Chapter 89#

Offering Advice#

After that, Ning Feng came to Yin Beichen’s ward every day.

He hadn’t originally planned to feed him, until one time he accidentally saw Yin Beichen knock over his soup bowl while eating alone, and then another task was added to his daily routine: feeding him.

After a period of recuperation, Yin Beichen’s hand injuries had improved significantly. His arms could now perform simple movements, and he could begin handling military affairs, but overly delicate actions were still quite difficult.

Ning Feng had once asked the doctor, who said this was a consequence of prolonged hypothermia. He needed to rest well, avoid overexertion, and ideally have someone take care of him around the clock. Such tasks of attending to daily needs were exactly the duty of an adjutant.

Looking at the doctor’s earnest face, Ning Feng barely suppressed his doubts.

But aside from caring for the patient, Ning Feng still had a mountain of military affairs to handle. Yin Beichen, being unusually considerate, urged him not to come every day, saying official business was more important.

Ning Feng pursed his lips.

It wasn’t that he enjoyed running back and forth, but many matters required Yin Beichen’s approval. Later, thinking it was too much of a waste of time, he simply decided to handle everything in the ward. If any issues arose, he could directly confirm them with Yin Beichen.

That day, Ning Feng arrived at the ward as usual.

As soon as he entered, he caught a faint, elegant floral scent. He noticed a delicate vase on the bedside table, holding a bouquet of bright, dewy red roses.

“Oh, got flowers? The commander’s pretty lucky in love.” Ning Feng pulled a chair over and sat by the bed. “Who sent them?”

“The nurse,” Yin Beichen replied without lifting his eyes, expressionlessly looking at his optical computer.

Ning Feng paused, carefully observing Yin Beichen’s expression. He felt the man seemed to be in a bad mood today.

Probably going stir-crazy from being cooped up for so long.

It made sense. A man who was once full of ambition, now confined to a ward with nowhere to go, his hands not fully functional, needing to be fed even for meals—anyone would be frustrated.

Sensing the man’s scrutinizing gaze, Yin Beichen looked up, his face revealing nothing.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Ning Feng collected his thoughts and began confirming the day’s schedule.

“Today, there are twenty weapon blueprints that need approval. After morning drills, the district team will report on the eye-beast mission. At two in the afternoon, there’s a video conference…”

Yin Beichen listened silently, occasionally interjecting with opinions. Apart from work discussions, he barely spoke, appearing extremely cold. Although he was always aloof, somehow today he was unusually quiet.

Ning Feng vaguely sensed that the other was angry, but he wasn’t sure if the anger was directed at him.

It wasn’t until Yin Beichen wanted to drink water.

Ning Feng picked up the cup and, out of habit, brought it to Yin Beichen’s lips. But Yin Beichen only gave him a deep look, then slowly raised his hand, trying to take it himself.

Seeing this, Ning Feng raised an eyebrow. “Commander, can you hold it steady?”

Yin Beichen’s answer was to lift his hand with effort and grasp the cup.

But that was all he could do.

As soon as Ning Feng let go, Yin Beichen’s arm, held aloft, began to tremble violently. Before he could last even a few seconds, there was a splash, and water spilled all over him.

Ning Feng sighed. “Commander, we already have enough to deal with. Please don’t add to the workload.”

With that, he took a dry towel and a change of hospital gown from the cabinet, expertly unbuttoned the man’s clothes, and began wiping down his body.

Water droplets traced from the collar, over the elegant lines of muscle, leaving faint imprints on the pale skin. Paired with that face, it was utterly flawless.

Ning Feng had always thought Yin Beichen was an anomaly.

Everyone else was out in the sun and wind together, so why did others tan while he remained unchanged? His face was still so handsome, his physique nice, looking fair and tender, yet his moves were swift and ruthless.

Truly a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Yin Beichen kept his lips pressed together, not saying a word, nor looking at him.

