Chapter 53: Past & Little Surprise

Ping Mo still had a bed sheet around his waist. His idol baggage kicked in, and he refused to spend more time with strangers, so he went back to his bedroom and locked himself in, which left Pei Yutu alone to direct the workers.

The decorator noticed that the corners of Pei Yutu’s mouth were swollen and bruised, and there were tissues stuffed in his nose, which made him look quite miserable. However, the employer also appeared quite fierce, so he hadn’t dared to ask, and only quietly and curiously observed the situation.

Unfortunately, this peeping was soon discovered by Pei Yutu. “What are you looking at?”

The little brother was so scared that he quickly withdrew his eyes. “Nothing, nothing!”

Pei Yutu, “…” He touched his face. Am I scary now? Did he disfigure me?

Another older worker stepped in for the little brother. “Sir, I’m sorry. The boy just joined the workforce, and he’s curious about everything.”

“Why? It’s okay,” Pei Yutu didn’t have idol baggage, and said frankly, “It’s just a little misunderstanding with my partner. He’s grumpy today.”

The worker, “That was your partner?” He looked like a weak gentleman, but he was so heavy-handed, ah!

Pei Yutu said proudly, “Good-looking, right?”

A few workers nodded. “Good-looking! Even better than movie stars.”

The workers thought to themselves, This customer lives in this area, has such a big house and is so rich, but he has to suffer from his boyfriend’s anger. It seems that his beautiful wife is not so easy to deal with.

Rich people also have regular people’s troubles.

Ping Mo was unaware that he had been unilaterally identified as a boyfriend by Pei Yutu, and was locked in his room as he held his phone and played games. Then he received a phone call from Leng Li, and an encrypted email from Cheng Cheng.

Leng Li was more straightforward, as she reported the news on Taiping Street, such as the fact that the second boss of the Wind Chimes Bar had been taken away by the ‘authorities’ and that it was then ‘shut down for renovations.’

“Some people speculate that it is the Office of Pornography, but I don’t think so. the Office of Pornography fines people at most, and has never caused such a big battle.”

“…”

In addition to Leng Li’s report, Ping Mo also received an unread encrypted text. After he left the Raptors, his military terminal was surrendered, but the account wasn’t suspended, and he could still receive encrypted messages. Ping Mo had a hunch that what Cheng Cheng was going to say was related to Ghost Ear, so he logged into his account and unlocked the message.

The content of the message was very simple, only one line, but Ping Mo’s blood boiled, [Ghost Ear is caught.]

Ping Mo typed back, [So soon? Where is he?]

Lu Feng had used the power of Group E to find the person so quickly.

The message was not a real-time reply, after he sent it, he exited the interface, not expecting that Cheng Cheng would reply in seconds, as if he had been watching the message.

[Not yet gone through the process. Temporary custody. Colonel ready to interrogate personally.]

Ping Mo typed, [Raptors are guarding? How many brothers have come?]

However, before he sent it, he remembered that he was no longer the Raptor Captain, and the latter sentence was deleted.

Nonetheless, Cheng Cheng still considered him the captain, and wasn’t at all evasive. [Raptors have been fully deployed. I delayed an extra day. Now also ready to leave. There is a big issue. The leader of White Hole, Long Li, died. White Hole is now in chaos, including Long Lang. The Long family and several with the status of ‘big brothers’, will certainly be involved. The Military Ministry means to take the opportunity to trace the coordinates of White Hole’s core space station.]

The core coordinates of White Hole had been a problem that Alliance had been trying to crack for years, and Long Lang was the boss of White Hole. The death of Long Lang’s father was a great opportunity. However, what about Ghost Ear? Now that something like this had happened, if Lu Feng left the main planet, wouldn’t the interrogation of Ghost Ear be delayed?

In fact, in regards to clearing up the wrongdoing, he had waited for so long it wasn’t not bad at this moment, but somehow he had a bad feeling. A feeling that this was a long night’s dream. 1

Outside the bedroom door, the sound of electric drills continued, Ping Mo listened and was distracted. He was torn for a moment, then dialed Lu Feng’s personal phone.

No one answered.

Dialed again, still no answer.

Ping Mo called the number four times in a row, and finally gave up. This was a number that if Lu Feng wasn’t answering, there was only one possibility. It was that he didn’t want to answer.

