Chapter 240 – Ugly Photo
Ye Qingcai sighed and lowered his head, “No matter what, it was wrong of the seven of us to gang up on you alone. I apologize for that.”
Inside the room:
“What do you think the captain is saying to Tu Ran? Why is he doing it behind our backs?” Zhou Ming pressed himself against the door crack, straining his ear to listen.
“How would I know?” Young Master Qi was just above him, also eavesdropping, and rolled his eyes at Zhou Ming. He hadn’t caught a single word yet. “Why is this new door so soundproof?”
“Shh, keep it down, or they’ll hear us outside,” Xiao Miao whispered.
Wang Qiang, being the tallest, was perched at the highest spot. “I think I heard something about trouble… squad… humiliation…”
“Is the boss warning her? Maybe he’s telling her if she dares to mess with us, we’ll humiliate her as a whole squad?” Zhou Ming growled viciously.
Qi Tongda silently mouthed the words “idiot” at the back of his head.
“Did you just insult me?” Zhou Ming suddenly looked up.
Qi Tongda met his gaze calmly and said firmly, “No.”
Zhou Ming lowered his head again and rubbed his nose. “Then why does my nose itch like I’m about to sneeze?”
Qi Tongda’s mouth twitched.
“If you’re going to sneeze, do it somewhere else, not here,” Wang Qiang, still at the top, interjected.
Zhou Ming rubbed his nose some more and walked away.
Outside the door:
“It’s good that you can forgive us. I was worried you’d hold a grudge and wouldn’t be able to fit in with us.”
Ye Qingcai visibly relaxed, offering a faint smile. “Tension and conflict between team members are the worst things for carrying out missions. I usually don’t interfere when they argue or fight, because once they vent, the tension eases. You’re our first female team member, and I hope you can quickly integrate into the group.”
Tu Ran maintained her smile. “I didn’t know you were all so… easy to get along with. I’m sure I’ll adapt quickly, no need for concern, Captain.”
Ye Qingcai wiped his face with a wry smile. “I also believe you’ll fit in quickly.”
Not only fit in, but probably turn everything upside down.
“But Captain, did we install the glass door of Group 9 backward?” Tu Ran pointed behind Ye Qingcai.
Ye Qingcai turned around and looked. They were standing outside the door, yet they could clearly see everything inside. Five heads were pressed against the door in various awkward positions, faces squished into the door crack as they strained to hear the conversation outside, their faces distorted from the effort.
Ye Qingcai covered his eyes in exasperation.
Why did he have these kinds of teammates?
He weakly explained, “The previous door got smashed during a fight, and this one was just installed today. I didn’t notice before.”
Inside, the five people still thought the new door was opaque from both sides, unaware that the people outside could see their ridiculous behavior.
“Qiangzi, what are they saying now?” Zhou Ming returned after sneezing, pushing Xiao Miao aside to press his face back against the door.
“I can’t hear clearly, something about the door?”
“The door?” Young Master Qi sounded unimpressed. “You must’ve misheard. What’s there to talk about a door? Who’s that bored?”
Outside, Ye Qingcai was already contacting logistics, urging them to come and replace the door as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Tu Ran stood by the door, silently raising her communicator and recording a full video of the five’s embarrassing poses.
“Captain, does the team have a group chat? Add me to it,” Tu Ran said, leaning closer to the door crack.
“Right away,” Ye Qingcai replied, looking down at his communicator to add her.
Inside, the five people suddenly heard the conversation much more clearly and realized that the two were about to come in. They immediately dashed to their workstations at full speed, pretending to be deeply absorbed in their tasks, as if they hadn’t been eavesdropping at all.
When Tu Ran pushed the door open, the scene she was greeted with was just that—five people acting as if they had been diligently working the entire time.
Tu Ran ignored them and silently returned to her workstation.
“Ping, ping.”
All of their communicators showed a new message.
The five of them clicked in and saw that Ye Qingcai had invited Tu Ran to join their group chat.
Tu Ran looked at the chat, titled “Seven Little Dragons,” and was silent for three seconds.
Then, she opened the chat, swiped her finger, and sent the pictures she had just taken into the group.
The five, who had initially lowered their communicators after seeing the group invite, resumed their tasks.
Wang Qiang had even returned to working on the bomb he hadn’t finished tinkering with.
Xiao Miao was back under the projector, trying to figure out what had gone wrong with it.
Zhou Ming was cursing while adjusting the data on his helmet.
Suddenly, the familiar “ping, ping” sound came again. The three of them knew it was a group message but were too lazy to check, thinking that if it was something important, someone else would tell them.
Qi Tongda, Qiu Jian, and Ye Qingcai, however, checked the message.
Qiu Jian glanced at it with indifference, showed no reaction, and closed the chat. He calmly put on his headphones and returned to his work.
Ye Qingcai took one look, quickly shut it, sighed deeply while looking up at the ceiling, covered his forehead, and left the room.
Qi Tongda saw the picture of his own distorted face, twisted by his desperate attempt to eavesdrop outside. He immediately jumped up from his workstation, slammed his foot on the table, and stretched his neck toward Tu Ran, who was far away, shouting, “Delete that now!!”
His voice was as loud as thunder, startling the other three, who had been busy with their own tasks.
Xiao Miao was the first to react, quickly checking his communicator. He saw that Tu Ran had sent a photo in the group chat. He clicked it open, his eyes widening in disbelief. When he zoomed in and saw his own deformed face, his cheeks instantly flushed with heat, as he kept enlarging and shrinking the image, trying to confirm that the ugly person in the photo was indeed him.
Zhou Ming, a little late to the game, finally checked the group chat. When he saw the embarrassing photo of himself, he shot to his feet. The words he was about to hurl at Tu Ran were already on the tip of his tongue, but then his eyes shifted upward and landed on Qi Tongda’s face, which was even uglier than his own.
“Pfft,” he couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“Hahahaha…” Zhou Ming slapped his thigh, unable to control his laughter. “Dog Qi, you’re so hideous! Hahaha! And you dare call yourself the Federation’s most eligible bachelor? Hahaha!”
Qi Tongda’s face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
“Zhou… Ming! Get… lost!!”
He ground out each word through clenched teeth, then lunged at Zhou Ming.
Zhou Ming wasn’t intimidated at all. He calmly set down his helmet, rolled up his sleeves, and threw a few playful punches in the air before aiming his fists at Qi Tongda. “Come on, then! I didn’t get to show my full potential last time. Let me show you my real strength now!”
Just as their fists were about to collide, Tu Ran kicked her chair between them, gliding it right into the middle of the fray. Their impending battle was instantly defused.
“Cursing is fine to vent a bit, but don’t fight. The team leader just said if we get into another brawl, our Group 9 will be disbanded.”
Tu Ran played the role of the peacemaker perfectly.
She also used the phrase “our Group 9” with such ease and familiarity, as if she had been a long-standing member of the group, while Zhou Ming and Qi Tongda were the newcomers.
This feeling was hard to describe, but for Zhou Ming and Qi Tongda, it was definitely annoying.
Their eyes met, and in a flash, they reached a silent understanding.
The next second, both of them charged at Tu Ran in unison.
