Arc 6: Interstellar Art Soldiers Chapter 15
Dean broke up with Zuo Lei because he wanted to get back together with his former boyfriend, Kaden. Kaden was infected with a virus during a mission, and the doctors said that even with medication, he could only live for a few years.
Dean and Kaden had known each other since they were very young and had been together. But because Kaden’s family opposes their relationship and Kaden didn’t want to go against them, the two of them had to break up.
After Dean let go of his feelings for Kaden, he met Zuo Lei and fell in love with him. He pursued Zuo Lei, who didn’t reject him, then they got together. At that time, Dean was already a well-known literary soldiers.
Dean could tell that Zuo Lei’s mother wasn’t very pleased with him, but she didn’t object to their relationship, which relieved him. Who knew, not long after Dean and Zuo Lei got together, Kaden had an accident. He then came to Dean, asking for them to get back together. While Dean was hesitating, Kaden suddenly hugged him, and Zuo Lei’s mother happened to walk in on the scene.
Kaden had contracted a virus, and his medical outcome was not good. He had only a few years left to live. His biggest and final wish was to spend his remaining days with Dean. Kaden’s family felt sorry seeing his condition. They wanted to fulfill his wish and help him fulfill his wish. So, they joined him in pleading Dean.
Dean had already moved on from his feelings for Kaden. He loves Zuo Lei deeply, and his love for him has grown stronger over time.But he couldn’t bear to refuse Kaden and his family when they begged him like that, nor could he bear to let Kaden pass away with regrets.
When Zuo Lei came to ask Dean what had happened and why his mother was so angry, Dean decided to break up with him. Zuo Lei asked if he had thought it through, and he was willing to believe him, but if Dean insisted on breaking up, then they would end it for good.
Dean, despite the pain in his heart, insisted on breaking up with Zuo Lei. In the end, Zuo Lei agreed.
Before going to register his marriage with Kaden, Dean couldn’t bear the longing he felt for Zuo Lei. He contacted Zuo Lei through a communicator, told him everything, and asked if he would be willing to wait for him for a few years. Dean thought Zuo Lei would at least offer some comfort, but Zuo Lei almost without hesitation said he wouldn’t wait, that when it was over, it was over.
Dean was saddened by Zuo Lei’s coldness and indifference. After crying for several days, he decided that since he had made this choice, he had to stick with it. Afterward, he never contacted Zuo Lei again.
In the past few years, Dean has been wholeheartedly by Kaden’s side, taking care of him carefully as Kaden grew weaker. Kaden’s family was deeply moved by Dean’s care. The virus that infected Kaden also had a treatment during these years, so he didn’t die.
Kaden could see that Dean had been longing for Zuo Lei all these years, so he decided to let go and asked his brother to try and reunite Dean and Zuo Lei.
Deep in his heart, Dean still deeply loves Zuo Lei. He thought that Zuo Lei had not been in a relationship for these years and believed that what Zuo Lei said back then was just out of anger, that he was still waiting for him. So, he came to the border in hopes of meeting Zuo Lei again. Although he smiled and congratulated Zuo Lein and Luo Xi, his heart was still bleeding when he heard about Zuo Lei’s upcoming wedding at the dinner table. This confirmed that Zuo Lei was serious when he said those words about not waiting for him.
…
Tao Yuan was lying in Zuo Lei’s arms, using a communicator to message Zuo Lei’s mother. She was inquiring about various things needed for the wedding, and Tao Yuan enjoyed that type of conversation. Seeing her enthusiastically choosing things, he chatted with her about which style would be better.
While Tao Yuan chatted with Zuo Lei’s mother via text, he also spoke to Zuo Lei, saying, “I heard something today. It seems like Dean, the legendary figure of the literary soldiers Unit, is also with the Supply Fleet’s ships and has come to this planet.”
Actually, it was Erman who went to see his brother and spread this news, and Lin Ya heard about it and told him.
“I had dinner with my former instructor yesterday, who is now the deputy commander of the supply fleet. I ran into him. From what he implied, it seems they want to matchmake Dean and me, hoping that Dean and I can get back together.”
