Can Ci Pin - - - Chapter 53

Chapter 53 – Have You Kissed Him Yet?

Lin Jingheng wasn’t sure what to make of that.

To be perfectly honest, even someone as dense as Commander Lin could tell that the line sounded a little suggestive; though he could just be overthinking and the speaker had no intention for it to sound that way.

There were two reasons to reasonably doubt this. First, Lin Jingheng wasn’t someone that was known to engage in small talks, and his antisocial nature gave him even less experiences in the dating scene. Even at his age, he’s almost never had any experience with flirting so casually, so it was hard for him to grasp the intention of the speaker. Second, Lu Bixing was naturally more sociable and amiable; it was hard to tell if he was just being overly friendly and joking around.

The silence between the two dragged on as Lin Jingheng pondered, making the atmosphere around them grow more awkward by the second.

Lin Jingheng: “Uh…”

Lu Bixing: “You…”

They both spoke and closed their mouths at the same time, then stared at each other in bewilderment.

The atmosphere certainly just got more awkward.

Just then, a chorus of loud screams pierced through the walls of the control room and broke the silence. Lu Bixing and Lin Jingheng turned to see Saturday’s group of drained out self-defense squad cheering from the top of their lungs at Saturday’s command down near the dock.

Lu Bixing took the opportunity to regain his stature and gave Lin Jingheng a playful slap on the hand.

Lin Jingheng: “…”

“Jinx! Did you know about that ancient saying? If two people spoke at the same time they have to hit each other. The first person to get the hit gets good fortune, while the one that got hit gets love fortune.” Lu Bixing skillfully explained. “Here’s a bit of my love fortune, you’re welcome.”

Lu Bixing couldn’t bring himself to look at Lin’s expression now and was ready to leave on that note. He felt like he was in an ancient movie where the next scene would be the part he gets pressed down by the token bad boy for a kiss.

“Wait.” Lin Jingheng called out.

Lu Bixing stopped before the doorway and nervously turned around with a tiny bit of hidden excitement. He saw Lin turning his gaze away and slowly took a sip of his water before speaking up: “Your friend…the one that took that noisy bunch out running for a whole day.”

“Saturday?” Lu Bixing responded without a thought. “Oh, he’s…”

Lu Bixing stopped himself and forcefully closed his mouth before he could say: ‘he’s straight.’

“What?” Lin Jingheng raised a brow for a second before continuing. “Whatever, that’s not important. Anyway, I think he misunderstood something. The Silver Ten didn’t become the top unit because they went through harsh training, it’s because they were the elites that could withstand hours of intense workout. He completely mixed up the cause and effect here, he’s going to drive these guys out.”

Lu Bixing’s expression brightened up and he said from the doorway: “Hey commander, is this a free personal lesson for you?”

Lin Jingheng already met his social quota for the day from the talking and returned to his regular antisocial bubble.

Lu Bixing strolled away giddily. If the elevator didn’t have a security camera, he almost felt like he could dance around the building.

Exploring this new feeling of love and relationship with Lin was as exciting as the first time he flew out of the atmosphere of planet Cayley. Every new discovery was a new experience for Lu Bixing; he may theoretically know how the physics of outer space works, but going outside to see how astronomical objects work in action first-hand was a completely different kind of feeling. Likewise, each new contact with Lin filled him with overwhelming joy.

Yet reality was anything but peaceful. A gentle touch can deliver warmth in the cold rain, but it wouldn’t be enough to save a fragile nest from an upcoming storm.

When Lu Bixing passed on Lin’s message to Saturday, the reaction was surprisingly negative.

Objectively, Lin Jingheng’s advice was appropriate and just. Military discipline is not something that can magically appear from mere brainwashing yourselves with reciting some inspirational lines for a few days. Real discipline is built and shaped both by the environment and mental development of the individual, often requiring long periods of related education, scientific administration and self-management.

Yet Saturday wasn’t one to believe in raised elites nor following procedures; if he did, he wouldn’t have picked a fight with some dozens of people and dragged them all before Lu Bixing.

Saturday stood silent for a little while and asked: “What should I do then?”

