CH 25

“Ah, Brother Bao, Brother Qiao, just call me Xiao Jie from now on.” Liu Junjie hurriedly shouted out ‘brother’.

Lu RanKong said cheerfully, “Okay, Xiao Jie.”

“Brother Bao, Brother Qiao, I’m Qiao Fei, and his name is Lin Lin.” Qiao Fei’s voice had a timid tone.

Lin Lin, who was on the top bunk, pushed up his glasses and greeted nervously, “Hello Brother Bao, Brother Qiao…”

Both of them only looked at Lu RanKong, not daring to look at Lan Yu.

“Wang Jin…” The burly Alpha with the dragon tattoo on his shoulder spoke, his voice gruff.

“Qiu Dao…” The one in the bunk below him also said his name.

After introducing themselves, Lan Yu and Lu RanKong began to make the bed.

“Am I on top of you or are you underneath me?” Lu RanKong asked him, holding the bunk bed.

Lan Yu asked, “Is there a difference?”

“Okay, then you choose first.”

Lan Yu didn’t want to be on the bottom bunk, he felt that everything he did was in full view of others and he had nothing to hide, but he felt better having the top bunk. So he didn’t answer, and directly threw his own quilt pillow to the top bunk, and then climbed up after it.

He put the thin mattress down, covered it with sheets, carefully smoothed it out, so it was without a single wrinkle, and then put the pillow down, spread the quilt that was a bit messy, and refolded it squarely.

“Brother Bao, Brother Qiao, you guys take a break.” Liu Junjie very cleverly acted familiar, “Dinner will be ready later. Tomorrow we will start working. It’s very physical, so we can’t do it without a good rest.”

“Okay, rest.” Lu RanKong lay down and kicked the top bunk with his foot, “Sleep…”

Yesterday, he left on the Star Warship and spent the night huddled in a cage in the bilge, and today he had a fight and was electrocuted, so even though his body was very strong now, Lan Yu felt a bit overwhelmed. He lay down as he was told and closed his eyes.

His mind was disturbed by the clips of the past two days. At one moment, he was sitting in a steel cage on the war ship with two soldiers holding ion guns guarding him. at another moment, he had his handcuffs around Hua Ge’s neck, watching his snotty face on the verge of death… 

Lan Yu forced himself to push those images out of his mind, hypnotizing himself over and over again in his heart: this is all a movie, it’s all a movie, not real, don’t be afraid… 

Finally, he fell asleep.

He didn’t know how long he slept, but in a haze, he heard someone arguing and the sound of a stool falling on the floor. He opened his eyes just in time to see Qiu Dao and Wang Jin pouncing on each other, both of them waving their fists at each other, punching without restraint. Then they fell on the bottom bunk again, rolling around in each other’s necks, both muffled without uttering a word.

Because of their large size, the solid iron-framed bed creaked with an overwhelming sound.

Lan Yu was astonished, but noticed that the other four inmates didn’t stop the fight, nor were they surprised or watched, but still went about their business.

Qiao Fei and Lin Lin, sitting together on the bottom bunk, one person drew on a book with a pad of paper, while the other looked on.

Chen Zheng stared at the sky outside the window with a gloomy face, while Liu Junjie was lying on the bed flipping through a novel. Apparently this kind of scene happened all the time, and they were all used to seeing it.

Lan Yu poked his head out and saw Lu RanKong on the bottom bunk with his feet up and his hands behind his head, watching the two fighting with great interest, so he wasn’t going to say anything and lay down again. Wang Jin and Qiu Dao fought for a few more minutes and then suddenly there was no movement.

Did they knock each other out?

Lan Yu glanced sideways, and saw that the two people were sitting on their own beds, each holding a bottle of medicinal oil, rubbing it onto their body.

Qiu Dao, on the lower bunk handed up a glass of water, Wang Jin took it and drank it, then passed it back down. Qiu Dao took it back again. They were very harmonious, as if the scene just now of them fighting to death was just an illusion.

Lan Yu: … 

These two people would just fight and stop whenever?

After such a mess, Lan Yu lost his sleepiness, so he just stared at the ceiling and thought about what was on his mind. As he was thinking, he heard a whistle from the hall, and the guards were announcing that it was time for dinner. All the cells were bustling with activity, and with clangs, all the cell doors opened, and the prisoners went out one after another.

“Come on, let’s go eat.” Lu RanKong emerged from the bedside.

Lan Yu gave him a sickly look, turned back, and said, “I don’t want to eat…”

He had no appetite to eat now, and didn’t feel hungry. If he really wanted to eat, he only wanted a bowl of beef congee mixed with mountain shells and mushrooms with a plate of appetizers.

“Brother Bao, Brother Qiao, it’s time to eat.” Liu Junjie greeted from the doorway.

