Outside Sky Vault’s Jiangcheng Branch.

Thick snow had piled up on both sides of the road, and a thin layer of ice covered the surface. A large red automatic snowplow was slowly making its way down the street. It was already evening, but there were few pedestrians around.

As soon as Song Qinglan stepped out of the main gate, he saw a vintage car parked by the roadside. The car was exceptionally clean, its paint shiny, but the lower part had already been stained with mud—its owner had become accustomed to the consequences of driving in snowy weather during their first winter in Jiangcheng.

Song Qinglan got into the car, and as soon as he opened the passenger door, the warm, fresh air inside drove away the chill clinging to him.

The radio was playing an educational program.

In this era, with advanced automated driving modes, people could directly watch holographic projections while driving, so few still listened to the radio. But Ji Yushi’s car still had this feature.

“Moose, the largest member of the deer family. Adult moose can grow up to 3 meters long and weigh up to 1000 kg, making them true giants…”

Song Qinglan: “…”

He leaned over, turned Ji Yushi’s face towards him, and gave him a kiss. “You’ve already gotten to the deer family?”

Ji Yushi was wearing a black, puffy short down jacket, his fair face bathed in a faint orange glow from the streetlights outside the car window. He had just come out from home, still carrying a trace of a leisurely, homely demeanor. He leaned over in return and kissed Song Qinglan’s lips as well. “Mm.”

The car was parked right outside the Jiangcheng branch, which wasn’t ideal for privacy.

Minister Wang had warned them several times not to overdo public displays of affection, as it affected the morale of the single people in the branch. After all, in the Guardian teams, there were many single individuals, and even if they were okay with the two of them being openly affectionate, others would still look on enviously.

The fact that the once homophobic Team Seven leader, Song Qinglan, and the special consultant from Ningcheng, Ji Yushi, had started dating had caused a sensation within the Sky Vault system.

Everyone was in disbelief. The tougher Song Qinglan’s words had been before, the more shocking the current situation was.

The commander who had witnessed their heartfelt kiss on the transfer platform in the third command center had been the first to be struck by this revelation. He remained calm and, whenever someone discussed how shocking it was, he would casually ask, “Don’t be so shocked. Do you have a partner?”—a question that effectively shut everyone up and left them feeling self-conscious.

On the day Ji Yushi went to Ningcheng to handle his transfer, Minister Lin’s hands trembled slightly with excitement. “Did you really win him over?”

Ji Yushi: “I did.”

Back then, to refuse the temporary transfer to Jiangcheng, Ji Yushi had told Minister Lin, “I’m worried that being in a place with such a high ratio of men, I won’t be able to control my feelings and might develop an inappropriate relationship, disrupting the harmony of the Jiangcheng branch.”

Minister Lin slapped his forehead. “I didn’t take that seriously at the time. I didn’t consider your emotional needs as a young man. If I had been placed in a group with the opposite sex when I was younger, I might not have been able to control myself either… But it’s good; it’s a romance fulfilled. Xiao Song is really lucky to have you…”

What was initially supposed to be a temporary assignment for a single mission had ended with one of his best talents becoming a permanent part of Jiangcheng.

Minister Lin regretted it deeply, lost in a sense of irreparable loss.

Throughout Sky Vault, no one was more resentful than Lin Xinlan.

The training grounds of Team Nine were filled with resentment, shrouded in a dark cloud. When Ji Yushi went to provide them with some written task references, the members of Team Seven even wondered if he would make it out alive.

Yet Ji Yushi returned unscathed.

Due to the incident with Sheng Yun, the sealed case of Ji Yushi’s wrongful death years ago was reopened. The contradictions and the involvement of many old issues were yet to be clarified, and after Ji Yushi was transferred to Jiangcheng, he hadn’t yet participated in any field missions. They all knew it was going to be a long process.

All of Team Seven had returned, having already completed several A-level missions, but the three ultra S-level missions and one A-level mission required by “Sky Vault of All Eras” for Song Qinglan were still awaiting Ji Yushi’s return.

Song Qinglan had been gone for two days and had guessed that Ji Yushi would come to pick him up.

But he hadn’t expected that Ji Yushi would still be listening to this program.

Song Qinglan couldn’t understand what was so appealing about “Animal Encyclopedia.” He knew that Ji Yushi had read different versions of the complete set as a child and could probably recite it backward. Yet, Ji Yushi still listened intently.

Fortunately, as soon as Song Qinglan got in the car, Ji Yushi quickly turned off the radio.

