LWDC Chapter 118

Chapter 118 – See You Next Time

Chapter 118 – See You Next Time

Chapter 118 – When We Meet Next Time

After their parting in the research center’s conference room, Yu Zhou and Duan Yunhong never met face to face again.

Both also tacitly concealed the topic discussed in the conference room from Ning Fei. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to tattle on each other, but the topic involved aspects of themselves that they couldn’t quite explain. Weighing the pros and cons, they both fell silent.

Perhaps they were also betting on who would crack first.

Ning Fei had no way of knowing any of this. He could only vaguely sense the animosity between the two, but he didn’t think it was a big deal. One was a debt collector, the other a thief of fortune; it was normal for them to be hostile towards each other. Even Ning Fei himself still harbored apprehension and vigilance towards Duan Yunhong. Besides, didn’t Ning Fei also dislike Yue Fengping? Even if, in a sense, the two could be considered “teammates,” being incompatible was being incompatible; there was no need to become good brothers just because of a connection through acquaintances.

Thus, until Duan Yunhong left, the four never gathered together again.

Duan Yunhong stayed at the Tianyue base for less than two weeks in total before being urgently Urgeto return to Huichuan. Before leaving, Duan Yunhong even managed to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival with Ning Fei.

Well, it wasn’t exactly “managed.” Ning Fei judged that Duan Yunhong had deliberately stayed until that day. Because when Ning Fei returned home that day, he discovered that a box of mooncakes had actually been placed in the house.

“How come there’s already a box?” Ning Fei raised an eyebrow, walked forward, put down the one in his hand, and picked up the one on the table to examine it, “Ha, Yunnan ham filling, really precious. I also brought a box back, now it’s redundant.”

Duan Yunhong reached into the bag he brought back and took out two loose mooncakes, both lotus seed paste with egg yolk.

“Do you like this flavor?” Duan Yunhong said nonchalantly, “Then eating this is fine too.”

“Hey, I don’t particularly like any specific flavor, it’s just that the company was handing them out when I was at work.” Ning Fei shrugged, “If I liked it, would I only casually take two back? As for you, this box should be something you stuffed into your space while you were still in Huichuan, right? You ordered it so many days in advance, you value the Mid-Autumn Festival so much, you should have said earlier if you had any program arrangements?”

“I don’t value it that much, and I didn’t order it specifically. Some mooncakes are originally sold a month in advance, and some of the old brands in Huichuan start even earlier. The mooncakes arrived right before I set off, so I just put them in my space.” Duan Yunhong said, “There are no other program arrangements, just celebrate as usual, it doesn’t matter if we don’t eat them.”

Ning Fei: “Oh, then let’s not eat them.”

Duan Yunhong: “…”

“Pfft… hahaha! Come on, Duan Yunhong, do you think I don’t know you? If you really weren’t going to eat them, you’d sulk until the day after tomorrow when you leave, and you’d still be angry when you get to Huichuan!” Ning Fei laughed, “I can tell that your mooncakes definitely aren’t cheap, let’s open a bottle of good wine tonight, and consider it a send-off for you. After dinner, we’ll enjoy the moon and eat mooncakes later, is that good enough?”

He knew that everything Duan Yunhong said was nonsense. If he really didn’t care, this man would never have stuffed a box of mooncakes in his space for so long, waiting to take them out specifically tonight. Since this person was leaving soon anyway, Ning Fei didn’t really want to argue with him, just teasing him was enough.

Duan Yunhong asked, “Aren’t you going to spend today with your teacher?”

“It feels like I haven’t heard you mention him in a long time. Of course he’s spending today with Yue Fengping, what’s there to spend with me? He spends every holiday with Yue Fengping.” Ning Fei chuckled, “It’s fortunate that Yue Fengping’s parents have already been harmed by zombies, otherwise if Yue Fengping had to go home to spend the holiday with his parents, Yu Zhou would be pissed off.”

These words sounded a bit heartless, but Duan Yunhong didn’t react much. To be honest, given Yu Zhou’s personality, even if he had engineered the demise of Yue Fengping’s parents, Duan Yunhong wouldn’t find it surprising in the slightest.

