FT DR Chapter 124: Heavy Hearts and Good Girlfriends

Chapter 124: Heavy Hearts and Good Girlfriends

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

 

Is Zhuang Zhuang like Wu Chenghe’s mother? Jin Zhe was taken aback, then quickly caught on, his eyes narrowing slightly as he laughed, “Really? What a coincidence? The world is full of wonders…” teasingly patting Hannibal’s shoulder, “Looks like the Colonel harbors quite a grudge, Hannibal, don’t always try to take advantage of me, make it up to your wife properly.”

Lilith’s brow furrowed imperceptibly. Before she could speak, Hannibal had already turned towards her, speaking gently, “Today is Charlie’s big day, what’s done is done, let’s not dwell on the past, okay, darling?”

A cold arc formed at the corner of Lilith’s mouth, “That’s not what I meant, just speaking casually, you’re overthinking it, darling.”

Hannibal smiled, becoming even more tender towards his wife as he explained, “Well, it’s not really that similar, just a shadow. What you’ve seen, Dean Mu and Charlie already share some resemblance.”

Jin Zhe’s eyes narrowed again, just as the door rang, indicating the arrival of new guests. He immediately interrupted the conversation of the commanding couple, “Ah, Mr. Defense Secretary is here, let’s go and greet him together.”

As Hannibal turned around, he indeed saw Mr. Balon and his wife entering arm in arm. Giving Lilith a reminder with his eyes, he extended his right arm. Lilith silently took his arm, with a polite smile, she walked towards Mr. and Mrs. Balon. Her caracal followed along with its master, but Hannibal’s black-and-chestnut eagle didn’t leave immediately. Instead, it circled above the heads of the three children, giving a cold glance before flying away sullenly.

Children naturally have excellent intuition for danger, especially when Zhuang Zhuang saw Hannibal’s fierce black-and-chestnut eagle. When the adults moved away, she immediately took one brother on each side and walked towards the terrace, saying, “Let’s go, let’s have some juice together.”

The faithful little dogs naturally nodded eagerly, “Yeah!”

Upstairs, Wu Chenghe was changing into formal attire. Because he and Jin Xuan were both military personnel, they didn’t need to order special suits for this occasion; they wore their respective uniforms. Jin Xuan wore a colonel’s uniform, while he wore a lieutenant’s uniform as a full-time doctor. Both of them belonged to the Navy, and their uniform colors and styles were very similar, giving them a somewhat matching couple look, very handsome.

“Hey, darling, are you ready?” Jin Xuan had been busy since early morning, not showing any signs of fatigue. With a smile, he pushed open the bedroom door, seeing Wu Chenghe tying his tie, he went over to help him and took the opportunity to peck him lightly on the lips, “So handsome, I don’t want to let you out to meet people, I just want to tie you to the bed and pamper you a thousand times!”

Wu Chenghe blushed and dodged backwards, rebuking, “Be careful, there are a lot of people today, don’t be so touchy-feely in public, it’s unsightly.”

Jin Xuan chuckled mischievously, putting on a serious face to scold his Barbary lion cub, “Did you hear that? You’re the only one here with sticky hands and feet, be careful!”

The lion looked innocent, but gave its owner a disdainful side-eye, then rolled aside to lie down and play with the butterfly. Ever since Wu Chenghe’s identity was revealed, the proud little Light Bulb didn’t like hiding anymore. When there was nothing to do, it would lie on the lion’s head and pretend to be a butterfly bow, or squat on Wu Chenghe’s shoulder pretending to be an accessory, quite playful.

“I’m talking to you.” Wu Chenghe laughed and cried, pushing away Jin Xuan’s restless hands, and adjusted his tie in front of the mirror. 

Jin Xuan gave him rabbit ears from behind, saying, “Hannibal is already here, Jin Zhe took him and Mr. Balon to the study, they might be discussing official matters, just go and say hello after they’re done.”

Mentioning Hannibal always put Wu Chenghe in a bad mood. He grunted in response and asked, “Is Lilith here too?”

