The General's Love Glitch - Chapter 23.2

The two stepped out again, Ruan Wei simply wanting to take a stroll, even wandering around the neighborhood was fun for her. She remembered nights from her childhood when her parents often took her out for walks. At first, her father would lift her high, letting her ride on his shoulders. Later, as she grew older, she would walk in the middle, with her parents each holding one of her hands.

Now, it was Jun Jue holding her hand.

“What are you thinking about?” Jun Jue asked, unaccustomed to Ruan Wei’s prolonged silence. She gave Ruan Wei’s cool palm a gentle squeeze.

“Thinking about my parents.”

Jun Jue stopped, releasing Ruan Wei’s hand, and pulled up the files containing photos of Ruan Wei’s parents, sending them to her.

“You can look at these whenever you miss them.”

“Thank you, General.”

“No need.”

Jun Jue hadn’t expected that the files she’d originally gathered just to investigate Ruan Wei’s identity would serve such a purpose nor had she imagined she’d end up making Ruan Wei her girlfriend.

Tonight, the moonlight was beautiful. The sky was cloudless, studded with countless stars.

“General, look at those two stars, they’re blinking at us so hard. It must be my parents.”

“Mhm.”

“General, look at those two over there.”

Jun Jue turned her gaze where Ruan Wei pointed, only to hear her ask, “Are those your parents?”

A tender ache stirred in Jun Jue’s chest, bittersweet and warm.

…

Since Ruan Wei had work the next day, Jun Jue didn’t keep her out too long. Ruan Wei, having eaten her fill, quickly grew drowsy, rubbing her eyes all the way home.

Once they reached the third floor, Jun Jue asked, “Do you want to sleep in your own room or with me?”

Ruan Wei didn’t answer, but her body clung tightly to Jun Jue’s side, making no move toward her own room.

So, Jun Jue took her back to her own bedroom. Ruan Wei barely kept her eyes open long enough to soak in the bath, but by the time she finished washing up, she was much more alert. Jun Jue set aside the documents in her hands as Ruan Wei emerged from the bathroom.

Ruan Wei leaned in for a look. “Who’s Zhuo Hanjun?”

“Is she another rival in love, like Miss Lin?”

Jun Jue couldn’t help but pinch Ruan Wei’s soft cheeks at the serious expression she wore while saying “rival in love.” “No.”

Ruan Wei’s shoulders relaxed as she let out a long exhale, and Jun Jue chuckled at her reaction.

“It’s late, General. You should go take a bath too,” Ruan Wei urged.

Seizing the moment, Jun Jue asked, “Who was that girl walking with you at the hospital?”

“You mean Tian Tian? She’s my colleague and a good friend. She already has a fiancée, they’re getting married next month, and she even invited me to the wedding!” Ruan Wei said, her face lighting up with excitement.

Jun Jue raised an eyebrow. “You’ve made a good friend that quickly?”

“Of course! I’m very popular, you know,” Ruan Wei declared proudly. She’d always been well-liked since childhood even when she was imprisoned, the older inmates had taken good care of her.

But the thought of those same “older siblings” still suffering on Planet GR03 slowly dimmed the smile on her face.

“What’s wrong?” Jun Jue noticed the sudden shift in Ruan Wei’s mood.

“Nothing. General, go take your bath.”

Jun Jue nodded and headed into the bathroom.

When she came out, Ruan Wei was sitting on the bed, lost in thought.

“Time to sleep,” Jun Jue said.

“General.”

“Mhm. Go ahead, I’m listening.”

Ruan Wei immediately snuggled closer. Her body always ran cool, so Jun Jue pulled the blanket over her, tucking her in.

Ruan Wei had already prepared what she wanted to say in her mind, but in the end, she couldn’t bring herself to voice it.

She wanted to tell Jun Jue that there were still many vampires like her imprisoned on Planet GR03, but the word “vampire” made her hesitate.

“Why aren’t you speaking?” Jun Jue waited for a moment, slightly puzzled.

