Chapter Seventeen: Will You Come?

The next day, Lu Meng first asked Marta, the squad leader, about the salary. Marta explained that wages were paid on the first of each month, determined by the level of spiritual power. However, Lu Meng’s situation was special, so her salary would be issued separately, also on the first of the month. Since she had no money on hand, Marta advanced her a total of 100,000 interstellar credits. Calculating roughly based on the cost of living and exchange rates, it came to about 30,000 yuan. Lu Meng was overjoyed.

Then she realized her neural interface account actually had a balance of 300,000 credits! All her worries about money were for nothing—there was nearly 100,000 yuan waiting for her in the account! How infuriating! But still, she was very happy. Lu Meng rolled joyfully on the bed, then suddenly remembered something and sent a message via her neural interface to Wen Er.

“Want to have lunch together? I’m free now, hehe.” After a while, Wen Er didn’t reply. Lu Meng figured he might be busy and glanced at the clock—it was already 11 a.m. She decided to wait another half hour. If he still didn’t respond, she would go find food on her own. Perfect time to try out those little dresses! Beautiful, cute, colorful, flowing, sparkling, elegant little dresses! Here she comes!

Lu Meng happily opened her wardrobe and held up each dress in front of the mirror. This one is pretty! This one’s nice too! That one’s not bad either! Which to wear? After much deliberation, she finally chose a princess dress with pink as the main color. Changing into it, she stood before the mirror. The fitted bodice accentuated her slender waist, below were her delicate, fair legs, and on her feet were a pair of white shoes. She looked vibrant and full of life.

Lu Meng styled her hair into two buns, looking both cute and playful. Then she twirled in front of the mirror, the short skirt dancing with her movements. So lovely! She touched the fabric of the dress and couldn’t help but sigh—she had never worn such beautiful clothes before. In fact, she loved beauty deeply, but when she was a child in the orphanage, beauty was not a blessing. The headmistress always made her wear the simplest, oldest, and sometimes even dirty clothes. She knew it was for her protection, but every time she saw other children dressed beautifully, she couldn’t help but envy them. How wonderful.

Now she no longer lived in the orphanage, no longer had to worry about safety, and could even wear such beautiful clothes! How happy she was! Thinking this, Lu Meng spun around twice more in front of the mirror. Checking the time again, it was already 11:25. Wen Er still hadn’t replied.

It seemed they wouldn’t be eating together today. She would go on her own then. Marta had sent her a map of the military district, showing the locations of several canteens, including the guide’s exclusive dining hall, called Galaxy One. She planned to check out the guide’s exclusive canteen.

...

Wen Er had just finished leading his squad through morning training. Covered in sweat and panting, Adi approached him, “Captain, let’s go eat together!” Wen Er hadn’t yet answered when he opened his neural interface and suddenly saw a message from Lu Meng.

“Want to have lunch together? I’m free now, hehe.” The message had been sent an hour ago. His eyes flickered. At that time, she should already be eating, right? “I just finished training and didn’t see your message. Have you eaten yet?”

Lu Meng had just ordered her meal. The guide’s canteen was spacious and luxurious, like a five-star hotel she’d once seen on TV. There were private dining rooms even for solo diners! Ordering in the private room meant robots would deliver the food, with tea and snacks served, and the holographic screen played the most popular interstellar dramas.

Just then, she received Wen Er’s reply: “Already eating. I saw you didn’t reply, so I came alone. But the food hasn’t arrived yet. Do you want to come?”