Feeding The Bystanders With Dog Food

With their little midnight escapade going well, Lin Songmei and the others all reconvened in the same apartment they started off in. Having arrived first with her girlfriend, Yan Mingqing, Songmei plopped onto the couch, motioning for Mingqing to join her. 

Snuggled up, Songmei had a clear view of the front door and watched as everyone else trickled in one-by-one. First, Han Youhong sauntered in, his all-black outfit looking cool as always as his red-eyes gave him a serious impression as always—until he opened his mouth anyway. 

With Youhong being the third-wheel, as usual, he sat down on one of the other couches, giving them a "really?" look as Cai Yufei walked in next. Arriving earlier than expected, Cai Yufei took half a glance at Songmei and Mingqing before sitting next to Youhong. "You see these two?" 

"Sadly, I see them everyday," Youhong massaged the bridge of his nose as Songmei and Mingqing both stuck their tongues out in unison. 

Cracking the door open with a wide yawn, Liu Liping arrived next with Wang Taigang in tow. Together they walked in, each taking a seat on one of the free chairs in the living room where everyone was gathering. 

The last couple of people, Lu Qiang and Zhao Liying, stumbled into the door, out of breath while both asking for some water and saying the same thing. "Why did I take such a long route... there weren't even people chasing me..." 

With everyone gathered, Taigang, having become the de facto leader as usual, started off the conversation. "Good job everyone, we managed to splendidly achieve our goal of rescuing the hostages. Woohoo!" 

Getting a chorus of tired "Woohoo"'s from everyone, Taigang paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "I don't have much to say... We probably should keep this short though, considering it's one in the morning. Anyone have anything to say? Now that we've rescued the hostages our own moves can be a touch more aggressive as well." 

Opening the floor to the rest of the group, Taigang lost some steam as no one piped up. With a quiet silence descending on the living room and its occupants, the room was filled with the faint sounds of breathing and shifting as everyone struggled to stay energetic—or awake—as the adrenaline crash began to hit them one by one. 

Breaking the silence, Liying pushed herself up. "Let's just all go to bed, how about that? We all got up early as well? We can have a couple hours free in the morning and reconvene after lunch?" 

"We could do a potluck?" Songmei proposed from her contorted position, having slid down towards the ground and been too lazy to push herself back up. "Well... actually we're all sharing rooms so we don't have enough kitchens for that." 

"Yeah, let's just reconvene after lunch," Lu Qiang scratched his head with a sheepish laugh. "I don't know how to cook..." 

Giving a thumbs up from her new position—half on the ground, half on Mingqing's legs—Songmei waved and bade everyone goodnight as Lu Qiang, Cai Yufei, and Liu Liping all filed out of the apartment with yawns and slow steps. 

With Youhong, Taigang, and Liying deciding to still sleep in Mingqing and Songmei's apartment, they stuck around, giving their thanks and appreciation to their two temporary landlords once more. 

Reassuring her three friends with an "it's fine, it's fine, no need to thank us, it's really what's natural," Songmei climbed the stairs with Mingqing, disappearing into their bedroom to collapse and fall asleep. 

Their day had been way too long! In the future, Songmei hoped all midnight operations could just not exist. Sure, she was stronger and needed less sleep from the cultivation, but it just felt... wrong to not sleep. Not to mention the fatigue would still build up nonetheless. At least, sometimes, she could substitute sleep with some deep, meditative cultivating sessions... 

Tucking herself into bed and falling asleep faster than Youhong could finish a lychee jelly, Songmei knocked out for the night, returning to the realm of awakeness close to eleven in the morning. 

Groggy and disheveled, Songmei came back to consciousness with a groan as she got woken up by Mingqing getting out of bed. Exchanging a few morning wishes and half-asleep words, Songmei and Mingqing both stumbled through their morning routine. Making their way downstairs, the two tip-toed past their still fast-asleep friends and wandered their way into the kitchen. 

"Want to make some food for everyone?" Songmei whispered as Mingqing opened the refrigerator. "I mean the sound of cooking and smell of food has a good chance of waking everyone up anyway." 

"Yeah, I think we should. It isn't too much effort for us to make more food anyway." Mingqing grabbed a handful of eggs, bacon, and other ingredients. "I'm feeling an egg and bacon style breakfast... Maybe some sausage too?" 

Squeezing her way past Mingqing as Mingqing walked towards their cabinet full of pans, Songmei bent down, checking the freezer. "Sure, I can grab you some sausage while I'm over here. Though, it's not really breakfast right now..." 

"We can just call it a brunch, even if it's half-past eleven," Mingqing tapped her chin, grabbing a pan out of the cabinet and some oil out of her spatial storage ring. "Who cares though? I just like my breakfast food. It'll taste better when it's not breakfast time anyway." 

She had a point there, Songmei couldn't deny. Some reason, back when she had more time and her sleep schedule was two to eleven—while the party was just grinding quests and having party game nights every few days—they had a tradition of midnight breakfast. 

They called it 'extra-early breakfast.' 

Some reason, cereal, sausage, pancakes, and more all tasted better during the middle of the night. They were just fresher, more flavorful, and more fun! 

Of course—thinking logically—Songmei guessed it was something about having the same good-tasting breakfast, but without the stress of the upcoming day. That ruined the fun though. Instead, Songmei preferred the classic 'must be something the heavens decided' explanation. 

Grabbing some food for herself, Songmei followed in Mingqing's footsteps, grabbing a pan of her own out from the cabinet before joining Mingqing at the stovetop. Leaning her head against Mingqing's shoulder as they began cooking their respective breakfasts—just at a larger portion size to have some for the others—Songmei gave Mingqing a side-hug. "You're beautiful. Did you know that?" 

"I've heard it plenty of times from you," Mingqing hugged back, squeezing and pulling Songmei just a little closer to herself. Pulling Songmei's head off her shoulder, Mingqing tilted Songmei's chin up just a touch, planting a kiss on her lips. "I still think you're more beautiful though..." 

"Really? Reaaaally?" Youhong's dry voice interjected with a flat tone. "We... well I, since I don't know how long you two have been awake. I literally just woke up." 

"Shut up, Youhong," Mingqing pursed her lips with a glare. "Let me fuss over my girlfriend. We're cooking you all breakfast anyway." 

"Alright..." Youhong sighed, he didn't have a response for Mingqing's retort anyway. He appreciated the breakfast, and it wasn't like the third-wheeling bothered him as much as the others, he didn't care for romance. 

Turning his chair to look at the living room and out the window instead of the lovebirds in the kitchen, Youhong sat back and sipped on some morning ice-cold water with only one thought: If only Taigang or Liying had woken up... at least then he'd have a conversation partner...