The two were still discussing whether to go back to the Jing family’s home to play poker when Jiang Feng rushed over.

Seeing his boss wearing only a thin shirt, with his military jacket draped over his shoulders, his eyes scanned the medical kit and blood-stained cotton balls on the small table. His heart tightened.

“Boss, you’re hurt?”

“Minor injury.” Jing Xi stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, turning his head to look at him. “Which camp is he from?”

Jiang Feng’s expression turned cold. “This person is from the third company of the garrison mech unit, named Zhang Jianli.”

Jing Xi: “Call his direct superior over.”

Jiang Feng: “The mech unit is under Xu Zhou’s command, but he took leave two days ago and hasn’t returned yet.”

“Xu Zhou?” Jing Xi recalled the garrison personnel structure chart he had seen before. “Wang Lianggong’s assistant?”

Jiang Feng nodded. “He’s called an assistant, but he basically handles all the internal affairs of the base. Wang Lianggong is useless—incompetent, a hands-off manager.”

Jing Xi: “Find this person.”

Jiang Feng agreed. He turned to leave but then turned back.

“Your injury—”

Jing Xi ran his hand over his left arm, saying calmly, “Chi Yao already bandaged it for me.”

Jiang Feng subconsciously looked at Chi Yao, who was sitting at the bar, drinking, and seemed completely uninterested in their conversation.

That guy who left countless scars on the boss would actually bandage him?

A fox giving a New Year’s greeting to a chicken?

Chi Yao caught his glance in his peripheral vision and casually swished the cup in his hand. “Are you cursing me in your head?”

Jiang Feng: “…No.”

As he left, Jiang Feng remembered something and said to Jing Xi, “I’ll bring the person over as soon as I find him. You should rest first. I’ll have Old Lu stew some chicken soup and bring it over.”

Jing Xi, who was about to go for a drink: “…No need.”

But Jiang Feng seemed to not hear him at all. He thoughtfully closed the door and left.

Seeing his rare dazed expression, Chi Yao choked on a mouthful of wine.

“Cough, cough—hahahaha—”

The frustration of the entire night suddenly vanished.

Jing Xi went over with a straight face and sat down opposite him, grabbing a glass and pouring some wine.

“Very funny?”

After he had his fill of laughter, Chi Yao nodded seriously. “Not funny?”

Jing Xi picked up the wine glass, and drank a third of the strong white wine in one gulp.

He smelled a hint of fresh fruit. He frowned slightly.

Apple brandy?

Jing Xi looked up. “You like drinking fruit wine?”

“Not particularly, I opened it because I thought the scent was similar to your pheromones.” Chi Yao played with the glass in his hand, looking at him with a smile. “But this fruit scent isn’t pure, and the wine isn’t strong enough. You smell better.”

Jing Xi’s fingers tightened around the wine glass. He took another sip expressionlessly.

Chi Yao, this libertine, was excessively direct at times like this.

Any omega who was spoken to like this by him before would probably have fallen for him.

Jing Xi said expressionlessly, “If you want to smell it, just say so.”

Chi Yao raised an eyebrow, his eyes clearly saying, “You don’t seem like you’re that generous.”

Jing Xi: “One whiff costs a hundred cards.”

Chi Yao: “…It’s a shame you didn’t become a star pirate.”

He had a belly full of questions he couldn’t ask or say, but could only talk about trivial things. Jing Xi picked up the wine glass, but before his mouth could touch it, the glass was snatched away by Chi Yao.

“The wound hasn’t scabbed over yet. Drink less, Major General.” Chi Yao poured out the wine. “If it leaves a scar, you have to compensate me with two hundred cards.”

Jing Xi: “…”

His eyes scanned Chi Yao’s hands.

There were red marks on the backs of his hands, some places even had broken skin.

“What’s wrong with your hands?” Jing Xi asked.

Chi Yao said uncaringly, “Washed them.”

Jing Xi frowned, remembering the first time he went to Extreme Shadow’s home, Fang Liang said that Chi Yao couldn’t stand the sight of blood for a few days each month.

He also remembered Chi Yao’s words from earlier, “Don’t let me see you bleed again.”

Maybe it wasn’t just those few days when he couldn’t see blood, but that those days were particularly severe?

The wine was drunk, the anger was gone, and Chi Yao was ready to return to his room.

