Chapter 32: Lin Xu bit the tip of his tongue with his teeth to control his expression
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
Lin Xu did not expect Heinrich to ask this question.
“Flowers? … Chinese roses, red chinese roses.”
“Hmm.” Heinrich inclined his head, realizing that the two were in a narrow space surrounded by a high wall of shrubs, and then withdrew his gaze to look at Lin Xu, where the fragrant flowers bloomed beyond the maze of shrubs, out of sight.
Heinrich had no idea what Chinese roses looked like, but could only imagine their bright red color. Lin Xu didn’t know what Heinrich was thinking, and he tilted his head slightly to look at the rare signs of irritation and hardness on Heinrich’s face that hadn’t yet faded.
Heinrich was always aloof, with an impersonal frost, adding a stern toughness when fighting, but he was rarely irritated. He would not let his emotions of anger interfere with his judgment, Abyss Fleet Marshal must be calm and sensible.
But now, even after some unspoken yet soft questions, Heinrich’s irritation had not disappeared, and he was unhappy, an expression that did not detract from Marshal Chu’s good looks, but he was unhappy.
Lin Xu steps closer and asks, “Did Miss Hill’s words upset you? You want to know about the ‘things you shouldn’t be looking for’?”
“No…” Heinrich denied it and paused for a moment, his voice low, seemingly with an imperceptible wisp of exhaustion, “I probably know what I’m looking for, I just… Lin Xu, I don’t like her, I don’t like it when someone pushes me hard and uses profit to coerce me.”
In the light of the distant planets, Heinrich lowered his eyelashes, shielding his golden eyes, and saw Lin Xu’s pale, slender, muscular neck extending from the collar of his shirt, the teeth marks left from the last time completely gone, leaving no trace, veins and pulses beating and radiating heat.
A sense of loss rose up in Heinrich’s subconscious, clamoring to leave his mark on the pale skin once more, reason suppressing the urge to lose it, but when Heinrich raised his eyes to Lin Xu’s face, shock and panic seized Heinrich.
Lin Xu’s lips pressed down at the corners, his expression complicated, his eyelashes twitching, the fine sharp light piercing at Heinrich, reminding him of their first meeting, Lin Xu’s polite resistance written all over his body.
At that time, Heinrich could use the comment that Lin Xu did not like to deal with strangers as a consolation, but now, he thought they could at least eliminate the sword-and-shield confrontation, but Lin Xu had suddenly changed. Heinrich’s chest tightened and he couldn’t understand what was happening. Finally, he waited for Lin Xu to speak mercifully, “Marshal Chu doesn’t like Miss Hill’s methods?”
Heinrich could not understand the purpose of Lin Xu’s question, and could only answer truthfully, “No. Some things can’t be used as leverage.”
“Hmm, okay.” Lin Xu took a step back with a look of understanding. In the few days he and Heinrich had known each other, they had a tacit understanding, and Lin Xu understood what Heinrich meant by “some things” without needing to be explained.
Heinrich hated the idea of someone using his marriage and emotions as a bargaining chip. And the person he dislikes now – Katherine – gave Lin Xu a sense of familiarity from the very beginning. She’s full of emotional enticements and hidden traps in her words, stating exorbitantly the benefits Heinrich could gain, emphasizing that the only way out of the insurmountable dilemma Heinrich faced was in her hands.
–The only way out of the insurmountable dilemma facing Heinrich lay in her hands, but she skimmed over what Heinrich would have to pay and avoided talking about how much the Hill family would gain. Lin Xu seemed to have seen himself back in the apocalypse base.
Although Katherine’s mind and skills were still young, and the umbrella of her powerful family allowed her to reveal all her arrogance and strength, in time, Lin Xu believed that she had the talent to become an extremely smart politician. Heinrich abhorred such people.
But Lin Xu was almost the exact embodiment of this personality. He would not mind using his marriage as a bargaining chip, and did not agree to any of them back then, simply because the benefits promised by any of them were not enough to impress him, and the snipe was more profitable for the fisherman.
Lin Xu started out doing propaganda and mobilization work for the apocalypse base, and then gradually took over political diplomacy and planning management.
The ordinary people in the base initially liked this young man who broadcasted all kinds of news on the radio every day and prepared newspapers, books, paintings and other leisure time comforts for the base, but when he gradually took power, the ordinary people felt bad for him. They revealed that Lin Xu was a crazy liar, a bloodsucker who didn’t eat meat, whose bones flowed with human lives for blood, and cursed him that he had better be chewed into rotten meat by the zombies.
Later? Then Lin Xu became an experimental subject to receive the psychic transformation due to an accident, he changed his work direction, and the base people followed suit by changing the words that cursed him and feared him.
Now Lin Xu looked like a completely different person than he was at the beginning. But Lin Xu knew that the bad factor in his bones would never go away. He couldn’t stand a life that was as quiet as dead water. He felt the resemblance as soon as he saw Katherine. He should stay away from Heinrich.
“Lin Xu?” Heinrich asked tentatively.
“I’m here.”
“Going back? It’s colder than the ballroom here, and it’s not safe.”
The falling snow outside the electromagnetic barrier melted into rain that couldn’t penetrate into the greenhouse garden, but the cold droplets rolling down still took some of the heat away, sending a chill through the guests in their thin gowns.
Lin Xu nodded and stepped past Heinrich, returning the way he had come, out of the closed, dark maze of shrubs.
Back in the ballroom, the noise of the people and the lights overwhelmed him, and the complex and deep part of Lin Xu’s expression faded away, as if he had returned to his usual cold detachment.
The dinner was basically over, and the guests went to the ballroom in twos and threes, and Lin Xu melted into the crowd and disappeared in a flash. The mixed smell of pheromone, perfume and food in the room masked the faint sweet scent, and Heinrich broke the trail.
