Chapter 94
"You have to make sure what you say is true." Lin Zhengen stood up, looked at Liu Zhongshi sharply, and said, "That Jiang country scientist Bai Tiao has been in Lanzhou the whole time."
Liu Zhongshi replied, "Yes, she smuggled herself out of the country in Anguo. As you know, it was Dr. Lu who helped her."
Lin Zhengen sighed, his expression becoming serious. He said, "I don't know what to do."
"Actually, Bai Tiao was also ostracized by the Jiang Kingdom, and a hunting order was issued. I personally believe that her escape to the Blue Continent base was a blessing in disguise. I spoke to Chief An on the phone, and he said she's currently researching fluorescent disease inhibitors, and they've shown significant clinical results." Liu Zhongshi said cautiously, "I think keeping her alive is more valuable."
"Let her live to embolden Lanzhou?" Lin Zhengen glanced at him and said in a displeased tone, "Xiaguo's current relationship with Lanzhou is also treading on thin ice. An Xingmin... is a power-hungry person who will not tolerate any violation."
Liu Zhongshi looked embarrassed and said, "Perhaps you shouldn't have voted in favor at the Global Federation. Otherwise, where would the Blue Continent Base be today?"
Lin Zhengen froze for a moment, then said in a worried voice, "Who would have known that a mere underwater island nation would be able to challenge our Xia Nation in just over thirty years?"
"..." When he said this, Liu Zhongshi's eyes suddenly flashed, and he looked at An Jing who was dribbling the ball over there. He was discussing something, and there were several tall men around him, who seemed to be discussing the tactics for the game later.
"Chief An's only son." Liu Zhongshi pushed his thick glasses and whispered to Lin Zhengen, "I heard his private life is worrying. Although he's married, he's still having affairs with other men and women behind his back, and he might even be gay."
After saying this, Lin Zhengen straightened himself, glanced at Liu Zhongshi meaningfully, and finally lowered his voice and said, "Then you should go and try to contact them. If some of the rumors are confirmed, I think Chief An might be very angry."
Liu Zhongshi nodded slightly.
-
An Jing asked around and found out that few of his colleagues who came with him knew how to play basketball. They were all intellectuals specializing in culture and were not good at this kind of competitive sport.
So the original basketball plan had to be changed to volleyball, and it was air volleyball with looser rules.
There was a loud snap—
A hard volleyball fell at An Jing's feet. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the person who provoked him was Lin Mosheng.
"An Jing, do you remember?" His eyes were sharp as he said, "You and I used to be a good pair. Who's going to be your setter now?"
An Jing really couldn't stand his own provocative nature. Wherever he went, he would arouse other people's competitive spirit.
"Bian Lu, can you play setter?" An Jing asked casually.
"What is a setter?" When Bian Lu asked this, An Jing sighed to the sky, knowing that he knew nothing about volleyball.
Lin Mosheng lifted the volleyball net and came over, sitting on the bench. He rubbed a ball in his hand and said, "I'm just confused, An Jing, why do you always keep people at a distance? We're both alumni, why don't you be friends with me?"
"Hehe." An Jing laughed dryly, as if he couldn't answer his question, or more like he didn't expect that he would have the nerve to ask such a question.
Why? Because your hostility was almost overflowing the screen, and An Jing simply saw it and cut off the subsequent tragedy before it happened.
"I've spotted Teacher An." Lin Mosheng tilted his head, sizing him up with a teasing expression. "You're a conservative person at heart. You've got dogma etched into your soul. Birds of a feather flock together, right? You've always felt, deep down, that you're different from the rest of us, right?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the room became embarrassed, including not only An Jing's teammates, but also other people from Xia Country.
An Jing then put down the mineral water bottle in his hand, walked over, looked him in the eye, and said sternly, "If you want to embarrass me, you could have just competed fairly on the court. Taking advantage of a quick exchange of words will only make things look ugly."
"..." Lin Mosheng grinned strangely and replied, "Yes, you're right. People with culture are different."
