No Money to Divorce

“You…” Qu Yongyi was furious. He had never been so afraid, even after bearing with all the physical torture he went through these past few days. That was because he realized that Adrian Yate, the man who killed all the hired steel back in that manor, was not actually a truly scary person. Even though there was blood on his hands, he had never killed an innocent person. In the files Pearson passed to him, Adrian was described as a humane person who never went past the limits of morality.

But Zhong Yan was not. He was a person who did not believe in moral obligations. For the sake of his own goals, he would not hesitate even if it meant sacrificing an innocent person to do so.

“Think over this carefully. And if your father is not a good enough of a bargaining chip…Do you want to know where your children are right now?” said Zhong Yan nonchalantly.

Qu Yongyi spat out a mouthful of blood and snarled furiously at him. “Are you even human? They’re still younger than ten years old!”

“What do you mean ‘them?’ You only have one son, and he’s already fourteen.” Zhong Yan smirked. “You don’t have to try to fool me. You think I’m just making this up to scare you? Do you want me to order someone to send a finger over for you to verify?”

Only then did Qu Yongyi believe that he wasn’t just messing around. In a hoarse voice, he asked, “What is the difference between you and Pearson if you do this?!”

这是他第一次主动提到培森，钟晏隐蔽地抬起头看了一眼审讯室的天花板一角，他刚进门就看到了，那里有一个伪装成吊灯的监控摄像头。他抬手托起下巴，掩饰过自己抬头的动作，轻声笑道：“谁告诉你我和他有区别？如果不是他想动不该动的人，现在我可能已经帮着他登顶了。”

This was the first time he mentioned Pearson himself. Zhong Yan raised his head covertly to look at the corner of the ceiling of the interrogation room. He had seen it as soon as he entered. There was a surveillance camera there designed as a hanging light. He raised his hand to cover his jaw to conceal his movements and chuckled. “And who told you I was any different from him? If he hadn’t wanted to touch someone he wasn’t supposed to, I might have helped him all the way up to the peak by now.”

Qu Yongyi was stunned for a moment by the gravity of this piece of information, but he had not been in the Supreme Council for these many years for nothing. If that didn’t work, he had to try another way. “Does your husband agree to you doing something as inhumane as kidnapping a child?”

“And how would he know of it? It’s not like there are any…” Zhong Yan took another concealed glance at the hanging light on the ceiling, “surveillance in here. I will come again tomorrow. Before that, I want to hear that you’ve provided them evidence against Pearson. Otherwise, I will invite you to join me in watching a rather less…pleasant live broadcast. This conversation was between you and me. As for the reasons you said earlier, I will not tell a single thing to the Navi Military Command’s people. You can tell them you finally saw the bigger picture. You can use that to ask for a better way to die.”

After saying that, Zhong Yan turned around and was just about to leave when he heard Qu Yongyi ask from behind him, “How would I know that you would keep your promise of not touching my family after I die?”

“You don’t have to overthink it. Do you know how much manpower and resources are required to cover up evidence in our modern Federation? What point would there be if I chase down your family and kill them after you’re already dead? What would I get out of that?” Zhong Yan said, “I’m very poor, I can’t even afford a divorce. I won’t spend my money on such useless trifles, so don’t worry.”

After Zhong Yan left the interrogation room, the officer in charge was no longer outside. Adrian was sitting alone in front of the surveillance screen, waiting for him. When he saw him come out, he stood up and said, “Let’s go?”

He looked normal. Zhong Yan had also responded calmly, “Yeah, let’s go.”

Adrian reached out his left hand. Zhong Yan was briefly startled, but then he held it with his own right hand.

The officer in charge of the incident heard the news and came over to send the commander off, only to see Adrian who was dressed in his military uniform holding hands with the primly suited Zhong Yan. One looked sharp, while the other looked icy. Their appearances contrasted each other, yet they also seemed to meld together when their hands intertwined. Adrian gave a light nod to the officer and waved him away, signaling that he did not need to be sent off.

Due to the angle in which they stood, the officer had only now seen the silver ring on Zhong Yan’s left ring finger. Wasn’t this the hot topic in the virtual community today? That was the same ring design as the one Adrian wore during the press conference! The shape did look a bit strange, but since both of them were wearing them, they really must be wedding rings…right?

The planet where this holding center was at was a close neighbor to Navi Star, and it took even less time to reach here than for Adrian to drive a land vehicle to headquarters.

……

The two held hands as they walked to the carpark. It was already getting late, and the night breeze was blowing. Adrian suddenly stopped and let go of Zhong Yan’s hand.

Zhong Yan’s heart constricted, and he was just about to say something when Adrian took off his military blazer and covered it over his suit.

“No need, I’m not cold. We’re almost at the ship.” Zhong Yan looked at Adrian who was only wearing a thin shirt, and immediately wanted to take the blazer off and return it to him, but Adrian stopped him.

“It’s not like it’s your first time wearing it. You’ll get used to it, don’t be shy.” As he said that, Adrian helped him do up the topmost button of the blazer. “This planet is cold at night and your wound still hasn’t recovered yet. It won’t be good if you get sick by the time we’re home.”

Just like the first day when Zhong Yan came to Navi, he was wearing Adrian’s military blazer. But unlike back then, this jacket carried Adrian’s warmth with it, wrapping him up in its warmth in the night.

Zhong Yan stroked the blazer over him cherishingly. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, “Are you not going to ask me anything?”

