Chapter 39

Chapter 39

The Jie household.

The two siblings were still sitting at the table, the stream chat already turned off by Jie Mucong.

On the screen, the dark gray mech labeled No. 32 vanished into the night sky.

Jie Mucong was just about to say something when Jie Xile beside her suddenly stood up from his chair.

He rose and walked briskly toward the door.

Jie Mucong asked offhandedly, "Where are you going?"

No response.

Only then did Jie Mucong turn her head, but Jie Xile had already vanished from the doorway.

...

Jie Xile returned to his room, found his terminal, and opened the forum.

There were several technical analysis posts on SM about [So Sleepy]'s gameplay.

The most popular one among them was written by Jie Xile.

Initially, when Shen Huaixu advised him against going, Jie Xile didn't take it to heart. He hadn't planned on going anyway, just as the forum discussions about him indicated—he really was injured—

Jie Xile simply disdained explaining.

Which commander didn't have injuries?

The intense consumption of mental energy required a long time to recover; it wasn't something that could be restored overnight.

Jie Xile hadn't been a commander for just a short while. He was not only a third-year commander at St. Maria but also served in the Federal Command Department, though he was currently on medical leave.

The Alpha pulled up the video posted on the forum, the one where [So Sleepy] first appeared.

Actually, he hadn't originally seen this video on the forum. Jie Xile rarely visited forums; this post was sent to him by a colleague from another department.

Jie Xile had only casually written an analysis out of curiosity, which was why he had watched the live stream until now.

Jie Xile clicked play on the video.

The Alpha's usually languid eyes showed a hint of focus.

...The video wasn't long, soon reaching its end. Jie Xile frowned, dragging the progress bar back to the beginning, a growing doubt in his mind—

This level of exertion, the damage to the body... was it really okay?

—

C1 Monitoring Room.

Jiang Yuanfen was somewhat taken aback. After a moment, he narrowed his eyes again. "How did he find Jing Shu?"

He murmured softly, "...No way, he really knows how to stir things up."

The chaotic situation had already formed, and this time it seemed it would truly remain chaotic until the end. Jiang Yuanfen raised an eyebrow with interest, looking at the two beside him.

Just as Lucas began to speak, suddenly, Shen Huaixu stood up from beside him.

Lucas fell silent, his solemn gaze shifting over.

An unusual warmth spread from his chest. Shen Huaixu's heterochromatic eyes lifted slightly at the corners, though his expression remained unchanged. "I need to step out for a moment."

His action was somewhat abrupt, but those around only glanced sideways briefly. The atmosphere quickly returned to normal, like a pebble dropped into a still lake, creating a few ripples before disappearing without a trace.

Only the Beta assistant beside Shen Huaixu instinctively followed him.

After a few steps, Shen Huaixu suddenly turned his face, stopping Wen Yunye with his words. He didn't halt his steps, his voice slightly hurried:

"Don't follow me."

Wen Yunye: ?

The black-haired Beta stopped, turning and looking up to see that the usually composed Shen Huaixu, while his expression remained calm, was walking with noticeably quicker steps than usual, his clothes fluttering with a slight breeze.

His gaze shifted from Shen Huaixu to the monitoring screens, scanning them carefully until he finally found the figure of the No. 32 mech in one of the feeds.

In the footage, that person had stopped the mech and hadn't moved an inch since.

Wen Yunye pressed his lips together expressionlessly.

The monitoring room returned to quiet.

Shen Huaixu left alone.

...

Reaching the remote end of the corridor, Shen Huaixu stopped. The warmth in his chest had faded.

Just as Shen Huaixu took out the necklace from his chest, a video call popped up—

The screen materialized in mid-air. What appeared first wasn't the person's face, but the night sky.

Against the indigo curtain of night, stars scattered like crushed diamonds, connecting seamlessly with the deep night sky above Shen Huaixu's head.

The same direction, the same night.

Cool starlight flowed down, the outlines of distant mountains blurred.

The other side remained silent. Having just witnessed his entire operation from the monitoring room, Shen Huaixu couldn't quite grasp Meng Shijiu's intention. Faced with the obvious nightscape projected from the mech's screen, he had to speak first.

Shen Huaixu: "Why suddenly video call me?"

Since he gave the ring to Meng Shijiu, Meng Shijiu hadn't contacted him once.

