The research base was not much different from more than a year ago. It was still heavily guarded, and everyone moved about in haste.
The soundproofing of the rooms was still just as poor. Xue Ling finally managed to block Wen Jiuzhe outside, slipped into Wen Yi’s well-soundproofed laboratory, and prepared to pry out from her some news that Wen Jiuzhe refused to tell.
“Sister Yi, what secrets has Wen Jiuzhe had in this past year? What has he been doing? Tell me.”
Wen Yi would never keep secrets for Wen Jiuzhe, so as soon as Xue Ling asked, she hid nothing and thoroughly exposed all his old details.
“…He’d block the door to my lab every few days, asking whether there were any new agents that could restore your sanity… Said he wouldn’t cause trouble, but the words he said were no different from a fart.” Wen Yi cursed with a cold face.
“Later he even took the initiative to let me research him, to use him as an experiment subject. I refused at first, because I had other projects to handle at the time.”
“After that he went crazy, threatened to have me extract the Taisui agent from his body. I told him he might die, but he wouldn’t listen at all… I think he was already insane.”
Xue Ling fell silent.
How was she not surprised at all?
Only after the apocalypse did she truly understand what kind of person Wen Jiuzhe was.
He was the type who, if he missed her, even if she had died and been buried, would dig up her grave just to see her.
There were very few things he cared about, so when it came to what he truly cared about, he was exceptionally persistent.
“Actually, I had no confidence at all in the new agent I used this time. That you were able to regain consciousness surprised me too. I can only say it was a stroke of blind luck,” Wen Yi said. “But this kind of luck cannot be replicated. You need to prepare yourself mentally, Xue Ling.”
Xue Ling understood. “I’ll try my best to prepare Wen Jiuzhe mentally.”
After chatting for a while longer, she ended her brief conversation with Wen Yi, opened the door, and went out, only to find Wen Jiuzhe talking with General Hao outside.
No wonder he hadn’t come to knock halfway through her conversation—so he had been held up.
“The situation over in Jeju City is getting more and more serious. The mutated zombies there are generally more ferocious than in other places. At the end of last year we already discovered cases of animal infection, and this year the situation has grown even more severe…”
Xue Ling walked over and caught a few sentences. It seemed to be about a troublesome mission.
The stern General Hao saw her and stopped mid-speech, giving a brief conclusion. “In any case, I hope you can reconsider this mission.”
Then he showed Xue Ling a gratified expression. “Xue Ling, I’m very glad you’ve recovered.”
After asking about her condition and offering a round of encouragement, the old leader went through the process with practiced ease.
Finally, he said, “This past year we built a Meritorious Monument, engraving many glorious deeds and the contributions of the soldiers upon it. You two are included as well. If you have time, you can go take a look.”
The Meritorious Monument stood behind the secret base. Beside it were the Martyrs’ Graves and the Martyrs’ Memorial Stele.
Buried within were the soldiers who had sacrificed themselves for humanity’s future after the apocalypse. But a large portion of the graves were only empty tombs with personal effects, because every time there were many bodies that could not be brought back.
Xue Ling walked across the clean, orderly tiled path and saw her own name engraved on the tall, freestanding Meritorious Monument.
“Xue Ling, Wen Jiuzhe completed the important rescue mission in Huaxing City in August 3037…”
“Xue Ling, Wen Jiuzhe completed in July 3037…”
“Xue Ling, Wen Jiuzhe…”
Xue Ling saw several entries in a row. She lifted her head and gave Wen Jiuzhe, who stood beside her, a puzzled look.
During those times, hadn’t she lost her sanity? How could it still count as her completing missions—she was even placed first.
Looking at the other missions, the name placed first was generally the captain who had contributed the most.
Wen Jiuzhe said, “What’s the problem? You did indeed go with me to complete those missions.”
They had mentioned building this monument a few months ago. At the time they had specially come to ask Wen Jiuzhe. He had never been interested in such honor and glory.
Back then he had replied to Captain Shen Zhang, who had asked him about it, “There’s no need to engrave my name. If you’re going to engrave one, engrave Xue Ling’s.”
She liked these things anyway.
After that, Shen Zhang did not come to him about it again. Only now did Wen Jiuzhe realize that the base had engraved both Xue Ling’s name and his together.
Xue Ling felt she had taken honor that did not belong to her. Her eyes shifted, revealing that hesitant look. Wen Jiuzhe immediately knew what she was thinking.
“For these missions, you contributed the most,” Wen Jiuzhe told her.
He had gone to carry out those missions because of her.
Only if his contributions were great enough would General Hao and Director Rong at the base tacitly allow him to pester Wen Yi, and agree to let Wen Yi use those precious new-type medicines on Xue Ling.
He regarded it as nothing more than a fair exchange, but he knew Xue Ling would be moved by it, just as she would feel gratified at seeing her name carved on the monument.
Having grown up accepted by her surroundings, Xue Ling had a sense of belonging and responsibility in her heart, unlike him.
Wen Jiuzhe understood what General Hao meant by having them come to look at this Meritorious Monument. It was a tactful and gentle form of persuasion.
He believed Xue Ling had also heard the troublesome mission General Hao had mentioned to him earlier.
He was also waiting for Xue Ling to take the initiative to bring it up with him.
But unexpectedly, Xue Ling never mentioned it, as though she had not heard.
“Why aren’t you asking about the Jeju City mission?” Wen Jiuzhe brought it up himself.
Xue Ling rummaged through the wardrobe for a belt. Now that she no longer needed to lose weight, her belts had to be fastened tightly. Even her old soldier’s belt, buckled to the innermost hole, was still too large.
