Wen Zheng was one, Luo Dui was one, the others were more scattered, some praised themselves, some supported their roommates, and finally there was the Steamed Bun Beauty.
It was almost noon, so Catnip decided to go out for lunch with the team and, incidentally, meet this legendary beauty!
"What? He's gone?" Catnip's eyes widened.
"Oh, look at my mouth," the woman selling steamed buns lightly slapped herself, "It's not that I'm not here anymore, it's that I'm not helping out here anymore!"
"Oh, oh," Catnip was startled too, and quickly asked again, "Do you know where he went?"
The cafeteria is always a hub for gossip, and the aunties were all chattering away: "I heard Xiao Bei's wife is sick!"
"You're not sick or injured; you're in the hospital."
"Xiao Bei is very pretty, but he's not very lucky. However, his wife is quite good at making money, and she found him this job."
"Yes, that's what he said. He said his wife is amazing, and that she's very beautiful."
"Hey, can anyone be prettier than Xiao Bei? Tell me, can she be?"
"No way, Xiao Bei looks like a fairy, you know? When he first came here, there was a young man who fell in love with him at first sight and waited for that 'fairy sister' at the door every day. Oh my, it made me laugh so hard—"
The aunties burst into laughter.
Catnip wiped her sweat: "Um, Auntie, isn't this 'Xiao Bei' a boy?"
The aunties frowned: "What, can't men be handsome?"
“Okay, okay,” Catnip quickly added, “So he’s at the hospital now? Is it the base’s hospital?”
The kind-hearted aunt explained to her, "Yes, the base's medical center is huge, but we're not allowed in recently, especially you young reporters. If you go in waves, what if you disturb other people's rest?"
Catnip and his group nodded in disappointment, then sat down on the steps outside the canteen to eat the bag of steamed buns given to them by the aunties.
"What do we do?" Catnip puffed out his cheeks. "Are we just going to go back like this?"
The photographer comforted her, saying, "It's good enough. We've shot a lot of footage that no one else has shot before, and everyone will like it."
Shouyin pushed up his glasses: "But without Wen Zheng and the Steamed Bun Beauty, it's like a body without a soul."
Odd-job worker: "Sigh."
They all sighed.
With the disaster over and new hope emerging, countries are discussing whether to revise their calendars to commemorate the tragedy.
If the proposal passes, it will now be the eighth day of the new year.
As the weather gradually warms up, a gentle breeze accompanies the warm sunshine, and the air is filled with a sweet and happy scent.
Catnip smoothed her hair, stood up, dusted off her tutu, and said, "Never mind."
The photographer and several others looked up at her.
"For a small team like ours, it's already a great honor to be selected to enter the base. How can we expect all the good things to fall into our laps?" she said casually. "It's better to let others do all the hard work and let them get some rest, isn't it?"
"Kitty..." The photographer, sound engineer, and assistant team had hearts in their eyes and said, moved, "You are truly our goddess!"
Just then, two team members in training uniforms rushed out of the cafeteria. One of them was talking on the phone with his earphones in. As he passed the A6 news team sitting on the steps, he casually said, "What? We can go visit Instructor Wen now!"
Catnip took off running, roaring, "Hurry, hurry! Catch up with our souls!!!"
The trio: "…………"
***
The medical center was deserted and quiet. Catnip and the others waited in the lobby all afternoon before they were allowed to go upstairs.
The recording equipment was turned off, and in the quiet environment, even the deliberately light footsteps sounded heavy, so they unconsciously became a little lighter, and even lighter still.
The door to Wen Zheng's ward was not closed. As soon as Catnip approached, he saw a very peaceful and tranquil scene.
A young, handsome soldier leaned against a cushion, closing his eyes to rest. A long-haired beauty sat on a chair beside the bed, seemingly peeling an apple. Even backlit, her silhouette was stunning.
Peaceful and serene.
Catnip was almost mesmerized by the scene, and tears slowly streamed down her cheeks.
All the romance movies she'd ever watched were less impactful than reality.
Could this be the legendary, perfectly evolved, super happy ending of "After I finish this battle, I'll go back to our hometown and get married with you"...?
Then the soldier spoke.
"You should just give the account back to your general manager. What else can you do besides say 'How could you say that?'"
"Shut up."
"Oh, so you can shut up? You think they'll just shut up if you say so..."
“He’s about to die and he’s still being stubborn. Does he think I won’t remember just because he deleted his Weibo posts? I wrote it all down in my notebook. He definitely insulted you! Wendy said she’ll help me recover his records. We’ll see if he’s still alive then.”
"Some people are just shameless. You think you can win an argument with them just because you've learned a little about how to win an argument gracefully? That's too difficult."
