LWDC Chapter 117

“Or rather, he has a crush on you.”

Yu Zhou didn’t show any surprise or shock upon hearing Duan Yunhong’s words.

He simply said coldly, “What he thinks of me, and what I think of him, is none of your business. Who do you think you are, acting as a judge here?”

“You’re not surprised at all, so you knew, didn’t you?” Duan Yunhong looked at Yu Zhou, his tone calm. “Perhaps, he also knows that you know. Then that’s an open crush, not a secret one.”

“Mind your own damn business, are you a reporter for a gossip rag?” Yu Zhou’s voice was laced with sarcasm. “Duan Yunhong, don’t you think I’m going to prove or disprove anything here? Don’t overthink it, I won’t waste my energy on you. If you have the guts, go ask Ning Fei directly, don’t come at me with your questions. If you really have a crush on Ning Fei, that’s your problem, but don’t think that gives you the right to criticize his relationships!”

Duan Yunhong said, “Then you can interfere with his relationship with others?”

“That’s right, I can.” Yu Zhou sneered, dripping with sarcasm. “Wouldn’t you know it, wouldn’t you just know it, you don’t think you can compare to me, do you? Just because you’ve slept with Ning Fei a few times? How novel, the nighttime toy has found its voice, huh?”

“The relationship between you two is indeed none of my business. But firstly, my judgment of your relationship and how you interact serves as a basis for my decisions; secondly, the bet between Ning Fei and me is also none of your business, and how I handle the tracking marker in my hand is even less for you to control.” Duan Yunhong’s fingers tapped silently on the table a few times, and he replied coldly, “Before I personally handle it, if you want to forcibly interfere, I wouldn’t mind testing the strength of the so-called ‘teacher.'”

“Wow, sounds scary, I’m so afraid you’ll beat me to death.” Yu Zhou deliberately patted his chest in a theatrical manner. “Then should I call Ning Fei over to see if he helps me or helps you?”

“Of course you can rely on him still having feelings for you, so he’ll listen to your every command, and do exactly what you ask.” Duan Yunhong looked at him coldly, a hint of annoyance for some reason. “If you want someone, he’ll go to Huichuan alone, climbing up the ladder with all his might, supporting a frustrated professor’s entire family for several months, all to trick the person you want to come over. Now that it’s not possible, you want him to return to Tianyue, and he comes back without a word. As for the things he couldn’t bring from Huichuan, he doesn’t want them; even though Huichuan stopped him and told him that leaving would be bad for him, he ran away without a care. Huichuan has already uploaded his violation record to the system. As a Level Three Esper, it will be very difficult for him to go to other bases in the future, and he can only work for you at Tianyue Base. He would never do such a disadvantageous thing in other missions.”

After saying such a long string of words, the dryness in his mouth suddenly became very obvious. Duan Yunhong drank the water that Chen Yikun had poured into the paper cup to entertain him in a few gulps, and then continued, “I’ve seen him interact with so many people, debt collectors, transmigrators, the natives of the worlds… among them, the ones he dislikes the most are those who attempt to control him. You seem to be equal, tacit and seamless, but in reality, you are the one in charge. And he knows you’re like this, but still does whatever you say, even blocking any discussion of you and Yue Fengping. If you were just ordinary colleagues, teacher and student, why be so sensitive?”

“Speaking of attempting to control and domineeringly leading, isn’t there one right in front of us? It seems the demeanor that Ning Fei dislikes the most is someone’s self-introduction.” Yu Zhou sneered. “Duan Yunhong, you wouldn’t be feeling unfair and jealous of me, would you? Or are you just using underhanded tricks, trying to use this kind of topic to create discord? That’s a bit disgusting.”

As he spoke, he pulled out his chair and stood up. “Truth isn’t determined by who talks the most, nor am I obliged to accept your speculations just because you can deliver a long speech. If you don’t want to answer my question, and instead use your own absurd logic to deceive me, then we really have nothing to talk about. Uncongenial words are superfluous.” Pushing the chair back into the table, Yu Zhou put on a business smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “It’s noon, so I won’t delay Director Duan’s lunch time any longer. I won’t see you out.”

After speaking, he was too lazy to perform even the basic social courtesy of seeing Duan Yunhong out of the meeting room. He turned around, opened the meeting room door, and walked straight out.

Leaving Duan Yunhong alone sitting at the conference table.

The man stared at the open door, motionless, silent. A few seconds later, someone happened to pass by, and curiously glanced in through the door. The moment his eyes met Duan Yunhong’s, the young researcher instinctively fled in a panic, and Duan Yunhong also came back to his senses.

“Tsk.” He still felt thirsty, and subconsciously picked up the paper cup. Only the light weight reminded him that he had already emptied it. A sense of unease rose in his heart, and Duan Yunhong’s gaze fell on the empty bottle of oral liquid.

Because material conditions were tight, the sample’s bottle packaging was very simple, only a simple red paper with the expiration date printed on it, and a straightforward name. Duan Yunhong hadn’t looked closely just now, only glanced at it, and was pressured by Yu Zhou to drink it. Now that he picked it up and looked at it carefully again, he finally saw the true name of this thing.

–Compound Gecko Oral Liquid.

Even with Duan Yunhong’s accumulation of experience from multiple worlds and his vast knowledge, he couldn’t immediately be 100% certain of the effects of this thing. He recalled Yu Zhou’s words when he introduced it, got up, went to the sample table, picked up the same red packaging box, and began to read the description on it.

