Chapter 94: Spreading Rumors
While Yan Guixing was hard at work, Mu Mu wasn’t about to stand around idly. He folded his arms, put on his sternest little face, and played the part of the boss to a T, supervising from a meter away. He was just waiting for Yan Guixing to make a mistake or slack off, giving him the perfect excuse to send the man packing.
But despite his years of pampered living, Yan Guixing was no pampered noble with idle hands. When it came to work, he was even more efficient than the perpetually lazy Zheng An.
Most importantly, the man had an eye for what needed to be done. He would proactively organize the shelves and sweep the floors without being asked.
When customers arrived, he would stand beside Mu Mu, observing how he handled the checkout. He was a quick study; after watching just once, he had it down.
From then on, whenever customers came, Mu Mu wasn’t even needed at the register. Yan Guixing could run the small convenience store all by himself.
Sitting behind the counter playing on his terminal, Mu Mu spared a glance for Yan Guixing, who was bustling about the store in a green apron. The whole situation felt surreal.
In just half a day, not only was he finally enjoying the true perks of being a store manager, but he also had an admiral working for him for free.
Of course, having a peacock in full display like Yan Guixing in the store was bound to attract some trouble.
As mentioned before, the main customer base for Mu Mu’s little convenience store was students from the nearby university town.
The first customer to notice was one of these students. Her first thought upon seeing Yan Guixing was that he looked familiar, a bit like the recently elected admiral. But she didn’t follow the news and couldn’t imagine seeing the actual admiral in a tiny convenience store like this, so she just wrote him off as a handsome look-alike.
When she got back to campus, she spread the word to her classmates, telling them a green-eyed hottie had started working at Mu Mu’s store, one who looked just like that famous guy. A turtleneck paired with a green apron—the whole look was just sinfully tempting.
A love for beauty is universal. Driven by curiosity, the other students began heading to Mu Mu’s store in twos and threes.
At first, they were skeptical, wanting to see for themselves if the guy was really as handsome as their friend claimed. Besides, they had to buy things anyway, so it didn’t matter which store they went to.
But when they saw him in person, they realized their friend had been modest. His level of handsome deserved a full-throated scream.
And the way the green-eyed man looked at the little store manager—it was so tender and affectionate, so gentle and doting. You could tell at a glance that he was utterly smitten.
But the more they looked, the more this green-eyed hottie resembled Admiral Yan Guixing.
At first, it was just a suspicion, one they quickly dismissed as impossible. An admiral? Working as a clerk in a tiny convenience store on their backwater planet? That was insane. Wasn’t being a five-star admiral a better gig?
Just for fun, someone snapped a candid photo of Yan Guixing and posted it on the StarNet with a joking caption: “The Admiral’s new part-time job at a convenience store.”
Unexpectedly, the comments started flooding in. Within ten minutes, it was a top trending topic across the entire network.
Someone even compared the candid shot with official photos of Yan Guixing online, and the conclusion was undeniable: this was Admiral Yan himself!
Back in the store, people were starting to recognize him too.
Yan Guixing may have had a reputation for being a bit wild, but his skills were the real deal. Between that and his position as a professor in the mecha department of the military academy, he had a dedicated following.
A young man wearing glasses mustered his courage and approached Yan Guixing. Under the man’s perfect, almost intimidating smile, he asked in a trembling voice, “You… you’re Admiral Yan, aren’t you?”
His voice wasn’t loud, but it was like a splash of hot water on a sizzling pan. The people around him fell silent for a second before erupting into an even louder clamor.
The young man didn’t even wait for a reply, continuing on his own, “It has to be! I couldn’t be mistaken! I’m definitely not mistaken!”
Yan Guixing hadn’t really cared whether he was recognized or not, but as he looked at the faces before him—filled with shock, admiration, excitement, curiosity, and scrutiny—an idea began to form.
His brow, which had furrowed slightly in annoyance at the noise, smoothed out. The corners of his crimson lips curved up just a fraction.
Yan Guixing gave a magnanimous nod. “I am Yan Guixing.”
The moment the words left his mouth, the crowd let out a collective shriek, a sound so loud it threatened to blow the roof off the convenience store.
Mu Mu, who had been sent to the break room for a nap by Yan Guixing earlier, jolted awake. He rubbed his eyes and mumbled, “What’s going on? Is the building coming down?”
He sighed like a world-weary old man. He knew he shouldn’t have listened to Yan Guixing and left the store in his hands.
But before he could even put on his shoes, the noise outside returned to normal. Mu Mu scratched his cheek. “Is it over already?”
He hesitated, but ultimately decided to trust that Yan Guixing could handle the store. With a yawn, he lay back down.
Outside, after the initial shriek, Yan Guixing’s smile vanished. He held up a hand, sternly gesturing for silence.
His presence was so commanding that just standing there, expressionless, was enough to make everyone snap to attention, their mouths clamped shut, not daring to make another sound.
Yan Guixing scanned the crowd, noting that most of them were holding items to purchase. He pointed to the side of the counter and said in a cool voice, “Form a line. One by one. No screaming. And you each get to ask one question.”
The first person in line to check out was the young man with glasses who had recognized him. He didn’t dare look Yan Guixing in the face, instead wringing his hands excitedly and whispering, “Admiral Yan, I really, really admire you. I never thought I’d see you here, of all places. I’m just so thrilled. Sob… if only my scores had been high enough back then, I could have applied to the military academy.”
