No Money to Divorce

“Lebor’s being turned upside down and you’re roasting rabbits for fun?”

“Oh my god, a lop-eared giant space rabbit!!! So cute! Awww, it’s cute even if its fur is burnt!”

“Yate doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would like rabbits at all. I seem to recall another rather famous person. The whole world knows he loves giant space rabbits…”

“I know! The Supreme Commander is trying to say that he wants to roast the giant space rabbit for dinner. It’s provocation for Zhong Yan! Let me explain. He wants to know when the rabbit sheds, meaning he wants to take off its fur, and the burnt fur signifies he wants to roast it and eat it. This suggests that he is on bad terms with Zhong Yan. Didn’t someone post about it a long time ago? They had most likely gotten married because they got attacked together by chance and didn’t get to pay the fines. Seems like their marriage won’t last for long.”

“Stop fantasizing, the two of them had already admitted they got married because they didn’t have money.”

“People really believe they don’t have money? I’m done. One’s a representative councilor, the other’s the big boss of a star system. They can’t afford a divorce? Who are you trying to kid? To begin with, Zhong Yan has the Yate family supporting him. I knew from the very beginning this couldn’t have been a coincidence. After all, everyone in the Federation knows that ‘Butterfly’ doesn’t play by the rules anymore.”

“Don’t just try to represent the entire Federation. How could we have our stable lives without ‘Butterfly’? Yate will face retribution if he encourages young people to rebel!”

“Why is that damn moth’s fans on the Commander’s homepage? Why don’t you let me explain to you what the case was with the two misjudgments? I’m just worried you’ll also be ‘misjudged’ if you accidentally did something the Capital doesn’t like next time.”

“This is his revenge. Do you still remember the Supreme Institution’s celebration two months ago? Zhong Yan mouthed something to Yate and a great god managed to decipher the word as ‘top’. He’s trying to pick a fight with Yate. What he means is that he wants to be on top after they marry, and now that they’re married, Yate is posting this picture as revenge to say he wants to eat roasted giant space rabbit.”

“Good one! The Commander is mighty!”

“Are you all crazy? You think he’s a celebrity just cause he’s a little good-looking? Eating giant space rabbits is illegal. Don’t you know about the giant space rabbit anti-poaching laws? Are you all ignorant of the law?”

“I don’t think the Commander is just ‘a little’ good-looking…”

“That’s a giant space rabbit? Looks pretty small though? Nobody can see that if you threw it up in space!”

“Giant space rabbits don’t live to be looked at by you, thank you. This variety is smaller than the usual ones.”

“They didn’t say anything about that, okay? How could there be such extreme giant space rabbit fans everywhere? Aren’t they just rabbits that have been mutated by radiation? You lot are just like a cult.”

“Protecting giant space rabbits has great scientific significance in both the fields of biology and physics. If you’re free, read up more on science topics. Spend less time talking smack at people in the virtual community.”

“Replying to the comment above, Yate forcefully demolished the monitoring system in the Lebor System. He just ignored the constitution and you think he cares about your stupid poaching laws?”

“The Federation is in turmoil, chaos is coming. Stop talking about the law and whatnot and make sure you have food stored up instead.”

“??? Can’t he just ask about when rabbits shed? What are they talking about in the comments, I don’t understand?”

……

……

……

By the time Zhong Yan ended his meeting with Intron, changed his clothes, and opened his terminal to realize that something was wrong, things had already gone into an uncontrollable direction.

Since his rise in reputation after achieving top scores in middle school, Zhong Yan who had to watch every word he spoke in public looked at the two pictures he took and felt like his feet were swaying.

The entire comment section was a giant mess. There were some who were trying to analyze the deeper meanings of Adrian’s words, those who were criticizing Adrian for blatantly violating the hunting prohibition laws, people arguing about the pros and cons of AI, and also those who were fangirling over the rabbit. Zhong Yan felt like he should tell his men to get things under control, but he actually could not figure out where to start for a moment.

There was even an advertisement in the hot comments section. You could tell with one look that they had gotten there by spending money on certain tools. But advertisements themselves weren’t scary, it was the content that was.

“Agriste Jewelry Design, personal brand of the top jewelry designer graduate of the Federation’s Supreme Institution’s Academy of Fine Arts. The choice of the most famous couple in the Federation, Adrian Yate and Zhong Yan! The latest models are on the shelves, personalized customization, an ace experience! Please click here for more details…”

No, it was Adrian’s choice, not his!

But just as Zhong Yan was holding his forehead and reading this advert with difficulty, praying that everyone could just treat his fellow alumnus as a swindler here to ride the waves, an even more terrifying thing happened. Adrian was clearly looking at the same comment as he was, and he gave that comment a like.

Zhong Yan “…” He won’t be able to get out of this one…

Adrian was driving when he suddenly received a call. He was going to hang it up, but he never would have expected that it was Zhong Yan calling him when he looked at the screen.

When he was still in school, the campus was too far away from his dorm so he rented a scooter from the school to get around every day. Zhong Yan would never call him when he was on the road, so what happened today? Did something happen at home?

He stopped his car at the roadside and picked up Zhong Yan’s call. “What’s wrong? I just came out from Headquarters.”

“I…” Zhong Yan had originally wanted to talk to him about his post directly, but it was so personal. In case Wei Lan was also there, it would be bad for him to throw Adrian’s face in front of an outsider. So, he turned to ask, “Have you picked up the doctor?”

