Chapter 60
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This hashtag on the trending topic was completely inexplicable — #SecretLover#.
Huh?
Who was his secret lover?
The only one who could have a bed companion relationship with him was Qin Muye.
Even though he didn’t want to speculate about Qin Muye with such malicious intentions, just the thought that this alpha had such a possibility made Rong Qiu’s expression completely dark, and he even vaguely felt nauseated.
But soon he understood that this matter wasn’t done by Qin Muye, revealing that the alpha had once had a beta bed companion. This was not a good thing for the S-class alpha who was currently on the rise in his career. Moreover, once Qin Muye’s adversaries intended to use it, they could completely bring Qin Muye down. Unlike Qin Zexi, who turned to business after entering the military, the latter was clearly less constrained by the Federation than the former.
So the mastermind behind this should not be Qin Muye.
Then who else could it be?
Who could spend so much effort to put him on the headlines of all major military districts?
There was a main hot search list on the Federation star network, with thirteen subsidiary hot search lists, each representing a military district. This incident originally happened in the 13th military district, but it inexplicably rose rapidly in all military districts.
So Rong Qiu didn’t believe that no one was pushing this behind the scenes.
Netizens love to discuss these things the most.
Even if people who understand know that this trending topic was artificially pushed up, it doesn’t stop them from indulging in their own entertainment thoughts. When it involves the word “lover,” netizens’ interest will always be piqued.
Who is the secret lover?
Is it the protagonist in the photo, or does the protagonist in the photo have many secret lovers?
If the person pushed to the trending topic is not particularly unremarkable, it wouldn’t escalate as it is now like a snowball rolling down a hill.
So in just a few minutes, this hashtag had already risen from the end of the trending list to the top.
The vast majority of unknowing netizens clicked on it just because of the ambiguous four words in the hashtag. After coming in, they saw Rong Qiu’s ID photo, and some people simply admired it.
[The ID photo without any filter looks so good, I want to see the dynamic real person] [Is this a new star signed by some entertainment company? Is “#SecretLover#” a drama about to be aired?]
And some “netizens” with unknown backgrounds began to spread their malicious thoughts.
[Looking so good, he must have been bought] / [What are you looking at? Haven’t you seen this trending topic? This person is probably a duck*] / [Help, is the Federation still openly promoting the relationship of lovers now? When monogamy dies, is the one husband, one wife system dead too?]
* male prostitute
The comments that can be seen on the star network are still tolerable, because the really offensive ones have already been blocked by the administrators, and the sudden increase in workload caught the review staff behind the star network off guard.
Meanwhile, Zhao Nanchen, who was on the phone with Rong Qiu, was filled with indignation.
“How can these netizens jump to conclusions so easily! And what’s with this trending topic? How could Brother Little Qiu be associated with such a topic? Is someone trying to target Brother Little Qiu?! The quick and unified language used, it’s obvious that there’s an organization behind all this.”
Zhao Nanchen grew up in a wealthy family in the capital star of the First Military District. With someone in his family working in the entertainment industry, he had seen quite a bit of dirty stuff like this, and he was familiar with the matter of public opinion control. Seeing the signs, he knew how things would develop behind the scenes.
Thinking ahead, Zhao Nanchen decided to take preventive measures, which is why he immediately called Rong Qiu.
However, it was already too late.
The intensity of the online attacks escalated too quickly. In just five minutes, they went from the bottom to the top, even making the previously bearable comments section unbearable to look at. Zhao Nanchen looked at all the blocked “obscene” comments appearing in the comments section, feeling disgusted.
However, Rong Qiu remained indifferent.
The reputation of a beta is the least valuable thing.
This was something he had understood long ago.
He thanked Zhao Nanchen for his concern and received many more calls afterwards, such as from his beta boss, Zhao Dongqi, and even Professor Ren, who was far away in the capital star, immediately called Rong Qiu after class.
He handled each call seriously while also keeping an eye on the developments in the trending topics.
The previously praising comments about his appearance gradually sank, replaced by ambiguous insinuations that he was the secret lover of some influential figure. These comments weren’t from personal accounts but from various inexplicable marketing accounts, even the ones selling fake shoes took the opportunity to attack him.
