Chapter 44: The Admiral Opens the Door to a New World

After Luo Ran left the research institute, he once again plunged into his work, until the weekend arrived in the blink of an eye. He’d promised Wang Zitong and Luo Cheng that he would make a trip home.

It was already quite late when he arrived, yet Wang Zitong and Luo Cheng were waiting for him at the door as always.

“Ranran’s back.” Wang Zitong, frowning, pulled him inside. “You don’t look good.”

“I’ve been busy recently… It’ll get better soon,” Luo Ran said.

“You’re never not busy,” Wang Zitong scolded.

His little brother and sister had already gone to bed. Wang Zitong sat Luo Ran at the table and handed him a bowl of hot soup.

“We kept dinner for you, can you still eat?”

Luo Ran paused, not daring to say that he hadn’t had dinner yet. He could only smile and say, “I can eat it.”

Wang Zitong warmed up the food for Luo Ran. She could tell just from the way he ate that he hadn’t had dinner — after all, his appetite wasn’t very big in the first place. She met Luo Cheng’s eyes, neither of them very happy.

“Um…” Wang Zitong smiled hesitantly. “Mom and dad’s terminals both received a notification… so, are you and the admiral together now?”

“…” Although he was already prepared, Luo Ran’s face still felt a little hot.

“It was an accident…” Luo Ran explained. “Back then, Princess Lillia was about to fall, and when I went up to help, I accidentally stood on the platform.”

“And afterwards?” Wang Zitong asked with a smile. “You received a score like this with the admiral, what do you plan to do?”

“Not much…” Luo Ran looked down. “We only have an ordinary employer and employee relationship. He doesn’t want to fall in love, and I don’t have any plans to either.”

“Really?”

Luo Ran nodded.

In the dark of night, yellow-orange lights flickered gently within the dining room.

Wang Zitong poured tea for herself and Luo Cheng as they accompanied Luo Ran.

Seeing that he’d almost finished eating, Wang Zitong spoke. “Ranran, mom and dad will speak plainly: we don’t want you to be with the admiral.”

“Mom… that’s too much,” Luo Ran said helplessly, “he’s just my boss. If you knew him, you’d know that he hates romantic things like this the most.”

“We’re saying just in case,” Luo Cheng interjected. “Just in case.”

“Have you ever thought about it?” Wang Zitong asked. “He’s a soldier, an admiral who might hand his life to the Empire at any time. Yes, the Empire is entering an era of peace, but for soldiers, there’s no such thing as peace. The more we citizens enjoy peaceful lives, the more our soldiers pay.”

Luo Ran paused, then nodded in agreement.

Wang Zitong continued, “We know that the admiral gave a lot for the Empire, so a person like him… won’t have much to spare for his partner even if he wanted to, do you understand? This is inevitable. Think about it, in the past year, how much time has the admiral spent in the Empire, and how much time has he spent fighting somewhere outside?”

Luo Cheng also spoke up. “Dad isn’t a civil servant, but I also know a bit. You’re currently the admiral’s secretary. If, one day — I’m saying if — he sacrificed himself for the country, you would be very sad, but you won’t be caught in the power struggle afterwards. But if you’re the admiral’s partner, you won’t be able to escape.”

Of course Luo Ran understood his father’s words.

If Lucas was really gone, then the eldest prince and the second prince, as well as the Empire’s various forces, would all focus on annexing Lucas’ army. At such a time, Luo Ran would bear the brunt of the struggle, and it might be difficult to keep his own life.

But what Wang Zitong and Luo Cheng said about sacrificing for the country was very uncomfortable for him to hear, he didn’t dare to imagine it.

“Mom, dad!” Luo Ran interrupted. “That isn’t important. I’m just his secretary, I only help him do his official duties. That has nothing to do with me.”

“Then mom will say one last thing — you remember Admiral Alton, right? Think about it carefully,” Wang Zitong said. She hesitated, then lowered her voice. “We don’t want to restrict you, we just… want you to live well.”

Admiral Alton, who died on the battlefield in the prime of his life, never married, nor did he ever intend to marry.

“Ranran, before… we…”

Seeing Wang Zitong choke up, Luo Cheng took over and said, “We’re sorry that we couldn’t take care of you before, so we hope that you’ll be fine in the future. We won’t interfere with your decision, we just want to give you some advice.”

