Chapter 22

Chen Fei didn't sleep well all night. Apart from the aftereffects of the sudden "hallucinations," another reason was the addition of a baby bird alarm clock in the room, which chirped every half hour, on the dot. If not fed, it would keep chirping, and after being fed, it would go back to sleep. By the time it was light, he had fed it half a yolk.

This little thing could eat and defecate a lot, producing three bowel movements per meal. After feeding, he had to change the paper towels at the bottom of the nest, or it would roll around in its own feces, and the smell in the dorm room would become quite strange.

After breakfast, he fed the baby bird again. Chen Fei, who was going to work at the hangar, had a little companion.

The work area and workbench were still empty, serving as his personal desk.

The bird's nest was placed in a wooden box, which was put on top of other technical manuals. Whenever it chirped, Chen Fei would feed it, becoming a passive human bird feeder.

The baby bird's feeding schedule couldn't sync with humans. Even human infants would cry, defecate, and need to be fed every two hours. No parent, regardless of species, would have an easy time.

If Chen Chen waited until lunchtime and after work to feed it, this little thing would have starved to death, and probably in a pile of feces.

Before finding suitable chick feed, they still needed egg yolks. It could consume half a yolk in half a day, and its appetite was clearly increasing. The kind-hearted chef Abel would prepare boiled eggs in advance, and Park Ae-hwa would deliver them on schedule.

Occasionally, a couple of worms would be found while washing vegetables, and the unscrupulous merchant would happily pinch the worms to give the baby bird an extra meal. The serious-faced Abel would also show a satisfied smile, as the bird could finally eat the most natural food, which was beneficial for its growth.

In the past, he would have scolded the supplier for having worms in the vegetables, thinking they were trying to supplement protein!

The chef's inexplicably kind tone made the supplier panic, thinking he was about to be replaced. It seemed like a good meal before execution.

Fortunately, Chen Fei's current task wasn't too heavy, mainly reading to familiarize himself with the work content of the maintenance team. Otherwise, he wouldn't have time to take care of this little life that suddenly appeared.

This unknown species of baby bird didn't waste its meals and defecations. After feeding it 48 times a day, in just three days, its bare little body was covered with a thin layer of down, and its size had grown significantly.

Although Chef Abel didn't know how to raise a baby bird, he did know some poultry-raising knowledge and shared it all with Chen Fei.

After all, the chefs in Abel's hometown were like experts in food, not only eating eggs but also thinking about the hens that laid them. Over time, the chickens they raised became well-known in the culinary world.

By chance, Chen Fei noticed that it had opened its eyes for the first time, staring at him with its bright little eyes, very quietly.

It actually opened its eyes!

Chen Fei was both surprised and delighted.

Although there is a saying that newborns will regard the first creature they see as their parent, this isn't entirely true. Before opening their eyes, familiar scents and vibrations make young creatures feel safe and comfortable. Opening their eyes just makes the already familiar "parent image" clearer.

To deepen and strengthen this bond, more care and companionship are needed.

However, such companionship between birds and humans is not long-lasting. Chen Fei had no plans to prepare a cage and was already mentally prepared to let this little guy fly away and return to nature when it was ready. That's where birds belong.

Losing their natural instincts is cruel for wild animals.

Although he would be reluctant, Chen Fei didn't want to selfishly impose his personal preferences on other creatures. Everything should be left to fate.

After opening its eyes, the baby bird grew faster, eating and defecating even more. Its down became fuller day by day, no longer the red, fleshy ball it was when it hatched. It turned into a cute black fluff ball. The feeding intervals also started to lengthen, and its habits finally distinguished between day and night. At night, it only needed to be fed once or twice to sleep quietly until morning, reducing the frequency of feedings.

Logically, he should have been able to sleep better, but Chen Fei's dark circles under his eyes became more pronounced, indicating that his sleep quality hadn't improved. He had to make an appointment with the medical unit at the air base and inform the maintenance team leader Xiao Ming. After dinner, he finished work early.

This visit to the air base medical team was Chen Fei's first follow-up after being discharged from the hospital.

The "hallucinations" that he hadn't taken too seriously began to affect his normal sleep. Once he fell asleep, he would have endless bizarre dreams, with content like "Error! Error! Unable to identify valid CPU type, memory self-test failed... Illegal operation or incorrect instruction... Illegal operation or incorrect instruction... Illegal operation or incorrect instruction..." and so on, always the same, as if he were possessed.

When he opened his eyes, it was even stranger. Not only did he see the original "A:\>_" but also the content from his dreams, word for word, turning into repetitive subtitles that kept flashing.

No matter how he blinked, the characters remained, occupying a significant part of his field of vision, like a 32-inch screen floating in front of him, interfering with his normal sight. Only when he was fully focused could he subconsciously ignore these strange characters.

Although the number of medical personnel serving over 200 people was small, their experience was extensive, and they had all the necessary medical equipment and instruments.

After a quick MRI and high-precision brain CT scan, and a thorough eye examination, the doctors began to scratch their heads.

This young man wasn't terminally ill. Despite using various diagnostic methods, the doctors still couldn't find the root cause. The results showed that Chen Fei was very healthy, with no issues at all.

With no other options, the medical team prescribed some sleeping pills and added a diagnosis of suspected hysteria and sleep disorders to the report, but they couldn't help eliminate the large "hallucinations" in his field of vision.

The sleeping pills did have some effect, allowing Chen Fei to finally get a full night's sleep, but they also had side effects. In the morning, he woke up with a severe headache, making him wince and occasionally draw in cold breaths.

It wasn't until noon that the indescribable headache eased somewhat.

Now he faced a problem: taking the medication caused headaches after waking up, while not taking it meant being tormented by bizarre dreams and insufficient rest, leading to a haggard appearance.

As an adult, Chen Fei seemed to have no choice but to accept both.

Perhaps a higher-level magical potion would have left no aftereffects, but as a new recruit, he clearly wasn't worth the price. Not being erased for killing a gold dragon and instead using the potion to save his life was already a sign of the capitalists' conscience.

After all, a dying child had no choice. Being alive was already a blessing, and there was no room for other considerations. Survival was the most important thing.

"Chirp! Chirp!"

The seven-day-old baby bird was gradually becoming more active, enjoying rolling around on the clean paper towels in its nest and flapping its tender little wings.

Fine, gray-black down was starting to sprout, with hard, prickly feathers poking through. Once fully extended, they would form layers of neatly arranged feathers, giving it the appearance of an adult bird.

Only then could they determine what species it was.

"Sunflower seeds, peanuts, beer, airplane cups, anyone want some?"

Park Ae-hwa started pushing her little cart around the base again, doing some small business to supplement her income.

Although the earnings were small, they added up over time, providing extra income.

Working in the kitchen didn't pay much, even with bonuses. Her monthly income was still less than Chen Fei's during his probationary period. However, with intense competition and high unemployment in Korea, finding a job at her age, over 35, with no significant skills, was already quite good. She had no right to be picky.

Pushing her cart into Hangar 1, Park Ae-hwa called out from a distance.

"Chen Fei, I got some chick feed, come try it!"