Chapter 37: Are You Doing a Long-Distance Online Romance?
Outside the car window, Yu Shi was wearing a V-neck casual white shirt. His skin glowed brilliantly white under the sunlight, and his amber eyes were calm and steady, carrying a faint, subtle smile.
Xie Renâs heart was struck by something; it nearly leapt out of his mouth. He stared blankly and directly at Yu Shi, losing all ability to move or think.
Sun Xiaoyun lowered the window, looking back and forth between the two of them.
Yu Shi spoke, “Your instructor has morning classes today, so he asked me to come and see you off.”
For a moment, Xie Ren didn’t know what to say. Even though he had a thousand words, they were all stuck in his throat.
The heat from outside the window rushed toward his face. His face flushed red as he nodded stiffly. “Thank you for your trouble.”
After last nightâs farewell through the door, he had thought their next meeting would be months later. Now, it was so awkward he wanted to find a hole to crawl into. He unconsciously became distant and polite, his expression extremely unnatural.
“I have something for you. I don’t know if your group is allowed to carry it.” Yu Shi pulled an object from his pocket and handed it through the window.
Xie Ren hurriedly reached out. A pink stud earring sat in his palm.
Sun Xiaoyun, with her sharp eyes, said, “A micro-robot?”
Yu Shi explained, “Itâs a modified robotic dog. I merged its system with the ‘Guardian.’ It can now independently control a mecha for combat. I know you have strict checks on external weapons, so it’s fine if you can’t take it.”
Xie Renâs gaze shifted, looking at him with a complex expression. After a long while, he gripped 7072 and said, “Iâll send it for a security check later. As long as it passes, there won’t be a problem. The accompanying mecha squad happens to have a Guardian. Yu Shi… thank you for giving this to me.”
Hearing his words, a flash of disapproval crossed Sun Xiaoyunâs eyes, but she tactfully remained silent.
The train issued a sound indicating it was about to start. Those seeing people off outside began to retreat.
Yu Shi took a step back and said softly, “Goodbye, Xie Ren.”
Xie Ren looked at him without blinking. “See you in a month.”
The light-shielding glass slowly descended. The train slid into the suspended track and vanished into the tunnel instantly.
Xie Ren held the earring, staring at it blankly for over ten minutes, turning it over and over.
Sun Xiaoyun mocked him, “You haven’t started having separation anxiety, have you?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. Thatâs my instructor,” Xie Ren replied without looking up. “What do I have to be anxious about?”
“An instructor you call by his full name? Well, then again, youâve always been this lawless.”
Xie Ren frowned in silence. After a while, he asked, “Hey, how do you judge if your feelings for Little Pig are love or just the pheromones acting up? For an S-class, that seems quite difficult.”
The influence of high-level pheromones on the body was no less than instinct. In modern society, it was widely accepted that most people were together because their pheromones were compatible, not because of the “love” mentioned by emotional experts.
Later, some scholars even overturned the theory of love, believing that pure love did not exist between Alphas and Omegas; 90% of it was driven by pheromones. Betas, who lacked pheromones, were actually more likely to fall in love.
A seemingly absurd theory, yet it was constantly proven by human society.
From childhood to adulthood, people around him broke up and got together constantly. Xie Ren had never seen a high-level individual remain faithful from beginning to end and submit to their feelings. Xie Chengfeng was a classic example.
His parents’ marriage had once caused a sensationâa typical case of pheromones crossing class boundaries. However, a year after his mother left, Xie Chengfeng began staying out at night. It was both tragic and laughable.
Sun Xiaoyun reminisced, “When I first saw him, my heart beat especially fast. When I accidentally touched his hand, I felt my whole heart melt like water. Everything we did together made me happy. Our first kiss… do you know that feeling? Never mind, you don’t. It was like kissing a cloudâsoft, light, and utterly incredible.”
“Stop, stop. Are you writing poetry?” Xie Renâs expression twisted as he suddenly snapped out of it.
“At that time, we hadn’t exchanged pheromones yet, so we were together because of love,” Sun Xiaoyun shrugged.
Xie Ren pursed his lips, appearing troubled. “IfâIâm saying ifâyou exchanged pheromones shortly after meeting for the first time, how should you judge then?”
Sun Xiaoyun looked at him strangely. “Everything I mentioned can serve as a basis for judgment: eye contact, touching, kissing, even sex. If you feel enough of a heart-throb without releasing pheromones, then that is liking someone.”
Eye contact, touching, kissing, sex.
It sounded like many steps.
“Oh, and I also think about him every moment. I think of him at work, after work, when eating, and when sleeping.”
