Chapter 2#
Comforting the Lovestruck Second Female Lead#
Song Yaya had always been decisive and efficient, never one to drag her feet.
He Xu had just returned to his post and was still hesitating over whether to organize his work files first when the office door was pushed open directly by her.
Song Yaya wasn’t responsible for frontline combat; her work leaned more toward mech data monitoring and data processing for the intelligence department.
Her daily routine consisted of analyzing and comparing data, debugging equipment, and handling all sorts of official business.
The moment she stepped in and saw that He Xu hadn’t started organizing yet, she walked straight to the desk, picked up the towering stack of documents, and flipped through them one by one.
Confidential files in document bags were set aside. The rest, as she’d expected, were all miscellaneous tasks left behind by the newcomers. She tucked the easy-to-handle ones under her arm, and for those that were inconvenient or not her forte, she neatly reorganized them and placed them back on the desk.
In no time at all, she’d whisked away most of the mountain of paperwork.
The guard following behind her caught sight of his superior’s helpless smile and quickly retreated, closing the door for the two of them.
Who didn’t know that this little princess had top priority when it came to Deputy General He? Never mind the office—even his personal mech, she could enter whenever she pleased.
Once the guard left, He Xu’s last excuse vanished. He could only look at Song Yaya, who had already settled onto the small sofa nearby and was bent over processing documents.
Unlike her whirlwind entrance earlier, she was now quietly helping him review paperwork, not mentioning Yin Feiyang at all.
“Weren’t you looking for the General?”
The words were out before He Xu could stop himself.
But to his surprise, Song Yaya on the sofa merely tucked a strand of hair behind her ear without looking up: “It’s his leave period. Normally he either goes out with you or holes up in the mech training room. Now that he’s gone out alone, I don’t need to guess—he must have found himself a new companion.”
He Xu peeled off the rubber band binding his bookmark and passed it to her.
Song Yaya paused, took it, said thanks, and casually tied up her long hair before continuing: “Most likely he’s seeing someone new, out on a date. I’ll keep you company reviewing these files for a while, and once his date’s over, I’ll deliver the documents then. No rush.”
She said it lightly, but He Xu could see the unconscious pursing of her lips, the dimming of her eyes—how could he miss the grievance hidden beneath?
She was clearly a The proud daughter of heaven , a princess of heaven, who had trailed after Yin Feiyang for years, showering him with attention, without ever receiving a single proper glance.
The casual encounters at those mixers in the past were one thing, but now the original female lead of the novel had appeared, and Song Yaya truly had no chance left.
He Xu’s heart stirred slightly. “Let’s go.”
Song Yaya looked up, bewildered. “Hm?”
“Aren’t you also on leave? You rarely get time off—don’t stare at work all day. Let me take you out to eat something nice.”
Before Song Yaya could refuse, He Xu directly pulled the files away and set them aside: “A famous new dessert shop just opened recently. You like sweets, don’t you? You never have time to go during work—leave period is perfect for a visit.”
The dessert shop, naturally, was the one recommended by the female lead.
Even though her spirits were low, He Xu’s rare invitation was enough to make Song Yaya nod in agreement.
…
Before long, the two stepped into the dessert shop together.
The rich aroma of bread and pastries wafted around them. He Xu nearly teared up with emotion and only barely held his expression together with the last shred of his rationality, guiding Song Yaya to a seat.
Inviting the second female lead out was just strategy—the system hadn’t sent any OOC warnings, which meant his choice had been a rousing success!
“You actually know about a place like this.”
After sitting down, Song Yaya looked around curiously.
The shop was designed with a female clientele in mind, decorated in an adorable style with every corner exquisitely detailed.
Hanging floral decorations, warm pink chandeliers, tablecloths embroidered with delicate lace trim, and plates printed with cute, refined cartoon motifs.
He Xu was the only male customer in the store, still wearing his military uniform—not the common green combat gear, but a tailored office dress uniform.
The uniform bore no military insignia or conspicuous holster; its sharp black fabric accentuated his tall, straight posture.
Years of military life kept his back ramrod straight—his sitting posture alone was eye-catching, to say nothing of the silver-framed glasses and the way he pinched the menu as he carefully perused it, like a noble aristocrat at a tea party.
He Xu didn’t look up: “A friend recommended it.”
In truth, he was trapped in an agonizing decision.
His presence here was only possible through the excuse of accompanying the second female lead on a walk to lift her spirits.
For someone like him, who never proactively invited women out, this was already teetering on the brink of character collapse—it was only because the system judged it as “pining behavior” that no warning had been triggered.
To put it simply, this might very well be his one and only chance to sit in a dessert shop and eat dessert!
Having transmigrated into this novel over twenty years ago, He Xu experienced the agony of choice paralysis for the first time, and his awareness of the outside world was far duller than usual.
It wasn’t until Song Yaya across from him looked at him hesitantly for a full several minutes that he finally snapped back to attention and, looking up, casually handed the menu over with forced ease.
Sometimes, when you can’t choose, the best move is to just pick blindly.
“You order—this is my first time here too.”
Song Yaya took the menu but didn’t rush to order, her gaze still fixed on him.
Under He Xu’s gradually puzzled look, she finally asked in a tone of admiration: “Why did you suddenly start wearing glasses?”
