The station dormitory was a four-person room converted from an eight-man space. Usually it felt quite spacious, but now, with quite a few people standing around both near and far, it felt a little crowded.
So, even though they hadn't made a huge fuss, at least those around Han Qingyu still treated his twentieth birthday as an important occasion.
This made Han Qingyu feel slightly awkward and unaccustomed to it.
He had grown up in a remote, backward mountain village. Ever since he was small, his only concept of a birthday had been his dad rubbing his head with a rough hand before heading out to the fields, saying, "Our Qingzi is another year older, about to become a man." That had started when he was around six or seven.
Then his mom would make him a bowl of fried-egg noodles, and cook one or two extra dishes he liked for dinner.
That was all. There had never been any concept of celebrations or gifts.
Besides, by nature, Han Qingyu was also the sort of person more accustomed to keeping warmth buried deep inside. Whenever he had to express it himself, or someone showed warmth to him, he would feel deeply ill at ease.
That was likely one of the reasons he and Wen Jifei had become such good friends back then. That guy never took anything seriously, and you never saw a trace of overt tenderness from him, yet they understood their brotherhood completely.
Still, he couldn't let everyone down today. Han Qingyu reflected that, after all, not everyone was like him; they had had different life experiences.
"Thinking it over, you really should bind a new one for me. You're the one who appears most in my ledger." His gratitude was all in his smile as Han Qingyu made a light joke.
Amid the burst of laughter, he tucked away the little ledger Rusty Sister had given him.
At the same time, he couldn't help wondering in his heart who would have the upper hand in combat now: Wu Xu or Rusty Sister.
Wu Xu had raised his source energy surge limit this time. Han Qingyu didn't know the exact extent of the increase, but since Wu Xu himself had said he'd improved and that his source energy consumption would be larger, the boost was likely significant.
Furthermore, his upbringing, willpower, and character dictated that in a fight to the death, his performance would often transcend the limits of his own strength. If Yu Yindou was the sort of person who could display at most five or six-tenths of his ten-tenths strength, then Wu Xu could deliver twelve-tenths from ten.
As for Rusty Sister's advantage, it lay in all those years of uninterrupted source energy nourishment, and even more in the ironclad defense that had tripled in strength. In a true life-and-death struggle, no one could predict when she might suddenly take a blow head-on in exchange for her opponent's life.
She was clearly just a young girl, yet her fighting style was so fierce. Thinking about it was quite amusing.
Beside them, Wu Xu looked down and flicked the katydid cage, probably hoping to make the insect chirp a couple of times. But the katydid remained silent. Feeling all the more awkward because of it, he simply stepped back in silence.
Wu Xu was equally unaccustomed to sentimental warmth, and probably had even less concept of birthdays. He had only heard everyone saying they should get Qingzi presents, so he had thought about it quietly and prepared with care.
Truth be told, his honest thought was that it would be better if a few enemies showed up today so he could fight alongside Qingzi.
Then, in the thick of the fiercest fighting, he could find a split second to say, "Hey... happy birthday," and without waiting for a reply, plunge right back into the fray. That would probably feel far smoother and more natural.
Han Qingyu understood this, so he didn't thank Wu Xu either. He had kept katydids himself, and he too had been a child with no toys other than wooden spears and bamboo swords. Looking up, he glanced around, hoping Wen Jifei would chime in and mess up the mood.
But no—the fellow was hiding behind the crowd, snickering.
Milla stood right in his line of sight. Her golden-brown hair was tied back, and her blue eyes were crystal clear... Catching Han Qingyu's gaze, she gave a sly smile and walked over to stand before him.
She held out both hands. They were empty.
Did that mean she hadn't prepared a gift? That was fine; this was even better. Just as Han Qingyu was about to speak, he realized something was off. Milla was still stepping forward... and then, his entire head buzzed—he was embraced by Milla.
In a completely rigid, dazed state, he was hugged by Miss Milla—the beautiful Miss Milla, who had shone like sunlight into his life ever since his recruit days.
"Happy twentieth birthday, Qingzi," Milla whispered into his ear as she hugged him.
"Tha—"
*Smack.*
It wasn't an earnest, lingering kiss. The warm touch against his cheek was gone in an instant, yet the sensation continued to spread. Han Qingyu felt as though his entire brain had short-circuited.
Stepping back two paces, Milla looked at him. Her eyes held a trace of embarrassment mingled with amusement. Tilting her head, she asked, "Have you... never been kissed by a girl before?"