“I suggest maybe not doing standard military training right now.” Lu Bixing said. “Instead, you can put the squad into small groups, have them compete in a triathlon to decide who gets to use the mechs first. It’s best to try and use a reward system to your advantage and start off slow, it’s much more effective than forcing them to train. You can’t expect to build a city overnight.”

This time, Saturday pondered longer before responding: “The Cayley Pirates already made their way to Egret, do we even have the time to take it slowly?”

“We can’t help that, it’s just the situation right now. But we’re already doing much better than the time we struggled to even find mech pilots.” Lu Bixing answered. “I’m trying to build a reflective anti-detection system to further secure the station. In case the pirates make their way over, we can try a temporary blockage with a guerilla strategy…”

“Okay bro, that’s enough. I may not be the brightest one here but I’m also not stupid. I thought about it again last night, what Commander Lin told us the other day, and realized what he’s trying to say. ‘Even the IU fleet can’t do anything, you guys should give up’, right?” Saturday interrupted. “I don’t believe that. You told me to look forward and don’t turn back. I tell myself this everyday, and now you’re telling me to fucking give up and back off?”

Lu Bixing tried to talk some sense into him with a calmer tone: “When I asked you to be like the Silver Ten, I meant for you guys to learn their discipline and attitude, not to copy their training schedule. There’s always a procedure to everything, even the Silver Ten had their times when they were first enlisted.”

Saturday shook his head and said: “Maybe I’m just a wimp that’s easily traumatized, but I’ve never been able to go to bed at night feeling satisfied with myself and my life all these years. I always feel like everything will be taken away from me the next day even if today was peaceful and well; headmaster Lu, you were the first person that made me feel like I could really be in charge of my own life.”

Lu Bixing was stumped; Saturday’s concern was valid and he couldn’t disagree. At the end of the day, the Self-Defense Squad was created for and by Saturday and his crew. Lu Bixing knew that as much as he could help and advise them along the way, he was just a traveling scholar that didn’t have much of a say on the operations of the actual squad.

“But nobody in the squad had ever been enlisted in a military unit before, have you thought of that? It doesn’t seem too realistic to force them to get accustomed to the strict military style operations. And even for you, are you sure you can adapt to it?” Lu Bixing said.

“I can!” Saturday responded with great confidence.

Unfortunately, the cruel reality doesn’t always work in favor of people’s wishes no matter how strongly they wished for; commander Lin’s words proved themselves to be correct.

Day 2 of the Self-Defense Squad training.

Lu Bixing’s students all gathered around the main control room and dumbfoundedly watched Lin Jingheng complete a full analysis on the Cayley pirates’ total military power and formation, as well as a battle simulation on a supercomputer. During this time, Lu Bixing’s attempt to lure commander Lin in with fresh BBQ ended in vain.

The average attendance of the training dropped by one fourth due to overwork and illness from the previous day. The entire station’s medical capsule was completely occupied by these absentees.

Day 5 of the Self-Defense Squad training.

The Model 3’s repairs were officially complete as Zhanlu successfully connected to its core. As people watched it take off in awe, the enormous body of the mech covered the artificial sky and soared majestically above the base. During its test flight, the mech roamed the artificial atmosphere like a giant star surrounding the space station.

Right before its takeoff, Lu Bixing came over in an attempt to lure Commander Lin with a fancy piece of panna cotta cake. The cake itself was carefully decorated with flowers that could almost be used as an advertisement photo, but unfortunately, Commander Lin didn’t even bat an eyelash at it. Seeing no reaction from his target, Lu Bixing called from the back, “It’s your birthday today!”

A few steps later Lin Jingheng’s late reaction finally caught on, and he slowly turned his head around.

“What?” he questioned.

“Your birthday, the official profiles from the Union said it was on the 10th.” Lu Bixing explained as he looked at Lin’s blank stare. The lack of reaction made Lu Bixing start to doubt himself a bit, and he slowly pulled back the cake. “Is the official source wrong?”

“…No.” Lin Jingheng responded immediately. He stood paralyzed for almost a minute before he finally mustered up the courage to walk back towards Lu Bixing. Lin Jingheng picked up the little fork and shoved a small piece of the cake into his mouth with a hollow stare as if he were taking poison. Almost immediately, his personal device responded with an “overconsumption of sugar” warning. This was the first time he had ever broken his diet during nutritional rehab.

