On the last day of the 216th year of the Star Calendar, the weather forecast indicated heavy snowfall. Qi Yan looked out the window at the gloomy sky outside, wrapped himself in the quilt and continued to lie in bed.

The last two days of every month are public holidays, and Turan Academy basically does not schedule classes. Qi Yan opened his personal terminal and updated the research progress of "Po Jun".

He had just submitted it for less than a minute when the communication rang. This made Qi Yan wonder if August had set up a small monitoring system, and the small system would prompt him as soon as he updated.

"Qi Yan, you actually completed 'Po Jun' in three months?"

Qi Yan half-closed his eyes, hummed, and explained: "It was based on my mother's foundation, and the design had already begun twenty-one months before coming to Leto. However, the confusion of reality was more serious at that time, so we didn't dare to really restart the project."

August sighed, "How could your confusion be just more serious at that time? I don't know how many times Eliza cried quietly, and we were all afraid that you would never wake up again in the confused memory."

Qi Yan seldom recalled the specific situation of that period, because to this day, he still can't tell which of those intertwined memories are real and which are fabricated by himself. He only said: "I made you worry."

"Anyway, You made the Po Jun in just three months! Even if we add the twenty-one months of design, it’s two years! You made the Po Jun in two years!”

Listening to August’s excited speech, Qi Yan’s expression became relaxed: “The specific effect cannot be tested now.”

August was quite impatient: “It needs to be connected to the central control system of the military starship, right? Do you want to take a leave and apply for a trip to the front line?”

“Not for now, let’s talk about it after the data core of Po Jun is extracted.” Qi Yan did not tell his plan, Changing the subject, "Tomorrow is New Year's Day, August, Happy New Year!"

August's hearty laughter came over: "I've corrected you so many times. In this formal context, you should call me 'Uncle August'! I correct you every year, and you still don't follow suit next year! But this is your first time to celebrate New Year's Day outside, and I feel a little uncomfortable without you."

Qi Yan exposed his words without hesitation: "Last New Year's Day you were in the laboratory, the year before last you happened to encounter a problem and locked yourself in the room for a week, and the year before last you were sick and lay in the treatment cabin for two days and two nights, so we haven't celebrated New Year's Day together for three consecutive years."

August laughed: "Qi Yan, Can I forget all these?"

Qi Yan's lips relaxed slightly: "No, my memory is too good, I can't forget it."

At this time, Eliza's voice came from the other side: "August, are you talking to Qi Yan?"

Qi Yan took the initiative to say: "Aunt Eliza, Happy New Year."

Eliza's words were full of smiles: "Happy New Year to Qi Yan too! Are you going anywhere to play today?"

Qi Yan subconsciously looked at the door and replied: "Probably, it seems that I will go to the Sky Diamond Plaza to watch the fountain show, and then participate in the New Year countdown."

This is what Lu Fenghan mentioned to him before going to bed last night, saying that "Po Jun" was done, the Qi family's affairs had been dealt with, and he didn't have to go to school, so he could just participate in the New Year activities.

Eliza was very relieved: "Our Qi Yan finally knows to go out and play!"

Qi Yan retorted without much confidence: "I have always known." He hesitated for a while, and still mentioned, "Qi Wenshao... died a few days ago. His current wife fed him 'river alkali'."

Eliza and August were close friends with Lin Zhi, so they naturally knew who Qi Wenshao was and what happened to him.

They were both silent.

Eliza asked, "How are you?"

Qi Yan thought carefully: "I don't know. I met him once, but he couldn't survive at that time. Later, when I heard the news of his death, there was a moment in my heart where I felt... empty. It's very strange, because to me, he was almost a stranger."

From childhood to adulthood, Lin Zhi did not shy away from mentioning Qi Wenshao, and his descriptions and comments were very objective, so he had no expectations or attachment to Qi Wenshao, nor did he have any resentment.

"Qi Yan, it's not strange." Eliza's voice was gentle and slow, "You are a person with emotions, not a program-controlled machine. It is normal for you to have certain emotions because of the death of others. Moreover, the death of this person also means that there is no one in this world who is your blood father anymore."

Qi Yan turned over again and buried half of his face in the pillow: "Well, I know."

When Qi Yan went downstairs, Lu Fenghan was holding a gravity device to exercise, and the muscles of his arms showed smooth and powerful lines.

Noticing that the personal terminal configured on Lu Fenghan's wrist was slightly lit, Qi Yan guessed that he should be talking to someone.

Seeing Lu Fenghan's cold expression, he didn't say anything and went to the kitchen to pour water.