The comments were lively.
But perhaps because the gathering of marketing accounts was too intense, the overwhelmingly negative comments actually caused more netizens to develop a sense of rebellion.
[What’s going on? Without any background information, why are people in the comments section insulting the little brother so badly?] / [I’m dying of laughter, does anyone actually believe the words of these marketing accounts?] / [I don’t know the guy in the photo, but the loan sharks in the comments section, I’ll insult them first, spouting nonsense, so dirty!] / [Agree with the above, waiting for follow-up]
***
Meanwhile, in the Thirteenth Military District.
An omega angrily made a call, the light brain page in front of him was the star network’s trending topic comments section. As he watched more and more voices speaking up for Rong Qiu, the omega covered his bleeding neck, his once bright eyes now filled with venom.
He called his bootlicker alpha.
“Is this what you’ve been doing for me? Why are there still people listening to him?! With all the evidence I gave you, why haven’t you released anything yet?”
Through the phone, the bootlicker alpha couldn’t see the omega’s expression, but he could sense the anger in his voice, so he immediately started comforting him with familiarity and pity.
“We still need to wait a bit longer, until things ferment to a certain extent before we can release the rest.”
Wait, wait, wait…
The omega couldn’t wait a moment longer.
He wanted to ruin the reputation of his beloved beta while Qin Muye was susceptible, tarnishing his name completely.
What’s so good about a beta? What could they compare to omegas?
Moreover, he was an S-class omega, the cream of the crop among omegas. Since his differentiation, so many people had their eyes on him, so many alphas became his followers.
Why would this S-class alpha, Qin Muye, not look at him!
It’s not just Qin Muye, even Qin Zexi, when he eagerly attended Qin Zexi’s birthday banquet hoping to match with him using his S-class pheromones, what he got was the disgusted look Qin Zexi gave him and the powerful pheromones that the alpha emitted.
That matching, almost all omega glands were damaged.
His was even more serious, to the point where he had to have part of his glands removed. Even after matching with other omega glands later, the replaced glands still had severe rejection reactions.
He was already thirty-five years old this year, and even though he took meticulous care of his face, there were signs of aging.
The only thing he relied on was his S-class pheromones.
During the day, he made a desperate gamble.
He used his pheromones to completely mark Qin Muye, knowing that once he marked him, he had enough public opinion and means to force Qin Muye to marry him. But when he pushed the allure in his pheromones to the extreme, he got the same result as with Qin Zexi.
His glands were once again hurt by these brothers.
The omega’s breathing became more and more rapid, his face already flushed, and the glands on the back of his neck, which were originally oozing blood, now intensified to the point of flowing two streams of bright red blood.
He was a doctor himself.
The omega knew that his glands were completely useless now.
In that case, no one would be spared.
Not Qin Muye, whom didn’t know, nor the beta Qin Muye protected, nor even Qin Zexi, who had caused serious damage to his glands back then.
Since one bootlicker failed, he still had thousands of bootlickers.
After hanging up the alpha’s call, he called another alpha’s communication number.
His voice softened, as if his seductive pheromones could flow through the network to the alpha’s side.
***
On the other end, Rong Qiu had just finished a call with a friend from the Thirteenth Military District’s communication department. He didn’t have much interaction with this beta friend, but their beta status inevitably led to a sense of camaraderie in the Thirteenth Military District.
The beta friend promised to help him check the IP behind the scenes, but before he could do so, he already had a serious expression on his face and informed Rong Qiu.
“These quantities are a bit large, it might take some time.”
“Alright, I owe you a favor.”
“Okay.”
Both betas spoke crisply and decisively.
From connecting the call to hanging up, it only took thirty seconds.
After hanging up the phone, new posts attacking him appeared online, with some unknown small account revealing his background.
【I know this person, isn’t he the beta designer who just finished a lawsuit with the Thirteenth Military District Mech Research Institute? This photo is still his employee ID photo, how could he be associated with such a topic?】
Superficially, it seemed like an offhand mention, but in just a few sentences, Rong Qiu’s background was already revealed.
