CH 67

Xu Zhiheng wasn’t surprised that they appeared here, and when he saw them, he greeted them in turn, “Originally, I was afraid of disturbing you, so I planned to come by myself, sorry.”

Lin Han also bowed towards him, “Professor Xu.”

Lu AnHe was a little more concerned about this matter and didn’t beat around the bush, “Professor Xu, you know him?”

Xu Zhiheng didn’t deny it, and nodded, his voice lowered, “I count him as… half a relative.”

The matter wasn’t complicated, Ji Meng cared more about others than himself, hardly mentioning his own affairs. The military school management was strict, after passing the political examination and contact with relatives was less, he himself didn’t say, so not many people knew.

Lu AnHe obviously stiffened, “Are you the one he talked about…? But he doesn’t have parents of his own.”

“When I first started working, for personal reasons, I spent a short period of time in the civilian area.” Xu Zhiheng said, with an obvious helplessness in his tone, “I picked him up at that time. I’m not really interested in children, not to mention that even if I left him alone, he should’ve been able to grow up well.”

The difference between the rich and the poor was drastic. The Omegas in the civilian areas and the rich areas were almost two kinds of creatures, one surviving on their bodies and pheromones, the other being meticulously preserved and cared for, like a fine and wonderful work of art.

The affirmative action movement had slightly alleviated this situation, but the idea could never be eliminated all at once. So there were still a lot of Omegas that would make a living by submitting their coveted bodies to random Alphas. Some Alphas had no quality or no sense of responsibility, and simply didn’t know what pity was, and even recklessly knotted these Omegas — as long as they were not completely marked, then they could always find more.

Later the House began to revise various measures to remedy the situation, and new life was, after all, the most valuable, regardless of the nobility.

So the welfare protection for the newborn babies was getting better and better, and some Omegas couldn’t support themselves, they would hand over the child to the welfare agency to raise it uniformly, and eventually become the fresh blood of the country again.

“But I didn’t end up sending him there. Maybe because I was studying life sciences,” Xu Zhiheng recalled, “or maybe his eyes were so bright at the time that I simply couldn’t leave him alone. ——Even I didn’t have that ability myself.”

When Xu Zhiheng talked about the past, his eyes held a little melancholy, as if no matter how long had passed, these things would always be engraved in his heart, reaching out to brush away the dust covered by time, as all the memories came back.

Originally, in this era of the second gender, the reason for the strong kinship was often genetic and pheromone inheritance and heredity, and an Omega wanting to raise a child on their own was bound to get more strange looks and non-committal relationships.

“But Xiao Meng was really obedient,” Xu Zhiheng said, “He was the most obedient child I’ve ever seen. I raised him for fifteen years.” He sighed, “I hadn’t raised a child before. so I wanted to meet whatever he wanted. He said he liked cranberry flowers, and I couldn’t find them, so I made them for him myself; he didn’t like my profession, I didn’t force him; he said he wanted to have a mecha and be a soldier in the future, I never stopped him. He called me dad and said he was happy every day. It’s just that… I still hid my relationship with him from the public.”

The several people were quiet.

In fact, Xu Zhiheng couldn’t be faulted for doing so, even in the academic world, after the hierarchy was divided, the upper class people weren’t interested in such stories of celibate Omega raising children, they would only speculate if Xu Zhiheng had any stories before and could use it as a topic during tea.

“But Xiao Meng never minded this, he even said, as long as it can help me, whatever is fine.”

Xu Zhiheng’s hand subconsciously clenched, his voice seemed remorseful, “Until the Omega who once gave birth to him came to the door… He said he now had a perfect partner and life, and would definitely treat Xiao Meng well and said they wanted to take him back. I agreed. At the time, I thought it was the best possible ending, not to mention that Xiao Meng didn’t refuse. With his relatives back, I could also continue to focus on my research and just go see him when I had time.”

What happened later, Xu Zhiheng didn’t elaborate, because he said he himself became like an outsider. He didn’t know how his biological parents treated him, and Ji Meng entered the military school, under the strict management, and Xu Zhiheng hardly contacted him. Later, Ji Meng was directly assigned to the border area as soon as he graduated, and there was very little communication.

