Arc 6: Interstellar Art Soldiers Chapter 20
Lin Ya looked at the projections that Tao Yuan put out over and over again, and it was impossible to get enough of them. Because they were truly beautiful, even every little detail shows great dedication. On the day of the wedding, it would definitely be like a dream wedding.
Erman looked at his brother and couldn’t help but worry and feel heartache. Then he looked at Tao Yuan, hoping he would leave soon and stop showing off here. His showing off not only made those people jealous but stabbed into his brother’s heart like a knife.
Tao Yuan received a message from Zuo Lei, who said that it was almost time for the meal and asked him to return to the rest area to eat. Zuo Lei had been waiting in the rest area for a while but didn’t see him return, so he sent a message to urge him.
After Tao Yuan read the message, he turned off the communicator and then stood up, saying to Lin Ya, “I showed my face long enough today. It should have already annoyed those who think I didn’t show my face long enough. I’m also hungry. I’ll go back to my fiancé’s lounge to eat. I’ll come early tomorrow to increase my visibility. I haven’t shown you my almost finished new home decoration and arrangement yet. I’ll let you see it tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Lin Ya immediately nodded. “After seeing your wedding decorations, I’m even more curious about what your new house looks like. Come early tomorrow.”
Tao Yuan nodded and then turned to leave. As he walked out, he glanced at the group of people who went to complain to the squad leader about him, the ones who claimed he only showed up briefly every day.
Tao Yuan originally wanted to keep a low profile, so he hadn’t even publicly disclosed his relationship with Zuo Lei. But when Zuo Lei hugged him in front of everyone that day out of excitement, he figured since it was already known, there was nothing to hide. He only showed up briefly every day because he knew they would gossip about him and Zuo Lei, so he decided to let them gossip to their heart’s content.
But those few people who had always had a problem with him suddenly went to complain to the squad leader. Since they felt uncomfortable with him only appearing briefly every day, he decided he would appear in front of them more often. After all, when he stayed in Zuo Lei’s rest area, besides sleeping, most of the time, he was just sitting there lost in thought.
The house where Tao Yuan and Zuo Lei would live after their marriage was not the one Zuo Lei’s family had originally prepared for him. Zuo Lei’s mother had felt uncomfortable about that particular house, so she sold it. The house they would live in after their marriage was a new, slightly smaller house that Zuo Lei’s mother had bought at a high price after Zuo Lei told her he was going to marry Tao Yuan.
After Tao Yuan saw the house through the communicator, he couldn’t help but sigh in his heart. Zuo Lei’s family was indeed wealthy.
Tao Yuan felt that since he had been trying to keep a low profile and avoid them, but they still wanted to find fault and gossip in front of the team, he might as well appear in front of them more often. Anyway, they would make jealous comments whether he showed up or not, so he decided to deliberately appear in front of them and make them even more jealous.1
Tao Yuan’s personality had always been “don’t offend me and I will not offend you.” If people didn’t bother him, he wouldn’t bother them either. But once someone dared to provoke him, he would ensure they didn’t have an easy time.2
The next day, Tao Yuan appeared early and showed Lin Ya their new house with Zuo Lei. Although the new house wasn’t fully decorated yet, Zuo Lei’s mother assured them that all the design plans were ready and would be completed before their wedding.
The people who had gossiped in front of the squad leader the day before were now filled with regret. They would rather Tao Yuan didn’t appear in front of them than have to endure his bragging. However, they couldn’t help but listen and watch, and the jealousy they felt was a painful sting.
Another day passed, and the storm had finally subsided. The tranquility returned outside. But the interstellar pirates who had been hiding were not all eliminated yet. So, the literary soldiers couldn’t leave the cave base just yet. They had to wait for the special operations team to deal with the remaining interstellar pirates before they could leave.
Most of the members of the special operations team, led by Zuo Lei, went out to eliminate the interstellar pirates. After Tao Yuan had breakfast in Zuo Lei’s rest area, he planned to show up again in the literary soldiers’ resting area.Before he could reach it, he saw Erman standing in front of him, as if he had been waiting for him.
“I don’t want to hear what you have to say. Please step aside,” Tao Yuan said to Erman before he could speak.
“I’m begging you, please give General Zuo Lei back to my brother,” Erman pleaded with Tao Yuan, his eyes filled with sadness and pleading. He spoke in a very soft and humble tone. “If you just return General Zuo Lei to my brother, I’ll do anything you ask.”
Tao Yuan rolled his eyes, not interested in wasting time with him. He simply activated his communicator and played a recording for Erman to hear.
As Erman listened to his own voice, he first froze and then, upon listening carefully to the content, his face immediately turned pale.
Tao Yuan turned off the communicator because there was no need to play the entire recording. Erman should now understand the nature of the recording.
“You actually recorded everything I said to you before. You’re so despicable!” Elman gritted his teeth angrily and glared at him.
“I may be despicable and manipulative, so do you really think I’d be the kind of saint who gives away their lover to someone else?” Tao Yuan took a few steps forward, grabbed Erman’s wrist, and raised it, glancing at the communicator on his wrist. “But your level of deceit far surpasses mine. It’s just that your lack of cunning brings down your combat value due to stupidity.”
Erman’s expression turned even uglier upon realizing that Tao Yuan had discovered his recording.
Tao Yuan shook Erman’s hand away with disgust and said, “Guess what would happen if I were to make public all the things you’ve said. Giving drugs to a soldier, especially your own instructor, you wouldn’t make it as a literary soldier’s member for sure. You might even end up spending a few years in prison.”
