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"My mother passed away."
The sudden response from the other person caught Jing Xia off guard. It took him a moment to react before he said, "I'm sorry, Xiao Cheng. I didn't know about your mother..."
"It's okay." Ji Chuancheng replied softly before lowering his gaze to the floor tile he had been staring at intently.
His long, beautiful eyes flickered with a mix of sorrow and loss.
He thought he had hidden it well, but Jing Xia, ever observant, noticed it immediately.
While casually placing his hand over Ji Chuancheng's, Jing Xia continued, "Xiao Cheng, did you know? My grandmother passed away last year too." He tilted his small, delicate face toward the silent night sky and added, "She loved me the most. Every day, she would secretly give me a piece of chocolate as a treat. My mom still doesn’t know about it."
Ji Chuancheng wasn’t entirely sure what the boy was trying to convey, but his upbringing prevented him from interrupting.
Under the moonlight, the boy’s already handsome face seemed almost translucent. Ji Chuancheng felt a slight stir in his heart and didn’t pull his hand away from Jing Xia’s grasp.
"Xiao Cheng, you were crying so hard earlier. Your mother must have been really good to you, right?"
Ji Chuancheng thought for a moment, then nodded gently. "Yes."
"Then you shouldn’t be sad anymore!" Jing Xia’s glib tongue and knack for playing the fool shone through. "If your mother saw you like this, she’d be really upset too."
Ji Chuancheng lowered his head sadly and whispered, "But she’ll never see me again."
"Who says!" Jing Xia’s mind raced, and the nonsense he often spouted to the girl next door in kindergarten came tumbling out. "After your mother passed away, she became a star in the sky and watched over you forever."
Ji Chuancheng was momentarily stunned as his innocence led him to ask, "Really...?"
Jing Xia nodded confidently. "Of course! Just the other day, I saw my grandmother’s star twinkle at me twice. Look, isn’t that star over there especially bright? That’s my grandmother!"
Ji Chuancheng followed the direction of Jing Xia’s finger and indeed saw a particularly bright star twinkling at him twice.
He froze as his simple, untainted mind instantly accepted the boy’s outrageous lie.
Seeing Ji Chuancheng’s dazed expression, Jing Xia knew he had succeeded.
He gleefully continued to stroke Ji Chuancheng’s smooth hand and said, "Xiao Cheng, don’t be sad. You still have me! As long as I, Jing Xia, am here, no one in the entire kindergarten will dare to bully you! Oh, by the way, which kindergarten do you go to? I’ve never seen you before."
At this, Ji Chuancheng’s thoughts slowly returned. He looked at the boy in confusion and instinctively replied, "I’m not in kindergarten..."
"What! You’ve never been to kindergarten?!" Jing Xia’s tone was full of mock disdain.
"..."
During the banter with this shameless little rascal, Ji Chuancheng was mostly the listener.
He listened as the brat, who mistakenly thought he hadn't attended kindergarten, exaggeratedly boasted about his exploits in class, and time slowly passed by.
When Jing Xia suddenly heard the familiar calls of Father Jing and Mother Jing, he exclaimed, "Oh no, I forgot about this!" and quickly jumped off the marble platform, ready to run into his mother's arms for tonight's piece of chocolate.
"Oh, right!" Just halfway, Jing Xia suddenly turned back and caught sight of the stunning little goddess under the moonlight.
He trotted over then raised his little face, and shamelessly planted a kiss on her cheek. Before the goddess could react, he scurried away and disappeared in no time.
It was only then that Ji Chuancheng realized what had just happened.
He dazedly raised his hand to touch his lips, as if he could still feel the warmth left by the boy, hot and comforting, making his heart suddenly come alive.
"Xiao Xia... Jing Xia?"
Moments later, a bold and beautiful girl emerged from the flower bushes and stood helplessly in front of Ji Chuancheng, saying, "Young master, how did you end up here? General Ji has been looking for you for a while now. Don't make me worry, okay?"
Even at just 12 years old, Qin Chu had already matured early.
She was a standout among her peers and towering nearly a head taller than Ji Chuancheng.
She crouched down slightly while looking at the boy sitting dazedly on the marble platform.
After a while, Ji Chuancheng murmured, "Qin Chu..."
Qin Chu had already noticed the tear stains on Ji Chuancheng's cheeks that hadn't been wiped away.
She sighed deeply, then took the boy's hand and walked with him towards the garden while saying, "Young master, I know you're sad. General Ji still can't come back tonight, but don't be afraid. I'm still here..."
"I know, Qin Chu. I won't be sad."
Qin Chu looked at the boy beside her in slight surprise and could hardly believe such strong words had come from his mouth.
