Chapter 2 The Heart's Abode
Qi An flew over the azure sea for more than an hour before returning to his own island.
After walking across the softest, finest golden sand and through a large camphor tree forest that looked somewhat withered due to the winter cold, Qi An saw the two small wooden buildings side by side.
The rich aroma of meat wafted from the courtyard, causing Qi An to quicken his pace involuntarily.
She excitedly carried two large packages and pushed open the fence gate, only to find Xu Zhuoxing sprawled out on a recliner, dozing off.
Qi An glanced at the half-closed kitchen door again and saw Ye Xiao flash by inside, seemingly busy. He was immediately furious!
She pointed at Xu Zhuoxing and shouted, "Uncle Xu! We agreed to have a family reunion dinner tonight, and you're not going to do any work at all, are you?"
Xu Zhuoxing was startled, opened her eyes, stood up, and smiled: "Xiao An is back."
He glanced at the package in Qi An's hand and raised an eyebrow: "Didn't you bring anything with you?"
"A person can't just die of laziness," Qi An said.
No sooner had she finished speaking than Ye Xiao came out of the kitchen, first calling out happily in her bright soprano voice, "Baby!"
He whispered again, "I didn't bring anything back with me."
Qi An said helplessly, "Mom, don't all three of us know how to cook? It's the last family reunion dinner of the year, and I think it's more interesting and meaningful for us to cook ourselves."
"Then you do it, I'll help you." Ye Xiao handed the rolling pin to Qi An without hesitation.
Having visited over ten bases and flown thousands of kilometers, Qi An said, "...Alright then."
Xu Zhuoxing can cook.
He didn't know how to do it before; he only had the skills he learned in wilderness survival training: cooking leaf soup and roasting wild game.
When he later truly survived alone on the island, he could even catch whales and obtain all kinds of food! It was inevitable that he would crave some of those foods.
Since she had plenty of time to spare, Xu Zhuoxing seriously learned to cook.
Without any expert guidance, I learned quite a bit by watching videos about the pre-apocalyptic world.
But he was just lazy, so lazy that Qi An couldn't stand it anymore. He picked up a spatula and a broom and did all the housework.
Ye Xiao's family was poor when she was young. Her parents had to work odd jobs in the shop or stay with her younger sister who was hospitalized. She often had to take care of her own meals.
She cooks quickly and well, but she doesn't enjoy cooking.
After making money, especially after getting married, he completely stopped doing housework.
“Why don’t your dad do it, or your aunt do it? I’m mainly here to enjoy myself… no, I want to save my energy for creating!” she said.
If it weren't for Qi An's habit of self-reliance and diligence, this family would have been unable to survive long ago!
At Qi An's insistence, the two who only wanted to lie down finally moved.
Ye Xiao unpacked and put things away, Xu Zhuoxing washed her hands and kneaded the dough, Qi An took a shower and went into the kitchen to prepare the filling.
The dumplings were made by the three of them. Qi An rolled out the dough, while the other two slowly shaped them into ingots.
"There are also people posting cooking videos like '20 ways to cook pork tenderloin' and 'Master Chef's Legacy: The Most Authentic Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs,' and quite a few people are watching them." Qi Anteng swiped his tablet as he made his move.
She discovered that there were already civilian video websites on Starlink, with a wide variety of videos, ranging from "A compilation of official administrative orders from the North 1 Base in the first half of the year, predicting the site selection of several key development zones in the future" to "Announcement of the establishment of a cross-base private intermodal transport company" and "How to use balcony space to grow scallions"—it was all-encompassing!
Xu Zhuoxing said lazily, "There hasn't been a major war for almost two years. Humanity is safe now and has started to flourish. Don't make a fuss. Before the apocalypse, the information density on the internet every day was ten thousand times that it is now."
Qi An was amazed by the richness of the pre-apocalyptic world and also quite admired Xu Zhuoxing:
"Uncle Xu, you went from such a noisy world to a desolate island all of a sudden, and you were able to endure it."
“The military is different from civilian life. Besides, compared to the environment in space, the island is too lively. It’s like celebrating the New Year every day,” Xu Zhuoxing said leisurely, crossing his legs.
At these moments, Qi An's admiration for Uncle Xu would reach its peak.
His life journey was so rich, it was as if he had experienced everything, and then turned all the magnificent events into a few yawns that he could yawn at any time.
Qi An is studying his mental state.
The dumplings were cooked, and three large plates were served. The fish was also ready, and the braised pork hock, which didn't require much skill, was also served.
Qi An quickly stir-fried two more vegetarian dishes and plated the fried ribbonfish and pickled shrimp he brought back from Southeast Base No. 1.