"Commander, asked me to keep an eye on the frontline situation. From the reports sent back by the Expeditionary Force, as the Allied Forces have shown a tendency to negotiate peace, apart from small-scale frictions, the firing range between the Expeditionary Force and the rebels has not been large recently. Both sides have been quite restrained. The rebels have also been staying where they are, with no signs of major movements."

Vincent has always considered himself one of Lu Fenghan's useful "tools". It doesn't matter if he doesn't understand Lu Fenghan's intentions. He can just investigate as ordered.

"As for the interstellar pirates, after the starship hijacking incident, they robbed two civilian transport ships and a small short-distance starship near Leto, and then disappeared. From the information I found, they seemed to be hibernating, and only committed three acts at the borders of the Kepler Region and the Southern Cross Region."

After listening, Lu Fenghan said: "The activity level is too low."

"I think it's very low too. I wonder if it's because the rebels provide them with food and drink, so those pirates don't have to work hard to support themselves." Vincent asked directly, "Commander, do you think there is a problem?"

Lu Fenghan did not answer but asked, "Is the founding day approaching?"

Vincent: "Yes, that's right, I remember these two times very clearly! On New Year's Day, the kitchen on the command ship will have a sumptuous meal, and the variety of dishes is twice as much as usual. After a few days, the variety of dishes becomes twice that of New Year's Day, which means it is the founding day!"

The starship floats in space, and the people on board are very slow to understand the rotation of day and night and the changes of seasons. They either record the date by rotating on board, or they do what Vincent does, relying on whether the number of dishes in the kitchen has increased to determine whether there is any special celebration day.

As soon as he finished speaking, Vincent responded: "Commander, do you think the rebels will cause trouble on the day the alliance is founded?"

Without waiting for Lu Fenghan to answer, he denied it himself: "It should be impossible. If I were the leader of the rebels, I would not have chosen this day. Although the intimidation is strong enough, it is equivalent to stepping on the face of the alliance and rubbing and rubbing on the ground of the Sky Diamond Plaza, but the difficulty on the founding day is too great. Not only is Leto's defense extremely strict, it is difficult for anyone to enter or leave. In order to avoid being attacked from both sides, General Nie also The troops in the Central Administrative District have been gathered. Commander, if the rebels can invade Leto, the Alliance will be gone. "

Lu Fenghan groaned: "It's not good to have a premonition."

Vincent didn't think Lu Fenghan was worrying for no reason. On the contrary, for someone like Lu Fenghan who had been confronting the rebels on the front line for several years, a sudden premonition might be more reliable than the conclusion drawn by the staff after a hundred deductions on the sand table.

"Then I'll keep an eye on it and report to you if there's anything unusual."

Lu Fenghan agreed, and pretended to care about his subordinates: "Aren't you going out to celebrate the New Year tonight?"

Vincent lamented: "What kind of New Year! Going out alone and looking up at the midnight sky of Leto? No, in the sky of Leto, even the moons are in pairs!"

Lu Fenghan said calmly: "Oh, Qiyan and I are going out."

Lu Fenghan added more details: "Go to the Sky Diamond Plaza to watch the fountain show, there seems to be a countdown there?"

Vincent: "..."

Why should I answer this question without any suspicion?

Commander, thank you for trusting you so much!

Qiyan found that there was a kind of coldness that made Lu Fenghan feel that he was cold. After Lu Fenghan cut off the communication and saw him, his eyes naturally fell on his bare feet.

Just as Qi Yan was looking at his feet and trying to find a reason to explain why he was not wearing shoes, Lu Fenghan walked over, picked him up horizontally, and asked him with his eyes downcast: "It's winter, and it's snowing today. Don't you feel cold?"

Qi Yan was stunned, and his hands instinctively put on Lu Fenghan's shoulders to keep his balance: "... Not cold."

Putting him on the sofa, Lu Fenghan touched the back of his foot: "You still call it not cold?"

There was no blame in his words, but a hint of helplessness.

When Lu Fenghan went to get his slippers for him, Qi Yan stared at his feet.

Now it seems... I feel cold.

It's very strange, I didn't feel cold before.

Lu Fenghan also picked the slippers. His aesthetics were not in line with his personality. He had several pairs of the same style, with different small animals on the uppers - rabbits with erect ears or squirrels with long tails. The whole pair of shoes was made of some unknown fur. When Qi Yan wore them, he always felt like he was walking on clouds.

After staring at the squirrel's furry tail for a while, Qi Yan explained: "No one reminds me to put on slippers, so I got used to it." He added, "I will try my best to remember."

Lu Fenghan pinched his face: "It doesn't matter if you can't remember, I will remind you."

After nightfall, Lu Fenghan drove Qi Yan to the Sky Diamond Plaza.

