When we arrived at the cafeteria, the prisoners who had gone out to mine early in the morning had not returned yet, and the huge cafeteria was empty.

Lan Yu prepared the food, carried the tray to an empty table and stood there, looking around for a chair, as if she was going to sit there.

After Lu Rankong also sat down opposite him with a tray, he walked three tables back and then sat down with his back to Lu Rankong.

He picked up the chopsticks and just as he picked up a piece of tofu, a shadow appeared in front of him.

Lu Rankong took the food tray and sat opposite him again.

Lan Yu put the piece of tofu into her mouth, stared at the dish in front of her, and chewed slowly.

"How have I offended you?" Lu Rankong asked.

Lan Yu swallowed the food in her mouth and said slowly: "No..."

"Say it, don't deny it." Lu Rankong leaned back in his chair and looked at him with narrowed eyes.

Lan Yu felt a little confused and thought that he was indeed a little abnormal.

When I heard him talk about the flowers in the garden before, I just thought he was a scumbag, but I didn’t have any other feelings about him. And judging from his reaction, it’s hard to say whether those words are true.

But today, when I heard him talking about a friend and saw that he looked depressed, I started to feel uncomfortable.

Could it be that because we worked on the mission together day and night, I felt that he was a very close person and even developed a possessive attitude towards him?

But when I was filming movies in the past, I would play lovers with others and stay together for several months at a time. I didn’t have these strange emotions at that time.

Maybe it's because the situation this time is special and it's really a matter of life and death, so he feels a little different in his heart.

Lu Rankong has a cheerful personality and will definitely have many friends. I am just an ordinary friend to him. It would be ridiculous if he even cares about this.

Lan Yu figured out the key to the matter and stopped worrying about it. She ignored the knot in her heart and let the worry disappear.

He was thinking about his own things here, and Lu Rankong was not idle either. He began to recall what he had done today and what had offended him.

Suddenly he remembered something, his expression changed, and he slowly sat up straight.

"Well, I only used a little bit." He put his fist to his mouth and said vaguely.

"Ah?" Lan Yu's thoughts were interrupted and she looked at him blankly.

Lu Rankong glanced at him quickly, realized that it was not because of this, and immediately leaned back in his chair, continuing to put on an interrogative look.

Lan Yu became alert, put down her chopsticks and asked, "What do you mean you only used a little bit?"

"What exactly makes you unhappy?" Lu Rankong asked calmly.

“I’m asking you now.”

“I’m asking you that now.”

Lan Yu said: "Tell me first, and then I will tell you."

Lu Rankong changed his posture, his crossed legs moved restlessly, and his eyes looked away vaguely.

Lan Yu lowered her head slightly, and looked at him from under her brows with an extremely sharp gaze.

After a moment of silence, Lu Rankong turned around and said, "I just used a little bit of your skin cream this morning. It was about the size of a soybean. No, half the size of a soybean."

Seeing that Lan Yu still had that expression, he stretched out his little finger and pinched the top point, "Look, it's not even this much."

"That's it?" Lan Yu asked.

"That's it..." Lu Rankong added: "I just want to smell it."

"Smell?"

Lu Rankong said: "Every night when I'm close to you, you smell really good, so I want to apply some too."

Lan Yu relaxed, but then became a little nervous again. He stared at the plate in front of him and said, "If you want to use it, use it. You helped me find it."

Lu Rankong said: "But without your scent, I don't want to use it anymore."

After saying this, the two seemed to realize something was wrong and fell silent.

There were footsteps and whistles outside. The prisoners who were mining had returned. The quiet environment suddenly became noisy, and the strange atmosphere at the beginning was swept away.

"Okay, then tell me why you are unhappy." Lu Rankong put his hands on the dining table and looked straight at Lan Yu.

"What?" Lan Yu started to act stupid.

Lu Rankong said solemnly: "There can be no grudges between us, do you understand? If there is anything, just say it immediately, and solve it if it needs to be solved."

There were prisoners walking back and forth with food trays in their hands. Just as Lan Yu was about to speak, someone stopped by their table.

"Boss, the best table by the window is empty, do you want to--"

"Go away..." Lu Rankong interrupted him without even looking at him.

The prisoner did not delay and left with the tray.