“She’s here,” Jin Xuan said, “Marlow is here too, she’s talking to Marlow… Oh, and Chen Miaomiao is here too, he came with Marlow, playing with the children on the terrace downstairs, you should go and see him after you’re dressed, I think he probably has a lot of little secrets to confide in you.”

“What nonsense are you talking about!” Wu Chenghe rolled his eyes, “Who’s friends with who? We’re just good buddies!”

“Hehe, suit yourself.” Jin Xuan raised his eyebrows unconcernedly, then his expression softened, “It seems like he’s quite close to Marlow, should you remind him?”

Wu Chenghe’s face darkened. He had noticed Chen Miaomiao’s slightly more than friendly feelings towards Marlow even before he was sent to the guide school. It’s been almost two years now, and he didn’t know how far these two had progressed. Although theoretically Hannibal’s actions had nothing to do with Marlow, even if the Voyager Army were to defect from the Federation in the future, as long as Marlow didn’t return to his father, he would be innocent. However, blood ties were undeniable. As Hannibal’s son, he still worried about the influence of his identity for Jin Zhe. If Chen Miaomiao and Marlow really got involved romantically, it would definitely have political implications in the future.

But was it appropriate to remind them openly at this time? What if they were just a little ambiguous? Boys of this age were prone to rebellion. Would making it clear push Chen Miaomiao towards Marlow? Wu Chenghe frowned, “I’ll go talk to him first, see if I can get anything out of him. If he doesn’t say anything, it’s hard for me to advise.”

“Just be a good friend, that’s all.” Jin Xuan said, “Let’s go downstairs and talk later.”

The two of them finished dressing and went downstairs together to greet the guests. Jin Xuan accompanied his immediate superior in conversation, while Wu Chenghe greeted everyone and then went to the terrace.

After more than a year apart, Chen Miaomiao had grown a little taller, still giving off that sweet boy-next-door vibe. His baby face looked innocent and pure. He was squatting in front of the twins, performing finger magic tricks for them. When he saw Wu Chenghe approaching, he immediately jumped up, “Senior! I finally see you!”

The two hugged tightly, and Chen Miaomiao was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes. Since Wu Chenghe went to Tungusic, they had only communicated a few times by phone. Later, when Wu Chenghe was seconded to the NTU, they completely lost contact until a few days ago when they reconnected while preparing for the wedding. Wu Chenghe found it difficult to breathe from the tight hug. Finally, when the hug ended, he said, “You must be kidding, where did you get such strength? I almost couldn’t breathe because of you.”

“No way, I just used a little bit of force.” Chen Miaomiao had completely inherited his mother’s traits, short and strong, with boundless strength. Although he was an ordinary person and didn’t have the extraordinary abilities of a sentinel, he was much stronger than weaklings like Wu Chenghe. Giving him a pat on the shoulder and comparing their heights, he exclaimed, “Wow, Senior, how did you get so tall? It’s unfair. Did the guide school serve better food than Aston Medical College?”

Wu Chenghe didn’t know if he should laugh and cry, he had indeed grown taller over the past year. He had reached 180 centimeters tall during his graduation physical examination, but future people generally had slender builds, and he was barely passable compared to them. There was really nothing to be proud of. However, Chen Miaomiao, who hadn’t reached 175 centimeters at the age of twenty, was indeed quite tragic.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the twins got tired of staying on the terrace and clamored to go outside to play. Wu Chenghe asked the security detail to take the three of them to the garden, closed the door leading from the terrace to the living room, and finally found some peace and quiet.

“Congratulations, Senior.” Chen Miaomiao said sincerely, recalling their underground love affair from back then, sighing, “It wasn’t easy for you two to be together. I never thought you would turn out to be a guide. When they took you away back then, I felt like the sky was falling. King would’ve gone crazy if he had known. Well, fortunately, you two went through so much and finally ended up together.”

“Yeah, I never expected to have today either.” Wu Chenghe also felt nostalgic when recalling the past, “When I was on the Grasshopper Space Station, I felt like I was going to die. Later, the Black Pearl, Tungusic, each time I felt like I was going to die for sure, but I managed to survive every time. It’s really luck.”

