Chapter 172 "Get Her Drunk"
There's just enough space between the two empty beds in the dorm to fit two yoga mats.
Two girls are doing push-ups.
Lin Xi worked quickly, while Xiang Xin worked steadily beside her, chattering away in between:
"I don't believe it. I've trained in the army for so long, and I'm still not as good as you..."
Lin Xi's cheeks flushed, and beads of sweat dripped down her face. "I... haven't stopped exercising."
Despite having immense fighting skills but nowhere to use them at the base, Lin Xi maintained her training to prevent her muscles from becoming flabby.
Due to limited base conditions, there's no way to engage in PK duels or physical training. While their abilities are certainly not at their peak, they shouldn't have declined much.
Xiang Xin gritted her teeth and kept counting.
If you're using timed techniques for push-ups, speed is a big advantage. But if it's just about the number of repetitions, maintaining a steady pace and rhythm is the key to winning in the end.
Lin Xi and Xiang Xin used to exercise together when they lived together. Xiang Xin could only do half of what Lin Xi could do, but now she has obviously caught up.
After resting for a while, Lin Xi had nowhere to vent her frustration. Ignoring the sweat dripping down her chin, she changed her posture again and started doing a plank.
Xiang Xin had just rested and adjusted her breathing when she saw Lin Xi change her posture. She glared at her and said, "You're doing it again?!"
He then lay down as well: "I'll try to see if I can surpass you."
Lin Xi kept her eyes tightly closed, struggling to stay awake, only feeling that Xiang Xin was being very noisy.
No, no, Xiang Xin has always been like this.
She was just not in a good state and was restless.
Your hands are shaking from exerting so much force, but a plank requires steady breathing, and it's hard to hold the position if you lose your rhythm.
Xiang Xin inhaled and exhaled, slowly counting: "201, 202, 203, 204, Whew..."
"Thump!"
With a muffled thud, Lin Xi collapsed to the ground, trembling slightly from exhaustion.
Xiang Xin, seeing this, withdrew her aching hand and sat up, very happy: "Yay! I surpassed San San today! My first time surpassing San San, let's commemorate this..."
Lin Xi's vision was blurry, and she only felt that Xiang Xin's laughter was a bit grating.
How can someone try their best but still fail to change anything, or even end up worse off than before?
After the lab layoffs subsided, more than thirty colleagues voluntarily applied for job transfers. Some went to hospitals, and some went to clinics. In the post-apocalyptic world, there were not only zombie viruses, but also many bacteria and viruses bred by the corpses that roamed everywhere. There were many positions that needed medical students like them who were studying pathogens.
Although dozens of people have voluntarily resigned, the total number of employees in the lab still far exceeds the quota, and the final list of layoffs has not yet been announced.
Most of the remaining people did not want to leave voluntarily, but apart from a few mentors and a few staff members who had achieved something before the apocalypse, the positions of the others were not irreplaceable, and the rest were filled with anxiety.
Lin Xi's career is going poorly, and even her once-advantageous physical abilities and fighting skills are declining. What should she do? What can she do to make things change...?
Lin Xi was confused.
How can someone like her save the world?
-
February 5, 2027, Lunar New Year's Eve.
Despite Xiang Xin's repeated urging, Lin Xi finally came to Colonel Lu's house for New Year's Eve dinner.
Lu Wei's house is very large, with three separate bedrooms and a study, as well as a living room and a kitchen, similar to a three-bedroom, two-living-room house outside, only the overall area is smaller.
In many Dawn Bases where six-person and four-person rooms are occupied, such housing is unimaginable to many and is not available for rent.
There were only four seats, and it was the four of them having their New Year's Eve dinner.
Those three guys, who had points but couldn't cook, redeemed a lot of dishes and food, looking like they were about to cook hot pot.
Lu Wei and Liang Hui, whom I hadn't seen for a long time, were dressed in casual clothes and seemed to have changed little, except for the length of their hair.
But they were so unfamiliar that Lin Xi felt it might have been a lifetime ago that they last met.
Liang Hui greeted her first: "You heartless Zhang San, I haven't seen you since you came to the base, and you didn't come even after I called you several times."
Lin Xi lived with Xiang Xin and had met Lu Wei a few times, but she had never met Liang Hui.
Upon hearing this, she forced a smile, trying to make herself look less dejected.
Seeing that she was in a bad mood, Liang Hui exchanged glances with the other two and then told a few jokes, but they had little effect.
