The young female officer currently weeping had a grandfather who was one of the leading figures in Azure's scientific research system and the chief designer of the ninth-generation source energy apparatus, a maternal grandfather who was the chairman of the Azure Huaxia Front Council, and she herself was a young genius in the study of Great Spike civilization languages...
Yet the most precious group of friends in her life so far were all people who spoke with their blades, and who dared to "say" anything.
The beginning of this family "rift" dated back to when Han Qingyu and the others met with misfortune. Xin Yaoqiao had rushed to beg for help, only to find her maternal grandfather and grandfather holding a meeting with a roomful of people...
Yet they weren't discussing how to help. Instead, they were focused on studying how to mitigate the incident's fallout and stabilize public sentiment and the overall situation.
From a political height, perhaps such considerations were beyond reproach. But Xin Yaoqiao didn't understand, nor did she care about that. She simply felt resentful and disappointed.
And this sulking had lasted for over a year.
He had originally planned to cheer his granddaughter up tonight, but here on New Year's Eve, she had ended up in tears after all. Xin Mingzhi was also wearing headphones. It was his first time listening to this recording as well, and as he listened and pictured the scene, his heart ached a little... Standing quietly beside her for a while, he finally broke the silence:
"This is the only copy of the recording. You can keep it."
Xin Yaoqiao sniffled, turned her head, and nodded. "Mm."
Her grandfather reached out and ruffled her hair. "Then Grandpa will head back first... When you're done listening, wipe your tears and come home for the New Year's Eve dinner."
"Okay, Grandpa." Xin Yaoqiao wiped her tears away to both sides and said, "Thank you, Grandpa."
"Thank you, Grandpa"? He hadn't heard those words in a long time. So it had some effect after all. Xin Mingzhi gave a kindly smile, turned, and walked toward the door, unable to resist muttering under his breath:
"Honestly, throwing a tantrum at her own grandfather and maternal grandfather for this long... Preoccupying herself day and night thinking about him, when who even knows if the other person is missing her too."
"Hm?" Xin Yaoqiao heard him. She mulled over her grandfather's question and thought to herself, *Of course he doesn't! Does that even need asking?*
She knew all too well what kind of person Han Qingyu was.
Thinking of this, she actually burst into a smile.
Fast forward about five hours, in Xiongzhanli.
This place had no tradition of celebrating the Huaxian New Year, but someone had spent so much time in Huaxia that she missed it, and thought she would celebrate the New Year on her own.
At the First Officer Academy of the Azure Xiongzhanli Front, Milla had not worked alongside her parents after returning to Xiongzhanli. She served as an instructor here and lived in the faculty quarters.
The dormitory door stood open. Milla stood in the doorway with her long hair tied back behind her head and an apron around her waist. Her hands were still coated in white flour.
In the private little courtyard outside, Aleksei had somehow managed to find a bouquet of flowers in the middle of winter. Holding it out to her, he said, "I heard today is the Huaxian New Year, so happy New Year, Miss Milla."
Milla looked at him with a helpless expression.
The internal situation within the Xiongzhanli Front was growing steadily worse, and the rebel forces placed great importance on vying for young officers. As a newly risen top combat power among the academy instructors, Aleksei actually had a heavy burden of duties at the officer academy, yet he still constantly came up with all sorts of antics.
"Still refusing?" Aleksei gave a wry smile. "Let me count... which time is this? How heartbreaking. A newly risen top combat power under thirty years old at the First Military Academy of Xiongzhanli can't even give away a bouquet of flowers..."
"If it were merely well-wishes between friends, of course I'd..." Milla said.
"And what if it's more than that? In fact, it is more. My heart won't allow me to lie, and my yearning gaze and trembling hands have already betrayed me... Perhaps it's time to consider giving me a chance? What do you say, Miss Milla?"
Aleksei's eyes carried an ambiguous, teasing spark, a smile curling on his lips. Just as the rumors in the academy went, he was indeed an expert when it came to romance.
Milla simply put both hands behind her back and shook her head helplessly.
"So, another sad tale about the cruel and resolute Lieutenant Colonel Milla Joe, the most heart-wounding flower of the First Military Academy," Aleksei muttered. "Fortunately, I'm not the only one here to hit a wall. I've just hit it the most times."
"Thank you, Aleksei," Milla said, her expression turning earnest. "I feel proud and honored by your appreciation. There are countless girls here who like you, instructors and cadets alike..."
"Alright, let me start the next part for you," Aleksei said. "'However...'"
"However, I am still waiting for my team members to come fetch me," Milla said with a smile, firm and resolute.