Lan Yu didn’t move or make a sound, so Lu RanKong left his bedside and went to the dining hall with the others. The whole prison seemed to be quiet, and only the rustling of the wind outside the small windows could be heard.

Lan Yu lay motionless, dazed and was about to fall asleep again, when a hot breeze blew across his face and it tickled him a little. He raised his hand and waved it away, but a hand blocked it.

Opening his eyes, Lu RanKong stood at the head of the bed again.

“What do you want?” he asked in an unpleasant voice.

“Get up and eat…”

“I said I don’t want to eat…” Lan Yu turned back with a frown.

At that moment, a smell of white rice porridge entered his nose, mixed with the fragrance of green vegetables. He took a whiff, only to feel his saliva instantly gather, which rose to a sense of hunger, making him aware of his empty stomach.

Lan Yu’s eyes lit up and he jerked his head to look over.

Lu RanKong’s hand slowly lifted up, holding a stainless steel rice bowl, bringing it up to his nose and waving it about, as he asked, “Does it smell good?”

Lan Yu silently looked down at the bowl of porridge, and quietly swallowed, “It’s okay…”

He was afraid to answer that it smelled good, lest Lu RanKong finish eating it tastily in front of him, deliberately smacking his lips while eating, then burping twice after he finished.

This guy could really do that.

“Only okay? Everyone is just starting to eat, and I finished my rice in just a few seconds, not even filling my stomach. Then I rushed to the kitchen to ask for this bowl of porridge for you. It’s okay that you’re not grateful, but you’re still saying you’re fine? Then do you want to eat?”

Lan Yu was so happy that he was about to say he wanted to eat, but when he saw Lu RanKong’s eyes, he got a jolt and said, “I’m not interested…”

Lu RanKong made a gesture to take the congee away, “Since you’re not interested, I’ll eat it myself.”

Lan Yu made an indifferent face and continued to lie flat and stare at the ceiling. Until he heard the soft sound of a spoon stirring and he couldn’t help but turn his head to look.

With a look of immediate panic, he didn’t care anymore if Lu RanKong wasn’t sincere, as he tentatively sat up from the top bunk. Pointing a finger out at him, his eyes spewed anger, “You actually ate my porridge?”

Lu RanKong just fed a spoonful of thin porridge into his mouth, holding the spoon in his mouth and asking vaguely, “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t eat it?”

“Give it back to me…” Lan Yu got out of bed quickly, grabbed the bowl of porridge, pulled the spoon out of his mouth, dragged it over the small stool under the bed that belonged to him, and put the rice bowl on it. Then he pulled a tissue from the tissue box on the communal table and wiped the spoon over and over again.

Lu RanKong sat on his own bed, watched his movements with some amusement, and asked in a lowered voice, “Don’t you usually share a spoon with other soldiers on missions?”

“No…” Lan Yu replied coldly.

“That’s right, who would dare to use your spoon? They’d rather grab it with their hands…”

Lan Yu frowned in disgust.

Lu RanKong watched him wipe with three sheets of paper in a row and asked again, “Your cleanliness is quite serious, that Omega of yours doesn’t mind it?” 

“You’re too sloppy, so you call loving cleanliness and hygiene a cleanliness fetish.” Lan Yu took all the paper towels to the trash can in the corner and said, “And Omega will only dislike your kind.”

“Look at you, everyone is throwing the garbage into the trash can, and you have to walk over and put it in there like it’s some kind of treasure.” Lu RanKong said incredulously.

“Everyone? Do you mean this group of prisoners or the free-spirited group of soldiers under you?”

Lan Yu turned around, picked up the rice bowl on the small stool and started to eat the porridge. The congee was a little hot, so he scooped up a spoonful and blew on it a few times, sticking out the tip of his tongue to try it. When the temperature was right, he fed it into his mouth and swallowed it in small bites.

The aroma of green vegetables overflowed in his mouth, and the crispy rice grains slid down his esophagus, warmly ironing out his empty stomach. He hadn’t eaten well since yesterday, so he squinted contentedly and licked his lips.

After having a few more bites, he noticed that Lu RanKong, who had been sitting on the bed, hadn’t moved. He turned his head and found the man looking at him unblinkingly, his gaze a little strange.

“What’s wrong?” Lan Yu touched the corner of his mouth. Were there grains of rice?

“Nothing…” Lu RanKong replied.

Lan Yu chewed the rice grains and looked at him a little suspiciously.

Lu RanKong continued with a straight face, “I flew back, and actually I wanted to tell you something about my discovery while no one was around.”

“Didn’t you say you were delivering congee specifically for me?” Lan Yu unmercifully demolished the lie he had just told.

Lu RanKong said without blushing, “There is no contradiction between the two, both talking about things and delivering congee. The primary purpose was to deliver congee and talk about things.”

