Chapter 77#

New Year’s Dinner#

The New Year’s dinner was a base tradition, usually held a day or two before the New Year itself.

The cafeteria aunties would start preparing early, carefully planning the menu and ingredients. Personnel from various units would also come to help, working together to create the most sumptuous meal of the year. All the officers and soldiers in the entire base would gather together, enjoy a lively meal, play some games, and sometimes put on performances.

When the group arrived at the cafeteria, an auntie was standing at the door, hands on her hips, scolding Ou Jingshan.

The fierce, bald-headed man, usually so intimidating in front of others, was as docile as a quail before her, terrified of angering her and ending up with a month of his least favorite dishes. Only when the auntie had finished venting did she let them in.

The vast cafeteria had been lavishly decorated. The metal walls were plastered with ornaments and colorful balloons. Fluorescent lights in the shapes of gold ingots and red envelopes shimmered on the ceiling. Even the cold pipelines were wrapped in ribbons, giving everything a very festive feel.

Tables had been rearranged to divide the hall into zones. The central seats were for the base’s senior commanders and department heads, with tables spread out left and right. The open space in the middle was reserved for performances and games. Most of the officers and soldiers were already seated, chatting in small groups. They quieted down when Yin Beichen entered, but soon the noise picked up again, lacking the usual formality.

As they walked into the hall, Ning Feng deliberately slowed his pace.

Yin Beichen’s seat was at the very center. In the past, Ning Feng would have sat next to him, but he certainly couldn’t do that now. He looked around, spotted Wen QianYong frantically waving at him, and smiled as he walked over.

Seeing this, Yin Beichen’s brows furrowed slightly. He was about to speak when Ou Jingshan cut him off.

“Commander, Deputy Ning isn’t here this year, so I’m challenging you to a drinking contest! You can’t refuse!” He cleverly blocked Ning Feng from view, and by the time Yin Beichen looked again, the other man was already seated.

Yin Beichen… shot him a glance, then looked to the side, where Qu Yan was watching him with an ambiguous smile. He said nothing more and took his own seat.

At the chief steward’s signal, the New Year’s festivities officially began.

First came the customary speech from the commander, summarizing the past and looking forward to the future. Yin Beichen’s speech was very brief. He was never a man of many words, and besides, everyone had been busy all day and was eager to eat. He quickly signaled for the next part to begin.

“Serve the dishes!”

At the auntie’s command, service robots filed in from the back kitchen, trays laden with delicious food. Sizzling, red-oiled roasted meats; steaming hot vegetables; tangy, savory stews… In no time, the tables were laden with aromatic dishes that made everyone’s mouths water.

As a robot, Ning Feng couldn’t eat, only watch. Fortunately, Sha Mu had brought him several different flavors of lubricant, so he didn’t have to sit there stupidly doing nothing.

But compared to everyone else’s eager looks, his mind was filled with the words the bug had spoken earlier.

The Sovereign descends… What did it mean?

He remembered the human-bug hybrid he’d encountered on the rooftop before, which had said something similar:

[Find him. Find him.]

The reason these bugs were after him was because of the Sovereign?

Just as Ning Feng was lost in thought, the auntie pushed a large cake through the door. A single blue candle was stuck into the cake. Compared to ordinary cakes, this one was quite elegant and refined.

Seeing this, Qiu Zhen slapped his thigh, clutching his pink hair in frustration. “Tch! Birthday gift! I totally forgot!”

“Birthday? Is today the General’s birthday?” Wen QianYong asked, bewildered.

“Not today. It’s already passed.” Ning Feng toyed with the bottle of lubricant.

On Yin Beichen’s birthday, they had been on the cruise ship mission.

At the time, Ning Feng had thought it was a pity no one was celebrating with him, so he’d prepared a small cake to add a little ritual. But then he got kidnapped by Dai Yin, and with the explosion and rescue, the birthday had fallen by the wayside. After they got back, they were busy with the inventory and interrogations, and they simply forgot about it.

Watching the crowd sing an off-key happy birthday song, Ning Feng felt his earlier concern was a bit unnecessary.

