Chapter 54: But the Biscuit is Strawberry Flavored… part 1
The room was exceedingly quiet, an eerie silence spreading through the air.
Yu Shi had no choice but to speak up, “Adjutant Zhang gave me the room card. He probably misunderstood.”
Xie Ren suddenly realized. He hadn’t expected Jiang Songjin to be so accommodating. Seeing him bring a “family member” along, Jiang simply arranged for them to stay together.
“If it’s inconvenient for you, I can go find him…”
A faint, almost imperceptible noise came from outside the door.
Xie Ren cleared his throat and said, “You’ve been tired all day. You should rest early.”
Yu Shi paused, but upon catching his gaze, he immediately caught on. “I am a bit sleepy.”
The two walked into the inner bedroom. After closing the door, Yu Shi asked, “Is someone monitoring us outside?”
“Not monitoring, I’m guessing my uncle sent someone to protect us,” Xie Ren said. “The coalition forces are heavily guarded against outsiders. It’s not a good time to expose your identity, so it’s better if we sleep together…”
As he spoke, he turned around, his words instantly catching in his throat the moment he saw the bed.
It wasn’t Uncle! Who told you to lay out a bed of rose petals? And what is with the low-temperature erotic candles on the side?! And what is the deal with that unopened box of condoms?!
To make matters worse, there was a massive advertising slogan printed right on the box: Sensible Contraception, Put an End to Pre-Marital Marking.
“Cough.” Xie Ren choked hard, coughing until his face and ears were bright red.
Yu Shi’s line of sight was blocked by him, so he didn’t see the items on the bed. Instead, he was captivated by the tattoo on Xie Ren’s back.
It was a soaring avian totem. Its wings were spread wide, its tail feathers drooping, and a round sun sat behind it, exuding a domineering and valiant posture.
His shoulders were broad and flat, and the tattoo expanded along the muscles of his back. The wings crossed his shoulder blades, seeming to undulate with the rolling droplets of water, making it look as if the bird had truly come alive.
Yu Shi said, “Put a shirt on and dry your hair first, don’t catch a cold.”
Only then did Xie Ren remember he was bare-chested. He hurriedly went to the wardrobe to find clothes, clumsily pulling a T-shirt over his head. Turning back, he found Yu Shi staring at him, and he instantly felt self-conscious.
He blushed and said, “What, never seen a naked Alpha before?”
Yu Shi didn’t think much of it and replied casually, “I have. Zhao Yi and the others always like to take their shirts off during training.”
Xie Ren instantly choked. What the hell.
It seemed he needed to thoroughly rectify the discipline when he got back. Those Alphas were completely corrupting public morals.
Yu Shi asked him, “What is that tattooed on your back?”
“A Golden Crow,” Xie Ren explained. “It’s my codename.”
The Golden Crow first flies from the bottom of the sea, scattering its crimson brilliance to part the green clouds. The three-legged Golden Crow symbolized fire and the sun; it indeed suited him perfectly.
Yu Shi was a bit curious. “K9 and Heaven’s Punishment also have totems, but their insignias are very small. Why does the Falcon Regiment tattoo the entire back?”
The tattoo looked majestic and imposing, but getting it done must have been a terribly troublesome process, probably hurting like hell.
Aside from looking good and showing off, he couldn’t think of any other practical use.
Xie Ren fell silent for a moment, glancing at him. “To make it easier to identify the corpses.”
Yu Shi froze.
Xie Ren continued, “The Falcon Regiment operates in danger zones year-round. If you accidentally step on a landmine, it’s very hard to recognize who it is after being blown to pieces. A full-back tattoo makes identification easier. Ranks below Captain bear the Falcon totem, while those above have their own exclusive codename totems.”
He gave a nonchalant smile, though the meaning behind it was hard to read. “This is our faith. It signifies that high-ranking generals must lead by example. Only by charging at the very front can those above and below share the same heart and mind.”
“From the moment I joined the Falcon Regiment, I was prepared to die in the line of duty.”
