RIACMET chapter 187

 

“Wow, Brother Jing, you’re going to be a leader! If we all get promoted to supervisor together, it’s like a collective promotion.”

Jiang Nian’s eyes sparkled with admiration. He was basically saying that Brother Jing was amazing—so capable that he could lead the whole team to improvement.

Being praised ten times by others couldn’t compare to being praised once by your boyfriend. Cheng Jing gave a modest smile.

“With enough manpower and material resources, we can gradually expand the base, take in more survivors, and continue production and recovery. The intention of Minister Wang and upper management is that, since the South City Base has the best resources, it should serve as a model.”

Strike while the iron is hot. After this incident, Base S would experience changes in its external reputation and internal faction conflicts.

Liang Yunhao had messaged him, saying that the higher-ups at Base S were unhappy with Professor Xia’s failure to recruit the brain-evolved mutant this time and that tensions were rising across various factions.

Since the Nancheng base had a military background, many were planning to flee to other military-controlled bases if chaos erupted in Base S.

The South City Base should take this opportunity to recruit more people with superpowers. With more people and resources, the base would grow stronger and wouldn’t need to fear zombies or natural disasters.

“It really is the perfect time.”

Jiang Nian nodded repeatedly in agreement, rubbing his hands together.

“If you’re going to do this, can I join too? It’d be better if my name were listed on the team. All I do is run the store, manage the farm, and work the land. If you go out, I can follow you with a clear conscience.”

He felt stronger and ready to raise his status.

Unlike before, when he was uncertain, Cheng Jing agreed without hesitation.

“All right, I’ll let you know tomorrow. But I’ll say this up front: whether or not we go together depends on the situation.”

That little rascal now has superpowers and isn’t afraid of zombies. With rocket launchers at his storage, he was better equipped and itching to get involved. It’d be more reassuring to bring him along and keep him in sight. Otherwise, he’d probably charge in recklessly, and no one could stop him.

Besides, he had a feeling his powers were about to level up again.

Breaking through with dual-attribute abilities is much harder than with single-attribute ones, and there’s a risk of overload and internal clash during the breakthrough. So it’d be better to bring someone close who had supplementary powers.

Jiang Nian raised his hand excitedly and agreed.

“No problem, no problem! I’ll definitely discuss it with you. I’m a good kid, you know!”

Brother Jing was easy to talk to, probably because he had behaved well the last time they went out together.

“Just looking at your face, I believe you.”

Cheng Jing teased, turning to the side and reaching out to intertwine their fingers. He placed their hands behind the sofa and leaned in. Before the other could protest, Brother Jing lowered his head and covered his talkative mouth with a kiss.

As they rolled and crushed against each other, he deepened the kiss. Their breaths were long and shaky, and the passion that had been simmering quickly spread like wildfire across a grassland.

Their emotions ran hot and wild. Once things got started, there was no stopping them.

It only took a few minutes to go from the living room to the bedroom. By the time they emerged, it was late in the afternoon.

…

His mom had sent a message asking when they would come over. Cheng Jing glanced at the gifts they had prepared on the living room table.

He walked to the bathroom and waved his phone at the person playing with bubbles in the bathtub.

“Niannian, Mom wants to know when we’re heading over.”

Jiang Nian formed a bubble with his bare hands and tossed it.

“What time is it now?”

Cheng Jing reached out to catch it, squeezed it, and tossed it back.

“Almost five o’clock.”

“Oh…”

Jiang Nian nodded lazily.

“All right, you go out first. I’ll get dressed.”

Cheng Jing leaned against the bathroom doorframe.

“Is there something I can’t see?”

First, he wasn’t allowed in the water, and now he wasn’t allowed to look either? What kind of logic was that?

Jiang Nian raised his eyebrows at him.

“You’re too handsome. What if you get me all worked up? Do you still want to meet your parents?”

Cheng Jing: “…”

The door shut. Jiang Nian stepped out of the tub to rinse off, a grin spreading from the corners of his mouth to his eyes.

His body might be soft, but he never backed down from a fight. Once he got dressed, Brother Jing didn’t stand a chance.

“…”

For the parents’ meeting, Jiang Nian chose a casual shirt and black trousers—not too casual, not too formal.

Cheng Jing wore a black outfit he hadn’t worn in a while. It suited him perfectly.

Jiang Nian stared at him with fiery eyes, recalling the scene when they first met after his rebirth. Brother Jing had dressed like this back then, too, but he rarely wore such clothes after they got back together.

Ever since they entered the base, people hardly wore formal attire anymore.

Jiang Nian practically drooled as he praised Cheng Jing generously:

“Brother Jing, you look so good in a suit!”

He’d said it a thousand times—his boyfriend was the most handsome man in the world!

Cheng Jing quietly beamed and walked over to adjust Jiang Nian’s collar.

“Honestly, I’m not a big fan of suits. They’re too tight.”

No matter how expensive a suit was, it never felt as comfortable as regular clothes.

“Huh?”

Jiang Nian was a little surprised.

“Back then, it was so hot, and you didn’t have superpowers, yet you still wore that suit to pick me up at Qingyun Station. I thought you really liked suits.”

“…”

Cheng Jing froze for a second, embarrassment spreading across his face. He quickly turned around to hide and picked up the gift on the table.

“All right, let’s go.”

“Hey…”

How could Jiang Nian let him off the hook? After thinking for a moment, he finally figured it out. Then, he walked over nonchalantly and pressed down on the hand holding the gift.

“Don’t panic, Brother Jing. It’s not far. A few minutes won’t make a difference.”

“…”

Cheng Jing held his forehead and stared at the smug, naughty face before him, his eyes full of amusement. He was pretending, but he’d been caught.

Jiang Nian understood immediately just by looking at his expression. He cut straight to the point.

“Brother Jing, you didn’t wear a suit that time by accident, did you?”

“… Sort of.”

Cheng Jing’s face turned a little red. He wouldn’t have dressed up like that in such hot weather if he hadn’t been planning to meet someone.

The outfit was too eye-catching, so he felt too embarrassed to wait at the station exit and had to stay in the parking lot.

“Pfft…”

Oh man, so he really just did it to impress him? Jiang Nian couldn’t help it. He grabbed Cheng Jing’s arm, leaned forward, rested his head on Cheng Jing’s chest, and laughed.

“At the time, I thought you wore a suit on that scorching summer day to act classy and impress me. I didn’t expect you were trying to woo me. Hahahaha!”

What kind of magical reunion with an ex was this?

“I never thought about pretending to be classy in front of you.”

Cheng Jing let him hang on, staring up at the ceiling and chuckling.

“I even got a haircut the night before and tried on every outfit in the closet. I didn’t decide until midnight…”

Thinking back on it now, that unrecognized excitement was nothing more than hidden love overflowing from the cracks in my mask. I could fool everyone else, but not myself.

Since the topic had come this far, Jiang Nian went ahead and asked the question he’d always wanted to ask.

“When I called you back then, you said you didn’t know me and hung up right away. Were you just pretending?”

After they got back together, he treated Brother Jing very well, always looking for opportunities to ask him out. His cool appearance at the station really surprised him.