Chapter 5- Base
Yan Changyi stood dazedly for a long time until a soldier came to give him some food. He looked left and right to find a place to sit. His eyes inaverantly turned to the side where the two boys were sitting. Qiu Chen was his only 'aquintance' in the camp. He felt it was 'logical' enough if he just went there and ate with them.
Just as he thought, Yan Changyi walked towards Qiu Chen and Ruan Li. The two simuntenously stopped eating and looked at him. Ruan Li looked at him for a second and then looked down. He was gripping his bread hard. Yan Changyi's sudden appearance and cold face scared him. Qiu Chen looked between the two helplessly . He decided to help Ruan Li calm down first.
"Do you not like to be near him?" Qiu Chen asked sofly, he deliberately avoided the word "afraid". But Ruan Li still kept his head down refusing to answer. Qiu Chen looked up at Yan Changyi. The man's face was as cold as ever but he could perceive the awkwardness in his eyes. He smiled sweetly at him causing his heart miss a beat.
Qiu Chen patted Ruan Li's back in a soothing way, "Don't you like to observe abilities? He has a few of them, he can show you. Do you want to see?" He urged Yan Changyi with his eyes to demonstrate some power.
Yan Changyi got the hint. He produced a little ice sphere on his palm and extended his palm towards Ruan Li. Ruan Li sneakily looked at the sphere with interest. Yan Changyi saw that he was interested, so he started rotating the sphere in a circular way. Ruan Li was amazed. He extended his hand to touch the sphere, but hesitantly put his hand down. Yan Changyi saw it. He just shook his hand a bit hinting Ruan Li to take it.
Ruan Li took the sphere and became happy at once, "Ice ball!"
Qiu Chen chuckled, he messed with Ruan Li's hair, "Do you want to play with it? If you want to play, he will make another one. But now eat first, okay?"
Ruan Li nodded. He glanced at Yan Changyi for a moment and habitually looked down. But he moved away a bit to make space for Yan Changyi. Although Yan Changyi wanted to sit with Qiu Chen, he could not turn down the kid. He sat down and started eating.
They finished their meal without any further word. Yan Changyi sensed a gaze on him. Ruan Li was looking at him with expectant eyes. Yan Changyi sighed and made him another ice sphere. He did not know how he went from the fearsome soldier as he was to a tolerant elder to a kid. The kid in front him was same age as Qiu Chen but was still like a child. He understood why Qiu Chen chose to be with him among all people. What he understood was still vague in his head. But he knew that in a group of people Qiu Chen would always choose the kid to hang out with.
After a while a soldier came to remind them to rest. They had to resume their journey early in the morning. Yan Changyi nodded to the soldier while Qiu Chen was talking to Ruan Li.
"Where do you sleep at night?"
Ruan Li said in a voice silent like a cat, "The third truck."
Qiu Chen could see the problem here. In the troubled times sharing the hood of a truck with thirtysome people was okay. But Ruan Li was a special case. If he goes there, especially with the people who were previlaged against him, it would harm him.
Qiu Chen asked him again, "There is a tent set up for me. Do you want to sleep there?"
Ruan Li's face lit up hearing what Qiu Chen said. He nodded his head vigorously. But suddenly froze while looking at a certain someone. Qiu Chen followed his line of sight. Yan Changyi's face was as black as the bottom of a pan. Qiu Chen restisted the urge to laugh and warned Yan Changyi with his eyes. He took Ruan Li's hand and guided him towards the tent with a black-faced man following them.
Ruan Li fell asleep within five minutes. As Qiu Chen came out of the tent, he saw the gloomy man standing by the opening of the tent. Qiu Chen felt rather amused seeing his man standing there with a face that screamed unhappiness.
"Why are you still here?" He asked.
Yan Changyi did not reply to his question but asked back, "Are you not going to sleep?"
Qiu Chen could not resist laughing anymore. "The tent accommodates only one person, where do you want me to sleep?" He asked as he laughed.