Lin Jingheng stuffed the rest of the cake down hastily and gave Lu Bixing a quick glance of gratitude before he ran off uncharacteristically quickly; he even forgot to return the fork.

Lu Bixing’s spirits soared into space, yet the same excitement crashed back down to earth when he saw the hopeless state of the Self-Defense Squad. Today’s attendance officially fell below 50%, and neither the uplifting chants of the squad nor the small victory against the high-energy particle waves were able to motivate people anymore.

Day 7 of the Self-Defense Squad training.

The physical equipment of the anti-detection system is partially complete while the Model 3’s test run also came to a close. Lu Bixing carefully rearranged the mech dock to open up a parking space for the Model 3. By the time the Model 3 returned, Lu Bixing was ready to welcome commander Lin back with a fresh bowl of soup. Lin Jingheng saw the bowl of soup and felt a little warm in the heart, but instinctively tried to hide away. Lu Bixing saw the opportunity and tried to shove the soup over until Monoeyed Hawk coincidentally caught the boy red-handed on the spot, and turned the entire situation into another storm of endless scolding.

At the same time, voices of disapproval began arising from within the Self-Defense Squad. Under Saturday’s forceful and aggressive style of management, people were starting to talk under the tables and gather up against him.

Day 8 of the Self-Defense Squad training, 5:00 A.M.

Saturday came out on time only to see a handful of people that initially followed him showed up by the dock. The entire station was eerily quiet like a silent taunt. There were only a few elderly up at this hour out for walks, occasionally giving weird looks towards the squad like a bunch of old crows watching a prey on its last breath.

“Boss,” Vacation spoke up weakly as he saw that nobody around had the guts to talk under Saturday’s deepening gaze. “I tried calling them but they won’t come. They said….they said that you…”

“What about me?”

“They said you were unreasonable and rude, and that you’re not actually doing this for the station. They were saying it’d be better if we could just have Professor Lu come in and teach us how to fight with mechs instead of running around the dock like headless chickens everyday. And that you wanted to try and be boss while that old fart isn’t around…” Vacation’s voice grew more timid. “They even said that hemorrhoids were a lie, there was no way someone could go out for so long and not come back, so maybe you were the one that took him out.”

It wasn’t that people didn’t notice their former boss completely disappeared for a month, it was simply that nobody really cared and even made fun of him for the hemorrhoids. They all knew the kind of person the Old Fart was; he doesn’t get much trust from people but still likes to play the social game, so he always has multiple backup plans and hidden escape routes that only he knows. He was always paranoid about people following him when he’s out patrolling, so he would come and go without a trace; going missing for a few months wasn’t anything new for him. But when he left this time, it was as if the entire space station had undergone a revolution. Naturally, people started having their questions.

Surprisingly, they were not concerned about Lu Bixing and the outsiders. Despite the trauma from Lin Jingheng still lingering among the people, Lu Bixing was like a savior from the outside to the station. All the changes that he brought, from fixing screens to helping them face the challenges of invasion, were like little miracles of ancient myths that colored their monochrome lives. People can easily embrace the missionaries from foreign land, but are often much more judgemental and harsh towards their own kind.

The people that hid under the protection of the station were both fortunate and unfortunate. They were fortunate in that the Old Fart’s advance preparation saved the station from disaster. Their misfortune was that the fluke deepened their inferiority complex and turned their heads away from the world outside. They were becoming too spoiled by staying within their comfort zone.

This disorderly crew only managed to last half a month before they returned to their apathetic and lazy nature. Ironically, while their combat abilities were close to nothing, their ability to fight amongst themselves was incredibly strong.

Vacation asked carefully: “What should we do, boss? Should we….go ask Professor Lu?”

Saturday’s expression hardened without a word. He had already proclaimed in front of Lu Bixing that he was able to handle the training, there was no way he could bring himself back in less than a week to admit that he was wrong. Besides, what can Lu Bixing do anyway?

Saturday thought he was just training a bunch of animals, holding up some nice rewards and fooling them into running. This was definitely not the result he was expecting. He bit his lips and looked up towards the artificial sky that was now fully sunlit. He finally experienced the helplessness and solidarity at the edge of a cliff.

