Chapter 50: Zhou Siyan’s Reflection. He’s Like a Boring Patriarch.
Zhou Siyan stayed in the piano room all night.
Although he was reluctant to admit it, he did have this consideration—
Feng Qizhou was bold and reckless, and Xue Yu had a soft personality. When these two were together, their vigilance was always insufficient. He was guarding here to keep watch, in case someone broke in and exposed their affair. Then no one would have a good time.
The piano room was solemn, gloomy, and silent. Zhou Siyan sat upright at the piano, his fingers precisely striking the keys.
He had been practicing the piano since he was in the nursery. The director of the nursery was a piano teacher, dedicated to teaching the children art.
She told the children that the White Tower should not only have killing and fighting, but also music, painting, and literature.
Zhou Siyan’s hands seemed to be born for the piano.
An outstanding pianist’s hands must be strong and long.
Only with flexible finger bones can one control the speed and force of the keystrokes. The finger strength must be powerful to achieve a true distinction between strong and weak in complex piano music.
The finger span of an ordinary adult playing the piano is usually 8 to 10 degrees, but Zhou Siyan’s fingers could easily span to 13 degrees. When he played, he could easily handle the extreme range from bass to treble.
The director of the nursery said that he was a natural pianist.
However, after entering the military academy, he rarely had the opportunity to play the piano.
This pair of hands, which could span 13 degrees when playing the piano, became a good weapon for killing people with a gun. What flowed from his fingertips was no longer piano music, but blood.
Like all the students in the nursery, he had abandoned the art taught by the director and was inevitably drawn into the resource struggle of the White Tower.
He had found a new way of survival: a pair of strong hands were for killing, not for playing the piano or painting.
But after meeting Xue Yu, this pair of gifted hands also had some secret uses.
With just two fingers, he could do many things to Xue Yu.
He loved to bully Xue Yu like this.
In the classroom, the two of them sat in the back row. He would write notes with one hand as if nothing was wrong, and put the other hand under the table. Before long, Xue Yu would cover her mouth and lie on the table.
At this time, he would tilt his head and smile at Xue Yu, getting revenge for her pretending to play a game and then slapping him wildly last night.
While playing the piano, Zhou Siyan took a moment to check the surveillance in the bedroom on his watch.
Youke’en was indeed a good nanny. He had lulled all three children to sleep, placed them neatly in their cribs, and covered them with small blankets.
He himself was sitting cross-legged on the foam mat, knitting a sweater. He would occasionally measure it against Xue Xiaohai’s head. He was probably knitting a small hat for Xue Xiaohai.
Xue Xiaohai only had one brown lamb hat. She loved to play with the hat, taking it off and putting it on again, often playing like this repeatedly. She was very strong, and the lamb hat had been pulled out of shape by her.
Youke’en called and said, “What have you all been up to? The children are all asleep.”
Zhou Siyan: “There’s something going on with the conservatives. Please take care of the children tonight. There’s a bed in the side bedroom. You can sleep there.”
Youke’en yawned. “Forget it. I’m not sleeping. I still have to knit a hat for Xiaohai.”
Among the three children, Youke’en liked and doted on Xue Xiaohai the most.
Xue Xiaohai looked the most like Xue Yu, with the same nose and eyes, and her personality was also like her mother’s—a glutton. Nothing could stop her from eating.
After mixing the formula and teasing her with the bottle, she would even call him “daddy.”
***
Xue Yu was lying in Feng Qizhou’s arms, wearing Feng Qizhou’s conservative black suit jacket. She touched the tattoo on Feng Qizhou’s chest. It was a seahorse pattern.
The people of the White Tower seemed to love tattoos.
When she was dating Zhou Siyan before, Zhou Siyan had taken her to a tattoo parlor, planning to get some couple tattoos on both of them.
At that time, Zhou Siyan had indeed gotten a tattoo, a small island on his lower abdomen, representing the “Yu” in her name.
Xue Yu was in the throes of her first love at that time, full of passion. The youthful rebellious feelings she hadn’t had a chance to express on Earth were suddenly released. She planned to get a tattoo on her arm: Zhou Siyan, I love you for a lifetime.
