Chapter 13
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
Rong Qiu was extremely happy and even ate two extra bowls of rice.
But after dinner, when Qin Muye asked him about the exams, Rong Qiu’s mood instantly dropped. It was like being asked by parents about a failed exam. Rong Qiu looked listless, and his tone became hesitant.
“I’ll be taking a makeup exam next week. Estimated score is around sixty.”
When he mentioned the makeup exam, Rong Qiu cautiously looked up. “Ah Ye, I might need to take a part-time job after class this semester, so the time I can spend with you will be reduced…”
Since makeup exams don’t qualify for scholarships, he planned to do paid tasks at school to earn some extra living expenses. Although he didn’t lack money, he still wanted to save a bit more before graduation. At least he could cover the additional living expenses.
Qin Muye stared at Rong Qiu for a long time before sighing, “No need.”
The man took out his phone, and within a minute, Rong Qiu’s phone rang with a familiar sound.
Qin Muye had transferred five hundred thousand yuan to him.
Rong Qiu suddenly stood up, looking at the string of zeros. He almost threw the phone, “It’s too much, I can’t accept it.”
Qin Muye calmly said, “It’s not much.”
If he hadn’t thought that this timid and inexperienced Beta might be overwhelmed, he would have transferred two million directly.
But Rong Qiu still didn’t want to accept it.
He had some money on hand now, not in dire straits. He planned to do part-time work to earn some extra living expenses before graduation.
So, Rong Qiu refused to accept Qin Muye’s money.
Rong Qiu placed the phone on the table. “Ah Ye, even if you have money, you shouldn’t spend it recklessly. Save it up for emergencies. What if something unexpected happens? This money can be used for emergencies.”
After saying this, Rong Qiu felt a bit worried.
Would Qin Muye think he was meddling too much….
Especially when it involved money matters.
Sensitive people don’t like being questioned…
He seemed to have inadvertently become too complacent, taking an extra step into Ah Ye’s sensitive zone.
The jet-black, shiny hair of the Beta drooped down, and he lowered his eyelashes, shrinking his neck. More than half of his face was buried in the collar of the man’s sports jacket. the Beta tried to make up for himself, “I’m not trying to interfere with Ah Ye’s decision; I just hope Ah Ye can keep the money for yourself.”
“Really not taking it?”
Rong Qiu shook his head.
Seeing that Rong Qiu wouldn’t accept it, Qin Muye didn’t react much. He just felt the meridians on the back of his hand showing faintly, and the blue veins even throbbed.
In just a few moments, his emotions returned to a level state. The man once again became cool and calm. Even if Rong Qiu didn’t accept it this time, he would settle the accounts before graduation, transferring everything to Rong Qiu’s card.
So, he simply said, “As you wish.”
***
With the money rejected, Rong Qiu was still as happy as a little fool.
Actually, even if Ah Ye didn’t invite him to dinner, Rong Qiu would be delighted just to see Ah Ye. This joy overflowed and continued until after dinner when they went to the hotel.
As the sun set, with myriad hues, the thick curtains turned the light into a long and slender twilight line. Rong Qiu squinted in the light, but he remembered clinging to someone sticky and sweet.
Like a little sweet bean.
There was a faint smell of tobacco in the air, slightly strong.
Rong Qiu sniffed and, when he opened his eyes, the man was half-leaning on the bed, like a beauty frozen in an oil painting, only to be admired from afar and not to be desecrated.
But Rong Qiu blinked, and he cautiously snuggled into the other’s embrace. Seeing no signs of refusal from the man, he carefully placed the man’s forearm on his abdomen. This was a posture of being held, and Rong Qiu liked it very much.
Rong Qiu looked at the swirling smoke in front of him and said, “Ah Ye is smoking.”
The man made a low sound in response.
This was considered an after-sex cigarette. He had only done it twice, and the beta had fallen asleep exhausted.
Rong Qiu stared at the man smoking, observing him intently.
Looking from below, the man’s face was shrouded in smoke, slightly blurry but still handsome in a unique way. Rong Qiu suddenly understood why some movies always liked to film the male lead smoking – it was genuinely enticing and attractive.
Seeing Rong Qiu staring at himself, Qin Muye raised an eyebrow and asked, “Want a puff?”
The cigarette, which had been in the man’s mouth, was offered to Rong Qiu.
Rong Qiu hugged the man’s neck tightly, eyes shining brightly as he took a puff.
