Ling Cage, pick up Lu Mingfei at the start.

"Be careful, don't run so fast!" Tasia stood at the door, waving goodbye to Lu Mingfei who had already run off at breakneck speed. The evening breeze ruffled the stray hairs on her forehead, and the moonlight lingered on her smiling lips.

She only looked away and turned to close the door when the figure had completely disappeared into the night.

Recalling that swift figure, Tasia couldn't help but chuckle. Just now, Lu Mingfei seemed quite flustered for some reason, hurriedly saying goodbye to her. He probably hadn't told Boss Bai that he wouldn't be home for dinner tonight. But that's fine, it just so happens that he hadn't eaten enough either.

When Tasia returned home, she looked at the clean plates on the table, tilted her head with a hint of helplessness, and tidied up the dishes: "Make more next time."

……

"Huff—huff—" Lu Mingfei gasped for breath as he ran wildly through the deserted streets. He had never run this fast since returning from the shielding tower mission. However, he was not tired. A warm current kept supporting him forward, but the cold air along the way kept irritating his throat and lungs.

dong dong——

Lu Mingfei knocked on Bai Yuekui's door.

"The door isn't locked." Bai Yuekui's voice was as gentle and calm as ever.

Lu Mingfei pushed open the door and entered, meeting Bai Yuekui's gaze as she looked up from her book. She wore a pair of exquisite gold-rimmed glasses, and her eyes lingered for a moment on the slightly rapid rise and fall of his chest behind the lenses, her brows furrowing almost imperceptibly.

"You ran back?"

Lu Mingfei nodded. Bai Yuekui's attitude surprised him. He had rehearsed the whole way and thought he would be asked why he was so late.

"The food is on the table. I've already eaten. You can eat by yourself." Bai Yuekui pointed to the table, sat on the sofa, adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses, and continued reading her book.

"Aren't you going to ask me where I went? Why did it take you so long to come back?" Lu Mingfei asked cautiously, already prepared to be scolded.

Bai Yuekui raised an eyebrow upon hearing this and glanced at Lu Mingfei: "You're not a child anymore. Besides, the cave is only so big. You can't possibly run out. You're only coming back now because you've been playing games in the arcade all this time."

Lu Mingfei felt a little embarrassed upon hearing this. Had his image become so bad? He muttered, "I'm not just someone who plays video games."

"But all you want to do is play games. Can you honestly say you didn't go to the arcade today?" Although Lu Mingfei's voice was very soft, Bai Yuekui still heard it.

Lu Mingfei was speechless. He had indeed gone today. He silently walked to the dining table, looking at the large table of dishes, feeling both moved and hesitant about whether he could finish the meal.

He patted his flat stomach, then looked at the dishes on the table. "Should this work?"

"How was your day going out?" Bai Yuekui suddenly asked, and for some reason, Lu Mingfei detected a hint of mockery in his voice.

"Huh?" Lu Mingfei stopped eating and looked at Bai Yuekui. She was still holding a book, but there was a faint smile on her lips, which looked meaningful under the orange light. So you knew everything.

"You didn't even give me a heads-up." Lu Mingfei said, his mouth full of rice, his chopsticks skewering on his tongue.

"This is called a surprise." Bai Yuekui chuckled, a glint of light flashing in her eyes as if some kind of mischievous prank had succeeded, but she quickly concealed it in her deep, still eyes.

"It was quite a surprise," Lu Mingfei said helplessly. He told Bai Yuekui about what happened today: how he was surrounded by villagers thanking him, how embarrassed he was, how he met Fang Yuan at the Rensheng Dashi who offered to make him clothes, and how he finally met Tasia at the arcade and played a game with her.

He skipped over Fang Yuan's emotional outpouring, something he needed to process himself and it wasn't worth spreading. But Lu Mingfei made his relationship with Tasia very clear, after all, he had experienced something bizarre, and he had hit the jackpot of such a low probability thing as split personality on his first try.

Speaking of this, Lu Mingfei recalled his encounter with Tasia's secondary personality today. He felt that this secondary personality of Tasia's was not too different from Tasia herself, but there were still differences. This secondary personality was more violent and more sensitive, and would start fighting at the slightest disagreement, but she was very lonely.

"So you fought with Tasia's alternate personality?" Bai Yuekui asked, half-laughing, half-crying. "She wasn't hurt, was she?"

"I'm the victim here, shouldn't they care about me?" Lu Mingfei complained slightly, protesting the injustice.

"You're high in attack, high in health, and have healing abilities now. You're no longer the newbie you were when you first arrived. But I only have a handful of precious researchers, and among them, only Tasia is both smart and capable." Bai Yuekui put down his book and crossed his arms.

Is this a compliment? Something doesn't feel right...

Lu Mingfei scratched his head.

"But that Naruto thing of yours? It sounds quite interesting. Tell me about it sometime."

"Boss Bai is interested in this?" Lu Mingfei was a little surprised. He thought Bai Yuekui was the kind of busy, strong woman who managed the operation of the entire Dragon Bone Village and was also busy with research. Sometimes Lu Mingfei didn't sleep at night. He borrowed a game console from Xia Dou. The night in Dragon Bone Village was very quiet. Even if he was focused on playing the game, the creaking sound of the door opening outside could be clearly heard.

