Cheng Jin thought Yan Qi’s attitude was weird, almost as if it was purposefully aimed at him. He didn’t mind that Yan Qi eavesdropped on his and his brother’s chat, but as the meal began, Yan Qi suddenly remarked, “Speaking of marriage, in fact, Xiao Jin and I were arranged to marry when we were children.”
This one phrase made them all stop eating; even the small robot sensed something was wrong and stopped pampering its master. Cheng Jin was disturbed, not knowing how to respond.
An arranged marriage when they were kids? How come he didn’t know that! And “Xiao Jin”? Even when they used to get along, Yan Qi had never called him that, okay? How could Yan Qi call him that, now that he was married and his husband was right next to him?
Asher came back to his senses before everyone else at the table, and he smiled slightly. “Was there really such a thing?”
Lu Tao, on the other hand, was staring directly at Cheng Jin’s face, and his tone was sullen. “Was there such a thing?”
Cheng Jin put down his knife and fork and raised his hands. “I don’t know! I don’t know anything about it! Never heard of this before!”
Their gazes returned to Yan Qi’s face. The handsome man smiled and shrugged. “Why do you make it seem like I’m lying?” He turned his head and looked harmlessly at the only man beside him who was relatively composed. “Xu ge, you have to vouch for me – was there such a thing?”
Smiley green eyes, carefree tone, and a small passionate flame in his eyes; whenever he looked at Cheng Xu, that flame would erupt, as if to burn him to the ground. Cheng Xu calmly said, “There was.”
The Lord General’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Cheng Jin was shocked. “Ge, what on earth happened?”
“Your birth dates were close to each other, and one of you was found to be a ‘new female’, so the two families were just joking at the time. It doesn’t count.” Cheng Xu’s tone was light. “Don’t take it seriously.”
Cheng Jin was relieved. “I see. No wonder no one told me before.”
“Vjsr ktb.” Tjc Hl olgra uijcmfv ja atf rbwfktja oglutafcfv Jtfcu Alc, atfc ribkis rwlifv. “P jw rfglber jybea la. P’nf jirb atbeuta atja P kbeiv tjnf j klof ogbw atf Jtfcu ojwlis. Pa lr j qlas…”
Cheng Jin was so frightened that he backed up to his husband’s side and stammered, “Y-Y-You, stop this nonsense! We have seen each other only a handful of times since we were seventeen. I-I-I don’t know you that well!”
Seeing that his little brother was frightened like this, Cheng Xu frowned at Yan Qi. “Watch yourself.”
“Just kidding.” Yan Qi smiled at Lu Tao. “The Lord General wouldn’t mind, right?”
“Of course I would.” Lu Tao looked a little cold. “So Young Master Yan should not make this joke again.”
Seeing that his husband defended him and seemed to be jealous, Cheng Jin was pleasantly surprised, and his face turned somewhat red. Finally, it was Asher who smoothed things over. “Come on, let’s eat. We should appreciate Xiao Jin’s efforts. This meal looks delicious.”
“It should be good.” Yan Qi smiled and suddenly picked up a piece of red hotdog and put it on Cheng Xu’s plate. “Xu ge, your favorite – big hotdog.”
“Red hotdog” was what people on the Imperial planet called this dish. Inside of it was a mixture of meat and starch. It was not strange to call it “big hotdog”, so the other people at the table did not mind it. Only Cheng Xu knew that the vile young man next to him meant something else. His face froze for a moment, as if the place that was overused was still being defiled by Yan Qi. Ashamed and annoyed, he did not touch the hotdog and instead ate other dishes.
But Yan Qi deliberately prodded, “What? Does Xu ge not like it anymore?”
Cheng Xu saw that his brother also looked over and even asked, “Ge, is it because the flavor isn’t good?”
“No, it tastes pretty good.” After saying this, he picked up the red hotdog that was fried just right and slowly brought it to his lips and took a bite.
With such a gentle and talkative person as Asher at the table, there was never an awkward silence during the meal.
He was very thoughtful and purposely avoided talking about commercial matters, instead focusing on current events, the newest scientific research breakthroughs, etc., and, eventually, space exploration. After the meal, Cheng Jin took out all the honey grapes left over from the gifts he received. After chatting casually for a while, he called his brother to his bedroom and took him straight to the blue luminous pearl.
Cheng Xu was a little surprised to see this luminous pearl. “How come it’s here?”
Cheng Jin wanted an explanation from his brother. He hurriedly said, “Yeah, my husband brought it back and gave it to me. Ge, didn’t you sell it? How come Lu Tao has it?”
Cheng Xu picked up the pearl, looked at it carefully, and after touching the tiny crack, he confirmed that it was indeed the one that his brother had asked him to sell. “I did sell it at that time. I sold it on the Internet, but I don’t know who the buyer was.”
