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Chapter 135: Chapter 135 Punishment
Tian Xinyue looked around as soon as she entered the room, and when Han Jiaojiao saw her do that, she covered her mouth and laughed, "Don’t bother looking, my brother isn’t here."
Tian Xinyue forced out a dry laugh, feeling quite uncomfortable at the thought of Han Jiaojiao’s brother.
"Xiaojie and Mengyi didn’t come with you?" Han Jiaojiao took out some cups and poured tea for Tian Xinyue as she spoke.
"They’ve gone on a mission," Tian Xinyue replied, but thought to herself with disapproval: Even if they weren’t on a mission, they wouldn’t dare come over. Every time they visit, your brother stares at them as if he’s throwing cold daggers, it’s terrifying...
After a couple of visits, even the most oblivious person could see that Han Yi didn’t like it when boys came to see his sister. Wei Jie and Wang Mengyi didn’t dare to offend, so they had Tian Xinyue come over instead for anything that came up.
"Has the Special Training Team been very busy lately?" Han Jiaojiao brewed a pot of chrysanthemum tea, added a couple of sugar cubes, and handed it to Tian Xinyue.
Tian Xinyue took the cup and responded, "A notice was issued yesterday, ordering all squads to go out and collect Crystal Cores. Not just our Special Training Team, but the entire ability team has been mobilized, and even the task board at the service center is nearly overwhelmed."
After finishing her sentence, Tian Xinyue placed the bag she was holding onto Han Jiaojiao’s side, "I know you lack for nothing, so Xiaojie, Mengyi, and I made some dried vegetables and meat for you to try. If you like them, I’ll bring more next time."
Han Jiaojiao opened the bag, looking surprised, "How did you guys do this?!"
Tian Xinyue smiled shyly, "Xiaojie’s mom loves to make these. Xiaojie learned from her, and he got us to make a lot. Especially vegetables like green beans, eggplant, and cabbage are hard to keep, turning them into dried veggies makes them convenient to eat anytime."
"That’s great, we’ve got so many vegetables at home, and I had no idea how to deal with them all; in the end, my sister Yu had to pickle them. Could you teach me how to dry vegetables? I won’t let you teach me for free; I can pay with points, or we can trade something else!"
Han Jiaojiao was excited; this was a great skill to learn! You have to understand, when the Ice Age comes and vegetables become harder to come by, it won’t be like now with the warm temperature and good sunlight, where throwing down a handful of seeds quickly sprouts. But later, it will be different; with temperatures as low as minus forty degrees, and not rising above minus ten degrees, agriculture will fall into a crisis.
Although the base later established heated greenhouses, the limited yield meant the vegetables could only be supplied to the high-ranking officials and military families.
If we can prepare a large batch of dried vegetables now, why would we ever worry about having nothing to eat later?
Tian Xinyue began to smile, "My dear lady, if you want to learn this, why not have Sister Yu teach me how to make pickled vegetables? We can just call it a skills exchange."
Yu Wanxi, who was in the kitchen preparing dinner, heard Tian Xinyue and, with a chuckle, brought out a small jar of pickles, "Take this back and try it. If it’s good, I’ll teach you next time you come. It’s pretty easy."
Tian Xinyue blushed slightly, "Xiaojie and Mengyi tease me about it, saying that every time I supposedly come visiting with gifts, but end up taking a bunch of stuff back with me. They say I’m not visiting friends but going on a raid."
Han Jiaojiao burst out laughing, "I don’t believe that for a second, with your sharp tongue, how could they dare to tease you!"
Tian Xinyue flipped her ponytail and laughed, "Why wouldn’t they dare? Now that I’m no longer the squad leader, I can’t control them anymore."
The smile on Han Jiaojiao’s face froze, "...Didn’t Sister Hong Yun file a report about it? Why did they end up blaming you?"