Ning Feng initially wanted to ignore it, but when he saw the fresh wound on the man’s arm, he silently repeated “he’s a patient” ten times before finally speaking.

“What’s up with you today? Acting like you swallowed a bomb.”

Finally, Yin Beichen glanced at him. “Pollen allergy.”

Ning Feng’s movements paused.

In all the years he’d known him, he’d never heard of Yin Beichen having any pollen allergy. How could he suddenly become allergic after one freezing night? Besides, if he was allergic, why not just not put flowers in the vase? Why throw a tantrum—

…Wait, red roses?

Suddenly, Ning Feng remembered that earlier, the logistics department had reported receiving another large box of red roses marked with a 【G】, and as usual, he had distributed them all to the women in the base.

So these flowers were from Dai Yin?

Ning Feng frowned. “What can I do? He insists on sending them.”

Yin Beichen lowered his eyelids, looking at him, and said flatly, “That’s true. He insists on sending, and you can’t stop him. And distributing them to everyone is good for building camaraderie among colleagues.”

Ning Feng let out a scoff. “If everyone knew these were sent by the Star Thief leader, they might be even happier.”

Hearing this, Ning Feng froze, suddenly catching on.

They were the Empire’s military, loyal to the Empire. Star Thieves were an organization everyone condemned. If anyone found out they had ties with the Star Thief leader, it would be a shocking scandal.

At best, it was a conduct issue; at worst, it could be treason. And he had distributed them in Yin Beichen’s name… As the base commander, Yin Beichen would never survive in the military after this. In serious cases, he might even face a court-martial.

Before, he only wanted to annoy Yin Beichen and hadn’t thought it through. Now he realized—it was blatantly reckless.

Ning Feng’s brow tightened. “Alright, alright, I won’t accept them anymore from now on.”

“This is normal cargo shipment,” Yin Beichen said, his voice still unreadable. “I told Yan Zhengsheng to send them back via the same route.”

“No way. Sending them back via the same route would just confirm we have dealings with that guy.” Ning Feng’s frown deepened. “Tch, what a treacherous bastard. Digging a trap so openly, and I thought he was just sending flowers.”

Yin Beichen turned his face to look at the man, saying nothing.

“Next time he sends any, just throw them away,” Ning Feng said, growing more annoyed.

“These are fresh roses. Throwing them away would be wasteful,” Yin Beichen said flatly, a faint, elusive smile at the corner of his mouth.

Suddenly, Ning Feng caught on.

He narrowed his eyes and glanced at Yin Beichen. But in the end, this whole mess was his doing, and he had nearly dragged the other man down with him. Since he wasn’t in the right, he couldn’t muster much backbone, and even the sarcasm had to be swallowed.

Just as they were locked in a silent staredown—

“Whoa, am I interrupting something?”

Ning Feng looked up and saw Ou Jingshan leaning sideways at the door, grinning lecherously.

“Then why not stand outside a little longer?” Ning Feng raised an eyebrow.

“Come on, you two are done, aren’t you?” Ou Jingshan laughed and walked in.

After Ning Feng fastened the last button, Yin Beichen had once again become the cold, straight-backed Major General.

“Report the situation.”

Ou Jingshan immediately snapped a salute and began his briefing.

Recently, he had personally led an elite squad to search for nearby eye-beasts.

At the start of the operation, they had indeed wiped out several sizable insect nests. But as time passed, the eye-beasts’ movements grew increasingly covert. They seemed to have caught on to their intentions, expanding their encirclement by more than double. Now, relying solely on the ground troops was becoming too difficult; they would need starship coordination.

This wasn’t just about adding equipment—it was an escalation of the operation.

This couldn’t be decided quickly. The three of them discussed the situation for a long time, finally settling on a general direction. They would hash out the specifics with the other commanders tomorrow.

With official matters done, it was time to move on to matters of the heart.

Ou Jingshan glanced at Ning Feng, cleared his throat, and said, “Uh, Commander, there’s one more small thing I need to mention.”

