In the morning, Qi Yan was awakened by the reminder sound of his personal terminal. He connected the call and heard Xia Zhiyang's cheerful voice: "Qi Yan, Chen Mingxuan and I will be there in an hour!"
Qi Yan closed his eyes and replied "OK". After hanging up the call, he lingered in bed for another half an hour before getting up.
When he went downstairs in slippers, Lu Fenghan had completed his daily fixed amount of exercise and prepared a simple breakfast, just like every morning before.
Qi Yan never understood why some people can be so self-disciplined, as if they had a chip implanted in their body to strictly control their biological clock at all times.
Otherwise, it is impossible to explain why Lu Fenghan gets up on time at seven o'clock every morning, while he usually wakes up between nine and eleven o'clock.
After eating two slices of bread baked by the toaster, Qi Yan finished the water in the cup and thought: "Xia Zhiyang and Chen Mingxuan will be here in ten minutes."
"Come and bring you clothes for the evening?"
"Yes, and bring a tailor."
"Tailor?" This term confused Lu Fenghan for a few seconds, then raised his eyebrows, "This profession should only survive on a planet like Leto."
Qi Yan held the empty cup and agreed with Lu Fenghan: "Yes."
Being able to pursue such an inefficient and retro lifestyle is a manifestation of it.
Ten minutes later, Xia Zhiyang and Chen Mingxuan appeared at the door on time.
As soon as he entered the door, Xia Zhiyang exclaimed: "It's so comfortable to live alone, right? But, Qi Yan, your place is a bit too empty, it's either gray or white, wouldn't it be lonely if you live alone?"
Qi Yan corrected him: "Two people."
"That's right," Xia Zhiyang said without hesitation, pointing at the people he brought, "Leto's most famous custom studio. From childhood to adulthood, Chen Mingxuan and I have had our clothes made by their tailors. Each of us has a version, and there will never be two identical sets of clothes."
The brown-haired middle-aged man holding a tape measure in his hand smiled and said, "It's our honor to gain your trust."
Xia Zhiyang sat down on the sofa without hesitation, "I gave you a good opportunity. Our Young Master Qi is satisfied with the clothes. We will definitely have your business in the future!"
The tailor smiled and thanked him.
After Qi Yan stood up, his arms naturally dropped down. The tailor half-knelt on one knee beside Qi Yan and whispered, "Sorry for the offense."
After that, he pulled out the tape measure and put it close to Qi Yan's wrist, ready to measure the wrist data.
"It hurts."
The tailor didn't react: "What did you say?"
Xia Zhiyang and Chen Mingxuan were chatting. When they heard Qi Yan's words, they also looked over: "Qi Yan, what's wrong?"
Qi Yan stood there without saying a word.
The first one to react was Lu Fenghan - tsk, his little problem of being afraid of pain came back.
After all, a blade of grass piercing the earlobe can be considered an injury.
He took two steps over and stretched out his hand to the tailor: "Is the tape measure new? Give it to me, tell me what data is needed, and I'll measure it."
"It's new, and I'm using it for the first time."
Before the tailor could react, he had already subconsciously obeyed Lu Fenghan's words and handed the tape measure over. It was not
until Lu Fenghan unfolded the tape measure that he suddenly came to his senses.
He was embarrassed to ask for the tape measure back, so the tailor had to whisper to Lu Fenghan what data needed to be measured. Then Lu Fenghan operated and he recorded.
Guessing that it was the sharp edge of the new tape measure that cut the back of his hand, Lu Fenghan sighed in his heart, wondering how Qi Yan had survived to this day, while leaning over to measure his data.
From wrist to arm length, to shoulder width.
When measuring the waist, Lu Fenghan stood in front of Qi Yan, half hugging him, one hand reaching back from the waist, and the other hand pulling the tape measure around Qi Yan's waist.
Tightening the tape measure, Lu Fenghan looked down at the value, raised his eyebrows, and said with a smile: "Why is it so long, huh? So thin."
Because they were too close, Qi Yan's nose was full of Lu Fenghan's extremely aggressive breath, and he could even feel the other person's body temperature.
Qi Yan ignored him.
Lu Fenghan didn't care, and casually wrapped the tape ruler around his fingertips twice, "Lift your chin, now I'm measuring the collar circumference." He then commented, "Making clothes is really troublesome."
Qi Yan raised his head as he was told, revealing his fair and slender neck, with a slightly convex Adam's apple, which made people subconsciously want to use their fingertips to twist the arc.
Lu Fenghan quickly followed the tailor's instructions and circled the measuring tape to confirm the number.
When retracting the measuring tape, do it very gently.
After reporting the data one by one, the tailor asked again: "Do you have any specific requirements for the material of the clothes?"
Touching his itchy neck, Qi Yan looked at the tape measure in the tailor's hand, paused, and replied: "I am used to wearing silk for shirts."