Overcome with emotion, the young man started to cry, wiping his tears with his sleeve.
Yan Guixing glanced at his thin frame and offered some consolation. “It’s probably for the best. With your physique, you would’ve been worked to death by the D-level training menu.”
Whether the young man felt consoled or not was unclear, but the people behind him were certainly thinking that Admiral Yan had a sharp tongue.
It was a classic case of being brave behind a screen. On the StarNet, everyone dared to comment freely about Yan Guixing. But now, standing before him and given permission to ask a question, they were too intimidated to speak.
Several people in a row checked out without asking anything. Finally, a girl stepped up. Her hands trembled as she passed her nutrient solution to Yan Guixing, but her question was the boldest yet.
“Admiral Yan, why did you come to Planet D5? Why are you helping out at this store? Do you know the little manager or the big manager? Is your broken engagement related to one of them?”
The girl fired off a string of questions without pausing for breath. The speed of her speech and the explosive content of her queries had everyone behind her straining their ears.
Yan Guixing shot her a look that was half a smile. “I said one question. How many was that?”
The girl’s face flushed, and she stammered, unable to reply.
But her questions had hit the nail right on the head for Yan Guixing. He slowly and deliberately placed her nutrient solution into a bag and said with a smile, “I’m here to chase after my wife.”
The girl hadn’t expected an answer at all, let alone one so shocking. She didn’t even remember how she took the bag from his hands or how she left the store.
Voyeurism is a dark, inescapable part of human nature. With the girl having broken the ice, the rest of the crowd seemed to find their courage. Their questions all revolved around who this “wife” was and whether he had broken his engagement for them.
Yan Guixing was more than happy to answer. By the time the afternoon was over and Mu Mu emerged from the break room, stretching lazily, he had become the officially, personally confirmed “wife” of Yan Guixing.
Mu Mu couldn’t understand it. How could such an outrageous rumor have started while he was just taking a nap?
The culprit was easy to find. There were only two people in the store: him and Yan Guixing. If it wasn’t him, it could only be Yan Guixing.
Puffing his cheeks, Mu Mu marched over to the counter, crossed his arms, and glared imposingly at Yan Guixing, who was ringing up a customer.
Yan Guixing caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. As Mu Mu got closer, he turned his head slightly, taking in the sight of his puffed-up, angry face, and couldn’t help but smile.
So, he found out about the rumors. He was here to demand an explanation.
Yan Guixing sped up, and after sending off the last customer, he heard his little boss say bossily, “You. Go flip the sign outside to ‘Closed.'”
Yan Guixing smiled and walked out from behind the counter. As he passed Mu Mu, he asked, “It’s only six-thirty, little manager. Isn’t it a bit early to close?”
He deliberately softened and slowed the last two words, “little manager,” his voice lilting upwards. Filtered through that magnificent voice, the words sounded teasing and intimate.
But the person being teased was in no mood for it. He shot Yan Guixing a glare and huffed, “Mu Mu is the manager, so what Mu Mu says, goes! We’re closing now.”
Yan Guixing hadn’t expected much of a response anyway. After closing up, he stood obediently beside the counter, looking like a good employee waiting to be reprimanded by his tyrannical boss.
The tyrant in question, Mu Mu, looked significantly less intimidating due to the massive height difference between them. But that didn’t stop him from launching his attack.
“You’re fired!”
Yan Guixing hadn’t seen that coming. He blinked for a moment, then asked instinctively, “Why?”
He’d been a good employee, hadn’t he? Except for, well… Yan Guixing narrowed his eyes, thinking. Except for letting those rumors run wild.
And just like that, Mu Mu exploded at his simple question. His round eyes glared at Yan Guixing as he accused, “You spread rumors about your boss during work hours, and now they’re all over the StarNet! What ‘wife’? Mu Mu is not your wife! Go and clarify it right now!”
Yan Guixing feigned ignorance. “Ah?” he said, then argued, “You’ve got it all wrong! I didn’t start those rumors. It was those people who were talking nonsense.”
He paused, then added righteously, “Mu Mu isn’t my wife yet.”
For some reason, Mu Mu’s heart clenched, but he still nodded. “Right. Not your wife.”
Yan Guixing smiled. “When I succeed in wooing Mu Mu, and Mu Mu agrees to sign the marriage certificate with me, then he’ll be my wife. On that point, they were indeed spreading rumors.”
Mu Mu’s slightly deflated mood instantly lifted. He was angry at himself for being so useless and angry at Yan Guixing for his silver tongue.
Fuming, Mu Mu spun in a circle twice, then glared at Yan Guixing. “Mu Mu doesn’t care! Go clarify it! Say you have nothing to do with me, and that Mu Mu is not your wife.”
Yan Guixing obligingly took out his terminal and generously projected a screen between them. He typed out a clarification exactly as Mu Mu had demanded.
The result? The comments that popped up were all along the lines of, “Okay, okay, we get it, this is part of your little game,” “It’s your business, you two can say whatever you want,” and “If you say so. I’m cool with whatever.” The responses made Mu Mu stomp his foot in frustration.
Yan Guixing spread his hands and shrugged. “See? A rumor starts with a single word, but dispelling it can take a lifetime. No matter what you say, they won’t believe you.”
Mu Mu puffed out his cheeks, took a deep breath, and declared, “Yan Guixing, you are not allowed in my store tomorrow, the day after, or ever again!”
Author’s Note: Mu Mu: I woke up from a nap, and the sky had fallen.
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