“Yeah, I heard that you participated in the suppression of the Second Army rebellion. Is that true? Were you injured?” Chen Miaomiao was not like ordinary kids; he was quite well-informed and asked in a lowered voice. 

Wu Chenghe didn’t hide it from him and nodded, “I participated in the Battle of Tartaros and got some minor injuries, but nothing serious.”

“Tartaros… that’s the heartland of the Second Army, even more important than Tianque.” Chen Miaomiao knew a bit about the internal structure of the Voyager Army and sighed, “Senior, you’re so daring. If it were me, I definitely wouldn’t dare to go.”

“Yeah, I only realized how dangerous it was after I went.” Wu Chenghe wasn’t lying. He didn’t expect to work as a spy and engage in aerial combat when he first joined. Looking back now, he felt quite frightened. “But it’s all in the past. Jin Xuan has always protected me, and there haven’t been any major slip-ups.”

Chen Miaomiao nodded and said, “I didn’t expect General Lancer to be so crazy as to want to betray the Federation. Mrs. Lilith and Marlow were both implicated because of him.”

Wu Chenghe’s heart skipped a beat. “Oh? They were implicated too?”

Wu Chenghe only knew the general outline of the aftermath of the Second Army rebellion — General Lancer and his two sons were all killed in battle, his wife and eldest daughter-in-law committed suicide, and his eldest granddaughter died from a stray bullet that couldn’t be treated. However, he had no idea about the impact Lilith and Marlow had suffered as a result.

Chen Miaomiao whispered, “Mrs. Lilith is actually fine. Her Mulan Fleet has always been loyal to the Federation. When General Lancer was trapped in the Zhi Fu Lian Nebula, he once sought help from her, but she firmly refused and forwarded the request for help to the Federation. Later, she volunteered to go to the front lines alone to persuade General Lancer to surrender, but unfortunately, she failed to convince him. After the war, the military didn’t suspect her, and she was even commended.”

Wu Chenghe nodded silently. He believed in Lilith’s loyalty. Lilith had very upright principles, both in national affairs and family matters. She never compromised. The only time she remained silent was when in Gabriel he collided with Hannibal in the outer ring, but he understood her actions. Not bringing up that incident was beneficial to everyone.

“But Marlow… isn’t doing too well.” When talking about Marlow, Chen Miaomiao’s usually sunny expression turned melancholic. “After his grandfather’s incident, the school suspended his classes for a while, and the military took him away for questioning several times. Fortunately, he had no knowledge of what had happened, and Mrs. Lilith and the Commander have always stood on the side of the Federation. So after more than a month of turmoil, he resumed his classes.”

“The military just conducted routine checks. He’s a military academy student, so it’s not like he would take it too hard, right?” Wu Chenghe observed Marlow’s expression and tentatively asked him, “Then why isn’t he doing well? Is he upset about the questioning?”

“No, it’s not because of that.” Chen Miaomiao shook his head. “He told me that he understood the military’s actions. If he were in their shoes, he would do the same. Plus, the military personnel were very polite to him, and the school didn’t give him a hard time because of Commander Hannibal. Hey, you don’t know Marlow. He’s just a bit taciturn, but he’s very upright. Really, sometimes I can’t believe he’s the Commander’s son. Speaking of which, you two are quite similar when it comes to the ‘Saint Syndrome.’ Truly worthy of being born from the same father.”

Wu Chenghe was speechless. His “Saint Syndrome” was something he had inherited from his previous life, congenital. Marlow’s “Saint Syndrome” was probably inherited from Lilith. As for Hannibal… haha, everyone in the world might have “Saint Syndrome,” but he definitely couldn’t. He was more like a devil!