From then on, he knew that although Boss Bai could play games, she was very busy and would not get home until three or four in the morning. Lu Mingfei wanted to help her, but once he opened the book that Bai Yuekui often read, and the contents were like a book from heaven, with dense formulas lined up together. In his eyes, it was just a bunch of English words combined in a random way. So he gave up. Not causing trouble in research was the best help.

"What, you think I'm old and you're treating me like an old lady?" Bai Yuekui said with some dissatisfaction. As the saying goes, physical condition determines mental age. Even though she has experienced so many life and death separations, and even though she is no longer the willful and reckless girl she used to be, she still thinks she is young at heart. Especially after receiving Lu Mingfei's "Don't die" blessing, her physical condition has recovered to almost the peak of her former self.

"No, no, Boss Bai is quite young." Lu Mingfei didn't dare to take the bait. "It's just that I've never seen Boss Bai read these kinds of miscellaneous books."

"Because I had already finished reading those miscellaneous books before you came, and I haven't found anything new, so naturally I haven't read them," Bai Yuekui said helplessly, then looked at Lu Mingfei's head with bright eyes: "But now, there are some new ones."

Lu Mingfei felt that he wouldn't have as much time to play games in the future.

"Oh right, next month, no, I should say in about ten days, the village is going to hold a food festival." Bai Yuekui said seemingly casually, but his tone clearly carried a hint of joy and anticipation.

"Our village even has a food festival?" Lu Mingfei asked in surprise, never expecting that such an incredible event could be held in a post-apocalyptic world.

"Yes, in fact, the village still retains many festivals. We lost too much in the apocalypse. The peaceful and prosperous life you see in the village is just an illusion. You've only been here for three months, and a few missions haven't been enough for you to understand what we've been through." Bai Yuekui stood up and looked at the lights of hundreds of homes outside the window. "We celebrate festivals, which reminds us that we still bear the responsibility of passing on civilization. And food is the most important thing for people. The food festival is the most lively day in our village besides the New Year. Everyone looks forward to this once-a-year event, and every household brings out their best dishes."

"So," Bai Yuekui turned around, a hint of a smile in his voice, "that day the village will be filled with delicacies from all over the country, you should be able to eat your fill."

Lu Mingfei, who was still engrossed in eating, looked up. After being here for so long, was he finally about to see the light at the end of the tunnel? With his current appetite, he could at least try every dish at the food festival, if not eat it all. In that case, wouldn't his dream of cooking for everyone be realized in a single day? Thinking of this, Lu Mingfei became a little excited.

"However..." Bai Yuekui changed the subject, and Lu Mingfei stopped chewing and listened quietly to what Bai Yuekui was about to say, "However, the village doesn't have that many ingredients in reserve right now, so we have to go to the second ecological base to bring back a batch to prepare for this food festival."

"Us? Am I going too?" Lu Mingfei pointed to himself.

Bai Yuekui nodded, somewhat exasperated: "Yes, you have to go too. Don't always stay cooped up in the village. You have to go out and see the scenery. You can also see how we survived the apocalypse."

Lu Mingfei also felt that he hadn't been out for a long time. Apart from the time he spent doing missions, he had spent the last three months in this small village that could accommodate hundreds of people.

Lu Mingfei agreed almost without hesitation, and before long, he had devoured all the dishes on the table. Bai Yuekui frowned and glanced at him, his lips twitching slightly. How could this kid eat so much?

"Remember to wash the dishes. I need to rest. I'm leaving at nine o'clock the day after tomorrow, so don't oversleep." Bai Yuekui didn't turn around, picked up the book he hadn't finished reading from the sofa, and walked into his bedroom.

Lu Mingfei was left alone in the large living room, but he didn't care. It had always been like this. He knew Bai Yuekui was very tired, and it was already quite an achievement that he had managed to cook such a large meal for him recently. This was the first time in his eighteen years of life that he had been treated like this.

He quietly put all the tableware away in the kitchen, closed the kitchen door, so that the sound of washing dishes wouldn't disturb Bai Yuekui's rest.

Recently, there have been many bottles and jars in the kitchen, containing all kinds of seasonings, but Lu Mingfei has never cooked before, and recognizing soy sauce, salt, and vinegar is already his limit.

Before long, the dishes, now only covered in grease, were washed clean, everything was spotless, and the kitchen was tidy again, with only the bright moonlight flowing across the clean tabletop that Lu Mingfei had wiped clean.

Lu Mingfei returned home and went straight to his bed. Comfort and a sense of security instantly enveloped his body, and drowsiness quickly overcame him. So much had happened today: the villagers' gratitude, Fang Yuan's confiding, and the fight with Tasia's alternate personality after the transformation.

However, Lu Mingfei was still somewhat excited when he thought about the food festival that was coming soon. "The Second Ecological Base..." he murmured the unfamiliar name, feeling a vague sense of anticipation for the outside world he would be setting foot in the day after tomorrow.

After turning over, Lu Mingfei stretched and finally felt as exhaustion completely overwhelm his consciousness.