Lan Yu held the chopsticks in her hand and poked around in the plate unconsciously.

"I just had a little problem of my own. It has nothing to do with you," he said.

Lu Rankong looked at him and asked, "Really?"

"Really..." Lan Yu looked at him calmly.

It was indeed his own problem and had nothing to do with Lu Rankong.

Lu Rankong asked: "Do you need my help?"

"I've solved it, it's okay." Lan Yu said.

Lu Rankong nodded and said nothing more. He stared at the plate in front of Lan Yu with a thoughtful look on his face.

"What are you thinking about?" Lan Yu had no expression on her face, but she felt a little uneasy.

He was unhappy when the two of them were eating Zikang dishes. If Lu Rankong guessed the reason, it would not be impossible.

But if he asked, I would never admit it.

That's so embarrassing, and it will make him proud, right?

He will definitely be proud of it and even make fun of himself.

Lu Rankong said quietly, "I was wondering, how can you eat this dish?"

Lan Yu paused while poking with chopsticks, looked down at her plate, and discovered that the braised tofu had been poked into a pulp by her.

Lu Rankong picked up his plate, gave him half of the food, and said, "Eat..."

Then he lowered his head and shoveled rice into his mouth in big mouthfuls.

After taking two bites, he looked up again and said incoherently, "I haven't touched that dish yet, and I haven't drooled over it."

Lan Yu said thank you in an almost inaudible voice and started eating.

Today is the weekend. According to prison practice, we don’t work in the afternoon and can only take a half-day break. During this half day, the recreation room in the prison building will also be open for prisoners to relax and have fun.

After Lan Yu and Lu Rankong returned to the cell, they saw that there was no one else in the room except Liu Junjie, who was walking out of the bathroom. He wiped his hair behind his head with water and styled it.

"Where are you going? Date?" Lu Rankong asked.

Liu Junjie smiled and said, "Brother Leopard, you and Brother Qiao are so sweet, don't make fun of me, a lonely person. I just went to the entertainment room to play, so I have to have some sense of ceremony."

Lu Rankong asked with interest: "What's in the entertainment room?"

He touched Lan Yu's shoulder and said, "If there is a fencing room, let's go and have some fun."

Lan Yu said nothing, but she was also looking forward to it.

"There is a reading room with very comfortable sofas where everyone gathers to play cards," said Liu Junjie.

"What else?"

"The music room plays nice music, and it's a nice environment, and everyone plays cards there."

"Um……"

"The physical therapy room. Some prisoners have worked a week and feel sore. They can lie down in there and use the massage equipment—"

Lu Rankong interrupted: "Is it possible to play cards while getting a massage?"

"Yeah, that's why the therapy room is usually very crowded."

Lu Rankong looked at Lan Yu and asked, "Are you still going?"

Lan Yu shook her head and said, "No, let's just go for a walk outside."

"Okay, let's go for a walk outside." Lu Rankong said.

The two men separated from Liu Junjie and walked out of the prison building.

There was a basketball court in front of them. A group of prisoners were playing basketball, and there were many onlookers actively placing bets on the sidelines.

"Go and have some fun?" Lu Rankong tilted his head towards the field.

"You go ahead, I'll sit over there for a while." Lan Yu said.

"Okay, I'll go move around." Lu Rankong ran two steps and turned back, asking, "Did you bring that thing with you?"

Lan Yu knew that he was asking about the injection, so she patted the upper left side of her prison uniform, where the inner pocket was.

Lu Rankong nodded and ran towards the field.

When Lan Yu saw him arrive at the field, he high-fived the other prisoners, quickly joined one of the teams and started playing. Then he walked slowly along the edge of the field towards a ginkgo tree on the right.

This ginkgo tree is a rare green tree on Quyu Star, with lush branches and leaves rustling in the wind.

There was a bench under the tree, with a group of prisoners sitting around it, chatting.

Lan Yu originally wanted to pass by the group of people, continue forward, and find a step or something to sit down. Unexpectedly, when the group of people saw him heading in that direction, they immediately stopped talking, looked at him nervously, and then scattered like birds and beasts, leaving only an empty bench.

He walked slowly to the bench, sat down, picked up a fallen leaf from the chair, and turned it in his hands.

