Chapter 72 Annoying Person

Chapter 72: The Annoying Guy

ABO differentiation has been around for a hundred years, and discrimination against omegas has always been there.

Omegas handle reproduction, alphas handle labor—biology has created two different social divisions of labor.

Traditionally, omegas are gentle, delicate, and need protecting.

Although there are omegas in the military, most work in logistics or intelligence, and they’re rarely deployed to the front lines the way alphas are.

If an omega ever wants to join the front lines, they inevitably face extra scrutiny, told the battlefield isn’t a game and advised to stay back.

But for Zhu Shinian, whether he’s an alpha or an omega doesn’t matter anymore.

Zhu Shinian has repeatedly pulled off incredible feats, led by example, and helped the Resistance through crisis after crisis, seizing territory bit by bit.

Many soldiers admire him, and a lot of civilians adore him.

Just like no one cares that Joan of Arc was a woman or that Napoleon was short, why should someone like him face criticism or career setbacks just because he re-differentiated into an omega?

Tao Juan thinks that would be ridiculous.

Zhu Shinian still feels like all this is unreal, like a dream.

.......

Jiang Huaiyan and Zhu Cheng are total opposites. Zhu Cheng is mild-mannered, patient, quiet, and reserved. He’s just like Zhu Shinian—hardly any ambition beyond making life better for himself and his family.

Jiang Huaiyan, on the other hand, is almost his polar opposite—savvy, articulate, and always the center of attention without trying.

He’s ambitious, with ideals and big dreams. Regular people admire him, colleagues want to follow him, and those who hate him or whom he hates despise him to the core, but they can’t do a thing about it.

Even though Jiang Huaiyan and Zhu Cheng have similar builds from behind and almost identical scents, Zhu Shinian never even considered it.

Cedarwood is such a common scent that, from the academy to his military career, Zhu Shinian knows at least six alphas with cedarwood scents.

Coming back from the dead... that’s something Zhu Shinian wouldn’t even dare to dream about.

When his dad died, Zhu Shinian was very young. Sometimes he’d still fantasize that his father and Uncle Song were just trapped in the mountains, and that one day his father would return.

Zhu Shinian, along with his mother and grandmother, had picked mulberries and made his favorite wine, waiting for him to come back and have some.

When he went to the market with his mom, Zhu Shinian would stupidly stare at tall male betas, looking for his dad among them.

Zhu Shinian was five years old then. Now he’s over twenty.

He doesn’t have such silly, childish fantasies anymore. Dead people don’t come back to life.

Especially since he saw with his own eyes that mangled, nearly bloodless corpse.

If it weren’t for Gu Zhen’s intel, Zhu Shinian would never have known Jiang Huaiyan was his brother—not until Jiang Huaiyan died of illness in District 29, until his bones turned to ash.

When he saw Jiang Huaiyan again, just seeing him made Zhu Shinian choke up—he wanted to cry.

He didn’t die in that run-down hospital in District 26; he didn’t die in the fire of the Capital Villa; and he didn’t die on the cold hospital bed in the Resistance zone.

He’s alive, breathing, and he came to Zhu Shinian on his own.

That day, when Jiang Huaiyan got off the helicopter, he didn’t join the crowd rushing to hug Zhu Shinian.

The crowd surrounded Zhu Shinian and helped him board the helicopter, like they were welcoming a victorious hero. Jiang Huaiyan just watched from the side, his eyes quietly fixed on Zhu Shinian’s face.

They were all wrong, Zhu Shinian thought. He’d never been the Resistance’s great hero.

He wasn’t noble enough to sacrifice himself without a second thought for some greater cause.

He had risked his life to revive that plan—a plan deemed too dangerous and rejected by everyone—simply because he couldn’t bear to watch his brother die alone.

He wasn’t noble or great in the least.

He was just a selfish person, only caring about himself and his family.

The Military Intelligence files were encrypted, off-limits to anyone from other departments. No one else had seen the intel report yet.

On the helo, Jiang Huaiyan still didn’t know Zhu Shinian had already found out he was his long-lost brother.

He sat quietly in the seat farthest from Zhu Shinian on the helicopter, listening to the young people chattering around him like a flock of noisy sparrows.

While Jiang Huaiyan was focused on his notebook, Zhu Shinian glanced in his direction.

Jiang Huaiyan happened to look up from his notebook at that very moment, and their eyes met.

In front of Jiang Huaiyan, Zhu Shinian was never very good at hiding his feelings.

Those pretty chestnut eyes were round as a puppy’s, making every emotion plain to see.

Why... why are you hiding this from me?

Were you planning to hide it from me until you died?

Even if you had died of illness, you probably wouldn’t have let me know.

Jiang Huaiyan felt distressed under that gaze and instinctively looked away.

He should have known that Zhu Shinian was his younger brother on the night he killed Ning Ye.

Why didn’t he reveal their relationship? Was it because even then, he already knew he was sick?