"You keep trying to provoke me, which only makes me feel ridiculous. It's as if you care about me a lot, but to me, you are nothing at all." An Jing sneered twice as a counterattack. Although he was indeed shorter than Lin Mosheng, he was slightly more imposing.
An Jing turned around and met Bian Lu. He whispered in his ear with amusement, "I never knew you weren't being confrontational when you were confronting people, but being gentle instead~"
"Have mercy on me, we're probably going to lose the game later." An Jing said in annoyance.
Bian Lu: "Then I'll tell you the truth. Lin Mosheng and I were high school classmates. There's nothing we can do about it. This Blue Continent base is so small. He used to bully me in school."
"How did you get bullied at school?" An Jing asked.
Bian Lu rubbed his nose with a fist and whispered, "When I was in school, I was a bit effeminate, so he, uh, thought I was gay and bought me a bunch of snacks, but they turned out to be condoms. I was so disgusted... Then I got into a fight with him after school and offended him. It almost affected my college entrance exam, but he did repeat the year."
"Oh my god." An Jing couldn't help laughing and said, "Your past with him was so exciting?"
"You seem to be very familiar with him." Bian Lu clicked his tongue.
An Jing laughed strangely and said, "I already said it was because of work. I don't have a deep friendship with him personally."
"It's such a small world." Bian Lu chuckled and covered his mouth.
Their conversation was interrupted by the crisp sound of a volleyball hitting the ground. Lin Mosheng reminded them to go on the court and said with a smile, "It's almost time."
Go ahead, it’s just a friendly match anyway, An Jing comforted himself.
Lin Mosheng served the ball and threw the volleyball high up. Just when An Jing thought he was going to throw it over and was ready to pass the ball, he saw Lin Mosheng take a step forward and jump up to directly spike the ball, which landed at his feet.
The clear sound of "pa" is the best insult.
“…” Bian Lu knew nothing and was helpless.
Not to mention his teammates, they are all elderly teachers.
Then Bian Lu noticed that An Jing's face looked quite ugly, a temper he had never shown before, even though he was usually calm.
All in all, Lin Mosheng won a great victory with a score of 5:20.
Then, An Jing sat on the bench with his head lowered, while Bian Lu wiped his hair with a handkerchief. He said nothing and looked depressed.
"It doesn't matter. He won the game, and you won life." Bian Lu consoled him kindly, saying, "At least you still have me, don't you..."
An Jing chuckled twice.
But then Lin Mosheng came again, shamelessly coming over to sit next to An Jing and continuing to amplify his magic attack: "I heard that Teacher An married General Cheng's daughter. When did that happen? How could someone like you actually get married? Does your wife know that you're actually a double-door?"
An Jing froze. Although he often used double doors to tease himself, it didn't mean that he was happy to be called that.
"What's it to you?" Bian Lu suddenly said, glaring at Lin Mosheng coldly, and rubbing his scalp with his hands, signaling An Jing to calm down.
An Jing's anger faded away.
"Oh." Lin Mosheng covered his mouth and said to Bian Lu with a false face, "Classmate Bian Lu, what is your relationship with An Jing? Are you not aware of his marriage?"
"I know," Bian Lu said, "I know An Jing better than you do. I have my reasons for choosing to stand by him. I don't need an outsider like you to tell me what to do."
Bian Lu glanced away from him, still cold and arrogant, just like the wooden face he had when he rejected Lin Mosheng in high school.
This face is so familiar.
This reminded Lin Mosheng of Bian Lu in high school, who always wore headphones and was taciturn, with cold eyes when he looked at everyone, looking like an ambitious and studious nerd.
In a sense, Bian Lu and An Jing are the same kind of people. They are both dissatisfied with the current situation, always proactive, always working non-stop, always trying their best, and ready to spread their wings and soar.
Lin Mosheng pouted, took a sip of water in a self-deprecating manner, stood up and walked away alone, still mumbling, "Oh, we are blessed by nature, we are a blessed family."
An Jing looked up and asked, "Did he ever like you?"
