“This is your room. Go on in.” Jin Anqi tilted her chin slightly, gesturing toward the room in front of them. Without giving Lian Qiguang a chance to speak, she turned and walked away. Lian Qiguang, who had been distracted the whole way, gradually came to his senses. He lifted his head and stared expressionlessly at the tightly closed door in front of him, remaining silent. Lian Qiguang slowly raised his foot and gave the door a light tap. “It won’t open,” he said, tilting his head slightly as a look of deep thought flashed across his otherwise expressionless face.
Five minutes later, Lian Qiguang took a couple of steps back, shoved his hands into his pockets, and stared at the tightly closed door before him. With a blank expression, he raised his foot to kick it. Just then, the door suddenly swung open from the inside. Lian Qiguang didn’t have time to stop himself and kicked right into the face of an unidentified object that had suddenly appeared. “ “Aaah!” A piercing scream rang out as a fiery-red, human-shaped object flew through the air in a graceful arc. The chubby boy standing nearby, clutching half a meat bun in his hand and frozen in the exact moment he was about to pop it into his mouth, stood rooted to the spot, staring at Lian Qiguang in utter disbelief.
“……………….” Lian Qiguang
“. ………………” Mi Xiaobao
Scene Break
In the four-bedroom apartment, Lian Qiguang sat lazily on the sofa, his hands in his pockets, staring blankly at his toes with a blank expression. Across from him, a teenager dressed in a flamboyant, fiery-red outfit was moaning in pain while covering his face, glaring angrily at Lian Qiguang, while Mi Xiaobao frantically bustled about, serving tea and water to both of them.
“Hey! You little brat!” The teenager leaped up from the sofa, pointing an angry finger at Lian Qiguang, his eyes blazing with fury. “Where did you come from!?” “Feng Qingyang, don’t get mad.” Seeing the boy lashing out, Mi Xiaobao hurried over to grab his arm, frantically stepping in as a peacemaker. “He—he’s Ku Mu. He’s my friend.” “Your friend!” Feng Qingyang roared. “Why did your friend kick me?” “Accidental,” Lian Qiguang, who had been distracted the whole time, added expressionlessly. “Accidental!! You just call it ‘accidental’ and that’s that!? You actually kicked someone in the face? Do you want me to kick you back?” “You can’t beat me.” Lian Qiguang stared impassively at the defiant, roaring teenager in front of him, calmly stating the facts. “You……………” “Feng Qingyang, calm down.” Seeing that Feng Qingyang was so enraged he was about to faint, Mi Xiaobao hurried to soothe him. “He’s really good. You… you really can’t beat him.” Although Mi Xiaobao had never seen Lian Qiguang fight, his intuition—which had always been beyond ordinary—told him that the teenager standing before him was definitely not someone to mess with. “Skilled? Could this kid be in the Combat or Command track?” Feng Qingyang glared at Lian Qiguang with fierce intensity. Hearing this, Mi Xiaobao paused in surprise. Right! Which track was he in? And what was he doing here? With that thought, Mi Xiaobao shot his round eyes toward Lian Qiguang. “Um, Ku Mu, what are you doing here?” “Staying here,” Lian Qiguang replied blankly, his eyes still vacant. “Staying…?” Mi Xiaobao froze, and Feng Qingyang—who had been吵吵闹闹 all along—also fell silent.
Lian Qiguang paid no further attention to the two of them. He calmly stood up and swept his expressionless gaze around the four rooms in the house. “Which room is empty?” “Th-that one,” Mi Xiaobao pointed blankly at the room furthest inside, then stared blankly as Lian Qiguang nonchalantly walked into the room. As the door closed, a furious roar echoed through the entire building. “What gives him the right to be so arrogant! Isn’t he just a Rescue major too? I’m going to take him on one-on-one!!!”
“Feng Qingyang! Calm down!!”
Scene Break
Back in his room, Lian Qiguang flopped limply onto the bed, staring expressionlessly at the smart light above his head as it cycled through various scenes.
Suddenly, Lian Qiguang seemed to think of something and reached up to activate the smart device on his wrist. In an instant, hundreds of messages flooded in like a tidal wave. Lian Qiguang stared blankly at the constantly flashing notifications on the device, momentarily unable to process what was happening.
“Beep, beep, beep…” The smart device sounded again, and Lian Qiguang absentmindedly tapped to answer the call. As the call connected, Xiahou Shaoxuan’s face—so cold it could be used for cold-weather training—appeared on the virtual screen. “ “Hello.” After waiting a long time without hearing Xiahou Shaoxuan speak, Lian Qiguang absentmindedly stretched out a paw and mechanically greeted him.
