LSDWTWHA chapter 58

Chapter 57

Confirming that he had not been exposed, Su Su quietly sighed in relief. He was scared to death, thinking he had been recognized.

However, speaking of the white-scaled shark, Qi Yue looked at Qi Hanyi and began to inquire: “Hey, elder brother, you know about the [White-scaled Shark], right? I sent you that video of him defeating the [Star Pirate Leader] a long time ago. He also signed up for the competition organized by your military department. Did you see today’s match? Wow, he was so handsome.”

Hearing this, Su Su instantly perked up. He had been racking his brain on how to bring up this topic in front of Qi Hanyi without appearing too deliberate.

Su Su’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Qi Hanyi, waiting for his response.

Qi Hanyi felt Su Su’s eager gaze and, pretending not to notice anything unusual, responded lightly after serving him some of his favorite fish: “I watched.”

“Is he a contestant from the competition you organized?” Qi Xingli asked. He had heard vaguely about Qi Hanyi collaborating with the Mo family to hold a competition in [Star Wars] to select starship pilots, but he always believed that untrained players could never measure up to professional pilots.

He expressed his disapproval to Qi Hanyi: “That kind of casual competition is fine as a promotional tool, but it won’t yield any truly valuable contestants. There’s no need to expend too much effort on it.”

Qi Yue would not let this go: “Grandpa, you can’t say that! Do you know the SS-32 map? Facing an onslaught from four SS-level insect queens, [White-scaled Shark] single-handedly took down the queen with an S-class starship. I remember the last one to achieve that feat was you, elder brother!”

As the Minister of Defense, Qi Xingli naturally knew about this map. He had personally presented the battle reports from that war to the Emperor. He knew the difficulty level and casualty figures of that battle very well. Thus, hearing Qi Yue’s words, his first reaction was disbelief: “How is that possible? A player…”

“It’s true; his talent surpasses mine,” Qi Hanyi affirmed Qi Yue’s statement and gave an even higher evaluation.

“Cough, cough, cough!” Su Su had just taken a small sip of soup when he heard this and, too excited, choked and immediately broke into a fit of coughs.

He had been hoping to hear Qi Hanyi praise him, but he never expected to hear such high praise from him.

After all, Qi Hanyi was the master of the [Bai Ze], the commander of the Expeditionary Force, and the human he admired the most.

Qi Hanyi did not expect Su Su’s reaction to be so extreme. He paused his movements and turned to pat Su Su’s back lightly: “Aren’t you a mermaid? How can you choke on soup?”

“I just…” Su Su wanted to say, I’m [White-scaled Shark], and I was just too excited to hear you praise me. But he knew he shouldn’t reveal his identity in front of so many people, and he also planned to surprise Qi Hanyi when they met later, so he had to change his tone: “I’m just thirsty and drank too quickly.”

At this moment, Qi Yue’s gaze had completely locked onto Su Su and Qi Hanyi, a mixture of surprise and happiness resembling someone who had just tasted sugar.

Was this still her usually cold and unapproachable elder brother? To her surprise, he had teased someone in such a half-joking tone and even gently patted the other’s back.

Knowing her elder brother disliked mermaids, Qi Yue had previously worried that he would be too cold toward her sister-in-law after marriage, but now it seemed that her concerns were completely unnecessary.

“Wow, I didn’t expect that after just a month apart, Hanyi’s relationship with his partner has improved so much. I heard that you used to dislike mermaids the most. At the time of your marriage, you even quarreled with the head of the family about wanting to annul the engagement,” Qi Hanyi’s fourth aunt commented sarcastically, noticing the interaction between Su Su and Qi Hanyi.

Qi Yang chimed in, “That’s right! At the Mo family’s banquet, sister-in-law was so hungry that she gobbled up food at the table. When we asked, it turned out elder brother had hardly prepared any meals at home for her.”

They did not want to see Qi Hanyi being affectionate with his mermaid partner, especially Qi Yang, who had originally hoped that Qi Hanyi would lose his heir status due to his mental force collapse. However, he failed to stir discord. Later, hearing that Su Su had indeed rescued Qi Hanyi during his mental force collapse made Qi Yang furious, as the throne of the heir he had hoped for was now completely out of reach.

