Bai Xinjian could not help but ask 0048, “What is going on? Why are his eye pupils the same color as Claude’s?”
[Claude?] 0048’s tone sounded bewildered. [Their eye colors are not the same, Jianjian. Are you colorblind? Claude’s right eye is light gold, while Shen Yuhuai’s eyes are black.]
Bai Xinjian, “?”
He looked at Shen Yuhuai’s eyes again carefully. He was certain he had not seen wrong. Could it be that this was an eye only he could see?
Bai Xinjian remained calm. He would not be foolish enough to share information with 0048. It was better to let this misunderstanding continue.
Shen Yuhuai and Bai Xinjian stared at each other warmly for a while. Bai Xinjian used the word warmly because he truly felt that the expression the other man wore while looking at him was fervent. He looked like a dog that had finally seen its owner after a long time, wagging its tail.
?
Was this normal? Did the book not state that Shen Yuhuai and Bai Yu had a marriage of convenience?
He is looking at me. He is looking at me!
Bai Xinjian could not hear the monster’s inner thoughts at this moment. He did not know how joyful the monster felt. He made eye contact with me. I love it!
Perhaps the atmosphere between the two was too intimate, causing Jiang Sui’s grandfather, Jiang Dingcheng, to cough dryly from a short distance away. Since Shen Yuhuai did not take the initiative to greet them, Jiang Dingcheng had to lead Jiang Sui forward himself.
“General Shen,” Jiang Dingcheng said, his voice carrying the heaviness and weariness typical of his age. “I did not expect you to visit today. It is our lack of hospitality. You have returned triumphantly from a great battle, yet no one informed us of such significant news in advance.”
The moment Shen Yuhuai turned around, his expression and aura changed completely from what they were a moment ago. He said in a deep voice, “It is not worth celebrating. A general may die in a hundred battles, and his body may be wrapped in a horse’s hide upon return. For the sake of the Alliance, these things are normal.”
Jiang Dingcheng was stunned. He clapped his hands and said, “What a magnificent statement: A general may die in a hundred battles, and his body may be wrapped in a horse’s hide upon return!”
He took a glass of wine from a nearby waiter’s tray and declared, “For the Alliance!”
Seeing this, the guests quickly raised their glasses and echoed, “For the Alliance!”
Distracted by this, the guests’ attention shifted back to Jiang Sui and Jiang Dingcheng. The banquet officially began.
Throughout the evening, Shen Yuhuai stood by Bai Xinjian’s side. He had to deal with a great many people, and Bai Xinjian felt firsthand just how many people in this hall wanted to curry favor with Shen Yuhuai. Consequently, the number of people Bai Xinjian had to interact with increased as well. With Shen Yuhuai by his side, the hushed whispers criticizing Bai Xinjian disappeared, replaced only by praise.
It was no wonder the original host was eager to find a new patron after hearing that Shen Yuhuai was about to become an unfortunate one. This was indeed a shortcut.
Halfway through the banquet, Bai Lan and Jiang Su arrived with the eldest son of the Bai family and their adopted son. As soon as the four of them appeared, the guests’ gossiping gazes focused back on Bai Xinjian and the couple.
The year Bai Yu was lost in the plaza by the servants, the Bai couple used excessive longing for their youngest son as an excuse to adopt a child from an orphanage who was about the same age as Bai Yu. That child was the current Bai Yuchen. Yuchen meant to conquer the stars of the universe; the Bai family had high hopes for this child.
When Bai Yu entered into a marriage with Shen Yuhuai, Bai Yuchen had just graduated from the Combat Department at Imperial Capital University and was promoted to a probationary graduate student. In two years, Bai Yuchen would graduate with his master’s degree, and his future would certainly be limitless. There was no need to even mention the eldest son, Bai Xu, who had already inherited the family business.
Born of the same mother, their lives had diverged into such different paths. It was truly incredible. Bai Xinjian could not empathize with Bai Yu. He was merely an observer who could not understand or feel those emotions.
The late-arriving Bai couple and their two sons presented generous gifts and busied themselves chatting with Jiang Dingcheng. They seemed to have endless topics to discuss, leaving the younger Jiang Sui sidelined. Bored, he scanned the banquet hall and finally set his sights on Bai Xinjian. It seemed to dawn on him that he had not yet greeted Bai Xinjian since he arrived. He smiled, picked up his wine glass, and walked toward Bai Xinjian.
“Bai Yu, long time no see?” Jiang Sui smiled and raised his glass to Bai Xinjian.
Bai Xinjian nodded politely and clinked glasses with him. “Long time no see.”
Jiang Sui was three years younger than Bai Xinjian and was currently studying at Imperial Capital University. During Jiang Sui’s freshman year, Bai Yu had a brief encounter with him during a club activity.
Jiang Sui then looked at Shen Yuhuai. “General Shen.”
Shen Yuhuai nodded politely as well.
“Brother Gu Yue told me he moved next door to General Shen a while ago. I wonder if you have had the chance to run into him since you returned from the front lines?”
Shen Yuhuai said in a deep voice, “Gu Yue? Who? I do not know him.”
Jiang Sui, “?”
He looked up at Shen Yuhuai. Shen Yuhuai was very tall with deep-set features and a high nose bridge. With his European-style double eyelids, there was a sense of aloofness when he looked down at people. However, since entering the banquet, Shen Yuhuai had not removed his military cap, and his hands were covered in clean, white military gloves. When he spoke to Jiang Sui, one hand held a wine glass, and his expression was casually indifferent, as if he were carelessly listening to a subordinate’s military report.
