What Should I Do If My Ex-Girlfriend's Pheromones Smell Too Good? - Chapter 56

Chapter 56: Application

Some things are better left unmentioned, but once a suspicion arises, people instinctively find more details from various angles to support their point of view. Through this process, a hypothesis that was originally thirty percent true can reach sixty percent.

For example, Xin Xiuyun happened to leave the base planet right before the garrison was redeployed. At the time, everyone thought the Xin family brought her back because they felt she had brought shame to the family after her schemes were exposed. Looking back now, it might not have been that simple.

“Could it be that her coming here for training had some unspeakable, dark purpose?” Jin Yan couldn’t help but speculate on her logic with the utmost vigilance. “Did she lure the Zerg here?”

Yan Xiangyu gave a cold snort, clearly possessing zero goodwill toward Xin Xiuyun. The mere fact that the woman had once harbored crooked thoughts about Shu Qiong had placed Xin Xiuyun on her permanent blacklist.

Shu Qiong tried to remain objective: “It’s impossible to confirm. We can only say she might know something. Even if she isn’t a player in the game, she’s very likely an insider.”

All three had their theories, but they couldn’t reach a conclusion due to a lack of necessary evidence.

Yan Xiangyu looked at her wristband with a seemingly calm expression: “Communication has been restored. Try sending a message to test the waters.” She said this while looking at Shu Qiong.

Shu Qiong tapped her wristband and saw that the external communication signal was indeed reconnected. In the column of new messages accumulated over several days of training, several prompts popped up that she hadn’t had time to look at before. Now, there were no longer restrictions on trainees sending messages to people outside the base planet. Aside from the specific details of the Zerg invasion, all other communication had regained freedom.

At this point, only a day and a night had passed since the Zerg invaded the base. Except for relevant high-level officials and military personnel, the outside world was not yet aware of the major upheaval.

Regarding Yan Xiangyu’s suggestion, Shu Qiong shook her head without thinking: “I didn’t add Xin Xiuyun’s contact information.”

Yan Xiangyu let out an ambiguous “Mhm.”

Two seconds later, Shu Qiong suddenly realized what that meant and gave her a speechless, amused look.

Yan Xiangyu continued composedly: “Don’t think too much. Senior Lin and the others will investigate.”

Shu Qiong didn’t expose her little scheme. She spent a moment rummaging through her wristband, then looked up with a smile: “Found it.” She tilted the interface toward Yan Xiangyu and Jin Yan. “Xin Xiuyun sent me a friend request earlier. Too much happened afterward, and I almost forgot about it.”

She didn’t actually have the slightest intention of having a deep conversation with Xin Xiuyun; at this moment, she just wanted to tease a certain “vinegar jar” named Yan by being contrary.

Yan Xiangyu pursed her lips and stared fixedly. Shu Qiong actually detected a hint of grievance from her, so she lightly shook her wristband: “I think Student Yan’s suggestion makes a lot of sense. So, should I accept this application?”

“No.” Yan Xiangyu gripped her wrist and pressed the light screen down.

“Fine, then forget it.” Shu Qiong cooperatively raised her hand to close the verification message interface.

However, in the next second, her movement froze in the air. “Huh? When was another verification message added?”

The friend request interface was clean and simple; the key content was clear at a glance, totaling two messages. The first was sent by Xin Xiuyun before she left the base: “Did you receive the cake? I hope you like it.”

The second message showed a sent time of one hour ago. At that time, Shu Qiong was on Lin Yuan’s helicopter and hadn’t checked her wristband: “Are you okay?”

Shu Qiong hissed, feeling like the person on the other side was a “werewolf” exposing themselves.

Under Yan Xiangyu’s deep gaze, Jin Yan egged Shu Qiong on to accept the request and dig for information. Shu Qiong patted Yan Xiangyu’s hand and clicked “Accept.”

Shu Qiong: Chat?

The other side was busy with something and didn’t reply immediately.

Shu Qiong didn’t wait around for Xin Xiuyun’s reply; she began reading the unread messages accumulated since the start of training. The most red dots were in the 406 dorm group, “Military Academy F(4).”