The Dawn Base has been well-supplied with supplies lately. A Spring Festival Gala is being held outside for the refugees. There are no celebrity performances; the programs are all crowdfunded. The gala will be broadcast live online, and anyone with internet access can watch it.
However, refugees at some bases cannot see this because some bases have established internal networks.
Various foods were bubbling in the hot pot, while a tablet computer sat on a shelf broadcasting the evening's program live.
Everyone shared some interesting things that happened at the base; it wasn't about work or personal matters, just a simple gathering and meal.
Halfway through the meal, Xiang Xin received a video call from her parents.
Xiang's parents are doing well at the Dawn Base. With the supplies that Xiang Xin prepared in advance, they have exchanged a lot of points at the base and are now doing well by working on their own.
The two elders, knowing that Lin Xi was also there, exchanged a few greetings.
However, they always cherished Xiang Xin, and couldn't help but chatter on and on whenever they called, so Xiang Xin simply went to the study to answer the phone.
"On festive occasions, one misses their loved ones even more," Liang Hui suddenly remarked.
This was unlike him at all. The next moment, he took his phone and went to his room to make a call.
"On every festive occasion, one misses their loved ones even more," Lin Xi murmured to herself.
That's wonderful, I really envy them.
Looking up, she could see Lu Wei through the mist; Lu Wei was looking at her.
Lin Xi: "Aren't you going to make a call?"
Lu Wei shook his head and silently picked something up and placed it on the table.
It was a bottle of red wine.
"?"
-
One day ago.
"San San has changed."
With the Lunar New Year approaching, the base had no plans for any combat operations except for security work. Xiang Xin had some free time and complained to Lu Wei about it.
In the past two years, Lin Xi has hardly spoken in the group chat, and she has declined the few gatherings she has attended, citing reading and work as reasons. The other three people could all sense the change in her.
Xiang Xin: "The day before yesterday, I had a plank competition with her, and she lost and lay on the ground crying. When did our San San become so fragile?!"
Lu Wei paused for a moment: "I'll give you two tasks. Bring her out for New Year's Eve dinner tomorrow."
Xiang Xin: "It must have been tough."
Lu Wei: "So it's a mission."
Xiang Xin: "And the second one?"
Lu Wei took a box out of the cabinet, inside which lay two bottles of red wine.
Alcohol and cigarettes are scarce items in the base, requiring a lot of points. Lu Wei and Xiang Xin have a lot of points, but none of them have a hobby in these areas and they hardly ever use them.
Therefore, Xiang Xin looked at Lu Wei with some doubt.
Lu Wei: "The second task is to get her drunk."
"?" Xiang Xin seemed incredulous that these words came from Lu Wei's mouth, and repeated, "Take her to your house and get her drunk?"
Lu Wei's usually indifferent face didn't look like he was joking.
Xiang Xin looked at him in surprise, then her eyes turned to fear, and she fumbled in her clothes helplessly.
Lu Wei noticed this expression and these actions. "Are you thinking of fighting me to protect Lin Xi, but you're also worried that you can't beat me?"
After spending two years together, Lu Wei finally understood Xiang Xin, this naive little girl.
Caught off guard, Xiang Xin wilted, but then raised an eyebrow: "You're my most respected Brother Lu, how could you do such a thing? Although you're my superior, San San is my best friend. If you have ulterior motives... I... I... Ahhh, I really can't beat you... If I elope with San San... Ah... the base's border defense will be under your control too..."
Lu Wei: "You're overthinking it. I'm going out after dinner tomorrow, so you can have the place."
Xiang Xin breathed a sigh of relief, but then remembered something: "Are there any tasks scheduled for tomorrow, New Year's Eve?"
Lu Wei shook her head: "I'm going to see a classmate."
"oh."
Going to see classmates on New Year's Eve is a private matter.
Xiang Xin asked again, puzzled, "But why are you making San San drink alcohol? She never seems to drink."
“Lin Xi…is someone who doesn’t know how to release stress,” Lu Wei explained. “Judging from your description, she’s almost at her limit.”
Xiang Xin suddenly realized that the Lin Xi she knew was a responsible and strong-willed person. When she was preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination, she pushed herself to the point of exhaustion. She fell seriously ill as soon as the exam was over, but she never told anyone about the hardships she had endured.
She knew that San San was independent and self-disciplined, so how could San San cry just because she lost a plank?
*
No prize quiz:
Who is Brother Lu going to see tonight?
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