Chapter 62: Why Am I Never Happy?

At eleven o'clock, Qin Tianshuo and the others arrived at the lounge.

"We deliberately skipped breakfast just to gorge ourselves on this feast today. Are we going or what? Don't tell me you're stalling because you're afraid we'll eat you out of house and home!" Qin Tianshuo called out with a laugh from the doorway.

"Who do you think you're looking down on? Let's go, let's go, I'll take you all to the street right beside the research building. There's a restaurant there that specializes in mutton, and it tastes out of this world!" Yu Shuang picked up her coat, leading the boisterous group as they headed out.

Zhao Bohan walked at the very end. After waiting for the noisy crowd to file out, he meticulously locked the door.

He didn't look behind the wooden rack piled with clothes in the small cubicle, where, inside an extremely well-concealed hole in the wall, a tiny red dot flickered slightly.

Outside the military camp, in a rough-and-tumble residential area at the bottom of the social ladder, inside a small, cramped apartment equipped with two computer setups, a protruded-mouth man took off his headphones and said in puzzlement:

"I couldn't quite catch a few sentences in the middle."

Another man with squinted eyes said, "Right after that female voice said 'Really?', right? I couldn't hear it clearly either."

"Why did it go silent afterward? They couldn't have discovered the bug, could they?" the protruded-mouth man worriedly asked.

The squinted-eyed man waved a hand: "Impossible, they were talking quite normally afterward. Besides, it doesn't matter; we've already heard quite a bit of content. As long as we can report back, that's enough."

The protruded-mouth man didn't argue and nodded. "Then let's report it upward."

He picked up an old cell phone and dialed a call.

...

The commercial street beside the research building was a wide avenue, and the restaurants lining it were spacious, clean, and well-stocked with ingredients.

Naturally, they were also quite expensive, but the squad members had their bonuses again—they could afford it!

Yu Shuang ordered two large bronze hot pots and basically ordered every meat and vegetable currently available on the menu, setting out a table so full there was no space left.

She even opened some liquor.

In the apocalypse, everyone suffered greatly from the ravages of pollution, making tobacco and alcohol hard currencies. However, tobacco was extremely rare, with only a few bases in the southeast producing small quantities, while grain-based liquor was also considered a luxury item.

Figuring that they were the hosts this time, Yu Shuang decided she had to be generous. With a wave of her hand, she bought two bottles of grain liquor and half a case of cheap synthetic alcohol.

"How you hold your liquor reflects your character—it's time to expose true colors!" Yu Shuang laughed as she popped the caps, twisting them off one by one.

"You think I'm scared of you? In my base, I've drunk every team under the table with no rivals in sight!" Qin Tianshuo slammed the table to challenge her.

Xu Le egged them on: "I don't believe it! Unless you go a round with Captain Yu! Come on, fill up the cups for our two captains!"

With these three around, it was practically impossible for the atmosphere at the table not to be lively.

By the time Yu Shuang had drunk Qin Tianshuo to the point where he could barely stand, yet he was still putting up a stubborn front, the group's laughter and rowdiness almost blew the roof off!

Chen Yuezhou sat in the seat of honor. Everyone held a mixture of awe and curiosity toward him, so toasts came endlessly. Yet he didn't put on any airs and accepted all comers, which only earned him even more admiration.

Quite a few people also toasted Qi An, but alcohol rushed straight to her head, leaving her cheeks flushed. Blinking her eyes into a hazy, misty look, she claimed she had a low tolerance and couldn't drink much, whereupon Yu Shuang and Zhuang Xiao blocked every single drink for her.

Qi An rested her chin in her hands, smiling, and then blankly watched the table full of laughing people.

Chen Yuezhou's gaze, meanwhile, occasionally pierced through the glass wine glass and the lingering wisps of steam from the mutton hot pot to look at her.

Yang Yuning was also watching her. Having been plied with quite a bit of alcohol himself, he was already showing signs of intoxication.

Riding the wave of the alcohol, he looked at her blatantly, his eyes fixed on her without missing a beat.

Many people at the table, especially the observant girls, picked up on the subtle undercurrents and smiled knowingly.

Feeling as though pins and needles were pricking her back, Qi An used the excuse of going to the restroom to escape.

They had been eating, drinking, and making merry for two hours. Mealtimes had long since passed, and both the upper and lower floors of the restaurant had grown deserted.

