Chapter 2915: Small Town Infrastructure Construction Happily Underway 39

Jin Chen lowered his gaze, looking at the fluffy head on his knee, he rubbed Huo Zhaoye's sweat-damp hair, his fingers sliding down the strands to lightly press on Huo Zhaoye's tense nape, kneading it gently to loosen the stiff muscles there.

"How cute." Jin Chen said softly.

Huo Zhaoye now greatly enjoys Jin Chen's teasing, even learning to use it as leverage.

He kept his posture leaning on Jin Chen's knee, slightly tilting his head, looking up at Jin Chen, "Yeah, don't you think I'm handsome?"

"Then just look at me."

This thought had lingered in Huo Zhaoye's heart for a long time; he wanted to hide that person away, in a safe place only he could see, day after day, year after year, just the two of them.

Jin Chen's arm exerted a little force, pulling the Huo Zhaoye leaning on his knee closer into his embrace.

Huo Zhaoye followed his lead, his upper body fully leaning into Jin Chen's embrace, his cheek pressed against Jin Chen's abdomen, his whole person enveloped in Jin Chen's scent and warmth.

Jin Chen pulled out a sheet from the stack he had been looking at on the table.

It was one of the drafts of a series of regulations for the new school building, still a first version, with Jin Chen's handwriting on it.

Jin Chen placed the paper in front of Huo Zhaoye, within his line of sight.

"Yes," Jin Chen's voice sounded from above his head, still unhurried, yet carrying a guiding tone.

"Come, read this clause."

Huo Zhaoye felt a bit dazed, but still obediently lowered his eyes to look at the paper.

The paper listed the daily conduct norms for the school building, mostly teaching children to be punctual and diligent, friendly and eager to learn.

The spot Jin Chen's finger pointed to was one of those clauses.

Article 7: Listen attentively in class, think diligently, good children who follow the teacher's instructions will receive extra attention and appropriate rewards from the teacher.

This is clearly a perfectly ordinary rule devised to urge the children of Peace Base to study hard and observe discipline.

Normally, Huo Zhaoye would only think Jin Chen was considerate, blending education with enjoyment.

But now, in this situation, in this posture, being guided by Jin Chen with this tone…

Those ordinary words seemed instantly endowed with a completely different meaning.

Listen attentively……listen to the teacher's teachings……good child……reward……

Huo Zhaoye's ear tips quickly turned red, even his neck flushed a little.

His Adam's apple trudged up with difficulty, he opened his mouth, and slowly read out the clause word by word.

After reading the last character, Huo Zhaoye turned his head, lifted his eyes to Jin Chen, his face flushed, no longer just sunburnt red.

Jin Chen chuckled, finally stopping his teasing.

He cupped Huo Zhaoye's cheeks, applying slight pressure to let him fully tilt his face up, and kissed the lips moistened by tea, trembling slightly from nervousness.

As they parted, Jin Chen lowered his gaze at Huo Zhaoye's somewhat dazed eyes, whispering by his ear, "Huo Zhaoye, dear… boyfriend."

"The cold war is over."

Huo Zhaoye stared, slightly squinting his eyes, feeling his heart slammed hard by those words, then flooded by endless warm, sour-swelling currents, bringing unprecedented steadiness and fulfillment.

Actually, his love for Jin Chen, his longing for this person in every way—dependence, possessiveness, protective instinct, yearning for embraces, kisses, and all intimacy—carried more weight and priority than all his obsessions over territorial power.

Those are burdens he must bear, responsibilities and missions.

But the person before him is his choice, his private desire, the softest, most vulnerable spot beneath his tough exterior, which he cannot afford to lose.

Huo Zhaoye sat into Jin Chen's embrace, burying his face in the crook of his neck, his nostrils filled with Jin Chen's fresh, pleasant sandalwood scent.

【Detected Villain Heartthrob Value +10, total 100!】

【Detected Villain Blackening Value -20, total 20!】

——

Recently, the townspeople of Peace Base, whether in the South District or North District, all noticed an interesting thing.

Previously, everyone in the base knew that whoever ran to Professor Yan's experimental field and residence for any reason was definitely Deputy Leader Lu.

But now, the situation has completely reversed.

Deputy Leader Lu suddenly became busy—either taking the Patrol Team to run farther out at the border line, or shutting himself in the newly built training field, sweating profusely while pounding sandbags and tamed aberrations, as if he bore a grudge against them.

Whoever went to see him about business would be dismissed after just a few sentences.

On the contrary, Professor Yan, who used to be calm and composed, spending most of his time in the fields and among book piles, began appearing every few days where Deputy Leader Lu showed up.

Sometimes outside the training field, quietly standing and watching for a while.

Sometimes outside Lu Jun's office, pacing briefly, yet not entering.

Sometimes it was merely happening to pass by the place where Lu Jun and his team members were discussing things.

This sudden reversal of circumstances made many in the base feel strange, whispering about it in private.

Some bold youngsters who got along fairly well with Lu Jun approached him, raising eyebrows and asking, "Brother Lu, why haven't we seen you go to Professor Yan for advice lately?"

The usual response was being grabbed by the collar by Lu Jun and dragged into the training field, ostensibly called sparring, but actually receiving a stern dressing-down, leaving them exhausted and collapsed on the ground, unable to get up.

But when Yan Gugu went to see him, the situation was different.

Lu Jun would say he was busy, had no time, talk later, but his eyes would involuntarily dart toward the other person; seeing Yan Gugu's gaze dim slightly from rejection, his chest felt as if tugged.

After several times, he steeled himself to say he wouldn't see him, but Yan Gugu simply stood quietly waiting outside the door, and Lu Jun's hard‑won defenses would inevitably loosen again.

After repeating this cycle several times, Lu Jun still hadn't figured out how to handle this tangled mess, so he simply chose to avoid seeing him.

He found an excuse to inspect the outer defenses, packed a few days' dry rations and simple gear, and headed straight into the mountains on the west side of the base where they meet the wilderness, to pick fights with those oblivious mutant monsters.

Yan Gugu only learned of this from Jin Chen the next day.

At that time, Jin Chen was patrolling the open ground behind the new school building with Huo Zhaoye, where a new meteorological observation station was to be built.

Huo Zhaoye only half‑understood those subjects, but he liked listening to Jin Chen's explanations; being able to be alone with Jin Chen like this, discussing the construction of a part of their home, he felt nothing could be more pleasant.

Meanwhile, Jin Chen had originally had no interest in getting involved in the subsequent affairs of Lu Jun and Yan Gugu.

With this free time, wouldn't it be nice to accompany his wife more often in patrolling the base and enjoying their rare moments alone?

But he couldn't help it—a lovestruck foolish dragon, after returning from the experimental area and learning of Yan Gugu's past fiancé, became utterly listless, like a frost‑hit eggplant, unable to muster energy for anything.

The defense reinforcement plan that was assigned dragged on; when he talked with the representative of the small southern settlement that had just come to seek refuge, he was also inattentive, and once while on patrol he almost spaced out and hit a tree.

Huo Zhaoye saw this and was also furious.

He endured and endured, but finally he couldn't hold back; once he saw Lu Jun spacing out at the wooden post in the training field, not noticing his approach, he raised his fist and wanted to give him a beating to wake him up.

Instead, it reminded Jin Chen that this brat Lu Jun still owed him points and a favor.

Now he had no choice but to help.