Chapter 85: Life goes on
Editor: Geoffrey_
"Which general…?" Fatty felt helpless. The self-esteem of Russell might be too high, right? Only a general could see through your plan and not a first lieutenant staff officer?
Towards this enemy, Fatty did not have any good words and could not care less about him. Waving his hand as if chasing away a housefly, he said, "This question is something which you should ask General Bernadotte yourself when you meet him."
Russell had met a nail; he nodded his head and left while feeling strange in his heart: ‘Just a first lieutenant from the special forces of the Leray Federation is already so bullish… He was meeting an Empire’s general who could possibly become a general of the Federation, and yet, he did not even show any reverence. These Federation soldiers are all seemingly indifferent to such things.’
Two days of time passed very quickly. On the dawn of the third day, Tian Xing Jian had not even gotten up from his bed before the fleet inviting Russell had come over to the Restaurant Si Mai and waited for him outside.
For the sake of coordinating with the propaganda, the Federation government placed a great deal of effort on this ceremony, and even Federation President Hamilton had personally come to Jialipalan for this invitation. Towards an opponent of war, this standard was enough to show respect to Russell, and at the same time, it was fiercely slapping the face of Gyaca Woods Empire on the international stage.
During these two days, the reported news on television regarding this matter had been really verbose, and furthermore, there was an uproar going on in the international scene as the inner circle of the Gyaca Woods Empire descended into chaos. Fatty had never thought of how important this person, who had been kicked and beaten by him along the way here, was; this famous general, who did not even rank amongst the top few most famous military experts internationally, could actually create such a chain of domino effects.
The Gyaca Woods Imperial Army on the surface of Miracolo Planet had completely crumbled, and all of its Imperial fleets had retreated from the Newton Galaxy. The Federation went ahead to reoccupy the entire main Miracolo planet. Coupled with the complete triumph on Miracolo No.2 Planet and the occupation of the entire outer space region of the Newton Galaxy, this led to the wavering of the inner circle of the Empire and a rise in the morale of the Federation population. These had been results of the betrayal of a general from the Empire.
And the Federation connected the matters regarding the special position of Russell, the victory at Newton Galaxy, as well as the prisoners-of-war incident to bring about a chain of propaganda warfare, lowering the Gyaca Woods Empire royal family’s reputation to its lowest, causing them to find themselves utterly isolated in the international stage.
At this moment, this was no longer related to Tian Xing Jian. Having enjoyed his beauty sleep, he woke up naturally and changed into his uniform before walking out of the restaurant and boarding an extravagant flying car that was arranged for him at the restaurant. Fatty decided to have a look over at Jialipalan City. Ever since the start of the war, he had almost forgotten what this kind of life felt like.
Jialipalan was the center of the entire Miracolo’s governance, economy, and culture. The density of the population was the highest among all of its cities, with over ten famous universities which had long histories behind them located here.
The human population that migrated from outer space had already transformed this planet of about the same size as earth and deeply imprinted it with the culture of humans.
Those of the Federation were free, brave, and hard-working, and the local residents of Miracolo Planet also had these characteristics, albeit on a much higher level.
Walking along the streets of Jialipalan, the coming and going of those flying ships whistled past, and the pedestrians would gather at the mouth of the streets before splitting off to their respective destinations. Everyone was full of smiles and was in high spirits; the entire city was clearly full of life.
Several shops were under preparation for the re-opening of their businesses as the technicians were currently there repairing. As for the advertisement posters by the side of the roads, they were currently showing some famous singer who would be coming over to hold a concert. Several students stood underneath the posters, chatting and giggling non-stop excitedly. An old man was standing by the display window in a shopping mall, watching the employee provide a model simulation of the latest fashion trends. Seeing how those employees were staring at him, the perverted old man showed an embarrassed smile before placing his hands behind his back and looking around as if nothing had happened and went off. Several young and pretty girls who had put on makeup and wore the latest trending clothings excitedly came out from the huge entrance of the shopping mall. In their hands were the big and small bags of their spoils of war as they chatted while walking and releasing peals of melodious laughter.
The human race was usually good at licking their wounds quickly, recovering from their injuries and pain, before adapting with a new mindset that could not be explained with words as they headed into a new life. Those bygones were merely bygones, as their lives had to go on.
The continuous line of enormous trucks which were filled with all sorts of machinery and materials went past Tian Xing Jian. Several pulled over by the site where new construction would take place as the workers rushed here and there busily. The recovering capability of this city was truly powerful. War had merely temporarily left two days ago and she was already like a bamboo shoot after a rainy storm, trying her best to recover and live on.
Fatty stood at the mouth of the street in a daze. Seeing the throngs of people moving here and there, he truly loved this kind of life and wanted to be one of those amongst these people—having a job, a wife, a home, a car, and a son and daughter. After the war, Fatty suddenly discovered that he was truly incompatible with those cannon fires.
