“Oh, just woke up and don’t remember anything, only remember me, huh~”
Although this was a fact, once it was repeated by that dog mouth, it made her really want to hit him.
Xue Ling took out the medical tape gifted by the Research Institute and stuck a strip over Wen Jiuzhe’s mouth: “Don’t believe rumors, don’t spread rumors!”
Anyway, she refused to admit it!
With his mouth sealed, Wen Jiuzhe’s brows lifted slightly, the corners of his lips curving up. That expression—pleasant yet teasing, secretly smug yet a little stiff in pretense, handsome and irritating… it made one’s heart itch while also making one’s fists itch.
He smiled and kept his mouth shut, but his entire face seemed to say: “Although we both know what the truth is, I’ll let you have this one.”
The aircraft parked at the exclusive apron of the First Research Institute was a silver-leaning gray-blue on the outside.
It should have looked very cool, but unfortunately, its owner, Wen Jiuzhe, did not seem to take very good care of it.
The fuselage was covered in dust and unidentified stains. When the hatch slid open, the inside was a mess like an old warehouse.
Stuffed full of things, even several old cryo-chambers were stacked inside.
“These cryo-chambers are broken, right? There’s nothing inside. Why are you keeping them here?” Xue Ling asked curiously.
Wen Jiuzhe leaned his face closer.
Xue Ling: “?”
Wen Jiuzhe: “My mouth, tear it off.” As soon as he spoke, the tape on his mouth loosened.
Xue Ling was speechless. Can’t you tear it off yourself?
She raised her hand and tore the tape from his mouth. Only then did Wen Jiuzhe say, “Last time when I went out, I found a few old-model cryo-chambers in the ruins. Brought them back to test.”
Xue Ling looked carefully and realized that the appearance of these cryo-chambers looked quite similar to the batch they had back then.
“Then the tests showed…” Xue Ling did not finish her sentence. She watched as he lifted his foot and kicked the cryo-chambers down, then swept all the clutter piled inside the cabin down in one go.
He threw them out with the free and easy abandon of someone who had just finished exams and flung away his exercise books.
“These things aren’t needed anymore.” Wen Jiuzhe said.
Xue Ling saw in that pile of clutter soil-stained shovels and ropes, lighting equipment, tents and rain boots, and abandoned electrical boxes and the like.
Did you use these things to rob tombs before?
After clearing away the clutter, Xue Ling saw the thick coat tossed on the driver’s seat in front.
As well as the medical kits and daily necessities piled high on the passenger seat.
Wen Jiuzhe moved quickly and efficiently, clearing these away as well.
“They were all tools and miscellaneous supplies I used to bring those people from the Research Institute out with. They’re useless now.”
With a clatter of throwing, the aircraft finally became empty and hollow, cleaned by him as if it had just been swept by a typhoon.
He sat down in the driver’s seat and pushed the controller forward: “Sit properly, we’re leaving.”
Xue Ling was still patting the dust off the passenger seat, pondering how the stains on the seat had been left there. Feeling the aircraft begin to slide forward, she had no time to be picky and quickly sat down.
When Wen Jiuzhe leaned over to fasten her seatbelt for her, Xue Ling felt a moment of daze.
Back then, when Wen Jiuzhe found her in Anxi and drove her away, he had also leaned over like this to fasten her seatbelt.
“This seatbelt has to be buckled like this, got it?” Wen Jiuzhe asked.
“Got it.” Xue Ling memorized it carefully.
“Very good, but even if you’ve got it, you won’t need it, because there’s an automatic button.”
Wen Jiuzhe pressed a button, and the complicated seatbelt made a soft click and snapped together.
Xue Ling: “……”
The second before Xue Ling raised her fist, Wen Jiuzhe had already returned to his seat, pushed the control lever all the way forward, and the aircraft that had slid onto the runway shot up into the air.
Xue Ling gripped the armrest tightly. This was much more thrilling than riding in a car.
The noise from the aircraft was very low. It did not fly high, only about one or two hundred meters above the ground, and the houses below, scattered like stars, could still be seen clearly.
“We’re in Beifeng District now, also called Area A. It’s currently the largest habitable area. Within Beifeng District there are more than forty cities, and there are strict boundaries between each city.” Wen Jiuzhe said, slowly lifting the aircraft higher.
From greater height, the ground became clearer—roads and waterways divided the areas, the boundaries distinct.