I've improved!
"...Have you made any progress?...Or should Wendy dox his address for you so you can kill him faster?"
"Which side are you on?!"
"Over here..."
Catnip: ...Thunderbolt from the blue.
***
Wen Zheng quickly noticed someone had arrived at the door and told Bei Sining to put away her phone and call the person in.
He had heard from the doctor that they had brought a camera, so he made a point of washing his face and tidying himself up so he wouldn't look too disheveled.
Looking at them now, they seem quite polite; they didn't even turn on their cameras.
"Sit down," he said.
The single-occupancy hospital room had a bed for Bei Sining, and only two other chairs. Wen Zheng offered the only female reporter a seat, but Bei Sining was determined not to give up her chair.
With catnip all over his face, he stammered, "I'm not seeing things, am I... It's Mingzhu... Oh no, Mr. Wang..."
"?" Bei Sining wondered blankly, "Who is Mr. Wang?"
Oh my god, that's so outrageous!
Mint Cat was heartbroken.
It turns out that Fairy Sister is Mingzhu, who participated in the anchor conference with Wen Zheng!
She said, "What fairy sister, what steamed bun beauty, it turns out you're referring to Mr. Wang who crashed the battle royale server!"
She was convinced.
Thinking about it carefully, it makes a lot of sense. Once they know it's Mr. Wang, all their arguments instantly become convincing!
……etc.
She suddenly realized with horror what those women had said: Wen Zheng was that formidable daughter-in-law!
Does this mean...they're really together?!
Catnip was so shocked that she accidentally blurted out what was on her mind. Bei Sining's face darkened, and she asked her unhappily, "What, you have a problem with that too?"
"No, no, no, no, no..." Catnip shook its head frantically: "Happy wedding! May you have a long and happy marriage! May you have a baby soon!"
After saying that, she rubbed her hands together, abandoning all pretense of being cute, and asked with shining eyes, "Then... can I announce this news?"
Wen Zheng looked at Bei Sining, who said, "What, are we ashamed to be seen by others?"
Catnip and his group walked out of the Beihai base gate with the lottery tickets that had fallen from the sky.
As she was leaving, she grinned foolishly at the gatekeeper and said, "You're right, the Steamed Bun Beauty is really pretty."
The 36-year-old gatekeeper: "..."
Back in the car, she realized she hadn't asked a single question from the interview outline she had meticulously prepared for Wen Zheng. She felt both annoyed and relieved.
Ultimately, she thought that keeping it a little mysterious wasn't so bad, and that people didn't necessarily have to investigate anything.
Many people would be happy to know that Wen Zheng is doing well.
After seeing the reporter off, Wen Zheng fell asleep again, feeling drowsy.
He had woken up a few days ago, but it seemed like he hadn't slept enough; he would wake up for a while and then drift back into sleep.
In his dream, he was as light as a swallow, floating on air. The stone that had been weighing him down was gone, leaving only a thread tethering him so that he wouldn't break it while flying.
He was in a state of semi-consciousness, and every time he opened his eyes, Bei Sining was always by his side.
Sometimes it's in human form, sitting in a chair playing on its phone. Sometimes it's a cat, curled up in the middle of the night beneath his hand where an IV drip is, its furry body snuggling close, making soft breathing sounds.
He woke up this morning in the early morning.
The ward was well-lit; half of the gauze curtains were drawn, while the other half was bathed in the morning light, which, carrying the joy of surviving a disaster, bounced on the floor like shattered crystals.
The big black cat was fast asleep, unconsciously nudging his hand and sticking out its little tongue to lick its nose.
Happiness rose like bubbles from his heart, and even pain couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from turning up in a smile.
He won his gamble; this is a new beginning.
I have myself, my cat, someone I love, freedom, and a future.
Not long after, Old Liu came to visit him and said that the previous promises and agreements were valid and that he was free to choose to change careers.
Old Liu chuckled and said, "Don't rush, think it over slowly, you have plenty of time."
Then, seemingly casually, she asked him, "Have you checked Weibo?"
Bei Sining then reluctantly showed him her Weibo account.
Wen Zheng was actually quite surprised. He hadn't expected those sincere apologies, genuine repentance, or the heartache that overflowed from between the lines.
He wasn't as great as these people said; he felt he simply couldn't escape it.
He didn't take the misunderstandings he received when he wasn't online to heart. After all, the internet is a mask, and people can say a few bad things without thinking.
But now, they've apologized for their momentary slip of the tongue. Wen Zheng read through them one by one and suddenly felt that this wasn't so bad.
If you explain things properly, it's not that hard to get goodwill in return.
But Bei Sining is different.