The Third Military Camp stationed on Zata Star is more than 200 kilometers away from the nearest main city, Bell City.

Under the scorching sun, a military off-road vehicle was driving on the only road in the desert.

"If we're on a date, we'll go shopping. I'll buy you clothes, accessories, bags, and anything else you want." Lu Rankong said proudly while driving, "This is the first essential step."

Lan Yu sat in the passenger seat, silently took out her wallet, took out Lu Rankong's salary card, held it between her fingers and shook it in front of him.

"There are still 375 credits."

"ah?"

"You only have 375 credits left on your card. If you take me to a nice restaurant for a meal, I will be humiliated in public by the waiter because I can't pay."

The off-road driver was not paying attention to the direction and drove out of the lane, raising a cloud of yellow sand in the desert and then turned back.

"This, why do I only have this much left?" Lu Rankong braked and said in shock.

“You have to ask yourself.”

Lu Rankong recalled for a moment, then realized, "I bought adhesive and ferrite and metal on the black market before, and spent all my money."

He looked at Lan Yu awkwardly, "It was all gone in a moment, but the iron and metal are very good. I made two small crossbows with it. It would also be good to make a set of armor for your bear."

"My bear can't wear clothes that expensive."

"It's not clothes, it's protective gear."

"It doesn't need protective gear, it has fur," Lan Yu said, "and it won't fight with other dolls."

"Yes, it looks very cool." Lu Rankong explained patiently: "I have always wanted to get a set for my Baoxiu beast."

"No need..." Lan Yu refused.

Lu Rankong thought for a moment and said, "From now on, my money will be in your hands. If I want to spend it, I have to get your approval, okay?"

"What should we do today?" Lan Yu glanced at him.

Lu Rankong glanced at his expression and said in a lustful manner, "Buy whatever you want."

He pondered for a moment and added, "I still have money, but I don't want to spend it because it's not earned by me. But it's okay if I spend it, I can just make up for it later."

Lan Yu snorted and chuckled, put the card away, and said lazily: "I have all your cards. If you want to pay back the money, don't you use my money? Today is a date, and I'm asking you out. Just tell me what you want. Call me brother and let me buy it for you. You can buy clothes, bags, and accessories."

Lu Rankong laughed and called out while driving: "Brother..."

"It's quite shameless, and the way you yell is really sweet."

"Brother. Let me kiss you again."

"Hmm...what are you doing? Watch the road..."

Lan Yu rolled down the car window, leaned over and looked outside. The wind blew across her cheeks, and those monotonous mounds of earth became so cute.

"The first step of a date is buying. Of course, this step can be skipped today. The second step is watching a movie." Lu Rankong followed the steps strictly.

"Let's go to the movies. Sure. I wonder what good movies there are." Lan Yu squinted slightly in the wind, looking comfortable.

Lu Ran placed his hands on the steering wheel, staring ahead, and said, "I think the movie we watched in prison is good. What was it called? Miner's Love..."

Lan Yu couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"It's very touching, positive and inspiring." After Lu Rankong finished his praise, he opened the terminal and checked what movies were available today while driving.

"The Legend of the Twin Dragons?"

“I don’t want to see…”

"Mecha Anthem?"

“I don’t want to see…”

"Jesse's Plutostar."

"That's it..."

Lan Yu felt that this movie name sounded better than the previous two.

Lu Rankong put his hands on the steering wheel, glanced at the terminal, and said, "There are only two screenings of this movie today. We can't catch the morning one. The afternoon one starts at three o'clock. If we get to Bell City, it will be almost one o'clock, which is just right."

He turned off the terminal and said excitedly, "Now let's go to the second step of the date, watch a movie, and later we--"

Bang, bang, bang…

A sudden sharp sound came from the hood of the SUV, interrupting his words. Then a puff of white smoke rose up and the car slowly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Lan Yu asked.

Lu Rankong opened the car door and said, "I don't know. I'll go down and take a look. You just sit up there and wait for me."

Lan Yu sat in the car and watched Lu Rankong open the hood. After the white smoke dissipated, she went inside to check.

After a while, he stood up, lowered the hood of the car, walked to the passenger side, put one hand on the roof, and looked down at Lan Yu through the window.

"The sea and the desert, two completely different landforms, give Zata Star a unique beauty. Especially when walking in the desert, with the wind, lover, and sunshine around you, the vastness of the world and freedom, your body, mind, and soul seem to have been cleansed." Lu Rankong said.