“We live there, Lebin City. The anomaly squads all live over there. Each team has its own separate building. Next to it are the Anomaly Management Center and the Infection Prevention and Relief Center, as well as the Area A Patrol Guard.”
Xue Ling followed the direction he pointed, first seeing a stretch of green trees and lakes, and only then noticing the small buildings constructed around them.
Compared to the high-rise buildings and bustling scenery in other blocks, that block obviously had fewer people and more greenery.
Xue Ling thought: Such a low floor area ratio. The land price must be very high.
The management was also very strict. They had flown over so many areas earlier without encountering any obstruction, but once they reached the airspace above this area, airborne patrol machine guards appeared.
At first, Xue Ling thought they were a flock of birds circling in the sky, until they flew over and hovered beside the aircraft, emitting an electronic voice: “Please present identification and pass.”
Wait, I don’t think I’ve applied for an ID yet. Am I a black household now?
At the same moment Xue Ling realized this problem, Wen Jiuzhe had already pulled up two identification documents.
The bird-like aerial guards quickly finished scanning and flew away.
“You have my identification? You already handled it for me?” Xue Ling grabbed Wen Jiuzhe’s hand to look at the document he had just displayed.
“Doesn’t this kind of thing require me to handle it in person? After you saw me, wasn’t I always at the Research Institute? When did you secretly get it done?”
Wen Jiuzhe said, “I told you, everything was prepared, just waiting for you. We’re here.”
The aircraft landed in front of a twelve-story building.
Wen Jiuzhe led her downstairs and told her, “We live on the fifth floor.”
Xue Ling immediately remembered that the apartment she had rented before had also been on the fifth floor.
In such a large building, they did not see a single person as they walked in. One elevator per household straight up to the fifth floor—each floor had only one unit.
Whether it was the environment outside, or the exterior of the building and the corridor elevator, everything was spacious and brand new at a glance, clearly well maintained.
But when Wen Jiuzhe pushed open the front door, Xue Ling fell silent.
Separated by one door, outside was clean, tidy, and finely renovated; inside was a dark haunted house with no one living in it.
Xue Ling: Wen Jiuzhe, you really know how to ruin a house.
The heavy blackout curtains were tightly drawn. Several of the ceiling lights were broken, leaving only one dim and hazy yellow light still on.
It looked as though no one had lived there for a long time. A layer of dust covered the floor, and a string of footprints could be seen going back and forth from the door to a certain room.
“How long has it been since you came back?” Xue Ling asked.
“More than two months?” Wen Jiuzhe did not quite remember. Aside from squad missions, he spent most of his time running around outside and rarely returned here.
He had stayed at the First Research Institute longer than he had stayed here.
“You don’t clean at all?” Xue Ling was about to go mad over this bachelor’s home.
“Clean?” Wen Jiuzhe recalled, “Oh, I remember when I moved in they said there was some kind of smart housekeeper here that could regularly clean the rooms, but I found it too noisy and turned it off.”
He walked to the control panel by the door to look for the switch of the smart housekeeper, which, because it was too intelligent yet lacking in wisdom, had suffered the fate of being shut down.
Xue Ling stepped over the dust all over the floor and walked further inside.
The house was large, but empty. Apart from the fixed island counter and cabinets, there was only a sofa in the living room—not even a dining table.
To the right was a sitting room leading to a small balcony, piled full of clutter. At a glance, there were again several discarded cryo-chambers and some “junk” that looked broken and old.
She went to the left side of the living room and pulled open the floor-to-ceiling curtains facing the lake. Bright light and the golden blossoms of the flamegold trees surrounding below immediately rushed into view, unable to wait.
“With such a beautiful lake view and trees, why were you pulling the curtains before!” Xue Ling could not understand.
Was this guy even living here before?
Wen Jiuzhe said, “It was too bright before. It was annoying to look at.”
When he lay on the sofa to relieve his fatigue, the overly bright sunlight would illuminate the floor until it seemed to glow, like some quiet afternoon illusion, but in the silent room there was only him alone. He did not like that feeling.
After some fussing about, he turned the smart housekeeper back on. With a chime, a humanized baritone voice sounded in the room.
“Reboot complete. Welcome to Smart Housekeeper. It has been eight years, nine months, and ten days since your last use. Smart Housekeeper needs to update your information to provide better service.”
“May I ask how many residents there are at present?”
