At the Yuan family estate, Li Jing and Song Yulan arrived at Yuan Mu’s residence under the guidance of a servant.
“Young Master has locked himself in his room this whole time. He only drinks nutrient solution every day, refuses to see anyone, and won’t say a word. It’s good that you two came. Please try to talk to him.” The servant spoke earnestly, concern and heartache filling his eyes.
“Uncle Zhao, we’ll do our best to talk to Ah Mu,” Li Jing and Song Yulan assured him.
Uncle Zhao smiled faintly. “You two have a good chat with Young Master. I’ll go prepare some food for you.”
After Uncle Zhao left, Li Jing and Song Yulan pushed open the gate and entered the courtyard.
The moment the door opened, a faint scent of pheromones drifted toward them. Both sentinels froze, then widened their eyes in shock.
“Th-this… this is Ah Mu’s pheromones?” Li Jing’s eyes reddened.
Song Yulan slowly nodded. “It’s his pheromone scent.”
Li Jing looked as though he had suffered a tremendous blow. He shook his head, voice choking with emotion. “How could this happen? It’s definitely that cold woody scent, but Ah Mu’s pheromones were never this gentle or harmless before. Back then, just one whiff of his pheromones was enough to leave my whole body aching for several minutes. SS-rank pheromones could kill without anyone even noticing…”
“Li Jing!” Song Yulan barked in a low voice, sternly warning him, “Don’t mention SS-rank again, and don’t bring up the past either. Don’t reopen Ah Mu’s wounds.”
Li Jing froze for a moment before sighing in resignation. “I know.”
Yuan Mu’s legs had been amputated from the upper thighs, making it extremely difficult to fit him with metal prosthetics. He still had not undergone prosthetic implantation surgery. When Li Jing and Song Yulan entered the room, he was reclining against a movable bed frame, his gaze fixed quietly on the window outside.
“Ah Mu, we came to see you.” Li Jing forced a smile as he greeted him.
“We brought the medal the school awarded you,” Song Yulan said. “It’s for your outstanding contribution during this live combat operation. The school also said you can transfer from the Mech Combat Department to any department you want. Whether it’s the elite Combat Command Department or even a less popular major like psychology, as long as you’re willing, you won’t need to take any exams. You can attend classes directly.”
He placed the medal on the table, then crouched beside Yuan Mu’s bed and pleaded softly, “Ah Mu, don’t give up on yourself, alright?”
Yuan Mu lowered his eyes. “I’m planning to suspend my studies and recover for a while. As for the future… we’ll talk about it later.”
Song Yulan did not press him and simply nodded. “Alright.”
Li Jing also moved closer to the bed, speaking with exaggerated enthusiasm, “Ah Mu, we just met your fiancée. She’s really beautiful. Not even inferior to our school beauty. You’re seriously lucky.”
Yuan Mu glanced at him but said nothing.
The enthusiasm Li Jing had forced onto his face instantly faded. “If you don’t like her, I’ll talk to your father and ask him to cancel the engagement.”
“The Yuan family and the Cheng family have business cooperation to discuss. The engagement is just an excuse,” Yuan Mu said coldly.
Besides that, the engagement was also the tool his dear stepmother intended to use to drive him out of the estate and out of Alpha Star.
Neither his father nor his stepmother would ever agree to cancel the engagement.
Cheng Li had never imagined that marriages among powerful families could be arranged so carelessly. On the third day after leaving the hospital, she was informed that tonight would be her engagement banquet with Yuan Mu.
After lunch, she was sent off to choose a gown, undergo skincare treatments, get her makeup done, and have her hair styled. By the time the entire process was finished, it was already six in the evening, while the engagement banquet was scheduled to begin at six-thirty.
When Cheng Li arrived at the hotel and saw the enormous photo of herself and Yuan Mu displayed prominently, she was completely stunned.
The two of them had clearly never met before, yet in the photograph they looked deeply in love, their expressions overflowing with the sweetness of passionate romance.
The fake editing on this photo was incredibly convincing.
If she herself were not one of the people in the picture, she would absolutely have believed the couple shared deep feelings and truly loved each other.
“Ah Mu, your fiancée is here.”
A frivolous voice rang out. The young man leaning lazily against Yuan Mu’s chair had both hands tucked into his pockets, amusement flickering in his beautiful fox-like eyes as though he were eagerly awaiting a good show.
Cheng Li turned her gaze toward the young man seated in the chair.