The tailor wrote down: "Okay, the clothes will be delivered to you this afternoon."
Qi Yan: "Thank you."
After the tailor left, Xia Zhiyang collapsed on the sofa and said: " Come on, it's still a long time before evening! Do you want to play games? "
Chen Mingxuan sat more straight and raised the game terminal in his hand towards Qi Yan: "Glory of Empires" is online today, do you want to try it?"
Xia Zhiyang said excitedly: "Qi Yan, what games do you usually play?"
Qi Yan shook his head: "I don't play games."
Whether it was "Glory of Empires" or anything else, he had never touched it.
Xia Zhiyang was surprised, and then he remembered that Qi Yan had been living on a remote planet in the Messier region. Maybe the elders in the family were very strict with him. He shouted: "How can you miss the excitement of the game! Come, we will take you to discover a new world!"
A sidereal year in Leto is 360 days, 3 hours, 9 minutes and 34 seconds. In the calendar, according to the tradition of the Earth calendar, it is divided into twelve months, each month has 30 days, and each day has 24 hours.
August is summer, and it gets dark later. It is not until after 7 o'clock in the evening that the sky darkens. The unique double moons of Leto are like the eyes of the sky in the blue sky.
The hall of the Qi family has been newly decorated, with bright lights shining brightly. Under the three-story dome, countless golden notes are floating, and they are fluctuating rhythmically with the music.
Jiang Yunyue was wearing a gorgeous dress that made her waist look extremely slim. Her appearance was not particularly outstanding, but her temperament was gentle and elegant.
"Today, you are the center of everyone's attention." Jiang Yunyue smoothed Jiang Qi's collar personally and gently reminded him, "When Mengge comes, remember to behave well. This way, when you graduate from Turan and join the military as a civilian, things will definitely go more smoothly."
Jiang Qi looks 60% like his mother. More than a decade of pampered life has made him more noble than his peers. He nodded: "Don't worry, I won't embarrass you and dad. However, Munger's military rank is only a colonel, why does dad treat him as a guest of honor?"
"What do you mean by 'only a colonel'? You are used to seeing administrative officials coming in and out of our house since you were a child, so you say that." Jiang Yunyue smiled and tapped Jiang Qi's nose, and explained, "The military... is different. The military and the administrative system are at the same level, in fact, they are half a level higher, because they hold real power, and the internal top-down is clear, and they have their own system, which is very difficult for outsiders to deal with. You don't understand now, it doesn't matter, just do what mom says."
Thinking of the news he got some time ago, Jiang Yunyue was worried: "If that person comes--"
Jiang Qi: "Call him brother."
"Also, he has lived in the Messier region since he was a child. It is not as good as Leto. He will definitely have a lot of discomforts--"
"As a younger brother, I will take good care of him," the mother and son understood each other tacitly, and Jiang Qi showed a harmless smile, "I remember everything."
Mengge arrived on time at 8 o'clock.
Qi Wenshao and Jiang Yunyue took Jiang Qi to greet him. After the two sides exchanged greetings, Qi Wenshao put his hand on Jiang Qi's shoulder: "Come, Jiang Qi, say hello to Uncle Mengge."
Jiang Qi greeted politely.
"Hello," Mengge, who was wearing a military uniform, said lightly, "It's good to be admitted to Turan Academy."
Jiang Yunyue smiled and said, "No, although this child is smart, his temper is still unstable. Wenshao and I worry about it every day. As for the future, maybe we will have to rely on his uncles to take care of him more."
Mengge nodded, but did not respond.
In order to avoid embarrassment, Qi Wenshao brought up a new topic. Someone approached with a glass of wine and naturally joined the conversation. Jiang Yunyue was good at dancing with long sleeves. Taking this opportunity, she pushed Jiang Qi in front of everyone.
Jiang Qi talked to these elders who appeared in the news from time to time, enjoying the feeling of being noticed and praised by everyone, while looking around.
Qi Yan hadn't come yet. He couldn't help
but sneer in his heart. He arrived later than Colonel Monger. He was indeed from a remote planet and didn't know the rules.
At this time, he already understood what Jiang Yunyue meant by the military people who held real power but were difficult to deal with.
The most obvious thing was that many of the people gathered around him were targeting Monger. And Monger was obviously very adaptable to such enthusiasm and handled it flawlessly.
This gave him a vague concept of the "military".
Just as everyone was talking and laughing, the door of the hall was suddenly pushed open from the outside.
Gradually, the voices around slowly subsided, and half of the people cast their eyes towards the entrance.
Jiang Qi also looked over with some surprise, following the gazes of the crowd.
The first person to step into the gilded carved door was a young man in a black suit. The tailoring fit his body and accurately depicted his slender and upright lines.
