Chapter 77

“Oh, just woke up and can’t remember anything, but you remember me, huh?” Wen Jiuze teased.

Though it was true, hearing it from him made Xue Ling want to hit him.

She pulled out the medical tape the institute had given her and stuck it on Wen Jiuze’s mouth. “Don’t believe rumors, don’t spread rumors!”

She wasn’t going to admit it!

Wen Jiuze raised an eyebrow at her and smirked, his expression a mix of amusement and mockery, with a touch of arrogance. It was both charming and irritating… making her feel both irritated and oddly drawn to him.

He smiled and fell silent, his face clearly showing, “Even though we all know the truth, I’ll let you have your way.”

The aircraft parked at the first research institute’s dedicated landing pad was a silvery-blue color.

It should have looked cool, but unfortunately, Wen Jiuze, its owner, didn’t seem to take very good care of it.

The body of the aircraft was covered in dust and strange stains, and when the cabin door opened, it looked like a messy old warehouse inside.

It was crammed with things, including several old cryogenic chambers stacked on top of each other.

“These cryogenic chambers are broken, right? There’s nothing inside them. Why are they here?” Xue Ling wondered.

Wen Jiuze leaned in closer to her.

Xue Ling blinked. “?”

Wen Jiuze: “Tear off the tape on my mouth.” As soon as he spoke, the tape on his mouth opened.

Xue Ling was speechless. Can’t you tear it yourself?

She raised her hand and tore off the tape on his mouth. Wen Jiuze then said, “I found some old cryogenic chambers in a ruin during a mission, so I brought them back for testing.”

Xue Ling took a closer look and noticed that the cryogenic chambers looked similar to the ones they had back then.

“So, what did the tests show…” Xue Ling began, but stopped when she saw him kicking the chambers off the aircraft, then throwing the messy clutter inside the cabin out as well.

It was like the feeling of throwing out old practice papers after finishing a final exam—free and relaxed.

“These things are useless now,” Wen Jiuze said.

Xue Ling noticed tools like shovels, ropes, lighting equipment, tents, rain boots, and discarded electrical boxes among the clutter.

Had he been using these for tomb raiding before?

After clearing out the junk, Xue Ling spotted a thick coat lying on the driver’s seat, along with medical kits and everyday items piling up in the passenger seat.

Wen Jiuze quickly cleared those away as well.

“These are just old tools and supplies from when I used to go out on missions with the research institute staff. They’re no longer needed.”

With a clatter, the aircraft was soon empty, cleaned as if a storm had swept through.

He sat in the driver’s seat, pushing the controls forward. “Buckle up, we’re leaving.”

Xue Ling was still brushing dust off the passenger seat and wondering how the stains got there when she realized the aircraft was already moving forward. She quickly stopped complaining and sat down.

Wen Jiuze leaned over to fasten her seatbelt. For a moment, Xue Ling felt a flash of nostalgia.

Back when Wen Jiuze found her in Anxi City and drove her away, he had done the same thing—fastened her seatbelt for her.

“This seatbelt works like this, understand?” Wen Jiuze asked.

“Got it,” Xue Ling nodded seriously.

“Good, but even if you understand, it’s unnecessary because it has an automatic button.”

Wen Jiuze pressed a button, and the complex seatbelt clicked into place with a soft snap.

Xue Ling: “…”

Just before she could raise her fist, Wen Jiuze slid back into his seat, pushing the throttle forward. The vehicle, already on the runway, shot into the air.

Xue Ling gripped the armrest tightly. This was far more thrilling than sitting in a car.

The aircraft made little noise and didn’t fly very high, staying about one or two hundred meters above the ground. From there, they could clearly see the houses below, scattered like stars.

“We are now in Beifeng District, also known as Area A, the largest residential area currently. Beifeng District contains over forty cities, and there are strict boundaries between each city,” Wen Jiuze explained, slowly lifting the flying vehicle upwards.

At higher altitudes, the roads and waterways on the ground clearly divided the area, with distinct boundaries.

“We live over there, in Lebin City. The abnormal teams all reside there as well. Each team has its own building, and right next to it is the Abnormal Team Management Center and the Infection Prevention and Treatment Center, along with the Area A Patrol Guard Team.”

