Half a month later, the school held an exam. Through Xingyuan’s tireless studying, although he didn’t make it into the top 100 of his grade, a ranking of 122 was still quite good.
Xu Mo looked at Xingyuan’s report card, but his face didn’t show the joy one would imagine he should have. A faint glimmer flickered in Xu Mo’s eyes, and it was only after a good while that he managed to force out a smile. “You’ve made pretty fast progress since you started working hard, but—”
Xu Mo pointed at one of the columns of scores and said, “Look at this subject, zero points! Out of two hundred, you got zero! Do you know how many people that puts between you and them?” The more Xingyuan listened, the guiltier he felt. He lowered his head, and his feet quietly took a step backward.
Xu Mo, disappointed that “the iron wouldn’t turn into steel,” covered his head and sighed. “No matter what, you have to study this subject, General History of Cosmic Civilization, properly. I really can’t understand it — even if you randomly filled in the multiple-choice answers, you should still have gotten some points!”
(TL: “恨铁不成钢” literally means “to hate that iron cannot become steel”, and it is an idiom expressing frustration and disappointment toward someone who has potential but fails to live up to it.)
Xingyuan’s scalp went numb, and he felt even guiltier inside. He mumbled quietly, “I don’t know, I was a little sleepy during the exam, so I fell asleep…”
Xu Mo’s eyelid twitched violently; he truly didn’t know what to say. Actually, the anger he felt inside wasn’t as strong as it appeared on the surface. In fact, when he discovered that Xingyuan had one subject dragging down his score, there was even a bit of hidden relief and secret joy inside him that he couldn’t show in the open. Of course, the moment this thought arose, he cut it off immediately — Xu Mo didn’t dare dwell on it. He glanced at the good-for-nothing look on the person in question, waved his hand, and let the matter pass.
Not far away, Zhang Xin saw this scene and leaned back in his chair, sneering. Hypocrite.
He made a show of opening his book, but his mind was racing with thoughts. He pressed his hand against his temple, eyes narrowed slightly. Zhang Xin’s mental strength was B+, very close to A. But, judging by Hua Xingyuan’s learning efficiency, this clearly didn’t seem like what an A-rank should have.
He might as well make a bold assumption. What if Hua Xingyuan’s mental strength was above S, or even… SS.
Zhang Xin smiled. If it were true, he wanted to gamble on it — just how far these two could go together.
His finger traced across the textbook, and as he recalled his own everyday life, ambition surged in Zhang Xin’s eyes. A person couldn’t always remain passive forever — even if there was no path, he had to find a way to tread one out for himself.
After these past days, Aisley’s wound had barely closed up. It was just that he still couldn’t make large movements. Even getting up and getting dressed required care, and he had to avoid stretching in his usual manner as much as possible.
Aisley slowly rose from the bed, the wound at his waist giving a faint throb of pain. He frowned and hissed through his teeth, then inexplicably laughed. He fastened his belt, the stiff fabric clinging to his body, outlining the muscles of his shoulders.
As if he’d thought of something, he turned and walked in a certain direction. The light footsteps stopped at the warm floor-bedding, leaving only the shallow breathing of the boy in the air.
Xingyuan was sound asleep, curled eyelashes hung with teardrops, his originally fair cheeks flushed red from the overheated blanket. The boy, quite displeased, turned over directly, pressing the blanket beneath him, and only then did a satisfied little “mmph” sound escape his mouth. However, because of the boy’s turning over, Aisley subconsciously turned his head away to avoid looking. Under the dim light, he saw that Xingyuan — who knew what he’d gone through in his sleep — had somehow gotten his top pushed all the way up. Even though the light wasn’t bright, that fair skin seemed to glow on its own…
Aisley closed his eyes, and supporting his waist, he half-knelt down. Once he felt he was at about the right height, he held his breath and opened his eyes just a crack.
The top was gently pulled back down. In the process, Aisley felt as if he had truly touched that delicate skin. His fingertips, as if burned by fire, were quickly clenched into his palm.
Xingyuan muttered something again in his dream, but unfortunately it was in a language Aisley couldn’t understand.
Actually, these past two days the temperature had been relatively low, and the ground was cold and damp. Looking at the thin sweat on Xingyuan’s forehead, Aisley couldn’t help but wonder.
Could it be that this child also had a naturally warm body, just like him?
Xingyuan had lain on the floor-bedding too long, and the hard ground had made his lower back ache. In his sleep, Xingyuan supported his own waist, yet didn’t dare actually touch it with his hand — his waist was especially sensitive, and even touching it himself felt strange.
Of course, he wasn’t the only one whose back ached. As Aisley got up, he lost his balance for a moment and quickly steadied himself against the bed with his other hand. His brows furrowed, and with his other hand supporting his waist, he slowly rose to his feet.
His wound hadn’t healed yet, and his back ached too.
During these days lying in bed, Aisley had accumulated a large amount of official business to deal with. One item among them concerned the matter of compensation from the defeated side.
The negotiation room was a temporarily set-up tent. Aisley, dressed in formal attire, sat at the head of the table, with the various officers of the legion seated beside him, and across from them sat the negotiators sent by the other side. Everyone except Aisley wore serious expressions; there was an indescribable atmosphere accumulating between them, the air seemingly frozen solid.
The enemy took a deep breath, and it was they who first spoke to break the deadlock…
Xingyuan had originally habitually followed Aisley around, only to find that the other party was going to negotiate with the enemy. Although Xingyuan understood that he wouldn’t interfere with any of this, out of courtesy he still chose to stay outside on his own.
