It was obviously intentional, but the fact also seemed to be true. Yan Qiu would not go so far as to lie about something like this just to tease him.
After Lu Qiao kissed Yan Qiu because he was jealous, the man looked satisfied and stopped teasing him about it. Lu Qiao, however, began to brood over it, feeling a little depressed.
“I only met that girl once, when I was ten. She was only five years old back then. You really don’t need to be jealous over something like that.” Yan Qiu wore a teasing expression.
Lu Qiao glared at him. “Who told you to tell me about it!”
Yan Qiu curved his lips. “Kiss me twice on your own every day, and I won’t tease you anymore. How about it?”
“……” Lu Qiao blushed and muttered under his breath, “No way. I don’t believe you. You’ll definitely still tease me!”
Yan Qiu let out a low laugh but did not deny it.
However—
Lu Qiao calculated it in his head. After finishing, he glanced at Yan Qiu. The man calmly asked, “What is it?”
“That girl is only five years younger than you, yet you call her a ‘child.’ I’m only three years younger than you, too,” Lu Qiao huffed. “Speaking of which, the first time you talked to me, you even called me ‘little friend’… Yet you have absolutely no sense of incongruity dating this ‘little friend,’ huh?”
Lu Qiao’s physical development really had been delayed in every way. At fourteen or fifteen, he was still skinny as a stick and short, like a little dwarf. Standing together with Yan Qiu and the others, who were older students, there was practically a difference between a little kid and an adult.
Back then, Lu Qiao had been rather unhappy whenever they called him a “little friend,” but thinking about it now, if he were in Yan Qiu’s position and had a tiny little bean sprout standing in front of him, he probably would have treated the other person like a child too.
Of course, after Lu Qiao finally grew, the difference in their appearances gradually became smaller. But since Yan Qiu had teased him, he had to tease him back!
“I’m a ‘little friend,’ you know. Don’t you feel even a tiny bit guilty?” Lu Qiao lifted his chin and looked at the man with a mischievous smile.
Yan Qiu gave him an amused yet knowing look and said, “Even if I spent the entire day in bed with you, I wouldn’t feel guilty at all.”
Lu Qiao: “!!!”
Shameless!!! He lost again!!!
Lu Qiao glared fiercely at the man. Yan Qiu smiled and ruffled his hair.
“Alright. Do you want to come to the military headquarters with me? I’ll come back after I take care of a few things.”
Lu Qiao pursed his lips, awkwardly preparing to agree, when he suddenly received a message from the deputy curator.
He opened it and saw that three students from the training academy had passed the military’s new recruit assessment and were about to graduate. They planned to have a farewell dinner that evening and were asking whether Lu Qiao wanted to come.
Of course Lu Qiao wanted to go. After all, they had spent so much time together. He definitely had to attend this farewell dinner.
So he said to Yan Qiu, “I’m not going with you. I’m going back to the training academy. I’m having a farewell dinner with them tonight.”
“Tonight?” Yan Qiu asked.
Lu Qiao knew what he wanted to ask. After thinking for a moment, he said, “I’ll stay and eat with them until seven. If I go over to your place after seven, then I’ll wait until six tomorrow morning, when the lock is解除, before coming back. If you teleport from home to my side, then after we meet, we can go home together.”
Yan Qiu nodded. “Alright. I’ll have the driver take you there. Send me a message when you arrive.”
“Okay.”
Once they had settled everything, the two of them silently looked at each other for a moment.
In the end, Yan Qiu leaned over and kissed Lu Qiao.
Lu Qiao felt that the two of them were being ridiculously affectionate.
But he was happy.
Lu Qiao and Yan Qiu each boarded their own aircraft and left the Yan family estate.
Lu Qiao dozed off for a while. When he woke up, he discovered that his terminal had been bombarded with messages.
The first was from Luo Ye.
Luo Ye: “[Picture] Your handiwork? [Snickering]”
In the photo, Yan Qiu seemed to be sitting directly across from Luo Ye, with a conference table between them.
On either side of him were generals and marshals dressed in crisp military uniforms, while he was wearing jeans and the hip-hop sweater, looking completely out of place.
