Before going to bed, Qi Yan read a few pages of the epic poem, his fingers pinching the thin pages, and he was lost in thought.
A little confused
Qi Yan curled up and lay on his side, putting the book aside, his fingers unconsciously stroking the rough cloth cover.
It was very quiet around him, and he couldn't help but wonder what the person living in the room opposite him was doing, but he couldn't figure it out.
He knew that Lu Fenghan would get up early every day to do physical training, but he rarely saw it, because when he got up, Lu Fenghan had basically finished training. Only a few times did he see him sweating and about to go back to the room to take a shower.
Qi Yan was a bit of a germaphobe, but Lu Fenghan was a rare person who didn't make him feel dirty even when he was sweating, and he didn't have any strange smell. He once accidentally touched Lu Fenghan's arm, and the hot and humid feeling left a deep impression on him.
As for the rest, he knew that Lu Fenghan liked to watch the news very much. When he had nothing to do, he would look through the information in his personal terminal. Sometimes he would talk to Vincent on the phone. Usually when they were on the phone, his aura would become stern, like a knife hidden in a hard sheath.
It was extremely rare for Qi Yan to think about someone in this way, so much so that he was so focused that it took him a while to hear the communication reminder on his personal terminal.
He didn't move, allowing the connection to take place before speaking: "Eliza?"
"It's me," Eliza went straight to the point. "August discovered a few hours ago that someone was looking up your real information, but he didn't have enough authority, so he was directly blocked. He asked me to ask you."
"Nothing happened. It's the Security Department's Special Intelligence Section 5 who are investigating." Qi Yan summarized today's events in a few sentences. When he mentioned the "Mantis" who was looking for information from Laurent, he asked, "Have the rebels been very active recently?"
"That's right. The impact of the great defeat on the front line is much greater than what is revealed on the surface. In the past, the rebels were always suppressed by the expeditionary army, so they naturally couldn't concentrate their attention and made small moves in secret. Now that they have turned the tables, all their tentacles have become active."
Eliza smiled again, "But you are safe. The rebels would never have thought that you would be a second-year student in Turan, and that you would be a good student who would go to class and leave class every day and hand in homework on time, except for falling asleep in class."
Hearing the teasing in the other person's words, Qi Yan called out, "Eliza."
"I know, I won't say any more," Eliza said with a smile, and then said, "It seems that this arrangement is correct. When your condition worsened, news of the great defeat on the front line also came. No matter where you are sent, there may be a risk of being discovered by the rebels. Going back to Leto and entering Turan is safer."
Qi Yan knew that there was a long dispute about where to send him to recuperate. Later, Eliza, who had been his attending physician for eight years, suggested that he be sent back to Leto.
"You have never had anyone your own age since you were a child. Maybe you can make some friends through this opportunity, and experience what daily life is like at your age." Eliza asked with concern, "Qi Yan, have you been happy during this period?"
Are you happy
Qi Yan thought, I’m happy.
He lived in one place since he was a child and seldom went out. After arriving in Leto, he saw many things he had never seen before and met many people. Each of these people was different. They would say many things he had never heard of, have many different opinions, and have all kinds of happiness and unhappiness.
And there is Lu Fenghan.
Thinking of this person, Qi Yan couldn't help but rub his fingers on the cloth cover twice.
When Qiyan didn't answer, Eliza pressed the issue, "You're happy, aren't you?"
Qi Yan then said, “Yeah.”
"You've been quiet since you were little, like an insecure little animal, quietly observing your surroundings." Eliza seemed to be very emotional, and after a while she asked again, "Now, how often do you confuse reality?"
"There's no pattern. Sometimes it's once a day, sometimes it's several times." Qi Yan said this, and then overturned his own conclusion, "No, I'm not sure. I don't know which specific memories are confused."
When he said this, strangely, Qi Yan had no extra negative emotions or uneasiness in his heart. It was like there was a clear point between the ups and downs, which allowed him to anchor himself.
It was unknown when the communication ended. The fluorescence of the personal terminal gradually went out. Qi Yan pressed his fingers on the cover of the book and closed his eyes.
Lu Fenghan had just finished taking a shower and was leaning against the head of the bed, talking to Vincent intermittently.
"Special Intelligence Department 5 has really lost face this time. They found the wrong person in Turan, and everyone knew about it the moment they did. It is said that their deputy director was furious after bringing the person back. People in Department 5 who have nothing to do are looking for work to do. Field work is even more popular. Anyway, they are determined not to show up in front of their deputy director to avoid being implicated. I think it will be difficult for Solo and Pari to move up in the future!"
"When did you become so gossipy?" Lu Fenghan closed the window and noticed that the sky was covered with dark clouds and thunder had begun to roar.
Vincent defended himself, "Commander, this is not gossip, this is professionalism!" He said seriously, "By the way, you just asked me to pay attention to the Fontaine One leak yesterday, and today the news was delivered to me."
Lu Fenghan paused while tapping his fingers on the bed: "Mantis?"
"It's that 'Mantis'! Feng Ji from the Fifth Special Intelligence Department personally took charge and investigated 'Mantis' to death. He actually found out a lot of things. 'Mantis' has been hiding in Leto for about ten years. His favorite thing to do is to seduce those first-year students in Turan." Vincent sighed, "You know, those students who have just come of age and just come to Leto are often short of money. They are not like you who are in charge, who are lucky enough to have someone to support them. So after a while, there are really many people who can be seduce by 'Mantis'."
