Chapter 81 Adoption

Chapter 81: Adoption

Without thinking, and for reasons he couldn’t explain, Jiang Huaiyan reached out and patted his head.

“Just go to work.”

It was a very “Zhu Cheng” kind of move.

Jiang Huaiyan never liked pulling rank or bringing up age, nor did he like physical contact. As far as Zhu Shinian could remember, he’d never seen him do anything like that.

Jiang Huaiyan was stunned too, as if he couldn’t understand why he had suddenly done that.

The gland he’d marked suddenly burned hot again, and Zhu Shinian bolted back to his room like he was escaping.

Shouldn’t he have done that?

After all, people are just animals driven by pheromones. He and Jiang Huaiyan were both acting... kind of off because of it.

Zhu Shinian thought about turning Jiang Huaiyan away during the next heat, but he could clearly tell Jiang Huaiyan’s pheromones were leveling out and his condition was improving as a result.

He couldn’t say no.

That little mental hiccup seemed tiny compared to Jiang Huaiyan’s real improvement.

Plus, Zhu Shinian didn’t need suppressants anymore and could spend more time working and, more specifically, commanding the front lines.

It was a win-win for both of them.

The front lines kept pushing forward, the Resistance Zone kept growing, and Jiang Huaiyan’s health got better every single day.

In less than a year, the actual area controlled by the Resistance Zone had reached half of the Empire’s original territory, truly at a standoff with the Empire.

As everyone across the country celebrated, Zhu Shinian ordered them to slow down the advance.

People started doubting. Some said, “When the front is charging ahead, why should we boost the enemy’s morale and hurt our own, giving the Empire time to fight back? They should just take down the whole Empire at once.”

Others said Zhu Shinian knew too well how he’d climbed the ladder through military merit—seeing General Qian’s contributions pile up, he was afraid he’d lose his standing, and would rather give the enemy a chance than let General Qian outshine him.

Still others said Zhu Shinian probably wasn’t that petty, but he’d been away from the front too long and had really turned into a scaredy-cat, afraid to push forward.

But the moment Zhu Shinian’s voice came over the radio, all those whispers died down in a flash.

“Hello, everyone listening to Resistance Home. This is Zhu Shinian, Governor of the Resistance Zone and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.”

A gentle, clear voice came over the airwaves, steady as a quiet stream.

That stream quietly flowed into thousands of homes—living rooms, kitchens, workshops, even the trenches where both sides had paused.

“This is my first time on Resistance Home. I know a lot of you have doubts about my recent decisions. Everyone’s thinking: ‘Momentum’s great—why not just keep fighting until the Empire gives up?’”

He spoke slowly, like he was thinking out loud, natural as a casual chat.

Back in the Empire, Zhu Shinian had already been a promising young colonel; a lot of people had known him a long time. Back then, facing the public and cameras, he used to be nervous and reserved—pretty much the opposite of what he was now.

“I want that too. I want it more than anyone else. Those young people bleeding out there on the battlefield—I sent them there. Every single name that fell, I signed a commendation for. I want this war to end a day earlier too. I’ve got family too. I know how scared they are every day while I’m out fighting.”

“The Empire looks down on us. Their papers call us ‘rabble.’ From the start, they actually had better military gear than we did.”

Zhu Shinian’s voice was gentle and calm, unhurried. He said the front was moving too fast, supply lines were too stretched, and the ammo and food they sent often sat on the road for days before reaching the soldiers.

The Empire would burn everything down in places about to be taken, leaving them no factories or equipment.

He said Resistance soldiers were a hundred times braver than the Empire’s, but even the bravest soldiers can’t drive cars or tanks without gas, and they can’t kill without bullets.

The Resistance was advancing forward, while the Empire was retreating. If they couldn’t keep building new factories and supply depots fast enough, their supply lines would only grow longer, while the Empire’s would only grow shorter.

Zhu Shinian’s talk didn’t last very long. The host (a woman) then asked a few questions, and Zhu Shinian answered them one by one.

His conversational style was actually very similar to Tao Juan’s; he wouldn’t evade important issues, and if a question couldn’t be publicly answered, he’d straightforwardly say he couldn’t answer it.

Zhu Shinian had participated in the evening program of Resistance Home. By the time he left the broadcast studio, it was already late at night. Lin Zhiyu offered to see him off, but Zhu Shinian declined.

He and Lin Zhiyu hadn’t seen each other for three years. As they walked downstairs together, he learned that Lin Zhiyu was already married.

Her husband was an alpha soldier who had retired due to blindness in his left eye. He now worked as an editor at the radio station. They had met here, hit it off, and soon submitted a marriage application.

Because of the war, many of their relatives and friends were still on the battlefield, so they hadn’t held a wedding banquet yet.

“Well…” Zhu Shinian was taken aback, looking at Lin Zhiyu’s slightly swollen belly.

He had noticed it earlier, but assumed it was just because the station had good meals and that Lin Zhiyu, who often worked night shifts, might have a habit of eating late-night snacks.