Seeing it with his own eyes of how he wanted this life yet could not partake in it was indubitably a pain to him, yet Fatty did not feel that pain, as instead, he felt this was good; he was content with just watching silently.
An Lei stood behind Tian Xing Jian, watching him silently for quite some time.
She had merely passed this place, yet with a single glance, she had seen Tian Xing Jian amongst the crowd. He stood by the mouth of the streets with some silly and lonely look on his face. An Lei could not help but ask the driver to stop the car, and after that, she silently stood behind this childhood sweetheart of hers. Watching him, she attempted to link together that person in her memories with this silly-looking chap.
Soon, her memories coincided with reality—he had not changed; he was, by nature, this type of person and could never be compatible with war.
For such a person, once he was forcibly drawn into the cruel war, what kind of situation would he be embroiled in? That was something An Lei did not dare to think about. But right now, she knew that the reason why this person would explode with such powerful strength was merely because he wanted to struggle and break away.
These few days were the longest days in An Lei’s life. She had heard news after news about Tian Xing Jian without tire from the recountings by those from the forward command that she was familiar with. The more she listened, the more she wanted to listen to more of his stories, and the more she wanted to listen, the more she desired to meet him.
Now, this boy that had merely stood at just a dozen of steps of distance away had made An Lei feel panic. She suspected if she truly knew what she wanted. What would she talk with him about? It felt as if they could merely chat…
An Lei did not know if that person buried deep in her heart was this heroic man with a halo of light in front of her, or that distant and lonely boy who looked at her unmoving and made her feel heartaches, or was it that cunning fatty who thought like a heavenly steed, soaring across the skies, wretched and shameless, and someone who would become lecherous the moment he saw a beauty?
The two of them stood there silently, with one in front of the other, in this busy street.
An Lei sighed and turned around. She wanted to leave silently as she had not thought of what she should do when facing Tian Xing Jian; she wanted to hide in her room to think over this.
She turned back to give that silly fatty figure a look. Just this one look had made her so angry that the anger had seeped into her heart, as that wretched fatty was using a perverted look as he stared at the twin lofty peaks of a beauty in front of him with saliva dripping. His neck had, at the same time, turned a 180 degrees around following that line of sight.
That was when Fatty saw An Lei, who had been behind him, and that was also when a coquettish sound came from somewhere, "Darling Tian [1]! What are you doing…!?"
[1] 田蜜蜜 (Tian Mi Mi) - is actually a play of word 甜蜜蜜 here, meaning very sweet, so I Translated it as darling tian to suit the ‘sweetness and all’, but there’s a slight difference in the meaning behind it.
Chapter 86: Unable to Make up for it
Editor: Geoffrey_
Darling Tian… The two girls who had just walked past Tian Xing Jian hand-in-hand looked back as they gave him a strange look before looking at each other in dismay and suddenly erupted into peals of laughter. They felt that it was not too courteous and one of them had pulled the other with a blushing face as they ran off.
There was another middle-aged man who was wearing a windbreaker and carried a briefcase as he drank the beverage in his hand. The moment he heard the voice coming from beside Tian Xing Jian, he sneered before coughing continuously as he tried to hold in the laughter while wiping off the beverage that had spilled on his clothing before quickly walking off.
Being called with such a nickname, Tian Xing Jian was embarrassed and was unable to show his face. A silly and fair fatty had actually stood there amongst the throngs of crowd rushing by with the name "Darling Tian"; his reputation was gone.
An Lei had felt that she had indeed called him with a voice that was too loud. Pursing her lips, she turned around to see the looks the bypassers were giving her, which caused her face to turn red with shyness. She pulled Tian Xing Jian’s hand, bringing him into a coffee shop by the corner of the street.
The coffee shop was quite quiet before noon. The two of them chose the table nearest to the street by the windows.
A male server came and brought over a beverage menu before politely bowing and asking, "May I ask what you two would like to drink?"
"I’d like a cup of watermelon juice, she wants…" The words that were originally coming from Fatty without thinking had suddenly paused as he hesitated; his voice became a little softer as he asked without being able to confirm it himself, "... Orange juice…?"
With an expression of inquiry on the male server, An Lei silently nodded. She looked at Tian Xing Jian with her eyes, which were suddenly turning red. Lightly biting her lips, she turned aside.
For a moment, the couple did not speak.
The street was facing an enormous optical television on top of a huge building that was currently broadcasting the ceremony welcoming Russell. In the scene on the television, Russell had already worn the uniform of a Federation general. After defecting from the enemy nation, he had immediately transformed into the general of another nation—such cases were few and far between.
President Hamilton delivered his speech. Instead of saying that his speech was about welcoming Russell, it was more appropriate to call it a speech of giving out orders for a counter-attack against the Gyaca Woods Empire.