Zhou Siyan had asked with contempt at that time, “Are you sure you want to get this? It feels a bit tacky.”
Xue Yu had said with conviction, “I have to get this. It represents my passionate love for you. We will be together for a lifetime!”
Zhou Siyan had smiled helplessly and had spent more than half an hour with the tattoo artist, trying to figure out how to make this string of words into an artistic font to make it look less tacky.
But when she got on the tattoo table, Xue Yu discovered that the people of the White Tower didn’t use anesthesia for tattoos! She was so scared she ran away on the spot.
A passionate, true love for a lifetime was instantly shattered by the phrase “no anesthesia for tattoos.”
Xue Yu was now touching the seahorse pattern on Feng Qizhou’s chest and asked, “When did you get this? It wasn’t there when I was drinking milk before.”
Feng Qizhou stroked her back, his deep voice lazy with satisfaction. “I just got it last week.”
“Who did it for you?”
Feng Qizhou held her face and kissed her hard. “I did it myself. I’m a conservative. I can’t just let anyone see my body.”
Xue Yu was not satisfied. “Am I not a person?”
“An honest person is not a person,” Feng Qizhou lifted her waist and let her sit on him. “When we have a meeting next time, I’ll want to laugh just thinking about us dating here.”
He touched Xue Yu’s body inch by inch. Xue Yu looked a size smaller than a normal person, but her muscle lines were very firm and sharp. She was much stronger than when they were together before, probably because she had awakened her spirit body.
He analyzed the direction of her bones by touching her flesh and felt that it was a bit strange. “Little honest person, why do I always feel that you are not the same as a normal person?”
“Because I have a genetic defect,” she couldn’t just say that she had transmigrated from Earth.
Feng Qizhou then touched her lower abdomen. “And why haven’t you been sterilized? That’s not right. During the years of the sterilization movement, there were inspections every so often. How could you have slipped through the cracks?”
“I’ve had a sterilization surgery. It’s probably because the reproductive ability of the seahorse spirit body is too strong, and the sterilization surgery couldn’t stop my power.”
Speaking of this topic, Xue Yu panicked.
“Feng Qizhou, I’m so worried. What if you get pregnant again?”
Everyone in the White Tower had been sterilized, and this safe zone had a virus extermination device. Any germs harmful to the human body could not survive here.
The resistance of the people in the White Tower was super strong, and they rarely got sick. There were no gynecological or andrological diseases here, so there were very few condoms.
Feng Qizhou was nonchalant. “What if I get pregnant? I’ll just have it.”
Xue Yu shot up, anxious. “Nonsense. You don’t take your own body seriously at all.”
“Besides, how can we afford to raise so many children? I’m under a lot of pressure right now. Xue Xiaohai, Xiaobei, and Xiaonan, that’s three already. And there are two more in Mo Li’s belly. My head is about to explode just thinking about it.”
Feng Qizhou comforted her, “I just had Xiaonan. How could I get pregnant so easily? Relax.”
Xue Yu was speechless, tired in both heart and body. Raising children was really too hard, not to mention she was an upright university student! She couldn’t do something like abandoning her husband and children, so she could only raise them honestly.
Feng Qizhou leaned over and let her lean against him to sleep. “Xue Yu, is it fun to be with me?”
“It’s fun.”
Feng Qizhou didn’t understand what love was. The word “love” only existed in distant books.
The White Tower only cared about attraction and excitement. If you liked someone and slept with them, you could be together.
A relationship was maintained by attraction. When you were no longer obsessed with the other person, you should break up. This was the “dating” of this world.
He couldn’t define what kind of feelings he had for Xue Yu, but the two words “fun” were enough.
He thought Xue Yu was fun, and Xue Yu also thought he was fun.
It was also fun when the two of them did it. He was willing to have children for Xue Yu just to play with her. Anyway, it was just playing. He was very willing to be Xue Yu’s toy and enjoyed it.
At six in the morning, Xue Yu heard a rustling sound.