Everyone had to admit that this man was indeed loved by the Creator. He had narrow nose wings, a high nose bridge, gorgeous eyebrows and eyes, and thin lips with delicate lines, like a colorful oil painting. Because of his cold white skin, he also revealed a sense of fragility that could not be broken.
Under the light, he was like a flower blooming on a cliff, tall and far away, reserved and distant.
A certain premonition hit him head-on, and Jiang Qi heard his heartbeat suddenly lose its regularity.
His hand hanging by his side was grabbed by his mother fiercely, and the nails even sank into the flesh.
He didn't care about the pain. He looked at his mother's stiff smile, then looked at the door. An incredible thought popped up in his mind!
It couldn't be -
Xia Zhiyang, who was behind Qi Yan, whispered: "How come these people are staring at each other like they have never seen the world?"
Chen Mingxuan put his hands in his pockets and said to him: "When Qi Yan came out after changing his clothes, not only could someone's mouth not close, but his eyes almost fell on the carpet."
"I was stunning! Do you understand what stunning means? Who knew that Qi Yan only changed his clothes, and his aura and temperament would come out immediately?" Xia Zhiyang sighed deliberately again, "Although I knew that no one would notice me when I walked in with Qi Yan, but when it really came to this, I felt so disappointed!" Chen
Mingxuan also laughed: "Pay attention to Jiang Qi's expression, it's quite exciting."
Everyone's attention was on Qi Yan, and no one saw that Mengge stared at the person who followed Qi Yan and walked in with him. His pupils trembled and his jaw muscles tightened instantly.
As the center of everyone's sight, Qi Yan was unaware of it.
The moment he pushed the door open, the strong fragrance made him feel the air was stuffy. He raised his hand, bent his fingers, and loosened the black bow tie at the collar of his white shirt.
Not noticing Qi Wenshao's gaze, Jiang Yunyue and Jiang Qi were classified as strangers and ignored. Qi Yan took Lu Fenghan, Xia Zhiyang and Chen Mingxuan to a corner and sat down.
Mengge's gums were sore from biting them, but he managed to restrain himself and not lose his composure. For the first time, he took the initiative to ask the host of the banquet and asked the question that everyone around him wanted to ask: "Who just came in?"
Qi Wenshao was a little surprised, and then he replied: "That's my eldest son."
He didn't even mention his name, obviously he didn't want to say more.
But the people around him understood more or less.
For a moment, the look towards Jiang Yunyue and Jiang Qi had other meanings.
Jiang Yunyue's smile was still generous and gentle, but Jiang Qi felt embarrassed and forced a smile to Mengge: "My brother used to live with his grandparents in the Messier region and just came back recently. I apologize to you for his rudeness just now."
Mengge seemed to be thinking about something and ignored Jiang Qi's apology.
Many people around praised Jiang Qi for being considerate of his brother, but they couldn't help but make comparisons in their hearts.
Jiang Qi is not bad looking and has practiced etiquette well, but compared with the boy who just came in -
there is a big difference.
Or in other words, the two people should not be compared together.
Xia Zhiyang tossed a red pear from the fruit plate and looked around the place. He was happy to see many people looking at Qi Yan and then at Jiang Qi beside Qi Wenshao.
He called a service robot to peel the pear while he told Chen Mingxuan: "I think many people are missing this sentence now."
"What are you talking about?"
"How can the glow of rotten grass compare to the bright moon in the sky?"
Chen Mingxuan understood: "Well, yes, this sentence is indeed appropriate and can be used."
On the side, Qi Yan asked for a glass of water, swallowed it slowly, and took another sip.
From time to time, he cast a puzzled look on Lu Fenghan.
Why didn't he leave?
When he entered the door, he clearly saw Mengge's sudden change of expression, and his sight fell on Lu Fenghan standing behind him.
He believed that Lu Fenghan could not have failed to see it.
So, why did Lu Fenghan sit next to him and not leave?
Lu Fenghan was puzzled by Qi Yan's gaze. It was not
until Qi Yan finished the second glass of water that Lu Fenghan spoke: "I'll be away for a while, and I'll be back in a few minutes."
Qi Yan rested his hands on his temples and nodded gently: "Okay."
Hearing Qi Yan's direct agreement without asking anything, Lu Fenghan stood up, brought another glass of water and placed it in front of Qi Yan, and then walked away.
The Qi family's building protruded a corner, which was made into a greenhouse. Going further ahead, there was a garden landscape with a rockery.
Lu Fenghan stood in the shadow of the rockery, avoiding the surveillance range, and waited.
Less than a minute later, there were deliberately light footsteps approaching hurriedly.
Munger saw the person standing in the shadow of the rockery, stopped three steps away, clasped his heels together, and shook his fingers, giving Lu Fenghan a standard Alliance salute.
Lu Fenghan raised his hand, put his fingertips together at the end of his eyebrows, and lazily returned the salute.