Su He-yi had a good habit of taking notes; every day after class, she would post a summary of exam points in the group for Shu Qiong and Yan Xiangyu to use as a reference for self-study. Gu Tiantian shared campus gossip every few days, one of which mentioned the rumor-monger Xin Zhize, whose forum handle was “Heart Like Still Water.”

Gu Tiantian: Do you guys remember ‘Heart Like Still Water’? I heard he got into trouble again and was ordered by the school to drop out! Gu Tiantian: This time it wasn’t just a warning; it seems like a huge deal. He was expelled from the student registry [shivering].

Shu Qiong: Maybe it’s not that he did something, but that something happened to his family?

At a school like the Allied Military Academy, which has close ties to the military, admitted students must pass a political background check. They do not accept people with serious stains, such as criminals, reactionaries, anti-social members, or their offspring.

As soon as Shu Qiong sent a message, Gu Tiantian and Su He-yi replied instantly, making the group lively.

Gu Tiantian: Wow! You can send messages to the outside world now? Are you already on the starship?

Su He-yi: Is the training tiring? When can you come back?

Shu Qiong: We aren’t on the starship yet. There were some issues with the training. It’s not convenient to give details, but we should be back in the next two days.

Shu Qiong: Mentally and physically exhausted, but it seems to have been quite effective!

Gu Tiantian: Where is the Great Boss Yan? Isn’t she with you?

Yan Xiangyu: Here.

Shu Qiong: She’s too lazy to type; she’s peeking at my screen.

Yan Xiangyu: Mhm.

For some reason, Gu Tiantian stopped replying for a short while, but Su He-yi asked a few more concerned questions.

Su He-yi: When you get back, you’ll catch the tail end of the long holiday. You can rest for a few days.

Su He-yi: Every department has to organize at least one program to perform at the school anniversary celebration. Lately, Tiantian and I have been busy with rehearsals.

Gu Tiantian: I’m in charge of stage design for the Political Science Department; task complete! Sister He-yi has it harder; she has to coordinate many things for the Mech System. She barely stays in the dorm lately.

She followed up by sending several photos, mainly of campus anniversary flyers, stage layouts, and program schedules. Shu Qiong glanced at them and remembered that the school anniversary was in a few days; they would have a five-day holiday including the weekend.

At the same time, a subtle sense of disconnect rose in her heart. One moment she was racing against the Grim Reaper, the next she was returning to happy college life. Even though she had only been at the base planet for half a month, it felt like a lifetime ago. She attributed this to being cut off from the internet.

She then opened the chat with Jin Man. After reporting her safety, she casually mentioned meeting Lin Yuan. Jin Yan’s Alpha mother quickly pushed over Lin Yuan’s personal digital business card.

Jin Man: Your Auntie Lin might seem unsympathetic sometimes, but she’s a good person.

Jin Man: I heard she has some connection to the Procuratorate. Her work has confidentiality restrictions, so I’m not sure of her specific duties. Why, she actually went to the base planet? You guys are okay, right?

Shu Qiong: Jin Yan and I are both fine, don’t worry.

Shu Qiong rubbed her chin in thought. The Procuratorate. She felt the waters were getting deeper and deeper; it was best for unlucky bystanders like them not to get involved.

For the rest of the time, everyone stayed peacefully at the safety point. With the regular army clearing the Zerg, there was no need for these ungraduated cadets to perform dangerous or critical tasks; at most, they helped move supplies and the wounded.

Shu Qiong squatted like a peasant by the feet of Xinghai and Standby, staring blankly with her face tilted up. Seeing her exhausted face but lack of sleepiness, Yan Xiangyu asked, “What are you thinking about?”

Shu Qiong snapped back to reality, changing from a squat to a sitting position, huddling with Yan Xiangyu under the same blanket. “After we go back, how do you plan to spend the long holiday?”

“Self-study at school.”

Yan Xiangyu gave an unappetizing answer. Shu Qiong immediately thought of the two weeks of classes she had missed, and her liver started to ache. Joining the school team allowed them to take fewer elective credits, but as for the mandatory courses, while they didn’t have to worry about participation points, the final exams were unavoidable. The exam points missed due to training would still come rushing at them in a hair-thinning torrent.

Yan Xiangyu suddenly thought of something: “Were you thinking about family matters just now?”