Not wanting to put Zhu Shinian through another heartbreak, he chose to stay silent, letting Zhu Shinian hate him, loathe him, wish him gone from the world.

That was exactly something Zhu Cheng would do.

...The self-righteous, annoying guy.

There were many other people on the helicopter. Not until they entered the airspace of District 29 did the crowd erupt in cheers. The helicopter slowly descended and landed at the Resistance’s headquarters base.

Jiang Huaiyan offered to take Zhu Shinian home, while Fu Cheng and the others headed back to their dormitories.

The crowd gradually dispersed.

The tall streetlights stretched their shadows long. After a while, the long, drawn-out bell for lights-out at the military dormitories sounded from a distance.

Zhu Shinian was not Jiang Huaiyan; he couldn’t keep such a big secret in his heart.

Jiang Huaiyan could naturally pretend as if nothing had happened, like tricking a child and keeping Zhu Shinian in the dark. But Zhu Shinian couldn’t stand to pretend ignorance for even a single second.

He had countless questions to ask Jiang Huaiyan: how he escaped from the fire, how much he had suffered over the years, what he was thinking when he realized Zhu Shinian was his relative.

But he was too weak. He had prepared his questions, yet the moment he opened his mouth, he choked up badly.

Stop crying.

Under the streetlamp at night, Jiang Huaiyan, somewhat at a loss, patted Zhu Shinian's back: "I..."

"I'm still alive. It was you who saved me and many others."

"You're really amazing. Isn't this something to be happy about?"

Why cry over something that should make you happy?

Zhu Shinian couldn't answer either.

"Why are you so thin now..." Zhu Shinian choked up. "When I wasn't around, did anyone give you a hard time?"

"No one gave me a hard time. It's probably... side effects from the special medication. I haven't been sleeping well lately. I'll try to go to bed and get up earlier from now on..."

Jiang Huaiyan's shoulder sank slightly as Zhu Shinian threw himself into his arms and hugged him.

He was stunned for a second, then reached out and hugged Zhu Shinian back, gently stroking his hair.

"Why did you hide it from me? Why didn't you tell me? You obviously knew all along..."

Zhu Shinian suddenly seemed so fragile and on the verge of tears. Jiang Huaiyan held him and gently patted his back.

Jiang Huaiyan, usually so sharp-tongued, couldn't find any words to explain himself.

After a long while, he let out a very light, somewhat helpless sigh.

He looked a lot like the Zhu Cheng that Zhu Shinian remembered. When Zhu Cheng knew he'd done something wrong, he got the same way—stiff, helpless, at a loss.

"Tell you? So you could go do something dangerous?" He said very slowly. When he spoke again, his tone shifted.

Zhu Shinian was taken aback, not expecting Jiang Huaiyan to suddenly turn around and question him.

"Did you ever think you might not come back? That you might fail the mission and never return? Do you even know Tao Juan? Can you guarantee he'd negotiate to save you? Do you know Gu Liancheng? Do you know how badly he wants you dead? And you risked your life like that..."

Even without me, you lived just fine for so many years, didn't you?

If I died, you'd be sad for a bit, then you'd go back to your own life.

If you think of me as Ning Ye's idiot son, you probably wouldn't even be all that sad.

Jiang Huaiyan spoke rapidly and urgently, as if he'd been holding this in for a long time. Zhu Shinian tried to cut in a few times to argue, but couldn't.

"I won't do it again," Zhu Shinian said after a moment of silence when Jiang finished. "But you... you can't hide things from me anymore either."

Zhu Shinian took Jiang Huaiyan back to the place where he and his grandmother lived.

The military operation to retrieve Zhu Shinian was secret, so they didn't tell Grandma at first.

She hadn't seen Zhu Shinian in over a month. Many of Xiaonian's colleagues visited her every few days. The more they cared for her, the more anxious she got.

Every time they came, she was terrified both of having no news of Zhu Shinian and of them bringing bad news. She lived in constant fear.

When she opened the door and saw Zhu Shinian, Grandma was already stunned.

Zhu Shinian sat her down and reintroduced Jiang Huaiyan. At first, Grandma could barely process what he was saying, too shocked to believe it.

The old lady had weathered too many joys and sorrows in her life. Even though Zhu Shinian and Jiang Huaiyan had tacitly omitted the most arduous parts of Jiang's experiences over the years, she still pulled the two children into her arms, crying so hard that she couldn't speak.

She touched Jiang Huaiyan's disfigured face, and tears of heartache fell in big drops.

Jiang Huaiyan, who was usually smooth and adept at dealing with anyone, became completely at a loss in front of this old lady.

He really... wasn't sold by his parents.

Can someone like him really have true family, people who truly care about him?

Author's note:

Some time later, Xiaonian, who has a long reaction time, wakes up in the middle of the night: Wait a minute... it seems I slept with my brother a while ago.