Chapter 27: Day Three of the Cold Shoulder

Chapter 27: The Third Day of the Silent Treatment

The next morning, when it was time to go to work, Li Wuya was not in the living room.

That made sense—he'd probably left the night before. After all, he was the head of the Military Affairs Bureau, so he must have things to do. It'd be pointless to hang around him all day...

Qin Shu stared at the fancy breakfast on the table.

There was a note: "Hope you eat well."

He touched the milk. It was still warm.

After a three-second silence, Qin Shu decided to sit down and eat.

Either way, wasting food was definitely not good!

Since he was eating breakfast, he wasn't in a rush to get to work. He happily decided to be late and opened his terminal to check messages.

A whole bunch from Li Wuya—he muted them.

There was also a message from Zuo Chou asking if he'd opened the gift.

Oh, he'd forgotten about that.

After breakfast, Qin Shu took out Zuo Chou's gift.

It was wrapped tight, taking several layers to unwrap. Inside were a rectangular box and a magazine.

Qin Shu flipped open the magazine and was instantly startled by a bunch of scantily clad beauties, flinging it three meters away.

...What the heck?

Just then, Zuo Chou called him.

"So, how about it, Little Shuer? This is a premium guide-exclusive magazine I picked out—I paid a fortune to get it from a female guide!"

"...You crossdressing freak, can you be serious? I hate you!"

Qin Shu picked the magazine back up and flipped through it quickly. It seemed to be all photos of female sentinels—some valiant, some elegant, all looking pretty mature. They seemed like the type people on Earth would call "the sophisticated type."

"So? So? Do you like it or not?!"

"No," Qin Shu said flatly. "Thanks, but don't send me this again."

"Huh? How can that be? These are beautiful female sentinels—does Little Shuer only like the cute type?"

"...Just don't send me this stuff anymore!"

After listening to Zuo Chou's nonsense a bit longer, he hung up, annoyed.

Qin Shu glanced at the magazine again, and bad memories came flooding back.

...Better not think about it. He should just get to work.

Those bad memories went back to a year ago.

-

Back then, the war had settled down, and Qin Shu finally had time to enjoy some online entertainment of the interstellar age—like gaming, and not just any gaming, but the legendary full-dive holographic games!

The moment he opened a multiplayer shooter holographic game, he was totally hooked and bugged Li Wuya to play with him.

Li Wuya said okay.

So that night, he entered the game's lobby early.

It was a popular game, and the lobby was packed. He set it to friends-only and waited for someone to join.

As he waited, someone suddenly appeared in front of him.

A woman.

Her expression was so cold it seemed lifeless, her gaze calm, with long, straight black hair, and she was wearing a dress.

Objectively speaking, she was a beautiful woman, with a mature and elegant vibe.

But—could someone tell him why this woman looked so much like a gender-swapped Li Wuya, with the ID "L51" over her head?

At the time, he'd blankly said, "Sis, you've got the wrong person, right?"

Then Qin Shu heard the system notification: "L51 has joined the party."

No way.

Why did this sis not only look like a gender-swapped Li Wuya and have the ID "L51" over her head, but also have him as a friend?

The next second, the woman turned back into a man.

Li Wuya looked at Qin Shu, who had already backed up ten meters, and said, "I accidentally chose the wrong gender."

Ha, what a mess.

Qin Shu scurried back over, feeling like he'd just survived a near-death experience!

"Sorry," Li Wuya paused. "I didn't freak you out, did I?"

Qin Shu jumped: "How could that possibly scare me?!"

It totally did.

That night, Qin Shu had a dream about Li Wuya.

Li Wuya, wearing a dress, came to him and said, "Sorry, A Shu, I've been lying to you all this time. Actually, I'm a woman."

Qin Shu was indignant: "But we've eaten and slept together for years, and I've seen everything—you clearly have an Adam's apple! And a dick!"

Li Wuya said, "What I mean is, I psychologically identify as female. I'm transgender, A Shu—do you mind?"