Song Qinglan took the initiative, savoring Ji Yushi’s soft lips, and then their tongues intertwined. They shared a “long-awaited reunion” kiss in the car, hearing each other’s increasingly erratic heartbeats.

When the kiss ended, Song Qinglan laughed and cursed under his breath, “Damn.”

A whistle came from across the street.

Ji Yushi then noticed a group of people standing on the opposite side.

Their five teammates were standing there, grinning mischievously, having watched the entire scene unfold. When Ji Yushi looked over, the five of them linked arms and started cheering, shouting, “One more!” and continued to whistle.

Enough was enough.

The other five straight men on Team Seven had become a peculiar bunch—not only had they gone from being homophobic to fully accepting, but they even openly shipped the couple.

Last time, after Ji Yushi moved, Song Qinglan invited them over for dinner, but the five of them watched the two so closely all day that Song Qinglan didn’t even get a chance to touch Ji Yushi.

Ji Yushi turned back, a man of few words, and simply drove off.

The vintage car made a beautiful drift as it left, leaving them with a face full of exhaust.

After this mission, Song Qinglan could rest for two days.

That night, the two of them had quite a workout, making enough noise that the three cats took turns scratching at the door.

Song Qinglan, in his roguish way, tried every trick to get Ji Yushi to make a sound, saying all sorts of shameless things in bed. Ji Yushi bit his lip, refusing to make a sound, but Song Qinglan kept asking if it was here or there, if he remembered this spot or that one.

Eventually, when Ji Yushi did make a sound, Song Qinglan couldn’t hold back, losing all control.

The two of them treated intimacy like a battle, and afterward, Ji Yushi would be so exhausted that he didn’t want to move a finger, but he would still cooperate the next time.

Young men are like that.

When love is strong, their demands on each other are boundless, especially when they’re both full-blooded men.

They slept soundly through the night.

The next morning, after his workout, Song Qinglan returned home only to find Ji Yushi listening to “Animal Encyclopedia” again.

This time, the program was talking about birds of prey.

“Eagle owls, nocturnal birds of prey, fly close to the ground, slow and silent, often catching their prey unaware…”

The young man’s voice in the speakers was deep and steady, not at all boring or tedious. There was a slight hoarseness to the vibrant voice, like a musical instrument.

Ji Yushi was listening while frying eggs.

After months of diligent practice under Song Qinglan’s guidance, he could now fry eggs almost as well as Song Qinglan.

The house-cleaning robot stood nearby, tilting its head as if still curious about this new human who had recently moved in and taken over some of its duties.

Little Black, the black cat, jumped onto the counter, staring at the orange-yellow eggs in the pan, purring in its throat. The other two cats were nowhere to be seen.

“Why are you listening to this again?” Song Qinglan wrapped his arms around Ji Yushi’s waist. “Are you planning to listen to the whole collection?”

Ji Yushi allowed himself to be held. “Almost.”

After plating the fried eggs, Ji Yushi told him, “This is a version from the 1970s. I only heard it when I was a child. I didn’t expect to find it on the radio the other day, so I looked online and found the audio files.”

He had been listening to it since before Song Qinglan left for his mission, and now that Song Qinglan had returned, he still hadn’t finished it.

He listened to it in the car while driving and on the speakers at home. Song Qinglan laughed, “Reliving your childhood.”

“A little bit.” Ji Yushi said, “Mainly because the voice actor has a very nice voice.”

Over the next few days, Ji Yushi finished listening to “Animal Encyclopedia.” After a brief break, Song Qinglan discovered that he had started listening to another program called “Wonderful Earth,” which discussed deep, obscure knowledge about Earth. It was still narrated by the same voice actor.

“McMurdo Dry Valleys, located west of McMurdo Bay in Antarctica, haven’t had any rainfall for millions of years…”

A few days later, Ji Yushi started listening to “The Essence of Time.”

If the previous programs were fine, this one touched on their area of expertise. As current Guardians of this timeline, they knew that the program, produced in the 1970s, had many gaps in knowledge due to the limited technology of the time. The world had changed rapidly in less than a hundred years, far beyond the understanding of people back then.

Song Qinglan listened to a small segment and found it unbearable.

But Ji Yushi remained expressionless, as if he hadn’t noticed any mistakes in the program.

“If I could, I would go back in time and tell the production team that time doesn’t work that way.” Song Qinglan raised his head from behind the transparent panel, pausing his typing to complain, “But it’s impossible.”

The two were sitting on the same sofa, Ji Yushi lying down with his head resting on Song Qinglan’s lap, reading a book.

