Chapter 13
The speaker was given an awkward tug by his companion, a hint to not be so direct.
But the speaker was already fired up. Shaking off his companion’s hand, he adopted a reckless “I’ve started so I might as well finish” attitude. He took two steps toward He Yuan and accused him—
“Do you have any idea that because of your sudden withdrawal, the project has been forced into suspension? All of Senior Zhou’s hard work has gone to waste! He was planning on using this project to win an award!”
Senior Zhou was the initiator of the student project He Yuan had previously been part of, currently a senior in his fourth year.
He Yuan was stunned.
“Didn’t… didn’t I already hand over my work when I quit?”
“You had so many tasks. You say you handed them over, but who could possibly pick it all up instantly?”
“But…”
“You said you were taking a leave of absence for personal matters, but now you suddenly show up here. Are you sure you didn’t just find the workload too heavy and made up an excuse to quit? You can’t handle hardship and have no sense of responsibility. Joining only to quit… what kind of person are you?”
“But when I joined, no one said I couldn’t quit,” He Yuan retorted, his voice weak but indignant. “Besides, the reason I had so many tasks was that at the very beginning, you guys cherry-picked all the simple and easy parts, leaving me with no choice but to…”
“Ha! Finally speaking your mind? So you did this out of spite, didn’t you?! Quitting right at the most critical moment of the project…”
“I did not!” He Yuan refused to accept the slander. He clenched his fists and shouted, “You’re being unreasonable! I was always diligent in the project group and never slacked off once. My withdrawal really was due to force majeure! If you don’t believe I’m really on leave, just go ask the teachers and classmates in my department!”
“I’m not asking others, I’m asking you. You come and go as you please—what exactly are you doing?”
“That is my private business. Why should I tell you?”
“If you won’t say, you must be hiding something shady.” The guy crossed his arms and sneered.
He Yuan was furious. He frantically thought about how to fight back, but suddenly, he saw the two students’ gazes shift. Their faces changed color instantly, and their bodies visibly stiffened as if they had seen a ghost!
He turned around and discovered that Wen Su was standing there!
…When did he get here?!
With a whoosh, the two people opposite him vanished, fleeing at the fastest speed they had ever achieved since birth.
He Yuan: …
Sure enough, being powerful and fierce had its benefits.
“Admiral, is the meeting over?” He ran over.
“There is another lecture in an hour. Were those two your classmates?”
He Yuan lowered his eyes, kicking the ground helplessly with his foot. “Sort of.”
Wen Su looked at him for a moment, then asked a question he, too, was asking for the first time in his life—
“You are unhappy?”
He Yuan drooped his head and nodded.
Wen Su was puzzled. “They were the ones in the wrong. Why are you unhappy because of people who are wrong?”
He Yuan was stunned, looking at Wen Su in surprise.
He felt that what Wen Su said was very true. However, while the greatest truths are often simple, the specific details within them couldn’t really be summarized so simply.
“I… Admiral, may I talk with you?” He Yuan asked somewhat apprehensively.
Wen Su nodded decisively. “Of course.”
He had intended to suggest the same.
He and the Omega were thinking alike.
He Yuan led Wen Su to the edge of a relatively secluded lawn on campus.
The two sat on a bench, closer than the standard polite social distance. Wen Su maintained his usual upright posture, while He Yuan’s shoulders slumped slightly.
“That project started last semester. I was a freshman then, the lowest grade in the group, and I didn’t know anyone. Unlike them—they were all sophomores and juniors, and most of them came as friends.”
“When tasks were being distributed, I couldn’t even get a word in. They would just decide everything while laughing and chatting together. having just joined the group, I was too embarrassed to object. Actually, I didn’t mind it too much. I thought, if there are a lot of tasks, so be it. I wasn’t there to play around or just scrape by for credits anyway. Doing more meant learning more, which was fine.”
“And for a long time, things were peaceful. Although I was a bit dissatisfied that they always wasted time playing around and joking during discussion meetings, and always procrastinated on their daily tasks, it wasn’t a major issue. And after all, I wasn’t the project initiator, so I didn’t say anything.”
“Until last time, when I took leave to come back for the report.”
“For the current me, the Admiral is the first priority. So, after the report ended, I withdrew from the project group. Suddenly quitting… I was actually a little reluctant, after all, it was something I had put effort into. But to be honest, I was mostly… relieved.”
“The atmosphere there didn’t suit me.”
“I just wanted a clean break. I never expected them to actually…”
Wen Su let out a soft, cold laugh. “Having lost you, the only person who actually did any work, they are just lashing out in humiliation.”