Ruan Wei’s thoughts shifted, and she said, “I have a little secret I want to tell you.”

“What secret?”

“Actually, I don’t really like eating compressed biscuits.”

Jun Jue wasn’t surprised by this revelation, in fact, it made more sense. Even soldiers who weren’t picky disliked compressed biscuits, so it would’ve been strange if Ruan Wei had genuinely enjoyed them.

“Anything else?”

“No, that’s it.” With that, Ruan Wei threw off the blanket and got out of bed, saying she was going back to her own room to sleep.

Jun Jue didn’t stop her.

…

The next morning, Jun Jue escorted Ruan Wei to work at Second Citizen Hospital as usual.

This time, they ran into Lin Qiyue in the parking lot, along with Zhuo Hanjun, who had brought her there.

Lin Qiyue shot Jun Jue a resentful glance before haughtily walking past Ruan Wei, her eyes seeming to say: Don’t think you’re the only one who gets escorted, I have someone too.

“General, I’ll head in first. Bye~” Ruan Wei waved at Jun Jue and followed Lin Qiyue into the hospital.

“General.” Zhuo Hanjun greeted Jun Jue with a smile. “Qiyue is just acting like a little girl, please don’t take it to heart.”

Jun Jue gave a slight nod before driving the hovercar away from the hospital. As the vehicle ascended, she glanced down and noticed Zhuo Hanjun had also entered the hospital for some reason.

Zhuo Hanjun strode into the hospital, heading straight for the surveillance room.

Yesterday, Lin Qiyue had returned home in tears, throwing a tantrum and smashing things, insisting that Ruan Wei had deliberately framed her to make Jun Jue dislike her. She had begged Zhuo Hanjun to help uncover Ruan Wei’s true nature.

Zhuo Hanjun was only here to humor her, there were far more important matters in the military district demanding her attention. To replace Jun Jue, she needed to put in much more effort to even have a chance.

“So, what have you found? Did you see how that white lotus, green tea Ruan Wei set me up?” Lin Qiyue had dumped her work on Ruan Wei and skipped out to the surveillance room to find Zhuo Hanjun.

“Nothing,” Zhuo Hanjun replied. “Qiyue, you might’ve really misunderstood the general’s wife.”

“You’re taking her side too!” Lin Qiyue exploded with anger. She slammed a key in frustration, accidentally hitting the slow-motion button. In that moment, Zhuo Hanjun caught an anomaly in Ruan Wei’s behavior.

The footage was somewhat blurry, but Zhuo Hanjun was certain she hadn’t misseen it. She knew both her parents had been killed by vampires, so even though the Federation had declared vampires extinct, she had still studied them in depth.

Zhuo Hanjun replayed the clip of Ruan Wei lowering her eyes six or seven times. Lin Qiyue misunderstood and snapped, “Zhuo Hanjun, don’t tell me you’ve taken a liking to this Ruan Wei too.”

“Qiyue, look closely at this segment.”

“What’s wrong with it?” Lin Qiyue thought Zhuo Hanjun had caught Ruan Wei in a slip-up and eagerly leaned closer to the screen, but she couldn’t spot anything unusual.

“Isn’t this just Ruan Wei getting pushed over by me, accidentally knocking down a little girl, and then panicking in fear?”

Lin Qiyue thought Ruan Wei’s reaction was perfectly normal. Unwilling to elaborate further, Zhuo Hanjun simply agreed, “You’re right. Maybe I was mistaken.”

“Hmph, keep investigating! I’m going back to work.”

Lin Qiyue returned to the ward, where Ruan Wei was telling the children the story of Snow White.

After finishing a story, Ruan Wei turned to the children and said, “Next, let’s welcome Sister Qiyue to tell us the next story, okay?”

No child responded because Lin Qiyue had frightened them by pushing someone yesterday, and they were still afraid of her today.

Ruan Wei led the applause and repeated, “Everyone, let’s welcome Sister Qiyue to tell us a story.” Gradually, a few children began to clap along.