“He’s not in my car. Fayn was just at the medical department so he said he’ll join us. It’s a good coincidence. He can just send Wei Lan home when he’s done with the check-up.”

“Suster’s coming too?” Zhong Yan was stunned and his focus was diverted. “Then I should make dinner. I ordered three portions of dinner earlier, it won’t be enough if he’s coming too.”

Adrian wasn’t perturbed. “Just order another set. You don’t have to work. After your check-up is done, the two of them can just go eat on their own.”

“It’s already dinner time, how can we not offer any food? That’s not proper. It’s fine, I just finished my work so I’m not busy…No, I mean, I didn’t call to talk to you about this!” Zhong Yan finally remembered what he called him for. “What’s with that post you made earlier?”

“What’s wrong with it?” Adrian was confused. “I asked you about it. Didn’t you agree?”

Zhong Yan simply could not find his tears. “I…Forget it, fine. If you wanted to ask, just ask, what’re you uploading pictures for? Have some shame for the rabbit!”

“That’s what I thought too! But weren’t you the one who told me to put the photo in as well? Right, did you see the replies? Someone said it’s fine if the fur outside is burnt.”

“Who cares about that?! I nearly died in a fit of anger when I saw the comments.” Zhong Yan grumbled. “Those people were scolding you even though they don’t know anything.”

Adrian laughed. “What’s there to be angry about? There are people yelling at me for everything I post.”

“I can’t stand seeing people scold you,” Zhong Yan said. “I have a group of professionals here who can steer the public’s opinion…”

“Don’t bother, sweetheart. If it worries you, I can just delete it. We got the answer we needed anyway.”

“Don’t. If you delete it that’s going to be news again. I’m going to go make dinner now, I’ll respond later.” Zhong Yan said, “You’re driving, right? I won’t bother you anymore.”

“Nah, I stopped my car on the roadside. Just make a simple dinner, don’t tire yourself.”

Zhong Yan gave an affirmative and hung up the call. However, the ingredients he ordered weren’t simple at all.

Guests were coming, so it’s best to show them proper hospitality.

When Fayn and Wei Lan entered the door, they couldn’t help but stare at the person who opened the door for a moment.

Zhong Yan wore a color he had never—at least not as an adult—worn before. It was a striking red. Not everyone could pull off a bright red, especially a man, but Zhong Yan was very fair so the red made him look very lively, and not like his usual cold self. But this was not the reason why the two paid special attention to his top.

“I was just thinking, seeing Adrian earlier was shocking enough. I had never seen him wear red in all the ten years I’ve known him. Now, I finally realized you actually bought a couple outfit,” Fayn laughed.

You’ve only known him for nine, I’m the one who’s known him for ten! Zhong Yan corrected silently in his heart. But it would be too unsightly for him to say this to a guest. He only smiled and turned to Wei Lan. “Doctor, you can leave your medical kit here first. What do you want to drink? We don’t usually drink anything fancy, but I bought some juice earlier.”

Zhong Yan actually smiled at him and asked if he wanted some juice. Fayn was shocked. It had to be known that in his few meeting Zhong Yan, he would mostly be ignored. If Adrian weren’t around, then he wouldn’t even try to conceal his hostility in the slightest. Adrian hadn’t returned home today, but he still had a friendly attitude

Zhong Yan led the two of them to the living room for a seat. Fayn drank the juice that Zhong Yan had personally poured for him while seriously thinking about how surgery and marriage can change a person. Wei Lan asked, “We saw the update on the Commander’s homepage while we were in the car. Have you gone to the Giant Space Rabbit Conservation Center to play? It’s best for you not to travel long distances in this period. Overworking yourself is unconducive to your recovery.”

“That’s not it…” Zhong Yan was just about to explain when the sound of the door opening could be heard. Adrian was back.

All three people on the sofa stood up. This was a private occasion so neither Fayn nor Wei Lan bowed. They only greeted their Commander. Zhong Yan went over to help him take his jacket off and hung it on the rack.

“You arrived? Have a seat.” Adrian nodded to the two in the living room. He was wearing the same striking red top as Zhong Yan. Fayn had seen him earlier in the headquarters, and he was just wondering why Adrian who had always work black suddenly wore such a bright color today, it looked very awkward. But when he came home and stood next to Zhong Yan, it seemed to look much more harmonic. His usual cold aura had been diluted a lot, and his entire person seemed to have softened.

“Wow, smells good. You made black pepper steak?” Adrian asked. Then, he noticed something strange. “This smells familiar. I thought that shop didn’t do takeaways?”

Zhong Yan didn’t want to say he had bought someone’s recipe just because Adrian praised it in front of outsiders. He tugged at Adrian’s clothes, and Adrian leaned down for him. Zhong Yan whispered in his ear, “I made it. I’ll…tell you at night.”

The hosts were talking about their own private matters. Out of courtesy, Fayn moved his gaze away and looked out the window instead. Adrian had a large back yard behind his house. The sun was still up outside, so he could see a gigantic white furball lying there quietly behind the sparse row of trees.

Fayn rubbed his eyes hard.

That giant white snowball that was definitely more than 16 feet long was still there.

“Hey Wei Lan,” Fayn’s voice was stiff, “I’ve never raised a rabbit, but do you know how big a palm-sized white rabbit can grow in half a month?”