The generals on both sides were staring at him in collective bewilderment. As the focus of everyone’s attention, Yan Qiu calmly read through a document in his hands, apparently listening to a report, completely unmoved.
Half an hour later, Ji Zhuyun sent a message:
“[Picture] I’m dying laughing. The whole vibe changed completely. Everyone was shocked by him. Don’t even mention the others—even I’ve never seen him dressed like this! I heard you made it? Great job! Make him two more in this style! This is hilarious, hahaha!”
In the photo, Yan Qiu had obviously finished his meeting and was outside, apparently having run into Ji Zhuyun.
The man walked with his back straight. The four large golden-edged characters, “Empire’s Number One,” embroidered on a red background across his sleeve were particularly eye-catching, while his expression remained as calm as ever.
Another hour later, Song Yue exploded:
“[Picture] Oh my God, what happened to Yan Qiu! What did you do to him!! Today he became the brightest star in the entire military headquarters!!!”
In the photo, Yan Qiu was boarding an aircraft. The angle happened to capture his profile, and the man cast a calm glance toward the camera, with the lion’s head on his chest faintly visible. Under the sunlight, its colors were especially flamboyant.
After looking at it, Lu Qiao…
Covered his face.
He had only slept for a while. Could it be that Yan Qiu had worn this sweater while touring the entire military headquarters? Otherwise, considering his usual two-point routine, how could he have run into so many people this time?!
Lu Qiao had originally been quite confident about this sweater, but after all this, even his sense of shame had been awakened!
The thing was, even he felt embarrassed now. How could Yan Qiu still remain completely unfazed?!
Lu Qiao took a deep breath and immediately sent Yan Qiu a message:
“…Are you home yet? Hurry home!”
Yan Qiu quickly replied:
“The Emperor summoned me to the palace.”
Lu Qiao was shocked.
“You went there without changing clothes?”
Yan Qiu: “There was no need to change.”
Lu Qiao: “…Isn’t that a little inappropriate?”
Yan Qiu: “His Majesty praised your handiwork.”
Lu Qiao: “……”
Lu Qiao covered his face again.
So embarrassing!
As though he could see what Lu Qiao looked like at that moment, Yan Qiu quickly sent another message:
“The clothes look great. I really like them. Love you.”
Lu Qiao stared blankly at the message for a moment. When he came back to his senses, his heart melted.
After thinking for a while, he slowly let out a breath.
Forget it. Yan Qiu actually doing something this silly probably meant that he really did like this sweater.
Lu Qiao had enough self-awareness to know that no matter how seriously he had made it, his craftsmanship definitely could not compare with the high-end custom clothing the Yan family usually wore. The reason the man treasured this sweater so much… was probably because Lu Qiao had made it himself.
Lu Qiao pursed his lips and smiled.
This man had actually become this happy…
He could make him two more when he had time.
But he would have to think much more carefully about the designs!
Lu Qiao arrived at the training academy at two in the afternoon.
The students had probably already heard the news. The moment they saw him, they ran out of the classroom and surrounded him, excitedly chattering away.
“Lu Qiao, congratulations!”
“Was the deputy officer assessment difficult?”
“You became Marshal Yan’s deputy officer as soon as you entered the military! That’s amazing!”
“Lu Qiao, are you the first person to become a deputy officer immediately after entering the military? That’s seriously impressive!”
“Alright, alright, don’t forget you’re still in class!” The curator also came out, clapping his hands. He glanced at the time and said, “There’s still half an hour before class ends. Hurry, go back, go back! Bridge Bridge isn’t going anywhere. You can talk tonight when we eat!”
Lu Qiao quickly soothed them as well, and the students were coaxed back into the classroom.
Only then did Lu Qiao notice that Ellie and Chris had come again today.
He asked in surprise, “You two skipped class again?”
The two of them had originally been looking at him with a mixture of resentment and envy. At his words, they immediately bristled and jumped up.
Ellie angrily said, “We were called here by the deputy curator! We didn’t skip class!”
Chris emphasized repeatedly, “Exactly! We didn’t skip class!”
“Alright, alright, I misunderstood you. Sorry.” The corner of Lu Qiao’s mouth twitched.