Lan Yu asked calmly: "The car broke down?"

Lu Rankong turned his head and looked into the distance, "Hmm..."

The boundless desert is brown and yellow with no end in sight, and in the blue sky, an eagle is flying high.

There is only a lonely road in the desert extending into the distance, with two small black dots moving slowly forward.

"My luck is so bad. I heard that a batch of vehicles were scrapped in the military camp, but they hadn't been towed away yet. As a result, I accidentally picked one of them." The sun was very strong. Lu Rankong explained as he walked, holding his military jacket on his head.

Lan Yu also walked with her coat on, a wooden face and no words.

"Are you thirsty?" Lu Rankong took out the car water bottle from his waist, unscrewed the cap and handed it to him.

“Not thirsty…”

Lu Rankong screwed the bottle cap back on, opened the terminal, and said, "It's only about thirty miles from here to Bell City. At our speed, we'll be there in another two hours. Maybe we can even catch the movie."

Lan Yu glanced at him, and Lu Rankong changed his words: "I think we won't be able to catch the movie, so let's skip the second step of our date."

"What's the next step?" Lan Yu couldn't help but ask.

Lu Rankong said solemnly: "Ride the Ferris wheel..." He cleared his throat and added vaguely, "Kiss on it..."

"Is there a Ferris wheel in Bell City? Why haven't I heard of it?" Lan Yu had been to Bell City twice and didn't find any Ferris wheel there.

Lu Rankong said: "Yes, I checked it on the terminal."

"Where?"

"Children's playground..."

Lan Yu stopped and said, "Isn't that a Ferris wheel? It should be a rotating chair or something like that."

"Well, just treat it as a Ferris wheel and go through the dating process, right?"

"How dare you kiss in the middle of a group of kids?"

"Let's be more subtle and gentle..."

Lan Yu asked curiously, "Why do you have to follow those steps? Where did you learn that?"

Lu Rankong hurriedly opened the terminal and showed him a saved page: "I just learned it these past two days."

Lan Yu looked down and saw that the title of the page was "Ten Things You Must Do on a First Date". He was too lazy to read the content and deleted it.

"Don't worry about how other people date, let's date our own."

Seeing that Lu Rankong felt a little aggrieved, he added: "Can other people walk in the desert for hours on a date? No way. Since things are different, why do we have to do the same thing?"

Lu Rankong remained silent.

The two continued walking along the road, and from time to time they could see some small animals running on the cracked loess. They traverse scattered stands of saguaro cacti and occasionally come onto the road.

There are very few cars on this road, and the animals are not afraid of people. It is unclear whether the two rabbits were fighting or chasing each other. After running onto the road, they actually circled around Lan Yu's legs twice before running away.

"Do you want some water?" Lu Rankong took out the kettle behind him and asked Lan Yu for the seventh time. He was worried that Lan Yu would be thirsty.

Lan Yu was sweating a little from walking, so he took the kettle and drank a few sips, then paused when he handed it back.

"What do you think that is? A wolf or a wild dog?" He looked to the left and asked Lu Rankong.

Lu Rankong took the kettle, looked sideways, and stopped.

"That's a wolf..." he muttered.

A hundred meters away on the left, four gray wolves appeared out of nowhere, sticking out their long tongues and approaching them silently. After being discovered by the two men, they stopped moving and just stood there watching from afar.

Lan Yu quickly took off the coat on his head and put it on, then reached for the gun at his waist. After I touched it and found nothing, I realized that I didn’t bring a gun with me because I was going on a date.

"Do you have a gun?" he asked Lu Rankong.

"No, we're going to Bell City for a date, why would we bring that?"

"What should I do then?" Lan Yu began to panic and looked around to see if there was anything he could use as a weapon.

But there was nothing everywhere, only a few tall giant cacti on the roadside.

Lu Rankong said: "Let's keep going and see what they want to do."

Lan Yu followed Lu Rankong with a stiff step and continued to walk forward, not even looking to the left, but just kept asking, "Are they coming?"

"No……"

"So what are they doing?"

"Follow us."

Lan Yu couldn't help but look sideways, and saw that the four wolves were indeed following their pace, walking slowly on the left, looking very leisurely.

Just as he was breathing a sigh of relief, he heard Lu Rankong say, "They look very idle, but they are just pretending. These wolves are the most cunning. They are secretly observing us, looking for an opportunity."