“Really?” Tao Yuan thought for a moment and said, “The deputy commander of the supply fleet is Dean’s husband’s older brother, right?”
“Yes,” Zuo Lei nodded and looked at him, asking, “Are you angry?”
“No,” Tao Yuan smiled and said, “I’m just thinking that this family is quite interesting. They are still trying to matchmake their sister-in-law and the person he likes. It seems that Dean is very liked and valued by their family, but more than that, it’s probably out of gratitude to him.”
“What they want and think is their business, but it’s impossible to use my feelings to repay their favors. Even if I’m not with you right now, It is impossible for me to get back together with him. Besides, in my heart right now, there’s no room for anyone else except you.”
Tao Yuan looked up at him, and Zuo Lei lowered his head to kiss Tao Yuan’s lips firmly.
“I understand your thoughts, and my thoughts are the same as yours. No matter what others think, as long as we are firm in our own beliefs, that’s all that matters.”
Zuo Lei kissed Tao Yuan’s lips again, and Tao Yuan responded. The deeper their love grew, the less they needed words to communicate. They could understand each other’s thoughts.
Tao Yuan had already learned about all of Dean’s experiences. Dean was a very caring person. The most morally questionable thing he had done was to help his brother Erman keep the secret of drugging Ke Ning.
There are people who would rather let their closest or most loved ones endure pain, but would give their kindness and care to those who aren’t as important. Dean is one of those people. He clearly didn’t love Kaden anymore, but he chose to break up with Zuo Lei to spend Kaden’s remaining time with him. At the time, Zuo Lei couldn’t be completely devoid of anger or sadness, but his love wasn’t as deep, so his anger dissipated quickly, and he forgot Dean quickly. If the original Zuo Lei loved Dean deeply, he would have been in great pain due to this breakup, a pain caused by Dean’s kindness towards Kaden.
On the other hand, Tao Yuan’s perspective is that he’d rather hurt those who are unimportant a thousand or ten thousand times, than allow the slightest harm to come to the person he loves the most. He doesn’t possess such grand sentiments, nor does he have a saintly heart. His kindness, care, and companionship are reserved solely for the one he loves. If someone isn’t the person he truly loves, no matter how pitiful their situation, he won’t agree to be with them out of sympathy.
Since Dean’s decision to break up with Zuo Lei was his own, they missed their chance to be together. Tao Yuan absolutely won’t give up the current Zuo Lei for him. And Zuo Lei shares the same sentiment. They both would rather let others suffer a million times over than allow the tiniest bit of harm to come to the one they love. In their hearts, everything else can be given, but their feelings can never be given away to others.
Tao Yuan took a deep breath, hugging Zuo Lei’s shoulder. After his breathing had calmed down a bit, he lifted the blanket and placed it over Zuo Lei’s arm, saying, “Today is the last day of my vacation. Tomorrow, I have a performance on the outer planet, A11. It’s quite remote, so I need to do a couple of extra shows and stay overnight.”
“A11 is located on the outermost edge of the star cluster. It has a unique position, but there is currently peace and stability among the nations, so sudden war is unlikely. It’s considered a very safe place.But the garrison there isn’t large due to its remote location. Since there are frequent meteor storms, you should still be careful in case you encounter one.”
“I’ve been trained and passed all the requirements. I know all of this,” Tao Yuan replied.
…
The next morning, after returning to the dormitory and having breakfast at the cafeteria, Tao Yuan, along with the entire team boarded a spaceship to A11 and under the protection of soldiers.
After Tao Yuan had settled into his seat on the spaceship, he realized that one of the soldiers leading the team responsible for their protection was Ke Ning.
But this was purely a coincidence. Ke Ning didn’t have the authority to arrange such things. It just happened that their team was assigned to this mission.
The people sitting beside Erman noticed Ke Ning and playfully winked at him or made suggestive gestures. But Erman didn’t crack a smile. He only glanced at Ke Ning briefly, then lowered his head to focus on his communicator.
The others thought he might be feeling embarrassed because this wasn’t a place for loud laughter or jokes, so they refrained from continuing to tease him. But when they noticed that Ke Ning, who was guarding the front door, hadn’t even glanced at Erman but had been looking in a different direction the whole time, they started feeling puzzled.
