In the vast expanse of space, it had never seemed as beautiful to Su Mi as it did this very night.
The moment she stepped onto the deck, she realized that this evening was exceptionally wonderful.
The men were dressed in white vests and camouflage pants, each of them burly in build and handsome in appearance. They all had their hands clasped behind their backs, standing tall and proud with a standard military posture in front of a parked Snow Peak fighter jet.
Lian Duo, in his military uniform, also had his hands behind his back, squinting slightly as he watched Su Mi approaching.
The ground crew soldiers and other technical officers were all standing on the second-floor walkway, looking down. Su Mi looked up and saw pairs of gentle eyes.
She took a deep breath and walked up to Lian Duo. Lian Duo glanced at her and took a pair of wavy shoulder insignia from the vice-captain and pinned them onto her shoulders.
"Congratulations, Second Lieutenant."
Su Mi's voice trembled a bit. "Thank you, Colonel." Her right hand quickly brushed past her temple. Behind Lian Duo, all the air force members saluted her in unison.
"This is your night, Second Lieutenant. Don't get too drunk. You have to go to the Hope Planet Municipal Hall to receive an award tomorrow." Hardly had Lian Duo finished speaking when the young men swarmed forward and quickly "ushered" him and the vice-captain behind them. Su Mi was surrounded by the men, with their grinning faces, and she couldn't help but smile too.
This was her night. She had passed the basic assessment and received the decoration from the captain. From now on, she was officially an officer of the Union.
Alas, it was only temporary.
"Xiao Mi, we've come up with a catchy code name for you!" Ling Zheng grabbed her shoulders. "Come here."
Su Mi was pushed by them to the front of the Snow Peak that had been parked for a long time. She saw a row of bright red, flamboyant characters on the belly of the plane.
"Do you like this code name?" Someone asked with a smug look.
"Xiao..." Su Mi didn't recognize many characters yet, and this was in cursive script. She frowned. "I don't recognize the last two characters."
"Little illiterate." Ling Zheng said with a solemn face. "Fitting, isn't it?"
Su Mi: "..."
The men burst into laughter.
Li Xizhong was standing by. Being a nice guy, he disagreed and said, "Don't tease her." Then he said to Su Mi in a kind tone, "It's a very powerful code name – Little Wildcat!"
Everyone applauded enthusiastically.
Su Mi: "..."
"What a fitting name! This is what I wanted!" Ling Zheng suddenly lowered his head, getting close to her earlobe, his warm breath fanning her face. "You took out a Zerg spaceship and a worker bug! And you say you're not wild?"
Su Mi's face remained unchanged as she leaned to the side, dodging the kiss that was almost on her ear. He straightened up, smiling without a word in the midst of the ambiguous looks of everyone.
"Thank you all. But I don't like this code name."
However, her protest was drowned out by the boisterous shouts of the men.
"Little Wildcat! I want to go on a date with you!"
"Get lost. I'll teach Little Wildcat combat skills tonight!"
"Don't listen to them, Little Wildcat!" Someone laughed heartily. "Don't pay attention to these bastards. Come and dance with me!"
"Alright, Little Wildcat it is." Su Mi gave up resisting and walked towards the person who had invited her to dance. But she couldn't help but look back and glare fiercely at Ling Zheng, who had come up with this outrageous code name. And Ling Zheng, holding a wine glass, was staring at her intently, with a smirk on his face.
At seven o'clock in the evening, in the banquet hall of the Hope City Government.
This was the most unique banquet in nearly a decade. Because in recent years, for the first time, Zerg outlaws had appeared within human territory. And the brave and fearless air force had annihilated this group of villains in less than ten minutes, greatly enhancing the prestige of our army and at the same time making the Zerg military feel ashamed.
In times of war, the heroic sacrifice of a space fortress might not even earn a single medal. Whereas in times of peace, two young soldiers who annihilated outlaws were enough to become stars among humanity.
In the first-floor hall, the dignitaries were dressed impeccably, chatting and laughing merrily. Especially on the elaborate make-up of the women, there was always a hint of suppressed anticipation – although the power of the military was not as great as before, but thinking of the upcoming encounter with the young heroes, the women still had some yearning.
And when the heroes actually arrived, the spacious banquet hall suddenly seemed crowded.
