Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Even though he had handled enough work on the way back, once he returned to A Star’s military headquarters, Yan Zhuo still found himself spinning like a top, unable to spare any time for the entire following week.

It wasn’t until one day he lost his temper at a meeting that everyone realized his patience had run out, and they finally sent the person away.

On the way to the Ruan residence, Yan Zhuo’s face remained cold and grim, but as the hovercar stopped and he turned his head to see the familiar gate, his mood finally lifted.

Although he had already eased the young master’s discomfort considerably on the starship, as an Enigma marking someone for the first time, he wasn’t sure how long this state would last. And Ruan Yunchu hadn’t replied to his messages—in fact, he had blocked him—leaving Yan Zhuo worried for days.

But when he arrived, he learned from Wu Ming that the other had gone out early in the morning and still hadn’t returned.

“Then I’ll wait here.”

Without hesitation, Yan Zhuo found a seat in the garden, tapping open the terminal interface to wrap up some tedious work.

Wu Ming hesitated nearby but ultimately didn’t stop him.

Before long, the light gradually faded, and the sound of a car finally came from outside.

Yan Zhuo finished his work, stood up, and stretched.

Spotting the scene beyond the gate, he strode outside. But when the door opened, he caught sight of an unwelcome figure.

“Careful.”

Ruan Yunchu didn’t take Lin Zheng’s outstretched hand; he got out of the car on his own. He was about to discuss the Alliance’s new policies with Lin Zheng when he noticed a gaze fixed on him.

He glanced over casually, saw it was Yan Zhuo, and was not at all surprised.

Lin Zheng, on the other hand, recognized the man and his expression darkened.

“Why is he here again?”

Ruan Yunchu walked inside without a word, and the man strode out with a forced, insincere smile at Lin Zheng.

“Lin Zheng, are you that free?”

Having come to terms with the other’s identity over the past two years, Lin Zheng replied respectfully despite his annoyance, “I just happened to run into Yunchu on the road and was invited to dinner at his place.”

“Is that so?”

Yan Zhuo’s tone was cold.

“What are you here for?” Ruan Yunchu asked.

At this, Yan Zhuo’s eyes instantly turned resentful, but only for a moment. He forced a smile. “To see you, of course.”

“You’ve seen me. When are you leaving?”

“…” Yan Zhuo gritted his teeth, inwardly displeased. “I haven’t eaten yet.”

Ruan Yunchu let out a light scoff inwardly, but in the end, he didn’t continue to provoke him. He simply walked past him and entered the house without another word.

Yan Zhuo shot a glance at Lin Zheng before following.

Soon, a sumptuous dinner was laid out. Ruan Yunchu ate on his own, ignoring the two men seated on either side of him.

But if he thought the meal would end the day’s activities, he was wrong.

Before long, a piece of meat was placed in his dish.

“Eat more. You’ve gotten so thin.”

Ruan Yunchu didn’t react or respond. He just finished the other items on his plate and prepared to set down his chopsticks and stand.

“Yunchu, you’re already full?” Lin Zheng was surprised.

“Mm. Haven’t had much of an appetite lately. Go ahead and keep eating.”

Ruan Yunchu wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin, nodded slightly, and turned to head upstairs. But across from him, Yan Zhuo also rose.

“Major Lin, take your time with your meal.”

Lin Zheng hesitated, but in the end, he watched them ascend the stairs.

He had hoped to hear Ruan Yunchu resist, or coldly order Yan Zhuo to leave like he did with others, but until those two figures disappeared around the top of the stairs, he didn’t hear a single word.

Yes, even though Ruan Yunchu hadn’t given Yan Zhuo a single pleasant look all evening, the indefinable aura between them was impenetrable to outsiders.

He couldn’t help but smile bitterly to himself. After finishing the delicious meal diligently, he rose and left the Ruan residence.

Upstairs.

Ruan Yunchu went into the bathroom to wash up. When he came out, he saw the man sitting on the lounge chair by the bed, ignored him, climbed into bed, and opened his terminal.

The next second, a mechanical voice from the terminal rang out in the room: “It is not advisable to take a bath immediately after a meal. This habit is extremely harmful to the body…”

Ruan Yunchu: “…”

“Even if you’ve already done so, don’t panic. After washing up, do some simple stretching exercises. Do not lie down immediately…”

Ruan Yunchu turned a deaf ear, lying on his stomach to reply to messages.