Erman immediately knelt down, his face filled with panic, and he looked up at Tao Yuan, saying, “Please, please don’t do this, please!”
“Although I haven’t spent much time with your brother, he seems like a pretty smart person. How can he have such a wicked and stupid brother like you?” Tao Yuan’s gaze at him was full of contempt. “People like you aren’t even worth my time dealing with, and I don’t need to do anything. You handed me the evidence on a silver platter. I already told you I didn’t want to hear what you had to say, but you insisted on explaining why you wanted me to break up with Zuo Lei. Are you really that stupid? You only have the ambition to do bad things but lack the courage to face the consequences. You’re both wicked and dumb, and you’re a coward. You don’t even qualify as my opponent. If there’s anything else in the future, let your brother come and talk to me personally. You have no right to speak to me about anything.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I know I was wrong, I really know I was wrong. Please, please delete that recording, I promise I won’t have bad intentions again! I won’t come to you with anything in the future! Please, please delete the recording!” Erman was so scared, he almost cried. If that recording were to be made public, his life would be really ruined, and it could even negatively impact his brother’s future. His brother, he can’t let his brother’s future be affected.
“I won’t delete that recording. Whether it gets made public or not, it depends on my mood,” After Tao Yuan finished speaking, he walked directly past him. Erman immediately tried to grab him and continue pleading, but failed.
Tao Yuan walked into a dark area, glanced at the person standing there, and then walked straight towards them.
Erman got up, his face pale, and looked at the person walking towards him pitifully and called out, “Brother…”
Dean walked up to Erman and slapped him hard in the face.
Erman held his face in shock, unable to believe that his brother had just hit him. This was the first time in his life that his brother had hit him.
“Are you hell-bent on ruining yourself?” Dean glared at him with anger in his eyes. “Why won’t you listen? Why do you insist on doing these things?!”
“I… I wanted him to break up with General Zuo Lei, so I…” Erman tried to explain through tears.
“Do you really think if you do this he will break up with General Zuo Lei? Why do you always act without thinking and disregard the consequences?” Dean felt exhausted and didn’t know how to teach his younger brother to become smarter and kinder.
“I’m sorry, I won’t dare to do it again,” Erman cried.
“What’s the use of apologizing now? If he really wants to make that recording public, no one can stop him,” Dean closed his eyes. He really felt tired and wanted to abandon everything and disappear from this world.
“What should I do?” Erman couldn’t think of any solution except crying.
“What should you do? I don’t know what you should do,” Dean said with hollow eyes as he turned away.
Erman fell to the ground, feeling utterly helpless. He knew that whether Tao Yuan decided to make the recording public or not, he would live in constant fear and anxiety. The feeling of having someone holding a piece of evidence over him would torment his soul.
…
None of the interstellar pirates managed to escape. In less than half a day, those who resisted fiercely were killed, and those who surrendered were captured alive.
The ship that came to pick up the literary soldiers had arrived, and they could return to the main ship of the Lion Fleet. It had been waiting outside, and the soldiers and literary soldiers started to board, preparing to leave the planet.
Because they were leaving with the special operations team, and the special operations team needed to handle some handovers with the local garrison, they had to wait another two hours before they could set off.
Before boarding the ship, Tao Yuan looked at the barren and desolate rocky terrain, then turned to glance at the tall rocky mountain. He couldn’t help but think about how tough it must be for the soldiers stationed on this planet. The environment here was harsh, with hardly any plants or water sources, and they had to endure frequent dust storms. But there was no choice but to maintain a garrison on this planet.
“Luo Xi.”
As Tao Yuan was about to board the ship, he heard someone call his name. He turned to see the person who had called him, and he had a sense of expectation but also surprise when he saw them.
“Sorry, can I talk to you for a moment?”Dean said after approaching, looking at Tao Yuan.
If it was Elman, Tao Yuan wouldn’t want to listen to a word, but he was quite curious about what someone like Dean would say to him.
Tao Yuan nodded, and the two of them walked to the other side of the ship, which was a blind angle where no one else could see. They still had a couple of hours before departure, so being a few minutes late boarding wouldn’t be a problem.
It’s just that the scene of the two of them going to the other side of the spaceship was just seen by Zuo Lei. After briefly informing Yi Bin, he walked over to them.
“What do you want to talk to me about?” Tao Yuan asked as he looked at Dean.
“I want to apologize on behalf of Erman. I know that what he did caused you harm and trouble, and it’s not worth forgiving. But, he’s my brother, and I raised him. It’s my failure in educating him, so I owe you an apology.”
“Then what? Apart from apologizing, what else do you want to say to me?” Tao Yuan wondered. This person’s demeanor was indeed much higher than Erman’s, but he seemed genuinely good-hearted. Otherwise, he wouldn’t even be worthy of being Tao Yuan’s opponent compared to Erman.
Tao Yuan had always been clear about right and wrong. As long as someone didn’t provoke him, he wouldn’t take any action against them. Since Dean had approached him voluntarily, what he had to say would determine Tao Yuan’s attitude towards him in the future.
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11
- Same thought as the paragraph before, I still kept it since it is part of what the author wrote. [↩]
- The next paragraph is the same thought as this one. But if you still want to read it is this:
Tao Yuan’s kindness and patience have always been selective. If people didn’t want to see him doing well, he had no patience for them. His principle is that if you don’t want to be hit back and retaliated by him twice, then don’t provoke him. Otherwise, don’t blame him for hitting back hard. [↩]