Li Wuya suddenly turned into female Li Wuya and added, "Oh, right, I just had gender reassignment surgery. Now my body is female too—"

Qin Shu jolted awake.

This was easily the most terrifying nightmare Qin Shu had ever had in his over twenty years of life!

Anyway, after that, he developed a psychological shadow over women of that mature and elegant type.

It wasn't his fault, right? It was too horrifying. The day after that dream, he clung to male Li Wuya and sobbed, saying, "Bro, you can't become transgender! I'll respect you, but you'd better not become transgender!"

Li Wuya asked him, "What is transgender?"

Qin Shu went on and on, but Li Wuya remained very calm, saying that it definitely wouldn't happen.

Looking back now, his gender really hadn't changed, but his sexual orientation had...

Qin Shu was just shaking off the memory when he suddenly froze again.

He hadn't dared to think deeply about it then, but now that he thought about it carefully—

Could Li Wuya have changed his in-game gender specifically to test him, because Li Wuya likes women?

No way… could it?

Qin Shu's expression slowly turned to horror.

-

Qin Shu stayed really serious about it right up until lunch.

So serious that he didn't notice a group of people hovering at the door, looking hesitant.

"Captain..." Goldie called softly.

"What?" Qin Shu looked up.

Goldie's gaze was firm: "As long as you give the order, Captain, we'll go storm the Military Affairs Bureau right now."

Qin Shu: ...

"No need."

Goldie rushed over: "But he made the Captain so sad!"

"Where do you see that I'm sad?"

Glasses: "The Captain married Li Wuya and didn't even look happy, so he must be sad."

Married?

At that key word, Qin Shu rubbed his chin.

Come to think of it, when was he supposed to go get the divorce done? Anyway, Li Wuya didn't really need his help.

But dealing with Li Wuya was such a pain; he felt like Li Wuya would go hang himself the moment he said "divorce."

"He's not even wearing a ring."

Oh, he'd left it on the nightstand.

A bunch of his guys stared at him.

Qin Shu leaned back lazily: "Oh."

Goldie leaned in: "Captain——"

"What exactly happened between you and Li Wuya? Tell us, won't you?"

"No."

The group begged in every way possible, but this time Qin Shu's heart was as hard as stone.

This was absolutely not something he could tell anyone; no matter how much they begged, it was useless!

Goldie asked again, "Captain, what attitude should we take toward Li Wuya?"

That question was answerable.

Qin Shu pondered for three seconds. "Pretend he doesn't exist."

"Carry out the order strictly!" Goldie paused, then suddenly said, "But Captain, I think the silent treatment is too easy. Why not just beat him up to let off some steam?"

Bob pushed him. "No, Captain, don't reward him!"

"What does beating him have to do with rewards..."

The two started arguing, and Little Fang whispered, "Captain, will there be no more cake time during lunch breaks from now on?"

Qin Shu quietly asked her, "Did you guys get to eat the cake from the wedding banquet the day before yesterday?"

Little Fang was shocked. "Was there a cake at the wedding banquet the day before yesterday?"

Qin Shu: !

He was thunderstruck: Such a big cake, three layers at that, and they didn't bring it out for the guests to eat?!

What a jerk, Li Wuya, utterly wasteful, how could he be so extravagant with food!

Amid the commotion, footsteps were suddenly heard.

Everyone turned in unison. A man in military uniform stepped through the doorway, a wedding ring glinting on his ring finger.

"A Shu, I made you lunch."

-

For a moment, there was a deathly silence.

Everyone strictly carried out the order to treat Li Wuya like air.

Though it felt more like the atmosphere of a battlefield.

Goldie knelt on one knee at Qin Shu's feet, Bob drew a dagger. No one was looking at Li Wuya, but the atmosphere was heavy and tense.

All the flowers in the office were still in bloom—on the desk, the windowsill, the top of the filing cabinet. Some were gifts from others, some from Li Wuya, all bright and beautiful in the sunlight.