Instructor Ping looked at the unanswered call record, and his thoughts suddenly drifted to more than ten years ago, when he was still a young teenager of 11 or 12 years old. Due to malnutrition, he was more skinny than children of the same age, and 33 year old Lu Feng was much healthier than now. His legs and feet were damaged, but he still stubbornly refused to use crutches.

He crouched down to be at eye level with Ping Mo. “I heard you kept training even though you were sick and almost fainted. Why?”

“I’m afraid to say,” Ping Mo said. “Don’t kick me out.”

He had been wandering for so many years and finally had a place where he could eat and wear warm clothes, so he didn’t want to be expelled for failing to pass the training.

Lu Feng broke protocol. He bent down and put a note into Ping Mo’s hand. “The military instructors here will be strict, but don’t be afraid. If there is anything you can’t stand, or if you are sick and don’t dare to talk to them, tell me directly. I’ll take care of it for you.”

Ping Mo had wandered for many years, and in fact, knew how to avoid harm. He had an intuition that Officer Lu was a vicious military instructor, but hadn’t expected to receive his first taste of warmth from him.

Years later, Ping Mo realized that no other team member had that private number except him, and that private number was always available, no matter how late it was.

Today, however, it was not working.

He didn’t know how long it took. 

When Pei Yutu pushed the door open, he saw his military instructor sitting on the bed with his body bowed and his face buried in his palms, so only the soft black short hair on top of his head could be seen. His pair of fluffy cat ears also drooped listlessly in this pose, while the long tail behind his buttocks curled all the way up to his thighs. If he was still a cat, he would be curled up in a ball, like a small glutinous rice ball with fat fur.

Poor, pathetic, and somehow heartbreaking.

That’s right, Teaching Assistant Pei felt deeply sorry for the former Raptor captain who beat him up only two hours ago and now needed human care.

Pei Yutu’s internal organs were soft as spring water. 2 He couldn’t help but reach out, and rub Ping Mo’s head. “What’s wrong?”

“…”

Instructor Ping was obviously shocked by this sudden head touch. He slowly raised his head, and spat out a slightly hoarse, “Fuck off.”

However, Teaching Assistant Pei’s cheek was thicker than the city walls. Not only didn’t he leave, but Pei Yutu then sat down next to him. “Why are you so stingy? You like it when I touch you when you’re a cat, even if I touch you a little.”

Ping Mo’s cat ears shook on top of his head as he looked at Pei Yutu.

Teaching Assistant Pei clearly felt the murderous aura, but still bravely look directly at his military instructor. There were the contours of his handsome face, his mouth bruises, and his nose was still red and his neck was bruised. Exaggeratedly he exclaimed, “You hit so hard! So violent! What if you had beat me to death! Then I wouldn’t be here!”

Instructor Ping could not hold back a “pfft” as he laughed. “Pei Yutu, who the hell did you learn that from? Why do you act like a shrew?”

Pei Yutu originally intended to amuse him, and wasn’t offended by the analogy of a shrew. He laughed and talked nonsense for a few more moments, before he asked, “What just happened? What’s on your mind? Let it out. Don’t keep it inside.”

Ping Mo had never been in the habit of sharing his heart with anyone. He felt it wasn’t alpha enough. At this moment, somehow, he really wanted to talk to someone, and rightly believed that the person in front of him was trustworthy. “Ghost Ear was caught.”

Pei Yutu, “Good thing! If that grandson is caught, won’t you be able to make a name for yourself?”

Ping Mo shook his head, “Colonel Lu Feng didn’t go through the process of arraignment, and now that he is leaving, there will be no one to deal with Ghost Ear for the time being. I feel like something isn’t right, but the colonel avoided me, and refused to talk to me about it. I’m worried that the night will be long, and Ghost Ear may be the only way to clear my suspicion.”

Pei Yutu shot up on the bed. “He hasn’t left yet, has he? Let’s go find him!”

“Forget it.” Ping Mo said. “No one can change a decision he’s made.”

Pei Yutu was silent for a moment. “Lu Feng really isn’t doing a good job.”

Ping Mo wondered, “Isn’t he your idol?” 

He was the kind of idol that Pei Yutu had admired for years since he was a child, and because he had him as his goal, he became a young man in the military. Even now, when Lu Feng was mentioned, he could still recount his life story and war achievements.