“I know. I know they didn’t do any work, but I didn’t expect them to talk about me like that! I regret it so much. At the time, I only thought about doing something to improve myself. I joined without properly screening them…”
“Do not blame yourself,” Wen Su said. “Choosing and screening doesn’t mean you can avoid every pitfall. So-called ‘experience’ is often useless in the moment. Once a bad thing happens, the only thing to do is to get through it as quickly as possible. Discovering the truth about people and things is enough.”
“Mm.” He Yuan looked at Wen Su and nodded vigorously.
This was the first time Wen Su had revealed a side of himself that seemed like a mentor in front of him. It was also the first time He Yuan clearly realized that while Wen Su appeared strict and rigid, his inner thoughts were actually very free-spirited. At first glance, they sounded unconventional, perhaps even radical, but upon careful reflection, he was absolutely right. Those things often revered as absolute truths might actually be obsessions.
But he was still sad.
His hands twisted together.
“If only I could be as rational as you, Admiral. Maybe I really am weak.”
“No.” Wen Su denied it decisively this time. “You are unhappy because you are kind and sincere. Kindness and sincerity are not mistakes. It is precisely because of this that you can argue on the basis of reason, but you cannot quarrel.”
He Yuan was stunned again, then nodded desperately. “Admiral, you are so right! You’re amazing!”
Wen Su’s expression softened. “Warfare also has psychology. When commanding a battle, the first priority is to understand the opponent general’s background—the more detailed and rich, the better.”
“I can relate to that!” He Yuan’s mood improved a bit, and he opened up. “I’ve lived in the Aid Center for as long as I can remember. Although it was well-managed and there was never any bullying, we were homeless children after all. We tended to be more sensitive and fragile, and more easily accustomed to pleasing others. Take me for example—when I was little, I felt inferior because of my yellowing hair and eyes and short stature caused by congenital malnutrition. I always tried my best to avoid conflict when facing others. Fortunately, the teachers at the Aid Center always taught everyone to be confident and optimistic. I’m much better now than when I was a child! But because the influence of many years is hard to eliminate completely, shadows of the past inevitably remain when getting along with classmates now. However, I’ve only been away from the Aid Center for a little over a year. Perhaps as time goes on, the shadows of the past will continue to fade.”
“They will,” Wen Su said with absolute certainty.
While He Yuan poured his heart out, Wen Su watched him constantly, fully and thoroughly receiving every expression and tone, naturally understanding his mood.
“If you want to eliminate the shadows of the past, you can practice while you are with me.”
“And you have absolutely no need to feel inferior about the color of your hair and eyes. They are very beautiful.”
“Being short is also very cute.”
“So what if someone is tall?”
A lightly spoken sentence, yet it suddenly struck He Yuan’s heart.
Yeah, so what if someone is tall?
He Yuan opened his mouth slightly, looking at Wen Su in sheer shock.
Today, Admiral Wen Su had said more words than he had ever said before, combined.
Because of this deep conversation today, they were no longer just ordinary superior and subordinate.
But rather…
A superior and subordinate with a very good relationship!
This lawn was already secluded, and today it was exceptionally empty. The two sat quietly, looking at the grass, looking at the flowers in the distance, feeling the breeze and the flowing scents of cool wood and refreshing fruit in the wind.
Gradually, He Yuan’s slumped back straightened, and Wen Su relaxed his always-rigorous posture, his peripheral vision encompassing the Omega’s figure.
Finally, reluctantly, he raised his wrist to check his watch.
Five minutes until the meeting started.
“Admiral, you have to go, right?” He Yuan asked with a knowing smile.
Wen Su gave a hum of affirmation.
“Then I’ll sleep here for a while! After the meeting, I’ll take you to eat something delicious!”
Wen Su acquiesced.
He took off his jacket and handed it to He Yuan.
He Yuan remembered the scene in the recreation room at the base not long ago and understood.
“Thank you, Admiral! But no need, the sun is very strong today, I don’t need a cover for a nap!”
“Not to cover, to pad under your head,” Wen Su said naturally.
Even more naturally, he folded the jacket into a square and placed it on the bench.
He Yuan: …
That seemed to make sense.
And he couldn’t refuse.
Wen Su turned to leave, but suddenly looked back and asked, “By the way, what was the project you participated in before?”
“Oh, it was researching: If the First Interstellar War hadn’t happened, what would the landscape and development level of various countries be like now?” He Yuan answered seriously.
A faint, thin sneer appeared on Wen Su’s lips. “That is a novel, not research. Humans shouldn’t waste time on meaningless things, and certainly shouldn’t be self-righteous, forcibly adding meaning to meaningless things.”
He Yuan: ?
Wen Su walked away dashingly.
He Yuan watched that crisp, straight back until it disappeared from view before sitting back down. He turned onto his side, lay flat, and rested the back of his head on Wen Su’s jacket.
It was the jacket he had matched for him.
Admiral Wen Su was right; this was indeed much more comfortable.
Admiral Wen Su…
Is a very good person.
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