Xiao Nan, who had been far away on T Star and unable to reach him for some time, had been very worried. Today, he kept insisting on a call. Now that Ruan Yunchu finally had a moment, he took the initiative to call him on his star communicator.

After patiently waiting for a while, the call was finally answered.

Xiao Nan’s cautious voice came through.

“Brother Fu Yun?” Xiao Nan’s voice was cautious.

“Mm. I was busy recently and didn’t reply to your messages,” Ruan Yunchu answered calmly.

He was about to ask about the situation on T Star when Xiao Nan’s next question came: “Are you really Brother Fu Yun? Turn on the video so I can check.”

“…”

Ruan Yunchu was silent for a moment, and the other seemed to realize he had sounded too stern. “Otherwise, how can I be sure it’s you? What if you’re a scammer?”

This was exactly what Ruan Yunchu had taught him before, but he never expected that caution would be turned on him.

Without much thought, he activated the camera, and his image appeared on the screen. Xiao Nan also opened his.

The boy sat on the sofa, a large blank wall behind him. He looked a little darker-skinned and a bit plumper, no longer the gaunt, hollow-cheeked figure he once had been.

“Brother Fu Yun, it really is you!” Xiao Nan seemed very happy. “Where are you now? I thought you’d come back, so I went to T University hoping to find you, but they said you hadn’t returned.”

“Mm. Something came up. I’ll be back in a while.” Xiao Nan seemed a bit dejected. “Without you here, I’m so bored being alone every day.”

"Your friends?"

"Xiao Zhe has already gone to A Star. Everyone else is busy. Oh, I've been going to class lately—here's a new essay I wrote."

Xiao Nan began showing it to him.

Ruan Yunchu glanced at it, but his gaze was drawn to Xiao Nan's gloved left hand.

"What happened to your hand?"

"Nothing really. My hand's been cracking because of the cold lately—it hurts a lot."

Ruan Yunchu caught a flicker of guilt in Xiao Nan's expression. His face darkened, and his tone turned cold: "Tell me the truth."

Xiao Nan stammered for a while. The little bully, usually so fearless outside, seemed scared in front of him.

"Well... a while ago, I got into a fight with someone. I hurt my hand."

"Let me see."

Xiao Nan instinctively wanted to refuse, but when he looked up and saw that cold face, he couldn't bring himself to say no. He reluctantly took off the glove.

The dark skin on his hand was still red and swollen, with several cuts on his wrist covered by a thin layer of scabs. It looked pretty scary.

Ruan Yunchu frowned slightly.

Xiao Nan quickly explained: "I really didn't want to fight them. But they kept chasing me, trying to make me go back and steal for them. Two of them just wouldn't let go, so I had to fight back."

"Just these injuries?" Ruan Yunchu cut him off.

"Yeah. They fought dirty, and I got too impatient. I accidentally punched the wall, so that's why it looks like this."

Xiao Nan seemed nervous. Seeing that Ruan Yunchu didn't say anything for a long time, he quickly added, "Don't be mad. I promise I'll be more careful and avoid them from now on. I definitely won't—"

Ruan Yunchu couldn't help but sigh. "Alright, this isn't your fault. I haven't said anything yet, have I?"

Xiao Nan's eyes lit up slightly, and he nodded earnestly. "Thank you, Brother Fu Yun."

"Focus on school. Send me their exact details."

Xiao Nan's eyes widened in surprise. "Brother Fu Yun, what are you going to do?"

"You don't need to worry about that."

Once Xiao Nan sent over the names and addresses, Ruan Yunchu said goodbye and hung up.

As soon as the call ended, before he could even sit up and relax his stiff body, he was engulfed in warmth. Someone lazily lay down beside him, pressing their face against his shoulder.

The head was too heavy; Ruan Yunchu nearly got crushed. He tried to push him away but couldn't.

"Baby, is that the little kid you picked up? He seems pretty cute." Yan Zhuo's voice was hoarse. He had just taken a shower, and his body still smelled of the shower.