Although Ping Mo had never worshiped an idol, he had seen the fan girls who followed a star among the students, and they never said a bad word about their idol. Why wasn’t this the same with Pei Yutu?

Pei Yutu, “This wasn’t done properly. In case something happens, the unlucky one is you. The arrests have been made, so why not go through the process? Now he wants to leave again, or is it because Lu Feng doesn’t trust you?”

Ping Mo shook his head. “At first, he was the only one who believed in me.”

Pei Yutu had asked Ping Mo about the details of his wrongful conviction, but he refused to say anything.

Ping Mo was silent for a moment, then spoke very slowly. It was like he was pouring out all his grievances from the past six months, but still habitually carried his fierce man’s baggage. His tone was unperturbed, as if he was telling someone else’s story. “Six months ago, I took an assassination mission, and the target was Ghost Ear. He is timid and cunning, but long-sleeved and good at dancing, 3 and circulates between several interstellar pirate groups.”

Pei Yutu nodded. Interstellar pirates were as numerous as hairs. In fact, these so-called ‘pirate groups’, were those who strayed outside the main planet, had established their own group, and weren’t bound by the laws of the Alliance. White Hole was a behemoth that was certainly a ‘pirate group’, but it was also dozens of small organizations. They could each stand on their own as king. After all, the territory was vast, so as long as they could endure the harsh environment, even if they were living like rats, it was considered survival.

Ping Mo continued, “Ghost Ear, although cunning and cautious, was well prepared in advance. I had been given his precise position. This was a zero failure mission for me. However, my inhibitors suddenly failed, and the long-suppressed bonding heat left me nearly exposed. I returned to the station practically from the dead. Then the entirety of  E Group received anonymous letters that exposed me as Therian. Therian-specific inhibitors were found in a capsule from Ghost Ear, along with my medical report.”

Pei Yutu, “Oh my, that is bad for you. No wonder they suspect you of collaborating with the enemy. But how did your inhibitors suddenly fail?”

Ping Mo, “The last Therian-specific inhibitors I took were supposedly replaced with placebos by ‘the man’. They were harmless to the body, but also without any medicinal effect. I was quickly court-martialed. Ghost Ear, although he occasionally is personally involved in human trafficking,  rarely takes risks. He is more like a broker with a complex network, even with White Hole, and in reality he is also a spy. The Raptors have waged years of war against the extraterritorial pirates, and it has become a joke. Due to the importance of the matter, only a few Military Ministry senior leaders were involved in the trial, and the matter was still secret to the public.

“I was suspected of collaborating with the enemy. In addition, an omega impersonating an alpha is a serious crime. In fact, I was handed over to the Ministry, since the best way to deal with it was to execute me. Colonel Lu used his power to ensure that I came out alive, however the matter of collaborating with the enemy was still in doubt and wasn’t cleared up. Not only do I have to lie low to live, Colonel Lu will never be promoted again. In short, I could only join the Alliance University as a military instructor. I can say that my life was given to me by Lu Feng. No matter what he does, I believe that he won’t harm me. He may just be…overconfident.” Headstrong, right?

Pei Yutu listened to the whole story, but had another opinion. Lu Feng wanted to protect Ping Mo, but he did not believe Ping Mo, so he didn’t dare to process Ghost Ear according to the normal process. Perhaps he wanted to know the truth first. Perhaps he intended to privately force a confession to this matter. After all, this situation also involved himself and he probably wanted to be more cautious so as not to be wrong.

However, how could he not believe Ping Mo? Even though Pei had just befriended Ping Mo a few months ago, he was convinced of his character. If Instructor Ping saw injustice, he must pull out his knife to help. The last time, he actually gave up his plan to capture Ghost Ear in order to save the hostages. He was a decent person, who’s eyes couldn’t be rubbed in the sand. Also, just on the point of his explosive temper, he also didn’t seem qualified to spy.

Why couldn’t Lu Feng show more trust in him?

However Pei Yutu refused to voice this ‘Lu Feng does not trust you’ idea since he was afraid to hurt Ping Mo’s heart. He only said, “Colonel Lu is overprotective of you.”

This was true. Pei Yutu remembered Lu Feng’s warning at the last meeting, and felt that his concern for Ping Mo surpassed that of superior and subordinate, which wasn’t surprising.