Hey, the first smoke of his life.
And it was given by Ah Ye.
It must be comfortable—
“Cough! Cough… Cough!”
Rong Qiu, unprepared, took a deep breath, the strong irritation and burning sensation causing him to cough violently. He shivered, almost collapsing from being choked.
Qin Muye held him and smirked, “Can’t smoke, yet you want to.”
Rong Qiu blushed, but stuttered for a while without saying anything, just holding onto the man tightly.
Qin Muye’s last bit of coldness seemed to melt in his eyes. He took the cigarette Rong Qiu had smoked, put it in his own mouth, and with one hand, lightly pinched the back of Rong Qiu’s neck.
The Beta was obedient and gentle, resembling the kitten he saw yesterday.
No, even more heart-piercing than a kitten.
“Tell me about your family situation.”
Actually, before becoming bed partners with Rong Qiu, he had already investigated Rong Qiu’s background.
The Beta was thrown into an orphanage at the age of one and was adopted when he was ten. However, he was returned after differentiating into a Beta. Later, he earned a place in the A University preparatory class.
Qin Muye knew everything afterwards.
But now, he wanted to hear it from Rong Qiu himself.
Rong Qiu awkwardly raised his head from the man’s embrace, blinked his long eyelashes a couple of times, then quickly averted his gaze elsewhere. “Why is Ah Ye suddenly asking about this?”
Ah Ye had never asked about his family background before.
Rong Qiu wasn’t the type to bring it up either.
But now that the man asked, Rong Qiu’s heart fluttered with ripples.
So why ask….
Considering Ah Ye gave him 500,000 yuan this time and analyzing from his brief and meager emotional experiences, Rong Qiu concluded that Ah Ye must be showing further intentions.
They were already a couple, and going further meant becoming legal partners.
Legal! Partners!
So, Ah Ye wanted to marry him!
Rong Qiu shivered, then, like reciting a list, he recounted his background experiences to the man.
But as he got to the later part, he seemed a bit down.
From childhood, every time he thought about the experience of being thrown into an orphanage, Rong Qiu never lacked confidence. But now, talking to Qin Muye about it, he felt an inexplicable inferiority.
Both were orphans, but he and Ah Ye were different kinds of orphans.
Ah Ye’s foster parents loved him, and if they hadn’t passed away early, Ah Ye would have had a happy family. In contrast, he was abandoned by his foster parents after differentiating into a Beta…
Even so, he didn’t hide anything, nor did he omit any details.
He presented his experiences over the years in front of Qin Muye straightforwardly. In the end, he stared at Qin Muye with clear and bright eyes, like lifting the moon from the sea, with pearls hidden in the clam.
The man’s clothes were not returned to Rong Qiu; he told Qin Muye he would return them after washing, and Qin Muye agreed.
Back in the dorm, Rong Qiu finally couldn’t maintain the calm on his face.
He flopped onto the bed, frantically unlocking his phone to search.
—Why did a boyfriend ask about his family background?
—What’s the reason for a boyfriend suddenly asking for a date?
—What’s the reason for a boyfriend suddenly giving a huge sum of money?
The search queries were almost the same, and the responses from netizens were similar to what Rong Qiu had expected.
Rong Qiu earnestly read through the replies.
The answers to these kinds of questions were nothing more than two categories: either the boyfriend was a scoundrel, or the boyfriend and he were a perfect match.
Rong Qiu was very sure that Ah Ye was not a scoundrel.
Ah Ye had skipped a grade, given him a living allowance of 500,000 yuan, and now was asking about his background, all timed perfectly in his fourth and final year…
Ah Ye wanted to become his other half!
Marriage upon graduation!!
Yes, that’s it!
A thunderous revelation exploded in Rong Qiu’s mind, and his face turned as red as boiling iron, burning and flushed.
Marriage~
He would work hard to earn money to support Ah Ye!
If everything went smoothly, before his graduation season arrived, he could use the scholarship he had saved for many years to buy a house and live with Ah Ye.
Just thinking about living together made Rong Qiu feel like he was soaking in hot springs. He smashed his head heavily into the soft pillow. Although he felt like he was suffocating, he hugged the pillow and joyfully laughed.
***
After September passed, October arrived with the cool breeze of autumn.
The weather became slightly cooler, and Qin Muye’s visits to Rong Qiu increased noticeably.
Each time, it wasn’t just for the sake of bed-related matters as before.