Vacation gently asked: “Boss, should we still train today?”

“Yes!” Saturday grinded his teeth. “Why shouldn’t we train?”

He immediately made the first step and began his run. Saturday dragged the rest of the self-defense squad behind him, took a deep breath and released all the air in his lungs as he exclaimed: “Let’s go, Defense Squad!”

Lu Bixing was waiting for his students in the main control room. He leaned by the window to watch Saturday and his crew run off into the distance, and then casually scanned the calendar by the corner of the room; there was only one month left before the deadline Lin Jingheng gave him.

The mechanics behind long-distance communication was quite similar to scanning. It required sufficient energy supply, a large enough mental network, and an accurate mapping of the transfer portals. Lin Jingheng had previously scanned through all the transfer portals around the underground terminals that lead directly outside of the periphery, and left a long-distance communication device on each portal. That way, Zhanlu’s communication range could pass through the devices and extend outside of the periphery and scan for its target. If both parties had already set up a secret key prior to communication; once the keys were successfully paired up and the first transmission was received, the long-distance communication gateway would then be opened.

Lu Bixing was well aware that the completion of the military survey map and repair of the Model 3 meant that Lin Jingheng was now fully prepared to send out long-distance communications anytime. The only reason why he hadn’t was because the commander was not someone to take back his words, and was keeping his promise of three months.

Mint was the first to arrive, and made her way toward Lu Bixing: “Headmaster, I don’t think there’s hope for these guys anymore. I kinda feel bad for what’s his face.”

Lu Bixing glanced back at her with a blank expression: “Who?”

Even at around 16-17 years old, Mint still looked like a thin but tall preteen child. She stood on one leg with another playfully tiptoeing on the ground, and spoke with a piece of gum still in her mouth: “No one…why are you acting like an old feudal disciplinary teacher? We’re not gonna help you anymore if you keep being like this.”

Lu Bixing was confused: “What were you guys helping me with?”

“Fooling the eyes of old man Hawk!” Mint said. “He told us to report to him immediately if commander Lin comes close to you and will reward us for that. Hey teach, does your dad have some major empty nester old man syndrome or something?”

Lu Bixing: “…”

“By the way, teach, do you really have a crush on commander Lin? Dang, he’s so scary I can’t even look him in the eye, you sure have some guts.” Mint casually spoke like a little gangster while blowing up a bubble with the gum in her mouth without breaking a line. She popped the bubble and then asked curiously in a very small voice: “Have you kissed him yet?”

Lu Bixing almost choked on his own spit.

“What, really? Are you old folks all this wimpy? Man, back when I was in Beijing I’d go out to cheap bars with a bunch of friends. I’ll chat up with whoever buys me a drink, and if they look good I’ll try with a kiss first, if it feels right we hit it up; if it doesn’t, oh well. It’s pretty efficient.” Mint said. “You know your old man Hawk probably screamed through two full therapy sessions already from all this time. You haven’t even kissed him yet, what do you guys even do when you’re together then?”

The elevator door opened as Mint finished her sentence, and Lin Jingheng casually walked out. He just stepped out of the shower after his morning training, his face still pinkish from the steam and hair still damp, unintentionally sending off some subtle hormone stimulants.

Lu Bixing’s eyes naturally landed on his lips and instantly felt kind of uneasy. He forced his gaze off and turned scoldingly towards Mint: “This isn’t something a young girl like you should be saying. Just because we aren’t in Beijing anymore doesn’t mean school rules don’t apply, hand in your homework from last night and go write your report!”

Lin Jingheng never really saw Lu Bixing mad and stared at him bewildered for a few seconds. Then perhaps he thought Lu Bixing scolding a little girl was kind of funny. A very subtle but visible smile lifted on his face: “I thought you said you were going to test the anti-detection system?”

It was as if the young scientist opened up pandora’s box in his mind; a flood of all the written and visual scenes of kisses he’d ever seen ran through his head in an instant. He awkwardly cleared his throat, stood up straight and said: “It’s right here, you can follow me…I originally planned on doing a test run on land, but I just thought of a better idea.”