“Wait.”

Jing Xi called out to him and got up to go to the living room.

Chi Yao watched him pick a few things from the open medical kit, then come back and sit on the bar stool next to him.

“Give me your hand.”

Jing Xi unscrewed the cap of the ointment and held out his palm.

Chi Yao: “What, you’re going to put medicine on me?”

“An exchange.” Jing Xi lied expressionlessly. “I don’t want to owe you.”

Chi Yao was unmoved. He got up and walked away.

“I like you owing me.”

Jing Xi wasn’t in a hurry. He looked at Chi Yao’s back and said slowly, “If you let me put on the medicine, I’ll let you take a picture.”

Chi Yao’s steps halted.

A minute later, he sat on the bar stool and obediently held out his hand.

“What kind of medicine is this?”

Jing Xi dabbed a little ointment onto a cotton swab and applied it to the broken skin.

“Bone-melting water.”

Chi Yao: “…”

Jing Xi was very careful while applying the medicine. From his angle, he could see the other’s long eyelashes and high nose bridge.

His skin was like a peeled egg, very nice to the touch.

Chi Yao’s throat felt a little dry. He suddenly missed the days he was inside Jing Xi’s body.

Counting the days, it was almost time to go over again.

When Lu Meng brought the chicken soup, the living room was already empty.

He craned his neck and looked upstairs. He decided not to disturb them, put a bowl of chicken soup in the warmer, shook his head, and sighed.

The boss is having a flare-up and is injured again. He wonders if this container of chickens will be enough.

Back in the dormitory, he tossed and turned in bed, too worried to sleep. He went to the front-line unit’s dormitory building overnight and woke everyone up with a loudspeaker.

A large group of people lined up in the indoor training ground on the first floor, all on high alert, ready for an enemy attack at any time.

Lu Meng stood at the very front with his hands behind his back.

“The consumption of chickens has been huge these past few days. The supply might not be able to keep up. Starting tomorrow, our front-line unit’s first to fifth teams will be responsible for collecting eggs. The sixth to tenth teams will supervise the hatching of chicks. We must double the number within a month!”

The straightforward soldiers: “Yes!”

Lu Meng: “Do you have confidence?!”

The soldiers: “Yes!”

Lu Meng: “Very good!”

Li Yuan, who was walking down the hallway with a stolen chicken in his hand: “Heh, what a lunatic.”

Lu Meng/soldiers: “…”

Anyone who dares to steal the boss’s chickens is an enemy!

In the main building, Chi Yao returned to his room.

He had just opened the door when he heard Tie Xiong’s noisy voice.

“The answer to this question is 8!”

Tie Xiong sat cross-legged on the small table in front of the sofa, with his workbook spread out in front of him, trying his best to count on his fingers.

Yin Wei was lying behind him, sleeping, dutifully acting as a fur cushion.

Tie Xiong: “One times one is one, one times two is two, two plus five is eight… I’ve counted three times, it’s 8!”

Next to the workbook was a small black mirror.

When he said eight, the mirror showed a look of contempt.

“I’m not wrong,” Tie Xiong muttered, counting again. “The boss said I did it all right. You must be wrong!”

“Heh, little idiot.”

The black mirror let out a slightly hoarse male child’s voice, but the tone was unfriendly.

Tie Xiong was angry. He reached out to grab the mirror. “You’re the little idiot!”

The black mirror jumped back and turned into a small black ball.

Tie Xiong jumped several times but couldn’t reach it.

“Yin Wei, stop sleeping and help me get it!”

Yin Wei glanced at it, covered its face with its front paw, and continued to sleep.

Chi Yao, who was watching: “…”

This little chatterbox.

He’s stupid and talks too much.

Late at night, he leaned against the headboard and opened the latest photo in his album.

In the photo, Jing Xi sat at the bar with his chin resting on his hand, looking lazily at the camera.

The top two buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned, his beautiful collarbones were faintly visible, a black and gold military jacket was draped over his shoulders, and his long hair was loose, with a few strands of bangs on his forehead.

Perhaps because he had been drinking, his expression looked a little more languid than usual. His eyes were half-closed, and the eyelashes at the corners of his eyes were slightly turned up.

His eyes seemed to hide a soul-hooking ice hook, both cold and alluring.