Lu Fenghan temporarily ignored the comment of "lucky to have someone to support you" and thought of what Lin Jia said when he went to Fontaine No. 1 before, "Did the Turan student who was hooked by Mantis enter Fontaine No. 1 after graduation?"
"That's right. Mantis is very resourceful. He spent a lot of money to buy basic information of little value from the student three times, just like testing the waters. When the student was about to graduate, he suddenly didn't want to do it anymore. Mantis threatened him with what happened in the past few years. If he dared to quit, he would expose everything he had done. Once the theft and sale of information was exposed, the student's future would be in jeopardy, and his life would be in jeopardy. He had no choice but to continue cooperating with Mantis. One wrong step would lead to another."
Vincent was full of emotion, but he didn't feel any sympathy. "This time, the student was working on Fontaine 1. Mantis got the news from him and learned that the scientists 'over there' were taking the starship's central control system to Leto, and would rest on Fontaine 1."
That's why there was a surprise attack.
Lu Fenghan pondered inwardly, he didn't expect that because of the Laurent incident, so many things would be pulled out, root and leaf.
Vincent gloated: "After the leak, Huo Yan must be worried to death. If you ask me, he retired from the front line and managed Fontaine No. 1 like a fishing net. He has enjoyed such a good life for so long, it's time for him to exercise his hands and feet. By the way, Commander, what was his reaction when he saw you last time?"
When Lu Fenghan thought about it now, his eardrums still hurt: "How else can I react? I thought I saw a ghost."
Vincent couldn't stop laughing, and he was looking forward to it: "When we get back to the front, Erich and the others will scream 'there's a ghost' when they see you!"
Lu Fenghan didn’t know what he was thinking about. The smile on the corner of his lips faded slightly. His eyes froze for a moment and he didn’t respond to Vincent’s words.
After hanging up the phone, he leaned against the head of the bed and looked out the window.
It was late at night and a thunderstorm had begun to fall. The twin moons that usually adorned the sky were now obscured by the clouds, without a single ray of moonlight to be seen.
If you really count it, he spent more time in Leto than at the front. Before joining the expeditionary force, he spent every day in Leto, but compared to that, he preferred being at the front.
Although there were only hard beds and canned nutritional paste that was boring, looking out the porthole, there was only the dark universe and distant stars. Occasionally, the planets were mostly desolate. In addition, there were occasional enemy attacks and irregular cosmic storms...
But Lu Fenghan still likes it there.
He now understood a little, why his father, Lu Jun, would drift on the starship for a year or two without going home, and why he would occasionally communicate when chasing pirates, and he never looked tired, but instead his eyes were full of spirit.
It turns out that he, like his father, is a jungle animal through and through.
But if he wants to leave—
He can be kidnapped easily, but looking at his delicate behavior, if we really follow him to the front line, not to mention whether he can get used to the food, just sleeping on the hard bed for a night will definitely make him pull us and say that he hurts all over his body.
Thinking of this, Lu Fenghan was shocked that he, an honorary graduate of the First Military Academy and the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, was actually thinking about kidnapping people in broad daylight
There was a knock on the door.
Not too light or too heavy, just three tones.
There were only two people in this house. Lu Fenghan knew without guessing that the person knocking on the door must be the one he wanted to kidnap just now.
He got out of bed, opened the door, and saw Qi Yan standing at the door. Lu Fenghan raised his eyebrows: "What's going on?"
He asked this, but took a step aside to let Qi Yan in.
Qi Yan was wrapped in a black nightgown, holding a pillow that she was used to sleeping on, and answered Lu Fenghan's question: "I can't sleep."
His eyes flickered across his thin, white ankles, and Lu Fenghan took over the conversation: "So you want to sleep with me?"
"Um."
"Come on." Lu Fenghan reached out and picked up his pillow. It felt soft and smooth under his fingers. He thought, even touching the pillow felt like holding a cloud.
He put the pillow on the bed and asked again, "Can you fall asleep if you sleep with me?"
When he asked this question, the first thing that came to his mind was the first time he met Qi Yan. He was on guard and pretended to be asleep. Not long after, Qi Yan curled up beside him and fell asleep in a moment.
The pillow was taken away, and Qi Yan was left empty-handed, not knowing how to answer this question.
Fortunately, Lu Fenghan did not ask any further questions. He just lay back on the bed and pointed to the empty half next to him with his chin: "Not coming up?"
Qi Yan went to bed as he was told.
The lights were turned off, the room became dark, and the sound of wind and rain outside the window showed no sign of stopping.
Unlike the single bed on Fontaine One, the bed that two people slept in now had one person occupying one side, leaving half a space in the middle.
Qi Yan sniffed Lu Fenghan's scent at the tip of his nose, and the emotions aroused by the memories finally calmed down.
Lu Fenghan closed his eyes and habitually sorted out the news he had read today in his mind. At this moment, there was another thunder outside the window, and the rumbling sound made the windows shake.
At the same time, he sensitively noticed that Qi Yan's breathing was tense, and only relaxed after the thunder disappeared.
She came over in the middle of the night with a pillow in her arms. Lu Fenghan guessed that she was… afraid of thunder? So she came over to knock on the door and sleep with him
Just like small animals, when they encounter something they are afraid of, they will immediately hide in a place they think is safe.
Lu Fenghan had excellent night vision and could see Qi Yan's hands loosely grasping the bed sheet. Hearing thunder in the sky, he tightened his fingers, causing wrinkles in the bed sheet.
As the next thunder roared, Lu Fenghan turned sideways, put his warm palm over Qi Yan's ear, and whispered helplessly, "Okay, I'm here, don't be afraid."