The inside and outside of the private dining room felt like two extremes of noise and quiet, while the sunlight outside the window had faded away at some unknown point, leaving the sky overcast and threatening rain.

Qi An pushed open the second-floor window, letting the moisture-laden wind wash over her as she gazed out at the sparsely populated street, lost in silent thought.

"How come Little Doctor Qi always seems unhappy at times when she's supposed to be happy?"

As elusive as a ghost, Chen Yuezhou appeared by Qi An's side out of nowhere and asked.

He, too, pushed open a window, looking as though he had come to sober up, yet his eyes were bright and clear without the slightest trace of intoxication.

Qi An thought to herself that this man's alcohol tolerance was also unfathomable.

She retorted, "Why should Team Leader Chen care whether I'm happy or not?"

"Purely out of curiosity." Chen Yuezhou turned to look at her.

He already knew that Qi An had no relatives in the base—only teammates.

Her teammates clearly trusted her, cherished her, blocked drinks for her without a second thought, and defended her with a sense of natural righteousness.

Chen Yuezhou couldn't understand why Qi An still always wore a heavy heart, with an unshakeable sorrow lingering in her brows and eyes.

Qi An glanced at him, thinking that he and Chen Xicheng were both top-tier in terms of strength and appearance, hailing from a major base with bright prospects. Yet judging by their mental states, why was each one more sorrowful than the last?

She wanted to turn and walk away, but remembering her business, she paused and simply sat on the windowsill, facing Chen Yuezhou:

"If I tell Team Leader Chen why I'm unhappy, can Team Leader Chen answer a question for me?"

Chen Yuezhou raised an eyebrow: "Tell me what the question is first."

"Is Team Leader Chen going to participate in this major battle in the northwest as a commander?" Qi An leaned forward slightly, lowering her voice to ask.

Chen Yuezhou was surprised.

Qi An raised her eyebrows, keeping her voice low: "Our squad has been involved in a lot, so we know a lot too."

Chen Yuezhou brushed away his surprise, looking instead as if it all made sense. He nodded: "Yes."

"What does Team Leader Chen think of our squad's combat effectiveness?" Qi An asked again.

"That's two questions," Chen Yuezhou said.

Qi An pursed her lips: "Can't throw one in for free?"

Chen Yuezhou laughed out loud, but replied, "No. You have to answer one more question of mine as well."

Qi An looked at him in silence, and Chen Yuezhou said, "Is your mental strengthening value really only 8?"

"It really is. It's in my file; Team Leader Chen can go check it out if you're able," Qi An said, immediately following up with:

"Does Team Leader Chen have the authority to select soldiers from various bases to participate in the battle? Would you consider our squad?"

Chen Yuezhou remained silent, simply gazing into Qi An's anxious and expectant eyes, the amusement in his gaze growing denser.

Qi An waited for a moment, feeling as though this man was teasing her.

She stood up and said, "Then I'll go ask Yang Yuning. He's bound to participate in the battle too."

Yang Yuning hailed from North Base 1 and clearly had powerful backing behind him. If they wanted to go to war, approaching Yang Yuning should work just as well.

The amusement instantly vanished from Chen Yuezhou's face. He took a step forward, blocking Qi An's path completely.

"Don't ask him. I have the authority to select teams, and I am very willing to include your squad in my forces. You are strong."

This was the honest truth; the Second Riding Wind Squad was strong, and Qi An, as a purifier, was exceptionally strong.

If it weren't for... he definitely would have made his move to poach talent from the Central Plains No. 3 Base.

Qi An took a step back, still having to tilt her head up quite high to meet Chen Yuezhou's gaze: "Then... thank you for your recognition, Team Leader Chen."

"It's your turn to answer my question. Why are you always unhappy?" Chen Yuezhou looked down at her and asked.

Yet, perhaps because they were standing so close, as he asked the question again, Chen Yuezhou clenched his hands, feeling that the atmosphere had grown somewhat... ambiguous.

A sudden urge to back away and leave welled up inside him.

He truly shouldn't be concerned about why Qi An was unhappy; he was crossing the line and acting irrationally...

But Qi An had already kept her promise and answered, her voice soft: "I'm unhappy because there have been so many happy things lately, and I'm afraid all of this is fake and will melt away like soap bubbles."

Chen Yuezhou was startled, and his clenched hands slowly loosened.

A powerful wave of empathy surged into his heart.