From time to time, loud cheers could be heard from the center of the court, as well as the sound of basketballs hitting the backboard.

He looked over there and saw Lu Rankong leap up, grab a basketball with his right hand, and slam it into the basket.

Applause and cheers rang out from both sides of the venue. He ran while waving his hands to signal people, his face full of energy.

The sunlight fell on his body, dyeing his dancing black hair into dark brown. Even though he was wearing the crudest and ugliest prison uniform, it did not diminish his handsomeness in the slightest. He still stood tall and straight, and was extremely eye-catching among the group of prisoners.

Lu Rankong ran and looked around, and Lan Yu guessed that he was looking for her.

Sure enough, when he turned around and saw the bench, there was a light flickering in his eyes. Then he faced Lan Yu and jogged back, making a victory gesture.

"Arrogant..." Lan Yu mouthed the words to him.

I didn't notice that the corners of my mouth curled up unconsciously.

A gust of wind blew, and the ginkgo leaves above my head rustled. Lan Yu raised her face and squinted comfortably in the mottled sunlight.

"Wow, this is quite an experience, enjoying the breeze and the sun." A warm voice suddenly sounded beside me.

Lan Yu opened her eyes and looked over, and found Officer Liu standing not far away.

Officer Liu smiled at him, walked over here and sat down at one end of the bench.

Neither of them spoke, just listening in silence to the rustling of leaves overhead and the cheers from the stadium.

Lan Yu didn't know when Officer Liu arrived here, nor did she know whether he sat down next to her because he really wanted to rest in the sun or had some other idea.

Thinking that the Lonte people were among the prison staff, he continued to look ahead calmly. He just folded his hands across his chest, and quietly reached his right hand into the left inner pocket of his prison uniform and held the needle in his hand.

In the silence, Officer Liu suddenly turned to him and asked with a smile, "Have you adapted to the prison these few days?"

Lan Yu nodded slightly and replied: "Not bad..."

Officer Liu said, "Many prisoners are not used to it when they first arrive. Some even try to commit suicide. Even if they are more open-minded, they still have some negative emotions. I see that you are very easy-going. It doesn't seem like you are here to be in prison, but rather to have a vacation and will leave after a while."

Officer Liu laughed when he said this.

Lan Yu remembered that she and Lu Rankong were worried about not being able to get close to these prison staff. Now that Officer Liu took the initiative to talk to her, she also raised the corners of her lips.

"I don't think you are an ordinary prisoner." Officer Liu said calmly while gazing at the hills in the distance.

Lan Yu's heart was pounding, but she showed no sign of it on her face, and kept her eyes fixed on the court.

Lu Rankong, who was playing basketball, obviously also noticed the situation here. He threw the ball in his hand to the ground, pushed away the people blocking in front of him, and was about to walk over here.

Lan Yu stopped him with her eyes and shook her head slightly.

Lu Rankong stopped, walked to the edge of the venue, pretended to talk to the people around him, and stared at this side.

Officer Liu turned to look at Lan Yu and continued gently, "The cell you're in is pretty good. The prisoners inside aren't particularly evil, so they're easy to get along with."

When Lan Yu heard this, his heart moved. Regardless of whether Officer Liu was the Longte alien or not, he decided to give it a try.

"Yes, they are all easy to get along with and well-educated. Some of them even painted murals on the walls, which is very nice," he said.

Officer Liu nodded in agreement: "Yes, I've also seen the mural in your cell. It's very well painted."

Lan Yu simply turned around, put her arms on the back of the chair, faced Officer Liu, and said, "Officer Liu, do you know what that painting is about?"

Officer Liu smiled and asked, "Last time, a prisoner in your cell had a stomachache. I took a quick look when I went in that time. It was a painting of a forest in the early morning, with dew on the leaves."

"I wonder if Officer Liu has heard of Qichuxing." Lan Yu had a meaningful smile on his face.

Officer Liu looked forward again, narrowed his eyes slightly, and repeated, "Qi Chu Star... I've heard of it. Although it is a secret, who among the common people in the interstellar space doesn't like to secretly spread a few secrets?"

After saying that, he laughed a few more times.

"Yes, that mural is a painting of the Qichu Star." After Lan Yu said this, she stared at Officer Liu without blinking, observing every subtle change in his expression.