“About what you said in the interrogation room?” Adrian put his arms around his shoulder and continued walking. “I figured it shouldn’t be a big deal, so I wasn’t in a hurry to ask. You didn’t really kidnap his fourteen-year-old son, did you?”

“Of course not.”

“And you don’t actually plan to, do you?”

Zhong Yan paused for a second, and told Adrian, “His son is in Pearson’s hands. The Capital had already received the news when you were still dismantling ‘Butterfly’s’ monitoring devices in Lebor. Just earlier today, Pearson sent someone to take away Qu Yongyi’s son from school. Indeed, I had no plans to grab him from Pearson from all the way across the Federation.”

“And what if Pearson didn’t take his kid away?” Adrian asked.

Zhong Yan seemed to have expected that question. He shook his head. “I wouldn’t have done so either in that case. I know you wouldn’t accept it. I’m scared you’d divorce me.”

Adrian was amused and nearly wanted to laugh, but he could hear that Zhong Yan wasn’t kidding around. He was seriously considering this question before he made his decision. *Would I divorce him?* When Adrian thought about this, he couldn’t laugh anymore. Earnestly, he professed, “I won’t divorce you. You’ve been worried since we came out today. What are you scared of? You said you’d never do anything to disappoint me, and you even said you’d never lie to me. I trust you in all of that.”

Zhong Yan looked up at him, and perhaps the starry sky was reflecting off of his eyes, but they looked like they were sparkling.

“What’s more, you make it sound easy, but how can we even afford a divorce? You were already complaining about the price when we bought a few pieces of clothing. What, don’t tell me you want to sell off that rabbit at home too?” Adrian deliberately cracked a joke to lighten the atmosphere.

Zhong Yan nudged him lightly with his shoulder. “I’m being serious here. Today was just an act, I don’t have any evidence to show him, so it’s not as believable, but I’ve already tried my best. I can only bet on whether he will believe me or not. If even this fails, he definitely won’t speak. This man can’t be left alive any longer. Pearson has already taken action, if he doesn’t hear of Qu Yongyi’s death soon, he may think of doing something.”

“I know. I never expected him to say anything to begin with, but I’ll take anything he’ll throw at us.”

“Based on the results of the latest round table meeting report I received today, the Supreme Council has decided to characterize this as an attack planned by Qu Yongyi alone.” Zhong Yan sighed in dissatisfaction. “If he’s unwilling to bring up Pearson no matter what, the costs of pushing the matter to Pearson will be too great. I’m afraid that even if we sacrifice half of the specimen store in the Capital, we still wouldn’t be able to pull him down a peg.”

“What are you worried about?” The “Honor Decree’s” trial operation will be announced soon. We have nothing but opportunities.” Adrian tightened his grip around Zhong Yan’s arm and comforted him.

Zhong Yan did not speak, but he knew that Pearson was completely prepared this time. If he didn’t make a sacrifice and expose his cards, it’ll be difficult to get any conclusive evidence to pin any crimes against him. It’s still better to wait for an opportunity. But…he still didn’t feel good about this. Adrian nearly fell into his trap this time. He couldn’t stand knowing that the culprit was doing completely fine in the Capital.

It was already late in the night when the two returned home. Zhong Yan had eaten his dinner on the spaceship on the way home from the holding center. They actually brought dinner for two onto the ship, but Adrian had to drive, so he never had the chance to eat. As soon as they arrived, Zhong Yan quickly hurried to the kitchen, but Adrian grabbed him from behind and picked him up.

“How many times have I told you? Don’t walk so fast. Doesn’t it hurt?”

Zhong Yan knew he was hungry, so he anxiously said, “It’s not that painful anymore. Let me down. I’m going to make you some food.”

“Nope, you’ve already been standing way past your limits today.” Adrian set him down on the wheelchair and wheeled him all the way to the bathroom in the master bedroom. “I’ll just heat up my dinner myself. You should take a shower first, then wait for me in bed like a good boy.”

“Okay…” Zhong Yan responded reluctantly. “Is Doctor Wei coming tomorrow for a check-up?”

“Yeah. I’ll be off work earlier tomorrow and I’ll bring him with me.”

“I can head over too. It’s a bit rude if we make him go back himself so late.”

“Just stay at home, you don’t have to worry about anything. I’ll drive him home myself if the check-up ends up finishing late.” As he said that, Adrian suddenly realized he was a married man now, and a homosexual to boot. It didn’t seem very proper for him to drive another single man around the same age as him all the way home, and immediately turned to ask permission from his spouse, “Do you think that’s okay?”

Zhong Yan smiled and gave him a light push. “Shouldn’t that only be proper of you? Don’t just stay here and joke around. You must be hungry. Quickly go and eat.”

And so, Adrian left to go eat dinner. After Zhong Yan was done washing up, he returned to the room and saw the soft terry onesie they had hurriedly thrown aside on the chair just before leaving.

Zhong Yan picked up the clothes with a complicated mood. He tugged at the long rabbit ears at the top of the hood. Adrian seemed like he was really looking forward to this…

Adrian had always been a fast eater. He quickly dealt with his late dinner and he was just putting the dishes and cutlery into the dishwasher when he saw something white at the corner of his eyes coming out from the bedroom, stopping hesitantly outside of the door.

He was just thinking about the meeting they were going to have tomorrow at headquarters so he didn’t put too much focus on it. He was wondering absent-mindedly in his heart, how had the rabbit escaped?

That’s not right! After a few seconds, Adrian finally realized that they didn’t have a rabbit this size at home!