Yan Changyi stood there like a fool. He drank so much vinegar for nothing. Thinking about it again, did he actually have any right to get jealous? This person, he met just today, he knew nothing but just his name, but he still fell for him out of nowhere. There was no guarantee that he would love him back. He did not even know even he liked men let alone liking him. Yan Changyi's mood fell even lower.
Qiu Chen was amused seeing the change of colour on the man's face. He knew him well, he knew exactly what he was thinking about. But he did not step forward to solve it. He chose to enjoy this moment, and his lover's nervousness around him. Qiu Chen looked down to hide the smile in his eyes.
"My tent should be a bit bigger, would you like to sleep there?" Yan CHangyi asked. He did not sound a bit hesitant or nervous. But Qiu Chen knew that he was.
"If I sleep in there where are you going to sleep?" Qiu Chen asked seemingly innocently.
Yan Changyi almost said "We can sleep together", but swallowed down his words at the last moment. These words might mean something else. What if the boy misunderstood him?
Qiu Chen chuckled as he advanced towards a open space, "I'm not gonna sleep. I'll keep watch. These zombies are tricky." He stopped on his track, looked back at the man and asked with a smile, "Would you like to keep company?"
Yan Changyi felt like he was dreaming.He was wrecking his brain a moment ago thinking how to keep this person by his side for a few moments more, and now the said person himself asking him to keep company. Of course he would. Thus two men, one tall and mature, one young and fresh kept watch for the rest of the night.
They sat side by side without any words and in comfortable silence until the the horizon showed a sign of day. People in the camp woke up one by one. They hastily made some simple breakfast before resuming their journey. They had to travel as far as possible before the zombies started moving around. The rest of the journey remained without any disturbance. The team reached the base during the lunch hour.
The rule of the base was every new person had to entry their name and ability. People with no ability also had to entry their name. Then they would be taken to respective departments. Ability users would be taken to military commanders to form or join teams to subdue zombies while people without abilities were taken to officials to recruite for labours according to their own preference and ability.
Among the people who were new, only Qiu Chen and Yan Changyi had abilities. Although both of them were deeply connected to the mainforce of the base, they had to go through the procedure. After Qiu Chen filled his information, he looked over to the other side and saw Ruan Li filling the chart clumsily. Qiu Chen walked over to Commander Xiao.
"Commander Xiao," he called him, "I have a little request to make."
"Please, Young Master Wen," Commander Xiao replied.
"You can see, Ruan Li over there, he does not have the ability to do heavy chores. I'm afraid he'd suffer if he goes to the labour section."
"You want me to talk to the official over there so he does not get any chore?" Commander Xiao asked.
"No. I want to take him with me to uncle's residence. I will need the approval of a Commander to do so."
Commander Xiao thought for a second, then agreed. Qiu Chen showed him a bright smile and sprinted over to Ruan Li intending to drag him with him. The whole process was witnessed by a sour Yan Changyi. Since they reached destination, Qiu Chen did not even look at him. He first went to that damned commander. He even smiled to him. Now just went to another man. That boy really regarded him as a passing character. A few soldiers came to take him to his grandfather. They wanted to invite him to follow them but looking at his face they did not dare. Yan Changyi's handsomeness was on the cold side to begin with, adding years in the military to it, he was already fearsome. But the frost he had now in betwenn his brows right now made him seem like a devil, a handsome devil at that.
This was from the little soldiers' perspective. When Qiu Chen turned around and saw Yan Changyi, he felt the sourness and frost on the man's face was rather....cute? Qiu Chen thought about teasing the man a bit more. He passed by him and said in cheerily, "See you again!" He winked at Yan Changyi mischeivously and went off.
Yan Changyi froze in place. He even forgot to get jealous. After a few moments he gathered himself. He was no fool, he could see that the boy was teasing him. It meant he saw through his secret. Yan Changyi laughed. He ordered the soldiers to show him the path.