Chen Miaomiao didn’t notice Wu Chenghe’s expression. After two years, he finally had the chance to pour out his heart to his dear Senior. He leaned on the round table and continued, “Marlow is upset because of Miss Lancer! After the rebellion, the medical school suspended Miss Lancer’s classes, and the military took her for questioning. I heard she caused quite a scene at the military, almost getting sent to a mental hospital. Later, the military concluded that she had no knowledge of the rebellion and sent her back to school. But then she went to the Strategy Academy and berated Marlow in front of the teaching building!”

Wu Chenghe’s mouth hung open, unable to close it. This girl was truly a fierce one. Even if Marlow had nothing to do with Lancer’s rebellion, she should have been nice to him in front of his family. She could have feigned innocence and helplessness. Why confront him like this?

“You know about Miss Lancer’s princess syndrome. It was already in the late stages. After being interrogated by the military, she went crazy and said all sorts of nasty things to Marlow. She said he had no humanity, that he was a cold-blooded animal… Marlow has a good temper. Even if she didn’t get angry, she took advantage of it and started insulting Mrs. Lilith too.” Chen Miaomiao wore a face full of bitter resentment. “Oh my god, Marlow, that guy. His bottom line is his mother. He won’t care if anyone insults the Commander to his face, but if anyone dares to say anything bad about Mrs. Lilith, he’ll fight them to the death! I wasn’t there at the time, but I heard from classmates who were there that Marlow got angry after hearing just one sentence, slapped his aunt two meters away, and pointed at her nose, telling her to shut up. He said if she dared to say anything bad about Mrs. Lilith again, he would send her to Tartaros to meet her brother!”

Tartaros meant “hell” in Greek mythology. When Marlow said that, it implied he wanted to send Miss Lancer to her death. Wu Chenghe was astonished. “Did he really say that?”

“Yeah.” Chen Miaomiao pursed his lips. “You know Marlow. He’s never cared about women. To do something like that, he must have been really angry. Fortunately, Miss Lancer was somewhat sensible and didn’t say anything else. She just cried and left. Otherwise, who knows what Marlow would have done.”

Wu Chenghe nodded silently. The more calm and elegant a man like Marlow was, the more terrifying he became when he got angry. He had Hannibal’s blood flowing in his veins. If pushed too far, he wouldn’t be softer than his father.

“Since then, Marlow has been feeling down. It’s been almost half a year, and he still looks like a funeral face.” Chen Miaomiao shook his head sorrowfully. “Although he’s always had a funeral face, I can tell he’s really, truly, gloomy now. I’m afraid his heart is filled with coffins.”

Wu Chenghe looked at his serious expression, his worried eyes, and couldn’t help but feel a pang of concern. No matter what Marlow’s attitude toward Chen Miaomiao was, Chen Miaomiao was probably already deeply involved. Only when you truly care about someone do you show such expressions and eyes unconsciously, like this.

“Miaomiao,” Wu Chenghe hesitated for a moment and said, “Do you care a lot about Marlow?”

“Yeah,” Chen Miaomiao continued, oblivious to his probing, “That guy Marlow seems strong and indifferent on the surface, but he’s actually quite soft-hearted. He’s not as aloof as he appears. He often puts on that icy facade, but it’s just for show. He worries about Mrs. Lilith, worries that Commander Hannibal might mistreat her, worries that his dad regrets not finding a guide… Please, don’t tell anyone about this, Senior. If Marlow finds out, he’ll kill me! It was during that drinking session with him that he let slip. He said Mrs. Lilith should leave Commander Hannibal, that sentinels together wouldn’t be happy and would regret it in the end.”

Wu Chenghe listened with a mix of shock and fear. He hadn’t expected Lilith and Hannibal’s relationship to deteriorate to this extent, nor did he expect Marlow to confide such private matters to Chen Miaomiao… Their relationship was evidently much deeper than he thought. At least emotionally, it was.

“Miaomiao,” Wu Chenghe interrupted, his tone serious, “What’s going on between you and Marlow? How did he tell you such private matters?”

Chen Miaomiao looked at Wu Chenghe in astonishment, then blushed suddenly, furrowing his brows. “What are you talking about, Senior? We’re just good friends. We often play basketball and drink together, just chatting.”