Xue Ling looked in the direction he pointed to, first noticing a stretch of greenery and lakes, followed by the small buildings surrounding them.

Compared to the tall buildings and bustling scenes in other districts, this area had far fewer people and was more focused on greenery.

Xue Ling thought to herself: “The area has such a low population density; the land price must be really high.”

The management here was strict. They had flown over many areas before without encountering any obstacles, but when they reached this region’s airspace, aerial patrol robots appeared.

At first, Xue Ling mistook them for birds circling in the sky until they flew beside the aircraft and hovered, emitting a digital voice: “Please present your ID and pass.”

Wait, I don’t think I’ve gotten an ID yet. Could I be considered an illegal resident right now?

At the same moment Xue Ling realized this, Wen Jiuze pulled up two identification documents.

The bird-like aerial security robots quickly finished scanning and flew away.

“You have my ID? You’ve already gotten it for me?” Xue Ling pulled Wen Jiuze’s hand to look at the documents he just showed.

“Don’t I need to handle this myself? Didn’t you see me at the research institute earlier? When did you secretly get it done?” Xue Ling asked, surprised.

Wen Jiuze replied, “I told you, everything’s ready. I’ve just been waiting for you. We’ve arrived.”

The aircraft landed in front of a twelve-story building.

Wen Jiuze led her inside and said, “We live on the fifth floor.”

Xue Ling immediately remembered that the place she used to rent was also on the fifth floor.

In such a large building, they didn’t encounter anyone as they entered. The elevator took them straight to the fifth floor; each floor had only one apartment.

Everything, from the exterior environment to the building’s appearance and the elevators, looked spacious, new, and well-maintained.

However, when Wen Jiuze opened the door, Xue Ling fell silent.

Just one door away, the outside was clean, tidy, and well-decorated, but inside was a dark, abandoned, haunted house.

Xue Ling thought: Wen Jiuze, you really know how to ruin a house.

Heavy blackout curtains were tightly drawn, and several ceiling lights were broken, leaving only a dim, yellowish one still glowing.

The room clearly hadn’t been lived in for a long time, with a layer of dust on the floor. Footprints were visible, showing where someone had walked from the door to a room and back.

“How long has it been since you were last here?” Xue Ling asked.

“Over two months, I think?” Wen Jiuze couldn’t really remember. Aside from completing missions, most of his time was spent elsewhere, rarely returning here.

He spent more time at the first research institute than at this place.

“Don’t you clean at all?” Xue Ling was about to lose it over this bachelor pad.

“Clean?” Wen Jiuze thought for a moment, “Oh, I remember. When I moved in, there was a smart housekeeper that could clean the room regularly, but I turned it off because it was too noisy.”

He walked to the control panel by the door and searched for the switch to reactivate the overly smart but not-so-intelligent housekeeper.

Xue Ling stepped into the room, her feet crunching on the dust.

The apartment was large but empty. Aside from a fixed kitchen island and some cabinets, the living room only had a sofa. There wasn’t even a dining table.

To the right was a small living room leading to the balcony, which was cluttered with junk. At a glance, there were several discarded cryo-chambers and old, broken items.

She pulled open the floor-to-ceiling curtains in the living room facing the lake. The bright sunlight and the golden yellow flowers of the locust trees immediately filled her vision.

“Why did you have the curtains drawn for such a beautiful lake and tree view?” Xue Ling didn’t understand.

Did this guy even know how to live properly?

Wen Jiuze said, “It was too bright before, and it was annoying.”

When he was lying on the sofa, the sunlight would shine too brightly, making the floor glow, like a tranquil afternoon dream. But in the quiet room, he was the only one there, and he didn’t like that feeling.

After some fussing, he turned the smart housekeeper back on, and a clear chime rang. A warm male voice echoed through the room.

“Reboot complete. Welcome to use the smart housekeeper. It’s been 8 years, 9 months, and 10 days since your last use. The system requires an update to provide better service.”

“How many people are currently living here?”

“Two.”

“What is your relationship?”

“Husband and wife.”