If Yan Changyi was dumbfounded by Qiu Chen, the little soldiers were even in worse situation than him. They did not see Qiu Chen winking. They only saw a pretty boy talking to the Brigadier and melted the frost. They dared not think what it meant. If a white face could control a high ranked officer to this level, it could only mean two things. The white face was a chrmer, or the officer is weak willed. Whatever it is, it would not be good in this time. Their thoughts ran wild.
On Qiu Chen's side, he also followed a soldier sent by his uncle and soon reached the two storey villa. He raised an eye-brow. According to An Zi's character setting, he wouldn't occupy a complete villa by himself at such time. The soldier saw the new Young Master was looking at the villa, he feltit neccessary to explain.
"The Major General and Madame General live upstairs. And we subordinates live downstairs. This way, Young Masters." He guided the two boys.
The living room of the villa was not as as Qiu Chen expected. It was not carefully arranged. In Wen Quan's memory Madame An, or his aunt, was a warm and organized person. She would always keep her place neat and clean. But the space in front of him was as messy as a camp. There were signs of the situation outside everywhere. Qiu Chen did not know why, he felt a little sad. There should be live flowers everywhere in this house, not dirt and arms.
"Xiao Quan, you're here." A warm but tired female sounded not from afar. Qiu Chen looked over. His Uncle and aunt were coming down the stairs. His uncle looked tough as ever, but his aunt looked rather exhausted. Qiu Chen was startled seeing her like this.
"Aunt, what happened," He approached the couple and asked with worry. His question made Mrs An tear up instantly. It was his uncle who responded as he patted his wife's shoulder soothingly.
"You came a long way and faced difficulties. Go and freshen up. Then have something. I will tell you later." He looked over and saw an unknown boy. "And this is?"
Qiu Chen hurriedly introduced them. "This is Ruan Li. I met him on the way here. I was afraid he would not be comfortable elsewhere. So I brought him here."
An Zi looked at Raun Li as the boy kept looking down without greeting as a normal person should. An Zi understood something. He told his subordinate to prepare another room on the second floor. There were many rooms up there. But he normally did not allow others live there regarding his family's privacy.
"Thank you, uncle. See you later." Qiu Chen went upstairs bidding his goodbye and dragged a frightened Ruan Li with him.
After they freshened up and had lunch, Qiu Chen followed An Zi to his study. Qiu Chen sat face to face his uncle. An Zi looked at his nephew for a few moments.
"Your cousin has been missing for almost a week." He said unusally softly.
Qiu Chen was shocked. His cousin, An Qing was older than him seven years. When everyone his age around him believed Wen Han without doubt, he was the only one who did not like him. Wen Quan had a couple of fights with him regarding this. But their relation was still somewhat okay. But this person never appeared in the plot given by the system. He was not even mentioned. Without the original's memory, Qiu Chen would not have known of the existence of such a person. He looked at his uncle waiting for him to continue.
"He went on a mission. There seemed to be a movement of rather evolved zombies. As the only Brgadier stationed in the base, it was his duty to go and check on them. But on the second day, all the communication was cut off. Locators did not work. Your auntie has fallen sick from worry." An Zi said with a calm face. But Qiu Chen knew that he was no less worried than his wife.
"Brigadier Yan returned with us, you may know that. The search team for them must go under his command. I am asking your permission to allow me to go with them," Qiu Chen did not beat around the bush, he came staright to the point.
"Wen Quan," An Zi's cold voice sounded, "Don't be a child at this time. Don't cause more trouble."
"I know uncle is afraid for me. But I can protect myself and others." Qiu Chen spoke as he showed his uncle his abilities.
An Zi was amused. "Xiao Xue did not tell anything about this." He said.
"He may not have time or opportunity. The time back then was urgent." Qiu Chen explained for Commander Xiao.
Having people with abilities in a team is advantageous. An Zi seriously pondered for a moment.
"Well, I will let you know. But what about that Ruan boy? I can understand, he's your friend and you are worried about him. But you can't just randomly accommodate anyone."