From the necklace, the silver-haired Alpha's voice flowed out like a clear spring, his tone sounding somewhat indifferent. "Not allowed?"

Shen Huaixu chuckled. "...Of course it is."

"Not happy?" Shen Huaixu guessed. "Unhappy, so watching stars during an exam?"

Shen Huaixu softened his voice. "What can I do to make you a little happier?"

Truthfully, Shen Huaixu also knew it was probably this exam causing the trouble.

After he spoke, the night breeze brushed past, and the other end fell into brief silence. Shen Huaixu wasn't in a hurry, watching the quiet night sky.

Meng Shijiu paused for a moment before suddenly asking, “Are you at Yanbei?”

Shen Huaixu hadn’t expected Meng Shijiu to care about his whereabouts, but it was too late to hide it now, so he admitted, “Yeah, I am.”

Meng Shijiu: “Shen-ge…”

Shen Huaixu was taken aback.

Why was he willing to call him “ge” again all of a sudden?

Shen Huaixu: “Hmm?”

“What’s wrong?”

The sound of fabric rustling was clear in the quiet night. The silver-haired Alpha seemed to have lazily lain down. After a pause, Shen Huaixu heard his voice again—

It carried a tone half-complaining, half-tattling, as if he were biting something, his words slurred and less distinct than usual.

“…Shen-ge… where are you? Can you see the central screen?”

It took up two lines.

Shen Huaixu immediately raised an eyebrow.

“I just got here and was already penalized twice…”

“Why is that…?” Meng Shijiu drawled lazily.

“…After the exam, I still have to go clean… I didn’t sleep this morning and went running instead…”

“Shen-ge…”

“Shen-ge… Shen-ge, Shen-ge…”

Shen Huaixu couldn’t help but feel both amused and exasperated: “Alright, alright, I get it.”

“I’ll find Lucas later and have him remove your name and the penalties.”

“…Okay?”

Meng Shijiu: “Mm.”

The camera suddenly flipped, revealing the silver-haired Alpha’s face.

It swayed a couple of times in the dim light before coming into focus.

The Alpha’s long hair cascaded down, spilling loosely over his shoulders, coated in a faint, shimmering glow.

His beautiful face was illuminated by the screen. His originally rosy lips, tinged by the blue light, had faded to a pale cherry hue, as if the night had stealthily stolen their warmth or the night breeze had gently kissed away their color.

A moment of reality, then the next second plunged back into an illusory haze.

Only his eyes remained outside the mist—cold, yet burning with a siren-like intensity.

In the night, a faint smile touched Shen Huaixu’s eyes as he called softly, “Shi Jiu.”

Meng Shijiu lifted his gaze, looking at the heterochromatic Alpha on the screen, his voice light: “Why did you suddenly come to Yanbei?”

The silver-haired Alpha had dropped the earlier coquettish tone. Shen Huaixu sighed inwardly, feeling a slight regret.

Outwardly, however, he remained unaffected, adopting a teasing tone: “Not welcome?”

Meng Shijiu gave a soft, noncommittal hum, saying nothing.

The exam time ticked away, the countdown drawing closer, scores still fluctuating. Faint sounds of distant clashes echoed, and Ye Lingxi stubbornly remained nearby.

Meng Shijiu: “—You came to watch the match?”

Meng Shijiu narrowed his eyes: “Why?”

It was just an ordinary training match. Even if Shen Huaixu had arranged it deliberately, given his usual style, he wouldn’t have had the leisure to come watch in person. Asking about the results afterward would have been enough.

The silver-haired Alpha idly twirled the ring on his fingertip, playing with it absentmindedly.

The lifelike lotus spun around his finger, the deep green gemstone like fireflies born from his skin, burning and devouring his pale flesh.

His movements made the camera shake wildly.

Sometimes it was too close to the silver-haired Alpha’s face, almost pressing against it, revealing his thin, delicate eyelids and the watery, captivating eyes hidden beneath his lashes, making one’s breath catch… Other times it abruptly pulled away, leaving even his face unclear, just a blurry silver-white silhouette.

Like a hook cast by a distracted angler.

—It only made one want to seize that mischievous hand and drag him into the water, sinking together.

