Chapter 189: The Taste of Happiness

Sending the newly built human ecological base to the Yellow Sand Planet; protecting scientists as they sample, photograph, and study the alien ruins on the Blood Moon Planet; visiting and supervising the progress of the National Awakening Plan under the accompaniment of experts; touring the Alien Creature Research Institute to inspect research progress... In short, Yang Yi was very busy.

This busyness often left her feeling inexplicable; clearly, in these professional fields she was merely an outsider, and even saying she knew a little was flattering her, yet she still held authoritative weight in these fields.

She knew they did not need her to understand, nor even needed her help; what they needed was simply her attitude.

So she interfered as little as possible, learning from leaders on television to hum and haw, only making sounds of agreement, playing the role of someone steady and calm who seemed very busy, someone without whom nothing could be done, yet who in her own eyes had done absolutely nothing.

Paradoxically, everyone around her believed she had driven all of this; the current peace of the world was credited to her, the great plan for interstellar migration credited to her, the research plan for the National Awakening credited to her... Wherever she passed, no one looked at her without eyes of awe and love, sometimes so fervent it made her skin crawl.

"Nuclear bombs need not explode; their very existence represents everything." Director Zhou had once said this to her.

In the morning, she held a remote meeting with the United Nations to discuss how to handle the dereliction of duty by UN Secretary-General Andrew Wilder and International Criminal Police Organization Director Kevin Hu.

At the very beginning, various national powers seized this opportunity to try to push their own supported candidates into power; Yang Yi remained silent throughout. After a round of open and hidden struggles, the host cautiously asked for Yang Yi's opinion.

Yang Yi spoke the truth, stating that she believed the fault this time was not entirely due to the Secretary-General and the ICPO Director's dereliction of duty; the UN's guard forces were weak, and the existing departmental structure could not cope with the world after the arrival of dark matter; relevant security measures should be added... Finally, as expected, the handling result was based on Yang Yi's opinion.

After the meeting concluded, it was already noon; Yang Yi and Feng Liancheng walked out of the building.

The lingering heat of autumn was still powerfully oppressive; the automatic doors opened, and a wave of heat rushed to their faces.

"I often feel that the work I do has no meaning," Yang Yi said.

"What work has meaning? Raising wild boars? Growing mushrooms?" Feng Liancheng asked jokingly, holding a cup of coffee, drinking while yawning continuously.

"You could say that too," Yang Yi said, not minding that he always used this point to joke with her. "Moving hands and feet, working down-to-earth, creating visible labor results—boars slowly fed until fat, chickens laying more and more eggs, mushrooms growing crop after crop... only then is there a sense of achievement, not like now, where the work seems very important, power is great, and one looks magnificent, but actually I myself do not know what I have done, nor whether all this I do truly has meaning."

"A genuine industrialist!" Feng Liancheng gave a thumbs-up. "I can't do it; thinking about sweating all day long, being in the company of pigs and chickens that cannot communicate, makes me feel pain. If there were no internet, oh my god, what difference would that make from sitting in prison?" His face wrinkled, as if thinking of some unbearable scene.

"I actually feel relaxed and at ease," Yang Yi smiled, gazing quietly into the distance. "They have lifted me up into the clouds, and I myself always feel hazy and confused, floating halfway in the air, with no way for my feet to touch the ground."

"Anyway, you are always unhappy; this unhappiness is at least happier than your previous unhappiness," Feng Liancheng comforted her in a tongue-twisting manner, then let out another huge yawn.

Yang Yi paused, looking at the coffee in his hand. "You stayed up late again?"

"How could I not stay up late? I have to serve as your secretary part-time while doing my own job; just split me in two!" Feng Liancheng gulped the coffee down in one go.

"Your own job has plenty of people who can replace you, but my secretary is not someone just anyone can be," Yang Yi raised an eyebrow, smiling as she said, "Are you sure you don't want to be my full-time secretary?"

She had already decided to hand over all that work to him completely.

Feng Liancheng thought hard, then let out a long sigh. "Sigh, alright! Actually, ever since Director Zhou told me that the secretary's salary is several times higher than mine, I've been a bit wavering..."

