From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 74 - 69: A Friend from Afar

Shen Yue rubbed his nose and said no more.

Wei Heng scoffed. ’Knew it. The guy is definitely up to something. Those two sweet potatoes have probably been sent off somewhere by now...’

Just then, Gu Xi’s personal terminal beeped twice.

At this, everyone looked up.

Gu Xi was also taken aback.

’Someone’s messaging me?’

’But I have very few friends in my contact list, and the handful that I do are almost all right here with me. So who could be sending me a message...?’

Surprised, Gu Xi still lowered her head and opened her personal terminal.

The message was, unexpectedly, from Lu Shiliu.

Shiliu-not-a-Pomegranate: [002201557SXDFF15555...]

Gu Xi stared at the seemingly random string of numbers and letters on the Light Screen for a long time before suddenly letting out a laugh.

’Thirty years have passed, but that person... hasn’t changed a bit...’

Just then, Lu Shiliu deleted the previous message and sent another one.

Shiliu-not-a-Pomegranate: [Miss Gu, I’ll be transferred to the South City base in a little while...]

Beside her, Wei Heng also saw the message. A strange, complicated feeling welled up inside him.

He looked up at Gu Xi and asked in a low voice, "Who’s this?"

"A friend," Gu Xi said, her head lowered.

But Wei Heng froze. He suddenly realized Gu Xi had friends he didn’t know about. ’They must have met before she and I did, right?’

’Otherwise, I would have known.’

After all, from the day he’d found Gu Xi, they had been together almost every day. He knew every single person she knew...

Thinking about Gu Xi’s past, Wei Heng lowered his eyes.

"When is your friend coming over?" Wei Heng asked, feigning nonchalance but treading carefully. "Do I need to prepare anything in advance? Ingredients for the kitchen..."

"No need to prepare anything special." Gu Xi’s gaze fell on his faintly dejected face. After a moment’s thought, she picked a large strawberry from the fruit bowl and handed it to him. "I’ll introduce you two when the time comes. You... should be able to get along?"

Gu Xi wasn’t very sure herself.

After all, Lu Chenyuan had severe social anxiety back then. She had no idea if it had gotten any better after all these years.

Wei Heng stared at the strawberry in his hand for a long moment, then suddenly took a huge bite. It was fragrant and sweet—just what you’d expect from fruit grown by Gu Xi herself.

’Delicious.’

’But... today’s big strawberry seems to have a faint hint of sourness mixed in with the sweetness, doesn’t it?’

Wei Heng forced himself to swallow that sourness.

His mood right now... was like that of an old father who, after raising his child through thick and thin, suddenly discovers they have a social circle he knows nothing about...

It was an incredibly complicated feeling. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Gu Xi also took a large strawberry. As she ate, she suddenly asked, "Do we have any pomegranate seeds at home?"

’Lu Chenyuan seems to really like pomegranates, doesn’t he? I don’t have any in my storage space, so I’ll have to plant them now...’

Wei Heng instantly felt the strawberry in his hand turn even more sour.

"I don’t think so..." Wei Heng mumbled, forcing down the sourness in his heart while taking large bites of the strawberry. "Mr. Zhao didn’t request pomegranate seeds last time. But if you need them, I’ll check back at the camp tomorrow."

’So much for "no need to prepare anything special." The guy isn’t even here yet, and she’s already getting his favorite fruit ready...’

Just as Wei Heng was stewing in his sour feelings, someone had to come and stir the pot.

"Oh, it’s Shiliu." Shen Yue had wandered over at some point, glanced at Gu Xi’s Light Screen, and added lazily, "That kid. Why didn’t he give me a heads-up he was coming over..."

Wei Heng... Wei Heng’s heart soured even more.

Hearing the familiarity in Shen Yue’s tone, he obviously knew this "Shiliu-not-a-Pomegranate" person too. ’So... when exactly did they start keeping secrets behind my back?’