“I was immature before,” Qi Hanyi said: “I’ve come to understand that the matter concerning my father is my mother’s fault and has nothing to do with other mermaids. I should not vent my anger on them. The head of the family seeking a marriage for me from the Emperor is also out of concern for me.”

Qi Xingli displayed a look of relief: “It’s great that you can think this way.”

He then looked towards Su Su: “Hanyi was immature before and caused you some harm. You were able to save his life without holding grudges. This kindness will be remembered by the Qi family.”

Su Su waved his hand: “Actually, I didn’t do anything…”

It was just a matter of undressing the other, getting a bit close, and kissing… cough, it was just artificial respiration.

Qi Xingli replied, “A harmonious family brings prosperity. It’s great that you can get along so well. Hanyi is not young anymore, it’s time to consider the issue of offspring.”

“Yes, I will think about it.” Qi Hanyi responded without changing his expression.

Su Su’s eyes widened in disbelief. What was there to consider? Having children? Who would give birth? Neither he nor Qi Hanyi had that capability!

Su Su looked at Qi Hanyi, then at his own little skirt, and suddenly realized he seemed to be playing the role of a female mermaid.

Just then, someone held his hand under the table, and Su Su turned to look at Qi Hanyi, who gave him a calming look.

Su Su relaxed. Right, if something were to go wrong, let Qi Hanyi deal with it. There’s no need for him to worry about such matters.

The family banquet soon turned into some idle chatter. Qi Xingli asked Qi Hanyi some work-related questions, while others talked about their own matters.

Uncertain if it was due to the side effects of the mermaid medicine, Su Su started to feel sleepy. He yawned repeatedly while sitting beside Qi Hanyi, his little head nodding as he looked like he might fall asleep at any moment.

Qi Hanyi noticed Su Su’s little movements and took the initiative to stand up and bid farewell: “It’s getting late; I’ll take him upstairs to rest.”

There wasn’t really anything urgent to discuss, so Qi Xingli waved his hand: “It’s just right. I’m tired too; let’s end it here for today.”

Qi Hanyi felt relieved as he brought Su Su to his room.

The room was simple and clean, appearing to inherit the style of Qi Hanyi’s current bedroom, with only one difference: it contained remnants of Qi Hanyi’s youth. On the table was a photo of him in his imperial military academy uniform, surrounded by dozens of people, but he was the only one with a cold expression, seemingly radiating killing intent through the photograph. On the wall was a transparent display shelf containing trophies and medals Qi Hanyi had earned from childhood to now, filling an entire wall.

In a corner of the bedside cabinet, there lay a gray-backed, white-bellied shark plush toy. The fabric was already worn, but it was clear the owner cherished it; the shark was clean and well-maintained, and the area on the top where it was sewn up had been clumsily stitched.

“It’s a shark!” Su Su eagerly scooped the shark plush into his arms and raised it over his head to show Qi Hanyi: “Is this also yours?”

“Yes, his name is A Yin,” Qi Hanyi said.

What Qi Hanyi didn’t mention was that after he returned from the sea, he had been plagued by nightmares for many years. This fish plush had accompanied him through his entire childhood. He named it A Yin because he remembered that night when he opened his eyes on the reef—the moonlight was bright, and he recalled the little shark that had saved his life, glimmering with a resplendent silver light.

This plush, named A Yin, was the only thing that brought him comfort when waking from nightmares.

However, as he grew older, he no longer indulged in such childish behavior.

Nevertheless, he kept this plush carefully preserved. Perhaps it was because having a name added a bond, or perhaps it symbolized Qi Hanyi’s unexpressed gratitude towards that shark.

“Hello, A Yin, my name is Su Su.” Su Su earnestly shook hands with the plush. He hugged A Yin again; its soft and fluffy texture was unexpectedly comfortable. Su Su asked Qi Hanyi: “Can I sleep with it tonight?”

“If you like, you can hug it.” Qi Hanyi made the bed for Su Su: “There is only one bed here; it’s a bit cramped for you to share it with me for one night.”

“I’m not cramped; I like sleeping with you.” Su Su answered with confidence.

Qi Hanyi choked slightly, his ears turning red again. No matter how many times it happened, he could never get used to Su Su’s straightforwardness. He hurriedly stood up: “If you’re sleepy, you can go to bed first. I have evening training.”