Of course, Xingyuan wasn’t idle either. He read for a while first, and once he started feeling a bit sleepy, he took a small hair tie out of his pocket. The small hair tie was something he’d specially prepared, and Xingyuan felt rather embarrassed as he took it out. He lowered his eyes, glanced left and right, then slipped the small hair tie onto his wrist.
He’d let his hair grow this long for so long, specifically asking Yue Xi not to cut it, all so that one day he could tie it up into a little topknot. Although Xingyuan had long since prepared himself for this, it was still hard to avoid feeling a bit shy when it came time to actually do it.
At this moment, the negotiation was basically drawing to a close. The enemy side was naturally unhappy, but as negotiators they still maintained basic composure. They smiled, polite and courteous. At this point, the negotiator with the highest authority slowly moved his gaze toward Aisley. He put on a smile, his expression carrying both admiration and flattery.
“My lord, now that the negotiation has concluded, everything we’ve promised will naturally be fulfilled. To be honest, if we weren’t enemies, I believe we would have formed quite a good friendship.” Seeing the man speak such pleasantries, Aisley smiled likewise and said, “Then I thank you for your recognition, though it’s a pity we remain enemies after all.”
The negotiator seemed to have already anticipated Aisley’s words. He shook his head, a flash of hidden light passing through his eyes. He said humbly, “To be honest, aside from myself, our Emperor holds you in high regard as well. He even instructed me to give you a gift.”
Aisley didn’t say anything; he quietly waited for the negotiator to finish.
The negotiator: “I heard you haven’t yet taken a wife. In our country there is a beauty who closely resembles a goddess — we could give her to you.” Aisley lifted his eyelids, glanced at him, and casually said, “No need.”
The negotiator frowned, “If you’re worried this person might be a spy, there’s no need — her background is completely clean, she’s never had contact with any official. I stake my personal character on it: she’s just an ordinary woman.”
“Still no need.”
The negotiator said awkwardly, “You should think this through carefully. Right now, in the middle of war, it’s not easy to find a wife.”
Aisley looked at him with amusement, and under the negotiator’s gaze he still shook his head.
The negotiator: …
He said, subdued, “May I ask why?”
Aisley leaned back in his chair, and his answer was quite shameless. “Poor. Can’t afford to keep one fed.”
The negotiator: …
He raised his eyebrows, gritted his teeth, “You wouldn’t need to spend money — you’d just need to feed her.”
Aisley looked utterly astonished, “You even have to feed them?”
The negotiator couldn’t get a breath in, and nearly stormed off right then. But in the end he managed to control his temper, and afterward glared resentfully at Aisley, “Apologies for the intrusion.” Then, he left along with his subordinates.
And you think you can get a wife? Better stay a bachelor for life!
After the negotiators left, Fred couldn’t help but burst out laughing, and he patted Aisley on the shoulder. “Well done, you really are something — I saw that man’s nose practically twist sideways with anger.” Then, he sighed while tilting his head back. “Still, what you did was right. Character? What kind of character could those bastards possibly have? That woman was probably nine times out of ten a spy.”
Aisley smiled slightly and said nothing.
Speaking of money, Fred suddenly remembered something. He patted Aisley on the shoulder, asking with confusion. “What’s been going on with you lately? Spending money like water. That milk cake stuff — you actually keep buying it every single day?” While Aisley wasn’t paying attention, he quietly moved his hand backward.
Aisley’s smile vanished, and in an instant he had Fred pinned down on the table, his palm pressing down on Fred’s head. Fred’s breath caught, and Aisley leaned in close with narrowed eyes, his voice low. “How many times have I told you — don’t touch my hair, or I’ll snap your family jewels off.”
By the time Aisley came out, supporting his waist, Xingyuan already had a small topknot tied up on his head. However, in less than three seconds, the hair tie fell off, and his dark brown hair fell loose again.
Xingyuan: …
Aisley coughed, pretending not to have seen it, and strode past Xingyuan. Xingyuan let out a breath of relief — good thing he hadn’t seen it. He picked up the little hair tie, sighing inwardly.
A bit embarrassing.
After returning to the tent, Xingyuan tried many times but still couldn’t manage to tie his hair up. Sitting on the low stool, he slowly moved his gaze toward Aisley, who was bent over the table handling official business. Xingyuan’s eyes narrowed slightly. After hesitating for a moment, he finally got up and took a step forward.
From the moment the boy stood up, Aisley had already noticed Xingyuan’s movement. Seeing the boy walking toward him, though puzzled, he didn’t feel much need for caution. The kid walked back and forth in front of him all day long — he was already used to it.
It wasn’t until Xingyuan pressed up against his back that the pen in Aisley’s hand paused. He raised his head, and right in front of him happened to be a bronze mirror.
Aisley held his breath. There, in that bronze mirror, he saw the boy slowly… take hold of his hair. His eyes flickered, and his grip on the pen tightened.
The mirror’s surface shifted slightly as the boy carefully fiddled with his hair, his face gradually drawing closer to the back of Aisley’s head. Aisley’s scalp tightened, and a tingling numbness spread through his entire body.
Xingyuan had long since discovered that human beings couldn’t be replicated — not even the accessories on their bodies could be duplicated. There was no way he could take that hair tie off him, and besides, his current behavior had already crossed quite a line as it was; he couldn’t go so far as to do anything more excessive than this.
Just as he was puzzling over how to style Aisley’s hair, he failed to notice — the man in front of him tilted his body slightly backward, which, as a result, made it even easier for him to touch his hair.