More and more of his information was being dug up afterwards.
As the situation escalated, details about Rong Qiu’s mech research institute were also brought to light.
At this point, the development of the situation finally became related to the trending topics—
Why could an ordinary beta open a money-burning research institute like a mech research institute?
Is there someone behind the scenes?
The omega looked at the results and felt satisfied.
The more an alpha tries to conceal something, the more he wants to tear it open and show it to everyone. He still remembered that time when he persistently followed Qin Muye to pick up a beta, how heartless Qin Muye was towards him, and how serious he was towards the beta. It’s really laughable; he couldn’t even compete with a beta. He would make sure to retaliate against every alpha who made him sad and upset.
At this moment, the omega had completely lost his mind. His neck was red, and even his white doctor’s coat was stained red.
It seemed like the second alpha did a good job.
The omega took out his phone and took a smiling photo of himself, ignoring the ghostly pale complexion in the photo, and sent it to that alpha with a mocking smirk—
As a reward.
Little did he know, when the second bootlicker alpha received this photo from his beloved, he was so terrified that he lost his wits and immediately called the police.
But Rong Qiu’s situation continued to ferment online.
The second alpha’s hired water army had already stopped, but the water army bought by the previous alpha, along with some netizens who didn’t know the truth, continued to explore.
The patent agreement and profit sharing related to Rong Qiu’s collaboration with the Thirteenth Military District were not known to the public, but they knew that mech research was expensive. Netizens began to speculate that there might be someone behind Rong Qiu.
Some radical netizens even went deeper into the darkness instead of attacking Rong Qiu, they also criticized the Thirteenth Military District.
Corruption among researchers was the most hated thing by the people of various military districts, especially since Rong Qiu was from the Thirteenth Military District. For a moment, some kind of dormant anger resurfaced, from blaming Rong Qiu to blaming the Thirteenth Military District.
The people of the Thirteenth Military Region also have grievances.
But they were still more rational.
Anyone who usually liked to read news from the Thirteenth Military District knew that their Chief Commander had already clearly stated his attitude towards Rong Qiu and the research institute during the lawsuit.
So most people from the Thirteenth Military District remained silent or simply didn’t believe that Rong Qiu could be that kind of person.
Rong Qiu had been paying attention to the changes and developments in the situation. From start to finish, he remained extremely calm. He even thought he would be furious, so he deliberately opened the window to let the cold wind, which was below minus ten degrees Celsius outside, wake up his mind. Unexpectedly, his heart was calm and he looked coldly at those who criticized him, but felt a bit softer towards those who spoke up for him.
But from start to finish, he didn’t seem like a normal person going through online exposure.
He was very calm.
He even coolly stamped the contract with Rong Qin and Qin Muye that he had signed with the research institute and posted it on his star network account, editing the text, but before he could send it, he received another call from Zhao Nanchen.
Today, in order to figure out what happened to Rong Qiu, Zhao Nanchen took a half-day off specially.
By now, he had taken a taxi to Rong Qiu’s villa, but when he got there, the villa gate was tightly closed. Zhao Nanchen didn’t know the location of Rong Qiu’s research institute, so he had to call Rong Qiu to ask where he was.
Rong Qiu sent Zhao Nanchen the location of his new apartment.
Twenty minutes later, Zhao Nanchen rushed into Rong Qiu’s home with an anxious and nervous expression, even more so than Rong Qiu himself, the person involved.
“I really want to kill those b*stards who spread rumors randomly. My cousin already told me that many marketing accounts are backed by professional water army teams. It’s obvious they took money to smear you, Brother Little Qiu.”
Zhao Nanchen was told by Rong Qiu to hold off on taking any impulsive actions, so Rong Qiu’s explanation hadn’t been posted yet.
After asking Zhao Nanchen, Rong Qiu realized that there were still such tricks waiting for him.
Rong Qiu took out some snacks from his home inventory for Zhao Nanchen. With the roads blocked by heavy snow, these snacks were hard to come by.
After pacifying this impulsive little master, Rong Qiu sat on the other end of the sofa and took out his light brain, which showed the latest design of his mech.
