Chapter 49
Song Lang treated He Yuan to coffee and let him order first. He Yuan had never been to this shop, so he studied the menu intently. Not sure if the fancier options would be good, he chose the safe route and ordered a Mocha.
Song Langās order took only a second. Without even looking, he ordered an extra-large iced Americano, extra-strong.
He Yuan: “…”
“Aren’t you afraid you won’t be able to sleep tonight?”
Song Lang said, “No. Iām used to it. What about you? Don’t you think the Mocha is too sweet?”
“Not at all.” He Yuan shook his head. “I like sweet thingsāon the premise that I control the amount to stay healthy!”
He wondered if all Alphas liked Americanos. At least Admiral Wen Su did. Though, Admiral Wen Su also liked sweets and took pleasure in tasting various desserts. That contrast was actually quite interesting.
If he had the chance, he could try recommending a Mocha to him. Maybe after trying it, Admiral Wen Su would give up on bitter Americanos!
The coffee was served shortly. He Yuan was a bit thirsty, so he took several large gulps through the straw. His cheeks puffed out, and the syrup and milk foam gave him a look of total satisfaction.
Seeing this, Song Lang gave a slight smile.
He casually pulled off his coffee cup lid, removed the straw, and picked up the cup.
Then he said, “Weāve been together all day, running around everywhere. I feel…”
He Yuan looked up with the straw still in his mouth, his eyes blinking. The opening of the sentence left him a bit confused.
Song Lang smiled again. “I feel like your running speed must be very slow, Xuezhang. You were lying last time.”
He Yuan: “…”
He Yuan: “……”
He Yuan: “………”
It took him a moment to realize what Song Lang meant, and then he felt super embarrassed.
Heād been caught.
But Song Lang was something elseāhow could he remember such a casual remark from so long ago?!
“I only understood today the reason you rushed out to stand up for justice that day. Itās because youāre simply that kind of person. Whether facing several Alphas much stronger than you or facing those in power, you only do what you believe is right. Youāre fearless.”
Song Langās expression was solemn, and his tone was earnest.
“Xuezhang, thank you today. Not just for helping me with something I couldn’t handle myself, but because you showed me another possibility. Youāve made me believe again that idealism can also win.”
He Yuan: “!!!”
Suddenly, he felt incredibly moved. Even his nose felt a bit tingly.
“I also need to apologize to you,” Song Lang continued. “What we did by the lake that day was indeed wrong. If I have the chance to see that other Omega student, I want to apologize to him too.”
He Yuan thought that there should be a chance, since they were students at the same school and both knew him. It was just…
“He has a bit of a temper. Iām afraid as soon as you meet, youāll…”
“If he has a temper, Iāll just take it. It was our mistake; we deserve to take it.”
He Yuan felt a jolt in his heart.
In this moment, he felt Song Lang was particularly tall and great. Last time, he clearly had the air of a bully.
Just then, Song Lang let out a sigh. “Actually, last time… Iām not making excuses, but we really didn’t intend to use violence to bully that Omega. At first, I was sitting there reading. Then a few friends came over, so I went to the school gate to meet them, casually leaving my books on the chair. When I came back, that Omega was sitting there. One of my books was next to him, and the other two were on the ground. You can imagineāthe Omega had thrown them. My friends asked him what was going on. That Omega really was a hothead, just as you said. An argument started, and words led to more words… and it became what you heard. In truth, forget bullyingāwe didn’t even intend to scare him. We were just angry in the moment and spoke without thinking. Of course, no matter how it started, the final result was indeed our fault.”
As Song Lang spoke, He Yuan listened, his expression shifting through many changes.
Was that really how it was?
Looking back carefully, at that time Song Lang and the others seemed… indeed… not to have done anything particularly out of line.
Sigh.
Was he also impulsive back then?
He Yuan looked dejected.
Song Lang quickly added, “Xuezhang, Iām not saying this to complain or to make you feel guilty. I just want to tell you the reality of the situation because I… I don’t want you to think Iām a… bad person.”
“Hey! Iām not a child. How could I be so simple and crude as to just categorize people as ‘good’ or ‘bad’!”
He Yuan waved his hand, then suddenly froze.
Come to think of it, he seemed to often use words like “good person,” “great person,” and “super great person” to describe Wen Su.
But there was no helping it, because Admiral Wen Su really was a super great person!
He froze again.
“By the way, the lake incident was last semester. Aren’t you a freshman who just enrolled? How were you at the school last semester?”
“Because I had received the admission notice for the new Military Academy then. My friends were all happy for me, so we came to the school to check it out together.”
“Oh.” He Yuan understood.
Song Lang smiled. “Xuezhang, aren’t you curious why Iām older than you but Iām your junior?”
He Yuan thought, I am curious. But it was hard to ask. He always felt that the things surrounding Song Lang were particularly complex.
His face was filled with hesitation as his gaze drifted elsewhere.
Song Lang didn’t make things hard for him and said himself, “Actually, Song Pei and I aren’t biological brothers.”
Whoa…
As expected.
“The story is a bit long. Thank you for listening to me tell it slowly.” Song Lang took a sip of coffee and looked at He Yuan. He Yuanās eyes were sparkling.
