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Chapter 117: Chapter 117: Cold War
"At first, when I got to know her, I had no idea she was so annoying. After a few missions, oh my God! It’s torture to be on a mission with her! She loves to give random orders, and if anyone doesn’t do as she says, she does this superior thing and lectures you. Ugh! I can’t even learn to talk like that. As if whatever she says is the only truth, the standard, and you must do exactly as she says, otherwise, you’re making a mistake, committing a crime!"
Han Jiaojiao burst out laughing.
Her impression of Su Xue did indeed include that flaw – loving to take charge and lead. When she collaborated with Su Xue on charity work, she had noticed it. Even though she provided both the money and the venue, everything had to be done according to Su Xue’s plans. But Han Jiaojiao herself wasn’t the type to overthink; after her several plan proposals were rejected by Su Xue, she stopped bothering. As long as it helped those in need, she thought that was enough and there was no need to argue with a good friend over these things.
Tian Xinyue saw Han Jiaojiao laughing and felt encouraged, as if someone had cheered her on, and started to speak with even more zest.
"She’s always like that, who can stand having such a teammate? As a result, several team leaders in our team became reluctant to take her on missions. And guess what, she went straight to the top crying about it! Turns out, she has a boyfriend in the ability team, who’s kind of a minor leader. Who knows what her boyfriend said to our captain... But after that, Su Xue was promoted to team leader! Now the fun begins, huh!"
When Tian Xinyue reached this point, she waved an index finger gravely in front of Han Jiaojiao’s eyes and continued, "Team Leader Su only led one mission! Just one! Ten people went out, and only five came back; the rest walked back by themselves!"
"What?..." Han Jiaojiao was shocked, her eyes wide with surprise, "Why didn’t she bring those five people back?" n𝚘vp𝚞𝚋.com
Tian Xinyue snorted disdainfully, "That mission was to set up surveillance equipment. On their way back they encountered a mutant beast, which for us is pretty routine. But she panicked, just drove off, leaving those five behind, and they almost died! When they got back, they reported it to the superiors. When the superiors wanted to punish her, she actually had the nerve to object, claiming she was worried that those five team members might have been infected with a virus and that’s why she didn’t wait for them. It’s so laughable; she clearly ran out of fear and lack of courage, yet had the gall to make it about some noble-sounding infection."
At that time, everyone still didn’t know that mutant beasts couldn’t transmit viruses, only Alien Species had that capability. But, Su Xue’s decision back then was clearly too hasty; she should have at least brought the people back to the base, where the base’s security checks would have been able to determine if there was an infection.
"So... what happened after that?" Han Jiaojiao asked, her curiosity piqued.
Tian Xinyue sighed, sounding rather regretful, "After that, her boyfriend showed up again, pleaded for her, and now she’s been transferred to logistics, counting inventory, working as a communications operator. She’s quieted down for now."
This was different from her previous life...
Han Jiaojiao thought to herself. In her past life, Su Xue was quite popular in the Special Training Team. Especially among the male team members; with a significant gender imbalance in the team, Su Xue’s already good reputation with the opposite sex was even more pronounced... Oh, that’s right, in her past life she never had a boyfriend. Perhaps it was this boyfriend that caused her to lose the adoration of those male team members and led to... these differences?
But why did she suddenly have a boyfriend this life?... How strange.
—Hong Yun usually had no patience for such gossip, but seeing how engrossed Han Jiaojiao was, she didn’t interrupt Tian Xinyue. If it had been anyone else talking, Hong Yun might have thrown Tian Xinyue in front of a punching bag to start a training session right after Tian Xinyue’s second sentence.
The two of them hit it off, and the conversation drifted further away.
Even though Tian Xinyue did most of the talking with Han Jiaojiao chiming in only occasionally, the atmosphere was surprisingly harmonious, which Hong Yun was happy to see. She let them be.
As Han Jiaojiao’s eyes slowly revealed her joy, Hong Yun seemed to feel that happiness too.
When she heard Tian Xinyue reveal that she discovered her own ability because she heard someone fart a kilometer away, Han Jiaojiao could not help but burst into laughter again.
Tian Xinyue wasn’t offended by the laughter and continued to self-deprecate, "When my ability first emerged, it was unstable, and I suffered from insomnia night after night! During sleepless nights, I would hear all kinds of strange noises, especially snoring, oh my Lord, snoring from all directions! Just imagine how I felt!"
"Hahahahaha..."
When Han Yi walked in, he was greeted by such a harmonious and joyful scene.
Han Jiaojiao was laughing so hard she held her stomach, and when she saw Tian Xinyue stop talking abruptly, she raised her head following Tian Xinyue’s gaze and turned around to see Han Yi standing expressionless at the entrance to the training room.
Hong Yun also raised an eyebrow as she looked towards Han Yi. She was curious about how he managed to get through security to come in here.
The second after Han Jiaojiao saw Han Yi, she dropped the smile on her face and called out indifferently, "Brother."
Tian Xinyue, standing beside him, widened her eyes even more upon hearing this name.
Han Yi felt his heart clench suddenly.
——The scene was eerily familiar to him.
The way they had been in past times was probably just like this. Whenever she was laughing and talking with someone else and caught sight of him, all the joy on her face would immediately recede. She built up a cold wall, with a heartless indifference... refusing his approach.
Han Yi silently watched her, and after a long time, he slowly walked over and said in a low voice, "Let’s go home."
Upon hearing this, Han Jiaojiao did not respond but silently unwound the boxing wraps from her hands, and then greeted Hong Yun, "Sister Hong, I’m heading back first."
Hong Yun nodded.
Han Jiaojiao then said to Tian Xinyue, "I’ll come to play with you next time."
"...Oh, okay..." Tian Xinyue still looked somewhat dazed, as if she was still in a state of great shock.
Han Jiaojiao waved to Hong Yun and Tian Xinyue and turned to walk outside.
Han Yi moved his lips but ultimately said nothing, following her out.
It was only after the two of them had left that Tian Xinyue snapped out of her daze—
"...Sister Hong, that person just now... was Jiaojiao’s brother?..."
"Mhm."
Tian Xinyue still couldn’t believe it, "...The same MAX that Wei Jie talked about?"
"Mhm." Hong Yun took position in front of the punching bag and struck a powerful blow, "He’s that MAX."
"Oh my god..." Tian Xinyue couldn’t help but cup her cheeks with her hands, "Wei Jie didn’t tell me he was so handsome... He actually didn’t mention such an important detail!..."
Hong Yun kept punching without speaking.
For some reason, she suddenly felt irritable. She kept hitting the punching bag, one punch after another, as if these barely perceptible uneasy emotions could dissipate along with it, and yet, they seemed to... strangle her heart even more.
Tian Xinyue, holding her cheeks, exclaimed, "Ah... To have such a powerful Ability and be so handsome, if the sisters find out, tsk, tsk, tsk... I can already foresee a storm of blood and gore coming..."
"Coward!" Hong Yun suddenly cursed softly!
Tian Xinyue was startled, "Sister Hong, who... are you talking about?"
Hong Yun closed her eyes, then reopened them, and replied with a faint smile, "...It’s nothing, I was talking about myself."
Tian Xinyue looked at her, puzzled. However, Hong Yun didn’t say anything more and just kept on punching.