Zhao Nanchen looked at the table full of snacks and canned fruits, wanting to eat this one and that one, and finally chose a bag of potato chips.
The potato chips crunched loudly in his mouth.
“Brother Little Qiu, isn’t it funny? Those b*stards actually said you and my idol had a thing going on, and even said you were my idol’s secret lover. Couldn’t they find a suitable beta? They even dragged my idol into this mess.”
Zhao Nanchen talked a lot.
Unexpectedly, Rong Qiu was still looking at his mech design draft. Not knowing what went wrong, Rong Qiu frowned and canceled several lines he had just drawn.
It seemed like he wasn’t distracted by Zhao Nanchen’s words at all.
“Aren’t you nervous at all, Brother Little Qiu? They’re still smearing you online…”
“It’s true.”
“Huh?”
“It’s not smearing, because it’s true.”
Zhao Nanchen was startled, sat up straight as a carp, and the potato chips in his hand fell all over the floor, but he didn’t even care.
A young alpha couldn’t hide his expression on his face, especially since this matter involved his Brother Little Qiu and his idol. Now Zhao Nanchen had thousands of words to say in his heart, but they were all stuck in his throat at once. After floundering next to Rong Qiu for a while, he finally felt that Rong Qiu was blocking his light.
“Move, you’re blocking my view of the drawing.”
What drawing is he still working on at this point? Brother Little Qiu is already together with his idol.
The Alpha didn’t know what he was thinking. He was both excited and urgent, pacing back and forth in Rong Qiu’s small living room, which annoyed Rong Qiu, who finally put down his light brain.
Well, he was still a bit annoyed.
Because he had indeed been a secret bed partner of a certain alpha.
So in the explanation he had just edited, he didn’t deny this point. What he denied was the online rumors that the source of the money for opening the research institute was unclear. Perhaps his emotions had strayed off course in the past, but his career was always clean and straightforward.
The incident six years ago when the mech fell into the sea was firmly suppressed, he couldn’t explain it, and no one was willing to listen to his explanation.
But now, he would never let anyone tarnish his mechs.
Unfortunately, even now, he still didn’t know who the mastermind behind the scenes was, to harbor such intense malice towards him.
One night passed.
The internet was already on the verge of revealing Rong Qiu’s backstage sponsor.
Currently, the main star of the Thirteenth Military District was still shut down due to a snowstorm. Since everyone couldn’t work, they poured all their energy into the internet. When they saw the real-time trending posts speculating about the backer behind Rong Qiu, the people of the Thirteenth Military District laughed, and so did those from other military districts.
“We have so many well-known betas in the Thirteenth Military District, but you mention the most unlikely one :) IP: Thirteenth Military District.”
“The Chief Commander has only been in the Thirteenth Military District for less than half a year. Maybe not all the people in the district have seen him yet, so how did he get involved with this beta designer? IP: Thirteenth Military District.”
“…The Chief Commander is an S-class alpha, right? I don’t mean to look down on betas, but S-class alphas shouldn’t lack omega partners, right… IP: First Military District.”
This comment, positioned in the First Military District, was posted by Su Ran.
Su Ran felt uneasy when he saw Rong Qiu trending first, but he knew Rong Qiu wasn’t someone who would mess around emotionally, and besides, Ah Ye was now in the Thirteenth Military District, he wouldn’t let Rong Qiu become someone else’s secret lover.
Even if he did, Rong Qiu would only be with Ah Ye.
So Su Ran wasn’t worried. Even if it trended fast on the internet, Ah Ye would definitely bring it down.
But it had been almost half a day now, what started in the morning had lasted until afternoon, and now even the sun was about to set, and there was no resolution yet. In fact, it was getting worse and worse. Watching netizens trace Qin Muye’s footsteps and drag him out, Su Ran felt that something was wrong.
Even if A Ye didn’t notice for a moment, now it had been five or six hours. This trending topic, which didn’t benefit Rong Qiu in any way, had hung on for so long without any sign of coming down.
This was very wrong.
He called Qin Muye’s phone with his newly obtained phone number, the ringtone kept ringing, but no one answered; Su Ran tried calling Qin Zexi’s number, he rarely contacted Qin Zexi, even when the Su family had an accident and Ah Ye didn’t let it go, he didn’t think to call Qin Zexi.