Feng Qizhou was dressed. He had gotten a wet towel from somewhere and was wiping her body. After he was done, he picked up her clothes and helped her put them on, then took her to the bathroom to wash up.
Then he asked her to wait at the door. He had to tidy up the place and also restore the surveillance.
When Xue Yu reached the corridor, she found that there was a piano room right next to the church.
The door to the piano room was not locked. It opened with a push. There was no one inside.
She walked to the nearest black piano and idly pressed the keys.
Soon, Feng Qizhou came in. His hair was neatly combed, and the few gray highlights in his black hair made him look roguish.
“Want to play the piano?” he walked over and naturally put his arm around her, pressing his back against hers.
“I think I heard piano music last night,” Xue Yu turned her head and said.
Feng Qizhou pinched her chin and kissed her. “I think I heard it too.”
Xue Yu panicked. “Did someone see us?”
Feng Qizhou took out a wet wipe from his pocket and wiped her face. “So what if they saw us? It’s best if they report me and get me kicked out of the conservatives. Anyway, with my medical skills, even if I can’t be a deputy director, I won’t be too bad off.”
While there was no one around, the two of them returned to the front of Zhou Siyan’s apartment in the residential area.
Xue Yu entered the password and fingerprint to open the door. Youke’en was sleeping on the sofa in the living room. A pile of yarn and a half-finished hat were on the coffee table.
Xue Yu went over and shook Youke’en. “Youke’en, why are you here? Where’s Zhou Siyan?”
Youke’en sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Zhou Siyan didn’t come back. I don’t know where he went.”
“What do you mean?” Feng Qizhou asked.
“He said last night that there was something going on with the conservatives and asked me to come and take care of the children. He hasn’t been back since,” Youke’en looked back and forth between Xue Yu and Feng Qizhou, realizing something. “You two…?”
He clenched his fist, feeling disappointed. He pulled Xue Yu to the floor-to-ceiling window to talk.
“Xue Yu, how can you date a conservative! And two at once! You’re still young. It’s normal to not be able to resist temptation. But no matter what, you can’t date a conservative!”
“Have you thought about your parents? If they knew, how worried would they be?”
Xue Yu waved her hand in front of him. “Youke’en, you’re being crazy again. You’re not my dad, and I’m not your daughter.”
Youke’en was speechless, his expression softening a little:
“I’m not being crazy, and I’m not advising you as a father. I’m talking to you as a friend. Conservatives are not good people. We shouldn’t have contact with them anymore.”
Feng Qizhou went into the bedroom and brought out the awakened Xue Xiaobei. “The child has already been born. Is there any need to talk about this?”
Youke’en rolled his eyes and went back to the room to see Xue Xiaohai.
Ten minutes later, Zhou Siyan returned.
He was still wearing the black suit from the church last night, his face tired. When he saw that both Xue Yu and Feng Qizhou were there, he just nodded slightly and didn’t even say hello.
Youke’en came out of the room with Xue Xiaohai. He sensed the strange atmosphere and his gaze shifted back and forth between the three of them, finding a common point: all three of them had heavy dark circles under their eyes.
He sat down on the sofa and lifted Xue Xiaohai a little higher. “Your parents and your uncle played all night last night. Only I was taking care of you. I’ll be your daddy from now on.”
“What are you talking about?”
Xue Yu walked over and tugged at Xue Xiaohai’s ill-fitting pajamas. “My poor baby, your clothes are too small. Mommy will find a way to get you new clothes!”
Today was a rare post-war holiday in the White Tower.
Xue Yu stayed at Zhou Siyan’s place all day. Feng Qizhou also brought his two kids to stay with Xue Yu, letting the two children play with her for a while.
Having just had relations, they would always unconsciously become intimate, unconsciously touching each other’s hands, drinking the rest of each other’s water.
Zhou Siyan poured water for everyone. There were no disposable cups. He only had two cups here, one for himself and one for Xue Yu.
Feng Qizhou said, “It’s fine. I won’t drink.”