Lin Qiyue shot Ruan Wei a glare, thinking, Don’t think I’ll be fooled by your act just because you’re doing this.

Ruan Wei smiled and handed the fairy tale book to Lin Qiyue, who took it with a sense of shame, she felt too old to be reading children’s books. Her reading was halting at first, but when she noticed the six children, including Ruan Wei, watching her intently, she straightened up and grew serious.

She switched to the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, telling it with great enthusiasm. At the end, she deliberately stared at Ruan Wei and said to the children, “You all heard this story, right? Lying never leads to a good outcome.”

Ruan Wei ignored Lin Qiyue’s sarcasm, simply feeling the story carried a valuable lesson. She applauded once more.

…

While Ruan Wei was at work, Jun Jue wasn’t idle either. As she handled military affairs, she continued investigating Zhuo Hanjun. Since Zhuo Hanjun was now her direct subordinate, she had the authority to access her information. Some details were impossible to find, so she contacted the Chief Executive directly, who refused to disclose them, citing that Zhuo Hanjun was a covert special operative requiring special protection.

Jun Jue fully grasped the Chief Executive’s stance and didn’t press further.

When did this elder, who had always treated her kindly, begin to change? Was it after she privately rejected the Chief Executive’s proposal to arrange a marriage between her and Lin Qiyue, or even earlier?

Jun Jue leaned toward the latter. After all, grooming a general who could directly replace her wasn’t an overnight task, she believed the Chief Executive had planned this long ago.

She also recalled how Zhuo Hanjun had escorted Lin Qiyue to work that morning and even followed her into the hospital.

What was Zhuo Hanjun doing at the hospital?

Pondering wouldn’t yield answers, so once the time was right, Jun Jue headed to the hospital to pick up Ruan Wei.

Jun Jue arrived at the hospital parking lot before Ruan Wei’s shift ended and saw her walking out, chatting and laughing with Tian Tian. It seemed there had been no issues at work today.

Meanwhile, Lin Qiyue walked past Jun Jue’s hovercar arm-in-arm with Zhuo Hanjun, making a deliberate show of it.

Jun Jue frowned slightly, but her expression softened once Ruan Wei got into the car.

“Who’s that sister with Miss Lin?” Ruan Wei asked curiously.

Jun Jue pinched Ruan Wei’s cheek in displeasure. “Don’t just call anyone ‘sister.’ You haven’t even called me that yet.”

Ruan Wei blinked innocently, and Jun Jue released her.

“That’s Zhuo Hanjun, the one you asked me about last night.”

“Ohh.” Ruan Wei nodded in understanding. Seeing Jun Jue still in a bad mood, she coaxed, “Sister.”

“What?”

“Sister,” Ruan Wei repeated sweetly.

Jun Jue suppressed a smile and said sternly, “In public, you should still call me ‘General.’”

“Then can I call you ‘sister’ at home?”

“You may.”

“Sister, let’s go see a movie tonight,” Ruan Wei suddenly suggested.

Jun Jue paused the hovercar, leaving it suspended mid-air, and turned to Ruan Wei. “Is there a movie you want to watch?”

“Mhm. Tian Tian recommended it to me. Her fiancée took her to see it yesterday, said it was really good.”

“If you want to watch it, we’ll go.” Jun Jue first made a video call to Uncle Zhang to say they wouldn’t be home for dinner tonight, then piloted the flying car toward the cinema.

It had been ten years since Ruan Wei last watched a movie, so she was thrilled. She eagerly bought a large bucket of popcorn and two cups of Coke. Jun Jue paid and asked her what movie they were seeing. Ruan Wei couldn’t remember, so she turned to check the scrolling list of film titles on the screen.

“Love Across Species,” Ruan Wei said, turning back with a smile.

Jun Jue skimmed the synopsis, a tragic love story between a vampire and a human, set during the Federation’s mass extermination of vampires.

“General, are you not interested? We can switch to another movie,” Ruan Wei offered, studying her expression.

Jun Jue shook her head. “This one is fine.” It didn’t matter to her what they watched; she’d rather accompany Ruan Wei to something she wanted to see.

