Chapter Sixty-Three: The Curtain of the Past
Chen Yuezhou stared at Qi An in a daze for a moment, about to say something, when a voice came: "Chen...Yuezhou! What are you doing?"
Chen Yuezhou turned around and saw Yang Yuning. His gaze immediately softened. "Chatting with Dr. Qi, what's up?"
Although they were supposed to be chatting, he stood between Qi An and the window.
Because of the huge difference in their physical sizes, it seemed like he was bullying Qi An.
Yang Yuning was half-sober, his face dark, and he strode over, intending to push Chen Yuezhou aside and pull Qi An over.
But Qi An moved out from in front of Chen Yuezhou first: "It's about to rain. How's the food inside? Why don't we call it a night?"
Yang Yuning stopped in her tracks. The sky outside the window was extremely gloomy, and the wind blowing in from the window carried a chilly, damp atmosphere.
He and Chen Yuezhou exchanged a glance, their eyes meeting as if sparks were about to fly!
Qi An felt uneasy again. She walked straight past the two of them and went into the house, saying to Shuang, "Captain, it's going to rain."
The private room was a mess of dishes and cups; even the scallions used as ingredients in the hot pot had been eaten.
Yu Shuang was half-lying on the table chatting with Qin Tianshuo and Xu Le.
Qin Tianshuo said dejectedly, "I also have a special ability, electromagnetic induction... and... and what was it again? Anyway, it's... particularly useless against Fallen Insects!"
These words startled Chen Yuezhou, who had just entered the room, and he took a closer look at Qin Tianshuo.
“Something is better than nothing! If I ever don’t want to be out on the streets anymore, I can retire and become a sheriff, wouldn’t that be great?” Yu Shuang tapped her chopsticks on the rim of her bowl. “It’s going to rain, let’s call it a day.”
As everyone stood up one after another, Sun Yiran asked Xu Le, "When are you all leaving for the freshman base?"
Xu Le glanced at Sun Yiran's gleaming, murderous eyes, coughed, and cautiously said, "Just two or three days, it'll be quick."
Actually, they weren't going back to the new base; they were going to conduct battlefield reconnaissance north of Hualin County.
"Oh..." Sun Yiran sighed in disappointment, "We have to wait here."
"We're going back to Base North 1," Jia Wenxuan said. He didn't make much of a fuss during the meal, but he drank a lot of alcohol.
The remaining members of their squad will inevitably be split up and assigned to other teams. He, as the vice-captain, doesn't know if he will be demoted.
Yang Yuning glanced at Qi An: "I'm leaving in a few days too."
Qi An looked at him and asked, "Back to base?"
Yang Yuning shook his head and mouthed, "Go north."
He's going to the grasslands.
In the upcoming great battle, he will be involved in the northern grasslands, the destination of his previous mission and the place where he should settle his karmic debts.
Qi An nodded silently.
"Let's go," Yu Shuang said finally.
All good things must come to an end.
However, everyone else was returning to Dongying this time, except for Qi An, who was going back to her small apartment.
Yang Yuning offered to see her off, but she politely declined. She bought an umbrella from a nearby grocery store and set off alone.
The rain started again.
Thunder rumbled in the distance, and a sudden downpour, more typical of summer, fell on this spring day. Water droplets quickly formed strings under the eaves of houses along the street.
Qi An did not go straight back to the apartment, but instead took a detour through half of the base and arrived at a small commercial street near Dongying.
The streets were deserted. Right outside the small bar where she had once seen Su Qingran late at night, a scarred man leaned out from under the eaves. "Damn! How come the rain in the Northwest can start whenever it wants?"
After he finished speaking, a young man next to him saw Qi An on the street and hurriedly said to the scarred man, "Brother Xiang! Brother Xiang! Look over there, isn't that...?"
Qi An looked up from under the umbrella and met the gaze of the scarred man.
Teacher Tang said that "her father's friend" was named Xiang Shiyang.
She had no recollection of the name, but upon closer inspection, the face did seem somewhat familiar.
Xiang Shiyang smiled, flung the curtain aside, and said like a boss soliciting customers, "Beautiful lady, please come in, please come in. We have hot water and wine in our shop. Come in and have a drink."
Qi An did not hesitate or back down, and stepped into the shop.
Xiang Shiyang smiled and led Qi An into a small private room inside the lobby.
The lighting was dim, the leather seats were worn out, and the faces of the people opposite appeared dark and blurry.
"I heard you came from Southeast Base No. 4?" Qi An asked.
The extremely thin young man brought over a kettle, a wine bottle, and wine glasses. His overly bright eyes swept over the two men's faces, especially curiously scrutinizing Qi An.
After looking him over, he retreated to the doorway and stood guard with his arms crossed.
Xiang Shiyang only poured himself a glass of wine.
"Yes, the base was destroyed, and I fled into the mountains. It took me many years to get out. Then I went to another small base in the Central Plains. In the end... well, it was a tough journey, not as tough as Dr. Qi's." Xiang Shiyang squinted and took a sip of the compound liquor, feeling somewhat emotional.
Qi An remained silent and looked at Shi Yang carefully: "You are much stronger than when you were a child, and your complexion is better too. You must have had a really good time at this base these past few years."
As Qi An moved closer to Shi Yang, his gaze swept over Shi Yang's face inch by inch, and he finally remembered:
"You're the lab guard!"
Xiang Shiyang was taken aback, then suddenly slapped his thigh and laughed:
"You actually remembered me! What's that word? Yeah, honored! I'm so damn honored!"
The beautiful young girl in front of me was once the only and most precious experimental subject in the underground laboratory of Southeast Base No. 4!
Back then, she would have to be protected by four or five guards just to walk from her bedroom to the medical room.
Of course, he wasn't a friend of Qi An's father; he was just one of the guards. At that time, he didn't even have the right to say a word to her!
"How did you manage to hide the fact that you wouldn't be contaminated?"
"You can be contaminated now? You can mutate?" Xiang Shiyang was extremely puzzled and curious.
He was shocked when he saw Qi An on the street a month ago.
He naturally remembered Qi An's appearance. Back then, the huge underground laboratory was all focused on that thin little girl, so it was impossible for him not to have a deep impression of her.
Even though eight years had passed and Qi An had grown up, his facial features hadn't changed much. He recognized him immediately, and after pretending to fall and taking a closer look, he was completely certain.
In the spring of 2043, Xiang Shiyang entered the underground laboratory as a guard. From his colleagues' casual conversations and what he saw and heard while on guard duty, he learned that the little girl named Qi An was originally just an ordinary child in the base.
However, when she was 7 years old, her father sent her to the research department.
Her father said she seemed to have no reaction to the pollution source and asked scientists to examine her.
The scientists were overjoyed, and quickly transferred Qi An to a secret underground laboratory.
She never left the base again until it was destroyed.
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