"I didn't think so," Bian Lu replied calmly. "I thought it was a joke from a rich kid like him. Later, I had a fight with him, and he even had his little brother block me after school to pick on me... I mean, I don't have a masochistic tendency."
"Okay." An Jing looked away.
Now he knew that Bian Lu was a man with high self-esteem. Thinking back to the previous incident at work, An Jing always felt an indescribable sense of guilt towards him.
"I'll treat you to a meal later." An Jing said.
-
It is cloudy today, there is no rain, but the sky is gray and the whole Anzhou is shrouded in a gloom. Even the passing vehicles are not bright, but black, white and gray, and lifeless.
They ate noodles and finished their meal.
"It would be nice if it rained," An Jing suddenly said. He smiled at Lu's slightly frowned eyes and explained, "I mean, the temperature at the Blue Continent base is constant year-round. Being able to go on land and experience the climate change, the wind, the sun, the rain, and so on, is a real pleasure."
"Sometimes I think your train of thought is really weird." Bian Lu commented on him.
"What's strange about that?" An Jing grasped the nearby lamppost with one hand, turned around, and replied, "Isn't it normal that I'm curious about things I haven't seen before?"
"Uh, oh." He realized belatedly that An Jing was talking about geography. Bian Lu was amused by this realization and suddenly said, "Lin Mosheng will probably never understand you. He only sees your house and your good looks, not even your so-called second-generation status and voice—he doesn't understand you."
"He is indeed on a different path from me." An Jing nodded.
Then he curved his eyebrows and asked, "Do you understand me?"
"I don't understand either." Bian Lu shook his head and replied playfully, "You understand yourself best. But since you agreed to let me be with you, it means that in your heart, I still understand you a little bit."
What's the point of playing reading comprehension here? An Jing laughed.
An Jing let go of the telephone pole, put his hands on Bian Lu's shoulders, nodded solemnly, and said, "Thank you, Teacher Bian. When I'm with you, I sometimes feel happy, so I admit - you understand me."
"Why do you suddenly call me teacher?" Bian Lu asked.
"I like it." An Jing kissed his lips again as if rewarding him, then walked away, answering to herself, "A lot of times, I find it really hard to talk to people. I always feel like their words are meaningless and empty, so I can't muster the energy to chat with them. I don't know why."
An Jing: "Even my dad, I find it very difficult to communicate with him. To put it in an analogy, it's like forcing two mismatched gears together. Sparks fly when they mesh, and it feels very awkward."
Bian Lu raised an eyebrow, nodded, looked at him lovingly, and asked, "So you don't feel this way with me? I can always pick up every sentence you say?"
"Right, haha." An Jing turned and looked at Bian Lu with eyes filled with admiration, even so-called love. He explained, "Actually, I know that you've always been accommodating to me. You understand everything, and you're always willing to be my supporting role."
"So, tell me, why were you crying on the bus earlier?" Bian Lu said, "I saw it through the reflection in the glass, An Jing. I didn't mean to laugh at you."
"I feel sorry for the people of Xia Country," An Jing sighed. "I've long felt that God is cruel. In the same world, some people live in luxury, while others suffer from poverty. I even feel that the people in the Blue Continent Base are all fame-seeking and vain. In this respect, I feel that I am incompatible with them."
"Ah..." Bian Luzhao leaned back, laughed again, and said, "So you are this kind of Teacher An."
"I'm not saying this to show how noble, kind, or special I am—" An Jing said hurriedly, "I just have this thought in my heart: the tiny dust of time, when it falls on a person's head, becomes a mountain. Of course, not everything in life goes as planned. Those who are unlucky may just be blinded by fate."
"I just think you're a bit sentimental," Bian Lu replied. "An Jing, if you're interested, why not go to Area F and see for yourself? I'm afraid the people you've been around since childhood are all educated, even morally and ethically minded. Open your eyes and see more of the world. Perhaps your kind heart will become even purer."
"Kindness?" An Jing was delighted and said, "That's a good word. Thank you for using it to praise me."
"Open your eyes and see the world...Okay, I will." Then he nodded again.
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