The vice-captain, a man over forty with a kind and steady smile, walked in front, dressed in his military uniform, entering the banquet hall. Behind him were young men all in pine-green military uniforms, handsome in appearance and refined in temperament, instantly becoming the most eye-catching sight in the banquet hall, attracting continuous snapshots from the journalists.
Su Mi was standing behind the vice-captain and in front of Ling Zheng. Her petite figure was rather inconspicuous, but her feminine countenance made everyone in the hall turn their heads.
However, no one recognized her. No one would associate the cold-eyed, scar-faced female officer who had single-handedly annihilated the Zerg enemy aircraft with that petite and delicate girl in fancy dress who had only made a brief appearance.
Except for those who were more familiar with her and were astute.
The officers were gathered together, drinking wine. The mayor, standing among the high-ranking municipal officials, walked over casually, holding a wine glass.
He had a smile on his lips. "You are the glory of the Union!"
The officers all stood at attention and saluted. "Thank you, sir!"
"The award ceremony will be held shortly." You Mo-nian's eyes swept over the officers impassively. "I'm honored to present the medals to each of you."
"Our honor." Ling Zheng said on behalf of everyone.
You Mo-nian nodded and his gaze landed directly on Su Mi. "Su Mi, long time no see."
The officers fell silent. Ling Zheng and Li Xizhong stood on either side of Su Mi, their expressions calm.
"Sir, long time no see." Su Mi smiled.
"I'm glad to see you achieving your value in this way." You Mo-nian's voice was low and soft. "I'm proud to have you as a friend."
"Thank you. It's my honor."
The mayor walked away. Everyone was looking at Su Mi. Ling Zheng patted her head. "The guy you saved is not bad."
Someone nearby called out, "Stop flirting. Come and eat something."
Ling Zheng reached out to hold Su Mi's hand, but she swatted it away neatly. Su Mi took the food handed to her by her companion. Just as she was about to thank, she heard the voices of women chatting nearby.
"He's still so cold."
"Yes, I really wonder if he has issues with his sexual orientation."
"Shh! Keep it down. He's looking this way!"
"Little Wildcat, what are you thinking about?" Ling Zheng patted Su Mi's shoulder beside her.
"Nothing." Su Mi sat down on the sofa and slowly raised her wine glass.
She thought he hadn't arrived yet, but it turned out that in the most inconspicuous corner, the most famous person had been sitting there all along.
Thinking that every move she had made since entering the room might have been in his full view, she immediately felt as if she were sitting on pins and needles, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
And when she slowly raised her head, pretending to casually glance over, she almost immediately lowered her head again, not daring to look again.
Some people's gazes were innately threatening. That man in the crisp black uniform, even though he was so far away that she couldn't even make out the expression on his face, and he might not even have seen her. But she could sense two sharp and dark gazes, as if they were omnipresent. Whether she was sitting or standing, whether she was near or far, she couldn't escape that invisible yet intimidating line of sight.
The officers around her were coming and going. All the beautiful ladies only needed to show a shy and gentle smile, and these men would eagerly go over to invite the socialites to dance.
Although the socialites wouldn't marry these low-ranking officers, and the officers might not necessarily like to marry a wife from a prominent family. But an overnight affair or even spending a night together was something they didn't reject.
In the blink of an eye, even Ling Zheng had danced a waltz with the daughter of a minister, coming back with a radiant look and a waft of perfume.
"She invited me to go out for a drink later." Ling Zheng gave everyone a knowing look, and the men immediately grinned lewdly, sharing an unspoken understanding.
Ling Zheng looked at Su Mi, who had been silent all this time. "Little Wildcat, don't be jealous. My heart is still here."
Su Mi filled her glass again and ignored him.
After sitting for a while longer, most of the men who had gone out to seek romantic encounters had returned to the sofa. Some had a smug look on their faces, some had a strange smile, it seemed that each of them had had some success.
"I say, it's not nice of us to go and have fun tonight and leave Little Wildcat alone, is it?" Someone proposed.
"Little Wildcat, tell us, who do you want to accompany you? Whoever you choose will accompany you back tonight."
"Don't want..." Someone immediately objected.
"Who says I have no one to accompany me?" Su Mi suddenly stood up.
Actually, she had to stand up.
That man's gaze seemed as if it had never looked this way, yet it also seemed to penetrate everything and be omnipresent. She felt uncomfortable all over. She knew that if this continued, she was afraid she would make a mistake due to nervousness.