Chapter 53: On a Date (2) Their Home
【Message from: 19932×××】
【This is Feng Ming, can I take you out for a meal recently? No other intention, just catching up.】
Shen Zhuo almost couldn’t swallow the small cake.
This beautiful day, having someone ruin the atmosphere was really…
It made him very unhappy.
Du Xun did not open his mouth to ask.
He respected the young man’s privacy, but seeing the expression on his face, he also had some guesses.
“If you don’t want to reply, then don’t.” Du Xun picked up three small cakes, then cut another one, bringing it to the young man’s mouth.
Shen Zhuo opened his mouth, biting down forcefully:
“I blocked him after he messaged me last time, and now he’s coming again, I’ll change my phone number tomorrow… this one is also delicious.”
“Let An handle it… do you want to try another mousse cake?”
After seeing Shen Zhuo nod, Du Xun switched to another cake, “I can make sure they never bother you again – the raspberry on top might be a bit sour.”
“Mm, it is quite sour.” Shen Zhuo also wanted his life to be more peaceful, “Okay, I don’t want to see them.”
Du Xun sent a message.
Sure enough, the number sent another message, but it was intercepted.
“Are you full?”
Du Xun brushed the hair that had fallen in front of the young man’s eyes behind his ear.
Shen Zhuo nodded, “What’s next?”
“Come with me to a place.”
Flower Sea City was divided into a tourist viewing area and a research area.
The two areas were separated by floor, with the research institutes above the 10th floor.
Du Xun took Shen Zhuo into the elevator, pressing 19.
“Are you going to show me some new flowers?”
The sightseeing elevator allowed them to clearly see the rose garden scenery below, swaying in the sunlight and wind, the white veils and the classical, beautiful shop designs complementing each other, forming a fairy tale-like charm.
As they gradually ascended, they could also see the original “mouth-shaped” architectural layout of the entire Flower Sea City.
“You guessed half right.” Du Xun kept it a secret, “The wife can guess again.”
Shen Zhuo stared at him, squinting.
Using his ability now would be a bit like cheating.
So the young man thought for a while.
“New lotus varieties?”
Seeming not to expect such an answer, Du Xun looked at the opening elevator doors, pulling the omega’s hand:
“The wife is so smart, I’m a bit worried that the surprises I prepare in the future might not work.”
The alpha’s words held a hint of worry.
Shen Zhuo curled his lips slightly, “Then I’ll prepare the surprises.”
He didn’t think Du Xun’s constant giving was the best state.
He could gratefully accept Du Xun’s kindness.
On the condition that he treated Du Xun just as well.
Receiving gifts was not the omega’s privilege alone.
His alpha should also receive some romantic surprises.
Du Xun raised his brows, his smile filling his eyes:
“Then I look forward to it.”
Flower Sea City had a total of 20 floors, the top floor being a rest area.
The Flower Sea City staff did not wear pure white lab coats like research institute researchers, without any decorations.
They would put a flower in the pocket on their chest.
“Commander Du Xun.”
As the elevator doors opened, someone carrying grafted roses was waiting to go down, unexpectedly encountering them.
The person was startled for a moment, then saw Shen Zhuo beside Du Xun.
Then, this omega researcher’s eyes darted around, secretly moving a bit closer to Shen Zhuo:
“Have you agreed to Commander Du Xun’s pursuit?”
Shen Zhuo was about to get off the elevator, hearing this, he raised the hand holding Du Xun’s slightly.
“I’m still observing his performance.”
The researcher had a stunned expression, hastily muttering, “May you have a happy marriage and blessings…”
They also gave the young man a tube rose from their chest.
Along the way, almost everyone they encountered gave the flowers pinned on their white coats to the young man.
When Shen Zhuo couldn’t hold them all, Du Xun helped him.
By the time they reached the place Du Xun mentioned, they both had a large bouquet of various flowers.
It was a special reception room, with a separate laboratory on one side and sofas and tables on the other.
There were researchers working, and seeing this, they somehow found some flower wrapping paper.
In a few quick motions, they bundled the flowers into two bouquets.
Handing them over, they quietly left.
Shen Zhuo had actually heard many things like “Commander Du Xun has finally caught him”, “Come on, Commander”, “Commander should get married this year.”
“You seem quite familiar with them?”
Shen Zhuo played with the petals a bit.
“Mn.” Du Xun didn’t hide it, “The three-day lotus at home was something I researched here.”
Shen Zhuo raised his brows, “Isn’t the military busy? You still have time to learn so many things, do so many things.”
Du Xun turned his head to look at him, smiling.
“All the free time over the past few years, added together, can learn a lot.”
Shen Zhuo made eye contact with the man, for some reason instinctively turning his head away.
How was he supposed to respond to Du Xun’s years of waiting?
How could he respond to Du Xun’s such profound feelings.
He squeezed the flowers in the bouquet, then heard Du Xun walk away.
“If…”
He held it in, finally asking the words he had long wanted to say:
“If I hadn’t married you, what would you do?”
Du Xun went to the control panel in the corner of the room and pressed a button.
The entire right wall of the lab gradually turned transparent, the surface made of some kind of glass.
Shen Zhuo’s gaze was suddenly seized by a vast expanse of red.
Behind the glass, were the fiery, magnificent red lotus, spreading their wings freely, like cascading flames.
The long, drooping petals were like distant clouds and dusk.
