Part 2
The door was tightly shut, and a familiar Peppermint Wine scent drifted in from the door gap, mixed with a hint of blood, as if it were being emitted from a wound.
He had seen the news and knew Xie Ren was on that transport vehicle. At the second before the explosion, he had smelled the gunpowder and jumped out of the car to escape, but he had likely been injured.
“Instructor Yu, youāre inside, right? I see the light is on.” Xie Renās voice sounded from outside. It was a bit hoarse, as if he hadn’t rested well for many days.
Yu Shi did not answer, staring at the note in a daze.
“I specifically came back to apologize to you. Previously, for certain reasons, I had a misunderstanding about you and even placed a bug on you. Iām sorry.” He said gloomily, “The person you traded the soothing agent with is a dangerous element. Zhou Qin got your pheromones from him and they were seized at the dock. But because of certain reasons, the higher-ups couldn’t convict him.”
“You… don’t meet him again.”
“Iām leaving for the Seventh Zone tomorrow. Perhaps when I come back, I can catch your last month here. Thank you for this period… for treating me to dinner and helping me with my thesis. I…”
Yu Shi listened. The outside abruptly went silent, coming to an abrupt end, as if he didn’t know how to continue.
He stood for a while longer before pushing open the door.
The sensor light turned on. There was no one outside, only a few exercise books and a freezing box.
The note fluttered on the floor, revealing a line of small characters on the back: [Although your heat has passed, Iāve prepared some pheromones for you just in case.]
Yu Shi opened the freezing box. Inside lay ten tubes of undiluted pheromones. Extracting pheromones was different from releasing them; the latter was a proactive reaction, while the former was like drawing blood or even bone marrow, causing a lot of wear and tear on the body.
He took those exercise books back to his room and flipped through them. Every chapter was filled to the brim. One page even had coffee powder stuck to it, appearing somewhat comical.
Coming back to say goodbye and yet not forgetting to hand in his homework.
The communicator screen lit up. Yu Shi thought it was Xie Ren, but found it was a message from Li Yang: [The Falcon Regimentās vehicle is heading out tomorrow. Do you want to come with me to see Xie Ren off?]
[Li Yang: Originally Principal Tang was supposed to go personally, but he has an unscheduled meeting, so he asked me to go.]
Yu Shi looked puzzled. Tang Jiadong was quite ceremonial.
He typed: [To send him a bunch of flowers and say goodbye?]
[Li Yang: Hahaha, flowers are okay, but usually we don’t say goodbye.]
[Yu Shi: Why?]
[Li Yang: Because we don’t know if weāll see each other again. Operations requiring senior commanders usually have a very high danger index. Actually, even if Principal Tang didn’t say anything, I would go. Iāve seen him off several times. /Sigh/]
Yu Shi was stunned for a moment, realizing why Xie Ren had come to say goodbye and why he had left halfway through his words.
So to him, every mission was a life-and-death parting.
He surely had too much to say, but didn’t know where to start.
About his suspicion of Yu Shi.
About his guilt toward Yu Shi.
And about his reluctance to leave Yu Shi.
[Yu Shi: His going to the Seventh Zone this timeāis it related to Oro? Marshal Li has also gone to the Sixth Zone.]
[Li Yang: I don’t know. /Shrug/ Their operations are always classified.]
[Li Yang: Tomorrow at seven, Military District Station. Are you going?]
[Yu Shi: Weāll see. I have class tomorrow morning.]
After sending the message, Yu Shi rested his chin on his hand and stared at the exercise books in a daze.
He maintained the same position without moving, staying alone for a long time.
In the corner, Yu Zhizhi, who was “cosplaying” as a floor lamp, glowed and walked over, breaking the silence: “Master, the laser cannon program has been stored. Any other instructions?”
Yu Shi poked its forehead and said, “Change back into a dog. Iāve told you several timesādon’t call me Master. There are no slaves in the Republic.”
“But you won’t let me call you Papa.” Yu Zhizhi looked aggrieved and changed back into a robot dog.
