Chapter 11 Exchange Communications

The room was filled with joy.

Qi He is stewing creamy curry potatoes.

The kitchen is open and faces the living room.

Mo Jiayan and the others were sitting around the sofa. You Tianxing was picking up corn kernels growing out of a sunflower with great interest.

There was a sound at the entrance, and Ye Yi came.

Mo Jiayan popped up: "Captain!"

Ye Yi walked over, put a bag of apples on the table, and sat down. "Yeah." She looked around and saw that some of the people who came were familiar to her and some were not.

She paused, then opened her mouth and said, "When I came up here, I ran into Colonel Yan."

Meng Yan nodded naturally, "Oh, Brother Yan."

Zhou Ziqian was also cheerful. "I ran into him when I came here. I told him that I would..."

As soon as the voice stopped, the reaction in the living room took two seconds.

"Wait, 'when it comes up'?"

"What do you mean, bumping into someone on the way up here?" Meng Yan swallowed and looked towards the entrance. "Didn't he...come in with us?"

Ye Yi was silent.

Everyone took a deep breath: Could it be that Yan Chuanbai was not invited?!

A row of eyes turned over——

Qi He raised his head from behind the kitchen counter and peeled two carrots. "What's wrong?"

Zhou Ziqian thought to himself, considering the relationship between Brother Yan and Qi He, they both went to pick people up at the base in person, so they wouldn't forget to invite them to dinner... He spoke tentatively:

"Who did you call? Are they all here?"

Qi He continued to peel the radish, "Plop, plop," and said, "I didn't look closely. It was a group message from the address book."

“………”

A greater silence fell.

The two of them, wouldn't they have kept in touch...

In the dead silence, Meng Yan suddenly woke up from a dream and cried out "Ah!", causing You Tianxing to drop the sunflower in his hand in shock. Meng Yan stood up and quickly tried to smooth things over: "I helped send the newsletter. I didn't pay attention and missed it -"

She stretched out her hand, "Oh! My damn hand!"

Everyone: “…”

Qi He, who was peeling radishes: “…”

Meng Yan glanced at it secretly, "Do you want to make up for it?"

After all, they all ran into each other. It would have been fine if Yan Chuanbai didn't know, but it would have been so embarrassing if he knew.

Qi He continued to peel the radish and nodded casually, "Call them up."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

But there is a new problem: they had all been notified long ago, and only now did they remember to call Yan Chuanbai. The implication of "making up for it" was too obvious.

Meng Yan knew the real reason for the "missed invitation," "Well, then, how do you say it?"

Qi He stopped and thought for a moment.

The system suddenly popped up: [I have a plan.]

Qi He listened attentively: "You say."

The system hasn't given up on salvaging the plot and character settings: [To embrace one person, you embraced everyone. To invite one person, you invited everyone. You just say it's not that you didn't invite him, but that you kept him for last—he is your ultimate motive, your limit.]

With a snap, the knife cut off a piece of radish.

Qi He exclaimed: "So you are Pang Tong." His Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Chick.

system:【……】

Qi He said to the living room, "Don't send a message, just say that the meal is almost ready and ask him to come down and eat together."

You Tianxing stood up and clasped his hands together: "I have elevator access, so I'll go up and call him~"

After he said that, he walked out the door.

-

Three minutes later, the door opened again.

You Tianxing led Yan Chuanbai down.

There was a noise at the entrance, and when Qi He looked up, he met Yan Chuanbai's eyes across half of the living room. Yan Chuanbai looked at him with a deep gaze, as if he was about to smile.

Qi He greeted naturally, "It's better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early. The dishes have just been cooked, wash your hands and get ready to eat."

Yan Chuanbai came over, facing the living room, and washed his hands in the sink next to him. A soft voice mixed with the sound of rushing water:

"Thank you for letting me come at the perfect time."

"You're welcome. Being considerate is one of my many virtues."

Yan Chuanbai raised his eyelids and smiled at him.

Qi He speculated, "You seem to have some feelings for me."

After turning off the water, Yan Chuanbai wiped his hands lightly and said, "Don't overthink it. What kind of emotions can I have towards you?"

"That's good."

Handing over a pot of stewed potatoes, Qi He said, "You've come at the perfect time. Please help me carry it over."

Yan Chuanbai took a look and said nothing, then took it and carried it to the living room. Meng Yan also came to help, and together with Qi He, they carried the remaining dishes over.

Everyone sat down in the living room.

The ingredients are limited, but the dishes are still delicious.

You Tianxing reminisced, "Since the end of the world, I have hardly had a large 'normal' meal like this."

Mo Jiayan picked up a potato and was surprised, "...it's actually delicious."

Ye Yi gently stepped on her little feet under the table.

Qi He automatically ignored the word "actually" and accepted the compliment: "It's a skill I developed after living alone." He still remembered that the original owner moved out to live alone after becoming an adult, so there was no flaw in this regard.

Yan Chuanbai also took a bite.

It is very delicious, and both the knife skills and the processing of ingredients are skillful and easy.

He chuckled, "You've developed quite a few skills since living alone."

Qi He shook his head, "People are always forced to grow up."

Yan Chuanbai, "It's just like when I took over Base Ⅰ."

“…”

There was an undercurrent of understanding between the two of them.

You Tianxing sat by, smiling silently, seeing through everything but not saying anything. Zhou Ziqian pondered for a moment and finally realized, "Right, didn't Brother Yan want to go to headquarters? I wasn't there that day, but I heard about your capture of Ying Zhen—"

He slapped his thigh happily, "So, Brother Yan's ability to stay at Base I is thanks to you!"