Given Yin Beichen’s position, how could no one celebrate for him?

Whether Ning Feng’s own “happy birthday” was said or not didn’t matter anymore.

The auntie turned off the main lights and lit the candle. Amidst the crowd’s urging, Yin Beichen stood before the cake to make a wish.

A familiar scene, almost as if it had happened yesterday, but before he was at his side, now he was watching from afar. Ning Feng rested his chin on his hand, letting a few scattered memories brush gently in his heart.

Startled back to the present by a burst of laughter, he let out a silent sigh. The moment he looked up, his gaze met a pair of indifferent eyes.

Yin Beichen was looking at him, his gaze deep.

The small candle flame flickered and danced, creating a stark contrast in the dim space. The warm orange light fell on his handsome face, seeming to melt into those icy blue eyes, lending them an inexplicable tenderness.

Ning Feng was stunned for a moment, then immediately averted his gaze and turned his head.

Ou Jingshan, behind them, was the first to notice something wrong. He quickly stepped forward with a chuckle. “Commander, you should blow out the candle now. Everyone’s waiting to eat!”

Yin Beichen finally withdrew his gaze and blew out the candle.

Now that the formalities were over, everyone stopped being polite and dug in heartily.

For a while, the atmosphere in the hall was boisterous.

Suddenly, Wen QianYong seemed to sense something. He leaned in mysteriously and whispered, “Radish, I keep noticing General Yin looking over here.”

“You’re seeing things.” Ning Feng bit down on his filter.

“Honestly, did you get caught slacking off today?”

“…If you don’t eat now, all the roast meat will be gone.”

“Ah! My roast meat!”

…

Halfway through the meal came the usual game time.

The soldiers below were having a blast, laughing heartily even at the simplest game of musical chairs.

Ning Feng wasn’t very interested in the games, but Qiu Zhen dragged him into participating once. They were supposed to play the three-legged race, but Qiu Zhen inexplicably shuddered and they switched to musical chairs instead.

Caught up in the crowd’s enthusiasm, Ning Feng’s mood improved a lot.

Actually, overthinking was useless. The body wasn’t with him for now, and even if the Sovereign was resurrected, it wasn’t like a corpse could jump up and walk away, right? If something really went wrong, then… then he’d just have to be a robot from now on. It even meant a long life!

Having reasoned this out, Ning Feng gradually relaxed and began to enjoy the rare gathering.

Watching the handsome face below slowly break into a smile, Yin Beichen’s deep eyes held a faint glimmer of light. He took a slow sip of tea and, in a voice only the two of them could hear, began to speak unhurriedly.

“The Sovereign has been resurrected.”

“The Sovereign?” Qu Yan’s brows knitted tightly. He shot Yin Beichen a glance. “How?”

“Its body.”

“Impossible.”

All actions of a human body require brainwaves to transmit information between neurons. Ning Feng’s memory data had already been uploaded to a chip. The body lying on the bed now was just a shell without the capacity for action. How could it be resurrected?

“Whether it’s possible or not, the bug race has its sights set on him.” Yin Beichen’s tone was flat. “Your subordinates aren’t entirely clean. You’d better keep a closer eye on them.”

“Commander, are you teaching me how to do my job?” Qu Yan gave a disdainful laugh. “I’m not as popular as you. I don’t have that many bees buzzing around me.”

“Explain the last human-bug hybrid incident, and the Qiao Xi incident.”

“…”

Although those two incidents were accidents, they did originate from the Research Department. Later, even though Qu Yan had stopped Qiao Xi’s work on the bug venom project, he still couldn’t dispel his suspicions.

Lately, especially, he found Qiao Xi’s behavior increasingly strange. He would often, seemingly casually, ask about Ning Feng, expressing a desire to visit him.

Was it really just because of the debt of gratitude?

Or was there another motive?

But then again, letting that annoying guy find any leverage… was truly irritating.

Just then, someone suggested that the commanders on stage join a game. The commanders, who only wanted to watch the fun, weren’t very keen on participating.

Qu Yan’s eyes darted around, and he was the first to second the motion.

