RIACMET chapter 107

 

Cheng Jing spent the entire afternoon in Minister Wang’s office talking about everything from official matters and personal issues to the base, the country, and the world.

In short, by the time they had finished half a pot of tea, the two of them had almost gone from superior and subordinate to “bosom friends.”

That evening, they went together to the leadership’s independent canteen for dinner. The teammates who had been waiting for the captain to have dinner with them all stared in shock at this scene.

Suddenly, they felt that Brother Cheng was out of their reach.

Liao Yu looked at the small canteen across the doorway and asked while chewing:

“Bro, you’re really eating well tonight. I could smell the roast pork from that little canteen just now.”

Zhao Lei smiled and said,

“If he could choose, he definitely wouldn’t care about eating good food. Brother Nian has plenty of it.”

Zhao Lei had seen Brother Cheng and Minister Wang walk into the small canteen earlier. When Brother Cheng turned his head to look back, he showed an expression that was both helpless and envious.

I guess he was tired from sparring with the leader all day.

Lu Ningzhou chimed in:

“That’s right. Eating with the boss isn’t enjoyable at all.”

“I think unless he’s with Brother Nian, no food tastes good to Brother Cheng.”

“How could it be the same? When he’s with Brother Nian, he gets full just from drinking water.”

“He can get full without eating or drinking anything…”

“… ”

Once one person started, the rest followed, and the topic gradually drifted off in a strange direction.

…

After the sun set and dinner was over, Cheng Jing finally “regained his freedom.”

As he stepped out of the cafeteria, Minister Wang repeatedly reminded him,

“If you run into any problems later on, come to my office or give me a call directly. Just tell them your name.”

“All right, thank you very much.”

After thanking him and bidding farewell, Minister Wang left with his guards.

Only after they had gone far did Cheng Jing turn and walk toward his teammates waiting in the parking area.

“I thought you were working overtime, bro…”

Huang Qian teased him from inside the car next door. Cheng Jing rolled his eyes.

“I’d rather work overtime fighting zombies.”

“Hahaha…”

The beautiful woman’s cruel laughter sounded mean.

Bang!

Once he got into the car, Cheng Jing finally let his shoulders drop. He tugged at his collar, took a deep breath, leaned back in the seat, and closed his eyes. After running at high speed all afternoon, his brain needed a moment’s rest.

The others in the car exchanged puzzled looks. Zhao Lei noticed how tired he looked, even more so than after combat training, and asked,

“Brother Cheng, are you okay? What did Minister Wang say to you all afternoon?”

“He said everything. I’ll tell you all later. My head is still spinning. I’m exhausted.”

Cheng Jing rubbed his forehead and gave a helpless smile. If he hadn’t already had a partner, Minister Wang might have arranged for him to have three kids by now.

That afternoon, he felt the familiar fear of being scolded by his father again, a fear he hadn’t felt for years.

After hearing this, Zhao Lei and the others nodded in understanding and didn’t ask any more questions.

…

When Cheng Jing returned home, Jiang Nian was still in the shop. It was getting dark, so he wasn’t in a hurry to close up.

As the population of the base increased, shops and stalls along the commercial street were rented out one after another, and the variety of goods grew.

Some people had already started setting up a night market. Later, when it got hotter, more people preferred to come out and shop in the evenings, so the street was busier at night than during the day.

Jiang Nian sold goods himself, but he also enjoyed buying things and bartering with others.

After all, the apocalypse would eventually pass. As long as he had the means to buy valuable things cheaply, he wouldn’t pass up the opportunity.

Over the past couple of days, he had put up a sign in the shop displaying the current gold exchange rate. Other jewelry was accepted, but it was priced much lower than gold.

Since opening the shop, he hadn’t replenished supplies from the ring space. For now, he had enough goods inside the base with Li Shuhui and the others to exchange and resell to other superpowered teams.

The more he stored up, the more secure he would be.

…

After strolling around a bit, Jiang Nian returned home to find that Cheng Jing had already prepared dinner for him.

Since he had drunk tea and eaten with Minister Wang, Cheng Jing wasn’t hungry. He just sat by his side, chatting with him while he ate.

Only in front of his lover could he truly relax.

Jiang Nian took the initiative to talk about how he’d run into Da Jun and Xiao Liu. He also shared his thoughts on Jiang Wenwen’s disappearance.

Sure enough, Brother Jing had had the same thoughts. The two of them both felt that this matter was closely tied to Xia Weiwei.

Who knew what role she’d played in all this?

Judging by how Li Shuhui acted when she met Jiang Nian at the base entrance, she hadn’t been briefed in advance.

Perhaps Xia Weiwei had secretly watched them and noticed that Jiang Nian was familiar with Li Shuhui. Then, she might have used Li Shuhui as leverage.

Judging by Da Jun and Xiao Liu’s reaction today, it was clear that they hadn’t known the deal would involve them either.

Liang Xiaoyan most likely just wanted to curry favor with Li Shuhui and ended up bringing those two along by coincidence.

In that case, Liang Xiaoyan was merely a tool.

Otherwise, she would have won a Golden Globe for her acting.

“… ”

The two of them discussed the most probable scenario, and Cheng Jing summed it up.

“No matter what, since she’s already requested Base S’s involvement, let’s wait until everyone’s here. Then, we’ll settle everything together so no one is left behind.”

He hoped to be able to repay this blood debt in person—and it would be even better if he could let someone have a taste of their own medicine.

Jiang Nian nodded.

“Yes, Jiang Wenwen is her younger sister. Whether the two of them are acting or if Xia Weiwei is truly ruthless enough to sacrifice anything to achieve her goals is not our concern. As long as we know it.”

With that, he picked up the last grain of rice from the bowl, and the topic ended there.

After tidying up the table, he turned on the lights in the house. Jiang Nian turned on the tablet and set it on the coffee table to watch a variety show. He leaned against Cheng Jing and asked,

“You spent the whole afternoon in Minister Wang’s office. What did you talk about?”

“We talked about everything. We clarified our stances and positions. He asked me to share my opinions as I had in Qingyun City. He also asked about the superpower for growing fruits and vegetables and said that next time, we should bring him more. He asked about your superpower, too.”

Cheng Jing recounted in detail what he’d discussed with Minister Wang that day.

“That’s great…”

Jiang Nian sighed with relief after hearing about Minister Wang’s guarantee.

“Then I won’t have to be sneaky when I get to the farm.”

He finally felt reassured. Having teammates to protect him was one thing, but an official promise was another.

Since his rebirth, his greatest desire had been to never again have to hide his special ability or fear becoming a lab rat. Brother Jing had helped him achieve this.

Once the formula for purifying land was released after the extreme heat wave, agriculture would recover, and the base’s renewable resources—at least staple foods—would be relatively secure.

They would gradually enter a period of stability in the farming and production cycle of the apocalypse. This would lay the groundwork for revival and reconstruction.

“Niannian.”

Cheng Jing held his lover’s hand and spoke seriously.

“You don’t need to be sneaky. You’ve done nothing wrong. If your superpower is truly one of the keys to solving the zombie virus, then you should be respected rather than treated as just another sacrificial pawn.”

He didn’t agree with the idea that possessing a treasure was a crime. Even if they wanted to help the authorities in the future, they should do so of their own free will.

“Yeah.”

Jiang Nian smiled brightly.

“That’s right. The end of the world wasn’t his fault, so why should he be the one to sacrifice everything?

With someone always by your side to protect you, anxieties and negative emotions can’t touch you.

Not even the Jade Emperor himself could pull a PUA[mfn]emotional manipulation, control, or gaslighting[/mfn] trick on him.