Officer Liu suddenly realized, "I've never seen the plants there before, and the birds are also very strange. It turns out that this is the Qichu Star."

"Yes, the vegetation, the birds, the sunshine, everything is consistent with the real Qichu Star." Lan Yu said softly.

Officer Liu looked at him and said, "You guys, Qichu Star is just a legend, no one has actually seen it, not to mention it's hard to say whether this planet exists or not, you just keep talking nonsense."

He stood up, brushed off the nonexistent dust on his legs, and said, "Let's go. I'm taking a day off today too. You can rest here for a while. We have other things to do in the evening."

After saying this, without waiting for Lan Yu to answer, he put his hands behind his back and walked away slowly.

Seeing Officer Liu's back disappearing at the other end, Lu Rankong ran over and asked, "How is it? Do you think he looks like him?"

Lan Yu shook her head slowly and said, "It's not him..."

Lu Rankong sat down beside him, with a layer of fine beads of sweat on his face, and asked in a low voice: "Why do you say it's not him?"

Lan Yu frowned and said, "I used the Qichu Star to test him, and his answers and expressions were very natural, with no abnormality in his expression or movements."

Lu Rankong leaned back in his chair, looked at the people on the court, and said, "It can be considered a gain. After all, we have checked one person. If it's not him, there will be one less suspect. Let's move on to the next one."

Lan Yu did not respond when she heard this. She still frowned and stared at the wooden planks of the bench in front of her, motionless.

"What's wrong?" Lu Rankong followed his gaze and looked at the bench, but didn't find anything wrong.

Lan Yu said in confusion: "I always feel something is weird."

"What's strange about that?"

"He came over to talk to me at first and was obviously interested in me. But after a few words, he suddenly got up and left. What made him not want to continue the conversation?"

Lu Rankong said: "Repeat your conversation to me verbatim."

"good……"

Lan Yu said "action" in her mind, and instantly entered performance mode, switching to a friendly expression, and asked Lu Rankong with a smile: "Have you been able to adapt to the prison these few days?"

Just when Lu Rankong was stunned, he changed his expression to indifference and said lightly: "It's okay..."

Lu Rankong suddenly put his fist to his mouth and coughed loudly.

"What for?" Lan Yu asked with a gloomy face.

Lu Rankong waved his hands and said while coughing, "Go on, go on."

"Then don't interrupt."

"Don't interrupt. Don't interrupt."

Lan Yu used her skill in memorizing lines and recited them word for word: "Many prisoners are not used to it when they first arrive, and some even try to commit suicide. Even if they are more open-minded, they still have some negative emotions. I see that you are very easy-going. It doesn't seem like you are here to be in prison, but rather to have a vacation and will leave after a while."

He imitated these words vividly, even replicating Officer Liu's tone and pauses perfectly. After he finished speaking, he even laughed like him.

Lu Rankong kept his hand on his mouth, glanced at him, and then quickly looked away.

Just as Lan Yu was about to continue his response, Lu Rankong suddenly interrupted him, "He is testing you..."

"Um?"

Lu Rankong said: "Although I don't know his purpose, but with these words, he is testing you."

"ah?"

Lu Rankong said: "You continue..."

Lan Yu then recounted the scene at that time. When he finished whispering, "Yes, the vegetation, the birds, the sunshine, nothing is inconsistent with the real Qichu Star," Lu Rankong interrupted him again.

"Wait, wait here."

Lan Yu stopped performing and looked at Lu Rankong.

Lu Rankong tapped his chin with a finger, thought for a while, and said, "Do you see the bird in that painting?"

Lan Yu recalled and shook her head uncertainly, "I don't think I saw any birds."

"But he was the one who mentioned the bird first, right?" Lu Rankong asked.

Lan Yu imitated Officer Liu's words again, and said in a tone of sudden realization: "I said I had never seen the plants above, and the birds were also very strange. It turns out that the painting is of Qichu Star."

Instantly he returned to his own tone, and said solemnly, "He talked about this first, and then I went on to talk about the birds. He was the first to bring it up."

Lu Rankong stood up suddenly and said, "Let's go back to the cell and take a look."

"Back to the cell?"

"Yes, let's go look at the painting again."

Lu Rankong strode towards the prison building, and Lan Yu hurriedly followed.