“Hm?” He Xu paused, then explained, “Feiyang asked me to. Does it look weird?”
In truth, he often attended press conferences on Yin Feiyang’s behalf when the latter didn’t want to show his face. Too many people in the outside world recognized him, which had caused no small amount of trouble.
With the glasses as a disguise, plus the blurring effect added by the technical department, nobody who wasn’t a close acquaintance could recognize him, making it much more convenient to go out.
As a workaholic, the glasses mostly gathered dust, and he certainly didn’t need them when training mechs in the military. He’d just put them on out of habit before leaving today.
He Xu thought about it—it was most likely the nervousness of nearly breaking character that had led to this overkill.
If Song Yaya found it strange, wouldn’t all his efforts be wasted?
With that thought, He Xu grew even more nervous.
His slight pursing of the lips and the earnest way he looked over made Song Yaya’s heart skip a beat, and she quickly waved her hands.
“It’s not weird at all! If anything, Deputy General He usually keeps himself hidden in the crowd, but the glasses actually make him stand out more—you can’t help but take a second look!”
The glasses’ design was indeed clever. The fine silver frame was exquisite to begin with, and the chain hanging from the earpiece added an air of cool, restrained allure.
Unlike his former image of excessive gentleness, the glasses made people instinctively look at his eyes, only to suddenly realize how finely drawn his features were—lingering on them revealed even more charm.
Her old impression of his good nature and warmth was slightly worn away, replaced by compliments that could only be described as “stunning.”
She really wished she could weld those glasses onto Deputy General He!
Thinking this, her cheeks warmed slightly, and she suddenly recalled some rumors circulating in the military that she’d never taken seriously—that He Xu liked her.
Song Yaya: !!!
That comment just now…! If she answered that way, Deputy General He wouldn’t misunderstand, would he?
The blush drained from her face in an instant, and she suddenly didn’t know what to do with her hands or feet.
Song Yaya belatedly began to make excuses: “This place is pretty expensive… maybe we should just… forget it…”
He Xu’s heart gave a sharp jolt, but his expression remained perfectly composed.
“This is a newly opened dessert shop—I heard the flavors are quite unique. It’s not just to accompany you; I’m genuinely curious myself.”
That was the truth.
The system apparently judged this as comforting the second female lead, and no warning was issued.
He Xu felt a bit more at ease and shifted his gaze to the various desserts about to be brought to the table.
“It’d be weird coming here alone too, which is why I’m treating. Don’t think anything of it. Or… do you plan on leaving me here by myself?”
The chocolate parfait in the dish was beautifully layered, with fruits on top emitting a faint, sweet fragrance.
The gaze that should have been on the second female lead landed on that gorgeous parfait instead and simply wouldn’t budge.
It wasn’t until the desserts arrived and the two girls at the next table pulled out their light-computers to take photos, blocking his view, that He Xu finally averted his eyes and coughed lightly to cover his embarrassment.
He had no idea whether the second female lead had noticed.
“Pfft.”
Song Yaya paused mid-motion as she reached for her bag, couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh, then picked up the menu from the table and sat back up straight.
Clearly, she’d decided to stay and eat.
The system still didn’t issue any warnings.
Having narrowly salvaged the situation, He Xu breathed a silent sigh of relief while keeping his gentle smile intact, and continued his reassurance: “So—it’s not just to keep you company.”
His emphatic addition made Song Yaya nod vigorously.
She raised the menu to hide her rising smile and the flush spreading across her cheeks.
How embarrassing!!
She’d actually believed those rumors and fooled herself into thinking Deputy General He liked her!
But on the other hand—the usually composed, unflappable Deputy General He, staring at a dessert with unblinking intensity, treating a chocolate parfait with the solemnity of a life-or-death parting…
It was somehow… a little adorable.
Song Yaya called the waiter over: “Since Deputy General He is treating, let’s have one of everything on the menu!”
She was being uncharacteristically indulgent and extravagant for once: “You can taste each one for me first, and if something’s good, I’ll order it again. Anything we can’t finish, we’ll pack up to go. What do you say?”
For a split second, the eyes behind the silver frames lit up, and Song Yaya knew she’d gambled right. Relieved, she slid the star card she’d secretly pulled out back into her bag.
Thank goodness—Deputy General He genuinely loved this place, so she wouldn’t have to fork over a fortune!
He Xu still had no idea his private little preference had been completely exposed. Watching the waiter slap the long, scanned order slip onto the table’s edge with a stunned expression, his mood brightened considerably.
With most of the tension that had been weighing on him dissolving, he finally noticed the gazes of the women around them.
This dessert shop really didn’t have a single other male customer!
No wait—there was one, probably.
Behind the counter at the far end of the shop was a door leading to the back kitchen. Several times when the waitstaff fetched orders, the door opened, and a tall figure flashed past.
That man was roughly 1.9 meters tall—extremely tall even by military standards—and his sturdy silhouette definitely didn’t belong to a woman.
This dessert shop had few male customers, yet the pastry chef was a man.
He Xu raised an eyebrow in surprise. When he withdrew his gaze, he unexpectedly met Song Yaya’s grinning expression.
What was going on?
The second female lead, who should have been nursing a wounded heart—why wasn’t she the least bit sad? Instead, she looked positively delighted, like she was enjoying a good show…?