“The person everyone currently believes to be Song Pei’s father is a famous scholar at the Alliance Headquarters Future Research Institute. But in reality, that highly respected scholar isn’t Song Pei’s biological father. Song Pei’s biological fatherāwho is also my biological fatherāis a… scum Alpha. A piece of trash.”
He Yuan: “…”
“By the way, the reason Song Pei and I both have the surname Song isn’t because of that scum Alpha. He doesn’t deserve to leave a mark on our lives. We both have our mothers’ surnames; itās just a coincidence that theyāre the same.”
So that was it. He Yuan nodded.
Song Lang continued, “That scum Alpha married my mother first. They had dated for many years before marriage; there were feelings, and there were breakups and reconciliations. After marriage, there was no shortage of trivial squabbles. The biggest problem was that the scum Alpha always felt he was specialāhe dreamed of turning his life around and getting rich overnight.”
“Later, by a stroke of luck, he met Song Pei’s motherāa woman with a powerful background who could ‘immediately stop his efforts and take him to the peak of life.’ Naturally, his feelings for my mother weren’t enough to compete. He abandoned my mother and used every means possible to cheat Song Peiās mother of her trust and affectionāitās true, that scum Alpha was very good at handling romantic relationships.”
“Before they officially married, my mother found Song Pei’s mother. To this day, Iām still not sure of her mindset back then. I don’t dare ask her if she wanted to win back her husband, if it was out of revengeāthat since she was abandoned, she wouldn’t let the other two be happy eitherāor if it was out of kindness and justice, not wanting another woman to be cheated. Or perhaps it was all of the above. In any case, because of my motherās appearance, Song Peiās mother saw through the scum Alphaās facade and cut ties with him. But at that time, she was already pregnantāthat was Song Pei.”
“Why she chose to give birth to Song Pei and how she later married that scholar… those aren’t things I could know. I can only tell you what happened on my side.”
“Failing to marry Song Pei’s mother, the scum Alpha naturally had to continue looking for a backer. But after searching high and low, the only one truly willing to take him in was my mother…”
At this point, He Yuan weakly raised a hand.
“Um… didn’t he know it was your mother who ruined his marriage?”
Song Lang shook his head.
“Song Pei’s mother was a very loyal and powerful lady. She hid from that scum Alpha the fact that my mother had gone to find her, saying sheād found it out herself.”
“Oh.” He Yuan nodded, seriously giving a thumbs-up in his heart for Admiral Tulip’s mother.
“After everything that happened, it was impossible for my mother and the scum Alpha to return to how they were at the start, but they never completely separated either. Later, they had me.” Song Lang continued his story. “Growing up in such a family, I naturally wouldn’t be happy. My childhood memories were nothing but arguments. Until one day, after that piece of trash had been drinking and had an argument, he slammed the door and left. He never came back.”
He Yuan looked at him in surprise.
Song Lang said calmly, “He slipped and fell into the water at night. He died.”
He Yuan nodded slowly.
Song Lang sighed. “I don’t know if you can understand, Xuezhang. Iāve never understood my mother since I was a child. Sometimes I even looked down on her, felt annoyed by herāwhy would she take back such a piece of trash over and over again? Why was she willing to stay in the same place? Was that love? If love is like that, itās too… especially when I learned all the details over the years and learned about Song Pei’s mother, I understood even less. Why couldn’t she be like Song Pei’s mother?!”
“Over the years, my mother and Song Peiās mother kept in touch. After that trash died, Song Peiās mother even extended a helping hand several times when life was hard for us. When I found out, I was… I felt so ashamed. Too ashamed. I told my mother she couldn’t do that, but she repeatedly emphasized it was all for meāthat she hoped my future would be brand new.”
“I really didn’t understand. I was very resistant. The time I resisted most was after graduating high school. I simply gave up on myself. I didn’t take the university exams and went straight to find a job. I didn’t want to have any more contact with them; I wanted to live on my own.”
“Then later, my mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness.”
He Yuan was instantly shocked, his eyes and mouth rounding.
“She spent her whole life living such agonizing, painful days. How could she not get a terminal illness?” Song Lang gave a bitter smile. “She said her final wish in this life was for me to be well. She repeatedly mentioned a ‘brand new future’ and said sheād heard from Song Pei that Star Source University was opening a Military Academy. She wanted me to take the exam. I agreed.”
“After I passed, she was very happy. But she didn’t praise me. She only said over and over that I had to thank Song Pei and Song Pei’s mother. She thought I only got in because of Song Pei’s maneuvering. Hearing her say that, I also thought they had arranged it beforehand, and I was suddenly furious…”
“So you didn’t come to enroll at the start of the semester?” He Yuan asked.
Song Lang nodded.
He Yuan finally understood. He tried saying, “Then later everyone spoke openly and cleared things upāyou realized you got in through your own abilities, so you were willing to come to school again, right?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, thatās good. So I feel many things become simple as long as you speak openly and aboveboard. I think after this time, the relationship between you and your mother will get better! Including many of the things you just saidāabout not understanding her or not daring to ask herāmaybe once you actually ask and discuss them, theyāll be resolved in an instant.”
Song Lang shook his head. “She has already passed away.”
He Yuan: “!”
“S-sorry…”
“Itās okay. On the bright side, she passed away after she knew I had decided to come back to school.”
“Oh… sigh.”
In this moment, He Yuan really didn’t know what to say.
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