"Looking for what opportunity?" Lan Yu didn't realize that her voice had become sharp.

Lu Rankong looked back at him and said, "Don't be afraid, I'm also looking for an opportunity."

"What opportunity are you looking for?" Lan Yu raised his voice a lot. When he noticed that the four wolves were looking at him, he lowered his voice and said, "Don't be reckless. We didn't take anything."

Lu Rankong laughed and stared at Lan Yu with interest, as if appreciating his nervous expression.

"What are you looking at? Look over there. It's so late and you're still looking at me." Lan Yu really wanted to reach out and pinch him.

He kept a sharp eye on the wolves, afraid that they would suddenly charge over, and urged Lu Rankong, "Look at them, stare at them. If one of us stares at them and the other pretends to be indifferent, they won't dare to come over."

Lu Rankong laughed again.

"Why are you still laughing?" Lan Yu said hatefully, gritting her teeth.

"Do you want to have something exciting?" Lu Rankong suddenly asked him, with some excitement in his eyes.

Lan Yu refused directly, "I don't want to..."

As soon as he finished speaking, without any warning, Lu Rankong suddenly rushed towards the wolves, roaring loudly like a wild beast and waving his coat as he ran.

Lan Yu was stunned, and the four wolves were also stunned. They all stood there without moving.

By the time Lan Yu reacted, Lu Rankong had already rushed to nearly half the distance of the wolf pack. He roared fiercely and swung his coat vigorously.

Lan Yu was no longer able to think too much. He closed his eyes, let out a long roar, and rushed out with his mouth wide open and a ferocious face. He quickly took off his coat while running and waved it above his head like Lu Rankong.

The wolves were obviously confused. They began to retreat timidly, then turned around and jogged, looking back as they ran, as if they were reluctant to give up.

Lu Rankong had already rushed behind them like a whirlwind, kicked the last wolf in mid-air, and yelled, "Look at your mother..."

With a dull thud, the leather boot hit the wolf's belly hard. The wolf howled miserably, drew a long arc in the air, and then slammed to the ground with a bang. After twitching a few times, it became motionless.

The remaining three wolves no longer hesitated and started running as fast as they could, fleeing into the distance without looking back.

Lan Yu also rushed over, followed them for a few steps, threw the coat in her hand in that direction, and shouted at the backs of the three wolves with all her might: "Look at your mother--"

He stood there gasping for breath, his heartbeat still not calming down, his temples throbbing. Lu Rankong walked over, put his arm around his shoulders and said with a smile: "Isn't it exciting?"

Lan Yu nodded and said mechanically: "Exciting..."

"I knew you would like it." Lu Rankong went to pick up his coat, then came back to hold his hand and said, "Let's go, let's continue."

Lan Yu was led by Lu Rankong and walked for a while in a daze before she came to her senses. After savoring it carefully, she gradually became excited.

"You should have left one for me to kick," he said.

"I can't keep them. They ran away."

Lan Yu said: "Then you should wait for me to rush forward together."

"You're already very fast."

"I didn't kick one away, it's still not perfect." Lan Yu felt a little regretful, and then said: "I don't usually swear."

Lu Rankong was a little confused: "When did you swear?"

"Just now, I was talking about visiting your mother...or something like that." Lan Yu walked with his head down, a smile on his face.

"Oh, that, how can that be called a dirty word?" Lu Rankong took a few steps and looked at him lovingly, "You actually call that a dirty word..."

The two continued to walk forward, with their coats on their heads, talking casually about this and that. As they walked, Lan Yu stopped again.

"What's wrong? Do you want some water?" Lu Rankong asked as he touched the water bottle hanging behind his waist.

"No water..." Lan Yu looked at him with burning eyes, "Do you want to have an exciting time?"

Lu Rankong glanced at him, stopped vigilantly and began to look around. When he looked to the right, his gaze froze.

Just over a hundred meters away, next to several giant cacti, there was actually a small group of lions. It looked like a male lion and four or five lionesses, lying lazily.

"Want to play? I can go first..." Lan Yu took off the coat on her head and held it in her hands, she asked in a low voice with some excitement, her eyes shining.

Lu Rankong quickly pulled him around from the right and said, "Forget it..."

He didn't let go of the lions until he had walked a long way and could no longer see them.