But now Qin Zexi’s phone also went unanswered.
What was wrong with these two brothers?
They couldn’t be reached at a critical moment.
Su Ran gritted his teeth and reluctantly made a third call, instructing his secretary to immediately spend money to bring down this trending topic.
It had to be comprehensive and clean.
***
Netizens who were just watching the show online were puzzled.
The previous top trending topic suddenly dropped down, even though the heat was high, it still descended at a very fast pace.
Not only did the Federation’s overall trending topic drop, even the trending topics of the thirteen military districts started to decline. In less than an hour, despite the repeated “detainment” by netizens, the topic descended to an invisible place.
Seeing this, the water army jumped even higher.
Because their benefactor had spent a lot of money on them, they started a new trending topic, directly mentioning their names.
#Rong Qiu, Secret Lover#
***
This was how the online ecosystem worked, being suppressed would only make it swell more fiercely.
The water army only added this tag to the trending topic, and netizens, relying on their own power, pushed this topic to the top.
Su Ran: ???
He had just brought it down, why did it come back up again?
Su Ran thought he had done the right thing, but unexpectedly, Rong Qiu was being smeared even more, to the point where his name was now trending. The original stiffness in the air now completely dissipated, and not many people were speaking up for Rong Qiu anymore.
This person could bring down trending topics comprehensively, and even handled all the relevant trending topics of the thirteen military districts.
It was really hard not to suspect that there was someone big behind this beta.
Maybe what the netizens were guessing was true.
Behind the beta was an S-class alpha.
Doing a good deed but causing trouble for himself, Su Ran was almost furious.
But as he watched people online become more and more hostile, all he could do was repeatedly call Qin Muye’s phone.
***
Of course, Su Ran couldn’t get through to Qin Muye’s phone because the isolation room where Qin Muye was located was wrapped in special metal, blocking the overflow of pheromones and any electronic communication.
Qin Muye, without the solace of pheromones, faced the outbreak of his highly susceptible period alone.
Finally, a beta officer personally brought glandular comfort agents and opened a corner of the isolation room.
“Sir, here are the comfort agents, a total of thirteen.”
This was the first time the beta officer had faced the Chief Commander’s pheromones directly. Although he couldn’t smell the scent of alpha pheromones, he was struck by an invisible pressure that pounded his spine.
“Hand them over.”
With each step the beta officer took, he needed to take a deep breath. By the time he reached Qin Muye, the beta officer’s undershirt was already soaked with sweat. The beta officer placed the medical kit in front of Qin Muye, along with a thick document. He didn’t say much, as he couldn’t even open his mouth with his current physical state.
The beta officer left quickly.
Injecting the possibly ineffective comfort agents in silence, Qin Muye quickly began to read the file that had been brought to him.
The file that arrived before his high susceptible period ended must be very important.
But Qin Muye only glanced at the first line, and his already restless glands became even more agitated. Alpha glands were not as obvious as omega glands, but even so, the long-dormant muscles in his neck twitched with each movement. As Qin Muye understood the ins and outs of the situation, all the anger and restraint dissipated, his alpha breaths became violent, and the throbbing veins on his arms revealed an unstoppable eruptive force.
As the anger flowed like a breached dam, his heart throbbed with pain, each atrium filled with a feeling of heartache.
Qin Muye’s heart ached numb.
Qin Muye knew very well that the words “Secret Lover” were a deep chasm that ran through him and Rong Qiu. The fundamental reason why Rong Qiu resented him, hated him, and even refused to forgive him to this day was that Rong Qiu couldn’t forget the mistake he made five years ago.
This was the deepest pain in Rong Qiu’s heart.
But now, Rong Qiu was thrust into the spotlight, forced to display his unhealed scars to the public.
***
The beta officer who came out was still resting against the wall outside the door.
Separated by this thick door, inside and outside were simply two different worlds. The Chief Commander’s pheromones were too strong, so strong that even he, who had never been suppressed by alpha pheromones from childhood to adulthood, felt a chill. He didn’t know if he would be scolded for reporting Designer Rong’s situation to the Chief Commander.