He was just about to turn around and enter the classroom to talk to the curator when he suddenly heard Ellie suck in a sharp breath.
He looked back and saw Ellie staring at the back of his neck, her face turning ashen.
Lu Qiao suddenly remembered something.
Smack.
He immediately covered the back of his neck.
Wait, wait…
He looked at Ellie and stammered, “W-what are you looking at?”
Ellie trembled.
“Your neck… is that… a h-h-hickey?!!!”
Lu Qiao: “!!!”
No way. It really was?!
Chris’s eyes widened when he heard that. He ran over, trying to look at the back of Lu Qiao’s neck, shouting, “Where? Where? Did Marshal Yan give it to you?!”
Lu Qiao hurriedly dodged and raised his other hand to cover the back of his neck as well, utterly mortified.
He remembered that Yan Qiu had kissed his neck for quite a while yesterday. But no one had mentioned any marks on the back of his neck since he woke up that morning, and even Yan Qiu had not said anything while they were being intimate.
So until Ellie stared at the back of his neck with that kind of expression, he had completely forgotten about it!
Had Yan Qiu really kissed him that hard yesterday…?
How had he actually left a mark?!
Lu Qiao’s entire body turned red. Facing two people younger than him, he was simply too embarrassed.
He awkwardly asked, “I-Is it very obvious?”
Ellie gritted her teeth.
“You… tell… me… I saw it!”
Th-then what should he do?!
Lu Qiao became anxious on the spot and whispered, “D-Do you have any makeup I could use to cover it?”
Ellie silently stared at him with a completely expressionless face.
Lu Qiao: “……”
Uh…
Asking Ellie, a devoted Yan Qiu fangirl, to lend him makeup to cover a hickey Yan Qiu had left on him…
That seemed a little inappropriate, didn’t it?
But if he did not cover it, wouldn’t anyone who looked closely potentially see it?
There was only one girl in the training academy right now—Ellie. None of the other boys would probably have makeup!
Lu Qiao was rather depressed, anxious like an ant on a hot pan.
What a blunder. Such a terrible blunder!
From now on, Yan Qiu was absolutely not allowed to kiss his neck randomly anymore!!!
Ellie was practically being turned sour by jealousy.
The person she had always looked down on had not only successfully entered the military, but had also become Marshal Yan’s deputy officer in one fell swoop.
He had even claimed Marshal Yan himself!
It was infuriating! She was so jealous!
Aaaaaah!!!
Seeing Lu Qiao looking so red-faced and helpless only made her go even crazier.
Why did he look so innocent?!
Just the word “hickey” was enough to make him blush?!
Could this be his first love?!
Could he and Marshal Yan actually be each other’s first love—where everything was their first time?!
Ellie was so angry that she started breathing heavily.
Then, suddenly possessed by a reckless impulse, she asked:
“Lu Qiao, you and Marshal Yan haven’t done it yet, right?”
Lu Qiao: “!!!!”
He was extremely flustered and asked, without any force behind his voice, “W-What are you talking about!”
Ellie twisted into a sinister smile.
“Heh… hehe. You don’t know a lot of things, do you? That won’t do. If you don’t know anything once you get into bed, your first experience will be terrible, you know? Whether for you or for Marshal Yan!”
Chris turned his head to look at his sister and swallowed.
His sister seemed to have gone completely wrong in the head!!!
Lu Qiao’s gaze darted rapidly from side to side, his voice thoroughly panicked.
“You-You’re a girl. How could you possibly know more than me?!”
“Me?” Ellie gave a sinister grin. “At least I’ve been reading danmei novels for so many years. I’ve watched more GVs than AVs!”
Lu Qiao was stunned.
Chris was stunned too.
His sister was broken!!!
Ellie narrowed her eyes and beckoned to Lu Qiao with a finger.
“How about it? Want me to send you a few to watch?”
“!!!” Lu Qiao exclaimed excitedly, “How can you watch that kind of stuff!!! I’ve never even watched any!!! What are these GVs and AVs and all this nonsense!”
He started breathing heavily too, then swallowed nervously. He quickly glanced around and lowered his voice.
“…Are the files big? Is the transfer fast?”