“Go ahead,” Yin Beichen said flatly.

“Radish still doesn’t have a mech, so he can’t go on many missions,” Ou Jingshan said, looking a bit troubled. “Some people have been complaining that he’s been taking up a slot without doing any work. It’s hard to justify.”

Ning Feng raised an eyebrow. “It’s not my fault there’s no spare mech.”

“But no matter what, the fact is you haven’t been going on missions.”

Hearing this, Ning Feng shoved one hand in his pocket and leaned back lazily. “So what do you suggest?”

Ou Jingshan’s eyes darted around. “How about you go back to your old trade?”

Ning Feng snorted inwardly, about to retort, when Yin Beichen spoke up.

“Feng was transferred to the patrol squad less than a month ago. The reason he hasn’t gone on missions is because I was injured, and he had to act as acting base commander.”

Ning Feng was stunned.

He had thought Yin Beichen was strongly opposed to him joining the patrol squad, especially since he had gone along last time. He never expected him to speak up for him now.

So the guy had finally come around.

Ou Jingshan rubbed his bald head. “I get that, but he still doesn’t have a mech. What are we supposed to do?”

Yin Beichen nodded. “Do you have any suggestions?”

After frowning for a long time, Ou Jingshan’s eyes suddenly widened. “Oh, right! Didn’t the heavy weapons factory just finish upgrading their new mech? Big Beard asked me to recommend testers.” He elbowed Ning Feng. “Little Radish, how about you give it a go?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you used to fight for it, didn’t you?”

Ning Feng smirked, tilting his chin up arrogantly. “That was before. I don’t want to anymore.”

“You don’t have a mech, so why don’t you want to?” Ou Jingshan clicked his tongue. “It’s just a test, and you’re hemming and hawing. We’re old friends, no need for all this coyness. It’s not like you’ll get to keep the mech after the test—there’s a whole line of people waiting to apply. Let me tell you, with your attendance record, even if you wanted one, they wouldn’t be happy to give it to you!”

Ning Feng stared at Yin Beichen’s expressionless face, then looked at Ou Jingshan’s eager expression, squinting slightly.

After a few days of observation, he felt the two of them were acting a bit strange. He couldn’t tell if they were teaming up behind his back to set a trap, but when he thought about it carefully, there didn’t seem to be any reason for them to do so.

He tilted his head, pondering for a moment. “Alright, you’re the squad leader. I’ll follow your orders.”

“Now that’s more like it!” Ou Jingshan turned to Yin Beichen. “Commander, do you agree?”

“You’re the squad leader. You make the arrangements,” Yin Beichen said flatly.

“Great!” Ou Jingshan grinned, slapping Ning Feng hard on the shoulder. “I’ll put your name down then. Don’t you go backing out at the last minute!”

“Yes, Squad Leader Ou.” Ning Feng grimaced from the slaps.

After confirming the next steps for their work, Ning Feng went out to handle his business. Before leaving, he made sure to take the roses out of the vase. Once the door closed behind him, the room fell silent for a moment.

Ou Jingshan raised his eyebrows at Yin Beichen, grinning slyly. “How’d it go, Commander? Smooth, right?”

Yin Beichen’s eyes curled slightly. “Not bad.”

“Gotta be not bad.” Ou Jingshan puffed out his chest proudly. “I won’t brag about anything else, but when it comes to chasing a wife, I know a thing or two. Not to toot my own horn, but back when I was chasing my wife, I put in so much effort I could’ve written a book.”

Yin Beichen nodded, then suddenly remembered something, his brow furrowing slightly. “Should I send flowers next?”

“Send flowers? For what?” Ou Jingshan looked disgusted. “You need to give him what he wants! Hit him where it counts!” He leaned in, his expression turning dead serious. “I’m telling you, right now he’s definitely going to avoid you. Don’t rush it. Here’s what you do…”