The two of them silently watched the television inattentively as their minds bounced here and there with memories of when they were just innocent playmates; one would carry watermelon juice with the other an orange juice, holding hands while laughing with each other.
How many years has it been since they parted? Did she still love drinking orange juice?
How many years has it been since they parted? He had actually still remembered what I loved to drink!
The male server brought the beverages over soon enough. Their two heads turned over and when they looked into each others’ eyes, they both felt frantic and replied to the server at the same time, "Thank you."
For a moment, the server had been frightened by their two gazes. This was the very first time he had been thanked so earnestly. Overwhelmed by favor, he immediately waved his hand, saying, "You’re welcome, you’re welcome. Please enjoy."
Seeing Fatty on the other side of her preparing to turn his head over to the television with thoughts of escaping, An Lei, whose pair of eyes had turned red, did not wish to remain uncommunicative anymore.
"Tell me, why did you become a soldier?"
This was the first question An Lei had. She had almost crumbled apart from this question alone. She truly wanted to know the answer, as this male in her heart was someone that would forever be incompatible with being in the military, yet he had decided to choose this road.
Tian Xing Jian was at a loss. He pulled his eyes back before looking at the watermelon juice in front of him, speaking with a slightly entranced expression, "I’m not too sure either. When I graduated, it seemed as if I did not have any dreams. My subconscious was telling me that maybe joining the military will enable me to find everything that I had lost."
Looking at An Lei, Tian Xing Jian added another sentence in his heart, ‘Maybe, I’ll be able to get further away from you.’
Tears were rolling down the eyes of An Lei as she softly asked, "How did you bring those two hundred over Federation soldiers over?"
Tian Xing Jian laughed bitterly: "You know that I’m a coward. Terror, is sometimes a strength… I’m merely thinking of ways to escape with my life…"
An Lei could almost not hold back her tears as she felt a piercing pain in her heart. What Tian Xing Jian had said was brief, yet she knew that this step he had taken onto the battlefield was something which he had to bear unendurable fear with. Before becoming the Federation hero, he had truly experienced so many trials and tribulations.
An Lei turned her head upwards to the sky outside the window, trying her best to hold back the tears of heartache: "You know that you are a coward, but why would you be so foolish? Why would you participate in this war which is something that you do not really like?"
Tian Xing Jian did not look at An Lei; he silently looked at the flow of the crowd outside the window. With some exhaustion and fatigue in his voice, he said, "It isn’t something I can escape. In this maelstrom, no one could continue living alone happily. If the fires of war continued spreading into the capital, I’ll similarly not be able to escape. This… at least there are fewer things which I might lose…"
An Lei stared blankly at the clouds in the sky, feeling gratified and miserable in her heart.
She knew what he had lost. That boy had no longer been the same child who would run away the moment he was met with danger. He had truly grown up into a man, albeit one who was still a coward and had been forced to throw himself into war in search of his courage, and in the end, he had even transcended many other courageous men.
What was miserable had been that this person had made a mistake over the past ten years, yet he did not know what he truly lost.
The two stayed silent for a while.
An Lei finally set down her resolve—she decided to tell this person… everything.
Tears started rolling down once again in the eyes of An Lei. Her voice felt as if it was the distant clouds: "You are a fool. You have actually not lost anything, not even once! Ten years ago, I wasn’t hurt, and that wasn’t the reason I left you. My father had always treated you as his own son and had said that you ought to experience everything yourself."
"That day, he scolded you and chased you away! You should know how much heartache he felt when he was doing that. For a few times, he even went over to look for you, standing far away as he watched you… Mother had gone to persuade him, but he was truly stubborn and was not willing to call you back home."
All the matters in the past appeared flashing through the mind of An Lei. Her voice was filled with sobbing—that was truly a grievance which could not be spoken easily.
"Even when he passed away, you still hadn’t returned even once! I hate you and I hate him—I hate the two of you!" An Lei’s tears finally trailed down as she abruptly took her handbag and ran out of the shop.
Tian Xing Jian looked out the windows in a daze, watching how An Lei went off in a flying car. His mind could barely react. "Father An… has passed away…"
That benevolent and strict middle-aged man… that person who had always taken care of him ever since his parents passed away… that person who played together with two children and would become so tired that he panted… that middle-aged man who had put on weight… that person who was closest to him… had actually passed away?
A bitter and sad feeling shot up his nose.
Tian Xing Jian cried. In this coffee shop that was filled with people, his tears came pouring out without restraint. He had long treated that person as his own father, and for the longest of times, he did not have the face to return nor the courage to meet his resentful look. Why… why did he leave this world so silently…
He was truly still a coward—a coward who could never redeem himself! Tian Xing Jian bawled out with a voice filled with pain.
That benevolent, middle-aged man was already in the spirit realm beyond the heavens, and he… he felt truly ashamed!
Gifts
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received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
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