Very Sweet

After a brief discussion, they decided to leave Shen Yixiu—who couldn't easily show her face in public—and their weapons and gear in the car, while the rest got out. Crossing over, they sat around a small square table placed beside the stall and ordered five bowls of wontons. After accepting the order, the elderly vendor looked up. He took one look, then looked again, recognizing Wu Xu among them. Grinning happily, he asked, "Your friends are here?" Gratitude showed in Wu Xu's eyes as he nodded firmly. "That's good, that's good," the old man said repeatedly, relief radiating from his words and smile. Then, just as the wontons were being served, little Ruobing returned carrying her schoolbag, evidently here to have lunch after school let out for midday break. Waving goodbye to her classmate, the little girl walked up to the stall. After hearing a few words from her grandfather, she turned around happily and scurried over to Wu Xu with pitter-pattering steps. "Big Brother! Wow, so many big brothers!" "Hey, what a cute kid," Wen Jifei said, nudging Wu Xu's arm. Wu Xu nodded. With a bit of awkwardness, he brought out the new schoolbag Wen Jifei and Liu Shiheng had just bought together, packed full of fresh stationery and little trinkets, and handed it to Ruobing. "These are for you." "Ah? For... for me?" Caught off guard, the little girl's eyes lit up with delight before hesitation crept in, and she turned back to look at her grandfather. "Take it," Wu Xu offered to the little girl. Then he looked up at the old man by the stall and said sincerely, "Let her have them." The old man knew how honest and stubborn Wu Xu was. Seeing the look in his eyes, he knew there was no declining this gift, and going back and forth would only make things awkward. Glancing over and noticing they had arrived by car, he simply smiled and nodded. "Then we won't stand on ceremony with you... Ruobing, hurry and thank the big brothers." "Mm! Heheh, thank you, thank you, Big Brothers!" The little girl beamed, thanking them politely. "You're welcome, good girl." The old man soon brought over a bowl of noodles, set it down, and said, "Her parents are at work and don't have time to cook for her, and she loves noodles... Ruobing, sit down and eat with the big brothers, but don't be too noisy and disrupt their conversation." "Okay!" The little girl sat down, added a splash of vinegar, and ate her noodles quietly, only answering meekly when the young men asked her about school. After a while, seeing that their wontons were almost finished, she couldn't help pausing and asking reluctantly, "Big Brothers, will you come back in the future? Are you staying here?" Wu Xu looked at her and shook his head. "We have to go somewhere quite far away. Study hard, alright? We'll come see you again in the future," Wen Jifei chimed in with a smile. Toward such a kind and adorable child, every one of them was gentle and full of goodwill. After finishing their meal, they distracted little Ruobing and slipped a hundred-yuan bill under each bowl. They didn't dare leave more, fearing it might bring trouble to the elderly man and child. Then Han Qingyu and the others stood up to leave. Only after crossing the street and getting into the car did they turn and call out, "Grandpa, remember to clear the bowls!" By the time the old man cleared the bowls and saw the money, the car had already driven quite a distance away. "Grandpa, what do you think those big brothers do?" little Ruobing asked softly, watching the receding car with longing. "I don't know either," her grandfather said, just as perplexed. "Will they really come back to see me?" "They will. I'm sure they will." *** Research Institute 2 of the Azure Huaxia Front turned out to also be in the south. The flight on the small aircraft ended up taking less time than their previous drive. Since they were heading to a research institute, the group couldn't help wondering: could Xin Yaoqiao's presence mean they wouldn't have to pay processing fees for refining metal blocks? On the plane, they recalculated their current source energy reserves. The three metal blocks were all on Han Qingyu, while Shen Yixiu carried sixty-three blue crystal blocks in her backpack as collective reserves. In addition, each person had five blocks of their own. Tallying it up, the blue crystal blocks alone would last them for a while. After discussing it, they ultimately decided not to take the metal blocks for refining this time. It was a rainy day. Xin Yaoqiao had been feeling restless for most of the day ever since she received Han Qingyu's phone call before he boarded the plane. She hadn't dressed up specially, remaining in her work uniform, but as the time drew near, she gathered several umbrellas and headed to the small airfield early to wait. Before long, the plane arrived, descending from the gray sky with the roar of its engines. It came to a stop, and the cabin door opened. Han Qingyu appeared first in the doorway. Stepping down, whoosh—he snapped open a standard Alliance-issue solid black umbrella. Then the second, the third... Every one of them did the same: disembark, open an umbrella. *Oh, so they brought umbrellas.