In short, on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, everything proceeded according to Ning Fei’s arrangements. The two first worked together to prepare some good dishes (pre-made), paired with one bottle of good wine that Ning Fei brought and another that Duan Yunhong provided, and had a delicious meal. Later, when the full moon hung high in the night sky, the two sat side by side in front of the window, eating the expensive mooncakes and enjoying the moon.

“It’s actually quite delicious.” Ning Fei had eaten quite a few delicacies after all, and could tell the quality with one taste, “This thing definitely wasn’t cheap even before the zombie tide, and it can still maintain its quality in this day and age, it must have cost you a lot, right?”

Duan Yunhong didn’t answer directly, only said nonchalantly, “I have ordering privileges.”

“Oh, the special supply set, as expected of Huichuan…” Ning Fei followed this line and changed the topic, “Speaking of which, Huichuan has been urging you to go back so urgently, which means they still value you and trust that you haven’t betrayed them, right? Since they’re in such a hurry, why didn’t they send a escort team to protect you? Aren’t they afraid you’ll be stranded on the road alone?”

Duan Yunhong replied, “I didn’t apply for one, so no one would bother with this matter.”

Ning Fei asked, “Why didn’t you apply?”

“Why would I apply?” Duan Yunhong asked in return, “Wasn’t the journey here smooth, without encountering anything? Even if something happens, my gun isn’t necessarily slower than the ability users and military police.”

“I don’t doubt your marksmanship, nor do I doubt your firepower.” Ning Fei paused and asked, “You wouldn’t happen to be able to flatten a mountain with one shot, would you?”

“It’s not that exaggerated, even with my position, I haven’t reached the level where I can apply for a single-person RPG.” Duan Yunhong replied, “But I do have pistols, sniper rifles, assault rifles, shotguns…”

“Wait, can you, as a research institute director, apply for sniper rifles and shotguns?”

“Oh, I bought those on the black market.”

“I knew it, so the reason you don’t have an RPG is because the black market doesn’t have one, right?” Ning Fei chuckled, “But you’re not necessarily safe when you’re resting on a long solo journey. Your space… it wouldn’t happen to be able to hide people, would it?”

“It can’t.” Duan Yunhong finished the mooncake in his hand and, uncharacteristically, spoke the truth, “Setting up a space ability requires a lot of fortune to begin with, and putting living things in the space requires several times more fortune. If you were to put people in it, it would skyrocket even more, it’s not worth it.”

“Haha, it’s the first time I’ve heard you talk about whether something is worth it. Although I don’t know what your exchange rate is, it sounds like it would indeed cost a lot.” Ning Fei said with amusement, “Then what about adding another offensive or life-saving ability? Is that also very expensive?”

Duan Yunhong said, “Not more expensive than putting people in the space, but it’s not necessary.”

“It seems you’re really confident in your ability to protect yourself. But then again, the position you chose shouldn’t be one that’s frequently in danger. Having to run away alone now is entirely your own fault.” Ning Fei sighed, “Speaking of which, even if you don’t need it, you can apply for an escort team. Your position definitely qualifies for that, you might as well use it, why are you saving money and effort for others?”

“I don’t want to act with a group of unfamiliar, or even unknown, people.” Duan Yunhong glanced at the person next to him and said slowly, “If something really happens, I’d have to worry about them being there, and therefore wouldn’t be able to directly take out useful things. It would be a hindrance.”

“Ha, that’s true. If they were to forcibly arrange your actions, you’d definitely rather ditch them and leave on your own.” Ning Fei also finished his mooncake and clapped his hands, “However, with you leaving like this, when we’ll see each other again next time is anyone’s guess.”

“…Mm.” Duan Yunhong was actually thinking about this issue as well. When he entered the world, he set his position in Huichuan with a plan in mind. When the plan progressed to a certain stage, he would completely transfer to Tianyue, rather than stay in Huichuan. After all, according to the mission, the Tianyue base where Chen Yikun was located was the “main battlefield.” Duan Yunhong staying in Huichuan was meaningless; transferring to the Tianyue base after resolving the matter of his adopted daughter was the proper course of action.

But the change in the bet completely changed his plan, causing him to be stuck in Huichuan. No matter how skillful he was, it would be quite difficult to remotely control Huichuan from a place far away from the Huichuan base, so it would be best to return to the Huichuan base.

“Anyway, at the latest, it’ll be when the outcome is decided, right?”