The Hill family’s Flower Ball was a two-person dance set up according to ancient Earth etiquette. Abyss Fleet and the expedition’s guests were traveling on business this time, and most did not have their significant others with them; some found the Flower Ball novel and partnered up for a dance, while others simply walked into the ballroom and picked up a glass of wine to continue socializing.
In addition to the waiters serving drinks, there were also waiters carrying huge woven baskets of flowers on their arms, filled with fragrant bouquets freshly cut from the gardens, with clear droplets of water reflecting a light mercury bottom as they slid over the petals.
Guests who wished to dance could choose a flower and give it to the partner they wished to invite, and if the partner accepted the gift, it was considered a yes to the invitation.
The Hill family’s main residence in the capital city hosted a flower dance every year, and the aristocracy was always attracted to the romance of old Earth. Ordinary people weren’t too interested in this old-fashioned and slow dance.
When the waiter saw Heinrich walking into the ballroom, he greeted him and showed Marshal the flowers in the basket, “Marshal Chu, would you like to choose a flower? The red tulips are blooming nicely this year.”
Heinrich glanced at the delicate, yet fragile and soft bouquet in the basket. Heinrich’s mother was also of noble birth, and she had taught Heinrich how to dance, but after she died… disappeared, Heinrich would hardly set foot on the dance floor at parties.
His eyes swept over the brilliant red flowers and asked in a low voice, “Are there any red Chinese roses?”
The waiter was stunned, then quickly picked out all the red Chinese roses in the basket and replied, “Yes, yes, all the red Chinese roses are here, if Marshal needs more, I can get the gardener to cut more.”
“No.” He spat out a short word, reached out and took the fullest one from the bouquet of red Chinese roses, and turned to leave. The waiter was a little chagrined that he had not completed the task Commander Hill had given him, and a little puzzled that Marshal did not know that Miss Hill’s favorite flower was the tulip.
Lin Xu found Ryan, who had followed Ika to the corner again, and thought it was a good choice of location, hidden by the heavily colored curtain, and hardly noticed. Arnold, who was responsible for their safety, saw Lin Xu walking alone, still carrying the cool vapor from the garden, but Heinrich, who had chased him out, did not appear. He could not help but ask, “Mr. Lin, did you not meet Marshal?”
“Yes, I did.” Lin Xu replied. Arnold waited for Lin Xu’s follow-up, but found that Lin Xu was indeed only going to reply to that one sentence.
Ryan was talking to Ika about life and studies at Capital Star University and Haven University. There were few of his peers at the party, and fearing for safety, he could only talk to Ika with his mouth blazing to ease the tension.
But suddenly, Ryan’s voice stopped and he faced in Lin Xu’s direction, his gaze going over Lin Xu’s shoulder to the person behind him. Lin Xu turned around.
“Dr. Lin, hello again, are you going to dance today?” Katherine changed again into a silk dress with a more gorgeous and fluffy hemline, pure white smoothly set off her red lips and white teeth.
“Hello, Miss Hill.” Lin Xu said hello and said no more, he did not think of Katherine’s true intentions in himself and was not interested in more words.
Sure enough, when Katherine saw Arnold’s expression turn serious and respectful, she turned around in surprise, smiled delicately and exclaimed, “Marshal Chu!”
When the waiter told Katherine that Heinrich had not chosen a tulip but had taken a red Chinese roses, and that it was after a deliberate inquiry rather than the untried Heinrich did not know tulips, Katherine knew that Heinrich had not been persuaded that he would not come to her personally.
But the odds were that Heinrich would take the flowers and ask Lin Xu to dance, so Katherine showed up early.
“Marshal Chu, shall we go dancing?” The young girl’s voice was more melodious in the gentle music, and she looked at Heinrich expectantly and admiringly.
Even though this was a remote corner, Katherine’s exaggerated and intricate gown attracted the attention of the guests early on, but due to Heinrich’s authority, they did not dare to come forward and could only watch the developments from afar.
Is it true that the Hill family is marrying Heinrich Chu?
Heinrich still held the red Chinese roses in his hands, placed in front of his belly, the blood red color with the black uniform and shiny medals, the picture was rich and eye-catching.
Katherine stood in front of Lin Xu, Heinrich stepped forward, almost ignoring Katherine, and handed the flower stem to Lin Xu, “Your red Chinese rose.”
His hand stopped in mid-air for three seconds before the flower in his hand was taken by Lin Xu.
Lin Xu bit the tip of his tongue with his teeth to control his muscular expression. He did not say a word after taking the red Chinese rose, and lowered his head to pinch the Chinese rose flower stems inch by inch without breaking the fibers on the outside of the stems.
His fingers cut through the spikes of Chinese rose without being cut. When the Chinese rose flower stem was crushed by him into a limp cut, he stepped forward and raised his hand to wrap the Chinese rose flower around the golden medallion at the very top of Heinrich’s chest, tying three knots. The soft, delicate petals were surrounded by cold metal.
When finished, Lin Xu pressed Heinrich’s shoulders and took a step back, using no force in his hands, but looking as if he was pushing the two away.
“Marshal, Miss Hill is waiting for you to dance.”
After saying that, Lin Xu didn’t listen to Heinrich’s answer, and turned his head as if he was going to eat a child and grabbed Ryan, “Come on, dance with me.”
Ryan was shocked and confused, “Dance…Professor Lin, why should I dance with you…”
He was pulled away from the circle of conversation by Lin Xu, only to feel the creepiness of countless eyes staring at his back. Marshal Chu, it’s really none of my business, you believe me! Ryan’s heart wailed.
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