“You can call me Instructor Yu.”
“Thatās no different from anyone else. Logically speaking, you should be my Papa.”
Yu Shi ignored it and asked, “How is your fusion with the Guardian?”
Yu Zhizhi said proudly: “After fifteen days of adjustment, I can already control its combat system very well! The program you designed is the most flawless in the Celestial Gnomon! Do you need me to demonstrate it immediately?”
“No. Do you want to poke a hole through the dormitory building?” Yu Shi waved his hand expressionlessly. “Come here.”
He took out a tube of pheromones, put it into Yu Zhizhiās central control, and said: “Set this gene as the highest command authority.”
“At your service!” Yu Zhizhi happily wagged its tail. “Eh, isn’t this your secret admirer!”
Yu Shi choked: “…What nonsense are you talking about?”
Yu Zhizhi: “According to incident analysis, he has been secretly following you for years, often anonymously sending you roses, checking in at your award locations and large screens, loves to skip class but attends every one of your classes, hates doing homework but is very active in every one of your assignments, was afraid youād be uncomfortable during your heat and prepared a large amount of precious pheromones for you. In summary, either he has a secret crush on you, or heāsā”
Yu Shi: “?”
“Heās your biological brother!” Yu Zhizhi said happily. “9527 sent me a book yesterday called The Generalās Obsessive Pampering: The Escaped Pregnant Husband is Actually My Brother. Thatās exactly how itās written!”
Yu Shi said seriously: “You aren’t allowed to play with 9527 anymore. Now shut your mouth and go back to the corner to be a floor lamp.”
“…Wooo wooo wooo.”
The next morning at seven, the Falcon Regiment successively boarded the interstellar train.
This train was very special, stopping at a station without rails. After starting, it would pass through a special channel and proceed directly from the star rails to the warship, then drift into space to head toward the Seventh Zone.
Xie Ren sat by the window in the front, his attire different from his usual training uniform. He wore the rank of Major on his shoulderāhe only wore his rank when on a mission.
Sitting next to him was a female Alpha Vice Commander. The name on her nameplate was Sun Xiaoyun; she was his direct subordinate.
Just now, through the train window, she had hugged and kissed her boyfriend goodbye. The boyfriendās eyes were red from crying, and his snot nearly flew onto Xie Renās armband.
Xie Ren gritted his teeth: “The twenty-first time! No more than threeāyou two have kissed goodbye seven times three! Is it that exaggerated? Every parting you have to cry your eyes outācan’t you have some decorum!”
Sun Xiaoyun said while typing: “What do you know? Youāre a single-since-birth elementary student, a green bratāof course you can’t understand the adult world! A full month of long-distance relationshipāhow is my little pig supposed to endure it!”
She coldly typed “Baby I miss you too,” replying to the boyfriend she had just separated from ten minutes ago.
“Fuck, thatās too disgusting.” Xie Ren got a layer of goosebumps. “I don’t understand and Iāll never understand. Iāll never in my life call an adult ‘baby’ in such a clingy way. Itās truly nauseating.”
Sun Xiaoyun rolled her eyes: “Youāre the one whoās sick in the headāyou can’t accept normal intimacy. You can go to my little pig and get a number; find him for some psychological counseling.”
“Youāre the one whoās sick. Can you stop calling him ‘little pig’ over and over? Is he Peppa?”
Sun Xiaoyun glanced out the window, and her gaze suddenly froze. “Wow. What a beautiful Omega. Heās even whiter than my little pig.”
Xie Renās mouth twitched: “Those whiter than him are all soaked in formalin, you fickle woman.”
“This isn’t being fickle; itās called appreciation.” Sun Xiaoyunās words came to an abrupt end as she stared out the window with wide eyes.
Yu Shi knocked on the train window and said, “Who did you say was soaked in formalin?”
Xie Ren suddenly froze, turning his head to look at him in disbelief.
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thank you translator-nim!!!ā°(*Ā“ļø¶`*)āÆā”