Hearing this, Ji Yushi looked puzzled. He lowered his book. “What?”

Song Qinglan said, “Listen, the foundation of this program is that wormholes are just theoretical tunnels connecting two timelines, but they’re technically impossible. That makes the entire series meaningless to listen to.”

Ji Yushi responded with an “Oh” but didn’t offer any further opinion. Instead, he returned to his book.

It seemed he hadn’t been paying attention to the program’s content at all and was just using it as background noise while reading.

Song Qinglan asked, “So, you’re actually not listening?”

“I am listening.” Ji Yushi turned a page, repeating what he had said before. “Even if there are mistakes, it doesn’t matter. The voice actor’s voice is nice, so I don’t have to listen to the content.”

After a few seconds of silence, Ji Yushi finally noticed something was off.

He put down his book and saw that Song Qinglan had closed his transparent panel and pushed the small table aside. He was now leaning over, looking at Ji Yushi with a dangerous, unreadable expression in his dark eyes.

The male voice on the speaker continued, steady and charming.

Ji Yushi blinked, then reached up to turn it off.

Song Qinglan: “Consultant Ji, are you really into voices?”

Ji Yushi: “…”

Song Qinglan raised an eyebrow, pulled the book from his hand, and without giving him a chance to protest, scooped him up. “Do you really like his voice that much?”

To the point that you could overlook factual errors.

It was as if Song Qinglan had discovered a big secret. His voice was low, deliberately enticing.

Ji Yushi hadn’t thought much of it before, but after hearing Song Qinglan’s question, he suddenly realized he had a small, secret preference. The new self-awareness peeled back a layer of shame, adding a touch of ambiguity to the atmosphere.

His personality was usually cold, and his appearance suggested a lack of desire.

But every time Song Qinglan explored him a little more, he discovered just how many fascinating secrets were hidden beneath that shell.

Ji Yushi: “…”

Song Qinglan thought of something and pressed his nose to Ji Yushi’s, pressing on. “The chatty observer from Team Nine, the one you talked to on the phone for so long the other day—could it be that you also tolerated him because of his voice?”

Ji Yushi thought about it and inexplicably felt a bit guilty. “It’s possible.”

The towering Team Leader Song, standing at over six feet, was suddenly jealous, clinging to Ji Yushi like a cat. He pinched Ji Yushi’s waist and asked, “If one day you meet someone with a really nice voice, will you let them steal you away?”

Ji Yushi answered seriously, “Impossible.”

Song Qinglan snorted, clearly not convinced.

It was hard to imagine how jealous he was. Ji Yushi had a small social circle and an introverted personality, so this was the first time Song Qinglan had ever experienced such a feeling.

All because of a few voices.

“No one’s voice is better than yours. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have put up with you in the first place.”

After saying this, Ji Yushi picked up his book and walked away.

Song Qinglan was stunned for two seconds before bursting into laughter. “So because of my voice, your tolerance for me increased?”

He caught up with Ji Yushi, following him closely as he asked, “When was the first time? When Minister Wang introduced us?”

Ji Yushi headed to the study, clearly planning to switch to a different book, but the redness of his ears gave him away. “Something like that.”

Song Qinglan easily cornered him by the bookshelf, biting his earlobe and laughing. “Then that’s not true; you’re lying again.”

Familiar breath brushed against his ear, hot and heavy. Ji Yushi shuddered slightly from the bite.

They both knew that Ji Yushi had at least been honest about one thing—he particularly liked Song Qinglan’s voice. Whenever they were intimate, he would often surrender at certain moments when Song Qinglan called his name.

“All units prepare, Sky Vault Guardians Team Seven, for the thirteenth A-level mission, set out!”

It was that mid-range male voice, heard for the first time through the public channel, that had precisely and unmistakably struck a chord in Ji Yushi’s auditory nerves.

From that moment on, Song Qinglan had transformed from just a face and voice into a three-dimensional, inescapable presence.

“It was the first time I heard your voice on the public channel.”

Ji Yushi, facing the bookshelf, closed his eyes briefly and decided to share this secret with Song Qinglan.

“The public channel?” Song Qinglan sounded pleased. “So, Consultant Ji, can you tell me what it felt like the first time you heard me in your mind?”

Ji Yushi put the book back.

He turned around and looked at Song Qinglan, the handsome face revealing a hint of masculine competitiveness. “It was the feeling that you were a bit annoying, but I could tolerate you a little longer.”

Song Qinglan’s shining black eyes met his.

Neither of them spoke.

They both knew that perhaps that feeling was the beginning of love.