Ning Fei didn’t care that Duan Yunhong didn’t react much or even answer much. He poured himself another glass of red wine and took a sip. However, the lingering taste of mooncake in his mouth made the taste of the good wine strange, just like Ning Fei’s mood at this time.

As if to suppress his mood, he put the glass back on the table and smiled, “No matter what, I’ll go to personally watch you destroy my locator mark, so at least we’ll meet once.”

Hearing this, Duan Yunhong was reminded of what Yu Zhou had once said.

“What if I don’t destroy your locator mark?”

“…Huh?” Ning Fei looked up sharply at Duan Yunhong, and the two stared at each other for a few seconds. Then Ning Fei realized the casualness in his tone and breathed a sigh of relief, “Tsk, can you not make jokes like that? You scared me to death.”

Duan Yunhong maintained a half-joking tone, “What else can I do if I don’t return it to you? Have a fight with me?”

“Probably.” Ning Fei smiled with lowered eyes, “After all, entrusting your locator mark to a thief of fortune is like entrusting your back to a person holding a knife, it always makes people uneasy.”

“…Indeed.” Duan Yunhong poured himself some wine as well, picked up his glass, and tapped it against Ning Fei’s glass on the table, “Then let’s bid farewell here, and wish us… both can get what we want.”

“What nice platitudes, we’re opponents in a bet, how is it possible for us both to get what we want?” Ning Fei chuckled softly, but still picked up his glass from the table, “Anyway, I won’t back down, whether it’s the bet or my locator mark.”

Duan Yunhong didn’t answer, only silently downed the wine in his glass.

He thought: I won’t back down either.

*

A day after the Mid-Autumn Festival, Duan Yunhong really left.

Ning Fei was still so busy that day that he was running around all day, and Yu Zhou, after learning about it, specially came to sigh to him: “I thought you were going to see your lover off, but it turns out you really didn’t send him off at all.”

Ning Fei raised an eyebrow: “He has hands and feet, what’s there to send him off for?”

Yu Zhou said with amusement: “Doesn’t he not have any attack abilities? Aren’t you really afraid that he’ll disappear on the road?”

“Wouldn’t it be good if he disappeared? No one would come to interfere with your grand plan.” Ning Fei replied casually, “And what am I afraid of, afraid that I’ll have no one to sleep with if he’s gone? I can’t sleep even if he’s gone to Huichuan.”

“That’s true. Tsk, someone you can’t sleep with is equal to a discarded toy.” Yu Zhou said, “Then you really don’t like Zheng Liwen? Should I find you some others to relieve your cravings?”

Ning Fei finally couldn’t help but turn to look at him: “Don’t you have any serious business to do all day?”

“Hey, isn’t this just worrying that you’re not happy enough at night?” Yu Zhou smiled, “Alright, let’s talk about serious business, then let’s talk about the comprehensive office in charge of variant research, it should be able to issue a document to establish it, right?”

Only then was Ning Fei willing to continue chatting with him: “Almost, now it’s just a matter of confirming it again with these few people…”

*

In the following days, Ning Fei was busy, but not so busy that he had no time to look at his phone at all. Every time he opened his phone, he quickly browsed through the huge pile of unread messages, but it always lacked someone’s.

——Although we didn’t agree that he would say something when he arrived in Huichuan, according to his temperament, he shouldn’t have been silent all this time…

Ning Fei thought this, but in reality, he himself hadn’t sent any new messages to Duan Yunhong. The two of them started out a bit like they were competing, seeing who would be the first to be unable to resist sending a message. After three days passed, Ning Fei saw that the man’s profile picture hadn’t lit up with a little red dot, so he simply tried not to even look at his profile picture as much as possible, letting the profile picture sink to the bottom.

Time passed like this until the sixth day, and in theory, Duan Yunhong should have arrived at the Huichuan base long ago.

Late at night, Ning Fei, who was already sound asleep, was awakened by the sudden ringing of his phone. He squinted, picked up the phone, saw the caller ID, answered it, and put it to his ear: “Duan Yunhong, you better have something life-threatening…”

“It really is life-threatening.” Duan Yunhong’s voice on the other end of the phone was very low, almost speaking in a breathy voice.

“Team Leader Ning, do you have time to come save me?”