Da Jun? Taken a liking to that pretty boy?"

"Pfft, I’m afraid I’d kill him."

Da Jun tossed a betel nut into his mouth and chewed, locking eyes with the woman in the backseat through the rearview mirror—his gaze brimming with raw menace.

Liang Xiaoyan shot him an annoyed glare:

"Hah, with your raw strength, it's totally possible!"

Sure enough, even a beast with no standards would be tempted by someone like Jiang Nian. Ugh!

Da Jun smirked provocatively:

"Don't tell me you don’t like him!"

Liang Xiaoyan pursed her lips and stayed silent.

Worried they’d get too flirty, Xiao Liu, who was driving, steered the conversation back with a laugh:

"Who knows, maybe the kept man actually likes Jun’s raw strength. He seems pretty spoiled rotten."

Liang Xiaoyan lowered her head, picking at her nails and blowing on them:

"Of course he’s living the high life—his boyfriend’s got clout."

If she snagged a superpowered boyfriend that strong, she’d be living the good life too.

"Yan, you really believe Cheng Jing is his only boyfriend? Don’t bullshit me."

Xiao Liu snickered, his gaunt, sunken face twisting into a smug, shit-eating grin, as if he’d just heard the funniest joke.

Da Jun chimed in casually:

"Why would such a strong team let Cheng Jing call all the shots? Setting up a shop for the kept man, driving a Land Rover—just the gas alone is beyond what most can afford. If you think the others aren’t getting something out of Jiang Nian, no one in their right mind would buy that!"

Just looking at Jiang Nian—his demeanor, his physique, his clothes—he stuck out like a sore thumb from them and their surroundings. Clearly, he’d never had to scrape by in the apocalypse.

Liang Xiaoyan shrugged:

"Who knows? I haven’t seen it with my own eyes. Whatever they say goes, I guess."

Truthfully, she thought the same. Their teammates bled for every scrap and credit—there was no way they’d just roll over and let him pamper his boyfriend.

Watching their blood, sweat, and tears go toward someone else’s comfortable life—who would be cool with that?

It made no sense.

And Jiang Nian wasn’t some drop-dead gorgeous beauty either. How could he have everyone eating out of his hand?

"Out here, anyone can run their mouths. You can call yourself whatever you want, heh..."

Xiao Liu let out a few more lewd chuckles before tilting his head slightly toward Liang Xiaoyan:

"Just like you—we’re your teammates by day, your husbands by night, right? I bet Jiang Nian and that Huang Qian are team ‘shared resources.’ Though, for the record, I’m not into guys, but Huang Qian? Now that’s a total babe."

"Piss off! Go shoot your shot with her then! See if she’ll even let you touch her!"

Liang Xiaoyan kicked the back of the driver’s seat twice in flustered anger.

Damn bastard, getting lucky and still bitching! Eye-fucking someone else’s meal while still eating from his own—what a freak!

Does he even know his place? If not for sheer dumb luck awakening his superpower, even a stray dog wouldn’t piss on him!

Look at the kind of people Jiang Nian had to ‘serve,’ then look at her—it was like comparing clouds to shit!