Luo Ran paused. “No, I never thought you weren’t good to me…”

This was what he truly thought.

When he’d been bullied throughout high school, his grades were slipping because he was trapped in cabinets when he should have been attending class.

No matter how he tried to hide it, Luo Cheng had noticed that something was wrong. When he found out what happened, he was so angry that he sued Luo Ran’s main bully, Du Huai, and kicked up a huge fuss. But in the end, the case was suppressed by the powerful Viscount family with some hasty compensation.

However, he did win the right to transfer schools. He transferred Luo Ran to another school, then personally tutored him in his studies.

This incident compounded their family’s later problems. After Luo Cheng’s younger brother recorded his debt in Luo Cheng’s name, the debt collectors only chased Luo Cheng, and they couldn’t evade it at all.

Thinking of this…

Luo Ran lowered his eyes slightly.

He thought that Lucas wasn’t at all like what his parents said. If Lucas had a wife in the future… although it wasn’t very likely, if it did happen, Lucas would definitely treat them well.

Du Huai still came to trouble him at his new school from time to time, but since it was the school was where Luo Cheng was teaching at, there weren’t many opportunities for him.

It was only after things happened at home and Luo Ran went out to work that Du Huai popped up in his face again.

Until… Lucas discovered that Luo Ran had been sleeping at the company, discovered this matter, then gave Du Huai a fierce beating and easily solved the trouble he’d been entangled by for a long time.

At the time, he was obviously just a new secretary who couldn’t do anything right.

Lucas… was very kind.

Not like what others said.

“Like I said,” Luo Ran said slowly as he finished eating and put down his spoon, “the compatibility scanner was an accident, I don’t have anything going on with the admiral.”

“Then…” Wang Zitong glanced at Luo Cheng, then smiled. “Would Ranran like to go on a blind date?”

Luo Ran: Huh??

“A few days ago your Aunt Chang called me to introduce her family’s alpha. Your dad’s thought it over and visited them to take a look. There aren’t any problems with his character, personality, or family status. I’ve also seen him — he looks good, he’s tall, gentle and polite, and most importantly, he’s honest. He works in the government as an auditor.”

Since Luo Cheng said he was fine, then he must be acceptable, and should even be exceptional.

However…

After a pause, Luo Ran asked plainly, “But such a good alpha… won’t he look down on me?”

Wang Zitong and Luo Cheng’s eyes widened in unison, as if they couldn’t believe their ears.

“Ranran, what are you saying?!” Wang Zitong’s voice rose sharply.

Luo Cheng also became agitated, shouting, “Who dares to look down on you!”

The two parents became unusually emotional.

Luo Ran: “…”

Luo Ran reminded them: “The previous four candidates all disappeared.”

In the past few years, there were very few who could satisfy Luo Cheng, and only four met Luo Ran for a blind date: an alpha, an omega, and two betas. They were all pretty much perfect in terms of appearance, ability, and family.

Their conversations flowed smoothly. Although Luo Ran had never felt anything, the other party always seemed satisfied and liked him — however, every single one disappeared and lost contact.

“Hm…” Luo Cheng frowned.

“That’s because they don’t have eyes, or they don’t think they’re good enough for you,” Wang Zitong declared.

Luo Ran only hummed a reply.

“When you’re less busy, I’ll send your contact details to each other? Afterwards, it’s up to you how it goes.”

“Okay…”

Luo Ran nodded. He was used to these things being arranged by his parents and had no objections.

He’d wait to see how it went.

* * *

Elsewhere, Lucas, laying on his bed, was also on his terminal like Luo Ran.

He’d received a report from the research institute regarding the compatibility scanner’s 200% result, which they suggested had a few possible causes.

One: Lucas was an SSS alpha, and the other party was an SSS omega. When a triple S matched with a triple S, how could the result not be high?

Two: Lucas has already combined with the other party, and their pheromones matched perfectly.

Three: Lucas was unsuitable for all others except this person. The lower the compatibility between Lucas and others, the more of a rebound the suitable person would receive.

The research institute leaned towards the third option.

–Luo Ran is the only person suited for you, so the score is extremely high.

The only.

Lucas pinched the terminal in his hands, thinking that even that broken machine knew that Luo Ran liked him.