“Two.”
“May I ask what your relationship is?”
“Married couple.”
Xue Ling turned her head to look at Wen Jiuzhe, her expression stunned.
What married couple? Did I agree? Did we register our marriage? You just say it like that?!
The smart housekeeper said happily, “Congratulations. During the days without Smart Housekeeper’s company, the single you have finally gained a partner…”
Wen Jiuzhe expressionlessly pressed skip quickly.
Xue Ling: “……”
She reasonably guessed that when Wen Jiuzhe shut down this smart housekeeper back then, perhaps the AI had unintentionally poked at a sore spot, so he vented his anger on it and had not used it for years.
The smart housekeeper began to work. The room ventilated and circulated air. Floating cleaners cleaned the floors and countertops, and large panes of glass were polished bright by hidden brushes.
Xue Ling walked into the rooms. Several of them were empty. Only one room had a bed and wardrobe. The attached bathroom was probably the cleanest place in the house; it was clear it was used most often.
But the items thrown on the counter were in extreme disarray. Used empty jars were tossed to the side. Unfinished, unidentified ointments had their lids left off and had already clotted.
In an instant, Xue Ling was taken back to the time she had lived together with Wen Dog. It had taken her so long to train him.
Don’t throw things around. Hang up the towels. Tidy the shower area. Wash dirty clothes in time…
“Wen Jiuzhe! Wen Jiuzhe, come and sort out all this stuff of yours! Keep what you need, throw away what you don’t!”
Wen Jiuzhe walked over slowly.
Listening to her, with a strong sense of being the owner of the house, begin to command him to clean up.
The door on the fifth floor, long kept shut for years, stood wide open. Wen Jiuzhe moved the clutter out of the house and piled it outside, waiting for the garbage processing machine to come and carry it away.
Xue Ling went in and out several times. Inside and outside the house, one could frequently hear her calling Wen Jiuzhe.
“Wen Jiuzhe? Wen Jiuzhe, don’t you have spare sheets? Your quilt is torn and you’re still covering yourself with it like that?”
Xue Ling called twice and heard no response. She walked out and did not see Wen Jiuzhe. Instead, she saw several people wearing hats and looking stern, standing at the wide-open doorway.
“Hello, we are from the Beifeng District Household Registration Administration.”
Household Registration Administration?
Xue Ling thought: Wen Jiuzhe, you’d better not have gotten me a fake ID.
“Our system detected that a previously sealed household registration under the name Xue Ling has been activated and used. We came specially to confirm the situation.” They spoke with solemn expressions.
“That’s right, Xue Ling, a thawed person like me. You can contact the First Research Institute for verification. As for the other procedures, I remember I already went through them before.”
Wen Jiuzhe spoke from behind them.
There had been too much clutter in their home and the garbage processing machine had malfunctioned. He had no choice but to carry the garbage processor downstairs along with the trash.
When he returned, he saw these people standing at the door.
Seeing Wen Jiuzhe, several of them all stepped back two paces to let him enter first.
Although their expressions remained stern, inwardly they were all secretly complaining.
No matter from which aspect, Wen Jiuzhe was a famous figure in their system.
A heroic martyr from over three hundred years ago, the longest-recorded cryo-sleeper, the longest-existing virus carrier in history, the ace member of the anomaly squad who had broken mission records multiple times… Among these reputations, what left the deepest impression was his difficulty and stubbornness.
When handling his identification back then, he had requested that another person’s identity be processed together.
That person was his lover from the same era, under the same circumstances—Xue Ling.
But at that time, this “Xue Ling” did not exist. It was impossible for them to register a new identity for someone who might have been dead for a long time, with no chance of revival.
Their identities were indeed special and could receive certain preferential treatment, but some regulations were there. If it was not allowed, then it was not allowed.
At that time, when Wen Jiuzhe could not obtain the result he wanted, he turned and joined the anomaly squad.
It was unclear what he had done. Not long after, the Household Registration Administration received a notice from above, instructing them to process Xue Ling’s identification first.
Process it first, but it could remain temporarily inactive, treated as a way to placate this thorn in their side.
The people at the Household Registration Administration remembered this matter vividly; it had been discussed internally for a long time.
All of them had thought that the identification Wen Jiuzhe had insisted on would never see the day of activation.
Unexpectedly… today it was truly activated.
They had once again witnessed a piece of history come back to life.