A New Year's Eve dinner that had been prepared several days in advance was finally ready!
However, when Qi An was serving the dishes, he felt a chill down his spine.
She stumbled and turned around, then slammed her mother against the wall with a powerful blow.
The pork knuckle flipped over, and the bright red broth was poured onto the snow-white broken porcelain.
The kitchen, along with the entire wooden house, shook, and fine dust fell, sticking to the white dumpling wrappers.
The room was quiet, and remained quiet for a long time, so long that the steam from the dumpling soup in the large pot gradually subsided from its bubbling and rising.
There were rustling sounds everywhere, and life gradually returned.
Qi An brought the dumplings to the table, carefully scraped off the layer of ash, and then cut off the edible parts of the pork knuckle and put them back on the plate.
The three of them sat around a small square table, chatting and laughing.
Ye Xiao said of Xu Zhuoxing: "Don't be fooled by his seemingly mild temper now. When he was in school, he was definitely the kind of person who would spread rumors about me, that kind of bully!"
Xu Zhuoxing slowly peeled the shrimp and laughed, "Don't talk nonsense. I just didn't study hard back then. If anyone messed with me, I would fight back. I never bullied female classmates."
"How did you become an astronaut if you didn't study hard?" Qi An asked in confusion.
"I just didn't study hard in elementary and middle school. After all, my parents were divorced and I had a stepmother, so it was inevitable that I would rebel for a couple of years." Xu Zhuoxing threw a piece of shrimp meat the length of a finger into his mouth.
"Later, I met some good teachers and friends, and I turned over a new leaf. With my IQ, if I just studied hard, I'd be in the top ten of my grade. There's nothing I can do about it." He smiled in a slightly smug way.
"I just can't stand good students like them!" Ye Xiao snorted again.
"You can't stand it, yet you married a PhD?" Xu Zhuoxing never lost an argument with Ye Xiao: "I think you're just pretending to dislike him, but secretly you yearn for him, and even admire him a little."
Amidst laughter and commotion, and having weathered several potential table-flipping crises, the meal came to a perfect end!
According to the duty roster, it's Ye Xiao's turn to wash the dishes today.
But Qi An couldn't help himself and helped his mother with the washing and tidying.
Xu Zhuoxing returned to his house. It was a freezing cold day, and he sat cross-legged on the balcony.
Ye Xiao also went up to the balcony, but she sat in a rocking chair and pretended to doze off with her eyes closed.
Qi An knew there was no difference; although they walked in the mortal world, a part of their souls were forever in darkness, waging an endless battle.
Qi An also closed his eyes in the quiet night and cold wind.
Lately, when she enters a meditative state or falls asleep, it seems as if she opens her eyes in another place.
The dark void, which had no upper or lower limit and no end, yet posed a real warning of danger, made Qi An feel strange, conflicted, and chilled with fear.
She would always wake up quickly, as if trying to escape from the nightmare.
Qi An woke up quickly this time as well. Before he woke up, he seemed to see a mountain-like writhing black shadow, as if he was almost touched by it!
She sat in the cold wind for a while, then couldn't help but turn to Xu Zhuoxing and say, "Uncle Xu, do you really have to completely defeat the will of pollution? What good would it do to completely defeat it?"
You're almost never going to lose control now, isn't it good to maintain the status quo?
Xu Zhuoxing, who has a very good temper, shook his head directly: "No."
Qi An was slightly taken aback.
"The fight against pollution is like rowing against the current; if you don't move forward, you fall behind."
"As long as I think about maintaining the status quo, the status quo will not be maintained. I will be defeated again and again until I am completely swallowed up once more! I will never!"
The first sentence was said by Xu Zhuoxing, and the second sentence came from Ye Xiao, who was beside Qi An.
At this moment, Ye Xiao neither slacked off nor clung to Qi An, her gaze was cold and her voice was calm.
Qi An remained silent for a long time before nodding and saying, "I understand."
“Your mom always teaches you to sing, so I’ll teach you one too.” After a while, Xu Zhuoxing leaned on the railing on this side of the balcony and smiled at Qi An.
Before Qi An could answer, Uncle Xu confidently spoke up:
"Blind children heading into the storm of fate."
You come from the scorching heat of the volcano and the bitter cold of the deep sea.
Life itself is an accident; the coin turned upside down turns to dust.
They built a boat and moved mountains so that they might be able to fall in love by chance.
Going to war is an ancient destiny; people will step barefoot into the night.
Only I can decide what stance I should take...
Let death covet me, let fear kiss me.
It took away everything I loved so much~
But that still can't take away my choice!
A deep, resonant male voice echoed and lingered above the ocean waves and beneath the starry sky.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com