Xu Zhiheng heard the news of Ji Meng’s death from others.

After a long silence, Xu Zhiheng slowly spoke, “Sorry. This matter wasn’t reported to you. I didn’t even have adoption procedures with him, sometimes I even felt I didn’t deserve to be called his father. But he was still a very good, obedient boy. Until the end.” Xu Zhiheng ended up blaming himself, “It’s all my fault for being so young and impetuous that all I could think about was research and progress, nothing else. I thought he needed his family more, and I could only walk with him for a while.”

After hearing this, Lin Han had a momentary lapse of concentration.

Xu Zhiheng kept apologizing, just before the emotions in his eyes dissipated, no one could bear to blame him. Since Lu AnHe met him in advance, in order to ensure the safety of Xu Zhiheng’s lab, he changed his schedule and didn’t follow He YunTing back.

The two walked side by side, and neither spoke for a while.

“I’ll give you a ride.” He YunTing suddenly said.

Lin Han said, “Don’t you have to go back to the base…?”

“There’s no hurry.”

In any case, he hadn’t received Qi Jiamu’s message yet, and Lu AnHe also left first.

He YunTing couldn’t say what kind of mood he had, the road ahead wasn’t yet known, the lurking danger still existed. The happiness at this moment wasn’t shallow and vain, but no one knew.

Then taking half a day out of the mechanized training didn’t seem too much.

“Okay.” Lin Han didn’t ask much and nodded his head. He was still thinking about what Xu Zhiheng had said earlier. He had been to his lectures more than once, and originally thought that what attracted him was his academic attainments and his attitude towards people, but he didn’t expect that he took care of a child alone for so long.

Xu Zhiheng called him Xiao Meng and supported him in whatever he did. Even though he knew his choice was too dangerous, he couldn’t bear to oppose it. Then would he be like his own mother, who gently spoke a lot of sense to the teenager, told him the rules of the Galaxy Showcase, and told him to look for his most precious things?

What was Ji Meng’s most precious thing? Was it a cranberry that wasn’t really in Xu Zhiheng’s hand?

Xu Zhiheng was very famous in the academic world, his second gender was also known to everyone, he was an Omega. But as he said, research was all he did, and he had no partner, let alone children.

Lin Han used to unconsciously envision his future when he listened to his lectures at the university, envisioning whether he would be the same as Xu Zhiheng in the future.

Finding an Alpha wasn’t so important to him, and he was planning to spend his life only on inhibitors, even if he only had sextoys for company, he was also willing to suffer.

At such thoughts, Lin Han’ made a small movement and inclined his head to glance at He YunTing. As expected, his face was as tense as if nothing would make him happy.

But in fact, it wasn’t the truth.

As soon as he thought about it, he had a secret happiness in his heart, and for a moment, he suddenly thought it was good for him to hide his relationship with He YunTing.

He thought of a certain kind of animal called a hamster. They lived in a harsh environment, living in the open, often unable to find food for a long time, never knowing exactly when the next meal will be. So biological evolution allowed them to grow something called cheek pouches, into which they would stuff all their beloved food and store it dry until they found a safe place, then carefully remove it.

He had no reason to feel that he might be somewhat similar to them.

Lin Han was like a hamster who was anxious to know the other person’s feelings, and when he had a definite answer, he wanted to pick He YunTing up with both hands, and even had worries about showing off, so he hid him quietly. His entire little face was stuffed with bulges, but he had to protect him with his paws, and only when he was in a secluded place, would he kiss him and hug him like he was precious.

He YunTing didn’t know that he had been compared to a hamster’s food, but as if he knew Lin Han was looking at him, he turned his head. The little hamster, who was in the middle of his thoughts, stiffened for a moment, and for fear that these absurd thoughts of his would be noticed by He YunTing, blinked to cover and gave him a smile.

He YunTing didn’t know what he was thinking about, but he seemed to want to respond to Lin Han as well, he just hadn’t found the curve of a smile yet.

The two of them got into the aircraft, and Lin Han waited for He YunTing to adjust the program before speaking to him.

“He YunTing,” he asked, “what were your parents like?”

Lin Han had heard before that He YunTing had originally come from a military family, only both parents had died early in a war, and their mecha’s data box couldn’t be recovered. Just like the paramilitaries this time, many of whom had completely disappeared into space without a word before they had a chance to adapt to real combat.

Remembering his guess that the other ‘only remembered what he wanted to remember,’ he added, “If you forget or don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine.”

“I haven’t forgotten.” This time He YunTing didn’t hesitate, “It’s just that there should be no difference from what you heard.”

Lin Han stopped him from talking and reached out to listen to his unfinished words.

He YunTing’s parents were both strict, his mother a Beta, a former subordinate of his father, who was more harsh and less caring — even though he had shown overwhelming ability from a young age, his parents were always dissatisfied.

They treated him with a militaristic attitude, wanting him to become the best sergeant in the Empire, to be the strongest person that everyone admired. Everything went as his parents expected; He YunTing was always the best of the best, calm, sensible, powerful, entering the military system earlier than anyone else, and colder than anyone else.

They felt that feelings could definitely be cultivated slowly, regardless of whether their children would blame them, after all, there was nothing actually wrong with their initial intentions. It was just a pity that there were too many variables and they couldn’t wait until that time.

He eventually became what they expected him to be, not even for a moment blaming his parents for being too hard on him.

Lin Han scratched He YunTing’s palm with his hand.

The other man turned his face and looked at him with some confusion.

“He YunTing, you need to smile more.” Lin Han said seriously, “I haven’t seen you smile yet.”

He didn’t know why Lin Han would suddenly mention this, but he would never refuse Lin Han. Even if the expression seemed to be outside of his ability.

He YunTing moved the corner of his mouth and was just about to obediently try to make this expression when Lin Han reached out his finger again and pressed the corner of his lips, stopping the stiff curve he was about to curl up, “But it doesn’t have to be now.”

Lin Han’s index finger carried a slightly cool temperature, showing He YunTing an expression he couldn’t learn yet, “Take your time.”

Lin Han thought He YunTing’s frozen dumb look was very funny, and his face blooming with a smile was obvious. His eyes also slightly narrowed, looking beautiful and vivid. His skin was white, his features were beautiful, his pupils were moist and thick black, and when he smiled, his soft and long eyelashes bent down smoothly. His eyebrows set off his red lips and white teeth to become gentle and vivid.

If he didn’t say so himself, others would only think he was a pampered Omega in high society, and couldn’t see that he had also spent time in the civilian areas, trying to break free from that cage.

The Empire had actually been quite monstrous.

Like a beautiful and tempting apple, emitting a sweet and fruity fragrance, but only those inside knew that the flesh of the fruit had long grown mold and it was filled with worms. It was one of the best in every aspect of development in the galaxy, with the economy and armament being the best of all planets. But the various problems in the civilian areas still existed, and the seemingly attractive social welfare actually varied from person to person.

The weak could get only a few benefits, and those who weren’t capable and had no status were in the minority. If they couldn’t rely on their ability to get out of the civilian areas, to the excellent universities and core areas, then perhaps their entire life could only be struggling in the same place.

The upper class was as glamorous and decent as those who were struggling to make ends meet were as anxious and frightened. On the surface, the parliamentary system was established, and people from each faction had a voice, but in reality, the only person who really had power was the Crown Prince.

On the surface, the peacemakers and the radicals appeared to have ‘little spats’ to the public, but they didn’t realize that they were ready for war inside.

Lin Han didn’t look like someone who came out of the civilian area — many people who had worked hard to get out of there were mostly hostile, especially when they came into contact with the prosperous and advanced core area, where private aircrafts were everywhere, and everything was managed orderly. These kinds of new things made them resentful. Why did they have to work so hard to become the bottom of the hierarchy here, while those so-called upper class people just needed to be born well and were all happy?

But Lin Han didn’t, he seemed to not care about his origins, never had such emotions in his eyes, was calm and gentle when he was with people, and was full of love when he looked at He YunTing.

Lin Han’s finger still rested on the corner of the other ‘s lips, He YunTing couldn’t say what kind of impulse he had, just felt the very light pressure and coolness. His eyes darkened, and he couldn’t help but extend his tongue. The tip of his tongue curled around Lin Han’s finger.

One touch and it left.

Both of them froze, Lin Han even forgot to pull his finger back, but instead curled up his knuckles because of the stimulation of He YunTing’s action, and after a moment of hesitation, moved from the corner of his mouth to his lips.

His heart was pounding at this moment, and before he could withdraw his smile, his eyes nervously met He YunTing’s.

Like a question, like a test, like… encouragement.

What we’re doing… can we go further?

The autopilot mode of the aircraft continued, the windows on both sides were closed tightly, He YunTing didn’t have to squeeze a flight path with the public aircraft, they hung in mid-air, surrounded only by the not too noisy wind and a few invisible clouds, nothing else.

In the next instant, Lin Han’s fingers pressed against the other man’s lower lip suddenly felt a warm wetness. He YunTing took his index finger into his mouth and gently nibbled on the first knuckle.

Both of their breathing stopped for a moment until Lin Han also tried to reach in a little, and since his body temperature had been slightly lower, the temperature of his fingertips were the same, and he almost had the illusion of being burned when he touched He YunTing.

Lin Han’s fingers were long and white, not calloused, and had the delicate skin that belonged to an Omega. He YunTing wasn’t very good at it, so his movements weren’t erotic, even to the point of being carefully pleasing.

Lin Han felt his fingertips being gently scraped and flooded with a strange itch.

He YunTing tried to close his teeth and started to touch him with the softest part, but he couldn’t get it right. Eventually it turned into a tentative lick. 

Lin Han’s heart was beating faster and faster, and he stirred his index finger against He YunTing, and the other’s mouth came up against it, responding in an unorthodox manner.

When the second one was added, and when it was replaced by another, the only sound was the sound of driving and the wind blowing through the air, drowning out the sound of the interior of the craft.

When Lin Han finally pushed away from He YunTing with his hands on his shoulders, the other sucked him very gently.

He YunTing didn’t kiss him for long, but for the first time, Lin Han felt that this kiss was different from the previous days, perhaps because it started in a different way than when he confirmed with his mind, he was filled with lust and desire.

Lin Han was dizzy at first and didn’t react, nor did he know why He YunTing pushed him away, until he looked at the little sparkle on his finger, when what had just happened rewound in his mind.

His face slowly burned up little by little, and he stared embarrassedly for a long time before turning his face away, ready to see He YunTing’s reaction.

However, He YunTing wasn’t as tense or unfulfilled as he thought, his eyebrows were tightly furrowed, his lips were pursed after the kiss, and there was something in his eyes that Lin Han couldn’t understand, but he wasn’t looking at him. He then stopped caring about the blush, and when his hand was about to touch him again, he asked tentatively and politely, “May I touch you?”

He YunTing leaned back on the driver’s seat with one hand on his face, not looking at him, but still took the initiative to reach out and put his hand on Lin Han’s hand.

When he touched the wet fingers, Lin Han saw He YunTing’s frown deepen, as if he was trying to restrain something.

【I’m really… useless.】

【I just want to kiss him properly, but I can’t even control that.】

【What if I hurt him?】

Lin Han didn’t withdraw his hand, but instead, he clasped He YunTing’s five fingers even tighter.

He YunTing felt lust for him.

He knew this from the first time they met.

Lin Han didn’t feel there was anything shameful about the physical reaction, even from the moment he saw He YunTing lost in that room, he never thought about the consequences, nor did he have a single regret.

Since He YunTing had no more secrets in front of him, then why couldn’t he deliver himself to him entirely? But He YunTing seemed to have concerns about him for some reason.

Lin Han remembered that when he was in the border area, after the mark, He YunTing rushed down the mecha alone to calm down for a long time, and if he hadn’t gone to find him, maybe He YunTing would have gotten sick when he returned.

As if he was a person made of thin glass, even a little force would leave traces, being gently pinched would hurt, being bitten he would break, and being casually dropped, he would be broken beyond recovery.

This was true for his first susceptible period, it was true for the mark, and it was true even now.

He YunTing knew his lust was terrible, and although he let Lin Han read his current thoughts, he still didn’t dare to look at him, as if he was afraid of scaring him or having any other thoughts. Lin Han moved over and hugged him, feeling the other man’s breathing finally slow down little by little before patting his back and whispering in his ear.

“Don’t worry about me,” Lin Han said soothingly, “I’ve come back from the border area with you, I’m not afraid of anything.”

The plane’s autopilot system began to indicate that it was about to reach its destination, so Lin Han let go of him and said, “Here we are.”

He YunTing answered and followed Lin Han home to pick up Grr from the zoo. Lin Han pondered for several minutes and never said anything. He wanted to know what He YunTing was worried about.

It was clear that he could read minds, but it seemed that there were still doubts that couldn’t be solved.

He YunTing himself didn’t expect that he would accompany Lin Han and his little one to the zoo on his rare half-day holiday.

The zoo was in the Q district, the population was very dense, if the General appeared directly,  park management would be scared enough to close the place down. But Lin Han really wanted He YunTing to come along, so he immediately went to the nearest online store to pick a few sets of clothes, quickly picking up the goods at the door.

At this time a military uniformed He YunTing was at home with Grr, wide-eyed, coldly saw Lin Han’s clothes, the face finally had a different expression.

Lin Han winked at him and waved his essential baseball cap and sunglasses, “Just once, I’m sorry.”

He YunTing finally compromised and put on the new trendy clothes that he had never worn before and belonged to the youth. The light texture of the lining, with a flowery and green fluffy half cape jacket, made Lin Han freeze at the first sight.

“Very nice, very nice.” He had nothing to say, “A rare sight.”

He YunTing still seemed a bit squirmy, so he didn’t respond immediately.

The craft resumed its journey towards the Q zone, and since there was an extra Grr on it this time, Lin Han was worried that it would get as dizzy as in the mecha, so he held it and talked to it all the way.

There were people in the Empire who also kept Oddbound creatures, so when the two arrived at the gate, no one wasn’t was surprised to see the little thing on Lin Han’s shoulder.

Before He YunTing was ready to go inside, he was suddenly pulled by Lin Han.

“Wait a minute.” Lin Han said, gently tugged him, towards the shadows, and then kissed him very firmly.

Grr was startled by his sudden movement, but luckily it had a firm grip and didn’t fall down. 

Their location wasn’t noisy but also wasn’t hidden, someone passing by would only be surprised, then smile and avert their eyes, telling their friends beside them that it was good to be young and in love.

No one realized that this tall man in a wide coat, baseball cap and sunglasses was the Imperial Blade that everyone aspired to be, the General who never smiled and was always cold and distant.

He YunTing could put away all the glory, but he could also just be himself.

Just simply be my beloved.

Grr looked dumbfounded, it didn’t want to come to the zoo at first, not caring about the animals, but he was hit with a bolt of shock and astonishment. It was so overwhelmed it only grabbed Lin Han’s collar, and even forgot to rub it.

Lin Han kissed seriously and actively, not purely at all, as he wrapped his arms around He YunTing’s neck while going upwards, trying to take the initiative, allowing himself to claim and explore, and then continue deeper, blushing with the sound of swallowing.

He soon felt He YunTing’s resistance again, but Lin Han was proactive this time and left without allowing He YunTing to avert his eyes. He forced him to look at him.

“You love me.” Lin Han said in affirmation.

Lin Han’s kissed lips were still glistening with saliva, revealing a seductive and soft and sweet tongue when he spoke, and in this situation now, every extra word he said was as if he was seducing the other person in broad daylight.

“Sex and love can never be completely seperate,” Lin Han added under his breath, leaning close to He YunTing, “don’t you want to love me completely?”