Ping Mo also nodded. “Colonel Lu always told me that safety comes first, and that I’m not allowed to take risks.”

Pei Yutu joked, “It’s like he’s not treating as a soldier, but treating you like a son.”

Instructor Ping, who was thin-skinned, found the joke uncomfortable, and scolded him with a tiger face and a “fuck off.” He changed the subject. “Has the renovation team left?”

“I almost forgot!” Teaching Assistant Pei was startled, then grabbed Ping Mo’s hand and pulled him out. “Go, go, go!”

Ping Mo subconsciously attempted to jerk his hand free. “Are you a little girl? Pulling on me like I am your mother.”

Pei Yutu just clenched even harder. “Come on, Mom!”

Ping Mo, “…”

Instructor Ping, who was most concerned about saving face, was really fooled by Teaching Assistant Pei. He reflected on whether he was too sensitive, and whether he appeared a bit calculating and unattractive. Before his reflections could finish, Ping Mo was pulled into a guest room by Pei Yutu.

No, he should say ‘originally a guest room’. Now it was more appropriate to call it a storage room or armory. Rows and rows of well-made, solid wood knife racks took up most of the room. There were also shelves embedded in the walls, which were filled with knife maintenance supplies such as sharpening stones, various types of rust removal lubricants and talcum powder.

Ping Mo subconsciously shook his cat ears. “What is this?”

Pei Yutu rubbed the corners of his mouth. “You have so many knives, but not even a box for them. I guess there is no place to put them, so I got the shelves, and moved your precious knives here. This is certainly better than your dormitory locker.”

“…”

Instructor Ping’s biggest wish was to buy a house of his own after he safely retired. The size and location didn’t matter, but there must be a large enough weapons room. As long as he had free money, he could search for all kinds of weapons, and stash them in his precious weapons room.

He never thought this retirement wish would come true so far in advance.

Pei Yutu was sure that Ping Mo refused to unpack the boxes because he didn’t intend to stay here for a long time, so he took the liberty of compelling him to do so. Ping Mo was amused by his nervous look. The corners of his mouth twitched, and his heart was a little warm. In his life, he had received only extremely limited goodwill, partly because of his special upbringing. After all, the Chick Program cultivated the Alliance’s killing machines. Where would he have time to talk about feelings? This was also partly because of Instructor Ping’s own personality, since he was unwilling to become deep friends with people.

However, he never thought he’d meet Teaching Assistant Pei, a guy who ignored social distance and had thick skin. He was a man who could be dogged and beaten up, but who also forced much goodwill on him again and again, even when he was frustrated.

“Pei Yutu,” Ping Mo said softly, as he looked at his bruised face. “Thank you.”

Instructor Ping finally didn’t dismiss Pei Yutu’s kindness, and Pei Yutu was also very good at climbing up the pole. After they put out all the knives, he then moved to empty the other box, and hung all of Ping Mo’s clothes in the walk-in closet. The clothes were tangled together in the box and most of them were still crumpled, so they were very unsightly. However with their clothes mixed together, the large walk-in closet was finally full.

Teaching Assistant Pei looked satisfied. He felt that all those old crumpled clothes which were full of fireworks, were part of what a home should be like. Before this place could only be called a house at best.

The doorbell rang again not long after he finished cleaning up. Pei Yutu was very proactive this time. “I’ll get it!”

It was supposed to be the new clothes for Ping Mo, all made of biodegradable materials, but in the style of the season’s newest models from several high-end brands, which would look good on Ping Mo. However, when he opened the door, he only saw a small child who was not as tall as the flowers in the flowerbed.

The child was holding a lollipop in his mouth, as he pinched the freshly peeled candy paper in his hand. He was holding a rose in his other hand, together with a letter, as he said crisply, “Here is a letter from your family.”

The rose was golden and eye-catching. The leaves were yellow and colorful, and the layers of fiery red petals were edged with gold. Pei Yutu recognized the variety at once. A gilt rose.

Translator Notes:

夜长梦多- “long night, many dreams” means who knows what could happen after a long delay/dillydallying will only bring more problems. similar to ‘his heart melted’ or ‘he felt bad seeing him like that’ 长袖善舞 “long sleeved and good at dancing” a saying for someone that is resourceful and socially active