Yan Xueshan returned to the villa covered in mud.

He first took off his boots, then the cuffs, and sat on the sofa to calm down a bit. He felt a tightness in his chest.

In fact there have been times when he felt like this before.

For example, no matter how much he practiced, certain combat data was stuck at a bottleneck without going up.

Before, he wouldn’t want to tell others about it, but now, before he realized it, he was already calling Arthur.

Arthur was probably still busy and didn’t pick up right away.

Yan Xueshan went to take a shower, and in the middle of it he heard Arthur call him back. For the first time, he didn’t leave it alone, but went out to connect to the video call while still wet.

Arthur froze for a moment, blushing a little. “Are you taking a shower?”

Yan Xueshan nodded.

Arthur asked, “What’s the matter? Why are you in such a hurry that you even come out during your shower to answer the phone?”

Yan Xueshan told Arthur all the depressing things he was holding in his chest. “I also pressed his head to the ground and made him apologize to my seedlings.”

Arthur wanted to laugh a little, so he coughed as he held back his smile. “It can’t just end like this, right? We need to punish this bear child properly.”

Seeing his smile, Yan Xueshan felt even more sullen, and said in a cold voice, “Of course. He must compensate for all the financial losses, and in addition he should report to me to work every day for a month. No laughing! I’ve worked hard for a long time for these plants.”

After saying that, he directly cut off the communication with Arthur.

Now, Yan Xueshan felt that his brain cooled down a lot.

No, why would he tell this to Arthur? If it was before, he would have retaliated without speaking about it to anyone.

Yan Xueshan remembered an old incident.

It was when he first started school. He was between ten and eleven years old and because he was a transfer student and his previous education in the orphanage wasn’t too good, he couldn’t keep up with his classmates. His classmates disliked him for being stupid, and for some reason it led to them bullying him.

He was afraid that the adults would find him troublesome, so he put up with it quietly and didn’t tell his adopted father about it.

But his father still found out and took him to school to find a teacher.

Still, nothing changed.

Every day when he came home, his father would ask him about everything that happened at school and he would tell him the truth.

If he heard that he had been bullied again, his adopted father would frown and say, “That’s not good. You don’t know how to fight, do you? Do you want me to teach you, Little Yan?”

Yan Xueshan replied, “I would have to pay for their medical expenses. You have no money.”

His adopted father had laughed. “Yes, it’s not right to teach children to use violence. Don’t listen to my nonsense. I’ve never been a parent and I crossed the river by throwing stones. But Little Yan, you should still resist. If you think that fighting isn’t the way to go, you need to think of other ways to resist. Don’t let people bully you, at least, okay?”

For a period of time after that, when he got home, his adoptive father would ask, “Did you succeed today?”

At first he didn’t.

Yan Xueshan racked his brains every day to find a solution.

For example, by improving his academic performance, but it was already half-dead so it was beyond saving.

Later, he took a small toy pistol given by his adoptive father and performed a sniper game for his classmates so no one would bully him anymore.

After this incident, he developed a habit of telling his adoptive father what happened during his day when he came home from school.

His adoptive father also said it was something a child should do.

What was he doing now?

He was already in his thirties, and he was no longer a child. So why would he keep talking nonsense to Arthur?

Not a second later, Arthur called him again.

Yan Xueshan picked it up. This time Arthur pretended to be serious. “I didn’t laugh, honey. Just wait until the next time I go to teach classes, I will personally teach that brat a lesson!”

Yan Xueshan replied, “No need.”

Arthur insisted, “Then he must be educated. Whatever is going on in his mind, it should be controlled.”

“I’ve already educated him.” Yan Xueshan said in a muffled voice. “I think there is nothing special about piloting a fighter mecha. It’s also not difficult to learn how to pilot it.

“Farming is much more difficult than killing people. There is so much to learn and it takes a long time to cultivate life. It doesn’t always work out. Creating a life is such a hard thing to do, but destroying it can be done quickly.”

Yan Xueshan said, “Creation is definitely greater than destruction.”

He continued, “So, I’ve been thinking lately whether it’s better to farm or to go back to piloting mecha, but I still haven’t come to a conclusion.”