Yu Shiâs face flashed through Xie Renâs mindâhis honey-sweet, light brown eyes, his pure and delicate nose tip, his thick and straight eyelashes. His Adamâs apple bobbed; he felt a bit restless.
He asked, “If you can’t meet for the time being, is there any other way to verify?”
Sun Xiaoyunâs eyes suddenly widened. “Are you doing a long-distance online romance? Holy crap, I couldn’t tell. You don’t look like someone who would flirt online. Male or female? Hurry, tell me!”
“…” Xie Ren lied through his teeth. “Itâs not me. itâs Zhao Yi.”
“Huh? That kid who submitted the application earlier? Tsk, he looks like a rich young master, yet he likes that online romance stuff. If itâs an online romance, there are even more methods: daily good morning and good night messages, photo updates, voice-calling while sleepingâthose are all signs of liking someone.”
Xie Ren asked skeptically, “You and Little Pig voice-call while sleeping?”
“Of course. Itâs normal for couples. Itâs ‘not for children,’ you wouldn’t understand.” Sun Xiaoyun looked at him with disdain.
His heart began to throb wildly again. He thought of the incident at the hospital. If Yu Shi ever found out, he would probably be torn limb from limb.
After leaving the station, Yu Shi asked Li Yang to continue covering his classes, then he took leave to go home.
His parents weren’t home. The servant said they would be back shortly.
Yu Shi walked into Yu Songweiâs study. After rummaging through the bookshelf for a long time, he found a box containing old items from Yu Songweiâs time in the service.
Among them was a thick volume of Military Cryptography, which recorded commonly used military secret keys.
Earlier, Yu Shi had posted an anonymous bounty on the Seventh Zoneâs network. Someone named Customized Book of Life and Death had taken the job. After Yu Shi sent the requirements, the person replied with six dots.
[Customized Book of Life and Death: Bro, this password range is too broad. It’s pure permutation and combination. Are you serious?]
[Customized Book of Life and Death: I might be a genius, but you’re dreaming.]
[Anonymous 001: Didn’t you read the notes before taking the job?]
[Customized Book of Life and Death: Fine, since I’ve already taken it, why don’t you try to think if there’s a reference translation?]
[Customized Book of Life and Death: This kind of triple-password likely has a fixed template.]
Yu Shi recalled that Yu Songwei had once been a communications commander. Based on his vague childhood memories, he actually found this cryptographic translation book.
Just as he put the box back, he heard footsteps near the door. He walked to the entrance and heard people talking.
Liu Yin said, “Youâve spoken to Old Master Tang on the phone, right? How did the discussion about that project go?”
“Itâs okay. Just a batch of ordinary munitions,” Yu Songwei said. “Iâll go to the study to send the project list to him.”
“Wait, did Old Master Tang mention Xiao Shiâs matter to you?”
Yu Shiâs movements paused. His hand on the door stopped.
Tang Senmiao was Yu Songweiâs close friend. He had taught Yu Shi personally when he was a child. After Yu Shi grew up, he had even made an exception to take him as a disciple, bringing him under his wing. He was very close to the Yu family.
“He mentioned it. Once he retires, heâll support Xiao Shi to become the Vice President.” Yu Songwei let out a long sigh. “I know what you’re worried about. You feel that the closer he gets to the center of power, the harder it will be for him to extricate himself in the future.”
Liu Yinâs voice was full of unease. “Iâm afraid those people will make things difficult for him. Iâm even more afraid the Sovereign will notice him and give him heavy responsibilities… In fact, when he was transferred to the National Defense Academy, I felt a bit uncomfortable. That place…”
Yu Songwei gently interrupted, “We discussed this long ago. Letting Xiao Shi step into the spotlight brings him nothing but benefits. The more high-profile he is, the more those people won’t dare move against him. Now all of Celestial Gnomon knows he is the son you carried for ten months. No one has a reason to doubt. Don’t be too pessimistic.”
It was quiet outside for a while. Yu Songwei joked, “Alright, stop being so grim. To tell the truth, I only hope he settles on a legal partner as soon as possible. That way, a hundred years from now, Iâll have fulfilled my duty to my brother.”
Liu Yin laughed in spite of herself. “How old are you even? Talking about ‘a hundred years from now’ already…”
As the couple spoke in low voices, Yu Shi quietly retreated. When Yu Songwei pushed the door and entered, Yu Shi pretended as if nothing had happened and said, “Dad, youâre back. I wanted to borrow a book from you.”
“You child, didn’t you say you wouldn’t be home until tonight?” Yu Songwei saw the book and said in surprise, “Since when did you start studying cryptography?”
Yu Shi said, “I have a student named Zhao Yi in my class. While practicing decryption, he locked his graduation design file. He came to ask me, his teacher, so of course I canât let him down.”
