Chapter 45: The Grand Finale part 1
Mǐ Qiū asked him very sincerely.
To this, Yǐn Xī Qián said to Mǐ Qiū, “Regarding Guide Mǐ’s major life event, you will ultimately combine spiritually and physically with a Sentinel. You will walk together with him for the rest of your life until death separates you two. This is a serious question, so your hearts must be connected. I am just giving Guide Mǐ a reminder.”
He didn’t answer Mǐ Qiū directly but allowed her to clarify some directions.
At this moment, Yǐn Xī Qián suddenly spoke up: “Before answering your question, I need to know your opinion, Guide Mǐ. Your opinion of me. I want a truthful answer.”
Mǐ Qiū: “Marshal Yǐn is naturally very good.”
“Good in what way?”
“Good in every aspect. You are the embodiment of the perfect Sentinel I have ever seen.”
Yǐn Xī Qián lowered his head, curving his lips into a faint smile at her: “Guide Mǐ’s praise for me is truly unique—”
He finally answered her: “Guide Mǐ, in handling many matters, you seem to simulate the best plan in your mind. Your thoughts are unconstrained, a bit… cute…”
The last part of Yǐn Xī Qián’s sentence was swallowed, but Mǐ Qiū still heard it. She didn’t expect that someone who usually looked so cold would say such words. It seemed the effect of the isolation agent had simply disappeared directly. Actually, this point also verified what Mǐ Qiū was thinking in her heart. Time flew, and soon, the two-year deadline arrived. It was time for Mǐ Qiū to match with a Sentinel.
During this period, Mǐ Qiū wanted to clear things up in advance, so she could only issue “good person cards” to the Sentinels. Because she had completely thought it through at this moment, she met them at different locations when she asked them out. Mǐ Qiū replied to them very seriously.
Inside the laboratory, she met Hè Chí.
Hè Chí asked her to help look at his experimental results. Mǐ Qiū looked at a nine-legged, brownish-yellow arthropod insect. Fighting back the psychological impulse to recoil, she observed for a while. Hè Chí said, “Guide Mǐ, if you came to tell me your final Sentinel choice in advance, then I don’t accept it. The experiment today hasn’t been going very smoothly. I think it doesn’t seem to be a result that can make me happy.”
Mǐ Qiū told him her feelings very tactfully; it was the result of her deep contemplation. Hè Chí remained silent, not speaking. He rarely had such moments of extreme silence.
This time, however, he was unwilling to let go easily. As for what Mǐ Qiū said about being her good brother, good partner, or good friend, he didn’t want to accept any of it. Staring straight into Mǐ Qiū’s eyes, he said, “Guide Mǐ, you’ve already made an inner choice. It must be so. Is it Shěn Qīnghuái? Or that kid Zhù Shāngchén? Or someone else?”
“But it couldn’t be anyone else, right? How long were they on the island? You are most familiar with the three of us. So, it should be one of those two?”
Mǐ Qiū still didn’t respond to him. Hè Chí fiddled with his microscope and asked her, “Guide Mǐ, I don’t want to force you to say it, but I just want to know where I am worse than him. Do I have the qualification to compete with him? At least, I need to know who he is, right? Guide Mǐ.”
Mǐ Qiū: “Sometimes I think that a long time doesn’t represent anything. Shěn Qīnghuái and Zhù Shāngchén, to me, exist as good friends. My liking for them… they are already indispensable to me, like family. Of course, it’s impossible for me to have any other thoughts about them.”
Hè Chí understood. He continued to ask, “It seems you have already sought out the two of them and rejected them. The three of us are now completely in the same boat, pitying each other. Ultimately, we couldn’t enter your heart, Guide Mǐ.”
Mǐ Qiū had indeed already met Shěn Qīnghuái and Zhù Shāngchén at the base and made things clear to them. Zhù Shāngchén didn’t say a word, returning to the closed-off state he was in before arriving at the island.
Shěn Qīnghuái’s reaction was greater, questioning why she treated him like that in the dream.
Mǐ Qiū only said it was a method of soothing. Shěn Qīnghuái backed her into a corner, smiling bitterly: “Guide Mǐ must be under too much pressure. I won’t pressure you anymore. Until the last moment, I won’t give up. I definitely won’t.”