Before long, he very naturally picked up the water glass Xue Yu had used and took a sip. Xue Yu didn’t mind. When Feng Qizhou handed her a piece of bread he had bitten, she also put it directly into her mouth.
Zhou Siyan saw everything.
He was very calm. According to his plan, he calmly prepared to have a simple full moon celebration for Xue Xiaohai. This full moon celebration was very late. It had been three months since Xue Xiaohai was born.
Mo Li also came and brought a full moon gift for Xue Xiaohai, two sets of new clothes. He said that Xiaoxue had made them.
Xue Yu looked at the new clothes over and over. The stitches were neat, the style was good, and the fabric was also very soft.
She really couldn’t imagine that blue-ringed octopus threading a needle with its eight tentacles.
Xue Yu had been listening to Zhou Siyan talk about this full moon celebration for a long time. She didn’t want to be a wet blanket and actively prepared with him.
When Zhou Siyan was washing the vegetables, she would help him turn on the faucet.
When Zhou Siyan was cutting the vegetables, she would help him put them in a bowl.
When Zhou Siyan was cooking, she would stand by and help him wipe his sweat.
Zhou Siyan glanced at her. She had a bright and sweet smile, her emotional value maxed out. “Xiaohai’s daddy, you’ve worked hard!”
But Zhou Siyan did not respond to her.
Xue Yu sensed Zhou Siyan’s abnormality. This man was particularly silent today, silently washing vegetables and cooking, carrying Xue Xiaohai on his back with a baby carrier, and tidying up the room with a cold face.
Xue Yu didn’t know what was wrong with him.
After thinking about it, she felt that Zhou Siyan didn’t seem to be targeting her, because Zhou Siyan was still helping her wash her clothes.
This time, when she went to Pinglan Lake to fight, she had accumulated a lot of dirty clothes. Because she didn’t want to use the public washing machine in the dormitory building, she had brought the dirty clothes to Zhou Siyan’s apartment in her bag, wanting to borrow his washing machine to wash them.
Zhou Siyan took out all her dirty clothes, separated the underwear and combat suits, washed some by hand, and washed some in the machine.
When she saw Zhou Siyan scrubbing her military boots in the bathroom, Xue Yu squatted down beside him with a smile. “Xiaohai’s daddy, you’ve worked hard. Let me do it.”
He didn’t respond to her.
Xue Yu really didn’t understand. Did the title “Xiaohai’s daddy” not work anymore?
She thought that Feng Qizhou had angered Zhou Siyan and went to ask him. Feng Qizhou said, “What does it have to do with me?”
She then went to ask Youke’en. Youke’en said, “He’s just being crazy. He’s sick.”
She pulled Mo Li to a corner. “Mo Li, Zhou Siyan is in a very bad mood. Do you know why?”
Mo Li was helping to repair the rubber ball that Xue Xiaohai had broken. Hearing Xue Yu’s words, he looked up and said with confusion, “Is he in a bad mood? I didn’t see it.”
“Huh? You’ve been here for so long and you haven’t noticed that he’s unhappy?” Xue Yu was really impressed by Mo Li’s insensitivity.
Mo Li told her to relax. “Don’t overthink it. I also don’t talk much, but I’m always in a good mood.”
Xue Yu gave him a thumbs up.
Zhou Siyan had prepared a table full of dishes. Each officer only had a certain amount of fresh food quota each month. He had used up all his quota today and had gotten a lot of fresh meat and vegetables from the cafeteria.
They didn’t drink alcohol, but used milk instead.
Before the meal, Zhou Siyan changed Xue Xiaohai into a new set of clothes. He had wanted a festive red, but the conditions were not enough, so she could only wear a pink set.
He held the child and sat in his seat, not inviting everyone to eat, but just holding the bottle and feeding the child.
Feng Qizhou held Xue Xiaonan in his arms, Xue Xiaobei was held by Youke’en, and Mo Li sat in a corner by the table.
Without Zhou Siyan’s opening words, everyone was hesitant to start eating.
Xue Yu scratched her head and braced herself to stand up with a glass of milk.
