Arthur said nervously and at a loss for words, “Ah? How about I get a new haircut first? I think I’ve been too busy lately and didn’t get enough sleep so my skin also isn’t doing well. Since I didn’t sleep last night, aren’t the dark circles under my eyes a bit heavy?”

Yan Xueshan was speechless at his reaction. He looked left and right but really couldn’t spot any difference from the usual, and objectively commented, “You’re handsome enough.”

Arthur was encouraged.

Yan Xueshan added, “Among the male alphas I know, you are already the most handsome.”

Arthur instantly glowed with confidence.

Yan Xueshan: “…”

Since they met in the military, Yan Xueshan thought about finding his old military uniform and putting it on. He planned to take wedding photos in military attire like that.

However, when he met Arthur face to face, Arthur, who wore military uniforms every day, surprisingly changed into his civilian clothes. Because he rarely saw Arthur dressed like this it felt quite fresh.

Yan Xueshan circled around him, looking front and back, up and down. “Why aren’t you wearing your uniform?”

Arthur was in a good mood as he presented himself to Yan Xueshan. “Is this not handsome?”

Yan Xueshan nodded his head and said, “It’s handsome.”

Arthur reached out and smiled. “Let’s go.”

Yan Xueshan was stunned for a moment before realizing that Arthur meant to hold his hand.

This was a very  beautiful hand. Most Master Sergeants would have beautiful hands. People who were good at piloting mecha, were born with long fingers so their hands were never ugly.

Now, this hand was inviting him to hold his hand.

—This wasn’t really relevant.

Yet, at this moment, he became distracted, and suddenly remembered the time when he was ten years old.

The little Yan Xueshan, who was still in the orphanage, was skinny and smaller than his peers because he ate less.

On the day he left the orphanage, the new caregiver, Miss Grace, wrapped a pure white wool scarf she knitted herself around him, knelt down, and told him worriedly, “When you go to the new home, be a good boy. “

Yan Xueshan knew that it was because she was afraid that he would be sent back again.

He always thought that he was well-behaved, but he couldn’t guarantee whether his new adoptive parents would like him or not. At that time he just nodded blankly.

Miss Grace was very kind to him. The other children said that she came to work in the orphanage because her fiancé died in the war and she no longer intended to marry anyone.

She would hold him in her lap and teach him how to play the piano, praising him for his beautiful hands and saying that he might be fit to be a musical performer.

Yan Xueshan remembered that day, when the sky was half cloudy. He stood behind the rusty iron gate at the entrance of the orphanage, tightly clutching the strap of his small satchel with his little hands.

He was waiting for his adopters to pick him up.

But he waited for a long, long time.

So long that he wondered if no one would come, if he would be abandoned once again. Maybe he was going to be left in an orphanage as an unwanted child.

Then, through a gap in the fence, he saw the old, broken-down hover shuttle car, which was almost falling apart, arriving at the stop, rattling as it parked. Then a poorly dressed, unattractive man jumped out of the car, stumbling out so fast that he almost fell over. This made him look very funny.

It was his adoptive father.

His adoptive father straightened the gray hat that became crooked on his head and turned to say goodbye to the driver. Before Yan Xueshand even saw his appearance, he already heard his hearty and laughing voice.

Then his adoptive father turned around, with a smile on his not-so-handsome face. When he saw the child waiting at the door, he even trotted over and said to him, “Sorry, because of the turbulence I was delayed on the road for a while and came late. Did you wait for a long time?”

Yan Xueshan thought of what sister Grace told him and just his head. “Just arrived.”

His adoptive father stretched out his hand to him and said, “Then it’s just right, let’s go. I will take you to your new house.”

In another moment he returned to the present.

Yan Xueshan realized that he would have a home again.

He took Arthur’s hand.

Let’s go together.

The procedure was done quickly. They registered as partners in the Galactic Federation Civil Affairs system, and received a bright red marriage certificate.

The photo was also taken on the spot.

It looked like a meeting photo, he thought, but it wasn’t bad.

Anyway, Arthur was satisfied and he was even more okay with it.

After receiving the marriage certificate they returned to the farm.

Arthur took a day off to obtain the marriage certificate, with people at base unanimously agreeing that there was no problem with it! The Admiral just needs to concentrate on getting married!

Once at home, Arthur couldn’t help but idly tidy up inside and out of their house as cleaning robots only did basic cleaning. While he asked Yan Xueshan to just sit on the side, after working for a long time, he still felt that he only vented half of his happy energy.

He thought of a book he had once read and a specific paragraph which roughly meant this: When the person you like finally agrees to be with you, it feels like having your own house at first. Every day you wake up and you still feel incredible, afraid that someone will rush in and accuse you of not deserving to have such a good life.

This was exactly how he felt right now.

Yan Xueshan on the other hand, has been very calm as he arranged everything in an orderly manner.

He asked, “When will the wedding be held?”

Arthur didn’t dare to postope it anymore. “When do you want to do it? What kind do you want?”

Yan Xueshan had already thought about it and said, “We’ll do it when we’re ready. There is no need for an extravagant wedding and wasting money. Rather, donating to the needy is more meaningful. Besides, you know I don’t like to attend noisy banquets in the first place since I can’t cope with too many strangers.”

Arthur was aware of his temper so of course, readily agreed. “Okay, everything will go according to what you said. Now we should draw a guest list. Lets only invite our relatives and friends, how about it?”

The two quickly finalized the wedding.

Yan Xueshan: “Okay. I’ll write my list, and you write yours.”

Yan Xueshan was a very efficient person, so after saying that he went to the study to write the list.

After a while, Arthur saw that he hadn’t left the study, so he went in to have a look.

Yan Xueshan was writing on his desk.

His uniform hadn’t been taken off, but because he had retired and not returned to his job, the uniform had no shoulder patch.

He looked very cold and tough and only a soft light enveloping him made him look very harmonious. Arthur stood beside him and took a look. Yan Xueshan wrote more than a dozen names, making him confused.

Who were these invitations for? Yan Xueshan was a loner. He knew this the best, so how could he have so many friends whose names were unfamiliar to him.

Seeing one of them, Arthur recognized it.

Gao Yan.

That was Yan Xueshan’s previous partner before he took his place. It seemed that they only partnered for half a year. He was an excellent Master Sergeant, and a little older, in his thirties. He also vaguely remembered he was a single father. After his death, his pension was given to his daughter.

Arthur was stunned for a moment, then reached out and tapped the name and asked in a slow voice. “Didn’t Gao Yan pass away?”

He still remembered what happened when he first met Yan Xueshan, seven years ago, when those people were talking about him behind his back: 

– “Gao Yan is such a good person. I thought they were very close, but he didn’t even shed a tear. Do you think he has any coincidence?”

– “But after all, he was his partner. Even if he puts on a show, isn’t that a bit too much?”

—”I heard that he has a mental illness so he doesn’t have any emotions.”

Yan Xueshan said calmly, “Yes. I plan to send the invitation to his grave.”

“If I’m free, I’ll send it in person.”

“Once, during a break, he told me that he really wanted to know what kind of person I would marry in the future. If that day really happened, he hoped that I would invite him to the wedding.

“I promised him. I have to keep my promise.”

 

Edited by: Antiope1

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