But when he saw the second trending topic, he thought that it had already involved the chief commander.
So he didn’t think he was meddling too much…
The beta officer couldn’t count in his mind, he was still leaning against the wall, his legs soft, but he felt the pressure rise again.
The beta officer’s hair stood on end instantly.
He turned his head and was instantly frightened to the point of almost losing his soul.
The chief commander, who should have been spending his high sensitivity period in the isolation room, actually came out with a gloomy expression, and the pheromone alarm sounded because it detected a high concentration of pheromones.
But it was useless, Qin Muye had already come out.
And what was left in the isolation room were the thirteen vials of comforting agents, which were supposed to be dispersed over five days, but now there wasn’t a drop left.
***
The official finally responded.
The first to respond was the Star Network News of the Thirteenth Military District. At 5:35 PM, the Thirteenth Military District issued an announcement, without mentioning the topic of Rong Qiu’s “Secret Lover,” only using extremely brief and rigorous language to declare that Rong Qiu had never embezzled any research funds from the mech research institute.
Then came a screenshot.
Rong Qiu’s research projects and funding were listed one by one.
[This is quite a lot, isn’t it? I’ve never seen so much money in my life!]
[But he sure can make money…]
However, some professionals from other mech research institutes couldn’t help but sigh. Although these data looked like a lot of money, they were just a drop in the bucket when it came to mech research projects. Even the chief designer of the First Military District’s mech research institute openly commented under the post on the Thirteenth Military District’s news channel.
[Hello, may I ask if Mr. Rong can disclose the research results? IP: First Military District.]
[Make way, make way, the big shot is here!]
[The big shot is also suspicious of this Rong Qiu!]
[Thirteenth Military District Official Star Network News: @Fang Xunzhou, sure, please wait.]
Five minutes later, all of Rong Qiu’s two-year research results at the mech research institute were publicly released.
There were a total of five projects.
The first three were just minor projects that Fang Xunzhou didn’t pay much attention to. From the fourth project onwards, Fang Xunzhou’s eyes lit up when he saw the familiar mech numbers. The Fourth Military District hadn’t yet received the new military mechs sent by the Thirteenth Military District, but when he led the inspection team to test the mechs, he was thoroughly impressed by the mech from the Thirteenth Military District.
It was as if he had tapped into the Ren and Du meridians, and after returning, his inspiration for mech design was rejuvenated.
Fang Xunzhou didn’t return for a long time, and online discussions naturally fermented. Many mech enthusiasts were also inspired to design mechs, funding wasn’t a problem, the projects had results, and there was nothing wrong with Rong Qiu’s projects.
At the same time, the official Star Network News of the Thirteenth Military District didn’t idle either.
After obtaining Rong Qiu’s consent, the official displayed the patent contract signed between the military district and Rong Qiu at the time, as well as the subsequent profit-sharing contract. It was all in black and white, and once the mechs designed by Rong Qiu were delivered, his value would soar to a level that most people couldn’t match.
From start to finish, there was no so-called backer behind Rong Qiu.
At least, from the day Rong Qiu arrived at the Thirteenth Military District, he had relied on his own fists and strength.
At the same time, the Thirteenth Military District’s mech research institute released a resume.
The owner of the resume was Rong Qiu.
In his first year at the Thirteenth Military District, he received the “Triple One Medal.”
In the second year, with the “Triple One Medal,” he successfully obtained the “Junior Mech Designer” certificate.
In the third year, with the “Triple One Medal,” he successfully obtained the “Intermediate Mech Designer” certificate.
In the fourth year, with the “Triple One Medal” and the “Intermediate Mech Designer” certificate, he entered the mech research institute to work on mech research and modification.
In the fifth year, he successfully obtained the “Senior Mech Designer” certificate, designed a military mech that was considered very lucky by the entire Thirteenth Military District, and was unanimously approved as the chief mech designer of the Thirteenth Military District in the same year.
Rong Qiu’s resume in the Thirteenth District was illustrious.