“Come on, today is Xiaohai’s full moon celebration. As her mother, I’ll toast you all. Come on, everyone say a word of blessing to our Xiaohai.”
Feng Qizhou was very supportive and clinked glasses with Xue Yu, then reached out to touch Xue Xiaohai’s arm.
“Xue Xiaohai, you are the first child in the White Tower in twenty years. Uncle Qizhou wishes you a healthy and long life, and to be as smart and brave as your mother.”
Xue Xiaohai held her bottle, thinking that Feng Qizhou was trying to steal her milk, and sucked on it fiercely.
Youke’en gave Xue Xiaohai a bank card. “This is from Uncle. All the money in it is for you to buy formula. I wish you a speedy growth.”
Mo Li gave Xue Xiaohai two sets of clothes. He smiled at the child. “Grow up quickly.”
Xue Yu said, “Xue Xiaohai doesn’t have a proper name yet. Today, Zhou Siyan made this braised fish. Why don’t we just call her Xue Hongshao?”
Zhou Siyan gave her a look.
The soup in Feng Qizhou’s mouth almost sprayed out.
Youke’en frowned but didn’t express any opinion, looking as if it had nothing to do with him.
Mo Li was stunned for a moment, then said, “Yes, that’s fine.”
Xue Yu looked around at everyone. “Haha, I’m just kidding!”
“It’s mainly that the atmosphere is too heavy. I just wanted to tease everyone. Actually, I’ve already picked a name. It’s Xue Lanshan, from ‘When I reach the highest peak, all other mountains will be small.’ How grand.”
Zhou Siyan’s face finally relaxed, and he spoke. “Thank you, everyone.”
Zhou Siyan no longer had a long face, and everyone could finally eat in a relaxed manner.
The simple full moon celebration ended. Zhou Siyan carried Xue Xiaohai on his back and went to the kitchen to wash the dishes.
Mo Li and Youke’en had both left. Feng Qizhou had also put his two children in the safe and taken them back.
Xue Yu came over to help him and took Xue Xiaohai off his back. “Why are you acting so pitiful? I can help you with the child. You don’t have to wash the dishes with the child on your back.”
Xue Yu picked up Xue Xiaohai and went back to the living room.
Zhou Siyan was alone in the kitchen, his face reflected in the metal sink.
He suddenly realized that at some point, he had become boring and uninteresting.
He had thought that he and Xue Yu had been together for so long, and no matter what, the foundation of their relationship was still there. Xue Yu would never abandon him.
But when he saw Feng Qizhou and Mo Li today, he realized how ridiculous he had been.
He had placed himself in a position higher than Feng Qizhou and Mo Li. Indeed, Xue Yu also acknowledged his position and would ask him about everything.
He was also willing to take on the responsibility of this position, willing to help take care of Feng Qizhou’s children, and willing to provide Mo Li with production experience.
But this position had turned him into a boring patriarch, dull, rigid, and without passion.
But he wasn’t like this before. When he was with Xue Yu before, he would laugh and play with her. He and Xue Yu had also had passion like Feng Qizhou, and innocence like Mo Li.
But now, he had become the most boring one in their circle, like a wet blanket of a parent, like a tasteless old father.
Xue Yu calling him “Xiaohai’s daddy” made him even more panicked. He was no longer the Zhou Siyan who was in love with Xue Yu. He no longer had any sexual charm in Xue Yu’s eyes. His value was only that of the child’s father.
This was not what he wanted.
That night, just like a bland middle-aged couple, Xue Yu stayed until Xue Xiaohai fell asleep and then left.
She only stayed with the child, not with him.
The next day, Xue Yu got up from her dorm.
The first thing she did was to go to the combat center to exchange for money. She had killed 681 frogmen on the Pinglan Lake battlefield this time. Each frogman was worth 2,000 New Dollars. She exchanged them all for money.
Meng Wu was not very satisfied with her actions. “You should have exchanged for some promotion points. I was originally going to promote you to a group leader. What you’re doing is making things very difficult for me.”
Xue Yu said, “Sir, I want to transfer to be a freelance mercenary and take on dispatched missions in the future.”
