CH 35

originally, xiao nian and xiao jiali in the bathroom were getting ready to go out for the meal. as soon as si di said that, xiao jiali, who was knowledgeable and tactful, immediately covered xiao nian’s mouth and tied him back to the toilet.

‘is my waist really that slim?’ xiao zhenyun frowned in confusion. “why are you asking this? did someone tell you something?”

evaluating someone’s waist size always seemed a bit like harassment. who would dare to treat si di like this? why didn’t this ferocious wolf, who always bared his teeth and claws at him, bite them to death?

si di securely placed him in the wheelchair. “someone said my waist is slim.”

“don’t listen to them talk nonsense,” xiao zhenyun took the chopsticks and stuffed a mouthful of rice into his mouth, looking somewhat displeased.

“is that so?” si di openly lifted the hem of his vest, glanced at his own abdominal muscles and obliques, and said, “but when i measured it back there, it does seem a bit slimmer than other sentinels with the same physique.”

“your waist is just right, not skinny at all,” xiao zhenyun impatiently glanced at him. “stop obsessing over this… and those two idiots, did they sneakily eat in the bathroom?”

xiao jiali and xiao nian: “…”

“alright…” si di, showing off his physique, adjusted his clothes with frustration. then, not giving up, he turned his back to xiao zhenyun, bent over, and served him half a bowl of soup.

“how is it?” si di asked with a smile.

xiao zhenyun swallowed the sweet and sour spare ribs, chewing the bones crisply, and nodded, “it’s delicious. you’re really skilled.”

“i didn’t ask you that…”

si di leaned in close to xiao zhenyun’s ear, lowered his voice in the other’s puzzled eyes, and asked, “is my butt perky enough?”

“…”

xiao zhenyun couldn’t see any ulterior motive behind si di’s unusual behavior and couldn’t decipher the hidden meaning in si di’s words. he was completely clueless.

a hint of blush appeared on his cheeks, and xiao zhenyun forced down his embarrassment, taking a sip of soup. “ahem, didn’t you say… i had a good drink last night and didn’t say anything, just went to sleep in my room?”

“yes, you had a good drink, lying on the bed, wriggling like a maggot non-stop. when you saw me come in, you praised me a few times, said you really liked me, wanted to be good with me. i was about to ask you how you wanted to get along with me, and then you closed your eyes and fell asleep.”

…you can keep making up stories, grandma wolf.

si di seemed to have seen through xiao zhenyun’s thoughts and teased with a smirk, “don’t believe it? you even said my lips were especially soft…”

“stop, stop!” xiao zhenyun quickly stopped his unfiltered mouth. “and there’s a child here.”

si di hummed softly with a hint of a rising tone, obediently closing his mouth.

but xiao zhenyun still heard the unspoken words behind his soft hum. that talk about a slim waist, perky butt, wanting to get along with him, it was deliberate talk in front of others. his voice was deliberately lowered to avoid xiao nian, not wanting to influence the child. si di’s intention was quite obvious—

he wanted to establish his territory in front of xiao jiali, asserting ownership.

…as for that? xiao zhenyun finished his soup and pondered. he was a c-grade guide, middle-aged, and had nothing going for him except for his face. how could someone like him ever have a chance with a bright young s-grade sentinel who had a promising future ahead?

xiao zhenyun couldn’t help but think that si di’s behavior was like a paranoid delusion of someone holding onto their own kappa boyfriend while thinking the whole world wanted to steal them.

he had no curiosity about what drunken nonsense he might have spouted last night. it was undoubtedly some cringe-worthy stuff. even if it wasn’t too cringe, si di would make it extremely cringe, because the sentry now had a look on his face that seemed to say, ‘continue to ask, what did you do last night?’ and he’d have a ready-made story.

one dining table, four men with different thoughts, it was a very difficult meal. when they finally finished eating, everyone breathed a sigh of relief simultaneously.

si di handed a paper bag with a little wolf sticker to xiao zhenyun.

“here’s the cake you wanted. it got a bit rushed in the baking, so i’m not sure about the taste.”

xiao zhenyun opened the bag, divided the cake in half, giving the larger portion to xiao nian, who then split his share again and handed it to xiao jiali. it had to be said that si di’s territorial behavior today had successfully intimidated poor xiao jiali. he stared at the quarter of the cake, hesitating to take it.

it wasn’t until xiao zhenyun divided his own cake again and handed half to si di that xiao jiali nervously accepted the cake. although senior si di was quite scary, everything he made was delicious. xiao jiali inwardly shed tears as he devoured his portion, then eagerly took the dirty dishes to the bathroom to do the dishes.

the post-meal sunlight was perfect, and xiao zhenyun lazily basked in his wheelchair, listening to si di contacting the front desk to request his clothes, which he had sent for laundry in the morning. he was about to play with tian lu-tai ji when the terminal vibrated, and si chu’s video call request suddenly popped up, the transparent puppy icon bouncing around like a pinball. as soon as it connected, si chu’s energetic voice burst out:

“little uncle, little uncle! have you heard?”

“si chu,” si di said, putting a hand on xiao zhenyun’s shoulder, appeared on the screen with a smile. he casually swept xiao zhenyun’s long hair behind him, natural for a guide, “don’t be so jumpy when you speak, you’ll scare your uncle.”