The man in military uniform placed the lunchbox on the table, opened them one by one, and arranged them on the surface.

Four dishes and a soup, very lavish, and there were even three warm little sweets.

Qin Shu looked straight ahead, lazily scrolling on his device, his finger movements were unhurried as he swiped across the screen.

Li Wuya said gently, "A Shu, just throw away the utensils when you're done. They're all disposable."

"I have some work this afternoon. I'll try to finish early and come back early."

He looked at Qin Shu, smiled, and turned to leave.

The door closed gently.

Everyone erupted.

"Captain! Why didn't you give the hand signal just now!" Goldie was very excited, making the "attack" gesture.

"I told you, beating him is a reward!" Bob kicked him.

The guy with glasses said darkly, "Actually, I feel like ignoring him is also a reward."

Little Fang stomped her foot, "The captain's clearly ignoring him, so why's he still acting so cocky!"

Qin Shu suddenly caught on, "No wonder I'm a little pissed, it's 'cause he's so full of himself."

"Captain!!"

But whatever, you still gotta eat.

"But I always feel that the captain is letting Li Wuya off easy," Golden Retriever said, all bitter.

Qin Shu didn't give a damn. If the guy wanted to cook, let him. He'd made peace with it and was taking it in stride!

Stuffed and in a good mood, he waved Golden Retriever over and shoved a dessert into his mouth.

"Good?" Qin Shu asked, eyes crinkling.

Golden Retriever was dumbstruck. "G-good."

"Damn right, only an idiot turns down free food." He patted Golden Retriever on the cheek.

-

Meanwhile, Li Wuya was already back in his office at the Military Affairs Bureau.

His wounds were still throbbing from his morning spar with Yu Huaicheng.

He sucked at direct combat, but Yu Huaicheng, who'd underestimated him for it, was now in the hospital.

Corps Commander Yu Huaicheng was already annoying enough when he confessed to A Shu at the celebration banquet a few months ago, and then this morning, he shows up knocking on A Shu's door.

—To offer himself up as a lover, no less.

Having a spouse who's too attractive is a real pain.

But like Li Wuya said before, there was no room for a third party in his and A Shu's family. Now was the time to make good on that.

He set the warm milk down gently, took off his apron, and slowly left the house.

Too bad he looked like a mess after the fight—no way he could show his face to Qin Shu like that—so he had no choice but to head back to the Military Affairs Bureau, much to his regret.

He wrapped up work as fast as he could, ran home, came straight back, and spent the rest of the morning cooking.

He'd already talked himself down.

Getting ignored by Qin Shu was proof he cared in itself. That kind of serious cold shoulder had to take constant effort, right? Wasn't that just another kind of attention?

Plus, Qin Shu didn't turn him away. He ate the breakfast he made... he'd definitely finish the lunch too.

How could Qin Shu be so damn cute?

He finally managed to pull himself back to work.

The adjutant said quietly, "General, the corps doesn't want to head back to the border. The Empress and the Marshal are backing them up."

Li Wuya twisted his wedding ring.

Obviously they were trying to get under his skin with this. He wondered what tricks they would play with these mad dogs.

He really hoped they weren't all gonna line up to be A Shu's lovers. That'd be a hell of a lot of work for him.

But as A Shu's spouse, he should bear the sweet responsibility of driving away harassers for A Shu.

-

He got off work an hour earlier than usual.

All non-urgent work was transferred online or postponed to tomorrow. Li Wuya's heart was set on returning home; after all, he was a family man.

After carefully selecting the groceries, he returned to their home.

He put down the shopping bag, turned on the light. When Qin Shu was not there, the home always lacked some liveliness.

Li Wuya felt that he himself didn't have much human warmth either; most of the time he lived like a dead man. Qin Shu was too bright and cheerful a color.

He walked leisurely into the living room, preparing to water the flowers, passing by the sofa.

He stopped, turned his head.

He saw the items casually placed on the sofa.

A woman's portrait photo came into view.

And, in the box... what?