Chapter 90.2 – Yeran City
In the evening, Shi Yuan drank the radish soup made by Chi Yongge with his tail still blown up.
Lu Tinghan’s injury didn’t heal completely and it didn’t affect his actions, but he still had to pay attention to his diet. The taste of white radish was sweet, simply add a little salt and green onion, it was already fresh enough to make people swallow their tongues, it was also suitable for him.
Adjutant Bing crossed his legs, holding a bowl, he said, “Dr. Chi’s craftsmanship is really good! Make sure to open a shop in the future.”
Chi Yongge smiled embarrassedly: “No, no – I learned it from my grandmother, her soup is the best in the world, but I didn’t learn it completely.”
Engineer Douglas also praised: “You are too humble, this soup is too good!”
Shi Yuan also said: “It’s really delicious.”
While speaking, Lu Tinghan put a particularly large piece of radish into his bowl.
“Really?” Chi Yongge rubbed his hands and smiled from ear to ear, “Unfortunately, there’s only one induction cooker that works here, otherwise, I could have made more good things.”
It was late at night, according to the shift schedule, Douglas was responsible for driving in the first half of the night, and Chi Yongge was responsible for the second half of the night.
Shi Yuan changed into pajamas – his scales almost scratched his clothes.
He was still angry and didn’t really want to talk to Lu Tinghan, so he sat at the table, ready to fill in a few more sudoku.
Filling in, he found Lu Tinghan very quiet.
Lu Tinghan was covered with a quilt and lay facing the wall. Usually, he would read a book before going to bed, unlike today.
Shi Yuan immediately became worried: “Lu Tinghan, are you asleep?”
“…” Lu Tinghan whispered, “Not yet.”
His tone of voice sounded wrong, Shi Yuan said, “Does the wound hurt? I, should I get you medicine, or find Dr. Chi?”
Lu Tinghan said, “…”
“What? I can’t hear you clearly.” Shi Yuan walked over to the bed, “What did you say?”
Lu Tinghan: “……”
Shi Yuan was a little anxious, so he lowered his body and leaned forward: “What?”
At this moment, the world suddenly turned upside down
Shi Yuan: ？？？？!!!
He was hugged by the waist and dragged onto the bed. Lu Tinghan’s movements were too fast, he turned over and covered Shi Yuan under the quilt, and brought him to the inner side of the bed, and into his arms.
The two were close together, intimate. Shi Yuan tossed in the quilt for a while before sticking out his head.
He was attacked suddenly, his hair was messed up, and he looked at Lu Tinghan in a daze. Before he could say anything, he was held down by the waist, pressed and kissed in a mess, making a vague and sticky sound.
After the kiss was over, Lu Tinghan stroked Shi Yuan’s temples and said in a low voice, “Are you still angry?”
Shi Yuan: “…” He whispered, “You deceived me.”
Lu Tinghan touched his head, and then kissed him on the forehead: “Are you still angry?”
Shi Yuan: “Purr, purr, purr—”
He beamed.
He was thus coaxed.
The lights were turned off and they hugged each other. The accommodation conditions were limited, the bed board was a bit hard and the bed was a bit narrow, but the quilt was soft, fluffy, and warm, and it was just right for two people to squeeze together.
Shi Yuan said, “You must never do this again in the future.”
Lu Tinghan: “Hmm.”
“Say the slogan again.”
General Lu obeyed: “Everyone participates, every family benefits, garbage does not fall to the ground, the city is more beautiful, do not leave anything but footprints.”
Shi Yuan was satisfied.
Although Lu Tinghan once again lost his quality, lost his morals, and even lied to him a little bit… But the generous abyss forgave him again.
On the third day of the journey, they arrived in Yeran City.
Yeran City was famous for its fabrics and dyeing. 30 years ago, it fell under the attack of the special infected creature “Scimitar”.
The aircraft landed outside the city, put down the off-road vehicle, took off again, hovered in the air, and entered sleep mode.
The other three stayed behind the aircraft, Shi Yuan and Lu Tinghan took a car to the north district of Yeran City.
There was a warehouse near the city wall, which was very tall and complete. The open air on the top floor was suitable for signal transmitters.
They parked the car outside the warehouse.
The elevator was out of use for a long time, but fortunately, they had small handling robots. Shi Yuan scared away the monsters, and the robot carried a one-person-tall box with a transmitter, and went with them to the highest floor of the warehouse.
The temporary transmitter was dark and had a unique shape.
It had an energy core – from the batch shipped from Fengyang City, and it was also equipped with solar panels, which had enough energy to run it for more than two years.
The robot was responsible for the assembly, and Lu Tinghan was slowly debugging and calibrating. The process was very long. Shi Yuan squatted beside Lu Tinghan and watched for a while. He didn’t understand anything, so he went for a walk in a nearby warehouse.
The warehouse was full of fabrics and clothes, mostly blue-green.