Sometimes, he would accompany the Beta for a meal, and sometimes, he would bring questions from the command department to discuss with the Beta. The command department and the combat department were the two most closely linked departments in the military region. If they had good coordination, one mission could yield twice the results with half the effort.
It was also the first time for Qin Muye to cooperate with Rong Qiu.
After an hour of negotiation, both parties left with a slight smile in their hearts.
Rong Qiu didn’t mind, as Qin Muye had always been someone he considered capable of standing on top of the world. Even without this academic cooperation, Rong Qiu still thought Qin Muye was exceptionally impressive.
The one undergoing a change in perception at the moment is the usually proud Qin Muye.
He brought along challenging problems, simulations of battlefield scenarios. Rong Qiu also had his own insights into these problems. Perhaps due to different academic backgrounds, the Beta’s perspective always stood out, although it might be overly straightforward, even a bit crude. However, upon careful analysis, Qin Muye found that Rong Qiu’s views were flawless, just taking different paths to the same destination. Even the data calculated by the Beta had no errors, making it hard to believe that such complex data came from a human brain.
Qin Muye gathered all the problem data, and on the draft paper, there were Rong Qiu’s calculation formulas.
The Beta’s handwriting was soft, but the strokes were sharp and resilient.
This reminded Qin Muye that Rong Qiu was a talent coveted by both the command department and the combat department.
When Rong Qiu finished the preparatory class a year early, the highly competitive combat and command departments argued in the principal’s office, banging on the table, vying for him. Rong Qiu chose the combat department.
Clearly, he was outstanding, but he was still a Beta.
Now, the little Beta was diligently sweeping the dormitory floor, resembling a busy little bee collecting honey.
Seeing that the man was watching him, a naturally charming smile appeared on Rong Qiu’s delicate and pretty face. When he smiled, the corners of his eyes would become round and charming.
Silly, naive.
Overall, he had a pure and unsophisticated appearance without any scheming.
Qin Muye withdrew his gaze, and his Adam’s apple rolled gently.
***
This week, Rong Qiu felt like he was in a wonderful dream.
He had classes in the morning and afternoon, took paid tasks during the two-hour lunch break, and practiced in the mecha in the evening for two hours.
Rong Qiu tried to return by 9 PM because at this time, Qin Muye would bring problems from the command department to discuss with him.
Rong Qiu didn’t find doing these problems troublesome.
On the contrary, he quite liked the command department’s problems and, even more, liked having Qin Muye’s command department.
But, all things considered, he would still choose the combat department.
When piloting the mecha into the air, he felt like a free bird.
On this day, after discussing the command department’s problems with Qin Muye, Rong Qiu stretched lazily. His white T-shirt was pulled up, revealing a segment of his fair and flexible waist.
Qin Muye’s gaze darkened, and he pulled Rong Qiu into his arms.
Rong Qiu was docile.
Seeing that the man seemed to be in a good mood, Rong Qiu boldly reached out, hugging the man’s neck. “Ah Ye, which military region do you want to go to after graduation?”
The man’s hand, which was rubbing the flesh around his waist, paused.
Rong Qiu continued waiting for his response. “Professor asked me today. I want to choose the same military region as you.”
There were thirteen military regions in the federation, and he would go wherever Ah Ye went.
Rong Qiu didn’t say the last sentence on the spot, but Qin Muye could read it from his eyes.
Qin Muye reached out, pinching Rong Qiu’s lips, red and soft, as if plucking a rose waiting to be picked. Rong Qiu didn’t understand his overthinking; he affectionately leaned his head against Qin Muye’s palm.
Just like a little pet waiting for its owner’s indulgence.
Qin Muye had no doubt that if he said he would choose the most dangerous thirteenth district, Rong Qiu would follow him.
But he didn’t want Rong Qiu to go to the Thirteenth Military District.
They would inevitably be separated.
Meeting again in the Thirteenth Military District in the future would not be good for either him or Rong Qiu.
So the best outcome was for them not to meet again in the future.
However, considering Rong Qiu’s memory, he would probably forget about him in a few years.
Even though he hoped for this, the joy slowly faded from Qin Muye’s heart, turning into a deep and wordless darkness.
He remained silent for a long time.
When he suppressed the discomfort, and looked into the clean and pure eyes again, his fingertips rolled over Rong Qiu’s lip beads. “The First Military Region.”
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
I feel bad for him because he’s stupid in a lack of parental love kind of way 😭😭