During their previous incident, they had been saved by Han Yi and Hong Yun, who came to their rescue. Just as Han Jiaojiao had predicted, even though the three of them insisted that Su Xue had cut off the wireless communications channel, Su Xue did not admit to it. She claimed that the equipment had malfunctioned and that she was fixing it at the time. Moreover, she had warned them about the flight path of the mutant bird flock, arguing it was Tian Xinyue and the others who hadn’t listened carefully, leading to Li Qian’s tragedy.
Both sides stuck to their guns, and although Su Xue refused to admit it, the responsibility of the logistics department was ultimately inescapable. Hong Yun filed an application report and dismissed Su Xue from the Special Training Team. However, Tian Xinyue also received a demotion as punishment for inviting outsiders on a mission without authorization.
Tian Xinyue shook her head with indifference, her long braid swishing from side to side. "As a team leader, I led three team members on a mission but only returned with two, one of whom was injured. Not facing punishment would be unjustifiable. Besides, after this incident, I’ve realized I’m not suited to lead a team. There’s so much more I need to learn."
Han Jiaojiao, seeing no resentment on her face, was relieved and said, "That’s good... after all, there will be plenty of opportunities to move up in the future."
Tian Xinyue nodded happily, "I don’t mind at all, but Sister Hong has been officially transferred to the Special Training Team and has even been promoted. We can’t call her the vice-captain any longer, we must refer to her as the captain!"
Han Jiaojiao was slightly surprised. In her previous life, Hong Yun had always stayed in the position of vice-captain. This lifetime seemed to be taking a different turn...
——Actually, this wasn’t hard to understand. In her previous life, Hong Yun never received the large number of Crystal Cores gifted by Han Yi, so her Ability level had always remained mediocre. Adding to that the loss of an eye, her temperament became more volatile and irritable, unlike her current composed self. Her promotion in this life could be considered a small butterfly effect caused by Han Jiaojiao.
Suddenly, as if Tian Xinyue thought of something amusing, she leaned over to Han Jiaojiao and said, "I heard from Wang Mengyi that you don’t get along well with that Su Xue. Is it true?"
Han Jiaojiao rolled her eyes, "You all are so gossipy."
Tian Xinyue giggled, "Let me tell you something fun, you see, that Su Xue seems to be breaking up with her boyfriend."
"Huh?" Han Jiaojiao’s eyes widened.
"It’s probably the guy who wants to dump her. These past few days, Su Xue has been constantly going to the ability team’s base. I figure she can’t let go and is trying to confront him." As Tian Xinyue spoke about the matter, her expression was one of delight, "It’s best if they break up quickly, so she stops lording it over everyone because she has a boyfriend from the ability team!"
Hearing this, Han Jiaojiao fell silent, feeling a touch of wistfulness. She recalled how in her previous life, Su Xue had caused her so much harm. This lifetime, before she had a chance to retaliate, Su Xue had already brought herself to this predicament. Han Jiaojiao wondered if this could be considered karmic retribution.
Regardless, this lifetime, Su Xue was no longer going to have any relationship with her. Whether she was doing well or poorly, it no longer had anything to do with her.
"Do you know why they are breaking up?" Jiaojiao asked, "Wasn’t it said that her boyfriend helped smooth over the trouble she caused before? That suggests their relationship was still quite good, so why are they splitting up now..."
"Who knows?" Tian Xinyue’s expression was somewhat contemptuous, "This woman is always causing trouble; maybe her boyfriend got tired of it. Besides, the guys in the ability team are very popular; he might have found someone new."
That could be the case...
In her previous life, stronger Superpower Users within the base would brazenly court multiple girlfriends at the same time... some even cohabited peacefully and lived together. Thinking about it now, it was quite peculiar...
Just then, a deep male voice came from outside the door. Tian Xinyue’s face stiffened, and she blurted out, "Didn’t you say your brother wasn’t at home?"
Han Jiaojiao covered her mouth and laughed, "He’s not at home. He and Brother Lu went to the new house, the building next door."
As part of the reward for their last mission to rescue the research team, the four nearby farmhouses were now theirs. These days, Han Yi and Lu Changyuan would mostly discuss matters in the neighboring building, Bai Kairui and others would practice their Abilities there too, and the building they currently lived in was solely used for dining and sleeping.