“Four months. When the time comes, please come to the baby’s one-month celebration, Governor. I’ll also introduce my husband to you.”

Mentioning her husband, Lin Zhiyu smiled a little shyly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Sure,” Zhu Shinian also smiled.

Lin Zhiyu returned to her dormitory at the broadcast station, and Zhu Shinian walked out of the station gate alone.

It was just before eleven. The moonlight was cold and white, the night sky pitch black.

Lin Zhiyu was going to be a mother too. How wonderful, Zhu Shinian thought.

She had a husband met through love, and a child born as the fruit of that love. How wonderful.

Wonderful, Zhu Shinian repeated.

The car was parked in the yard, a thin layer of frost on the windshield. Zhu Shinian lowered his eyes and started the engine.

It was nearly 11:30 when he got home. Zhu Shinian parked the car and went upstairs.

Actually, he wasn’t lonely, Zhu Shinian thought. Grandma should be home, just asleep. Jiang Huaiyan hadn’t gone on a business trip today; he seemed to have gone to an orphanage on the outskirts for some charity event. He should also be home by now.

…Why must he keep thinking about the child he had lost?

Zhu Shinian was somewhat distracted. As he unlocked the door with his key, he remembered he had made a big oversight.

He had forgotten to give Lin Zhiyu a red envelope.

He regretted so much he wanted to slap his forehead. Clearly, when Lin Zhiyu mentioned she got married, he had thought of it, but later when he heard about the child, he got distracted and forgot.

Lin Zhiyu had defected with him from the Empire, defying the world. It was one thing not to keep in touch normally, but learning she got married, he actually forgot to give her a red envelope to congratulate her.

“You’re back?”

Zhu Shinian had lingered outside the door for too long, so long that Jiang Huaiyan, who had already heard his footsteps and sensed something was wrong, hurried out to open the door.

The living room light was warm yellow, illuminating Jiang Huaiyan. Zhu Shinian looked at the swaddled bundle in his arms and froze completely.

That was... a child whose age Zhu Shinian couldn't figure out.

"Come inside first," Jiang Huaiyan said, a little helplessly, seeing that Zhu Shinian was too stunned to speak. "Why are you standing outside the door in a daze?"

"Is this... did you bring him from the orphanage?"

The child was asleep, probably just put to sleep by Jiang Huaiyan. Zhu Shinian asked very quietly, afraid of waking the child again.

"I know you... still want a child." Jiang Huaiyan placed the child in a stroller and said softly, looking at him. "Today, I happened to go to the orphanage for a charity event. The director asked if I wanted to adopt, so I brought him back. We haven't gone through the procedures yet."

The warm yellow light shone on the child's sleeping face. In this new environment, he seemed to lack a sense of security, lying on his side, curled up into a small ball.

"How old is he?" Zhu Shinian asked.

"Over two, a few months more or less," Jiang Huaiyan replied.

Zhu Shinian was silent for a moment, then looked away from the child.

The child Zhu Shinian had aborted, if born safely, would have been about this age too.

Jiang Huaiyan's heart suddenly tightened. He was afraid he had made things worse, only making Zhu Shinian more sad and upset.

The silence was tangible, slowly eroding the entire living room.

"At the orphanage, don't younger children get adopted more easily?" Zhu Shinian asked after a while.

Not understanding the intent behind the question, Jiang Huaiyan nodded in confirmation.

It had always been that way at the orphanage: the younger the child, the easier it is to bond with them; the older, the harder to find a home.

A child this age, two years old, had almost no memories. Even if you lied and said he was yours, as long as you treated him well, he would never suspect.

"If we... are going to adopt, maybe we should adopt an older child," Zhu Shinian said softly.

"A child his age, so adorable, chubby and cute—he'll definitely be liked by a lot of people. He probably won't have trouble being adopted."

Zhu Shinian spoke fast and urgently, as if speaking any slower would expose that his logic didn't hold up.

The logic behind his words was like an omega looking for a partner, saying that a tall, handsome alpha would surely never lack love, but they'd prefer someone poor and ugly, someone who would need them—because only then would they be loved.

On a dating site, such a ridiculous idea would get mocked by everyone.

Jiang Huaiyan looked at him quietly. He really didn't know what Zhu Shinian was thinking.

Was it that he didn't want to replace the child he had lost with another? Or was it that seeing a child the same age as his own made him think of that child, making him feel guilty toward this child?

In any case, Zhu Shinian was the person Jiang Huaiyan had ever met who was the best at making himself suffer, at holding himself to impossibly strict moral standards, and at being the hardest on himself.

Sometimes, Jiang Huaiyan absolutely hated Gu Zhen.

Because, based on his understanding of Zhu Shinian's grandmother and parents, he didn't think they could have raised someone like Zhu Shinian to be like this, who was always so hard on himself.

"Okay." Jiang Huaiyan replied softly.

"Then tomorrow... let's bring him back to the orphanage together."

Author's note: