Chapter 69 - Don’t Let Go

“Someone who helped you? Which senior sister?” Adrian asked. Zhong Yan showed him his virtual screen. Everything was fine before he saw it, but seeing it now caused Adrian to nearly drop his cup onto the bed.

He saw a senior sister that was still relatively familiar to him posting on her page. “Warmly celebrating the historic breakthrough of the silver-eyed giant space rabbit breeding research.”

Adrian put his cup back to the table beside the bed and played it cool. “No need to message her. Just let her believe it if she wants to. It’s better to avoid any troubles we can. With our current conjecture, the less we say, the less other people can find faults with us.”

“So you are still aware of that, huh?” Zhong Yan huffed. “The next time you post something to a public platform, you have to discuss it with me first!”

“Okay, okay, anything you say. I’ll make sure to let you check my work next time.” Adrian saw that he had managed to dispel his idea of messaging the girl, and breathed a sigh of relief. He picked up his cup again from the table and took a sip of water. Zhong Yan was leaning on his body and looked up by chance. Suddenly, he said, “Isn’t this my cup?”

“Is it?” Adrian raised the cup to look. The cups they bought were a couple set. Zhong Yan’s cup had the left half of the heart, while Adrian’s had the right half. Right now, the one Adrian was currently holding was the one given to Zhong Yan when they bought them.

Adrian did not mind it too much. “It’s fine, neither of us has any contagious diseases. What’s more, the cup was just washed.”

“But the significance of it is that it’s supposed to be exclusive for each person in the relationship. You can’t mix them.”

This was the very first time Adrian, as a man without any experience in love, had heard this saying. “Why? Who said so?”

“It’s like a sense of ritual. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be any different from buying two identical cups. If they were both the same, how could it reflect our relationship as a couple?” Zhong Yan insisted.

They had been sharing two identical cups back then when they were still sharing a dorm, but now, their relationship had changed, and Zhong Yan was very sensitive about it. If he could, he would definitely want to emphasize the fact that they were a couple in every detail of their life. He had switched out all the regular cutlery, cups, and bowls. He was even planning to buy two pairs of couple chopsticks from a shop several star systems away, but spending that much on delivery fees just for two pairs of chopsticks did not feel worth it. Even though their current economic situation was much better than the ordinary citizen, Adrian had just tossed away half of their family assets after all, so they should not be too luxurious. It’s better to save up wherever they can, so he ended up not buying the chopsticks in the end.

Adrian knew that Zhong Yan had many OCD triggers in his daily life. Take for example, the spaces that he had hung around in would always be cleaned, and every item on every surface would be neatly arranged. Also, he could never stop fussing over the cleaning robot’s ability to do its job. He would always follow it around to check how it was doing. If the engineer who designed the cleaning robot found out about this, they would definitely die of anger. And also, he could never stand seeing people with wrinkles on their clothes, or having anything stuck on them. He will always go up to correct it as soon as he sees it. But of course, that was only limited to his and Adrian’s clothes.

When he thought about all this, Zhong Yan’s fixation on not mixing their couple items did not seem like such a big deal anymore. Adrian had always been infinitely indulgent in these trivial matters when it came to Zhong Yan. He gave him a nice smile. “Alright, I’ll go change my cup.”

“I’ll get it for you.” After saying that, Zhong Yan got up. “Just leave the cup here for me. I’m thirsty as well.”

Adrian hooked one hand around him and locked him by his side, not allowing him to get up. “I’ll go get it, you just lay down.”

Zhong Yan laughed. “I’m not used to you being so attentive.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Adrian said. He stood by the bed and leaned down to plant a kiss on his forehead. “I’ll treat you just like this from now on until forever.”

……

By the time Adrian returned with his cup in hand, Zhong Yan was sitting on the bed talking with someone. His back was very straight, and that motionless, imposing mask was back on his face. When he saw Adrian enter, he could clearly be seen to have relaxed a little. His facial expression had also grown softer even if his tone of speech was still as serious as ever.

“Yes. Push everything back, cancel all the plans.”

“Notify our spies by Pearson’s side. Tell them to find a way to speed it up, preferably before the heat from Lebor’s news dies down.”

“Without exposing himself, I want it done as soon as possible.”

“No, don’t let Cayman come forward. He must not be involved in this matter. Neither should I. Not only can we not promote it, we must also oppose it in public. Otherwise, it will be difficult to convince the public in the future. I can only tell my contacts to do it. Do you understand what I mean, Intron?”

Adrian guessed that something must have happened in the capital. Perhaps the meeting about Lebor finally came to fruition? He laid down beside Zhong Yan. He listened in as Zhong Yan made his arrangements while his hands began to play with the rabbit ears on his hood.

Zhong Yan, who was wearing the fluffy rabbit pajamas was listening intently to the person on the other side of the call, pulled his ears back absently.

“Has Sir Yate’s men contacted you? I thought he would be more patient. But this is good. Just send all the information I prepared you for our surrender to him.”

“Be careful. When the time is right, I will return to preside over the general situation.”

Zhong Yan’s call ended. Only after hanging up did Zhong Yan realize that his rabbit ears had been pulled away by another Sir Yate and played around with. He pulled his ears back and said seriously to Adrian, “The Round Table Meeting just ended. They’ve decided to admit their misjudgment.”

Only two results could have come out of that Round Table Meeting. To admit or not to admit. If they admit that they had a misjudgment, then the Capital’s credibility among its people would be shaken, and drop down to a freezing point. But if they did not admit it, Lebor’s move in joining Navi would be considered a rebellion. If the Capital did not forcefully take back Lebor, then they would also be questioned by the entire Federation. These were the results of their analysis in one of their meetings at Headquarters. This time, the possibility of the Capital admitting it is higher. After all, for the Capital that as full of fear for the Navi Military Command, not admitting it would only make things more complicated. This result was within Adrian’s expectations.

Adrian looked at Zhong Yan, who was sitting respectfully in bed, waiting for his answer with a serious expression. He tried to endure it, but failed in the end, and broke out in laughter.

Zhong Yan was stunned. “What are you laughing about? I’m being serious here.”

He was fine before hearing him say that, but now Adrian was laughing even harder. He said, “I can’t do this, talking seriously with me in kid’s pajamas…Hahahahaha! It’s too funny! Have you ever seen that picture on the net, the one with a really serious looking rabbit just laying there? Hahahahaha!”

“Is it really that funny?” Zhong Yan asked blankly while Adrian nodded at the side. “Fine, I’ll tell you something you won’t be able to laugh about. The terms brought up by the radicals to compromise with this situation is the implementation of the “Honor Decree” ahead of schedule.”

Adrian’s smile went stiff on his face. As he said, he really couldn’t laugh about this.

“Then, earlier, you were talking to Intron about…”

“I’ve decided to suspend the publication of Pearson being the one behind the Lebor attack.” Zhong Yan said, “This is already the extent of which Qu Yongyi is able to cooperate with us. There’s no way we can expect him to appear in court as a witness or whatever. We did not have perfect assurance for this plan to begin with. There are too many openings on our side for criticism. We have no witness, and even the supplier of the physical evidence is unwilling to show themselves to verify the authenticity. It may not be possible to pull him off his seat as Representative Councilor. But if….if his name has already been dragged in the mud by the media, and the people of the federation feel betrayed by him, then we may not need to have substantial information to expose him when the time comes. As long as the evidence is justifiable, just the public opinion alone will be able to drown him to death with a little oil added to the fire.”

The media and the public. To incur the hate of hundreds of millions of citizens is a weapon stronger than any blade or gun, and Zhong Yan had always been good at guessing the hearts of people. Once he reaches a high enough position, and builds himself a big enough team, he will be able to manipulate the public’s opinion to his will.

As a leader, braving the rapids is truly a dangerous and terrifying thing. Motionless, Adrian looked at Zhong Yan for a while, and decided to discuss on work first. “Is the ‘Honor Decree’ his betrayal to the people?”

“Correct.”

“Is that why you told Intron to tell your men to accelerate the implementation of the ‘Honor Decree’?”

“That’s right. It’s best if we can link these two matters together. The ‘Honor Decree’ was drafted under direct orders of Pearson. It is a radical and stiff act that will inevitably cause a rebound in accordance with the current social trend as soon as it’s announced. There isn’t much to do. We just have to capture a few prime examples…” Before Zhong Yan could finish speaking, he caught sight of Adrian’s less than pleasant expression and could not help but stop. His originally calm tone had now become a little anxious. “What’s wrong? Do you think it’s inappropriate?”

No, nothing’s wrong with it. From a general perspective, this is the most effective way of getting rid of Pearson. For the sake of achieving their goals, they had to speed up the issuance of some ridiculous law, and waiting for a victim to appear to stir the flames and turn the situation around. Then, to beat him while he was still down. Of course Adrian understood all of this. Nothing was wrong with this. If he were to stop Zhong Yan on his moral high ground, then he would truly be too soft-hearted. Sometimes, he would also make some compromises in the name of justice, but he knew full well that Zhong Yan was not doing this for the same reasons. What’s more, this was Zhong Yan’s regular routine. There was no compromise.

Since Adrian was not speaking, Zhong Yan began to feel more and more uneasy. He himself did not have limits to his morality, but that did not mean that he did not know where the limits of other people lie. With some hesitation, he said, “Ade…You wanted to stop the ‘Honor Decree’, right? This law expands the power of AI infinitely. I know you are against it, but you can’t build the new without destroying the old. This is our opportunity to break through the deadlock. Otherwise, Navi will likely be stuck in this situation with the Capital for decades to come. When the next generation comes…there may not necessarily be a good enough leader who can stand shoulder to shoulder with you…”

“I know,” Adrian interrupted Zhong Yan. “I don’t mean to stop your plans. Your judgment is decisive and efficient. It’s just…”

He brought Zhong Yan into his own arms and pressed his head tightly to his chest with one hand. “I just…have to keep a tighter watch on you in the future. You’re too dangerous.”

“Don’t worry.” Zhong Yan raised his head and spoke seriously, “I will report to you every step of the way. You have to watch me, and supervise me well. Make sure to keep your hold on my ropes, and don’t ever let go.”

Adrian’s eyes darkened. He responded firmly, “I’ll never let go.”

With his desires to conquer as a man ignited, the hand that had been clasped around the back of Zhong Yan’s head grabbed onto his hair and forced his head up to receive his kiss. The body of the dangerous man went soft, and like a tamed creature, circled his arms around Adrian’s neck, allowing him to seize his lips, completely invading every inch of his soft mouth.

He retracted his fangs and turned back into the meek and harmless little creature that only appeared in front of Adrian.