The evening training was next door, Qi Hanyi thought. Based on yesterday’s timing, Su Su’s side effects wouldn’t occur too early, so he should have enough time to finish evening training. If Su Su woke up due to the side effects and made any noise, he would be nearby and could immediately notice, ensuring there was no danger.

So he closed the doors and windows and entered the training room.

After finishing his grooming, Su Su also changed into his new custom-made shark-themed pajamas. He hugged his shark plush and burrowed under the covers.

“Knock, knock, knock.”

Su Su was awakened by a series of knocks. He opened his eyes in confusion, his memories hazy. He looked around and struggled to recall where he was.

The knocking continued, and Su Su instinctively thought he should open the door, so he got out of bed in his shark pajamas, holding his shark plush, to answer the door.

“Sister-in-law, it’s me.” Qi Yue’s head popped out from behind the door, cautiously scanning the room before breathing a sigh of relief: “I knew elder brother would be in evening training at this hour. Hey, don’t be nervous; I just wanted to chat with you for a bit.”

She called herself sister-in-law? Su Su slowly blinked. Sister-in-law seemed to refer to a human’s term for their brother’s spouse?

Though he didn’t fully understand the situation, Su Su still replied earnestly with an “Mm.”

“Are you sleeping, sister-in-law? I hope I’m not disturbing your rest?” Noticing Su Su had changed clothes, Qi Yue vaguely sensed something was off. However, despite saying so, she had no intention of leaving; instead, her eyes sparkled, staring at Su Su. “Oh my, sister-in-law looks so cute in shark pajamas! I just want to sneak a hug.” But she didn’t dare, fearing her elder brother would scold her.

“I’m not disturbed,” Su Su yawned. He actually felt a bit sleepy, but the other looked so reluctant to leave that it seemed a bit sad. Plus, this human was quite pleasant to look at; spending a bit more time was fine.

“Hehe, sister-in-law, you’re so nice. I heard my elder brother used to bully you; that was really too much.” Qi Yue seizing the opportunity while Qi Hanyi was absent, secretly spoke ill of him, but immediately tried to justify: “But my elder brother is not a bad person; he just went through too much when he was younger and has some psychological trauma. He doesn’t target you; he’s always had a bad temper and has never treated anyone kindly.”

“Is that so?” Su Su listened attentively. The elder brother the other mentioned was probably his husband, right? Something felt off; why did a male shark even have a human husband?

Speaking of which, am I a male shark? Or am I female?

Qi Yue continued to talk endlessly about Qi Hanyi’s past: “My elder brother usually has a cold attitude, but actually, I know he’s very emotional. When I was eleven, I was kidnapped beside a cliff, surrounded on three sides; there was no one who could rescue me. He was only sixteen at that time, but he climbed up the cliff alone, saved me, and carried me down. During the rescue, he was shot and lost a lot of blood coming down, but thanks to his strong physique, he survived; anyone else might not have made it.”

“So even though he has a bad temper, a cold attitude, and doesn’t like to associate with others…”

“Qi Yue.” Qi Hanyi appeared at the door of the partition, dressed in training clothes.

Su Su tilted his head to look up as a tall man blocked the light. Although he couldn’t see his face clearly, Su Su felt that this person matched his aesthetic perfectly.

“Uh, elder brother,” Qi Yue exclaimed as if caught with her tail between her legs: “When did you arrive?”

“Just now, right when you were saying I have a bad temper,” Qi Hanyi responded coolly. Actually, he had noticed earlier that Qi Yue was worried after hearing what Qi Yang and his family said today and wanted to say some good words for him.

“I said some good words, but you didn’t hear them; you only picked up on the bad stuff,” Qi Yue muttered softly.

Elder brother? Su Su instantly put himself in this context: “Husband?”

Qi Hanyi’s gaze froze as he closely examined Su Su. Su Su’s eyes were clear, completely different from the previous day’s foolish state, as if there was nothing wrong. Although it was a bit strange for him to suddenly call him “husband,” it could also be due to Qi Yue’s presence, leading Su Su to act.

But fearing that Su Su might truly act foolish again, Qi Hanyi still unceremoniously urged: “He needs rest; you should go back.”