Signing for Deliveries with March 7th
The terminal's incessant vibrations dragged Bai Luoming's consciousness out of the haze. He sat bolt upright, his heart pounding so fast it felt ready to burst out of his chest.
His mind was blank, with only a few blurry flashes of light and shadow left to tell him what had happened in his dream.
He reached for the constantly vibrating terminal, expecting an urgent call, but the request on the screen was from the space station's logistics department.
The delivery worker sounded very polite. "Hello, Mr. Bai Luoming. Your order has arrived at the parcel reception area at the rear of the train. Because of the quantity, we need you to confirm and sign for it in person."
Bai Luoming froze for a few seconds and instinctively glanced at the time on his terminal.
Less than ten minutes had passed since he'd closed the short-video app and lain down to sleep.
He recalled how long and chaotic the dream had felt, then looked at how little time had passed in reality. An absurd guess occurred to him.
Himeko's coffee could not only knock someone out on the spot, but its hidden effects were even more potent.
He made up his mind that if he ever touched Himeko's coffee again, he really had to prepare himself mentally beforehand.
Coffee: ?
Evernight: That's right, that's right. Blame the coffee good and proper.
He opened the logistics page. The conspicuous red delay notices that had filled the screen had all disappeared, replaced by notices saying everything had been delivered and was awaiting acceptance. The transport robot and delivery worker had even arrived ahead of schedule.
Bai Luoming couldn't figure out what was going on in the space station's logistics system's head. Just minutes ago, it had told him to wait patiently, and now it had practically delivered the goods right to his face.
He climbed off the cold cardboard, brushed the dust off his clothes, and pushed the door open.
Coincidentally, the door to March 7th's room opened at almost the same time.
March 7th came out clutching a soft pillow, her pink hair a little messy and her cheeks flushed from sleep. Something had clearly woken her up too.
She looked up and saw Bai Luoming. Her gaze immediately fell on his mouth, and she froze on the spot.
The flush on her cheeks quickly spread, burning all the way to her ears.
That absurd yet lifelike dream from earlier surfaced in her mind uncontrollably: in that familiar office, she had pinned Bai Luoming to a chair, kissing and touching him until his lips were red and swollen before she stopped. After that, she had even...
The more March 7th thought about it, the guiltier she felt. She instinctively hugged the pillow tighter, hiding half her face behind it, her eyes darting away as she avoided his gaze.
She knew perfectly well that she would never normally do anything so bold and outrageous.
But the vivid sensations and uncontrollable emotions in the dream had felt so real that they made her heart race.
Especially the state of Bai Luoming's lips right now: they looked almost exactly as they had the last time she'd seen them in the dream.
Seeing her flushed face and wandering eyes, Bai Luoming assumed she wasn't feeling well.
He leaned closer, first touching her forehead and then looking her up and down before asking seriously, "March, have you caught a cold? Why do you look so unwell? Come to think of it, can an ice-wielding pathstrider like you even catch a cold?"
Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, March 7th clutched her pillow and retreated half a step, forcing herself to protest, "I-I'm perfectly fine!"
After confirming that she was steady on her feet and sounded full of energy, Bai Luoming asked no more and turned toward the rear of the train.
Only then did March 7th catch her breath. She hurriedly called after him, "Hey! Where are you going in the middle of the night?"
Bai Luoming waved the terminal in his hand. "To sign for my deliveries. If I don't go soon, they might think I'm dead asleep in my room."
When March 7th heard it was the daily necessities he had ordered during the day, she immediately volunteered, "I'll go with you. There's so much stuff, it'll be hard for you to carry it all by yourself."
She used helping him as an excuse, but what she really wanted was to observe him a little longer and find out whether the state of Bai Luoming's mouth was just a coincidence or really had something to do with her dream.
On the way to the reception area, Bai Luoming quickly noticed something was off.
March 7th kept sneaking inquisitive glances at him from behind.
He looked back several times, and each time, he caught her immediately looking away and pretending to study the decorative patterns on the carriage walls.
Bai Luoming felt his face but found nothing strange. Assuming she was still worried that the coffee had poisoned him, he reassured her, "Don't worry, I've recovered just fine. I feel like I could have another cup of coffee tomorrow to perk myself up."
"Don't joke about your life!" March 7th immediately protested.
The two soon reached the parcel reception area at the rear of the train.
A space station delivery worker was standing beside a transport robot piled high with cargo boxes.
After checking Bai Luoming's identity on his terminal, the worker looked up at him and froze. Then the worker's mouth twitched uncontrollably, as if trying to laugh but not daring to, and quickly lowered their head to pretend to check the order in their hands.
Bai Luoming thought the worker was laughing at him for buying so much at once, so he explained, "I'm not stockpiling. It's mainly because there's nothing in my room right now."
The delivery worker held back a laugh, shoulders shaking. "We understand, we understand. It's just that this is the first time we've seen a Nameless move into a train guest room like it's an unfinished apartment."
The size of the order far exceeded Bai Luoming's expectations.
Besides the bed, table, chairs, bedding, and toiletries he had bought, the boxes also contained an installation robot to go with them, a complimentary storage cabinet, and a complete spare set of high-end bedding.
On the order, the difference in price for all these extras was listed as "special post-disaster logistics compensation from the space station."
Bai Luoming thought the space station's consideration for people was truly exceptional. The generosity of this compensation was as good as it got.
Asta: So?
He soon finished signing for the delivery. The transport robot automatically obtained temporary access and headed toward his room, loaded with goods.
Before leaving, the delivery worker couldn't resist another look at his face and finally offered a kind warning. "Sir, the space station hasn't detected any bee activity recently, but if you have trouble breathing, you'd better visit the medical bay promptly."
Bai Luoming was utterly baffled.
March 7th, meanwhile, quickly lowered her head, using her hair to hide the expression she was struggling to contain.
Once the delivery worker had disappeared around the corner of the passage, Bai Luoming turned to March 7th and asked seriously, "Is there something on my face?"
March 7th had intended to hold out a little longer, but seeing him wearing that face and asking so seriously, completely oblivious, she finally couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
She doubled over with laughter, and it took a full minute before March 7th managed to stop. She said to Bai Luoming, "Just... turn on your front-facing camera and you'll see. Remember to brace yourself."
Bai Luoming opened his terminal with some doubt and turned on the front-facing camera.
On the screen, both the upper and lower lips on his handsome face were visibly red and swollen. Their shape stood out strikingly, and they looked even more exaggerated and comical when he spoke.
He stared at himself on the screen in silence for several seconds, then let out a piercing shriek.
"What the hell?!!!"
"I was fine before I went to sleep. How did I end up like this in such a short time?"
As March 7th watched Bai Luoming's reaction, the blush she had just suppressed spread to her ears again.
Bai Luoming's miserable appearance was exactly the same as it had been in her dream. Feeling guilty for some reason, she looked away and offered a vague excuse. "M-maybe it's an allergic reaction?"
Bai Luoming thought about it and found that unlikely. "My room is so empty. Where would an allergen come from? Don't tell me I'm allergic to watching short videos?"
He immediately started a quick health scan on his terminal.
Yes, the terminal Asta had given him really did have that many functions.
The results soon appeared. They showed that his lips only had mild localized swelling, with no traces of toxins, allergens, or ordinary external injuries detected. The swelling was expected to go down on its own in a few hours.
"Hmm, see? I said it wasn't an allergy. But how did they get swollen? They look like someone kissed them until they ended up this way."