The promotion mechanism of the White Tower was to kill a superior to get promoted. Xue Yu herself couldn’t accept this system.
And after becoming a group leader, she would be even more terrified, always having to be on guard against being killed by the next competitor.
But as a freelance mercenary, she wouldn’t have this worry. She just had to accept missions and complete them. She wouldn’t be involved in the internal workplace struggles of the White Tower.
“Dispatched missions are very hard. I hope you’ll consider it carefully.”
Meng Wu picked up the documents on the table and threw them to her. “Even if you become a freelance mercenary, you’ll still be under my command. Take a look. These are the dispatched missions for mercenaries. Do you think you can complete them?”
Xue Yu roughly flipped through them. These missions were varied.
The first, to capture Abominations in the Yaga Safe Zone ahead.
The second, to destroy an ant-man’s nest.
The third, to go to the South Continent Safe Zone to hunt down a fugitive.
Xue Yu slapped her forehead. These missions were perfect for her!
She was just worrying about buying formula and clothes for the children. If she took the mission to hunt down a fugitive in the South Continent, wouldn’t she be able to go to the South Continent to buy children’s supplies?
“Sir, I’ve decided. I want to transfer to be a freelance mercenary,” Xue Yu said firmly.
“You should go to the spirit body center for a physical fitness test first. Not everyone can be a mercenary,” Meng Wu put away the documents.
“Sir, I did it before I came to your office. My physical fitness has reached B+, and my spiritual power has reached A. It’s fine,” Xue Yu handed over her latest physical fitness report.
Meng Wu frowned and sighed. “Why would anyone want to be a mercenary? Everyone in the White Tower is striving to get promoted to the management, even to the point of castrating themselves.”
“Mercenaries are the lowest branch of the military, with no power and no room for advancement. Don’t you know how terrifying it is to have no power in the White Tower?”
Xue Yu wanted power, but the power structure of the White Tower made her hesitate.
Getting promoted by killing superiors.
Reducing the population by starting wars.
Gaining benefits by abusing drugs…
She couldn’t enter this power vortex for the time being.
She chose to be a mercenary because she was thinking of developing her own mercenary team one day, establishing a new safe zone outside, and having her own small home, so she could bring her children out.
She actually thought that the White Tower was not a very good place. There were only metal buildings, very few flowers and trees, the sky was also gray, and you couldn’t even grow vegetables.
Xue Yu even suspected that the White Tower Safe Zone was actually a conspiracy.
When she went to fight the frogmen, she had seen many green plains and had even secretly tested them. The pollution level in those places was not serious. Why couldn’t those places become a new safe zone?
“You should go back and think about it for a day. Come and give me an answer tomorrow,” Meng Wu said.
“Alright.”
Xue Yu walked out of Meng Wu’s office and saw a striking young and handsome man in the corridor. The handsome man had broad shoulders and long legs, his hair loosely falling on his forehead. He was wearing a white suit, which was very eye-catching.
Xue Yu was so struck by this person’s handsomeness that her heart pounded. She didn’t even dare to look at him directly, just secretly glanced at his back. When the handsome man passed by, she could even smell a faint, heart-stopping fragrance.
After passing the handsome man by a few steps, Xue Yu tilted her head. Something was not right.
She quickly walked backwards, went to the side of the handsome man, and tilted her body to look. Wasn’t this Xue Xiaohai’s dad! He was so handsome and refreshed that she couldn’t recognize him at all.
“Zhou Siyan?” Xue Yu called out in a low voice.
Zhou Siyan stopped. “What’s wrong?”
Xue Yu’s only hobby in life was that she couldn’t move when she saw a handsome man. She blushed. “You… you changed your style? Hehe, you’re so handsome. I didn’t even recognize you.”
“I’ve always had this style,” Zhou Siyan strode forward.
Xue Yu almost drooled watching him from behind. This guy was so handsome. He even had a black earring on his right earlobe. He was already a father, but he was still so flamboyant. It made her heart pound like it was her first love. What a sin.