But some alphas who had always harbored ill will towards betas remained unyielding. For these people, belittling betas had become a part of their daily lives.
Now suddenly, such an outstanding beta emerged, which was too glaring for them.
They didn’t like it, so they couldn’t allow it to exist, so they had to strike, they had to destroy.
The mindset of these people couldn’t be changed.
And finally, supporters of Rong Qiu in the Thirteenth Military District could breathe a sigh of relief.
[No one should be unaware of how rare the ‘Triple One Medal’ is, it’s awarded to a hundred people who have made significant contributions to the military district each year, and he received it for three consecutive years!]
[The ‘Triple One Medal’ is too far away from me, but those who are currently taking the mech designer certification exams are about to cry. It took me two years for the junior level, three years for the intermediate level, and now I’m forty and still preparing for the advanced level…]
[Have you all forgotten! He’s only 25 years old!]
[He’s only 25 years old!!]
[He’s only 25 years old!!]
Soon, the hashtag #He’sOnly25YearsOld# followed suit and trended.
In real-time comments, those insults, suspicions, and doubts about Rong Qiu were long replaced by new praises. With the rapid development of information, no one would think about the baseless slander that Rong Qiu endured just an hour ago, bombarded by countless netizens.
Now that everything had been clarified, Rong Qiu finally cleared his name. A comment from a beta user gradually climbed to the top.
The number of likes far exceeded the numerous comments below.
[Research results don’t lie. This is the talent the Federation needs, and it’s our hope as betas. May you be safe.]
***
Rong Qiu’s mech design was progressing well, and his full dedication left him with no energy to pay attention to online comments.
These words were like powerless soft knives, they looked frightening, but they couldn’t pierce him.
As for who was behind it all, he was still waiting for the analysis results from his communication department friend.
Since he knew that one day he would find out the real culprit, Rong Qiu wasn’t in a hurry.
Now there was an alpha in his little house of over fifty square meters. Zhao Nanchen was very familiar, even though it was his first time visiting Rong Qiu’s home, he was as friendly as if he had lived there for decades. Additionally, he also acted as a human news broadcaster.
From the Thirteenth Military District’s support for Rong Qiu to the release of Rong Qiu’s resume by the mech research institute, Zhao Nanchen’s exclamations grew louder and louder.
“D*mn! Brother Little Qiu, I didn’t know that you actually have three ‘Triple One Medals’!”
March 1st was the Federation’s founding day, and the importance of the Triple One Medal was self-evident. Zhao Nanchen had set a goal for himself to obtain one ‘Triple One Medal’ within ten years, but now his friend Brother Little Qiu had obtained three in three years.
“What missions did you accomplish to get the medals?!”
Rong Qiu casually replied as he considered metal materials, “All three times were for recapturing subsidiary stars occupied by pirates.”
“Brother Little Qiu captured three stars!!”
“Yeah.” Thinking of something, Rong Qiu’s expression suddenly stiffened, and he added, “But later, when we left, they were gradually recaptured.”
Capturing three times was equivalent to doing it in vain, only fighting for the Thirteenth Military District’s good time of owning the stars for half a year each time.
Rong Qiu didn’t like doing such things.
It was very futile.
Later, Professor Qian invited him to join the mech research institute, so he just went along with it.
Rong Qiu’s past was explained very simply.
Even so, Rong Qiu was like a hero in Zhao Nanchen’s heart, even surpassing his idol, Qin Muye.
Glancing at the clock, it was now half-past five. Zhao Nanchen went to look for spare food in the guest room, eager to cook a few big dishes for Brother Little Qiu in the evening.
“Alright, you can start cooking, I’m going out for a bit.”
“What? On such a cold day, where are you going, Brother Little Qiu?”
“I left some documents at that house, I’m going back to get them.”
Now that the snow had stopped, but the snowmelt was still slow, the temperature was still below zero, and the snow couldn’t melt.
Rong Qiu took a trip to the villa when he had some free time.
Some of his books were still in the villa, and he finally had the chance to go back. He noticed that the flowerbed outside the villa seemed to have been tampered with, but he thought it was done by Rong Qin.
To be honest, it looked a bit ugly.