Black hair. Strikingly handsome and sharply defined features. Pale and haggard, carrying a fragile beauty that seemed on the verge of shattering.
This was her fiancé, Yuan Mu. In person, he was even better-looking than in the photos.
Yuan Mu acted as though he hadn’t heard the fox-eyed young man at all. He continued leaning against the wheelchair backrest, eyes lowered, either lost in thought or silently resisting the existence of her, this so-called fiancée.
The entire banquet hall suddenly fell silent.
People’s gazes swept repeatedly between Yuan Mu and Cheng Li. Some eyes carried teasing amusement, some ridicule, some sympathy, and some all three at once.
But no matter what emotions they held, one fact remained undeniable:
Every single one of them was here to watch the spectacle between her and Yuan Mu.
No one told Cheng Li what ceremonies were involved in an engagement banquet or what she was supposed to do.
Father Cheng was busy chatting animatedly with others, while Cheng Yingying, Cheng Yueyue, and the rest held wine glasses in hand, openly watching her make a fool of herself.
Since no one cared about her, she decided to improvise freely.
Cheng Li figured she should first try to build some goodwill with her fiancé.
For the sake of the mining planet.
“Hello, my name is Cheng Li.” She extended her hand toward Yuan Mu, the smile on her face obedient and harmless.
Yuan Mu, however, acted as though he hadn’t heard her and continued lowering his gaze in silence.
Cheng Li was not embarrassed in the slightest. Calmly, she withdrew her hand, dragged over a chair, and sat down beside Yuan Mu’s wheelchair.
“So Yuan Mu really does look down on her.”
“Well, she’s just an ordinary person, and she’s disabled too. No matter what, Yuan Mu used to be an SS-rank sentinel, the top student of the First Military Academy. Countless guides used to flock to him one after another.”
“That was the past. Now, him wanting to marry a guide is no different from a fool’s dream. The Alliance wouldn’t allow precious guides to be wasted on him either. What level do you think Yuan Mu’s strength has dropped to now?”
“Who knows? But no matter how low it is, without his legs, he’ll never pilot a mech or return to the battlefield again. He’s basically no different from a cripple.”
“What a pity. An SS-rank sentinel ruined just like that!”
“……..”
Whispers spread all around them.
Cheng Li sipped her juice in small mouthfuls, her gaze drifting toward Yuan Mu from time to time. Even as the subject of everyone’s gossip, his emotions did not fluctuate in the slightest.
It was hard to tell whether he had simply given up completely and no longer feared anything, or whether his mental resilience was so strong that he genuinely did not care about all the malicious chatter.
“Yuan Mu, you got engaged without even sending us an invitation. We were classmates, after all. Isn’t that a little too heartless?”
A group of tall young men walked in, the one leading them speaking first.
“Zhao Pang, don’t you have any idea what kind of relationship you people had with Ah Mu?” The fox-eyed young man frowned and stepped in front of Yuan Mu protectively.
“Former rivals, obviously.” Zhao Pang curled his lips into a malicious smile and shoved the fox-eyed young man aside with one hand. “Wen Zhao, has Yuan Mu become so weak that he can’t even speak for himself anymore? You have to do it for him?”
Wen Zhao narrowed his eyes slightly and shot back, “Of course not. I just don’t want you people dirtying my younger sister-in-law’s eyes.”
Cheng Li, who had suddenly been dragged into the conversation: “……….”
Not dirty at all. Every single one of them was tall and broad-shouldered with narrow waists. Very pleasing to the eye.
Zhao Pang turned to Cheng Li and let out a cold sneer before looking back at Yuan Mu. “I heard your level dropped badly. Exactly how far have you fallen now?”
Yuan Mu did not even spare him a glance.
Being ignored made Zhao Pang’s expression darken with anger. “Since you won’t say it, I’ll test it myself.”
A strong scent of alcohol burst from Zhao Pang’s body, charging directly toward Yuan Mu.
Yuan Mu let out a muffled grunt, and the last traces of color vanished completely from his pale face.
“Zhao Pang, stop it!” Wen Zhao threw a punch at Zhao Pang, but Zhao Pang dodged it easily, and the two immediately started fighting.
“Zhao Pang, who the hell told you to come here and cause trouble, you bastard? See if I don’t beat the crap out of you!” Li Jing rushed over and joined the fight.
Song Yulan arrived right behind him and also started fighting with the people Zhao Pang had brought along.
For a moment, screams erupted throughout the hall as everyone else hurriedly backed away to avoid getting caught in the chaos.