Ruan Wei beamed at her and grabbed a few pieces of popcorn, holding them up to Jun Jue’s lips.

“I thought you hated vampires and wouldn’t want to watch this.”

Jun Jue caught Ruan Wei’s hand, the one holding the popcorn. “You eat it.”

Ruan Wei had no choice but to pop the kernels into her own mouth. They were sweet, coated in creamy chocolate, and she quickly grabbed a few more.

“I do hate vampires,” Jun Jue said.

Ruan Wei nearly choked on her popcorn, her voice tense as she asked, “Why?”

“Because-”

Just then, the ticket taker began calling for people to enter. Jun Jue simply took Ruan Wei’s hand and led her to the checkpoint.

Ruan Wei wanted to know the answer but was also afraid of it, so she didn’t press further.

They found their seats in the back row, a couple’s booth. The theater was dimly lit, the audience gradually filling about half the seats.

Tonight, they were the only couple in the theater.

The movie hadn’t started yet. Ruan Wei focused on eating her popcorn while Jun Jue dimmed her wrist terminal to a soft glow, illuminating the space for her.

Ruan Wei didn’t need it, but she was still touched. “Thank you, General.”

The central screen suddenly lit up, playing an anti-drug PSA and a fire safety ad before the film began.

The movie’s palette was dark from the start. The opening scene showed a male vampire emerging from the forest, his eyes blood-red, desperate for blood. He lost control while feeding and killed a passerby outright, sparking human panic and a brutal crackdown on vampires.

The plot was somewhat cliché. The male vampire was the father of one heroine, Anna, while the murdered passerby was the mother of the other heroine, Belle. The two women were not only natural enemies but also bound by vengeance, one for her father, the other for her mother.

Anna, the human heroine, was a police officer. While hunting vampires, she fell in love with Belle, a vampire disguised as a human. But Belle couldn’t hide forever. One day, overwhelmed by bloodlust, she attacked another officer while Anna slept, only to be discovered.

The story ended with Anna shooting Belle dead, avenging her father, then turning the gun on herself.

Ruan Wei was in tears by the end, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.

It was a devastatingly beautiful tragedy. Watching it, she felt as if she were glimpsing her own future with Jun Jue.

Even though she wasn’t sure if what she felt for Jun Jue could be called love.

Jun Jue felt a bit uncomfortable from the very beginning of the plot. The ending could only be described as reasonable neither happy nor sad but Ruan Wei beside her was crying uncontrollably.

Silently, she wiped the tears from Ruan Wei’s sniffling face.

Finally, the movie ended, and Ruan Wei threw herself into Jun Jue’s arms, sobbing, “It was so touching, but also so heartbreaking.”

Jun Jue held Ruan Wei, gently patting her back. “Weiwei, there are no vampires left in this world.”

Ruan Wei lifted her head from Jun Jue’s embrace, her face still glistening with tears.

“It’s just a made-up story. Weiwei, do you want to know why I hate vampires?”

Ruan Wei shook her head.

“Because my parents were killed by vampires.”

Ruan Wei’s eyes widened in disbelief. She pulled away from Jun Jue’s arms and asked anxiously, “General, if you were Anna and I were Belle, and my people killed your parents… what would you do to me?”

Jun Jue tenderly wiped Ruan Wei’s tears away with her thumb. “Weiwei, don’t make such wild assumptions.”

“But I really want to know,” Ruan Wei murmured, her voice softer.

Jun Jue replied, “I didn’t participate in the previous vampire extermination campaign, I was too young back then. But if I ever saw vampires threatening the lives of Federation citizens, I would join the fight.”

“What if… I were a vampire?” Ruan Wei pressed.

Jun Jue pressed her thumb against the corner of Ruan Wei’s lips, recalling something, and tugged downward playfully. Smiling, she said, “So having a little fang makes you a vampire?”

…

Author’s Note:

Weiwei: I really am a vampire, and I have two little fangs! (Baring teeth jpg.)