Yu Shi nodded thoughtfully. “Being brave and fierce in battle is certainly heroic and moving, but if the general dies a martyr’s death and the soldiers behind him are left without command, wouldn’t the loss outweigh the gain?”
The two had a slight divergence of opinion on this point. They debated for a few sentences but couldn’t come to a conclusive result.
Xie Ren shrugged. “This is the art of leading troops. It’s hard to explain clearly in just a few words.”
Yu Shi sighed. “I don’t understand the art of leading troops…”
He paused, seeming to hesitate. Xie Ren asked, “What is it?”
“I’m just afraid you’ll die,” Yu Shi said softly.
Xie Ren stared at him intently, apparently not expecting him to say that.
Yu Shi teased, “If you died, in your uncle’s eyes, I’d have to go to Sundial every month to collect your widow’s pension.”
Xie Ren stared blankly at his smile. It took him a long time to process what Yu Shi meant, and his breathing instantly quickened as he laughed, his face turning red.
“Oh—so you’re that reluctant to part with me,” he dragged out his words, carrying a hint of smugness.
Yu Shi felt uncomfortable under his gaze and didn’t answer, changing the subject instead, “Right, I heard about Marshal Li. Tomorrow we need to find your uncle; we have to get the news about Qin Yin back as soon as possible.”
But Xie Ren said, “We might have to find another way for this.”
“What do you mean?”
“The composition of the coalition forces is quite complex. They don’t just serve one specific country. You can think of them as high-level mercenaries. To tell you the truth, tonight, my uncle tried to persuade me to serve Ridu. He wants… to take me with him to find my mother.”
Yu Shi fell silent, not expecting Jiang Songjin to harbor such intentions.
Helping him find his mother was indeed an irresistible condition.
Xie Ren said, “Don’t worry, I’ve already refused. I have my own plans and won’t be easily swayed. But because of this, having him help pass the message is no longer safe, so we have to use another method.”
Yu Shi had a stroke of inspiration. “The starship?”
“That’s what I was thinking too,” Xie Ren smiled at him. “With the Chief Designer here, are we really worried about not being able to fix a starship?”
“You planned for me to be your free labor from the very beginning, didn’t you? I saw you salvaging the wreckage a few days ago,” Yu Shi scoffed.
Xie Ren chuckled cheekily. “You just focus on fixing the internal instruments; leave the rest of the manual labor to me.”
They had to get up early the next morning to repair the starship, so the two went to bed early.
Fortunately, the bed was large enough. With the rose petals piled in the middle, there was more than enough room for the two of them to sleep.
After lying down, Yu Shi smelled the rich fragrance of the flowers and suddenly remembered something. “Did you know? I used to get invited to give lectures at universities a lot. Every time after a speech, I would receive a bouquet of roses.”
Xie Ren’s breath hitched, his expression obscured in the darkness.
“Little Xu said it was sent by a ‘fan.’ They were all uniformly wrapped in black satin, and the bouquets were exquisite, looking quite expensive. Sometimes I was really curious about who this person was,” Yu Shi chuckled softly.
Xie Ren pillowed his head on his arms, his heart beginning to pound like a drum.
His heart raced wildly, his whole body tensing up with the feeling of being caught red-handed.
Yu Shi continued, “They liked using dark-colored cards, and loved sending traditional roses. I’m guessing it must have been some older, pedantic academic. Who do you think it could be?”
Xie Ren’s vision went dark, and he couldn’t help but speak up, “Even though roses are more formal, you can’t really call them traditional… And it’s not necessarily an older academic, it could be a young person.”
“But what young person would attend every single one of my lectures?”
Xie Ren pursed his lips and said, “Maybe, that young person really likes… your lectures.”
Yu Shi smiled. “Then he must be a very special person, to be so unique.”
Because you are also a very special person, Xie Ren thought to himself.
He kept his eyes open, harboring a sense of unease. Not long after, he heard the even breathing coming from beside his ear.
Yu Shi had fallen asleep.
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