"Young man, have you had dinner? I'll take you to the canteen."
The old man carried a toolbox in one hand and a bottle of liquor in the other, his expression relaxed and natural, probably already used to the astonished looks from people like Chen Fei.
After all, the Neanderthal army of the Third Era civilization had almost utterly crushed the humans of Earth.
"No need, I have bread!"
Chen Fei pointed to the plastic bag hanging on his suitcase.
It was filled with the handmade bread Shen Fei had given him, enough for two meals. It would be a shame to miss its best taste if he didn't eat it while it was fresh.
Handmade bread doesn't contain any additives, and it's more prone to spoilage if not stored properly.
"Young man, you can't just eat bread. Order a couple of side dishes, have a drink with me, it's on me. I'll take you to your dorm later, how about that? It won't take up too much time, will it?"
The old Neanderthal man proudly gestured to the bottle of liquor in his hand, a short, cylindrical, milky-white glass bottle that Chen Fei recognized very well.
The old man was well-off; this one bottle alone was enough to cover Chen Fei's monthly probationary salary.
Chen Fei hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.
He was new here and couldn't afford to offend anyone by easily refusing. Having a drink with the Neanderthal elder wouldn't hurt; he might even learn more about the aircrew base and integrate more quickly.
"Hmm, a teachable young man!"
The Neanderthal elder nodded, leading Chen Fei, swaying slightly, to the aircrew base's canteen.
The canteen was open 24 hours, with flexible meal times; the spacious restaurant wasn't crowded.
Chen Fei ordered a plate of pig's ears, a plate of beef tongue, and a plate of drunken dried fish as snacks, and then followed the Neanderthal elder to a table.
Just as they sat down, they heard a huge roar outside.
Looking out through the glass wall of the cafeteria, two propeller planes approached from afar, descending one after the other. Their landing gears lowered gracefully onto the brightly lit runway, and they taxied for a moment with their momentum before turning around and heading towards the hangar.
Following Chen Fei's curious gaze, the Neanderthal old man skillfully picked up a strip of pig's ear with his chopsticks, took a sip of his liquor, and mumbled, "Nothing to see, A-39B, cheap big toys, buzzing around in the sky like a giant fly."
Chen Fei gave an "oh," looked away, picked up his liquor cup, and asked, "Grandpa Barut, where are your family?"
On his way to the cafeteria, he had learned the old Neanderthal's name: Barut, who claimed to be the younger brother of the Neanderthal hero Barulaka.
Barulaka, the elder brother, died on Sokotra Island in the first battle of the "War of the Three Realms Fusion."
Barut, the younger brother, miraculously survived the final battle in which the Supreme Council's Krensha Palace was destroyed by the combined forces of the Blue Star Realm and the Azure Sky Realm. He became a prisoner, but ironically, he survived to this day. After thirty years of wandering, he finally arrived at the 911 Aircrew Base in the Hindu Kush Mountains.
Like the newcomer Chen Fei, he was a worker for a private military contractor, living a comfortable retirement—he could be buried wherever he died without any worries.
"Family? Neanderthals don't have families anymore. These days, young people are either indulging in pleasure or just killing time; they've long forgotten the glory of the Neanderthal race."
The old Neanderthal man, Balut, tapped the battle markings on his forehead with his chopsticks. The blood-red tattoos he touched glowed slightly, emitting a silver light before fading away as if nothing had happened. He continued, "The descendants of the Neanderthals have almost forgotten even their battle markings and secret arts. Come, come, eat, eat."
He casually refilled Chen Fei's cup. Drinking alone is lonely; drinking with someone creates atmosphere.
Balut was no longer the elite Neanderthal warrior who once guarded the Krensha Temple; now he was just a pitiful old man with no one to rely on. He had unexpectedly seen Chen Fei on his way home from work and, on a whim, asked him to have a drink with him.
"Huh? The braised dishes taste pretty authentic."
After picking up a few bites of tripe and beef tongue, Chen Fei was surprised to find that these three snacks hadn't been poisoned by the heretic, Kali.
"Hahaha! Hahaha, are you trying to make me laugh to death so you can inherit this bottle of wine?" The Neanderthal elder, Barut, laughed so hard he slammed his fist on the table, pointing at the head chef still busy in the kitchen, his tone undisguisedly sarcastic. "Don't trust that lazybones, all he can do is open vacuum-sealed packages!"
So that's the truth!
Chen Fei was dumbfounded. Anyone could be a chef like that; he could open packaging too.
Barut stopped laughing, raising his hand to cover his mouth, saying, "He's a relative of the personnel director, Takar. Hmm, stay away from Takar; that guy's no good."
It seemed the personnel director's favorite was already common knowledge.
"I heard you, Barut!"
Bang! The head chef, Singh, angrily slammed a dishcloth onto the counter.
He admitted he was indeed a relative of the aircrew base's personnel director, Takar, but he also put his heart into cooking for everyone, okay?
The main reason 911 Aircrew Base appointed Singh as one of the two head chefs in the mess hall was because his fellow countrymen from Takar were cheap to hire; in a world where cheap labor reigns supreme, price is king.
The other head chef could cook high-end meals and his skills were passable. If he were as bad as this "unpacking chef," the entire base might revolt.
"Don't be afraid of him, Carrot Head is just bluffing. Xiao Chen, have you been assigned a position yet?"
The Neanderthal elder, Barut, completely disregarded the unpacking chef's anger. "Not convinced? Bring it on!" he thought, treating it like post-meal exercise, easily pinning the other man to the ground, then, "On the way home, I couldn't help but rub, rub..." My skateboard shoes!
"Supervisor Takar said someone will take me for onboarding training tomorrow, and then I'll be assigned a position."
Chen Fei had only completed the registration process and didn't yet know his position. He estimated he'd have to wait until the onboarding training was over to be assigned a position.
Barut took a loaf of bread from the plastic bag Chen Fei had placed on the table, took a bite, nodded, and said, "Hmm, not bad. This bread was made by Teacher Shen, right?"
"Eh? Grandpa Barut, you know Shen Fei too?"
Chen Fei was quite surprised that this Neanderthal old man could identify the bread's maker.
"Everyone in the entire 911 base knows that girl. She's a very nice girl. The other chef also makes bread, but it's not this soft. He uses eggs from factory-farmed chickens, so you can't taste the egg flavor. This is different. When you get old, your teeth aren't good, so you just like eating soft things. Hmm, not bad, not bad. Young man, bring me more in the future."
The Neanderthal old man, Barut, took another bite with relish, seemingly quite fond of the bread Chen Fei had brought. After finishing one in a few bites, he even took another.
The bread made by the other chef, Abel, was so bad it could knock a dog's brain out of a living person, completely the opposite of the bread made by Teacher Shen Fei at the Patan school near the base.
Chen Fei followed suit, grabbing a piece of bread and eating it with pig's ear, beef tongue, and dried drunken fish, then taking a sip of wine. It tasted surprisingly good.…
-Beep
beep beep! Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!
Chen Fei was woken by his phone's alarm. Opening his eyes, he saw light filtering through the gaps in the blinds, and dust particles floating in the light.
Dormitory B13, designed with modular construction, was a single room, square and no more than twelve square meters. It could only fit a wardrobe, a single bed, a desk with a bookshelf, and a small shower toilet.
Despite the basic conditions, with little room for personal movement or additional furniture, Chen Fei was quite satisfied with the complete room.
As a newcomer, having a stable power supply and 24-hour hot water was already quite good.
After a quick wash and hanging up his towel, he heard a loud, forceful knocking on the door.
There was a doorbell, but the people outside didn't like to ring it.
Bang bang bang… even harder.