"Kissed? Not a chance... Growing up, he probably hasn't even held a girl's hand," Wen Jifei gloated from behind.
A wave of laughter erupted.
"So I'm the first? How lucky for me," Milla said with a laugh. "In my country, though, this is just ordinary etiquette. So don't be nervous."
"No, of course not." He couldn't show weakness now. Han Qingyu forced himself to hold his ground. "I know. International etiquette."
"Mm." Milla nodded with a smile, still looking at him.
*Ordinary etiquette? But if it's such ordinary etiquette, why haven't any of us ever received it?!* The crowd behind them thought, feeling a faint glimmer of anticipation.
"Seems I'll have to break this habit in the future," Milla continued smiling, speaking to Han Qingyu. "Yes, I'll stop doing it, even after I return home..."
In an instant, Han Qingyu, Wen Jifei, Liu Shiheng, and the others all understood: no wonder there was a hug and a kiss... It was a farewell.
"Captain Milla has decided to return home with her parents," Lao Jian said with a touch of melancholy. "The date hasn't been set yet; we're waiting for the transfer orders. July or August at the latest."
No one made a sound. All eyes turned toward Milla.
Han Qingyu, Wen Jifei, and the rest felt especially complicated emotions. Almost from the day they enlisted, they had been pleasantly surprised by and accustomed to Milla's presence... She was the Miss Milla who would attempt clumsy seduction and longed to be a squad captain; she was the Miss Milla who, during the incident in Area 1123, had drawn the Great Spike away from behind them and waved with a smile, shooing them to run.
"The instability over there is getting worse," Milla explained in a soft, earnest voice. "Now that my brother is gone, I can't feel at ease letting Mom and Dad go back on their own."
"Yeah." That was a reason against which no one could argue. Han Qingyu nodded, not trying to dissuade her, but merely asked, "Once things over there are settled, will you come back? Whether it turns out good or bad, please come back, okay? Captain Milla."
"...All right." After a brief hesitation, Milla nodded firmly.
Speaking publicly for the first time about leaving the Huaxia Front where she had grown up since the age of sixteen, leaving Squad 1777, and leaving the people before her, Milla's eyes had already turned red and brimmed with tears.
She forced a smile, trying to tease, "Will you guys come pick me up when the time comes?"
"Yes," Han Qingyu replied seriously. "Then it's a promise. You definitely come back, and we'll definitely be there to receive you."
Milla looked into his eyes... and nodded.
"Then that's that! Good grief, this has been worrying me to death lately," Lao Jian boomed, laughing.
The parting sorrow was finally broken for the moment.
Next, He Tangtang and Liu Shiheng presented simple gifts as well.
Only Wen Jifei didn't.
...
After lunch, at the small shooting range deep in the back mountain.
"Watch closely. Today, I'll show you what a god of marksmanship looks like." The device on Wen Jifei hummed to life. Holding a tin can in his left hand and the Milla 9 rifle in his right, he finished speaking and tossed the tin can hard upward and behind him.
Flipping the safety off, he raised the rifle and spun around. *Bang... Clang.*
The speeding bullet streaked diagonally upward, grazing the bottom edge of the tin can and propelling it higher and farther into the air.
*Bang... Clang... Bang... Clang.*
Tracking the tin can and the bullet trajectories while suppressing his source energy surge, Wen Jifei fired with steady precision.
Time and again, the tin can was knocked into the sky by the bullets, carried ever higher and farther.
Everyone was instantly reminded: wasn't this the very demonstration Milla had performed back at the Regiment 425 recruit base to show off her skills?! Wen Jifei had nearly replicated it down to the letter.
Although the distance he sent the tin can flying still fell short of Milla's, and although the weapon he used wasn't the far more difficult-to-handle Milla 11 heavy autocannon, what he showed today was still an astounding accomplishment.
Lowering his gun, Wen Jifei first watched the tin can tumble down in the distance, then swept his gaze across the crowd. He struck a cool pose in silence for a good while before casting a provocative glance at Han Qingyu. "Impressed yet?"
Though he hadn't said it out loud, this was clearly his birthday gift to Han Qingyu. Truth be told, Han Qingyu was genuinely surprised; he hadn't expected Wen Jifei's marksmanship to have improved this dramatically.
"He's very talented, and he works extraordinarily hard," Milla said, laughing happily beside them as his teacher. "Every day while you guys were training, he would practice here all by himself. I'll leave the Milla 7 and Milla 9 to him..."
Chapter 229