Everyone: “…”

Three people who knew the situation: “…” This wording is not wrong.

Zhou Ziqian changed the subject again, "But Brother Yan, why do you have to go to the headquarters? With your free and easy personality, shouldn't you be freer from restraint?"

Several glances turned towards him.

Yan Chuanbai lowered his eyes and remained silent for two seconds.

He hates constraints, but needs to be constrained.

He was vaguely aware of his potential paranoia, so he had been deliberately suppressing his desires for a long time and not being affected by his emotions. He occasionally felt that he was not a normal person and needed something to restrain him.

Qi He was sitting right opposite Yan Chuanbai.

He could clearly see a hint of darkness in the latter's eyes. He raised his hand, seemingly wanting to reach for a cigarette, but finally restrained himself and placed it back on the table.

The next moment, Yan Chuanbai returned to his casual self.

"Not necessarily, I just think."

Zhou Ziqian was in awe. "There aren't many people as simple as you."

“………”A table of people.

Qi He stood up and filled his empty cup, "Turns out there's no water." The water level had dropped so low that he couldn't even see his face.

Zhou Ziqian, "Eh? Thank you?"

Yan Chuanbai didn't want to watch any more, "Eat."

-

A table of people finished their meal.

Qi He stood up to clean up. Ye Yi and the others wanted to help, but were stopped. "Just sit still."

At this moment, Yan Chuanbai stood up, stretched out his long arms, and directly collected the remaining dishes.

"Let me do it."

Qi He took a look and didn't refuse this time, "Thank you."

System: [Why do you still treat them differently? ]

Qi He walked back to the kitchen counter with a dish in his hand and turned on the water to wash the dishes: "Don't you want me and Yan Chuanbai to get closer?"

Yan Chuanbai just happened to follow and walk next to him.

The system was shocked: [Your "closer distance" means "closer to you" to wash dishes!?]

Qi He was pleased.

There are two sinks on the countertop.

Yan Chuanbai had already lathered up the dishes and rolled up his sleeves to wash them. Qi He took over the dishes and rinsed them with water.

The sound of rushing water mixed with the sound of fine foam.

Yan Chuanbai's voice rang out beside him: "By the way, the S-level superpowers will have a meeting together in a few days, so I want to tell you first."

Qi He cleared the dishes, "Why did you have to tell me first?"

The man beside him said slowly, "I was afraid that I hadn't met you at the base these days and couldn't notify you."

Qi He paused slightly and narrowed his eyes.

Then, as if he hadn't heard the subtext, he nodded obediently, "Yes, you've thought it through."

“…”

It stopped beside me and the sound of foam quieted down for a few seconds.

Then Yan Chuanbai laughed softly, "Hmph..."

He wiped his hand on the handkerchief, and a communicator was handed to Qi He. Qi He turned around and saw Yan Chuanbai looking at him with his eyes downcast. "Add another communication?"

He was so open and honest, and Qi He was also generous.

He took out his communicator and said, "Okay."

…

Everyone in the room went home after dinner.

There were missions at the base. Everyone was busy with their own things these past two days, so Qi He and Yan Chuanbai hadn't really run into each other.

The third day was a bit more relaxed.

Qi He rested in the morning and just went out to take a task in the afternoon when he saw the patrolman outside the door seemed to be in a hurry, and a group of people were passing quickly through the road of the research institute.

He paused: ...What's going on?

At this moment, the communication line beeped twice.

Qi He opened the phone and it was You Tianxing. Before he could pick it up, the call was quickly disconnected. The next moment, a voice came from the front: "Qi He!"

He looked up and bumped into You Tianxing head-on.

When You Tianxing saw him, his eyes lit up. He rushed over and grabbed him: "Just right, I was looking for you!"

Qi He was stunned. "What?"

"There's a problem with the base station outside the base."

You Tianxing's face grew more serious. "There's no signal in Huandong District II and Huandong District III. All the psychics we sent out have temporarily lost contact. We're urgently recalling those still in Huandong District I."

Rings I, II, and III refer to areas divided in a ring shape outward from the base.

The base station is located between Huandong Area II and III.

Qi He asked, "What's the problem?"

"I don't know, I just need to go check it out." You Tianxing said, "In the event of signal loss, the safest way is to send an S-class psychic with technical personnel. Yan Chuanbai is out on a mission and not at the base. He should be outside Zone 1, and we've lost contact with him."

He was not worried about Yan Chuanbai, but the signal problem was urgent.

Qi He understood, "I'll go now."

He didn't ask the other S-class psychic why he didn't go.

Looking out: unpolluted green plants, clean water sources, and a cultivation base suitable for research and planting...

He realized it from the first day he entered the base. Only an S-level water-based psychic could support the entire base's water purification system from the ground to the underground.

Even if You Tianxing was allowed to leave the base to fight, Yu Jiang would not be allowed to leave.

She is the "blood" of the entire base.

You Tianxing nodded, "I'll leave it to you."

…

Three technicians were quickly assembled.

Qi He said, "I'll drive."

He pulled the heavy car door shut, bang! After thinking for a moment, he took out his communicator and sent a message to Yan Chuanbai:

"There's a problem with the base station. Contact me when communication is restored."

He put away the communicator and started the car.

The modified off-road vehicle roared out of the base gate. Ahead lay City Z, with a mountain forest at its back. The sky hung low, as if pressing down from the horizon.

Qi He looked up at the sky through the car window.

Heavy rain is coming.

The author has something to say:

Qi He: Heavy rain is coming, and the waves are about to rise again.