“Since everyone’s so happy, how could we commanders not participate?” He looked at the grim-faced Yin Beichen with a smile. “Don’t you agree, Commander?”

Yin Beichen swept a cold glance over him but said nothing and offered no objection.

Since the highest-ranking commander didn’t object, the others found it hard to refuse and reluctantly went along. In the end, amidst the crowd’s urging, the commanders-only game of “I Never” began.

The rules were simple. Everyone held out both hands and took turns saying something only they had done, which no one else had. If someone else hadn’t done it, they had to fold down one finger. When all ten fingers were folded, they had to face the “punishment” — drinking a glass of adulterated alcohol.

All participants were department heads, usually the ones giving everyone orders. Now was the chance for revenge, so people eagerly added all sorts of potent ingredients to the glasses: soy sauce, sugar, mustard, vinegar… someone even added two cubes of fermented tofu.

“Eww, that’s disgusting.” Wen QianYong grimaced.

“What’s there to be afraid of? It’s not you drinking it.” Crazy Rat, always eager to stir up trouble, urged them on and added two spoonfuls of sweet sauce.

Looking at the cloudy drink with suspicious yellow sediment floating in it, Ning Feng sat below, gloating, even a little hoping to see Yin Beichen make a fool of himself.

The commanders wore grim expressions. Determined not to drink that horrible concoction, they racked their brains to reveal embarrassing secrets.

“I’ve brushed my teeth with shampoo!”

“I’ve peeled the seeds off strawberries before eating them!”

“I’ve worn my wife’s black stockings!”

…

The audience below was rolling with laughter. The fingers held up by the commanders on stage were getting fewer and fewer.

Seeing he had only three fingers left, Big Beard was sweating profusely.

That drink didn’t look fit for human consumption. If it went down, he’d probably be laid up in the medical bay for a few days. He didn’t want to spend New Year’s in a hospital bed. In desperation, he roared out.

“I… I have hemorrhoids!”

The crowd burst into laughter.

The other commanders’ faces alternated between red and white. Their eyes kept darting to the drink. They counted their fingers, unsure whether to admit to this or not.

Thinking about it, wasn’t this a golden opportunity to make General Yin drink it? He was always making their lives difficult. Now was the perfect chance for revenge; they shouldn’t waste it.

Seeing that the next round was about to land on Yin Beichen, the others exchanged knowing glances, feigning nonchalance. “Why are we only saying boring stuff like that? Let’s raise the stakes. From now on, we can only talk about relationship issues.”

Instantly, everyone’s eyes were on Yin Beichen.

Everyone knew Yin Beichen had been single for years. This condition was clearly targeting him. The crowd below was even more thrilled — watching the commanders turn on each other was a rare treat.

“Relationship issues?” Yin Beichen’s brow twitched slightly.

“That’s right. Only things related to romance~” the commander said with a sly smile.

Ning Feng heard this and let out a low laugh.

“Heh, romance…”

Relationship issues?

What relationship issues could Yin Beichen have? The man had no feelings.

Calm, rational, highly professional, allowing no dissent.

All his thoughts were focused on the bug race. When busy, he’d rather eat nutrition bars than deal with anything else. Perhaps Ning Feng had been right before; he was only suited to spending a hundred years with the bugs.

What a waste of all those years Ning Feng had pursued him.

But at least Yin Beichen felt a bit of guilt over Ning Feng’s death, enough to want to make amends. Though the thought was completely unnecessary, it at least proved that Ning Feng held some place in his heart.

What a heartwarming discovery.

Ning Feng lazily smirked, leaning back in his chair.

Still, hearing Yin Beichen say “relationship issues” with his own ears was a rare opportunity, worth watching as a joke. So when Yin Beichen’s gaze swept the room and finally landed on him, Ning Feng was startled.

Yin Beichen calmly gazed at him. Those always-cold eyes were now filled with a gentle smile, and a hint of something unreadable…

Suddenly, the corner of Yin Beichen’s mouth lifted slightly, and he spoke a low sentence.

“There’s someone I like.”

Ning Feng’s eyes widened.

In an instant, the vast cafeteria fell into dead silence.