Munger walked closer, countless questions rolling in his throat, and finally he only shouted: "Commander Lu."
"Here," Lu Fenghan thought that Qi Yan was still waiting, and went straight to the point, "What happened after I died?"
Munger originally thought that he had hallucinations or recognized the wrong person, but now hearing Lu Fenghan say "after I died" in person, it felt more real.
The conditioned reflexes he developed in the army helped him to quickly calm down from his excited emotions.
"According to the information I received, on July 21st of the star calendar, you led your men to support the lost advance fleet overnight. After the leap, you encountered an enemy ambush when you reached the outermost edge of the battle circle." He paused for a second before saying the next word, "No one survived." "
After our reconnaissance ships and salvage ships arrived at the scene, they only saw countless fragments of starships floating in the universe. Then, due to the cosmic storm caused by the big bang, the reconnaissance ships were forced to return quickly after confirming that there was no life."
Lu Fenghan was silent for a long time before he spoke: "So, apart from knowing that everyone was dead, nothing else was found?"
His voice was hoarse and cold, like the sand covering dozens of degrees below zero on some planets that are not suitable for human habitation.
Lobby.
Qi Yan sat on a chair and took only two sips of the water in front of him. He tapped his personal terminal, and a part of his wrist appeared from the pure white cuffs, with a kind of sculpted beauty.
Xia Zhiyang, who was sitting opposite him, was curious: "Qi Yan, what are you watching?"
Qi Yan didn't even raise his eyes: "Watching the news."
At the same time, he successfully hacked into the surveillance system and erased all the images of Lu Fenghan walking from the hall to the back of the rockery. When he exited, he turned off the video recording function of all service robots, and the stored images were also deleted.
After doing all this, he called up the page of "Leto Daily", and just after reading a few lines, he found someone approaching.
The other party stopped in front of him and said, "Hello."
Behind the rockery.
Monger had a layer of cold sweat on his back due to his biological intuition.
This man, who graduated from the First Military Academy, joined the Expeditionary Force at the age of 19, and whose reputation spread across the front lines of the Southern Cross Region, was not as easy to talk to as some people in Leto thought.
He had been the "mouthpiece" of the Central Army Corps and the Expeditionary Force for five years, and he knew that jungle animals like Lu Fenghan were like fish in water on the front lines, and that he had become the chief commander of the Expeditionary Force step by step, and that he did not rely on being soft-hearted.
The night wind made his back feel cold, and Mengge calmed down: "Yes, nothing else was found."
Lu Fenghan's expression did not change, and no one could tell what he was thinking: "Then what?"
"You died - after you disappeared, the acting commander gathered the remnants, and due to the small number of troops, he applied to Leto to retreat to Turin, and the higher-ups quickly agreed. This order was issued by me."
"So, this retreat means giving up twenty-three planets of the Alliance, including four rare mineral stars. While allowing the rebels to take a big step forward, they were in the mood to celebrate by bombing twenty-one photobaric bombs at the Alliance. They even reached out to Leto. Really,"
Lu Fenghan spoke calmly, but his eyes were as dark as the night, "a good order."
Monger closed his eyes: "This is a last resort, Commander."
"Heh."
Lu Fenghan touched his trouser pocket out of habit.
Seeing this, Monger quickly handed over his cigarette.
With a "pop", the metal lighter burned, and the flame only illuminated his facial features for a moment, and soon, the darkness gathered again.
Lu Fenghan lowered his eyes and lit the cigarette.
"Go on." His voice sounded even hoarser. "Who is the acting commander, Eric?"
Munger shook his head: "No, it's Weiss."
After a few breaths, Lu Fenghan's voice sounded faintly: "It's him."
It was an extremely simple answer, but Munger heard that a storm was coming.
He also reported in detail the situation after the defeat - including all the promotions and transfers within the military that he knew, as well as the current situation on the front line.
He was not Lu Fenghan's direct subordinate, and he didn't know Lu Fenghan's style of doing things very well. When he didn't know what clues he should provide, the best way was to tell everything he knew.
After listening, Lu Fenghan put out the cigarette he had just taken a puff of: "I heard that your promotion was blocked?"
Monger smiled bitterly: "You also know?"
"Well," Lu Fenghan instructed, "In two days, go find Vincent Feng, he will help you."
Lu Fenghan took two steps forward and stopped at the moment of bumping shoulders. The bright lights in front cast a shadow in his eyes: "Just pretend you haven't seen me today, understand?"
Mengge nodded: "I understand."
He recalled the scene when Lu Fenghan entered the room, and asked hesitantly: "You and the one from the Qi family?"
"Qi Yan?" Speaking of this name, Lu Fenghan's terrifying aura faded a little, he smiled, "Him, my employer."
The author has something to say:
"How can the fluorescent light of rotten grass compare to the bright moon in the center of the sky?" - "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"