Jiang Sui realized that in Shen Yuhuai’s position, it was very possible he genuinely did not know who Gu Yue was. His expression became slightly awkward.
Jiang Sui had originally wanted to remind Shen Yuhuai that his little husband was restless and seemed interested in his new neighbor, Gu Yue. A while ago, while driving past the military residential area where Gu Yue had moved, he had seen Bai Yu holding a box of sweets and trying to curry favor with Gu Yue. As the only son of the Jiang family and an overachiever since childhood, Jiang Sui had many followers, and he possessed an innate sensitivity to emotional matters. He could tell that the way Bai Yu looked at Gu Yue was definitely not simple.
Especially since Shen Yuhuai, who should have returned in triumph after the victory against the Zerg, had been missing for so long, and rumors of him becoming an unfortunate one had spread across the Imperial Capital. He did not believe Bai Yu could sit still. But now that Shen Yuhuai had returned, safe and sober, Jiang Sui’s attempts at sowing discord seemed to have lost their basis, leaving him only with a sense of embarrassment.
Bai Xinjian had not expected that Shen Yuhuai would follow him closely the entire night like a tail. He even felt that if he had gone to the restroom, the man would have followed him into the stall. This made Bai Xinjian very curious. Had Shen Yuhuai had a change of heart? Or, after being infected by the pollutants, had he suddenly realized he had a spouse at home and started to learn how to cherish his marriage and family?
As he stepped out of the restroom stall and stood at the sink, Shen Yuhuai followed him to wash his hands. Bai Xinjian stood under the hand dryer, and Shen Yuhuai came over to hand him a paper towel.
Bai Xinjian, “?”
He was utterly baffled. People’s thoughts were so strange; they were truly beyond the comprehension of someone with his emotional detachment.
Just as he was about to exit the restroom, Bai Xinjian heard a whisper from the corridor: “Did you find General Shen?”
“I found him,” another voice replied. “He is in the restroom. I almost lost him; it scared me to death.”
“The fact that General Shen was infected by pollutants must not be discovered by anyone, or we will not be able to answer to the higher-ups.”
“Why do you think the higher-ups agreed to let General Shen out? Would it not have been better to keep him in the ward?”
“The Zerg war is over. If General Shen does not show his face, it will only cause more public panic.”
“It is also strange. Others infected by pollutants usually become human-ghost hybrids. The medical staff at the Alliance’s secret ward say General Shen has almost never lost his mind and has always been clear-headed. If I hadn’t participated in the post-war physical exam with him and seen the medical staff extract high-concentration pollutants from his blood with my own eyes, I would have almost thought this was political persecution.”
The two people spoke unreservedly outside the restroom, as if they were afraid someone would not discover them. Realizing that the two people speaking outside were perhaps sent by the Alliance to monitor Shen Yuhuai, Bai Xinjian stopped.
Shen Yuhuai was right behind him, and it was obvious that he had heard the conversation just as well as Bai Xinjian. Bai Xinjian began to consider what kind of reaction would be appropriate now. He had inadvertently peeked into Shen Yuhuai’s secret; should he feel embarrassed, worried, or afraid?
Before Bai Xinjian could put on a suitable facial expression, he suddenly felt the air pressure behind him drop. The fluorescent light overhead suddenly let out a buzzing electrical sound. The lights in the restroom flickered, and Shen Yuhuai’s shadow behind Bai Xinjian began to swell. It swelled until it resembled a giant creature, casting a dark shadow that completely enveloped Bai Xinjian.
Eat, eat.
He heard a hoarse voice say, “He knows my secret, eat.”
[What is going on, Jianjian?] 0048’s panicked voice rang in Bai Xinjian’s mind. [Why did Shen Yuhuai suddenly monsterize? There was no sign of it!]
“Maybe it is because I accidentally heard his secret and stimulated him?” Bai Xinjian was not afraid at all. He actually wanted to experience what it felt like to be afraid, but he asked 0048, “Should I act afraid now?”
[At a time like this, hurry and think of a way to call for help outside!] 0048 could not understand Bai Xinjian’s way of thinking.
“Oh,” Bai Xinjian felt 0048’s suggestion made sense and was about to reach out to open the door. With a thud, a pale, monstrous hand covered in red and green veins passed over Bai Xinjian’s cheek and pressed firmly against the door. Clearly, the monster did not want Bai Xinjian to leave.
The monster’s sharp fingernails scratched Bai Xinjian’s delicate cheek, and round, pearl-like blood welled up from the wound.
Hiss, hiss. Bai Xinjian felt the monster drawing closer, and a fishy, warm breath sprayed against his cheek and neck.
“Please, let me go.” Bai Xinjian got into character. He began to tremble uncontrollably, his beautiful light brown eyes veiled in a mist of water.
Huff, huff. The monster’s aura grew stronger, and the sound of his breathing became louder. Bai Xinjian began to feel a strange, vaguely familiar, and long-lost excitement. This was likely what excitement was: a desire for destruction buried deep in his bones, even if the one about to be destroyed was himself.
Bai Xinjian trembled slightly and cried, “Please, let me go.”
The monster bared his sharp fangs, pinned Bai Xinjian firmly behind the door, aimed at his fair neck, and bit down hard.