* Xin Yaoqiao hurried to find a spot to set down the armful of borrowed umbrellas, held onto one herself, and prepared to go welcome them. Yet after only a few steps, she stopped again, staring blankly as she thought, *Whoa.* Across from her, through the curtain of rain, they walked toward her from the landed aircraft. In the lead was Han Qingyu, holding a black umbrella, a three-dimensional apparatus on his back, and twin blades protruding from over his right shoulder at staggered angles. To his flanks slightly behind him: On the right was a full-armor soldier resembling a robot, carrying a long blade, while on the left was an Azure warrior dressed in an autumn combat uniform, hood up, bearing a black spear on his back. And behind them came three more soldiers carrying apparatuses and blades. They marched toward her like this. *So cool... Did they fight their way out of the Desolation Valley in the Third Exploration Ground together? Huh, what's that?* Seeing the bundle slung over He Tangtang's shoulder, Xin Yaoqiao was puzzled. "Where's the rest of the stuff?" On their side, He Tangtang had also just realized that out of the six of them, he was the only one carrying anything. Thinking of the huge pile of gifts, he couldn't help asking. "A cart is hauling them for us," Wen Jifei said. "Why didn't you say so earlier?!" He Tangtang immediately felt aggrieved, saying with regret, "I hauled this sugarcane all this way for nothing. No way, I'm taking it back." He turned to head back as he spoke. Wen Jifei grabbed him. "Don't! Don't go back. Yours is different—this is your meeting gift for Miss Yaoyao-huanghuang." As they spoke, they drew closer. Wen Jifei focused his gaze on her, his expression and tone tinged with admiration. "That's... Yaoyao-huanghuang?" Only Han Qingyu and He Tangtang had met Xin Yaoqiao before. "Yeah," He Tangtang nodded. "What about it?" "Nothing, just... she's really something. That whole 'pretty face and great figure' thing people talk about must mean girls like her, right?" Wen Jifei turned to look at Han Qingyu as he spoke, thinking, *You'd better step up your game this time, brother.* They reached her. "Hello," Han Qingyu greeted her first. "Ah, hello." A rather distant greeting, though reasonable upon reflection. Xin Yaoqiao smiled warmly at the rest of them and waved. "Hello, everyone." Everyone, including Shen Yixiu, greeted her in turn. Wu Xu tried to speak as well, but couldn't quite manage it. Then Wen Jifei said with a smile, "Hello, Yaoyao-huanghuang." "Huh? Is that what you all call me when you're together?" Xin Yaoqiao spoke slowly with a teasing tone. Feeling a twinge of dismay inside, she smiled and took the initiative to say, "Actually, my name is Xin Yaoqiao. Um, you can call me Yaoyao, or Qiaoqiao, or even Huanghuang... fine, Yaoyao-huanghuang is okay too." Hearing her say that, everyone laughed, but switched to calling her Qiaoqiao. At the same time, He Tangtang set down the bundle of sugarcane. "Is this... sugarcane?" Xin Yaoqiao finally saw it clearly and recognized it, momentarily bewildered. "Yeah. Brought you some fruit," Han Qingyu said. "..." *Right, sugarcane is fruit. And it's very sweet.* Thinking this, Xin Yaoqiao smiled happily and nodded. "Thank you! I love sugarcane... It's just, there's so much of it." Then she stared at the bundle of sugarcane. If she carried this to her office and her colleagues saw... After considering it, she decided it was best to take it home and put it in her room while her parents were at work. Having made up her mind, she said, "Then I'll take you over there to sit for a bit first, and then I'll shoulder—carry... take the sugarcane home." "Take it straight home?" Wen Jifei asked, immediately continuing, "No need for you to carry it yourself. We'll do it. Besides, we were already planning to visit your home and pay our respects to your parents." "But neither of them is home right now," Xin Yaoqiao said. "That's fine too," Wen Jifei said, turning back to fetch the gifts. *There are more? So many...* Seeing them from a distance, Xin Yaoqiao felt a little awkward, but on second thought, this was good—it proved that Han Qingyu was actually quite considerate. So she didn't push back and forth, accepting them straightforwardly. Little did Xin Yaoqiao know that her mother hadn't gone to work at all, but had been hiding upstairs watching from afar the whole time. What was more, Mother Xin had already recognized that bundle as sugarcane. This was the first time she had ever seen someone give a bundle of sugarcane as a gift. *Well... this really is somewhat creative...* Mother Xin thought, caught between laughter and tears.