Qi Yan was looking forward to it: "Will there be a lot of people? I heard from Ye Pei and Xia Zhiyang that there were a lot of people celebrating the New Year at Sky Diamond Plaza, and it was very crowded."

"It should be okay. The number of people is limited every year. You have to make an appointment in advance. If the appointment is full, you can't get in. You can only watch it at home with holography."

Qi Yan looked at him: "Did you make an appointment?"

"Yes, I asked Xia Zhiyang in advance, and he told me the time when the appointment is open." Lu Fenghan drove the suspension car with one hand and asked Qi Yan again, "Are you happy?"

Qi Yan nodded seriously: "Happy."

When getting off the car, Lu Fenghan took a light brown plaid scarf and wrapped it around Qi Yan, and then opened the car door.

In the Sky Diamond Plaza, which occupies a large area, there are more people than Qi Yan imagined, but it is not crowded.

Seeing him looking left and right, Lu Fenghan reminded him slowly with a smile: "There are a lot of people here, follow me, don't get lost."

Qi Yan nodded, but he still only looked left and right instead of looking at the road, and almost bumped into people several times.

Lu Fenghan had no choice but to hold Qi Yan's wrist and put it on his forearm, raising his eyebrows and looking at him.

After a few beats, Qi Yan lowered his eyelashes, slowly retracted his fingertips, and gently grasped Lu Fenghan's sleeve.

When he clenched it, Lu Fenghan's sharp eyes were warm, and he continued to walk forward: "Well, this way you won't get lost."

Qi Yan wanted to say that I'm not a child anymore, but as he followed Lu Fenghan in the crowd, he caught a glimpse of the man with straight shoulders and back beside him. The clothes in his palm were dry and warm to the touch, making him reluctant to let go.

The two went to see the fountain show first.

They were standing near the front, and it seemed that someone was pushing forward from behind. Before Qi Yan could react, Lu Fenghan took a small step back to him, put his hand on his shoulder, and half-wrapped him in his arms.

Qi Yan couldn't help but look up at Lu Fenghan, who happened to be looking at him as well.

At that moment, Lu Fenghan's eyes were like black holes that absorbed light, and his mind went blank for a moment. It wasn't

until Lu Fenghan lowered his head and leaned close to his ear to remind him, "The show has begun."

Qi Yan mechanically turned towards the direction of the fountain show. The light of water and lights reflected in his eyes, but he felt as if he didn't see anything.

Instead, his shoulder blades were pressed against Lu Fenghan's chest, and he remembered every slight tremor caused by the other's heartbeat very clearly.

No one knew when the fountain show ended, and neither of them mentioned what the show was about.

Following the crowd towards the clock tower, Qi Yan felt that she would not get lost, but after a moment of hesitation, her fingers still grabbed Lu Fenghan's sleeve.

It was not a long journey, but because there were too many people, the pace slowed down, and it took a while to reach the clock tower.

The clock tower of the Diamond Plaza was designed to be magnificent, with a marble white surface, exquisite reliefs, and at the top, a copper-black pointer that is said to be delayed by only one second in a thousand years.

Lu Fenghan told Qiyan: "It is said that this bell tower is the first bell tower in Leto and even the entire alliance. It was built after humans left the earth and landed on the planet under our feet. The meaning is, 'This is the place where humans originated, and this is when the alliance began.'"

Qiyan nodded: "How do you know all this?"

Lu Fenghan thought, if he didn't know this, his three or four pages of information would be in vain.

As time passed, the crowd around became noisy, and then gradually quieted down in the last minute before midnight.

Lu Fenghan leaned over and put his ear close to Qiyan's ear: "What are your wishes for the New Year?"

After he said that, he found that Qiyan's earlobe was slightly red, and even the light-colored mole on it seemed to be re-inked.

"I won't tell you." Qi Yan tried his best to ignore the itching in his ears and asked him, "What about you, do you have a wish?"

Lu Fenghan smiled and said, "I won't tell you either."

"Okay," Qi Yan pursed his lips and didn't ask any more questions, "Then let's make a wish quietly."

The two of them leaned against each other's shoulders and looked up at the clock tower like everyone else. There were

thirty seconds left until midnight.

The long-foreseen heavy snow finally fell, and the snowflakes were flying like clouds falling from the sky and floating all over the fields. There were

ten seconds left until midnight.

A neat countdown sounded throughout the Sky Diamond Plaza.

"Ten!"

"Nine!"

"Eight!"

...

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Dong--"

At the same moment when the bell rang, at the first second of January 1, 217, Lu Fenghan took Qi Yan's hand that was grasping his sleeve and held it in his palm.