Lu Yan froze, the fingertips clutching his wrist stiffening along with her.
Memories of those chaotic nights after her marriage to Gu Chenyu suddenly came flooding back.
Gu Chenyu had never been the type to coax or sweet-talk anyone. He was the kind who simply kept his head down and did what needed to be done.
Back then, no matter how harsh or hurtful the things Lu Yan said to him in bed were, Gu Chenyu never argued back or tried to defend himself.
Every time afterward, he would simply carry her to wash up without saying a word, personally change the sheets, and then quietly wait for her to order him out of the room.
And in truth, Gu Chenyu had never once taken advantage of her in his beast form.
The only time he had ever lost control was when his emotions had reached their peak and he could no longer suppress them. A section of his fluffy silver-white tail had slipped out, lightly brushing against her trembling calf.
That was all it took.
Lu Yan had kicked him straight off the bed.
The rejection and disgust in her eyes had been impossible to hide.
Because of that one incident, Lu Yan refused to come home to see him for an entire half month. She wouldn’t even answer his calls.
In the end, it was only after Duke Lu and his wife sternly ordered the two of them to stop making things worse that their relationship finally eased somewhat.
Lost in those memories, Lu Yan suddenly felt Gu Chenyu pull his hand away.
She opened her mouth.
“Gu Chenyu…”
She had just wanted to say something when Gu Chenyu had already turned coldly and walked away.
Watching the bedroom door close behind him once again, Lu Yan dejectedly flopped back onto the bed, grabbing and kneading the pillow as she let out a long, miserable sigh.
Sure enough, the sins she’d committed in the past couldn’t simply be erased just because she decided she regretted them.
Forget it.
She still had a long way to go.
She’d take it slowly.
Lu Yan went over everything she planned to do tomorrow in her head. But when she went downstairs the next morning, she didn’t see Gu Chenyu or the child in the dining room.
She raised her eyes and looked toward Butler Chen, who was standing nearby.
Butler Chen hurriedly bowed and answered in a low voice, “Madam, the Colonel returned to the base early this morning to deal with military affairs.”
Lu Yan asked, “What about the child?”
Butler Chen answered even more cautiously.
“Young Master is attending a three-day training camp today for a children’s modeling competition.”
Lu Yan’s expression went blank.
“…Are you sure it’s not because he’s trying to avoid me?”
They really were treating her like some kind of ferocious beast and avoiding her at all costs.
But then again, when she thought about it, it was understandable.
After all, she had quite a track record.
The day before yesterday, she’d chased down Gu Chenyu’s starship. Yesterday, she’d followed him all the way to his fortress residence. And she’d accidentally hurt the child’s beast ears, too.
It was only natural for Gu Chenyu to be wary that she’d cause trouble again.
Lu Yan didn’t make things difficult for the trembling Butler Chen. Instead, she raised her hand and summoned her star-ring holographic screen.
“Give me your Colonel’s private comm number.”
Ever since they got married, Gu Chenyu had always been the one to contact her whenever necessary. She had never once called him first, much less saved his comm number.
So now, she actually had to shamelessly ask Butler Chen for her own husband’s contact information.
Lu Yan mentally prepared herself for a long battle.
Gu Chenyu had sent the child away for training and returned to the military base himself. Wasn’t he trying to make her give up and leave empty-handed?
Well, she wasn’t going to let him have his way.
That very afternoon, Lu Yan dragged her suitcase straight to the military base in the fortress’s core district.
But this time, Lu Yan changed tactics.
She didn’t barge inside looking for him. Instead, she leisurely sat on top of her suitcase and slowly sent Gu Chenyu a message.
At the same time, inside the base’s exercise command room—
Gu Chenyu stood before a massive holographic star map, his deep voice calmly laying out the details of the fleet exercise.
“The exercise zone will be set along the edge of the Y-Zone Nebula. Each formation will advance along its designated route. Be careful to avoid the gravitational anomaly belts and report your movements at all times.”
His subordinates acknowledged the orders and quickly recorded each command on the holographic screen.
During a brief pause between the fleet representatives’ reports, Gu Chenyu’s wrist ring suddenly gave a soft vibration.
He lowered his eyes.
A notification from Lu Yan appeared on the invisible screen.
Gu Chenyu’s eyes darkened slightly.
He tapped it open.
Lu Yan: [Hubby, come pick me up.]
Gu Chenyu’s face remained expressionless as he turned his attention back to the fleet formation speaking before the star map.
Several seconds passed.
Yet for some inexplicable reason, his gaze drifted back to the message on his wrist ring.
Captain Lin, seated across from him, asked him about the tactical system they’d just discussed during the star-map deployment.
Without even raising his eyes, Gu Chenyu kept his gaze on the message window and calmly answered his question in a steady, precise voice, not sounding distracted in the slightest.
Just then, another message popped up on the invisible screen.
Lu Yan: [Picture]
The picture showed the road outside the base, where wind and sand were raging across the landscape.
A few seconds later, Gu Chenyu shut off the wrist ring.
He turned his head and asked Lieutenant Colonel Xu to take over the remainder of the meeting.
Then he stood up and walked out of the exercise command room.
Not long afterward, a military armored vehicle tore down the forest road outside the base and sped away.
The military base at the fortress was plagued by wind and sand all year round. The fierce wind whipped sand against the vehicle’s windows, producing a fine, crackling sound.
Not far away, Lu Yan sat boredly on top of her suitcase by the roadside.
Her light-colored long dress had been slightly disheveled by the wind and sand, its hem stained with quite a bit of dust. Even the thin straps of her high-heeled shoes around her fair ankles had collected grains of yellow sand, leaving them looking a little grimy.
Gu Chenyu stopped the vehicle and walked toward her.
The moment Lu Yan looked up and saw him, she immediately hopped down from her suitcase and complained, “What took you so long?”
“Gu Chenyu, why didn’t you tell me the wind and sand were this bad here? It was perfectly fine when I came yesterday…”
Gu Chenyu lowered his eyes to the suitcase beside her feet before looking back at her.
Lu Yan was used to the pleasant climate of the Imperial Star. Her delicate eyes and the tip of her nose were slightly red now, clearly irritated by the wind and sand.
Gu Chenyu’s thin lips moved slightly, his voice cool.
“Lu Yan, what did you come here for again?”
Lu Yan sniffed and countered, “Does the military have a rule saying I’m not allowed to come?”
Still dissatisfied, she spoke as though she were completely in the right, then casually tossed her suitcase at him for him to carry.
Afterward, she walked straight toward the passenger seat of the armored vehicle, looking every bit like a spoiled young lady waiting for Gu Chenyu to open the door for her.
Gu Chenyu paused for a moment.
Without showing any emotion, he took the suitcase and walked over to open the door for her.
The chassis of the armored vehicle was much higher than that of an ordinary car. Lu Yan lifted her leg and tried to climb in, but couldn’t quite make it.
Without a second thought, she turned her head and ordered Gu Chenyu, “Carry me up.”
Gu Chenyu lowered his eyes and glanced at her.
Silently, he reached out his arms.
One large hand slipped beneath the skirt around her hips and thighs. With a slight tightening of his grip, he lifted Lu Yan into the vehicle.
Once Lu Yan was seated properly, he placed the suitcase inside before walking around to the driver’s seat.
The door closed.
Lu Yan lowered her head, grabbed the edge of her skirt, and complained unhappily, “Gu Chenyu, why are your hands so dirty? You got my dress dirty!”