Free Web NovelChapter 159: Chapter 159: News from He Hanshi
After making the bed for Mu Tangfeng, Shi Lan finally returned to her room to lie down, her mind at ease.
Perhaps because she was still worried about Jiang Xia’s irritable period, she woke up earlier than usual.
She glanced at the time. It was only seven-thirty.
As Shi Lan lay in bed, she thought about the red mark on Mu Tangfeng’s neck and decided to look up more information about the male irritable period.
While she was reading, she noticed a message from He Hanshi on her chip.
Shi Lan immediately tapped it open. He Hanshi had sent her two photos. One appeared to be an older picture; his azure eyes were as calm as still water, his features holding a hint of silent authority. The other seemed to have been taken recently. In this one, his expression looked more resolute, but much of the coldness in his gaze had faded.
Just then, he sent another message: "Lanlan, spot the difference. There’s a reward if you get it right."
Her interest piqued, Shi Lan studied the photos more carefully, deliberately zooming in on both.
Shi Lan had seen the older photo online before—more than once, in fact—so she focused her attention on the new one.
The new photo looked like it had been taken by someone else. In it, he stood in a standard military posture, hands held properly at his sides. He was wearing an onyx-and-gold uniform, his chest still adorned with numerous medals.
Shi Lan carefully compared the two. The number and types of medals were identical, and they were even pinned in roughly the same positions.
Since she couldn’t find any differences in the medals, she began looking for other details.
The poses in both photos were actually quite similar. If she had to be picky, the older photo was taken more from the side, not completely head-on. The new one was clearly taken from a closer distance and was a direct, frontal shot.
But Shi Lan suspected that wasn’t the answer He Hanshi was looking for.
Her gaze returned to his uniform. She kept suspecting the trick was hidden among the medals, but after comparing them several more times, she finally determined they were not the difference.
She scrolled up, and her eyes inadvertently landed on his epaulets. The golden epaulets gleamed, but the color in the slightly recessed area at their center had changed. The old one was gold; the new one was red.
Shi Lan’s eyes instantly lit up.
’So the difference is the epaulets.’ The change wasn’t obvious, though; you had to zoom in and look closely to spot it.
Shi Lan recalled Aunt Gao casually mentioning his promotion and suspected this was related.
With that thought, she immediately screenshotted the area and sent it over. "I found it. Is it the epaulets?"
He Hanshi’s reply was almost instantaneous. "Lanlan, you’re so smart. You found it right away."
As he sent it, he glanced at the time. He had thought Shi Lan would be asleep and was surprised to find her awake.
Perhaps worried something had happened, he frowned with concern. "Is everything okay? Mu Tangfeng and Jiang Xia haven’t caused you any trouble, have they? If they’re bothering you, Lanlan, just tell me. I’ll have someone take them away."
’He wanted to go himself, but he just couldn’t spare the time, which was why it had taken him so long to message Shi Lan.’
Shi Lan felt a little guilty thinking about Jiang Xia’s irritable period, but she also felt an inexplicable sense of security with He Hanshi, so she told him about it.
He Hanshi said, "Don’t worry. It’s just an irritable period. He’ll tough it out. Mu Tangfeng is right—Lanlan, you should ignore him for now."
Shi Lan: "Okay, I will."
He Hanshi couldn’t help but feel relieved. ’Good thing I sent Mu Tangfeng. If Jiang Xia were there alone, who knows how he would have misled Lanlan.’
He then changed the subject back to their game. "Congratulations on getting it right, Lanlan. Send me an address, and I’ll mail you your reward."
He then added, "By the way, I’ve been promoted to Admiral, that’s why the epaulets are different. Red signifies the rank of Admiral. Don’t you want to congratulate me, Lanlan?"
Shi Lan didn’t stand on ceremony. As she sent her address, she replied, "Got it! Congratulations to our very own Admiral He! Promoted to Admiral at such a young age—you’re so accomplished! A role model for my generation!"
Reading her flattery, a smile touched He Hanshi’s eyes. His gaze lingered on the words "young age," and he couldn’t help but let out a small sigh of relief.
’Good, Lanlan doesn’t think I’m too old.’
He Hanshi multitasked, replying to messages while eating breakfast. Seated across from him were the newly promoted Major General Bai Feng and Levito, along with another male. The three of them exchanged curious glances until Bai Feng finally couldn’t hold back anymore. "Admiral, who are you talking to?"
As he spoke, his eyes swept over his superior’s uncharacteristically gentle expression, his curiosity piqued. "By the way, Admiral, why did you suddenly ask me to take your picture today?"
"You didn’t send it to a female you like, did you?"
’Bai Feng knew what was up. During He Hanshi’s time on Black Star, he had been ordered to rescue a female. In the past, the Admiral never got close to any female. His eyes were vacant, devoid of desire, and all he cared about was protecting the Border Defense Star and killing the Insect Clan. But that time, he had actually made an exception to have someone rescued, and his tone had been noticeably more anxious than his usual composure.’
When Levito heard the phrase "a female you like," his heart still stirred uncontrollably. But over the past few months, he had forced himself to forget, so he managed to maintain his composure.
He Hanshi looked up and gave him a noncommittal glance.
He turned off his chip and finally focused on his meal.
But his lack of denial was all the confirmation Bai Feng and the others needed.
Bai Feng and Levito, who knew who she was, didn’t show much of a reaction. The other male, however—the one who had taken Bai Feng’s place as battalion commander—was intensely curious.
Unfortunately for him, no one at the table was about to satisfy his curiosity.
He could only suppress his questions and his urge to gossip, and silently kept his mouth shut.
After breakfast, He Hanshi led the three men to a meeting.
There was a reason He Hanshi had been so busy lately. Besides training the troops and reacquainting himself with life on the Border Defense Star, there was a more critical matter: the Insect Mother had been unusually active, with residents sending distress calls on several occasions.
In the past, the Insect Mother tended to hide on Garbage Star and rarely moved. But for the past few months, it had been traveling between various planets, though no one knew what it was looking for.
Many of these planets were sparsely populated, while others were not yet fully developed.
Their primary mission now was twofold: first, to continue monitoring the Insect Clan’s activity, and second, to discover the reason the Insect Mother was traveling between planets.
For the time being, however, they had yet to find any commonality among these planets.
Due to the Insect Clan’s unusual behavior, their meeting focused primarily on new training regimens for the troops. They needed to develop more coordinated team models to prevent an insect swarm and to prepare for the various crises that might arise.
The Insect Clan was mutating and advancing; humanity had to keep pace.
After the meeting, He Hanshi went for a walk outside on the Border Defense Star, where he picked a good number of flowers.
The sight of He Hanshi picking flowers sent the entire male population of the Border Defense Star’s military base into an uproar. News traveled fast as one person told ten, and ten told a hundred, and soon the gossip reached Bai Feng’s ears.
At first, Bai Feng was incredulous. But when he saw how seriously everyone was taking the matter, he couldn’t hold back and ran off to find He Hanshi.