Qiu Chen had a headache. Blame the original's spoiled and foolish nature, no one is willing to rely on him.
"As you can see, he is a bit autistic. But his plus point is his brain and his knowlwdege. I want you to arrange him to work with the researchers. Of course, he has to pass their tests. I don't want a talent like his to be wasted because of his autism."
An Zi looked at Qiu Chen for a long moment. "Xiao Quan, you have grown up at last," he sighed. "Now I am ready to go to the underworld. I won't be too ashamed when I meet your parents."
Early next morning Qiu Chen accompanied Ruan Li to the research center. The professors there were not too happy to see them. They were people with morility and especially disliked people who tried to get through backdoor. But they had to take a test of the boy sent by the Major General. The result was rather unexpected to them. Not only the boy was extremely knowledgable but also thorough in his spectaculatins. When they asked how he knew so many things, the boy replied looking shy, "I read."
Qiu Chen was relieved to see that Ruan Li did well in the test. He promised him that he would take him back in the evening. After that, he left the research center.
Qiu Chen was walking down the road hoping to go find Yan Changyi. He had not seen him since last noon and he just met him the day before. He missed him. Thinking this he strode forward in a faster pace. Not long after he saw the man standind tall, seemingly overviewing something.
"Brother Changyi!" Qiu Chen shouted as he almost ran to the man.
"Careful!" Yan Changyi's heart skipped a beat when he saw Qiu Chen running towards him. He was also dying to meet him. But he had to prepare for his next mission.
He walked to Qiu Chen. Qiu Chen stopped and looked up at him with bright eyes. Yan Changyi's heart, which almost stopped awhile ago, started beating violently looking at his eyes.
"What are you doing here?" He asked Qiu Chen.
"Finding you, of course!" Qiu Chen replied in matter of fact way. Yan Changyi could not help chuckle listening to him. Little devil, he said in his heart.
"Yo, Boss! Who is this pretty little brother?" A cheerful voice sounded from behind.
Qiu Chen looked over Yan Changyi's shoulder. He saw a man in military attire. His face was rough from wind and water. But it did hide the signs of his playfulness. Qiu Chen instantly had a good impression of the man.
"Hello, I am Wen Quan. May I know who you are?" Qiu Chen asked bypassing Yan Changyi.
Yan Changyi felt irritated by the sight of his friend. He just met his little boy, where this unwanted lightbulb came from!
"I'm Wu Jing, chief military mechanic in the base. Your brother Changyi and I grew up together. As you call him brother, you can also call me Brother Jing," Wu Jing said smiling.
Brother my foot! Grew up together my foot! Yan Changyi cursed in his heart. He stepped between the two. He asked Wu Jing coldly, "Are you finished moderating the car? Do not slack off at every chance." He turned around as soon as he finished, took Qiu Chen's hand and left in a fast speed.
Wu Jing stood there dumbfounded. He did not understand what happened. Wasn't he just talking to the beautiful brother? Why did the boss look like he owed him millions? He shrugged his shoulders and went back to work.
Qiu Chen looked at his vinegar jar in amusement as he was being dragged away by him. This man did not hesitate to drink vinegar of his friend that he grew up together. He could not help tease him.
"Brother Changyi! What happened! Where are you taking me?" He acted as he was both puzzled and angry.
Yan Changyi's sense returned to him. He let go of Qiu Chen's hand. He acted on pure impulse. He was not like this. He did not know what happened. What he did not even more was how to explain himself to his baby. Wait, he was not his baby yet.
"What are you thinking now?" Qiu Chen's irritated voice sounded near him.
"I....I....Just now, I......." Yan Changyi was in lost for words.
"Keep I'ing all day!" Qiu Chen pretended to be angry. "I almost forgot what I came to you for!"
"What did you come to me for?" Yan Changyi asked, relieved that he avoid disaster.
"Are you going to find the missing team? Take mewith you." Qiu Chen ordered
A/N: Yeeee! New Chapter after eternity!