Rong Qiu came out with the documents from the house. As he left, he inexplicably looked back at the misshapen nursery greenhouse.
As he got into the car, Rong Qiu suddenly remembered the yellow rose seeds planted in front of the villa. The greenhouse collapsed, but it was propped up again by Rong Qin. He didn’t know how the seedlings inside were doing. Even with a warming greenhouse, they might not survive in such cold weather.
Under the pure white snow, he didn’t know if his yellow roses were safe.
Growing yellow roses was his lifelong wish.
Unreasonable, but that’s how it was.
Just as Rong Qiu was about to leave, someone called him. It was the alpha who, after being removed from the blacklist by him, had forgotten to put him back on the blacklist. It was also the other protagonist who had been hidden from the hot search today.
“Hello, Commander Qin?”
“I’ve taken care of it.”
“What?” What was taken care of?
The alpha’s words were abrupt. But soon, Rong Qiu realized what the alpha meant.
“The documents released by the Thirteenth Military District and the research institute were arranged by you?”
“Yeah.”
Qin Muye didn’t intend to take credit.
In the extreme ferocity of his high susceptible period, Qin Muye endured the throbbing of his forehead veins, but he still appeared calm and composed over the phone.
He just wanted Rong Qiu to know that whenever Rong Qiu encountered a problem, he would always stand behind him. Just like today, when the research institute released Rong Qiu’s resume, he watched Rong Qiu standing in the brightest place, accepting countless praises. That made him very happy.
Happier than standing in the spotlight himself.
He just liked seeing Rong Qiu being praised and surrounded by all things beautiful.
But he was still uneasy. Rong Qiu inexplicably suffered from the black hot search disaster, and there was a possibility of associating it with him. Even if he stood in Rong Qiu’s shoes, the first one to suspect would be himself. Everything was too coincidental, but he hadn’t yet found out who the real culprit behind the scenes was, so he had to shoulder this blame himself.
Qin Muye reluctantly bore this blame.
He didn’t even realize that during his high sensitivity period, he was unusually contemplative and clingy. Even now, just hearing the beta’s faint breathing over the phone, he felt that the restlessness and heat on his body eased a lot.
The alpha who was taking the blame still tried to struggle.
The alpha asked somewhat cautiously, “Qiuqiu, didn’t you suspect me?”
“I did,”
Qin Muye’s heart ached again.
“But soon I felt it wasn’t you.” Qin Muye’s tense heart finally relaxed a bit, but the next moment, Rong Qiu’s light words struck him heavily.
Rong Qiu chuckled briefly, “After all, the only one I’ve had a relationship with is you. If I dig deeper, I’ll find you. But you wouldn’t do that. It’s not worth it.”
The phrase “not worth it” stabbed Qin Muye’s heart alive.
Where wasn’t it worth it?
***
After the call ended.
Rong Qiu remained calm.
He looked out the car window, seeing the small villa covered in white snow, bathed in beautiful orange light. Every home he left had left a heavy impression on him, like the one in the capital star five years ago, and the one in front of him now.
Outside was a vast expanse of white snow, but now that the snow had stopped, occasionally there were playful children stomping and playing in the snow. The older ones carried the younger ones, and when the younger ones’ boots got wet from the snow, the older ones frowned and scolded while gently lifting them onto their shoulders.
Rong Qiu felt a faint envy.
He also loved playing in the snow.
But the children in the welfare institute only had two pairs of shoes, one to wear indoors at night and one to wear outside during the day. The welfare institute’s resources were not abundant, so these strict rules were very harsh for him, who was still a child.
After getting his shoes wet, he could only endure the cold for a day. Gradually, he stopped playing in the snow.
The children’s figures outside the window disappeared around the corner of the villa, and Rong Qiu’s wandering thoughts were finally brought back.
He started the car to leave.
Unexpectedly, the phone rang again, and it was the same person calling him.
But this time, Qin Muye’s voice was obviously urgent, as if something major had happened.
“Qiuqiu, Rong Qin and my brother got into a car accident. They’ve been rushed to the emergency room at the First Hospital. I can’t come over temporarily. Qiuqiu, could you go there to check on them?”
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