Buried in that pile of ugly clothes she had no memory of, she searched for a suitable belt, answering Wen Jiuzhe in between, “If you don’t want to do it, then don’t.”
“You’ve already done enough missions.”
When General Hao brought it up, Wen Jiuzhe had shown no reaction. From the way it sounded, this was not the first time he had refused the mission.
As for the Jeju City mission, Wen Yi had also mentioned it to her in passing. From her tone, it seemed she too hoped Xue Ling could persuade Wen Jiuzhe.
But looking at Wen Jiuzhe’s sunken cheeks and the dark red scars exposed outside his clothes, Xue Ling was unwilling to persuade him.
It should not be like that. It was not Wen Jiuzhe’s responsibility. They could not, simply because he would not die from being injured, subconsciously and as a matter of course hand over all the most difficult missions to him.
He would also be worn down like she had been.
He should be allowed to refuse.
“They said the situation in Jeju City is very serious. I thought after hearing that, you’d immediately start worrying for them.” Wen Jiuzhe was a little surprised at Xue Ling’s suddenly vanished sense of responsibility.
Xue Ling faced the wardrobe, appearing very busy rummaging through it. A moment later, the tablet delivered a flat sentence: “Right now, the one I’m most worried about is you.”
If she had said it in her original voice, that sentence would certainly have sounded muffled and heavy, but coming from the tablet, it made the words sound somewhat cold.
So Xue Ling added another sentence: “You should rest properly first.”
Every time she made decisions for Wen Jiuzhe, the outcome was never good.
Back then, she had hoped he could live more easily at the base, be accepted by others, and be able to communicate with people besides her.
And yet he had still ended up like this.
But thinking carefully, it was not surprising. Even during the three years after the apocalypse when he was still human, he had lived like this.
“You’ve been digging around in the wardrobe for so long. Building a nest?” Wen Jiuzhe asked.
“Come sit here and talk.” He patted the table.
Xue Ling directly plopped down on the pile of ugly clothes in the wardrobe, folded her arms, and faced Wen Jiuzhe.
Come sit and talk—what kind of lordly tone was that.
Wen Jiuzhe looked at her. Not willing to come over? Fine, then I’ll sit over there and talk.
He dragged his chair over and sat in front of the wardrobe, one leg braced against the wardrobe door, facing Xue Ling at close range.
He stepped on the wardrobe door; Xue Ling stepped on his foot.
“The Jeju City mission isn’t impossible to take. The reason I refused before was something else.” Wen Jiuzhe guessed that in her heart, she might still hope to help.
The reason he had refused this mission before was that the zombie mutations over in Jeju City had produced animals infected with the mutated zombie virus as well; they would attack both humans and zombies indiscriminately.
Xue Ling, having lost her sanity and unable to protect herself, would be in great danger there—that was why he had refused several times.
Moreover, the base there was not under official control. It was controlled by a group of wealthy people who had seized resources and armed forces, “carving out territory and ruling like feudal lords.”
They would not enforce strict control like the Beizheng Base. No one understood better than Wen Jiuzhe—who had walked alone through more than a hundred bases of various sizes after the apocalypse—just how chaotic a place without rules could be.
He did not want to take Xue Ling to such a dangerous place, and even less would he let her leave his side.
No matter what General Hao and Wen Yi were thinking on their side, Wen Jiuzhe did not care, but he could not ignore Xue Ling’s thoughts.
If she truly wanted him to go… he could go as well.
She knew how to threaten him, how to pester him until he agreed. But this time she did not flare up.
Wen Jiuzhe brought up Jeju City on his own, and she still did not continue the topic.
Wen Jiuzhe suspected that Wen Yi’s shoddy agent had damaged Xue Ling’s brain and caused her to lose certain functions.
He had long wanted to say it—what kind of outstanding young scientist was Wen Yi? The zombie virus agent had not been completely successful for so long, she could not cure Xue Ling either, and yet she could still win awards at the annual conference.
Just as he began to criticize Wen Yi in his heart over some personal grudges, Xue Ling reached out and took his hand.
Wen Jiuzhe leaned forward and watched her bury her face in his hand—her face really was only the size of a palm now; he could cover it entirely with his hand.
Her cheeks were thin, which made her eyes look especially large, so large they were a little startling.
It was a bit like a certain internet blogger Xue Ling had once seen, who had turned the slimming filter up too high. At the time, Wen Jiuzhe’s comment had been, “Are all these fans here to watch him pretend to be an alien?”
Back then he had said that eyes that large were ugly. Thinking about it now, at twenty he had spoken too definitively.
On Xue Ling, it looked quite pleasing.
“Fine, I’ll agree to take this mission.” Wen Jiuzhe took her burying her face as acting spoiled.
Xue Ling lifted her two lightbulb-like eyes, flickering with doubt.
What did that tone of “really, I have no choice” mean? When had she ever asked him to agree?
“Don’t go! Who wants you to go!” Xue Ling shook off his hand and used the tablet to protest.
“You were just so pitifully holding my hand, wasn’t that because you wanted me to agree?”
“……” Don’t make me feel like my worrying about you is unnecessary, okay?
Wen Jiuzhe reacted. “You really don’t want me to go? Oh, I get it, you’re feeling sorry for me again?”
“……”
Xue Ling took a deep breath with her mind, pretending not to hear certain barking, and wrote: “In the limited time we have, I want to stay by your side, not consider anything else.”
Wen Jiuzhe stopped speaking nonsense. He looked at Xue Ling, and after a while typed a sentence to ask: “Really? Then we can leave here too?”
