Chapter 58.2
Face-Slapping the Interstellar General and His Ger (2.2)
Editor: ghost
Following the people from the logistics department, Zhou Xu decided to use all the money he had to buy the piano; it was precisely because he wanted to account for the original host’s aspirations.
In the end, the piano was moved into Zhou Xu’s dorm. Before it was moved, Zhou Xu decided to try playing a song.
The sound of the piano was very clean and Zhou Xu played it very casually. The lamp at the corner was not bright, but it was this dim glow that gave Zhou Xu’s fair and clear face an added sacred feeling.
Zhou Xu did not notice, but there were still a few people present in the dining hall. Among these people, there was a man who looked at Zhou Xu with deep interest, to the point that the person beside him had to call him several times, “General, General?”
The man who was being called turned his head to look at Wu Mingdi, “Is something the matter?”
“Your soup has spilled.”
Mu Xinhua looked at the egg soup that had spilled on the table and was speechless. He took out a napkin to clean the mess before asking Wu Mingdi, “Colonel Wu, do you know who that piano player is?”
Wu Mingdi looked at Zhou Xu and was first stunned by his beauty before regretfully saying, “I don’t know. But since he is in the army, he definitely isn’t a Ger. What a pity.”
Mu Xinhua deadpanned as he looked at Wu Mingdi and asked, “A pity?”
“That’s right. Although there are men who get together, they are mostly useless men who are unable to find a Ger or woman. General, you don’t need to find a man. If you want to look for someone, there are so many Ger for you to choose to your liking.”
“What about you?”
Wu Mingdi was stumped for words for a moment before saying, “I like women.”
Mu Xinhua pointed at Zhou Xu and said to Wu Mingdi, “I like him.”
Wu Mingdi was stumped again. The general’s meaning was very clear: he just liked the person playing the pianok2013;it didn’t matter whether he was a man, woman, Ger or Di-er. Only, falling in love at first sightk2013;is this really possible?
Wu Mingdi again looked at the man some distance from them, obscured by the shadows. He was serious and focused. For some reason, he unexpectedly had a moment of hesitation in his heart.
Shaking his head, Wu Mingdi threw this feeling to the back of his head. He had someone he liked and she was a woman and his little sister, although they did not have any blood relation.
After Zhou Xu finished testing the piano, he realised that this piano was actually quite good. Although the pitches were off, the sound was very clean. He just needed to slightly adjust the pitch before sprucing it up and it would not be any different from a brand new piano.
If he re-conditioned the piano, Zhou Xu could sell it for three times the price he had just bought it for. Thinking about it this way, Zhou Xu had really profited.
He was very satisfied with the piano and asked his brothers in the cookhouse squad to help move his piano into his dorm room.
In the empire, the soldier’s dorm rooms were all single rooms. Although it was not big at about twelve square metres, it had a personal shower and sink; it was already very good.
After placing the piano next to his bed and by the window, Zhou Xu again tested the pitch and began to tune the piano.
By the time he finished, it was already four o’clock in the afternoon. Zhou Xu rushed to the kitchen; his squad was responsible for preparing dinner.
In this world, a squad did not consist of just ten odd or twenty members but rather more than sixty people. However, management was still very strict. As a newcomer, Zhou Xu was responsible for washing the vegetables. He was late by a few minutes, so he was punished to wake up early tomorrow morning and help the other squad prepare breakfast.
Breakfast was a headache. They needed to wake up at 3.30am, start preparing by 4am and finish preparation at around 7am. Breakfast consisted of buns, pastries and the like hence it required a longer time for dough leavening. Normally, people who made mistakes would be assigned to prepare the next breakfast.
Zhou Xu did not care too much. To him, it was enough having a few hours of sleep.
There were too many people in the room, so Zhou Xu directly went outside to wash the vegetables. As he was washing, Zhou Xu felt a gaze locked on him.
Zhou Xu raised his head. Under the warm glow of the setting sun, Zhou Xu could only see a silhouette due to the backlight. However, he did not have good feelings towards this black figure; his gaze did not have much friendly intent.
“Is something the matter?” Zhou Xu asked since the person had not said anything.
“What’s your name? Which squad are you from? What do you do?” The black figure opened his mouth to speak. His tone also did not seem very friendly, and more like he was interrogating Zhou Xu.
