NOVEL NEXT 36
Chapter 36: I’ll take my wedding leave tomorrow.
Qi Yao: “Very similar.”
Teacher Nos: “What?”
Qi Yao carefully handed the photo back to Teacher Nos. “Yi Er looks a lot like him.”
Teacher Nos grabbed a notebook, tucked the photo inside, and placed it back in the drawer, then said slowly, “Looking alike is enough. Just don’t end up living like him.”
After putting away the notebook, Teacher Nos raised his head, glanced at Qi Yao, then picked up the teacup again. His probing gaze seemed to penetrate through the steaming cup as he continued, “But, you’re soft-spoken, so you should be completely different from Yi Er’s male father.”
“…” That didn’t sound good. Qi Yao innocently swallowed the implicit criticism, pursed his lips, and complained, “Teacher, how can you make such an analogy?”
Teacher Nos chuckled, “I’m not wrong. If you were a bit more assertive, Yi Er might follow in Darren’s footsteps. That’s my praise and affirmation of you.”
“…So, is that a good thing?”
“Why wouldn’t it be? You’re different from Yi Er’s male father… No, I should say, you’re different from all the males I’ve ever met.”
Teacher Nos sighed softly, “Females have low status. Even a female as noble as Darren didn’t receive the slightest respect in front of that stinky zerg Eberley. He wasn’t allowed to plant the roses he liked, wasn’t allowed to return to his beloved career, had his bone wings plucked to swear absolute allegiance to the male, and was deprived of his personal freedom and imprisoned…”
As he spoke, his voice gradually lowered, and he sneered disdainfully, “That stinky zerg Eberley, so hypocritical! Before marriage, he made a bet with his cronies, disguised himself as the Empire’s top-quality male to get close to Darren, and tricked Darren into marrying him willingly. After marriage, as soon as Darren laid egg, he couldn’t wait to reveal his disgusting true colors…”
“Ah, getting off track.” Seeing the male opposite him silent, thinking he had scared him, Teacher Nos suddenly stopped himself, abruptly changing the subject, “I can see that you’ve given Yi Er enough respect.”
Qi Yao awkwardly smiled and accepted, “Thank you, Teacher Nos.”
A long silence followed, and Teacher Nos persisted in asking, “Now, can you tell me why both you and His Majesty came to ask me about Darren?”
“…Just curious.”
“Curious? It’s quite curious that you and His Majesty would be curious together.”
Qi Yao didn’t know how to respond, afraid that Teacher Nos would once again sharply see through him, so he dared not show too much emotion.
In a daze, Teacher Nos said, “Do you know what the Empress asked me last night?”
“I don’t.”
“He asked me if Darren left behind any special words before returning to the Second Military District and participating in the Ninety-second Imperial Defense Battle.”
It seemed like Teacher Nos didn’t intend for Qi Yao to answer. He spoke calmly, “What could Darren have said to me? He had just barely escaped from that stinky zerg Eberley’s clutches, his body was still being repaired in the medical bay. He couldn’t wait for the medical zergs to release him, his bone wings hadn’t even fully healed, and he went off to battle. The only thing he could say would be…”
“He said those words just to thank me for taking care of his starship so well,” Teacher Nos continued, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. “What’s the use of taking care of a starship? He thinks too highly of himself. Does the empire really need him to be safe and sound? Charging into the fleet, choosing to perish with the enemy, leaving no bones behind… Why didn’t he think about Yi Er? Yi Er was only ten years old at the time. Leaving Yi Er with Eberley, wasn’t he afraid that Yi Er would suffer Eberley’s abuse? He’s an irresponsible father, an unfeeling friend, and a failed officer who traded his life for imperial honor.”
The empire’s hero, in Teacher Nos’s eyes, received such a cold and extreme evaluation.
“Teacher, your evaluation…” Qi Yao couldn’t listen anymore and interrupted Teacher Nos.
After a few seconds of silence, Teacher Nos unconsciously clenched his hand and softened his tone, “I might have been a bit harsh, but his decision was really selfish.”
Qi Yao listened silently, detecting a hint of self-blame in Teacher Nos’s complaining and reproaching tone.
He suddenly wondered if Teacher Nos regretted returning Darren’s starship to him.
His deeply scarred and close friend had barely escaped from the clutches of hell, thinking he could come back to life and shine in his beloved field again, but he drove the starship he had personally given him onto the battlefield without hesitation, making a choice of no return.
But then again, Darren’s choice might have been a kind of disguised self-redemption.
Perhaps he never regretted his actions.
“That’s why he became a role model in Yi Er’s heart,” Qi Yao said.
Teacher Nos fell silent. In a sense, it was true.
Time slipped away silently. After a long period of calm, Teacher Nos changed the subject, “Has Yi Er’s second molting ended?”
Qi Yao was puzzled by the sudden change of topic and honestly replied, “Yes, it has.”
“Was the process smooth?”
“………………”
Was this a topic they could share?