Lan Yu also didn’t delay him to talk about business, “Then speak…”

“The first discovery I made was that Liu Junjie, the financial offender, was serving a sentence at Planet Chalu Prison, which was rebuilt and he was sent here last year. That is true, Chalu Prison did divide the prisoners, but the financial criminals were sent to Sada Planet. and he is the youngest son of interstellar richest Liu Si, so how could he be sent here? His Alpha father could have gotten him to the prison with the best conditions.”

“So could he be that Lontan Planet guy?”

“Not sure, that information the military department showed us wasn’t very detailed, I’ll have to find the warden once.”

“What about the second discovery?” Lan Yu asked.

“The second discovery is the painting.”

“The mural?”

Lan Yu followed Lu RanKong’s line of sight to the opposite bed.

The quilt on the bed was neatly folded, revealing the mural Lin Lin had painted behind it.

“What’s the time of day in this painting in your opinion?” Lu RanKong asked.

Lan Yu replied quickly, “Early morning…”

Those branches and leaves were still covered with dew.

“But what direction do you see the sunlight coming through?”

Lan Yu went to look carefully and realized that those tilted pillars of light falling from the air were facing in two directions.

Without waiting for his question, Lu RanKong explained, “There are four planets in the Sasu Planet system with this kind of ecological vegetation. But of the four, only one Planet called Kaiju has two cooler suns and constant daytime. In the early morning and at sunset every day, you can enjoy the beauty of two suns hanging in the sky at the same time.”

Lan Yu had never heard anyone mention the Planet Kaiju, and there was no such Planet Kaiju in the Sasu Planet system he knew, so he kept silent, maintaining his usual cool and expressionless face.

Lu RanKong sighed, “I knew your head was empty. The space channel between the Lontan Planet system and the Sasu Planet system was open on the Qichu Planet sphere. After the Lontan Planet people were driven out of the Sasu Planet system more than a hundred years ago, the channel was closed and the planet was sealed. The vegetation on this mural is very realistic and similar to the information I have seen. How do you think this came about?”

Lan Yu was inwardly bewildered, but his eyes burned with a wise and indistinct light.

“You finally understand. The Lontan Planet people who passed through the space channel quietly six months ago must know what Kaiju Planet is like.” Lu RanKong said.

“So, Lin Lin is that Lontan Planet person.” Lan Yu sat up straight, a little excited.

If they could really be sure that he was it, then they could use the needle earlier, leave on a Star Warship, and return in time for tomorrow’s breakfast.

When they went back, he wouldn’t have to be in the iron cage, but a VIP cabin. When he arrived at the dormitory, he could take a shower, wash several times, and if possible, according to the customs of ancient Earth, jump over a brazier to wash away his bad luck… 

“Not necessarily…” Lu RanKong said.

“Ah…” Lan Yu snapped back from his reverie, “Why not necessarily?”

“Didn’t I tell you? The vegetation on Planet Kaiju, and the three planets as well. Lin Lin can draw those vegetation, just add the light of the two suns. Many avid fans of the planet make many paintings every day.”

Lan Yu, “Then why do you say so much? Is it top secret information? People can create a lot of paintings.”

“It’s just a direction of suspicion. Lin Lin is a famous painter, but didn’t use it in the right way, and made fake coins sending more than a billion into the interstellar market. Finally his partner ran away and the charges were put on him.”

“How about that? These findings have value, right?” Lu RanKong asked.

Seeing Lan Yu’s disdainful face, he asked again, “What about you, did you find anything?”

Lan Yu put down his spoon and said, “Yes…”

He put up three fingers, “Third—”

Lu RanKong pressed down his middle and ring fingers, “Start with number one, you can’t follow my count.”

Lan Yu licked his lips, “First, I don’t think Wang Jin and Qiu Dao are like the kind of relationship they show.”

“Which kind of relationship?”

“Enemy relationship…”

“Mn, do tell.” Lu RanKong said solemnly.

“Although the two of them fought, they were handing each other medicine after the fight, and when you went out to the cafeteria just now, Qiu Dao even set Wang Jin’s shoes on the ground for him.” Lan Yu narrowed his eyes, “I think the relationship between the two of them is very subtle, just can’t be confirmed.”

“Mn…” Lu RanKong replied with a single syllable in a salty manner.

“You don’t believe it?”

“I believe it. Not only do I believe it, I’m sure the two of them are lovers.”

Lan Yu was shocked, “How did you conclude that?”

“It’s obvious…”

“Obvious?”

“As soon as they entered the dining hall, they were hugging and kissing in a corner, so it was very obvious. And they were in an interstellar bandit gang.”

Lan Yu, “But they’re both Alphas.”