The parts that Yu Zhou had recited were exactly the same — “Used for deficiency of both qi and blood, physical weakness, listlessness, insomnia and forgetfulness.” But whether he did it intentionally or unintentionally, he missed another shorter introduction at the beginning.

“Tonifies the liver and kidneys, benefits essence and blood, strengthens muscles and bones…” Duan Yunhong read the first sentence in a low voice, and couldn’t help but “tsk” again. Instantly, he understood exactly how this so-called “invigorating the spirit” oral liquid was “invigorating.”

Tonifying the kidneys, those who understand, understand.

–No wonder…

The man tugged at his collar, as if doing so would allow air to rush in and cool him down for a moment. But just like that, he put down his hand, straightened his face, and walked out of the meeting room with a calm expression.

He also took the broken-necked bottle away with him into his spatial storage.

*

Because he had to lead the preparations for setting up an office to oversee the study of mutated beings, Ning Fei ran around several departments and attended meetings all day. In the evening, he declined the suggestion of the last group of people he had met with to go out for dinner and returned to his home.

As soon as he entered the door, Ning Fei keenly smelled a scent of smoke. He was quite surprised, followed the scent to the window in the living room, and saw Duan Yunhong leaning against the window smoking.

The man was wearing a bathrobe, but not only was the belt not tied, the front of the robe was almost completely open. Water droplets slid from his wet hair down the side of his face, showing that he had just finished taking a shower. There was an ashtray on the windowsill, with two cigarette butts already extinguished in it, and next to it was a whole pack of cigarettes. The floor fan in the living room was also turned to the highest setting, blowing towards him from the side, the sound of the wind so loud that Ning Fei subconsciously raised his voice when speaking.

“What’s going on, has the sun risen in the west?”

Ning Fei walked closer in confusion, looking him up and down. “Smoking like crazy, not drying your hair after a shower. Also, if you’re so hot, why not turn on the air conditioner? What are you doing standing here with this big fan on?”

Duan Yunhong exhaled a mouthful of smoke: “If I close the window, the smell of smoke won’t dissipate.”

“I’m fine with it anyway, you’re the one smoking and complaining about yourself, how humorous.” Ning Fei laughed. “What exactly did you experience today?”

Duan Yunhong asked, “Have you eaten?”

“Yes.” Ning Fei looked confused. “You haven’t eaten yet? I just casually ate something in the cafeteria, I don’t want to go out again.”

Duan Yunhong looked at his eyebrows and eyes, and asked again, “Are you very tired?”

“It’s okay, mentally tired. I was in meetings all day, it’s been a while since I’ve had to run my brain so much, so I didn’t bother going to the dinner party in the evening.” Ning Fei paused, and finally couldn’t help but ask, “What are you smoking? I haven’t smelled it before, it smells pretty good.”

“Huichuan’s top-grade stuff, before the zombie tide it was a rare item, long out of production.” Duan Yunhong handed him the remaining whole pack of cigarettes, with only one pack taken out, on the windowsill. “Here.”

“You’re giving them all to me?” Ning Fei glanced at the ashtray. “Don’t you like it?”

“So-so, just relieving dryness.” Duan Yunhong raised the half-smoked cigarette in his mouth again, but instead of putting it in his own mouth, he shoved it into Ning Fei’s mouth. Ning Fei was startled, and leaned back to dodge while shouting, “What are you doing?!”

Duan Yunhong pinched his chin and forced the cigarette into his mouth: “I gave you the cigarettes, I need you to cooperate with me on something.”

Ning Fei, with the cigarette in his mouth: “…Huh?!”

Duan Yunhong grabbed his waist, turned him around, and pinned him against the windowsill: “Your good teacher gave me something to drink.”

Ning Fei, with the cigarette in his mouth: “……?!”

Duan Yunhong pulled out the palm-sized bottle of oral liquid and waved it in front of Ning Fei: “Gecko oral liquid, tonifies the liver and kidneys, benefits essence and blood…”

“Pfft!” Ning Fei finally freed one hand to take out the cigarette. As soon as he heard the effects, he knew what it was and laughed, “Why did he give you that to drink?! Did you provoke him?”

“Maybe.” Duan Yunhong threw the bottle away, and got closer to Ning Fei. “But no matter what he thinks, now it’s up to you to handle the aftermath.”

“What is it, paying off the teacher’s debt with your life?” Ning Fei immediately sensed the other party’s state, put the cigarette in the ashtray, raised his hands and hugged Duan Yunhong’s neck, amused. “Oh my god, Duan Yunhong, have you been showering and smoking all this time just to suppress this? Can’t you take care of it yourself?”

Duan Yunhong stared at him, close to his face, his expression seemingly indifferent, but actually revealing a hint of heat: “Not enough.”

Ning Fei raised an eyebrow: “Oh, treating me as a toy to vent your frustration, are you?”

“I don’t have the habit of collecting toys.” Duan Yunhong replied somewhat strangely, and before Ning Fei could think about it, the man added, “Actually, I have a white coat in my spatial storage.”

Ning Fei’s eyes lit up: “Change now? Just like this?”

Duan Yunhong: “…Okay.”

Ning Fei: “Deal!”

——————–

Yu Zhou and Director Duan: Arguing over emotional biases.

Ning Fei: Pure color (lust) fan.