Chapter 29
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Qin Muye would be dispatched to the Thirteenth Military District next month.
Actually, he should have gone there five years ago, but the Federation was always wary of him. To the Federation, he was a ticking time bomb. While he was useful when not exploding, once he did explode…
Fortunately, the Federation has developed a new soothing agent and gland maintenance medicine for his condition. As long as he takes the medication regularly and injects the new soothing agent in advance during the sensitive period, he can control his uncontrollable self during the high-sensitive period.
So, he applied to go to the Thirteenth Military District.
It was his own plan, but also a demand from the Federation.
Currently, among the Federation’s thirteen military districts, twelve are stable and peaceful, except for the Thirteenth Military District, which remains unusually turbulent. His brother has been in the Thirteenth Military District for the past five years, but unfortunately, the results have been minimal.
Although there is a Federation army stationed in the Thirteenth Military District, it has always been entangled with troublesome sea bandits.
These sea bandits originated from the desolate stars of the Thirteenth Military District. Initially, just scattered bandits from one or two planets, they gradually grew into a formidable force of star bandits over the years, notorious for a century of looting, burning, and killing.
Later, they became even bolder, and ten years ago, they managed to instigate the local military personnel in the Thirteenth Military District, attempting to overthrow the Federation.
Originally, this had little to do with the capital star.
However, the military weapons acquired by these bandits in their early years were secretly sold by members of the Qin family.
At ten times the original price, yielding high profits.
Although the quantity was not large, over the years, it accumulated, posing a serious threat to the residents and political power of the Thirteenth District.
The Qin family, originally in the business of military weapons, held numerous mineral-rich planets. However, since the previous head of the Qin family passed away, there were individuals with dissenting views.
Fortunately, the Qin family’s matters have been gradually resolved in recent years.
Qin Muye didn’t act openly but helped his brother behind the scenes.
What needed to be eliminated was eliminated, and what needed to be cleaned up was cleaned up.
Seeing Qin Muye gradually rise, not delicate at all, Qin Zexi felt both proud and distressed.
Their Qin family was originally a well-established aristocratic family native to the capital star. According to the traditional ideas of aristocratic children, they would never willingly endure hardship and go to the remote Thirteenth Military District.
But Qin Muye was different.
The Qin family’s branch colluded with the sea bandits, trafficking in military weapons; his father and elder brother also died at the hands of the sea bandits. With so many crimes and responsibilities, he had no choice but to go to the Thirteenth Military District.
Moreover, for Qin Muye, it was a great opportunity.
If he could stabilize the Thirteenth Military District, he would be just a step away from the supreme position in the Federation’s military district.
For personal and public reasons, he had to go.
But now he had an additional reason.
Because of the person he had been thinking about.
Right there.
***
Three days later.
Qin Muye obtained some information about Rong Qiu.
However, Qin Muye’s authority as a deputy commander of the Federation had not yet been granted, and the authority of the overall commander of the First Military District couldn’t allow him to access Rong Qiu’s confidential information in the Thirteenth Military District.
He didn’t know that Rong Qiu belonged to the category of research talents that the military district needed to protect vigorously, and he couldn’t even find information about the period when Rong Qiu went to the interstellar psychological clinic to erase his memories (Rong Qin had cleaned it up).
What he could see were only the daily activities of Beta before leaving Star A.
There were texts and pictures.
Messy and complicated, but enough to show the difference in Beta.
For example, when Rong Qiu was in the First Military District, he was often bullied by alphas in the military district. The Beta wouldn’t resist; if alphas bullied him, he would bow his head and endure it. If he couldn’t bear it, he would turn around and leave.
But when Beta was in school, he would use his fists to make them submit.
After graduating and going to the First Military District, he became submissive and endured.
Qin Muye’s eyes twitched, and he continued scrolling down.
After that were dozens of portraits sorted by time.
These were photos of Beta clocking in at the military district every day, with different screenshots every day. He watched as Beta became more tired and thinner each day.
Below, there was a small line of notes:
【Mr. Rong stays in the Wei Yang area for six to seven hours after work until dawn】
At first, Qin Muye didn’t understand when he saw this sentence.
Wasn’t the Beta someone who would always return home? On the contrary, he felt that the Beta was especially fond of home. Leaving work at five, staying outside for six hours, and only returning home after eleven.
What was the Beta doing outside?
Later, he suddenly realized —
The Beta seemed to be looking for him.
The Beta’s actions were simple and inefficient, but this was within his capabilities.
Qin Muye couldn’t bear to look any longer.
It was too painful.
But he took a deep breath and continued to look.
Afterward, Beta took seven days off, seemingly resting. Soon, Beta officially resigned from his job in the First Military District, went to the welfare center, and also went to the barber shop. Finally, he put the house up for sale, with a ticket for a starship to the Thirteenth Military District, leaving Capital Star A.