“. ………………….” Xiahou Shao Xuan
“If you don’t have anything to say, I’m hanging up. I’m sleepy.” Seeing that Xiahou Shao Xuan was still staring at him with a stony expression and saying nothing, Lian Qiguang calmly prepared to say goodnight.
“Lian Qiguang!” An icy, terrifying roar brought Lian Qiguang’s movements to an abrupt halt. He tilted his head, looking at Xiahou Shao Xuan with confusion, seemingly unable to understand why Xiahou Shao Xuan had suddenly lost his temper. “ “You…………” Seeing Lian Qiguang’s bewildered expression, Xiahou Shaoxuan felt all the pent-up anger from her anxious wait over the past few hours surge up in her chest.
She closed her eyes and forced herself to suppress that rage. When she opened them again, though the chill on her face hadn’t faded, she no longer berated him angrily. “Have you eaten yet?” “ “Jin Anqi fed me in the car,” Lian Qiguang replied earnestly, but the content of his answer made Xiahou Shaoxuan frown once more. “Who is Jin Anqi?” “She said she’s my teacher.” Looking into Lian Qiguang’s earnest eyes, Xiahou Shaoxuan felt nothing but helplessness. The moment Lian Qiguang hung up on him, he had been seething with rage, but after several failed attempts to reconnect—only to discover that Lian Qiguang’s lightbrain had been turned off—that rage had turned into worry and anxiety. He waited in front of his lightbrain for several hours, constantly trying to reach Lian Qiguang, but to no avail. If it hadn’t been for that private number confirming that Lian Qiguang was safe and sound, he would have ordered a return.
“Honey, please don’t do this again,” Xiahou Shao Xuan said in a low voice, rubbing the corners of his eyes. Lian Qiguang tilted her head slightly, slowly climbed out of bed, and looked at Xiahou Shao Xuan with a blank expression: “What…’s wrong?” Seeming to detect the slight pause in Lian Qiguang’s voice, Xiahou Shao Xuan looked up again, his face regaining its usual cold, stern expression. “Nothing.”
“Are you worried about me?” Lian Qiguang thought hard for a moment; this thought suddenly popped into his usually empty little head.
“. ………………….” Xiahou Shao Xuan
“Honey, I’m very worried about you.” Xiahou Shao Xuan fixed his steady gaze on Lian Qiguang’s slightly bewildered eyes, trying his hardest to make sure Lian Qiguang understood what he meant. “ “Don’t cut off contact like this again. If anyone bullies you, or if you get hurt and don’t know what to do, just come find me, okay?” Although he really wanted to say that no one would ever bully him, seeing Xiahou Shao Xuan’s solemn expression and the barely perceptible trace of fatigue in his eyes, Lian Qiguang obediently nodded. “Okay.”
“Honey, I suddenly miss you a little.” Xiahou Shao Xuan relaxed and leaned back in his chair, gazing at Lian Qiguang on the virtual screen with a faint warmth in his eyes.
“When I’m on break, I’ll come visit you,” he promised solemnly.
“Okay, I’ll wait for you.”
“… ………………” Lian Qiguang
“………………” Xiahou Shaoxuan
For a moment, neither of them spoke, and silence once again enveloped the entire room.
A long time later, Lian Qiguang suddenly yawned, and a few glistening tears welled up at the corners of his eyes. He gazed hazily at Xiahou Shaoxuan on the virtual screen, rubbing his eyes blankly; his usually expressionless face now looked somewhat dazed and vacant. A faint smile involuntarily tugged at the corners of his mouth, and Xiahou Shaoxuan softened his tone before speaking again: “Honey, go to sleep. You have class tomorrow.” “ “You go to sleep, too.” Lian Qiguang kicked off his shoes, flopped onto the soft bed, and gazed at Xiahou Shao Xuan through sleepy eyes. “ “I’ll be watching over you,” Xiahou Shao Xuan said, warmth in his eyes. “Don’t forget to pull the covers up.” “Oh,” she mumbled in response, casually pulling the blanket beside her over herself.
“Honey, you have to say good night.”
“Good night.”
“Say Shao Xuan.”
“Shao Xuan.”
“Say them together.”
“Good night, Shao Xuan.”
“. ……Say you love me, my dear.”
“Good night, Shao Xuan, I love you.” A certain Guang had already learned to be well-behaved.
A soft chuckle came through the virtual screen.
“Good night, my dear. I love you too.”
My dear, please keep talking to me like this for the rest of my life.