Following Ke Ning’s line of sight, they discovered that he was looking at Tao Yuan. After seeing this, they all felt aggrieved on Erman’s behalf.
“What’s the matter with Captain Ke Ning? You’re here, and he’s looking at Luo Xi with that kind of expression? That’s way too much!” Lai Ji lowered his voice and whispered to Erman.
“Yeah, Erman, aren’t you angry? I’m angry for you. No matter what, it’s so disrespectful to look at someone else like that in front of your lover. You should definitely talk to him about this,”
“I don’t think we should blame Captain Ke Ning. If we’re blaming someone, blame Luo Xi. He has a handsome face and he’s seducing everyone he can find, even those who already have partners. Shameless, really.”
“Yeah, even Captain Ke Ning couldn’t resist his charm. It’s just too much. Doesn’t he know how to tone it down a bit? Does he have to make all the soldiers fall for him just to feel satisfied?”
Erman opened his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and finally didn’t reveal that he had already broken up with Ke Ning. He knew that if he did, they would definitely ask for the reason, and he didn’t feel like coming up with excuses for them.
Ke Ning didn’t dare to openly stare at Tao Yuan for too long, but after looking away for a while, he couldn’t help but sneak another glance at him.
Tao Yuan, of course, noticed his gaze and found him really annoying. He simply took out a massage eye mask, put it on, and reclined his seat to sleep.
Lin Ya also reclined his seat and asked Tao Yuan in a low voice, “What’s up with Captain Ke Ning? Why does he keep staring at you? Isn’t he dating Erman?”
“Who knows what’s wrong with him, maybe he’s sick.” Tao Yuan said.
Lin Ya peeked at Ke Ning again and thought that if he really was sick, he sure looked like he had a bad case of lovesickness.
Because Tao Yuan had reclined his seat and was lying down, Ke Ning couldn’t see him anymore, so he just stood by the door with his head down. He was indeed suffering from love sickness during this period. Ke Ning felt heartache due to missing Tao Yuan. He could only train relentlessly to exhaust himself, so he wouldn’t have the energy to think about it. Every time he immersed himself in training, he was particularly grateful for the willpower assessment training he went through as a recruit. As long as he was engrossed in training, he wouldn’t think about anything else.
Ke Ning also didn’t expect to be assigned to escort the literary soldiers unit. When he saw Tao Yuan, his feelings surged once again, and his love became even more deep, causing him heartache. When he found out that Dean had also come to the border star cluster, his heart couldn’t help but ignite hope. He hoped that if Zuo Lei could get back together with Dean, he might have a chance to win back Tao Yuan.
After the spaceship arrived at Planet A11, the literary soldiers unit disembarked and gathered. Then, they dragged their small luggage towards the performance hall to begin their preparation under the eyes of the stationed soldiers,
The stationed soldiers on Planet A11 were finally getting the literary soldiers unit they had been eagerly waiting for. Originally, it wasn’t Tao Yuan’s team that was assigned to this performance. But because this planet was extremely remote and the conditions were relatively challenging, they requested Tao Yuan’s team, the currently most popular team, be sent to perform here. And the leader agreed.
In fact, they mainly wanted to see Tao Yuan in person. They had already watched his videos countless times and just wanted to witness his performance live. Only then they would be satisfied.
The number of performances by the literary soldiers unit was also one of the evaluation criteria for promotion assessments. Because of Tao Yuan’s popularity among the soldiers, their team was scheduled for many more performances than originally planned. Although the performances were demanding, the other team members were more than willing because it meant they had a higher chance of promotion compared to other units.
Some people felt lucky to be in the same team as Tao Yuan, but there were a few who were filled with jealousy and didn’t feel grateful even though Tao Yuan had brought them more performance opportunities.
Tao Yuan didn’t care about what was going on in their minds. Some people are just petty. While enjoying the benefits brought by others, they simultaneously harbor jealousy because they see others as more capable than them. Human hearts can indeed be the most complex of things.
HAPPY 100 CHAPTERS (>᎑<๑)/♡
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