Hearing this, Arthur could no longer keep the smile from his eyes. After a long time, he gave a soft “um”, and said softly as if caressing him, “Well take your time to think, I am with you. Don’t be angry, Master.”

Yan Xueshan raised his head in confusion. “I’m not angry.”

 Arthur reassured him. “You’re angry.”

Yan Xueshan thought about it for a moment then said, “I’m not angry. It seems like I said some nonsense to you.”

Arthur immediately said, “It’s not nonsense, dear, I like to hear what you have to say. Anything, it doesn’t matter if it’s inconsequential, it doesn’t matter if it’s not mecha related. You can talk with me about anything, anytime.”

“That’s what married couples are supposed to do for each other,” Arthur told him. “I will listen patiently to anything you wish to tell me. This is the first time you’ve talked to me about such things, I’m very happy.”

Yan Xueshan was gazed at with such a deep gaze, it suddenly felt like his heart missed a beat before it slowed down.

 He said, “Well, alright then. I’m done talking now, I’m going to sleep.”

Yan Xueshan laid down, but oddly, he didn’t feel sleepy.

He felt like his conversation with Arthur wasn’t over yet.

However, when he wanted to say something, his mind became fuzzy and he couldn’t think clearly.

Yan Xueshan closed his eyes to rest his mind.

The night was getting darker.

In the early morning Yan Xueshan vaguely heard someone calling his name. He woke up to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating and heard something real.

It was Arthur’s voice.

He glanced at his watch. Four hours had passed.

If Arthur came over without stopping after hanging up the phone, he could barely make it.

It was just  ridiculous.

Yan Xueshan got up, pulled back the curtain, opened the sliding door letting the starlight in together with the night breeze.

He stood on the balcony and looked down. There, he saw Arthur, standing under the flower tree in the yard.

Even on this night, Arthur’s smile seemed to be shining brightly. He raised his face and smiled at him. “I’m sorry, Master, did I wake you up?”

He spoke words of apology but there was no real hint of apology.

Rascal dog.

Yan Xueshan was still a bit confused when he saw him suddenly appear in person.

He shook his head and asked, “What are you doing over here?”

Arthur looked up at him and said without modesty, “I just thought that, since you were unhappy, I should come and see you.”

 That sounded really outrageous, too irrational. Yan Xueshan thought this, but in fact it was just a small thing.

“I’m happy.” Arthur finished, realized there was a semantic error and he explained further. “I mean, it’s the first time you told me what is on your mind and came to me for comfort. It made me so happy that I couldn’t stay away.”

Arthur asked again, “Can I go up there?”

Yan Xueshan nodded his head.

Instead of going through the main entrance, Arthur climbed up the wall directly to the outer edge of the balcony on the second floor.

Yan Xueshan was speechless. “Why don’t you go through the front door? Why did you climb up?”

Arthur said with a smile, “It’s more romantic this way.”

Arthur clearly rushed over so you could still feel the warmth from his exercise coming from his body. There were also tiny beads of sweat on his forehead, and the hair on his temples was wet with sweat.

He almost pounced on Yan Xueshan.

Yan Xueshan looked at him standing in this position and couldn’t help worrying that he might fall down, even though he knew that if Arthur fell he wouldn’t die.

Arthur stepped on the edge of the balcony and asked him, “Are you happy to see me?”

‘I don’t know.’ Yan Xueshan thought, but the feeling that pressed against his chest disappeared the moment he saw Arthur, his gloomy mood lighting up.

It was just a subtle feeling that he couldn’t distinguish, so still uncomprehendingly asked, “Mr. Admiral, you came running to see me. What about your work?”

Arthur’s eyes flickered cunningly as he said with a smile, ‘Well, it’s not too late to catch up.”

Yan Xueshan: “?”

Then why are you so happy?

Yan Xueshan said, “Then what are you doing here? Are you crazy?”

Arthur replied, “No. I just really wanted to see you so I came here.”

Then, Arthur said with enthusiasm, “I have to hurry back so that I won’t be late, but I calculated that there was enough time for a kiss.”

Yan Xueshan was stunned.

After saying that, Arthur leaned over and kissed him in the dim starlight.

 

Edited by: Antiope1

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