It is already early October, and the hottest period has passed, but it is noon after all, and the sun is still quite hot. After walking for a while, Lan Yu was the first to notice that the sun had set, the weather had turned gloomy, and a slight cool breeze was blowing in the air.

"Is it going to rain?" He looked up at the low, dark clouds in the sky.

Lu Rankong also squinted his eyes and looked at the sky, saying, "No, the weather in the desert of Zata Star is different from other places. It basically doesn't rain. The dark clouds will disperse as soon as the wind blows."

Lan Yu felt a drop of cold on her face, wiped it with her finger, stretched it in front of Lu Rankong and said, "Look, there are raindrops."

Lu Rankong held his hand, led him and continued to walk forward, saying lightly: "Occasionally there will be one or two clouds floating in the sky, but they will disappear once the dark clouds disperse. This is the unique weather on Zata Star."

As soon as the words fell, dense raindrops fell on his head...

Heavy rain covered the entire desert, and a gray curtain was drawn between the sky and the earth. A layer of water soon accumulated on the dry and cracked ground. Small animals ran in the rain, splashing water all the way, and quickly returned to their holes.

The whole world seemed to be left with only endless rain, desert, and two people on the road.

"Are you cold?" Lu Rankong asked loudly to the person in his arms as they walked.

The rain was so heavy that both of them were only wearing wet shirts. They overlapped their coats and held them over their heads. One of them held one side, and they walked forward holding each other tightly.

Lan Yu leaned closer to his arms and said, "It's not cold..."

He really didn't feel cold. Even though Lu Rankong was wet, his body was still emitting warm temperature, which dispelled the chill.

"I'm sorry..." Lu Rankong said again.

Lan Yu looked up at him, her hair hanging wetly on her forehead and a few drops of rain on her face.

Lu Rankong raised the hand that was around his shoulders, wiped the water off his face from behind his head, and whispered, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault for not checking the car beforehand."

He looked very depressed, and his voice was filled with regret and anxiety.

A sand lizard scurried past their feet and dove into a hole by the side of the road.

After Lan Yu watched the sand lizard disappear, she suddenly kissed him on the lips and said, "It's nice to walk like this."

"Really?"

"real……"

"I screwed up our date."

"It's not messed up. I like walking with you." Lan Yu said, "Walking in the rain was one of the ten things you must do on a date when you first showed me."

Lu Rankong was silent for a while, then said, "Actually, I'm quite happy to keep going like this, as long as you are with me."

Lan Yu didn't answer, but just scratched his waist with the hand that was around his waist.

Lu Rankong pinched his shoulder.

He tickled Lu Rankong's waist again, and Lu Rankong pinched his shoulder again.

After a few rounds of silence, the two began to chase each other. They no longer needed their coats to cover their heads and ran like the wind in the rain.

Before I knew it, the sky cleared up, the dark clouds dispersed, and the sun came out. In the desert washed by rain, small animals poked their heads out again.

Both of their clothes had been dried and were hanging wrinkled on their bodies, and their hair looked like it was covered with two piles of straw. Only the military boots on his feet were still wet, making a squeaking sound as he walked.

Lu Rankong reached out to touch Lan Yu's hair and said, "It's almost there. We've already walked more than halfway."

Gradually, some villages and scattered houses could be seen. Bell City was not far away and vehicles appeared on the road.

A small truck carrying hay passed by. The two men stopped the truck, got on the bed, climbed up onto the tall pile of hay and lay down.

"I can finally take a break." Lan Yu stretched out his limbs and let out a comfortable sigh.

Lu Rankong lay beside him, turned sideways, looked at him without blinking, and then slowly moved closer.

The pickup truck was driving very slowly. When a vehicle passed by quickly, two people could be seen hugging and kissing passionately on the haystack in the truck bed, with their heads and bodies covered with hay.

"Wow, tsk tsk tsk, the young people nowadays are amazing." A driver stepped on the accelerator and quickly overtook the truck.

When the kiss ended, Lan Yu's lips felt numb. He lay on his back on the haystack, and what came into view was the blue sky and Lu Rankong's eyes that were filled with affection and intoxication.

The two men didn't speak, both breathing slightly, and looked at each other intently on the swaying haystack.

After Lu Rankong gave him a string of small kisses on his face, he lay down next to him and looked at the sky together.

Her nose was filled with the fragrance of hay and a soft breeze brushed across her face. Lan Yu leaned her head over and clung tightly to the person next to her.

It was my first date and it was pretty good.

He thought to himself.