Seeing Qi Yao’s embarrassment, Teacher Nos laughed, “I didn’t mean anything by it, just asking casually.”
Qi Yao awkwardly said, “It went smoothly.”
“I heard you’re going on your honeymoon?”
Qi Yao widened his eyes in surprise, “Teacher, how did you know?”
“Yi Er told me, so I approved your leave. That’s why you’re here today to cancel your leave, which surprised me.”
“…”
“Actions contradicting thoughts…” Teacher Nos looked into Qi Yao’s eyes. “Did something unpleasant happen between you two?”
In the afternoon, Yi Er came back from the Imperial Palace to pick up Qi Yao after work.
As they boarded Yi Er’s aircraft, Qi Yao couldn’t wait to ask, “When did you help me apply for leave? Wasn’t the date still undecided?”
“Today.”
“Today?”
“This morning before you left for work.”
Before leaving for work this morning? So, Yi Er helped him apply for leave, and then he went to work afterward.
No wonder Teacher Nos asked him that way. Probably any normal person would think he and Yi Er had a disagreement.
A male who’s married can’t focus on his career properly because his female spouse is the biggest obstacle on his career path!
In a daze, Yi Er suddenly spoke up, “How about going on vacation tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow?” Qi Yao’s eyes flickered. “So sudden? I just returned to work.”
“It’s not sudden. I’ve been saying it for several days.”
“But you still have a lot of things to deal with, right?” Qi Yao explained, “I mean, Gatt has been captured. Will His Majesty approve your vacation?”
Yi Er pondered, “Oh? What should we do about that? His Highness has already approved my leave.”
“His Highness approved it?”
“His Highness said he and His Majesty would handle Gatt’s matter, and told me not to worry about it. He assured me that we can go on vacation without any concerns, considering it as a reward for both of us. As for His Majesty… we’ve already left, so is His Majesty going to chase us down and force us to serve him again?”
“It’s approved by His Highness.” Qi Yao instantly felt relieved, no longer having any worries. He couldn’t help but sigh, “Yi Er, you’re quite bold.”
“It’s His Highness who’s bold,” Yi Er disagreed.
Qi Yao blinked and smiled, “Who cares who’s bold? Anyway, I like you the way you are the most.”
Back home, the two of them hastily began preparing for their vacation.
Teacher Nos eventually approved the leave.
The machine zerg Xiao En was on duty at night and forecasted the weather conditions of the asteroid they were going to visit, as well as the possibility of meteor showers in the coming days, reminding them to prepare in advance and not miss it.
“You have two asteroids, right? Which one are we going to first?”
The two asteroids, one near and one far.
The meteor shower can only be seen on the far one, scheduled for the night after tomorrow.
“Do you want to see the meteor shower?” Yi Er asked.
Qi Yao shrugged, “I’m fine with either.”
Beautiful asteroid belts couldn’t catch his interest, let alone meteor showers; he had seen them too many times on Blue Star, apart from being amazed, he didn’t feel much.
Yi Er pondered for a moment. The asteroid where the meteor shower could be observed happened to be the one left by his female father Darren. Since inheriting it, he hadn’t visited it once. So why not take this opportunity to check it out? If it’s valuable, they could exploit it.
“Let’s go see the meteor shower first,” he quickly decided.
“Sure,” Qi Yao responded.
Upon hearing the conversation between the two alphas, Xiao En quickly planned a suitable vacation route for them, which was confirmed by Yi Er after checking.
After confirming, Xiao En began preparing their luggage.
Clothes, food, essentials, Xiao En took care of everything.
Watching Xiao En bustling around, Qi Yao felt somewhat uneasy, “Are we not overburdening an AI worker?”
Yi Er shrugged it off, handing the planned route to Qi Yao, “Dean has trained it well. It’s as capable as Dean himself. You don’t need to worry about it.”
“Oh,” Qi Yao replied thoughtfully.
With a plan in hand, Qi Yao was satisfied, while Xiao En continued to tidy up methodically.
After quickly finishing, Xiao En stood still in place, showing no intention of leaving.
Yi Er noticed Xiao En and glanced at Qi Yao. Seeing him engrossed in the route plan, Yi Er walked over to Xiao En.
He stood in front of Xiao En.
Xiao En resumed its movements, lifting its arm, extending its mechanical hand, pausing for a second in front of Yi Er’s belly, sweeping down from top to bottom at a steady pace, then nodded as if completing a task, and slowly exited the room.
Although Yi Er was standing with his back to Qi Yao, and Qi Yao was busy looking at the route plan, their actions didn’t escape his notice.
He caught a glimpse of it and casually asked, “What was Xiao En doing just now?”
Yi Er’s eyes subtly avoided his gaze, “Nothing.”
“Oh…” Qi Yao dragged out the sound thoughtfully, not probing further.
The night passed like this, and the next day at dawn, Qi Yao and Yi Er boarded the aircraft, embarking on their long-awaited honeymoon trip.