“Ah…” Cheng Jin was a little confused. “Then how could it be in his possession?” He grabbed his brother’s hand again. “Did the buyer leave any information at that time?”
“No.” Cheng Xu shook his head. “If the buyer chooses to buy anonymously, then I can’t access the buyer’s information. A special courier machine was there to receive the pearl.”
Cheng Jin’s mind was in a whirlwind, and suddenly an idea popped up, causing his eyes to instantly light up. “Could it be, could it be that Lu Tao wanted to help me? So he bought this pearl back?”
Cheng Xu said, “There are many ways for him to help you, and a more direct way is to open a joint account with you, in which case you will be able to use his fortune. But he didn’t do that. He never cared about you in those two years. How likely do you think he was trying to help you?”
The small flame that rose in his heart was instantly doused, and Cheng Jin also felt that his thoughts were too unrealistic. Lu Tao was already divorcing him before he lost his memory, so how could he possibly want to help him? But he was still puzzled. “Then why would he buy this? He usually…doesn’t like these things.”
Cheng Xu looked at his little brother’s expression, although he couldn’t bear it, he still said, “Maybe it was a gift for someone.”
Cheng Jin shuddered, as if his heart was being crushed, but soon a glimmer of hope sprang up. “It can’t be. After he lost his memory, no suspicious people came to visit him, and if he had another lover, then how could they never come to visit him…”
“Maybe they aren’t on the Imperial planet.” Cheng Xu said calmly. “Without a permit, if they are not a resident, they simply can’t come here.”
These words awakened Cheng Jin and exacerbated his anxiety.
It wasn’t because there wasn’t someone else or that person didn’t show up, but rather they couldn’t show up?
Come to think of it, maybe this was the most reasonable explanation. Lu Tao was always away on battlefields. Having another lover on another planet would be normal, right?
But how could he possibly let him find out?
Cheng Jin refused to believe it. He bit his lip and struggled. “But there is nothing unusual about his communicator… Even if they didn’t show up, they would’ve called…”
“With his personality, it wouldn’t be difficult if he wanted to keep his affairs watertight. Perhaps they originally had an agreement that they would temporarily cut contacts when he came back home.” Cheng Xu rubbed his brother’s head. Seeing his brother’s withered appearance, he couldn’t bear to analyze this matter further. He could only ask again, “Is he good to you after he lost his memory?”
Cheng Jin blinked his sore eyes and nodded vigorously, “Good…very good, better than I can ever imagine….”
“Then cherish these few months.” Cheng Xu suddenly lowered his voice. “We’ll leave in a few months.”
Cheng Jin froze. “Leave? Then dad’s illness…”
“I’ve contacted a doctor and also found a hospital on the sixth planet.” Cheng Xu’s voice was soft. “We will depart as soon as dad stabilizes following this operation, which is likely to be near to the time when Lu Tao recovers his memory. When that time arrives, we will leave together.”
It’s not that Cheng Jin had never thought about leaving this place. He had thought about taking the entire burden and letting his older brother leave.
But when he heard this plan, he still felt an unbearable emotion in his heart that he couldn’t put into words.
When Cheng Xu saw the look on his face, he knew he couldn’t let go, so he kissed his brother’s forehead and said in a warm voice, “Don’t worry, and don’t be afraid. You have me. Everyone thinks this place is heaven and other planets are like hell, but I have been to those other places. The environment is indeed not as good, but we can have a good life. Sweet boy, I will take good care of you no matter what!”
In this world, the person Cheng Jin relied on the most was not his husband or his father, but his older brother. He would be afraid to leave alone, but leaving with his brother gave him courage.
“Okay…” Cheng Jin resisted the urge to cry, but in the end, he still sobbed softly, “Ge, you’re living a hard life, right?”
“No.”
“I’m so childish. Yesterday, I-I wanted you to get the blue crystal bead for me, fortunately…” Cheng Jin once again realized that his brother was not the powerful brother he once was. There were times when he couldn’t do anything and had to back down. The Cheng family would never return to its former glory. “I must have put you in a difficult situation yesterday, I’m sorry, ge, I’m sorry…”
Cheng Xu looked at his little brother in his arms, regretful and tender. He said warmly, “No, you don’t need to apologize, I know you have done a great job. For father’s sake, you are even willing to give up the things you love the most and work so hard. I am the one who should apologize. If not for my misjudgment, you are still a carefree young master. It is me…” he sighed softly. “Blue crystal ore is your favorite, but you had to sew it on someone else’s dress, I… When the time comes, your favorite crystal beads…” he wanted to say “will be returned to you “, but when he thought of how those beads were “tarnished”, his face turned red, and he couldn’t finish those words.