“What’s wrong with being Alphas? There’s no interstellar law that says two Alphas can’t be together. I don’t care if they’re an Alpha or an Omega if I fall for someone,” Lu RanKong said.

He was leaning against the bed rail with his arms around his chest, a ray of sunset fell on his face, and with an aura of defiance, he looked radiant.

Lan Yu had a momentary trance and subconsciously said, “Mn, I agree with you on that.”

Lu RanKong saw him put the spoon already in the rice bowl, which still had half of the porridge left, and asked, “Do you still want to eat?”

“No, I’m full.” Lan Yu said, and tried to pour the rest into the bathroom toilet.

“Bring it to me to eat…”

Lu RanKong took the rice bowl, picked up the spoon and put it into his mouth, mumbling, “I didn’t even eat enough just now.”

“Aren’t you going to wipe the spoon? And this is my leftover.” Lan Yu was shocked.

“I don’t mind your saliva…” Lu RanKong swallowed in big gulps and the porridge soon reached the bottom. He got up and walked out, saying, “The rice bowl is from the canteen, so I’m going to return it.”

Lu RanKong had just walked out when the sound of people came from the hall one after another, and the prisoners who had finished their meals, guarded by the guards, came back in line.

“Hey, hey, hey, 0357, where are you going?” Lan Yu heard the voice of the whistle-loving prison guard.

Lu RanKong’s reply traveled over, “I’m going to the canteen to return the rice bowl, I’ll be right back.”

Lan Yu had just pushed the small stool under the bed when a man stood at the door.

The whistling prison guard twirled the two copper batons in his hand while looking in.

“Sick?” he asked.

Lan Yu said, “I’m fine…”

“If you’re very sick, you can call the medical officer.” The whistling warden was chubby with a pleasant expression and tone of voice.

“Thank you, it’s no big deal.” Lan Yu replied politely.

Soon, everyone came back.

As soon as they entered the room, they went to the innermost bathroom and each brought out a basin with a towel and soap inside.

Lu RanKong also returned to the cell at this time, and Liu Junjie hurriedly greeted, “Brother Bao, go take a shower.”

“It’s okay, you guys go first.”

When everyone was gone, he squatted in front of his locker, and took out the plastic basin. When he saw Lan Yu still sitting on the bed, he wondered, “Didn’t you clamor for a bath? Go get ready…”

Lan Yu glanced at him and asked, “Is everyone crammed into one bath?”

“Don’t worry, there are cubicles, so no one will see your ass, and no one wants to see your ass anyway.” Lu RanKong put the towels and soap into the basin, “Just take off your clothes in the outer room before you go in.”

“That won’t work, I’ll wait until they’re done washing.” Lan Yu said.

Lu RanKong sighed patiently and said, “Why are you so fussy?”

“Then you can go by yourself first, I’ll go alone later.” Lan Yu sat still.

Lu RanKong thought about it and put the plastic basin on the square table, “A Lontan person is here, so the two of us can’t be separated. I’ll wait for you.”

After saying that, he sat side by side with him on the bunk bed and waited in silence.

Lan Yu hung his head and saw that his bed sheet was crooked, and the blue stripes on it were all tilted and not in a straight line. The remaining part of the edge wasn’t tucked under the mattress as it should be, and hung outside the bed rail with one side long and one side short.

The quilt wasn’t folded properly, it was just piled up in a bunch, and the pillow was bulging in the middle and empty all around.

He turned his head to stare out the window, deliberately trying to ignore the bed, but his mind was filled with the twisted stripes, the straight center line, the balled up quilt and the uneven pillows.

It was getting harder and harder and he was starting to feel bad.

“Get up…” He finally turned his head in frustration.

“What for?”

“Just get up first…”

Lu RanKong stood up inexplicably as Lan Yu began to straighten his bed sheets on the fly.

First, he straightened the stripes, then tucked the excess under the mattress and stretched it flat. He shook the twisted pillows out and put them back into the pillowcase. The quilt was also moved and folded squarely.

Looking at the new bed, he breathed a long sigh of relief.

Finally, he was comfortable.

Lan Yu turned his head to look at Lu RanKong and found him looking at him with that weird look again, and his heart thumped. He fixed his expression then said, “No matter where you go, be strict with yourself.”

After taking a look around at no one else coming back, he then added, “A soldier has to behave like a soldier, even if he is serving a sentence. I gave you a demonstration, so from now on you have to fold the quilt like this.”

Lu RanKong didn’t say anything, just rubbed his chin.

From the distance came the sound of talking and slippers slapping; it was the bathers who had returned.

Lu RanKong picked up his basin and asked, “Can we go shower now? If you delay any longer, the bathhouse will close and you won’t be able to wash today.”

Lan Yu thought it was about time, so he took out his own washing utensils from the cabinet and said, “Let’s go…”