Shi Yuan had never seen this blue-green color before. It was the iconic color of Yeran City. It was fresh and beautiful, natural and elegant. Even if it was dusty, it would not change the beauty of the past.
Shi Yuan plunged into the silk zone.
The soft satin wrapped around him, and the touch was wonderful. He ran wild for a while, with several pieces of silk hanging from his head and tail, and went back to Lu Tinghan: “Look at me!”
Lu Tinghan was checking the angle of the transmitter, and when he looked up, he saw Shi Yuan covered with satin.
In the distance were abandoned cities and ruined walls, but the sky was so blue. The wind blew, the blue-green shone in the sun, and the boy’s eyes were bright.
Lu Tinghan told Shi Yuan a story.
He said: “This blue-green color is called ‘yō huò ěr’, which means ‘antlers’ in the local dialect.”
He continued: “It is said that this color was discovered by a hunter. He got up early that day to go hunting, and there was a heavy fog in the forest. He got lost and only heard the sound of deer hoofs. He followed the sound for a long time, and the fog finally dissipated. He saw a clear stream, and a gray-blue sika deer stood by the water, looking at him.”
“Gray-blue sika deer?” Shi Yuan vaguely remembered that the deer shouldn’t have this color, “Is it infected?”
Lu Tinghan explained: “No, that was a long time ago, and the abyss hadn’t appeared yet. Maybe the hunter was wrong, maybe this is a fictional part… In any case, the hunter realized that the Sika deer wanted to guide him out of the forest. But what impressed him even more was that there was a thin layer of moss on the antlers.”
“The moss was bright green, and because it was too thin, it revealed the gray-blue color of the antlers. When it shone in the light, it created a unique color.”
“Oh!” Shi Yuan understood, “It’s this blue-green color!”
“Yes,” Lu Tinghan said, “The hunter followed the sika deer out of the forest. After returning home, he vowed never to hunt again. He found the best local dyeing workshop master and tried for nearly 10 years before he came up with that color and named it ‘you huo er’.”
“The amazing thing is, according to the hunter’s wife, the hunter didn’t go out at all that day and got drunk at home. Besides, where in the world can you find a gray-blue deer? It must be a dream.”
“But in any case, this unique color has been handed down, and the people of the Alliance believe that it will bring good luck. Merchants used to gather here, and every dyeing workshop was surrounded by people trying to grab the best-looking cloth. At that time, the whole street was blue-green.”
Shi Yuan asked, “Does it really bring good luck?”
There was another gust of wind, and the satin flew all over him.
Lu Tinghan smiled: “I hope it will.” He paused, “I’m glad, I thought I would never see this color again.”
They would go to other cities.
It was like picking up memories of the past a little bit.
The signal transmitter was installed.
Before leaving, they sprayed the transmitter with masking agent and took another piece of silk with them
Back on the aircraft, the three people rushed to admire “yo huo er” and praised the color.
“It should also be shown to the Empire,” Adjutant Bing said, “They will also like such a beautiful color.”
The transmitter began to operate, covering a huge area, and their communication with the main city became more stable.
In addition, the aircraft heard the “echo” channel.
Today happened to be the day when the Empire called regularly. The Empire correspondent 0293 was still calling. Everyone was familiar with his voice, but they couldn’t answer.
“Broadcast coordinates：58.8911，-120.72…… Ziiiiii… Any survivor can go to this coordinate, the Empire is with you! I’m correspondent 0293…Shaaaa…”
The Alliance kept calling, to no avail.
They didn’t know if it was an illusion. After the transmitter was activated, the signal stabilized a bit this time, and there was not so much noise.
The Alliance ended the call, and Professor Luo contacted the person on the aircraft again: “Call D3-201! Call D3-201!”
Lu Tinghan said, “D3-201 copy. This is Lu Tinghan, please speak.”
“Can you give them a call on your side?” Professor Luo said, “Give it a try.”
So Lu Tinghan connected to the channel and heard the voice of 0293. There was a piece of satin hanging from Shi Yuan’s devil horn, and he lay on the console, staring with his big eyes.
Lu Tinghan said, “Calling the Empire, please answer if you receive it, please answer if you receive it.”
Several calls were made with no results.
Shi Yuan couldn’t help but wonder what it was like for 0293. He was lonely, wasn’t he, always alone in his attempts. Obviously found a new channel but no one answered. He insisted on calling once every half a month, broadcasting his coordinates to the dark ocean over and over again, hoping for a sudden visit by survivors one day.
Correspondent 0293 said: “Call 25 is coming to an end, coordinates have been broadcast. Repeat: Call 25 is coming to an end – this is the Empire.”
Knowing that the other party couldn’t hear him, Lu Tinghan still said, “This is the Alliance.” He paused, “We are here.”
After reading the history books so many times, he still couldn’t imagine the glory the two countries once had.
Traveling through the wasteland and ruins, draped in the sun, moon, and stars, maybe there would be a day of reunion.