He… He didn’t know if he liked Luo Ran or not, but he knew that ‘the only’ was right. Except for Luo Ran, no one else was possible. It would be too disgusting.

Lucas glanced at the notification on the terminal he hadn’t dismissed yet, which wished him and Luo Ran a good relationship for a hundred years.

He suddenly became curious.

So, he clicked in and followed the notification to the starnet forum.

[Bump]* AAASDFJKJ THE SECRETARY AND THE ADMIRAL ARE REAL!

Lucas: confused.

Real what? Really handsome? Really strong?

Why do they only speak halfway?

[Pinned] A record of a wonderful love, connected and sorted! A complete timeline of love!

[RPF] Click to see Admiral/Secretary’s wonderful night — a collaboration between the great gods, papa and Kerria!*

[RPF] Great Author Chakran has been in seclusion for many years, but can’t resist this wonderful love, and once again picks up her pen to write the life of the admiral and the secretary! Can she become even more popular than Nana?

[Bump] AAAH why aren’t they married yet! Admiral Lucas, can you not do it?!

Lucas: deeply confused.

Except for the ‘Admiral Lucas, can you not do it’, he understood none of it.

What the hell was this place?

A group of devils danced wildly, crying and shouting everywhere.

Lucas frowned slightly as he tried to figure it out.

He saw the group ID at the top of the forum, studied it for a while, and finally understood that this was a chat group.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Join our group, we’ll take you to explore the meaning of love between the admiral and the secretary!

Lucas raised an eyebrow.

This should be an academic research organisation, right?

Would they discuss romance? And teach how to deal with playboys?

Lucas remembered Luo Ran telling him that when spending time online, he shouldn’t use his official account, otherwise he would affect the army’s image, so he switched to his smurf according to the notes Luo Ran gave him before applying to join the group.

Soon, someone with the ID ‘One Tender Blossom’ sent him a private message.

@One Tender Blossom: Hi cutie! Hahahaha your ID is so cute, it seems we have a fan of our admiral here! It’s like this, we don’t want antis mixing in, so we need some verification! Please give some evidence that you’re a CP fan!

@Lucas: Speak human.

Lucas really couldn’t understand it. He knew all those words separately, but not when they were put in that order.

@One Tender Blossom: …Fuck, cutie’s a talent, the tone is too similar. It’s like this, we need some evidence, for example receipts of charity donations or screenshots of buying merch, like buying the same style of clothing as the admiral or the secretary…

Lucas still wasn’t totally clear, but it seemed like they wanted something imitating what he or his secretary had, so it should be even better if he gave the real thing.

Thus, he took a photo of his own jacket.

It was the one Luo Ran took to repair before. Lucas was too lazy to put it away once he got it back, so he kept wearing it all this time.

After sending it, One Tender Blossom only returned an ‘erm…’ emoticon.

Then he was allowed to join.

@Triumphant Once Again: Ah! Welcome! Let’s do the ceremony! Shout with me three times: admiral x secretary is real!

@One Tender Blossom: Hold it! The newbie hasn’t passed verification yet, I just pulled them in to talk about it.

@Triumphant Once Again: ?

@One Tender Blossom: It’s like this, an earlier newbie sent a photo of a CGH jacket as their verification, the same style as the admiral. But CGH is a limited edition, there are only two in the world — one for the admiral and one for that newbie — so one of you must’ve bought a fake!

@Triumphant Once Again: I understand, @False Truths come out! After all, our group has always prohibited the purchase of counterfeit goods. I’d like to warn our other babies not to buy from black-hearted merchants who take advantage of CP hype to make money, our money must only go to aboveboard merch shops!

@Winter’s Autumn Sun: +1 our CP has political implications, so we have to be strict!

@One Tender Blossom: @False Truths @Lucas

@Triumphant Once Again: @False Truths @Lucas

@Qiao Beauty: @False Truths @Lucas

* * *

@Winter’s Autumn Sun: @False Truths @Lucas

Most of the moderators came out.

Lucas was very confused.

Fuck, were they now accusing his jacket as fake? He bought fake goods?

Outrageous. This jacket was a collaboration between Luo Ran and CGH, Luo Ran and CGH’s designer personally made it!

Elsewhere, Luo Ran was also very confused.

What he had was Lucas’ own jacket, how could it be fake?