After that, Mǐ Qiū didn’t go to find the others. She could already foresee roughly what they would say to her.
She decided to let it be. The Sentinels who were once on the island were waiting for the moment of the official Guide-Sentinel matching tomorrow.
Having been back at the Guide Institute for some time, Mǐ Qiū’s hypnosis ability on the island served as a very strong proof. In short, Mǐ Qiū’s Guide uniform now bore the ‘A’ badge. Mǐ Qiū changed dormitories; her roommates were all A-class Guides. Previously, everyone wasn’t very friendly to her, but Mǐ Qiū had reached A-class through her own true skills.
They gradually became friendly toward her. Mǐ Qiū’s hypnosis had caused General Qí and Marshal Yǐn to go to the island to verify it, so it certainly couldn’t be fake. Mǐ Qiū became very good friends with them. Among them, the one closest to Mǐ Qiū was an A-class Guide named Líng Zhī. Before going to sleep, Líng Zhī asked Mǐ Qiū curiously if she was nervous about tomorrow’s matching and if there was a Sentinel she wanted to match with. Líng Zhī said, “Anyway, I don’t have a Sentinel I want to match with. I usually stay in the Guide Institute and don’t have much contact with Sentinels. Just the occasional soothing, but that’s just my job. Tomorrow’s first matching is a two-way match; it’s voluntary and more active. Once the match fails, it goes to the second step, random matching. So Mǐ Qiū, what do you think?”
Mǐ Qiū: “Wait until after eight o’clock tomorrow, and you’ll know.”
“Why are you still hiding it? I’ll know sooner or later anyway. Aiya, I’m just bored and can’t sleep, so I wanted to gossip a bit. You won’t even tell me this. It seems, Mǐ Qiū, you already have your own target. I’m very good at reading people.”
During the matching, she would sit on a chair. This was a special chair; above it, a matching bar would be displayed. There was a round light on the matching bar. For the first autonomous matching, if the light flashed and turned green, the two parties matched successfully. If it turned red, the match failed, entering the second stage of random matching.
It was still this machine.
Most Guides entered the second stage directly: random matching.
Mǐ Qiū happened to be the second one to sit in the matching seat. Her legs bent naturally. Mǐ Qiū began her selection. Then, the red light lit up. The light flashed nine times. The one that finally stopped was the green light. Mǐ Qiū breathed a sigh of relief, while the Guides beside her were all dumbfounded…
The light flashing nine times meant that nine Sentinels had chosen her, and the red lights indicated they hadn’t succeeded with each other. At this moment, the machine suddenly emitted a mechanical voice: Guide Mǐ Qiū and Sentinel Yǐn Xī Qián successfully matched. Two-way selection complete!
So, Marshal Yǐn had also chosen her?
The expressions of the Guides, one after another, were nothing but shock. It was actually Marshal Yǐn—Marshal Yǐn Xī Qián actually chose Mǐ Qiū?
“If it’s two-way, doesn’t that mean Marshal Yǐn wanted to match with Mǐ Qiū? No way…”
“Marshal Yǐn has always been very mysterious. I’ve never even had the chance to see the Marshal. I heard he has extremely strict requirements for his Guide partner. But Mǐ Qiū just rose to A-class, and she doesn’t have any soothing power yet. How could she be the one?”
“It’s useless to say anything now! I really envy her. Mǐ Qiū is really so lucky. Let’s just wish them well.”
Mǐ Qiū’s biggest worry right now was the other Sentinels who didn’t match with her. Mǐ Qiū first sent a message to everyone via her light-brain to comfort them. Inside the matching room, hearing the noise around her, she looked up and saw the man standing not far from her was Yǐn Xī Qián. Why did he come at this time? Under the gaze of everyone, the man extended his warm and broad palm, looking at Mǐ Qiū as if asking for her opinion.
Mǐ Qiū took his hand, their fingers interlaced tightly. Yǐn Xī Qián wore a dark blue uniform with a yellow waistline, making his body look tall and straight. It was the first time Mǐ Qiū had seen him wear these clothes. His fingers occasionally rubbed her tender white palm, and she instantly blushed with shyness. As he prepared to lead her by the hand, Mǐ Qiū asked, “Where are we going?”
“Not willing to go with me?”
“No, Marshal Yǐn, it’s just that I might still need to do something.”
“What is it?”
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