“Elder Yu?” Jiang Yan spoke, his voice tinged with confusion.
Dean Yu let out a soft “Ah,” and after regaining his composure, he spoke with a warm chuckle. “What a coincidence. This little friend of yours looks quite a lot like a student I once had.”
Jiang Yan paused, but before he could process the thought, the elderly man stood up to usher them in. “Don’t just stand there; come, sit down.”
Suppressing his racing thoughts, Jiang Yan led Xie Guanning to the opposite sofa. The elder looked at Xie Guanning with grandfatherly kindness. “You must be the top scholar from this year’s exams that Little Liu mentioned, right?”
Xie Guanning sat with impeccable posture, looking every bit the model student. He gave a polite, obedient nod. “Yes. I’ve heard much about your prestige, Dean Yu. Please forgive me for this unannounced visit.”
The dean was gentle, brewing a cup of tea for each of them. “I was quite shocked when Little Liu told me that this year’s top scholar intended to join the military. A child of your age with such resolve, perseverance, and a clear vision for the future—it’s truly excellent to see.”
He then asked, “Do you have any prior knowledge of mecha fundamentals?”
“I’ve self-studied some common textbooks on the market,” Xie Guanning replied, pausing to choose his words carefully. “And in my spare time, I work at a mecha repair shop fixing components.”
“Oh?” Elder Yu’s surprise was palpable. A moment later, he smiled. “Foundational knowledge combined with practical experience… very good, very good.” He nodded repeatedly, clearly satisfied.
Xie Guanning felt a wave of relief.
Elder Yu proceeded to ask several technical questions. Xie Guanning answered thoughtfully and seized the opportunity to consult the dean about problems he hadn’t been able to solve on his own. Dean Yu, initially relaxed, gradually became serious, eventually forgetting to even sip his tea.
He sighed and shook his head in admiration. “Your current level of knowledge is barely different from a typical sophomore. You only lack a systematic framework. Tell you what—I’ll have Little Liu give you the freshman and sophomore textbooks. Study them first, and if there’s anything you don’t understand, come and ask me. I should be at the academy for the next few weeks.”
Overjoyed, Xie Guanning naturally agreed.
Elder Yu then turned his gaze to the silent Jiang Yan. He smiled at Xie Guanning and said, “The weather is lovely today, and our campus is quite beautiful. Since it’s your first time here, why don’t you go have a look around?”
Understanding that the two men had something private to discuss, Xie Guanning tactfully excused himself and left.
Jiang Yan watched him walk away before setting down his teacup. He gave a slight nod. “Elder Yu.”
The dean took a sip of tea and smiled. “I rarely see you, yet here you are today, escorting a little friend. That doesn’t seem like you at all.”
Jiang Yan lowered his lashes, a trace of a smile touching his eyes. “And what do you think of him?”
Elder Yu shook his head helplessly. “You…” He narrowed his aging eyes as he watched Xie Guanning’s receding figure. After a pause, he said slowly, “Solid foundation, hands-on courage, and a poised demeanor—he’s a very good boy.”
Jiang Yan remarked casually, “Don’t you think it’s a waste of time for him to simply follow the standard university curriculum step-by-step?”
Dean Yu couldn’t help but chuckle, instantly catching his drift.
Jiang Yan added, “You haven’t taken a disciple in years. Perhaps a newcomer would liven things up.”
“I am tempted,” Dean Yu said, though his smile turned somewhat cryptic. “But I fear it might be… inappropriate.”
Jiang Yan frowned. “How so?”
The dean looked at him with feigned surprise. “You haven’t noticed?”
Jiang Yan’s heart skipped a beat. He suddenly recalled the expression on Elder Yu’s face when he first saw Xie Guanning. His throat felt dry as a realization began to take root. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t you think this child looks remarkably like Jiang Yu?” Elder Yu said slowly. “It’s not just his concepts regarding mechas, but his appearance—he looks almost exactly like Jiang Yu did in her youth.”
“I assumed that was the reason you were so attentive to him.”
A heavy silence filled the room. Jiang Yan’s breathing grew shallow. “I… I didn’t know.”
Elder Yu blinked, then slapped his forehead in frustration. “Oh, I forgot. You were still small when Jiang Yu left. You probably don’t remember her well.”
Jiang Yan opened his mouth but found no words. When the Xie family left, he was six or seven—not exactly a toddler. However, Jiang Yu was always busy. Although the children of the two families were often thrown together to play, he rarely saw her. After eighteen years of the Xie family being isolated on Planet Z0823, her image had grown blurred in his memory.
But now that Elder Yu mentioned it…
“Are you certain?” his voice was husky.
Elder Yu’s expression turned solemn. “How can I be certain? Your mother should have photos of Jiang Yu from when she was young. Why don’t you go see for yourself?”