Shu Qiong yawned: “Mhm. It’s annoying. I don’t want to see those faces.”

She knew this was impossible. Legal kinship cannot be erased. Economically, biologically, and ethically, she had too many ties to the Shu family.

Yan Xiangyu held a corner of the blanket, her head resting on her knees as she turned to look at her: “Tell me about it. Tell me anything.”

Shu Qiong asked: “You’ll listen to anything?”

“I’ll listen,” Yan Xiangyu said solemnly. “Give me a chance to understand you better, okay?”

Shu Qiong’s heart softened. Mimicking the other’s posture by resting her chin on her propped-up knees, she said slowly: “The Shu family is currently headed by my biological grandfather. He has two daughters. My mom was the younger one. She was quite rebellious when she was young; she didn’t follow the path arranged for her and secretly applied to the military academy without Grandpa knowing.”

“My eldest aunt is a Beta. Her personality is more like my grandmother’s—to put it nicely, she’s easygoing; to put it bluntly, she’s weak and has little will of her own. When she was young, the family business faced a major crisis, and she was pushed out by Grandpa into an arranged marriage. A few years after she married, Grandpa found that my mom wouldn’t cooperate with him, so he sweet-talked Auntie back into the fold and even acquired her husband’s near-bankrupt business.”

“In my memory, Eldest Aunt never complained or got angry. But her husband was the opposite—an irritable, arrogant megalomaniac with no business sense who also had a gambling habit. He passed away from illness not long after the company was acquired by the Shu family. Eldest Aunt has a daughter and a son. The Alpha son is nearly thirty and still loafs around, but Grandpa likes him a lot. The Beta daughter is three years older than me and seems to have no presence.”

Shu Qiong paused, seemingly lost in a certain memory. Yan Xiangyu did not urge her, waiting patiently and quietly gazing at her amber, crystalline eyes.

Shu Qiong frowned very slightly: “I’ve always felt that my cousin isn’t as simple as she looks.”

Yan Xiangyu asked cooperatively: “How so?”

“When I was seven, I stayed at the old estate for a few months with Grandma. At first, I often saw and heard many arrogant deeds regarding my male cousin, like locking his own sister in an empty room, smashing his mother’s favorite antique vase, abusing Grandma’s parrot, intentionally messing up my room, and so on.” Shu Qiong tilted her head in thought. “However, Grandpa always doted on him. After Grandpa blatantly took his side and didn’t punish him a few times, I rarely heard of similar incidents again.”

“You suspect those previous incidents were frames set up by your cousin for her brother?” Yan Xiangyu asked.

Shu Qiong shook her head: “Not a frame; he was indeed capable of those things. It’s just that every bad thing he did happened to have a witness who saw it and spread the word—that’s what I find strange.”

“And then there was three years ago. Old Man Shu wanted my cousin to follow in Auntie’s footsteps and arranged a marriage with the younger Beta son of an old friend. As a result, during a break in the cocktail party, he caught his eldest grandson and the prospective grandson-in-law rolling around together in the lounge. Well, imagine that shocking, eye-searing scene… There were many witnesses at the time, all big shots. What was supposed to be a happy event turned into a scandal. My cousin became the pitiful victim everyone in the circle felt sorry for, and the marriage was never mentioned again.”

As Shu Qiong spoke, her expression became increasingly strange. Some things she hadn’t looked into deeply as a youth seemed very suspicious now. Her cousin’s presence in the Shu family was simply too low—low as if by design.

Shu Qiong remembered that when Ms. Shu Ci was still alive, she had praised her sister’s daughter, saying, “Minmin is someone who will do great things in the future.”

How could a girl who showed such brilliance at a young age turn into a silent, bullied wallflower as an adult? No matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t right.

While her thoughts drifted, Shu Qiong’s wristband vibrated incessantly. Yan Xiangyu’s sharp eyes caught the contact name on the screen, and her face instantly darkened.

Shu Qiong was pulled back to reality by this video call invitation. She frowned and eventually chose to answer.

A slightly familiar face appeared on the light screen: ear-length short hair cut straight, slightly upturned corners of the eyes, and a small purple stud dangling from her earlobe.