Xue Ling turned to look at Wen Jiuze, her face full of shock.

Husband and wife? Did I agree to that? Have we even registered yet, and you’re just saying it?!

The smart housekeeper happily said, “Congratulations! After all these years without a smart housekeeper, you’ve finally found a companion…”

Wen Jiuze, expressionless, quickly pressed “skip.”

Xue Ling: “…”

She reasonably speculated that Wen Jiuze probably turned off the smart housekeeper years ago because the AI unintentionally hit a sore spot, and out of spite, he hadn’t used it for years.

The smart housekeeper went to work, ventilating the room, cleaning the floors and countertops with floating cleaners, and polishing the large glass windows with hidden brushes.

Xue Ling walked into the room. Several rooms were empty, but one had a bed and cabinets. Its attached bathroom was possibly the cleanest place in the apartment, showing signs of frequent use.

However, the countertops were a complete mess, with empty cans left lying around and unsealed tubes of cream that had clumped up.

Xue Ling was immediately reminded of the time when she lived with Wen Jiuze. It took her so long to train him to clean up.

“Don’t leave things scattered around, hang up the towels properly, clean the shower, and wash the dirty clothes in time…”

“Wen Jiuze! Wen Jiuze, come and clean up all your things! Put away the things you want, and throw away what you don’t need!”

Wen Jiuze slowly walked over.

He listened as she began to direct him, her tone full of a strong sense of ownership, ordering him to tidy up.

The door to the fifth-floor apartment, usually tightly shut, was now wide open. Wen Jiuze moved the clutter from inside the house and piled it outside, waiting for the trash compactor to come and take it away.

Xue Ling walked around the house a few times, frequently calling out Wen Jiuze’s name both inside and outside.

“Wen Jiuze? Wen Jiuze, don’t you have any clean bedsheets? Your quilt is torn, and you’re just covering yourself with it?”

She called out twice but didn’t get a response. She stepped out and didn’t see Wen Jiuze but saw a few people wearing hats, looking very serious, standing in the open doorway.

“Hello, we are from the Beifeng District Household Registration Bureau.”

The Household Registration Bureau?

Xue Ling: Wen Jiuze, you better not be the one who made a fake certificate for me.

“We found that a previously sealed household registration, under the name Xue Ling, has been activated. We’ve come to confirm the situation,” they said seriously.

“That’s right, Xue Ling, the thawed person who is in the same situation as me, you can contact the First Research Institute to get a certificate. I remember I have gone through the other procedures before.” Wen Jiuze said from behind them.

The house was filled with so much clutter that it had caused the trash compactor to malfunction. Wen Jiuze had to move both the trash and the compactor downstairs.

When he returned, he saw these people standing at the door.

Upon seeing Wen Jiuze, the group stepped back two paces, allowing him to enter first.

Though their expressions remained serious, they couldn’t help but secretly feel uneasy.

No matter how you looked at it, Wen Jiuze was a well-known figure in their system.

He was a hero and martyr from more than three hundred years ago, the longest-frozen individual in recorded history, the oldest surviving virus carrier, and a key member of an anomaly team that had broken numerous records… But what was most memorable among these titles was his stubbornness and how difficult he could be to handle.

When his identification papers were being processed, he had requested that another person’s identity be processed as well.

That person was Xue Ling, his lover from the same era, who shared the same circumstances.

However, at the time, this “Xue Ling” didn’t exist, and they couldn’t register a new identity for someone who had possibly been dead for a long time and had no chance of resurrection.

Their identities were indeed special, and they could receive some privileges, but there were regulations that couldn’t be bypassed, no matter what.

When Wen Jiuze didn’t get the result he wanted, he joined the anomaly team.

They were unsure of what he did, but not long after, the Household Registration Bureau received a notification ordering them to proceed with the identity paperwork for Xue Ling.

They were to process it, but it could remain inactive for the time being, as a way to appease him.

The staff at the Household Registration Bureau remembered this clearly, and they had discussed it internally for a long time.

They all thought that the identity certificate that Wen Jiuze insisted on applying for would never be activated.

Unexpectedly…it was really activated today.

They had just witnessed history coming back to life.