For the next two days, Ye and Mei were at the base, but they were being tested by different personnel, so they had no interaction.
It wasn't until the night before they were to leave the base that Lao Gao, as the host, invited them to the mess hall to bid them farewell with tea instead of wine.
Mei looked at the large cup of tea and felt a sense of emptiness. While Lao Gao wasn't paying attention, he secretly switched his tea with alcohol.
His small trick fooled Lao Gao but not Ye.
Ye was first astonished by her incredible hand speed, and then attracted by the aroma of alcohol.
Ye didn't stand on ceremony, and with a reach, swapped his teacup with Mei's.
Mei's eyes widened in anger. Just as he was about to call him shameless, Lao Gao sniffed the air, "Did my stomach lack alcohol, and I'm hallucinating?"
Ye smiled, "Dare to break the abstinence? If you dare, have some."
Lao Gao smiled and waved his hand, "I don't dare."
Since the cat was out of the bag, Mei no longer concealed anything. He picked up the empty cup and generously poured himself a cup of wine.
One drank tea and two drank wine. Although they were all men of few words, the atmosphere was quite pleasant.
Midway through the meal, Lao Gao was called away.
Ye picked up the wine bottle and refilled Mei's cup, "You brought alcohol in secretly, but I haven't seen you drink much."
"I have a low tolerance for alcohol, but I like the taste. I have a small drink occasionally," Mei picked up his cup and took a small sip. "You have a good tolerance for alcohol. You've drunk so much without showing any signs of intoxication."
"I used to abstain from alcohol completely. I've only developed this tolerance in recent years." Ye's eyes darkened slightly. He raised his cup and gently clinked it with Mei's, "Thank you for the wine, and I apologize for what I said that day."
Mei waved his hand indifferently, "What did I say? I've forgotten."
Ye curved his lips slightly, "You're small in stature but have a big heart!"
Mei slammed his cup down on the table, "Hey! If you dare call me small again, I'll turn on you!"
"You misunderstood me. I'm not saying you're small in height, I mean you're young."
"I'm twenty-four, how am I young? Oh, right, compared to you, a forty-year-old uncle, I am indeed a bit young."
Ye was stunned. Was he that old?
He touched his face and suddenly realized.
"You're twenty-four, born in the Year of the Sheep?" This little guy had the same zodiac sign as that girl!
Mei thought of something and took a large gulp of wine, "Yes, I'm born in the Year of the Sheep. People say those born in the Year of the Sheep have bad luck, and my fate isn't very good either."
"That's all feudal superstition. How can you, a young person, believe in this?"
"I didn't believe it before, but I believe it now." Mei waved his hand irritably, "Let's not talk about my miserable life. Ye, what's your zodiac sign?"
"Ox."
"Oh, then you must be forty-two this year."
Forty-two?
He was only thirty!
However, seeing Mei already a bit tipsy, Ye didn't feel like explaining.
Mei drooped his head and said, slurring his words slightly, "Uncle, you're too much! You're this old and still doing such dangerous work. Doesn't your wife have any objections?"
"I don't have a wife."
"Ah? You're this old, why don't you have a wife yet?"
Ye tilted his head and drained his cup, his voice heavy, "When I was about your age, I fell in love with a girl. But in a situation where I couldn't marry her, I hurt her. After she left, I vowed never to marry again."
Mei, with bleary eyes, looked at him, "She left? Did she die?"
Ye suddenly grabbed his shirt, "Don't curse her!"
Damn it!
Where was he grabbing?
Fueled by alcohol, Mei leaped up, broke free from his grasp, and slapped him.
Fortunately, Ye dodged quickly. The slap only grazed his ear.
Ye's ear immediately swelled.
His eyes turned scarlet as he looked at Mei, "What's gotten into you!"
"Am I the one who's acting crazy, or are you? Why did you grab me for no reason? You're sick!"
Mei let out a cold snort, kicked his chair aside, and left.
When Lao Gao returned, both Mei and Ye had disappeared. Only two overturned chairs remained in the mess hall.
Lao Gao helplessly rubbed his forehead. These two were both troublesome individuals he couldn't afford to offend. Fortunately, they were leaving tomorrow.
The next day, Mei and Ye descended the mountain separately with the selected team members.
Upon returning to the capital, Mei settled his team members and drove away.
At a gas station on the South Third Ring Road, Mei removed his human skin mask, revealing a stunningly beautiful face with a bright, radiant complexion and a vibrant red tear mole.
Lan Yuxi, after switching cars and changing into casual wear with her subordinate, drove to the Hongmen.
Unusually, she saw Ming Zicheng at her master's place.
Ming Zicheng stood up with a smile upon seeing her, "Senior Sister, you're back."
"Hmph!" Lan Yuxi snorted and sat down next to Elder Hong.
Elder Hong smiled as he looked at her, "Mumu told me Zicheng upset you?"
"He not only upset me, he bullied me!" Lan Yuxi hugged Elder Hong's arm and acted spoiled, "Master, you must uphold justice for me!"
Elder Hong chuckled and poked her forehead, "You don't need Master to uphold justice for you. Our Zhaozhao just took revenge for you."
Lan Yuxi shot up, "Ah? What did he do?"
"Senior Sister, have some tea." Ming Zicheng smiled and handed her a cup of tea.
Lan Yuxi took the teacup and took a sip, "Er Wan, what exactly did that little rascal Zhaozhao do?"
Ming Zicheng chuckled, "He had nothing better to do and used my office's defense system for practice."
Lan Yuxi asked with concern, "He didn't succeed in invading, did he?"
"No. But he did successfully invade my personal computer. And he left me a few words." Ming Zicheng couldn't help but laugh when he mentioned this.
Lan Yuxi rolled her eyes at him, "He's already caused such a mess, and you can still laugh! Where is he? Lan Yinzhe, get out here!"
Ming Zicheng quickly stopped her, "Senior Sister, don't shout. He's in the backyard making a defense system for me."
Elder Hong smiled kindly, "The child knows he was wrong and is making amends. You mustn't hit him when you see him later, do you hear me!"
"I'll beat him to death!" Lan Yuxi rubbed her forehead. "Er Wan, what did he leave you as a message?"
Ming Zicheng couldn't help but laugh, then took out his phone, opened his photo album, and handed it to her, "I took a picture of it to keep as a souvenir."
[Ming Zicheng, if you dare to anger my mother again, I'll make your system crash every day!]
Lan Yuxi looked at the photo and shook her head, torn between tears and laughter, "This little brat!"
"Senior Sister, Zhaozhao is too amazing. My office's top experts teamed up to intercept him. Did you teach him?"
"No, I only discovered he could do this when I returned to the US this time. This child has been eavesdropping on my calls and hacking into my computer recently. When I asked him who taught him, he said he didn't know who the other person was. That person taught him and Mumu online. I looked at their chat logs, and the other party had no malicious intent. They just felt uncomfortable not teaching Zhaozhao and Mumu anything when their IQs were similar to theirs."