This was the end of all the information found.
Qin Muye absorbed every bit of the densely packed past on the paper into his mind. Unconsciously, his fingers had tightly grasped the thick pages, and the sweat in his palms even moistened the pages.
Even though every word felt like a cold needle, piercing his spine.
He still didn’t let go.
Finally, he remembered something important that he had overlooked all along.
The Beta’s house.
***
Rong Qiu’s house had already been successfully rented out.
However, the small luxury mansion where Rong Qiu’s house was situated was part of a large family’s property. Rong Qiu’s house wasn’t considered significant there, so even after five years, no one had come to live there.
Knowing that his house was about to be purchased by the Federation’s only S-rank alpha, the homeowner personally brought Qin Muye to see it.
The house still looked clean from the outside.
Simple and elegant decoration style, and especially luxurious home furnishings that still looked expensive after five years.
Every detail highlighted the meticulous decoration by the former owner of the house.
Unfortunately, now, it was filled with dust inside.
Two alphas entered with furrowed brows, and dust flew up.
The alpha leading the way apologized to Qin Muye with embarrassment, “No one has lived here for five years. If I had known, I would have had someone clean it first. Shall I arrange for someone to clean it, and you can visit next time?”
But the man in the black suit, with a cold demeanor, waved his hand.
Indicating that there was no need.
The man’s dark gaze swept over every corner of the room.
In less than five minutes of their meeting, ownership of the house had already changed hands. The contract was signed at an unusually swift pace, with Qin Muye purchasing the house at twice the price.
Throughout the signing process, Qin Muye remained expressionless, as if shrouded in excessively damp and gloomy clouds.
The alpha, who considered himself knowledgeable, felt a chill down his spine.
The man, on the other hand, wasn’t entirely devoid of expression.
Though his face was stern, at the moment he received the keys, there was a slight movement in his eyes, revealing a hint of warmth that wasn’t too pronounced.
However, no one dared to look him directly in the eye.
Ever since he assumed his position in the military district.
Everyone looked up to him, revered him.
Qin Muye concealed the warmth in his eyes and reverted to his usual expressionless demeanor.
“Thank you.”
The apologized alpha was greatly surprised, and he stammered through the words, “No need to thank me.”
Qin Muye didn’t mind.
It didn’t matter how others treated him.
He played with the keys in his hand. Despite its small size, it felt like a thousand pounds.
***
Qin Muye lived in the house for the last half month.
He had the entire villa cleaned.
But he didn’t allow anyone to alter the layout of the house.
The vase on the coffee table was tilted at a forty-five-degree angle, the curtains on the windowsill half-drawn. He even discovered traces of plant growth in the flower beds outside, with dried branches that had become brittle and broke at a touch.
Were those yellow roses that Beta loved the most?
The alpha’s expression was inexplicable.
***
The next day, Qin Muye’s beta sergeant received a bag of dried branches to be tested, and the eyelids under the glasses involuntarily twitched.
Qin Muye asserted, “Send them for testing.”
“Okay.”
Three hours later, the beta sergeant returned with the report, “They are yellow roses from Planet O.”
“Okay.”
The man silently looked at the report, seemingly seeing the joyful expression Beta had when he planted the flowers.
A few minutes later.
The man put down the report and said lightly, “Buy seeds of these roses and send them to my residence.”
***
Something was off with the superior.
As a sergeant of a certain important figure, the beta sergeant possessed a keen sense.
Ever since the superior attended the wedding of Young Master Su, he seemed like a changed person, his expressions richer than before. Besides work, he started paying attention to other things (specifically, a certain Mr. Rong).
Now, he even asked for flower seeds and a “Guide to Planting Flowers.”
The beta sergeant found them one by one.
Qin Muye was spreading the flower seeds outside the villa when he wasn’t good at doing these things.
When he was awkwardly sowing the seeds, the friendly neighbor next door kindly reminded him to loosen the soil first and then water it.
“The roses planted by the previous homeowner bloomed exceptionally well two years ago. They didn’t need any pesticides, and during the flowering season, the whole area was golden. Unfortunately, last summer, there was a month of heavy rain, and the flowers rotted away.”
Qin Muye was stunned.
He looked at the barren soil in front of him and made an unprecedented request.
—He asked the neighbor next door for photos of the nursery’s blooming flowers from previous years.
***
Ten days later.
The villa, bought by him, was once again empty.
The planted flower seeds had just sprouted, and he only dug out one, leaving the rest for the neighbor to take care of.
Perhaps familiarity breeds fondness.
The neighbor knew about his identity but wasn’t afraid of him.
He wanted to leave some money for helping tend these seedlings, but the neighbor waved his hands, “Why give money? I’ll water them occasionally. When the flowers bloom, I’ll pick a couple as a thank-you gift.”