After the two parted, Yang Yi met Zhang Zhang Ningning on the way back to her dorm; she was rushing to the cafeteria.

"Yiyi, have you eaten?" Zhang Zhang Ningning greeted her upon seeing her. "Shall we go eat together?"

Yang Yi hesitated for a moment, then agreed.

"How are you planning to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday?" Zhang Zhang Ningning held her food tray, making faces at her. "With Chris?"

"Mid-Autumn? So soon?" Yang Yi was somewhat surprised.

She was not very sensitive to dates and had not expected the Mid-Autumn Festival to be approaching.

Mid-Autumn? A day of reunion... A trace of disgust appeared on her face.

"You live your days in a muddle," Zhang Zhang Ningning seemed to sense her displeasure and immediately warmly invited her to spend the festival at her home. "Ever since I told my parents about you saving Amy at home, they have been especially curious about you; they've wanted to meet you for a long time!"

Yang Yi had intended to refuse, but suddenly felt curious about a normal family—from Zhang Zhang Ningning's words she had long known that she was the only daughter in the family, her father was a university professor, and her mother was a doctor. Zhang Zhang Ningning had lived a smooth life since childhood, having hardly suffered any grievances.

So she could be so cheerful and happy... In life, there are always such a small group of people, full of passion for life, full of curiosity about everything, full of hope for the future...

How lucky they are...

On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Yang Yi went home with Zhang Zhang Ningning to spend the holiday.

Before going, she thought it would be impolite to enter empty-handed, but Zhang Zhang Ningning dragged and pulled her into the car and drove her home.

Zhang's father and mother had prepared at home to welcome her, with various ingredients filling the kitchen. They did not treat Yang Yi with excessive fear and trembling, but rather with the parental warmth of parents whose daughter's friend was visiting, which made Yang Yi feel very relaxed.

Zhang Zhang Ningning was very casual at home; she picked through the fruit bowl on the table and casually tossed an apple to Yang Yi.

"My parents started preparing two days ago to welcome you; the fridge is stuffed full. Our family hardly ever cooks at home; my dad eats at the university cafeteria, my mom eats at the hospital cafeteria, I ate at the cafeteria with them when I was little, and after starting work, I ate at our unit's cafeteria; I have a karmic bond with cafeterias in this life!" she whispered secretly to Yang Yi, but actually her voice was not small, and her tone carried a coquettish complaint.

Zhang's father heard this and laughed. "Didn't you praise the food at your unit's cafeteria as good?"

"That doesn't mean we can eat it every day! By the way, our stove hasn't been lit even once a week; I don't trust your cooking skills at all!"

"What's so hard about cooking? Is it harder than experiments? Is it harder than surgery? Just follow the recipe step by step!" Zhang's mother said with full confidence.

Yang Yi looked over and indeed saw several brand-new cookbooks on the kitchen counter, with slight signs of having been flipped through.

"The two of you making ordinary home dishes is passable, but looking at this setup, you're planning a grand feast!" Zhang Zhang Ningning walked toward the kitchen, and Yang Yi followed her in.

Zhang Zhang Ningning and Yang Yi helped pick and chop vegetables while Zhang's father and mother asked about idle matters: was work busy, was it tiring, were the alien creatures terrifying, and so on.

Zhang's father and mother strictly followed the recipes to produce a table of grand dishes; looking at the presentation, it was actually quite acceptable. Zhang Zhang Ningning commented that it wasn't as good as the cafeteria food; after tasting it, Zhang's father and mother were stubborn, admitting only that it wasn't as good as restaurant food, but better than cafeteria food.

As usual, Yang Yi used her telekinesis to cover her mouth and esophagus; the taste was like chewing wax. When Zhang's father and mother asked for her opinion, she said, "Delicious; it has the taste of home."

Even though she had never experienced the taste of home, nor knew what that taste was.

She stood in the shadows like a peeping tom, cautiously peeping at other people's happiness.

One day, will I obtain such happiness?

This thought suddenly appeared in Yang Yi's heart, but she extinguished it in time.