Ruan Yunchu didn't feel like responding, but Yan Zhuo seized the moment when he tried to turn over and leave to wrap an arm around his waist.

"Just dealing with a few people—you're going through all this trouble to find someone. Why not just ask the person right here?"

The implication was clear. Ruan Yunchu shot him a glance.

"How would you handle it?"

"Hmm... a bunch of notorious thugs. Just tip off the local police and have them sent to do hard labor. People like that are only after big money; they'll follow wherever the money is."

Ruan Yunchu immediately forwarded the list to him. "Handle it ASAP."

He didn't even mention payment, but Yan Zhuo didn't seem the least bit upset. Instead, he said with a smile, "You really care a lot about this kid. What are you up to?"

"I just feel bad for him."

Ruan Yunchu pulled the blanket over himself, making it clear he was done talking.

Yan Zhuo didn't let him down either. Right on the spot, he opened his terminal and forwarded the list to Assistant Xiao. After giving the instructions, he lay down beside Ruan Yunchu as if he'd done it a thousand times.

"Babe, are you planning to bring him to A Star?"

"You're imagining things."

Ruan Yunchu closed his eyes, betraying no emotion.

"Babe, I know you pretty well. If this kid wasn't useful to you in some way, you wouldn't keep him around." Yan Zhuo paused to think, recalling the teenager he had glimpsed on the screen earlier. "He hasn't differentiated yet, has he?"

Ruan Yunchu opened his eyes, giving him a cold glance, but changed the subject. "What is the Alliance planning regarding Ruan Jing?"

"You didn't answer me." Yan Zhuo's voice was plaintive.

Ruan Yunchu closed his eyes again, exhausted.

"Alright, we're not doing anything. The headquarters already have spies from the rebel faction, so they'll soon know about your existence. As for the news, when you went to inspect Jiaxie today, it was already all over the StarNet. We don't even need to lift a finger."

Yan Zhuo propped his head on his arm, carefully studying his beautiful face glowing in the nightlight, and he felt a tenderness.

"You won't be in danger."

Ruan Yunchu made a sound of acknowledgment. "Okay."

The night deepened, and Yan Zhuo wasn't kicked out of the room.

-

The next day, Ruan Yunchu went to the Alliance headquarters for a meeting as the chairman of Jiaxie. That evening, as he was arguing with Yan Zhuo, who wanted to stay the night, he received a call from the hospital.

Half an hour later, they arrived at the hospital.

Ruan Yunchu stood with his arms crossed, staring out the window in silence. As the car stopped and he was about to push the door open, he was pulled into a back hug.

"Babe, don't be mad. I didn't mean to."

Yan Zhuo looked down. With his excellent vision, he could see the mottled bite marks on his collarbone, visible inside his collar—fierce and suggestive, made more pronounced by the force of the bites.

"Get lost." Ruan Yunchu didn't even struggle, just shot him a cold glare.

His look was full of impatience and disgust. Yan Zhuo looked hurt. "How about I let you bite me in return?"

"Yan Zhuo, do you have any shame?"

"No."

"…"

"Bite me—right here, okay? This spot hurts the most."

"Get lost!"

"No, you've got to bite me, or I'm not letting you out of the car."

"Yan Zhuo!"

"..."

After a ten-minute standoff in the car, they finally got out.

Ruan Yunchu strode through the hospital entrance, his face cold. Behind him, Yan Zhuo clutched his stinging neck. Lifting his hand, he saw a clear bloody mark and curled his lips into a twisted, satisfied smile.

"..."

When Ruan Yunchu arrived, Ruan Jing had already undergone a full examination and was now placed in a healing pod. His cheeks were sunken, his arms marked with needle holes and the indentations left by the machines, making him look even more haggard than before. It seemed many methods had been tried to wake him, but all had failed.

"Mr. Ruan, the preliminary assessment still shows a vegetative state; he hasn't been successfully awakened."

Ruan Yunchu nodded slightly. "Check if he meets the conditions for using the T021 drug."

The doctor was taken aback. "Are you planning to use it on him?"

"Yes."

There was not a trace of emotion in Ruan Yunchu's eyes as he looked at Ruan Jing. He just wanted to know what secrets the Ruan family was hiding.

This question had been tormenting him for far too long.