“Thank you.”
And so, the man boarded a special starship heading to the Thirteenth Military District. Nobody knew that what he had paid a hefty sum to transport wasn’t his wealth or military district’s important documents, but just a pot of freshly sprouted, tender seedlings.
***
Half a month of vacation ended, and Rong Qiu worked for another half month.
Work remained the same, with details about mechs that might seem intricate to others but fascinated him.
He had heard that the newly appointed Federation deputy commander was going to be transferred to their Thirteenth District. When a new official takes office, three fires are ignited. Recently, the director of the research institute, Director Qian, couldn’t eat or sleep well, fearing that this deputy commander would cut off the institute’s funding.
“Oh, is that so?” Rong Qin was curious.
“Exactly, Little Rong, even though we have a lot of funding now, it’s all applied for and obtained by the previous several institute directors. The years before you arrived were tough. Except for mineral resources, everything was scarce. Later, by buying mining planet resources, we managed to gather the equipment for the research institute.”
But Rong Qiu wasn’t concerned.
He only temporarily considered his own future.
As the chief designer of the new mech, he believed in his abilities and trusted the mech he had just developed. Once the Thirteenth Military District started mass-producing the U-002 military mech and began openly selling it, the other twelve military districts would undoubtedly envy them.
Who would complain that their equipment is too advanced?
The 13th Military District also saw the potential. Judging from the patent contract signed with him by the military district last month, he could get twenty percent, which was already a considerable ratio. When the 13th Military District sells a mech, he can make a substantial profit.
He could even establish his own research institute; that wouldn’t be a problem.
This was also the 13th Military District’s recently retired Commander’s attempt to retain him.
However, both his and Ah Ye’s double graves were bought here.
Certainly, he wouldn’t leave.
As an upcoming wealthy beta designer, Rong Qiu still left work low-key. Even when he left the research institute, he bought a bouquet of fresh yellow roses.
Not the O-star yellow roses that he and Ah Ye loved the most.
But better than nothing.
Golden and dazzling, that was enough.
***
It rained heavily in the evening.
Rong Qiu, drenched in rain, hid the bouquet under the hem of his clothes and ran. In the end, he became a soaked chicken, but the flowers were still intact. When he returned home, he quickly took a shower, then made two simple dishes for dinner.
The Federal News still aired on time in the evening.
Each of the thirteen military districts had its own significant events.
The special event exclusive to the 13th Military District was that the Federal Deputy Commander Qin and the 13th Military District Commander had officially arrived at the 13th Military District’s main star, U-star, in the afternoon.
The arrival had a grand reception.
When the cabin door opened, the red carpet rolled down from the spaceship’s stairs, and soldiers saluted in welcome.
Before the person appeared, a group of high-ranking officers in military uniforms surrounded, including the familiar Director Qian, dressed in a black suit, looking like a lovable black-and-white doll amid the military’s uniformed crowd.
That was how the 13th Military District was.
When they were warm, the smiles on everyone’s faces could warm a person to death.
But the radiant smiles of everyone were cut off halfway by the man’s icy and ruthless gaze.
The man was tall, but his temperament was extremely cold. His brown-green military uniform seemed to be tailor-made, the chest full and flat, and the silver buttons on the white shirt were buttoned up to the top, pressing against the throat, adding a touch of restraint.
But Rong Qiu couldn’t see his face.
Because the man wore a black mask. When he walked halfway, the man’s deep brows furrowed tightly, as if reminding the person behind him to be careful and not to collide with his all-black checked baggage.
Originally, it was just ordinary Federal news.
Rong Qiu wouldn’t care too much.
But today, Rong Qiu’s smoking action froze in mid-air.
He always felt an exceptionally familiar feeling about the man’s face shape and physique on TV.
After contemplating for a moment, Rong Qiu took out his phone.
The chat records with his lover Ah Ye had been deleted, but the photo used as the chat background was still there.
This was the only remaining photo of Ah Ye.
In the photo, the man was also wearing a handsome military green uniform. Despite the angle of the selfie, it couldn’t conceal the depth of his eyes and eyebrows. Perhaps due to the nearby lighting, a faint filter added a bit of blurry luster, like rippling autumn water or a chilly deep pool.
Every time Rong Qiu saw it, he couldn’t help but marvel at his good taste.
Such an outstanding lover belonged to him.
But now.
He threw away the burnt-out cigarette butt in his hand.
Unusually, he didn’t take the time to admire his lover’s appearance. He sat up straight, comparing it to himself.
Lifting his eyes, lowering his eyes, lifting his eyes, lowering his eyes…
Gradually, Rong Qiu’s expression became serious.
He even began to curse in his heart.
D*mn, why?
Eyebrows and eyes, exactly the same.
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