“If you hadn’t married me.”
Du Xun turned around, “I would, under the guise of teacher and student, offer everything as a wedding gift for you.”
His calm voice seemed to lack any other emotion.
The Commander-in-Chief Du Xun was always so composed.
Du Xun had thought about the possibility of Shen Zhuo not marrying him.
And he had long been prepared.
Shen Zhuo suddenly recalled.
In his previous life, after he married Feng Ming.
He did indeed receive an anonymous letter, listing a few locations, saying there were things to be given to him.
But that letter was first seen by Feng Ming, who threw it away, and only casually mentioned it to Shen Zhuo later.
“Why…”
Why.
He didn’t voice the three words.
No need to trouble over things that never happened.
“I am your omega now.”
The young man slightly turned his head, his gaze flowing.
Du Xun “Mn’d”, smiling:
“Then, as your husband.”
He looked at the fiery lotuss behind the glass:
“The original snow-white is too cold, I only wish for you to become yourself, a proud, passionate and vibrant lotus.”
The alpha spoke in a low voice:
“This is the red lotus I spent four years cultivating, with a flowering period of an entire month, and it can still bloom for seven days after being cut.”
“Although it is a lotus variety, I hope it belongs to you alone.”
The alpha’s voice was slow and mellow, “It’s waiting for a new name.”
Shen Zhuo paused for a moment, his eyes slightly warming.
His fingertips unconsciously pressing against the glass, flattened and turning pale.
Shen Zhuo suppressed the trembling in his fingertips.
Through the lotus, he could almost see the image of the alpha in a white lab coat, carefully cultivating the flowers in his rare moments of rest.
The four years of repeated failures, leading to the fiery red lotus he could now see as Du Xun’s wife.
After a long while, the young man softly said, “Eternal Flame.”
“Its name is Eternal Flame.”
The lotus that had only existed in a hundred illusory dreams, willing to burn itself into an eternal fire, to bring the eagle wandering in the dust and ashes back to the mortal world.
Dreams were ethereal and void, but he would not sleep.
Therefore, it would exist forever, truly present.
—
A flash of light seemed to pass through the lowered gaze of the alpha.
How intelligent Du Xun was.
He guessed the meaning of this name.
“You don’t have to dream to see me anymore.”
The young man turned his head, rising on his tiptoes, his hands caressing the alpha’s cheeks.
The man submissively bent down, their noses touching.
Skin to skin, the purest thrill spreading from the heart.
As if the most captivating glimpse in the eternal river of time.
Or a bond connecting their souls.
They needed no further words.
In each other’s eyes, they could see the entire starry sea.
Outside the corridor, there were engraving machines for name tags, and machines for making various accessories like brooches, hairpins, and buttons.
Shen Zhuo first selected a rectangular name tag with lace trim, engraving “Eternal Flame” on the machine.
After hanging it on the wall with the Eternal Flame photo and plant species information, he saw Du Xun still at the machine.
Shen Zhuo walked over, peeking from the man’s side.
Du Xun was making a small circular badge.
It seemed he had already designed the pattern in advance.
On the red Eternal Flame, the silver-black six-winged eagle stood before a diagonal crossed red flag.
The flag in battle represented the command center.
And the red flag took precedence over all orders.
That was the emblem of the Commander-in-Chief.
The entire composition was very harmonious, with the addition of the Eternal Flame and the flag, looking more romantically cruel.
The small circular metal disc was placed in the young man’s palm.
“What is this?”
The object was very hot, Shen Zhuo couldn’t help curling his fingers a bit.
“If you’re willing, this is our emblem.”
Du Xun also looked at it, “It represents you and me.”
Large clans or those with century-old lineages would have their own clan crest.
Du Xun was rescued from the battlefield at the age of seven by Shen Ruoyin.
Apart from Shen Ruoyin and Jiang Yuening, he had no other family.
So selfishly, he wanted to have a totem that belonged to them.
To prove that he also had a home.
Their home.
“Okay.”
The young man placed the round disc in the badge-making machine.
The freshly made badge was still steaming hot.
The silk shirt was easy to poke through, so Shen Zhuo pinned it on the strap of his peach-shaped backpack.
Hanging the water bottle, it was positioned right over his heart.
Shen Zhuo was led by Du Xun on a tour of the Flower Sea City research institute.
Du Xun told him about some amusing incidents that happened when he was researching the Eternal Flame here.
There were some mistakes that were simply hilarious.
In fact, Du Xun didn’t know about flower-related knowledge from the start.
As the Commander-in-Chief, he had only been fighting on the battlefield since being rescued, not until his ability manifested did he become a commander.
Du Xun had always been on the battlefield.
Cooking, growing flowers, gemstone cutting, manor decoration…
Except for combat, everything else, he started from complete unfamiliarity.
He would make mistakes that would end up killing the flowers in the simplest of ways.
Similarly, he would also pore over data all night long to crack a difficult problem, finally producing the results.
Du Xun was not perfect.
But because of him, Du Xun became capable of anything.
While Shen Zhuo had only seen the final results.
It was a pity, he thought.
If only he could have been there earlier, to do these things together with Du Xun…
Would Du Xun look a bit happier?
The young man didn’t know why.
His alpha was smiling, but every time he smiled, he would look so sad.
There must be something, Shen Zhuo thought, this time he would find it.
“Du Xun.” The young man looked up, seeming to want to say something.
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