…what are you talking about? xiao zhenyun met si di’s meaningful gaze as soon as he looked up, and he knew for sure that he must have said something he shouldn’t have while drunk.

damn plot missions! if it weren’t for the requirement to get drunk, he wouldn’t have ended up ‘ruining his reputation’ like this!

“oh, sorry!”

hearing his brother’s warning, si chu slowed down the wagging of his tail, but it was only for half a sentence. he started wagging his tail wildly again, “have you guys heard? the tower and the military academy are going to hold a joint simulated combat exercise soon. the top-ranked sentinels and guide students from each grade have a chance to participate. they’ll be randomly grouped with regular students from various military academies for the simulation. those who perform exceptionally well might even get selected for the haleite joint military exercise!”

si di and xiao jiali listened attentively to this firsthand information, while xiao zhenyun and xiao nian exchanged a knowing look.

it had begun, the plot mission.

this nationwide event, though primarily for tower students, allowed our protagonists to participate as examiners. in the novel, si chu and ye feiran, in the roles of accompanying examiners for the sentinel and guide factions respectively, embarked on a three-day practical simulation in a coastal competition city.

apart from sitting in the base camp and remotely scoring the candidates’ performances through the cameras, examiners would also actively participate in the exercise. they took on roles like criminals, hostages, villagers, tourists, and created various unexpected situations that might occur in real life. they engaged closely with the candidates, assessing their adaptability and combat skills.

during this time, ‘xiao zhenyun’ had already made up his mind to bravely pursue love. naturally, he followed si chu to the coastal city, wanting to create opportunities for contact. he put in quite a bit of effort to integrate himself into the event team, working as the deputy head of the publicity department.

‘trouble,’ xiao zhenyun thought, he really didn’t want to get involved in this practical combat exercise, especially since the novel casually mentioned that he had arranged a deputy head position for himself in the publicity department.

may i ask what exactly did he mean by ‘arranged a deputy head position?’ could you provide some step-by-step instructions? xiao zhenyun still hadn’t fully memorized all the convoluted department names and their corresponding functions within the guild. asking him to use connections right now was quite a challenge.

…forget it, when faced with any unsolvable problem, he could always turn to his uncle.

he looked up and saw an overly excited sand sculpture. gray feathers covered his temples, and every cell in xiao jiali’s body seemed to be screaming: i want to go!!

“i must strive to get a spot in the practical exercise!” xiao jiali’s eyes sparkled.

xiao zhenyun’s eyes were stung by the burning enthusiasm of the young sentry, and he squinted, turning his gaze to si di. originally, he wanted to cool his eyes, but he saw a dejected little wolf. its ears were pressed back, and its face showed clear regret: i want to go!! but i’ve already graduated for many years…

“i want to go!! but i’ve already graduated!” si chu howled in the video, “brother, do you think after the tower’s selection, the special operations guild will also pick in-service sentries to participate in the joint military exercises between the two countries? is it possible for me to be selected?”

“no chance,” si di said mercilessly, “there are plenty of senior sentries who want to participate. how could they pick a new recruit like you?”

“…” si chu’s ears drooped instantly. of course, they drooped for a second and perked up again for an hour. soon, he was excited again. “then i’ll sign up to be an examiner for the tower’s practical combat simulations. the dragon slayer will eventually become the dragon, and it’s finally my turn to mess with those students! …um, xiao jiali, good luck!”

facing the puppy examiner, xiao jiali was full of confidence. “i’ll do my best!”

“you’ve only been in school for a few days, and you haven’t even got an overall score. do you qualify to participate?” si di questioned.

facing the little wolf senior, xiao jiali doubted himself. “right…”

“that’s right, don’t participate,” xiao nian advised.

in the original story, this part of the plot occupied a significant portion. the people and events encountered by si chu and ye feiran were specifically described, and there was no mention of xiao jiali. he was afraid that his presence might disrupt the plot.

facing his younger brother, xiao jiali struggled. “but…”

“he’s an s-level sentinel, and his rank is his pass,” xiao zhenyun said. “special circumstances require special treatment.”

facing his deer-like father, xiao jiali regained his confidence. “i’ll go consult the instructor!”

xiao nian immediately glared at xiao zhenyun, who responded with a reassuring look. “it shouldn’t be a problem.”

in the plot, si chu only met a few named candidates. given the vast examination grounds spanning thousands of acres and the possibility of xiao jiali being assigned to a sea or aerial examination site, how could the two of them coincidentally meet?

… xiao nian suddenly felt like his back was being filled with flags.

just two days later, xiao zhenyun approached xiao jingfeng with his desire to join the practical simulation publicity team.

he had to admit that the moment he saw xiao jingfeng, he immediately recalled the nonsense he had fabricated about a fake grandfather-grandson love story in the hotel.

he couldn’t help but chuckle guiltily.

xiao jingfeng was baffled, “why do you want to join the publicity team? if you want to participate in practical exercises, you’re already an assistant at the white tower, and you have priority to become an examiner.”

“…” xiao zhenyun shamelessly declared, “because i love taking photos.”

the author has something to say:

xiao nian: are you talking about the basement’s screams?

hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). i hope you enjoyed the story! if you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! check out the link below for early chapters.  (๑>ᴗ