After the painful lessons of her husband's military service, Madam Ji had always protected her only son very well.
From a young age, she never allowed him to be exposed to anything related to the Ji family's military affairs and treated him like a delicate flower in a greenhouse, which had cultivated Ji Chuancheng's simple and naive personality.
Ji Chuancheng slowly lifted his still youthful and handsome face that were smiling as he said, "Mom is watching me from above. She wouldn't want me to be sad."
Qin Chu: "..."
She couldn't quite understand—had her young master's head been kicked by a donkey?
And when Qin Chu finally understood who that donkey was, it was several years later.
Without Madam Ji's interference, General Ji trained his only son with the utmost rigor seemingly to make up for the nine-year gap.
The intensity of the training several times left Ji Chuancheng injured and unconscious, even nearly causing lasting damage.
However, this devilish training gradually shaped the youngest Major in the history of China, forging a resolute and decisive Major Ji, who led his Restricted Zone A Team that caused a stir across the entire border.
Many years later, Ji Chuancheng's handsome and stern face no longer bore any trace of the androgynous appearance of his childhood.
When people mentioned the name "Ji Chuancheng," all they felt was admiration.
Having slain an SS-Class Mutant Lion and possessing the powerful Special Ability to reverse rivers, and most importantly, his unparalleled command ability, he led humanity to victory time and again in the war against Mutated Beasts.
Some people seem to be born as kings. They possess absolute charisma and a strong leadership aura.
When they speak, you never hesitate, only obey and trust from the depths of your heart, and follow them through one difficulty after another.
Before Mother Jing passed away, the Little Devil Jing Xia had teased so many little girls. Even Xiao Cheng, the goddess he liked and wanted to marry, he only mentioned for a day before being scolded by his mother and then completely forgot about it.
A year later, when he was crying uncontrollably at his mother's funeral, he saw a handsome boy who seemed like a god walking in from the door while handing him a clean and delicate handkerchief. He just hiccuped and said in a tearful voice, "Thank you... who are you?"
Ji Chuancheng's face immediately darkened.
What followed was over twenty years of unconditional indulgence.
He was Ji Chuancheng, and he could allow this young man to be rebellious and wild.
As long as it was within China, and as long as he didn't do anything irreparable, Ji Chuancheng could give Jing Xia whatever he wanted.
But that time, when he finally couldn't bear it any longer and dragged the young man out of a bar, and watching Jing Xia almost fall into drug addiction, in that silent and lonely night, Ji Chuancheng sat silently in the darkness wh8le gazing at the peacefully sleeping young man, not knowing what to say.
His heart was heavy, but on the surface, he remained calm and composed, as if he could easily hold up even if the sky fell.
Had he done something wrong all these years...?
If he hadn't been sent to the Restricted Zone by his father at sixteen and if he had stayed in City B to protect the young man before him, then... would he not have become so rebellious?
If...
"Hmm... Ah Chuan, I was wrong... don't hit my face, please don't hit my face..."
The young man's mumbled dream talk pulled Ji Chuancheng out of his self-reproach. He was stunned for a moment, then finally curled his lips in a helpless smile before sighing, "Ah, do I owe you? Jing Xia."
As soon as the words fell, Ji Chuancheng gently stood up.
He took a step to the bedside before silently watching the unconscious young man for a long time, and finally let out a deep sigh.
In the darkness, his handsome and beautiful phoenix eyes shone with a burning light.
After a moment, Ji Chuancheng slowly lowered his head and tenderly kissed those lips.
His movements were incredibly gentle, as if he were releasing all the emotions he had accumulated over more than a decade.
He kissed the young man's eyelids, the bridge of his nose, his jawline, and his collarbone with delicate care.
Just as he felt he was about to lose control, a sudden jolt of awareness struck him. He looked at the young man before him that was nearly stripped bare by his own hands, and his entire body stiffened.
Hurriedly, he dressed the young man again. Though Ji Chuancheng's movements were far from gentle, Jing Xia merely mumbled softly as he was too intoxicated to wake up.
After finishing, Ji Chuancheng fled to the bathroom like a man escaping.
He turned on the cold water and let it pour over his body. The icy temperature gradually cleared his mind, and the heat burning within him slowly subsided.
With a forceful punch, he struck the tiled wall with all his strength, and blood immediately seeped from his knuckles.
His low, suppressed voice echoed in the small bathroom: "Ji Chuancheng, you're a beast..."
Those two playful kisses from many years ago had led to two decades of unwavering devotion.
In terms of commercial value and profit returns, Jing Xia far surpassed Father Jing, and even exceeded the greatest financial masters in the world.
Translator:
Truth! Jing Xia is super duper rich!