"It's been over a year." Aleksei looked into Milla's eyes. Over this past year and more, there had not been a whisper of news about the people she was waiting for, and she clearly looked as if she had already emerged from her grief.
"Mm. Over this past year and more, I've always told myself that the words that team member of mine spoke will definitely not just be forgotten," Milla said, smiling.
Because she remembered that the fellow was actually quite a con artist.
"Then, one final question," Aleksei hesitated before asking. "Does your promise involve love?"
Milla thought for a moment. "No. He probably doesn't understand or think about such things."
*I just somehow can't bring myself to imagine it,* Milla thought. *One day in the future, when they come to pick me up, if I were to introduce someone to them as my boyfriend, that bunch of guys would definitely wail like ghosts and howl like wolves.*
*That simply won't do,* she told herself.
This was the worst part. Aleksei had been defeated by an ambiguous, undefined feeling, without even the chance to fight back. He smiled and held the flowers out once again.
Milla still kept her flour-covered hands behind her back.
"It's a friend's blessing," Aleksei said. "Happy New Year, Lieutenant Colonel Milla."
Milla hesitated for a moment, then reached out to take the bouquet. "Thank you, Colonel Aleksei." Then, teasingly pointing toward the music drifting through the air, she added, "I think you ought to head to the ball."
"Ah, yes." Aleksei chuckled sheepishly, waved his hand, and turned around, explaining, "It's always like this. I have no choice but to rely on my extraordinary personal charm to keep those young female officers from falling prey to the seductions of the rebel forces."
He walked away with a laugh.
Extraordinary personal charm? Milla smiled, recalling a certain someone's nickname: "dead iron straight man." Probably quite a few people had been provoked to anger by him, and that nickname had consequently spread far and wide through the medical and arts and entertainment systems—and yet girls still treasured his flowers.
Right, the dumplings weren't finished yet! After standing there for a few seconds, Milla hurried back inside holding the flowers.
*Whoosh!* A faint sound came from behind her.
In the shadows, someone dropped down from the side of the roof.
Startled, Milla whipped around, drawing her blade...
"Ahem, that really is one lucky, damned rascal! I mean that dead iron straight man. Does Lieutenant Colonel Milla think I'm right?" The figure stood there, smiling.
Milla's pupils wavered, and then panic hit her. "Y-You're Marshal Hua?! Huaxia Front's Five Supers..."
Tacking on "Five Supers" in a greeting sounded awkward face-to-face; it had slipped out of Milla's mouth only because whenever they referred to these people, they always spoke of them that way in private.
"I'll accept it for now," Marshal Hua said with a smile. "Though if that kid ever ascends to super one day, I will definitely drop out of the collective title of the Six Greats... simply because I'd be ashamed to be associated with him."
Milla: "..."
So, Marshal Hua had heard all of that conversation just now.
These were things she had never spoken aloud during her time in the Huaxia Front. Feeling rather shy and embarrassed from the teasing, Milla looked up, only to see blood soaking through Marshal Hua's clothes and a pale cast to his face.
"Marshal Hua, you... please come in, quickly. I have wound medicine at home, but I don't know if it's enough. If it isn't, tell me what you need and I'll go fetch more from the infirmary..."
"No need, I have my own wound medicine." Marshal Hua gestured toward her flour-dusted hands. "I just... suddenly remembered today is New Year's Eve. Are there spare dumplings? Could you spare a bowl?"
Hua Bixuan had already been active in Xiongzhanli for nearly two years.
By himself, he might not be able to turn the tide. But once the door opened to Azure fracturing and devolving into secular governments, the consequences would be unimaginable, as would an outright civil war of secession... Hua Bixuan was doing everything in his power to stall it.
Perhaps once the fighting in Antarctica concluded, the Alliance would be able to free up its hands to resolve the situation.
After entering the house, Milla hurriedly carried the batch of dumplings she had already made into the kitchen and dropped them into the pot first.
In the outer room, Marshal Hua applied medicine and bandaged his wounds.
"I heard that Grigoriya, the new leader chosen by the secessionists, was kidnapped again." Out of curiosity and to make conversation, Milla brought up the situation.
"Ah, that was me," Marshal Hua said with a smile.
Just as she thought. Milla hesitated, then added, "But Mosorijin was released—the previous secessionist leader who was kidnapped before."
"Yes, that was me too." Marshal Hua laughed and boasted:
"An absolute stroke of genius, isn't it?
"I kidnap their leader without killing him. Once their rescue and search efforts come to nothing and they have no choice but to elect a new leader and core team, I release the old one and kidnap the new one.
"Just like that, I keep them locked in repeated, endless power struggles among themselves..."
Chapter 487