Disconnected clues began to weave together in Jiang Yan’s mind. After a long silence, he slowly stood up. “I understand. I will look into this.”
If… if it were true…
Jiang Yan took a deep breath and nodded to the dean. “Thank you.”
Elder Yu waved him off. “She was my student too. What are you thanking me for?” He paused, then added, “Besides, even without me, your mother or the Queen would have thought the same the moment they saw him. It was only a matter of time.”
Jiang Yan stood there, meeting the dean’s weary but all-knowing gaze, and quietly excused himself.
Outside, the sunlight was brilliant, filtering through the trees with a blinding intensity. Jiang Yan squinted, momentarily lost. He stood there for a long while before looking around. Not seeing Xie Guanning, he was about to send a message when he heard the faint meow of a kitten and a muffled voice.
Following the sound, he found the slender youth crouching behind some bushes. A tiny orange kitten stood a short distance away, looking at the intruder with wide, curious, yet wary eyes.
Xie Guanning turned back, his eyes curving into crescents. “Look, there are cats at the school.”
Dappled sunlight fell upon the boy under the tree, turning his golden hair radiant. His peach-blossom eyes seemed to hold a faint golden glow, making him look breathtakingly beautiful.
“There are many stray cats and dogs on campus,” Jiang Yan said, watching the kitten. “They’re hard to manage, and the students like them, so we just let them stay.”
Xie Guanning teased the kitten with a leaf, making soft meowing sounds. “He looks so small, maybe not even a month old.”
Jiang Yan stood beside him, watching the fluffy kitten hesitate, its paws treading tentatively on the ground. A smile touched his eyes. “If you like him, why not take him home?”
Xie Guanning’s smile faltered. He shook his head. “No.” He continued to wiggle the leaf as the kitten’s eyes followed it. “I can’t keep it alive.”
Jiang Yan looked at him in surprise.
The kitten finally dropped its guard and pounced. Xie Guanning lifted his hand, making it miss. The kitten wasn’t discouraged; it grew more excited, jumping and meowing.
“I had a kitten when I was little,” Xie Guanning said nonchalantly. “I was only in elementary school. I found it on my way home—skinny, small, likely abandoned by its mother. I fed it, and it started following me, waiting for me every day after school. When winter approached and the forecast predicted a blizzard, I begged Mrs. Xie to let me keep it.”
Xie Guanning paused. The kitten successfully caught the leaf and rolled around happily.
“She agreed,” he said.
In reality, young Xie Guanning had seen himself in that kitten. Mrs. Xie had looked down at him from her exquisite leather sofa with a mocking smile. “A little beast wanting to raise another little beast? Fine, go ahead.”
Xie Guanning had taken it home, made a nest out of old clothes, and bought milk powder with his meager savings. He didn’t even dare let it out of his room for fear of upsetting her. One morning, he locked the doors and windows tightly before school. When he returned, the cat was gone.
He searched everywhere. He even asked Mrs. Xie, who replied impatiently, “A beast is a beast; its life is cheap. It probably ran off.” When he said it couldn’t have escaped, she sneered, “Are you saying I let it out?”
Being so young, he didn’t know how to respond. He could only run out and eventually found the kitten’s body in the trash. It was covered in blood, its eyes closed forever.
Xie Guanning lowered his gaze, petting the kitten that had finally relaxed. “Normally, no one entered my room. But that day, the cat ‘ran out.'”
Later, he overheard the servants whispering: “Why did Madam kill the kitten after saying he could keep it? It was so well-behaved; it even tried to nuzzle her. Madam’s face changed so fast, one second she was petting it, the next she threw it out.”
“What do you know? To Madam, both the cat and the young master are just things she can crush at any moment. If she’s in a bad mood, she kills. Don’t ask questions.”
That was the day Xie Guanning realized exactly who he was in that house. He never held onto false hopes again.
The kitten meowed sweetly, nuzzling its head against his palm. Xie Guanning smiled, his features soft. Jiang Yan watched him, then suddenly asked, “And your mother?”
“What?” Xie Guanning blinked, caught off guard.
“Forgive me,” Jiang Yan said. “Was that too intrusive?”
“No,” Xie Guanning said after a pause. “My mother, I don’t know. I’ve never met her.”
Jiang Yan stared at him. “Never?”
“Apparently, my father met her by chance on another planet while on business. They had a brief romance. When he returned to the Capital Star, they lost touch. They only reconnected when I was born. She was in poor health and died shortly after giving birth. She left me to my father.”
And a few years later, his father had died too.
Jiang Yan’s brow furrowed deeply. He remembered what Ji Qingshi had said, the child had been abandoned in a trash heap on Planet Z0823. The Empire was certain of that.
If Xie Guanning was truly that child, how did Xie Hongyun bring him back to the Capital Star?