The more specific his description, the less likely Yu Songwei was to become suspicious.
Yu Shi looked troubled on the surface, but his gaze turned slightly cold.
Sure enough, Yu Songwei shook his head and laughed. “I think your ‘baggage’ is just too heavy. If you don’t know, just say you don’t know. Graduation designs are not easy to do. I have a few more cryptography books here; take them back and study them. If it really doesn’t work, Iâll help you ask my old comrades at K9.”
“No need. That lock isn’t hard; it should be easy to solve.”
Yu Shi stayed overnight at home. He sent a message to Customized Book of Life and Death, asking him how to operate the combination system.
[Customized Book of Life and Death: ?]
[Customized Book of Life and Death: Just scan the reference book for me, and I’ll decipher it. Wouldn’t that be easier?]
[Anonymous 001: Read the order requirements carefully.]
A moment later, the other side said: [I’m done. You’re asking me to teach you the deciphering system, and then you’ll decrypt it yourself using the reference book? Bro, Iâm really going to kneel to you. Do you know how hard deciphering is to learn? You won’t be able to handle it yourself even in three to five years!]
[Anonymous 001: Thatâs why I’m paying to hire you as a teacher.]
[Customized Book of Life and Death: Fuck? No, you’re quite arrogant. Why do you think you can learn in a few months what took me ten years?]
[Anonymous 001: Not a few months.]
[Customized Book of Life and Death: ??]
[Anonymous 001: Within twenty days.]
The other end went silent. He was probably rendered speechless by Yu Shi.
Yu Shi didn’t offer any more explanation. He casually flipped through the cryptography book. From dinner until now, he had already read nearly half.
Customized Book of Life and Death truly couldn’t hold it in: [Cancel the order. I can’t do this job.]
Yu Shi curled his lips and replied: [No.]
[Customized Book of Life and Death: ???]
[Anonymous 001: You’re the number one decoder in the Seventh Zone, having solved over a thousand enhanced passwords within two years. I only want to find you.]
[Anonymous 001: I spent a hundred thousand in promotion fees to push this order to your homepage.]
The other side was silent again, seemingly driven mad with anger: […A ‘customized trap,’ is it? You’d better hope I don’t run into you in reality, or I’ll definitely make you pay a heavy price.]
[Anonymous 001: After the job is done, I’ll pay you double.]
[Customized Book of Life and Death: Ha. Do I look like the type of person who would bend for a bit of pocket change?]
[Anonymous 001: Five times.]
[Customized Book of Life and Death: Add me on StarChat then. I won’t necessarily see it if you leave messages here.]
Yu Shi typed unhurriedly: [No need. I don’t want any real-life intersection with people from the Seventh Zone.]
After saying that, he logged off and ignored him.
He hadn’t checked StarChat all day. Only now did he see a pile of messages.
[Xie Ren: I’ve boarded the warship. Are you back at school?]
[Xie Ren: Photos aren’t allowed inside the warship. We passed a red giant star outburstâa very rare celestial phenomenon.]
[Xie Ren: The team has started writing the combat plan.]
[Xie Ren: Non-stop meetings, meeting after meeting until I’m bored. It’s so dull. Can you come out and chat for a bit?]
[Xie Ren: Dinner time! There are pineapple shrimp, which you like, and also mango mousse cake. But I can’t take photos in the cafeteria either.]
[Xie Ren: 7072 said it wants to drink Yakult. Where am I supposed to find Yakult for a robotic dog?]
[Xie Ren: Eh, why is it calling you ‘Papa’? /Hold back laugh/]
…
At first, Yu Shi frowned in confusion, not knowing why Xie Ren was sending these. As he read on, he forgot his doubts and couldn’t help but laugh.
He replied: [Ignore it. It can’t drink beverages; it will corrode its shell.]
[Yu Shi: They say star outbursts are very bright.]
[Yu Shi: Actually, I also had mango cake for dinner. /Image/]
[Yu Shi: Then what does it call you?]
After a long while, the other end said: [Calls me ‘Mighty Boss,’ calls my comrades ‘Pretty Wives.’ Itâs even more neurotic than 9527. My god.]
The corners of Yu Shiâs mouth turned up. He imagined a group of people surrounding Yu Zhizhi and laughing at its antics.
[Xie Ren: Are you busy right now?]
[Yu Shi: Not busy. I’m reading.]
Xie Ren asked hesitantly: [Then can I voice-call you while sleeping? I want to ask some academic questions.]
Only after sending did he realize he had typed the words “while sleeping.” He frantically tried to withdraw it, but saw Yu Shi reply: [Okay.]
Yu Shi thought helplessly: After leaving, the student seems to have become a bit clingy.
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