“That’s not what I mean. You know what I’m talking about.” Wu Chenghe said, each word deliberate. He knew Chen Miaomiao appeared innocent, but growing up in such an environment, his political sensitivity was high. He wouldn’t misunderstand his words. 

Sure enough, Chen Miaomiao laughed awkwardly and said, “You’re overthinking it, Senior. Marlow likes girls, and I… Forget it, I won’t say anymore. I just wanted to vent to you. It feels good to get it off my chest, haha!” He took out a small exquisite box from his pocket and handed it to Wu Chenghe. “Wishing you and King a happy marriage… Wait, your children are almost a year old now, it’s not a new marriage anymore. I’ll just wish you all the best, haha!”

Wu Chenghe was taken aback by his “all the best.” He took the gift and said, “Thank you. I hope you find a tough girl soon, get some manly spirit.”

“Wow, you’re so sharp-tongued!” Chen Miaomiao clutched his chest. “That was harsh! No, I’m taking the gift back!”

The two of them started playing around, laughing and joking, as if they were back in their student days. However, maturity was an irreversible process. As time passed, one thing after another happened, and everyone was destined to move in different directions.

In the garden corridor, Lilith was having a heart-to-heart talk with Marlow. Because of the Second Army rebellion, Marlow didn’t go home during the last winter break. Instead, he was interrogated at the military headquarters. Mother and son could only communicate through holographic communication. It was the first time they had seen each other in so long.

“I miss you, Mom,” Marlow said. As he grew older, he became closer to his mother. Many things he couldn’t say as a child now came naturally. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Lilith said lovingly, looking at her son’s handsome face. After not seeing him for half a year, Marlow’s height was almost catching up to Hannibal’s. The frequent military training made his shoulders broader and his limbs stronger. Although he was only twenty years old, he looked like a mature man.

“About Grandpa…” Marlow started.

“It’s all in the past,” Lilith interrupted her son. “I’m very sad. I couldn’t convince your grandfather. Maybe I was too careless, didn’t notice his plans earlier.” When it came to her deceased father, tears welled up in Lilith’s eyes. Only in front of her son would she show such genuine emotions. “I regret it so much. If I hadn’t been so stubborn back then, if I had stayed in the Second Army, none of this would have happened…”

“Mom,” Marlow placed a hand on his mother’s shoulder. “This has nothing to do with you. Don’t blame yourself. What your grandfather decided wouldn’t have changed with your will. Besides, there’s your elder and younger brothers. If they have any sense, they wouldn’t betray humanity.”

Lilith held back her tears, took a deep breath, and said, “I heard about your aunt’s situation, Marlow. Don’t worry about her. I’ll find a way to help her.”

“I just won’t let her slander you,” Marlow’s eyes flashed with anger. “She’s an adult now and should take responsibility for her actions. No one has wronged her. She enjoys the benefits of the Federation but hates those loyal to it. Her mind is twisted. Grandpa spoiled her rotten!”

“Let it go. She’s just a pitiful person,” Lilith said. “Her worldview is already twisted, and it’s hard to change. I just want her to live in peace… Let’s not talk about this. Tell me about yourself. You’ll be in your final year next semester, graduating next year. Do you plan to continue your studies or join the military?”

Marlow frowned and thought for a moment before saying, “I want to join the military.”

“Oh?” Lilith was surprised. “Your grades are excellent, and you’re young. Why not continue your studies?”

“I can learn more in the military,” Marlow said. “I can continue taking remote courses from school. I have enough energy. There’s no need for me to stay in school.”

“Okay,” Lilith had confidence in her son’s abilities. She continued, “Then after you graduate next year, come back to the Voyager Army. If you don’t want to go to the Quadrant or Mulan, you can join the Scout Fleet. The Scout Fleet will be reorganized in the second half of the year, transformed into a fully intelligent space fleet. You’ll learn a lot there.”

“No, Mom,” Marlow’s gaze was firm as he said seriously, “I don’t want to go back to the Voyager Army. I want to stay in the Federation Navy.”

 

 

 

 

 

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