Chi Yao looked at it for a minute, and his heart rate gradually went out of control.

He could almost smell the clear scent of alcohol on the other person.

“This monster.”

Although his hand was applied with medicine, he got a very good photo.

This was not a loss.

Chi Yao’s eyes scanned the wound on the back of his hand, and he brought it to his nose to sniff.

A faint strawberry scent.

“…”

What kind of ointment was this? Was it reliable?

As it turned out, eye-cleansing photos were more effective than children’s books.

Chi Yao had just lied down and fell asleep before he could even open the children’s book.

The next day, he was woken up by the heat.

He never liked to turn on the thermostat, as it would make him lose his judgment of the environment.

Usually with Yin Wei around, the temperature was just right, but now with another heat source, the temperature in the bed went out of control.

Chi Yao opened his eyes helplessly and threw Tie Xiong, who was lying across him, onto Yin Wei’s back.

A child’s body temperature was very high, more effective than a hot water bottle.

He threw off the blanket and got out of bed to take a shower.

When he came out of the bathroom, he saw that it was not yet 7 o’clock.

It must have been because it was too hot.

Chi Yao lay back down, planning to catch up on some sleep.

But this time, he couldn’t fall asleep at all.

He sat up again, casually ran a hand through his hair, got dressed, and went downstairs.

There was no one in the living room.

At this time, Jing Xi should still be doing his morning workout.

Chi Yao turned and went to the gym.

He had just pushed the door open when he heard a thud.

A wooden stick as thick as an arm broke in response.

Jing Xi pulled back his hand. Hearing the sound, he looked at the door.

“You’re early today?”

Chi Yao leaned against the door, saying lazily, “You sent a burden over. Do you expect me to sleep well?”

“If you don’t like him, you can give him to me.” Jing Xi picked up a towel to wipe off his sweat. “I’m short a hot water bottle in my bed.”

Chi Yao’s gaze slid from the sweat on his forehead to his neck.

“If you like kids so much, have one yourself.”

Jing Xi: “I don’t have that function.”

Chi Yao smiled. “Can’t you have one if you find an omega?”

“Before I find that bastard, I won’t get married.” Jing Xi threw the towel onto the equipment next to him and gestured to Chi Yao. “Since you’re here, want to have a spar?”

“I’m afraid your wound will split open, and I’ll be blamed again.”

That’s what he said, but he was already walking over.

When the two of them came out, covered in sweat, there were already several people sitting in the living room on the first floor.

Tie Xiong and Yin Wei, the two foodies, were sitting at the dining table, almost burying their faces in their bowls.

The black mirror in front of them showed a contemptuous expression again.

Chun Qin came out of the kitchen with a plate, and seeing them, she said, “Hungry? It’s freshly made. Let’s eat first.”

The whole house was filled with a delicious aroma, and their stomachs rumbled.

Jiang Feng had something to report and wanted to wait until Jing Xi finished eating, but Jing Xi went to the living room, a clear signal.

It was always difficult to change the boss’s decisions.

Jiang Feng scanned the group of Extreme Shadow people at the dining table and lowered his voice. “Our people just found Xu Zhou, and he came to the base himself.”

Jing Xi’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Hold him up. Bring him directly to my office later.”

Jiang Feng: “Yes.”

In the dining room, Chi Yao took the coffee Chun Qin had brewed and took a sip.

“A little bitter.”

Chun Qin: “I brewed it to your usual taste.”

Chi Yao said casually, “His is sweeter than yours, and more fragrant.”

He put down the cup. Seeing Chun Qin’s smile from the corner of his eye, he took a bite of a sandwich. “What are you laughing at?”

Chun Qin stirred the coffee in her hand. “Yesterday, I didn’t leave Building 10 until 1 a.m.”

“? You worked hard.”

Chi Yao’s gulp suddenly stopped.

Wait!

Chun Qin didn’t leave until 1 a.m., so everything he and Jing Xi said…

Chun Qin put down her small spoon and elegantly took a sip from her cup.

“From the perspective of a sworn enemy, your performance is completely unqualified.”

Chi Yao: “…”

Chun Qin put down her cup, and her voice was filled with laughter.

“From the perspective of a romantic relationship, your performance is also unqualified.”

Chi Yao: “…”