’With a wolf at the front door and a tiger at the back, how am I supposed to defend against this?’

’And here I am, a young, single man, worrying my heart out like an old father.’

Gu Xi noticed Wei Heng’s mood was a little off and was about to say something.

But then Wei Heng buried his head and swallowed the remaining half of the strawberry in his hand before looking up at Gu Xi. "Gu Xiaoxi, does your friend know how to cook?"

Gu Xi: "...?" ’So that’s what you’ve been agonizing over all this time?’

’It’s... a little weird.’

Seeing Wei Heng still staring at her resolutely, Gu Xi thought for a moment, shook her head, and said uncertainly, "I... don’t think so?"

In her memory, Lu Chenyuan’s hands were long and powerful, as if they were born to wield weapons.

Using hands like those for stir-frying and cooking? Gu Xi really couldn’t imagine it.

Wei Heng instantly relaxed. ’So they aren’t that close after all.’

After letting out a full sigh of relief, Wei Heng finally asked, "This Shiliu... how did you two meet? Why haven’t I heard you mention him before..."

Just as Gu Xi was about to explain that Lu Shiliu wasn’t the friend she was talking about, Qi Xiang cut in, "Oh, you mean Lu Shiliu? I know about him! Remember when I went with Gu Xiaoxi to catch chickens last time? That Lu Shiliu was the animal handler..."

As she spoke, Qi Xiang had a belated realization.

Since they hadn’t contacted each other at all after returning, Qi Xiang had originally thought that Lu Shiliu insisting on adding her and Gu Xi as friends was just a social formality—what you would call being polite.

But now it seemed... that kid had his eyes on Gu Xi all along.

With that thought, the look Qi Xiang gave Gu Xi instantly became a little peculiar.

It was filled with the rich flavor of gossip.

Gu Xi: "..."

...

A few days later, Lu Shiliu arrived on a transport plane from the Military Department.

The Military Department planned to add a new livestock station to the farm here, and Lu Shiliu, as a military livestock officer, was dispatched to coordinate the work.

Shen Yue had received the news in advance. Early in the morning, the Farming Team was already bustling with activity, even showing signs of a collective ditch day.

Clearly, they were all very curious about Gu Xi’s friend.

Gu Xi felt a bit helpless. She wondered if their big reception would scare off Lu Chenyuan, with his severe social anxiety.

At ten in the morning, an off-road vehicle screeched to a crooked stop at the small courtyard gate.

Lu Shiliu got out of the car, his steps heavy. He was carrying a chicken in his left hand, a duck in his right, and had two large buckets of eggs strapped to his front and back.

Following behind him was a man with a tall and slender frame, yet he was exceptionally thin.

The man’s body looked extremely frail, and his face had a pallor that came from a chronic lack of sunlight. But this paleness did nothing to diminish his otherworldly aura.

He was a man who looked somewhat cold and distant.

But the moment this cold-looking man saw Gu Xi, a smile appeared on his face—one that was clear and crisp, yet mixed with a hint of shyness.

He looked completely harmless.

But the instant he got close to Gu Xi, both Shen Yue and Wei Heng instinctively tensed up, their bodies naturally shifting into a combat stance.

’Peak Level 9.’

As fellow Level 9 ability users, this was a threshold they had yet to even touch.

Shen Yue and Wei Heng exchanged a look. This man’s aura was so powerful. His abilities were likely, and perhaps subtly, even stronger than Ye Junhan’s.

’Such a peerless expert... how have we never heard of him before?’

’And by the looks of it, his relationship with Gu Xi probably isn’t simple, is it?’

Lu Chenyuan looked at the girl before him with an almost covetous gaze. He raised his hand several times, wanting to give her a hug, but in the end, he awkwardly lowered it.

Gu Xi, however, just smiled and stepped forward to hug him.

"Lu Chenyuan, long time no see."

Lu Chenyuan finally raised his hands and hugged her back tightly. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath.

’Gu Xiaoxi, long time no see.’