After having a clear look at the person’s epaulet, Zhou Xu stood up and saluted. He replied, “Hello Colonel, I am Zhou Xu from the seventh cookhouse squad, in charge of washing the vegetables.”
“Washing vegetables… Then today, were you the person playing the piano in the dining hall?”
Zhou Xu slightly froze momentarily before remembering that there seemed to be a table of people in the other corner of the dining hall when he had been playing the piano. Only, it had been too far away so he had not noticed.
“Reporting, I was the person playing the piano.”
Zhou Xu shifted his body slightly so that he could see the colonel’s face more clearly. Just that after he saw it, he wanted to laugh in his heart. Truly, enemies are bound to meet on a narrow road. Isn’t this Wu Mingdi, Ding Zhaolin’s future husband?
Hehe. Zhou Xu thought about this person’s actions and conduct, and realised that his crime was listening and trusting only one side. At first, he trusted his parents, doting on his little sister until he had feelings for her. Then, he trusted his little sister to the point where he quarreled and fell out with his parents. Afterwards, he trusted Ding Zhaolin and killed his little sister. In the end, he also killed Zhou Xu.
After an overview of his life, Zhou Xu really suspected whether Wu Mingdi even had his own thoughts.
“You can play the piano, which means that your family circumstances are not bad. Why are you in the cookhouse squad? If you studied at the military academy before smoothly entering the army, no matter what, you most likely would never be put into the cookhouse squad.”
“Reporting, my body condition was not too good and I had to rest for the past few years, hence now I can only work in the cookhouse squad. However, I still have a lot of pride in the cookhouse squad; I am a soldier and it doesn’t matter which post, I just want to be able to serve the people!”
Wu Mingdi was silent after Zhou Xu’s speech. He originally wanted to say something in mockery, but after Zhou Xu had said so much, whatever Wu Mingdi said opposing him afterwards would be inappropriate. Hence, Wu Mingdi nodded his head and said, “Very good. It’s good that you have such awareness.”
“Thank you, Colonel, for the praise!” Zhou Xu stood at attention and saluted. He looked very polite, but in actuality he was trying to chase this colonel away.
Seeing that Zhou Xu gave a proper salute again, Wu Mingdi could only say, “Do your job well, don’t slack off.”
Wu Mingdi left and Zhou Xu was left behind, remaining in a salute as he sent him off.
When Wu Mingdi was far away, Zhou Xu coldly laughed. He believed there were still chances in the future to meet this colonel; he just did not know for what reason or matter.
On the second day, Zhou Xu woke up at 3.30am and rushed to the kitchen early to help out. In the end, the moment he arrived, a tray was shoved in his face.
“Go, give it to General Mu. He would always ask for midnight refreshments at this time when he stayed up all night.”
“General Mu? Mu Xinhua?”
“Correct. Hurry up and go, do you know where to go?”
“I know.”
“Then quickly go, don’t dawdle. We don’t have enough people. As someone being punished, you’ll help us complete this task.”
“Yes.”
Mu Xinhua was an interstellar general. Although he was not the highest ranking general, he was only 29 years old. The supreme generals were all already fifty or sixty years old.
He was a genius in operating mechas, as well as in military affairs. Recently, he had led a small squad of ten mecha operators and eliminated a foreign planet’s squad of hundred mecha operators during their invasion and attack. Furthermore, they had returned unscathed.
In this world, Mu Xinhua’s name represented honor and respect. Since he had yet to marry, the empire wanted to assign him a Ger, but was rejected by him. Mu Xinhua had said that he would rather never marry than accept feelings being “rationed” to him from others.
Zhou Xu walked to Mu Xinhua’s room. Using one hand to carry the tray, he used the other to lightly knock on the door. He pushed open the door entered once he heard a voice saying, “Come in”.
The person inside did not even raise his head. He remained focused on handling his business matters. He spoke, “It’s the refreshments, right? Leave it on the side table, I’ll eat it later. You can leave, thank you.”
Zhou Xu did not leave. He needed to climb towards the top and the most direct method was making the general notice him. Of course, it would not be some under the table method, but an upright and proper way.
“General, hello. I am Zhou Xu.”
The general raised his head, eyes momentarily glimmering. He looked at Zhou Xu and saw that he had no intention to leave the room. The general leaned back, supporting his forehead with his right hand. His right index finger even tapped on his head a few times. He looked at Zhou Xu in thought as he asked, “Is something the matter, Zhou Xu?”