Shen Huaixu had always been patient, but now he felt a flicker of restlessness. The smile in his eyes faded slightly, though his tone remained gentle: “—Take a guess?”

But before he could finish, someone immediately cut in.

Meng Shijiu said bluntly, “Don’t feel like guessing today.”

Meng Shijiu suddenly clenched the ring in his hand again, tightening his grip, so the voice that reached Shen Huaixu’s ears was muffled and distant:

“Shi Jiu, who got penalized twice today, doesn’t feel like guessing.”

The camera was covered, and Shen Huaixu’s screen instantly went blank.

The screen plunged into darkness. The silver-haired Alpha vanished, as if it had all been nothing but an elusive illusion, a fleeting bubble of summer fireworks.

Everything fell silent at once, leaving only steady breathing.

An empty wind swept through.

The night crept over Shen Huaixu’s slightly trembling fingertips, inch by inch climbing his skin, seeping with a bone-chilling cold.

Shen Huaixu barely managed to hold onto his patience, but it lasted only two seconds.

“Shi Jiu…”

“Shi Jiu, be good, show me your face.”

But this time, even the steady breathing that proved his existence was gone.

Quiet, as if he had never been there.

Silence drummed against his eardrums.

Shen Huaixu could only coax softly, “…I was wrong, gege was wrong. Show me your face, okay?”

No response.

Still just an empty, pitch-black void.

Shen Huaixu closed his eyes: What a heartless little cat.

Shen Huaixu had to explain: "I made a bet with Lucas."

After speaking, he could only wait patiently.

The screen slowly lit up again; the wait felt so unbearably long that for the first time in his life, Shen Huaixu doubted whether he was truly a patient person.

Meng Shijiu's face reappeared on screen.

The light blurred for a moment, and the silver-haired Alpha's lowered eyelashes, like lifelines for the world, trembled slightly.

Ever since Shen Huaixu gave him the ring, Meng Shijiu hadn't really examined it closely.

Now he looked at it, touched it, and then slid it on easily.

The ring slid past his knuckle, settling snugly at the base of his finger. He flexed his fingers silently.

—The ring Shen Huaixu wore on his pinky fit perfectly on Meng Shijiu's ring finger.

On the other end, Shen Huaixu, who had been waiting for him to speak, suddenly broke the silence.

"—What are you doing?"

Having waited too long for a response, the Alpha on the screen leaned forward slightly. His heterochromatic fox-like eyes seemed deeper in the shifting light, his voice still restrained and gentle.

Meng Shijiu: "Oh."

Realizing his current action was a bit inappropriate, Meng Shijiu felt a twinge of guilt and quietly slid the ring from his ring finger to his index finger.

He deflected: "What did you bet on?"

The silver-haired Alpha didn't need to think hard to guess that the bet was likely about the outcome of this match.

He paused, then asked further: "What happens if you lose?"

Shen Huaixu's eyes curved slightly, suggestively: "I won't lose."

Meng Shijiu gave a couple of dismissive hums: "Who knows."

*Adorable.*

Shen Huaixu suppressed a laugh: "Then, will I lose?"

Meng Shijiu: "..."

Shen Huaixu couldn't help but laugh, his heart itching, so he continued to coax him in a low voice: "Hmm? Will I lose? ... Lord Kitty."

Meng Shijiu: ...

Meng Shijiu treated the ring like Shen Huaixu's head, tapping the surface sharply, though the force faded halfway through: "...Don't call me that."

Meng Shijiu glanced at him lazily: "Are you nuts?"

The silver-haired Alpha coldly and mercilessly hung up.

Shen Huaixu lowered his gaze, chuckling softly in the night breeze.

As summer approached, the night wind still carried a chill, whispering past his faint smile.

He put away the necklace and was about to head back when he suddenly stopped.

A glass mirror in the corridor reflected the curve of his lips. The moonlight cast a sharp line of light and shadow, making the distinct color on his chin even more pronounced.

Shen Huaixu was taken aback—

The reflected smile was so genuine, completely different from his usual gentle but ambiguous smiles that were hard to read.

There was no calculation, no guard—it just rose naturally, like the first rain of early spring, silently soaking the dry earth.

Shen Huaixu raised his hand and gently touched the necklace through the soft fabric of his clothes.

As if yearning for a warmth that wasn't there, the Alpha stood still for a moment before continuing forward.