Free Web NovelChapter 51: Chapter 51: A Big Misunderstanding
Shi Lan’s first attempt to test the waters ended in failure. She left after giving gifts to everyone, completely unaware that she had stirred up a tempest in the prison.
"Aah, Shi Lan... what does she mean by this? Does she want me to be her Beast Husband?"
Jiang Xia had been the first to open his gift. The moment he saw the English word on the perfume bottle, he flushed crimson. The two ears on his round, flattish head perked up in excitement, and his pupils shrank to tiny dots.
’He just knew it. Shi Lan likes me. She even called me cute last time.’
Filled with a desire to show off, Jiang Xia couldn’t help but blurt out those words.
Hearing this, everyone looked over. Mu Tangfeng stared at the item in his own gift box and sneered, "Oh? What makes you say Shi Lan wants you for her Beast Husband? What did she give you?"
"She gave me Jasmine. Isn’t that obvious?"
Jasmine is the English word for the jasmine flower, and its meaning in the language of flowers is "You Belong to Me."
In this interstellar era where one female could have multiple husbands, many specialty shops heavily promoted the value of this perfume because of its unique meaning. It was especially marketed for females to "mark" their Beast Husbands.
This way, whenever other females smelled jasmine perfume on a male, they would know that the male already had a wife.
Gradually, a consensus formed: if a female wanted to pursue a male, and he accepted this gift and wore the perfume the next time he saw her, it signified his willingness to become her Beast Husband.
The shopkeeper at the men’s specialty store Shi Lan visited had seen she was a female and subconsciously assumed she was also pursuing a male, which was why they had so enthusiastically recommended this product.
Although it was usually males who actively pursued females, that didn’t mean females couldn’t pursue someone they liked.
As for this gift, before their spiritual power collapsed, everyone in the prison had been given it many times, but they had never accepted.
When Mu Tangfeng heard Jiang Xia’s gift was the same as his, his expression suddenly sank, anger surfacing in his eyes. He gripped the lid of the gift box tightly. His gaze drifted across the room, inadvertently locking with He Hanshi’s, and he saw that their gifts were identical.
As if he understood something, he said, exasperated and furious, "This female has quite the appetite! She gave all of us perfume. Does she want to pursue all five of us at once?"
’She... Where does a waste female like her get the nerve?’
Mu Tangfeng was so angry he gritted his teeth. Holding the perfume bottle in his beast-form mouth, he had the urge to smash it, but after a long moment of hesitation, he tossed it back into its original box.
"What?"
"Shi Lan gave you guys Jasmine too?"
Jiang Xia’s face fell, and he asked in disbelief, "Don’t tell me—Vice Admiral He, the Eldest Prince, and Yan Huoshui—you three got the same gift?"
As he spoke, he stared intently across the room. The Black Panther, hidden in the shadows, did not reveal its form, but its dark green eyes bobbed up and down in a clear nod.
Ye Ming stared at the gift box in front of him, a complicated look in his eyes.
He hadn’t expected Shi Lan to give him this kind of gift, and he certainly hadn’t expected her to give everyone the exact same thing.
’Could it be true, just as Mu Tangfeng had said? Did she really want to pursue all five of them at once?’
Upon learning that he wasn’t the only one, Jiang Xia’s happiness evaporated in an instant.
His eyes widened and his breathing grew heavy with anger. Huffing and puffing, he stomped around the room, kicking anything that displeased him—the mushrooms in the snow patch, the robot in the corner. Only his beloved ball of yarn was spared his wrath.
After stewing in his anger for a bit, he gritted his teeth. "Fine. Shi Lan is dreaming."
"I’m going to return it to her right now. I don’t want this kind of half-hearted pursuit!"
Jiang Xia had never felt so wronged. The females who had pursued him in the past had at least been devoted, pursuing only him at any given time. Not like Shi Lan...
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. For once, he was too upset to even eat. Following the principle of "out of sight, out of mind," Mu Tangfeng also moved his gift to a corner.
The other three didn’t say anything, but their hearts were just as turbulent.
He Hanshi had thought Shi Lan’s questions about his past involvement with other females, combined with this gift, were a hint that she liked him. He had even made a point to express his loyalty. But before he could even start to feel happy, he found out that Jiang Xia and the others had received the exact same perfume.
He dejectedly stroked the perfume bottle, then silently placed it back in the gift box.
His pride would not allow him to be a backup option in a female’s mass courtship.
The same was true for Ye Ming. Although he understood that he cared for Shi Lan more than he had realized, as the lofty Eldest Prince and former Crown Prince Heir, he could not allow himself to bow his head so easily.
As for Yan Huoshui, rather than the delight the others initially felt, he was mostly just surprised.
Because he could tell that when Shi Lan looked at him, there was no love in her eyes, only pure appreciation.
He had been wondering if the rescue from the Insect Clan two days prior had mistakenly caused her to develop feelings. He didn’t believe such affection could last and was already planning to return the gift, only to then discover it wasn’t exclusively for him.
As a female of the Empire, especially one from the Capital Star, it was impossible for Shi Lan not to understand the meaning behind this gift.
’So, she’s no different from those other fickle females, always wanting more than what they have.’
Yan Huoshui’s long, narrow eyelids lowered slightly. A faint sense of disappointment inexplicably surfaced in his heart. His claw rested gently on the perfume bottle for a moment before he quickly closed the box.
This time, everyone had indeed wronged Shi Lan.
As a transmigrator, Shi Lan’s primary knowledge came from the novel and the original owner’s memories from university. In the book, the protagonist’s love life was so smooth that she never had to lower herself to pursue anyone. Furthermore, her one idol and unattainable crush, He Hanshi, had died early on, so there was never any mention of this particular perfume’s significance.
As for the original owner, she was known as a "waste female." During her four years studying on the Capital Star, no male who knew her reputation would go near her. Plagued by a deep-seated inferiority complex, she stubbornly harbored a secret crush on the male protagonist throughout university, never daring to confess or even get close. Combined with her reclusive personality, she was only close to one other female, Jiang Yan, and thus had absolutely no idea what it meant to give a male this kind of perfume.
Still unaware of the misunderstanding she had caused in the prison, she returned to her office. After eating, she started searching the Star Network for news related to the men.
The Star Network said that He Hanshi was stationed long-term on a Border Defense Star. The only females he would have had contact with were the medics, but Shi Lan had been there before and knew they were all on the older side and already had several Beast Husbands. There was no way He Hanshi would insert himself into someone else’s relationship.
She then looked up Ye Ming. As the Eldest Prince, there was no shortage of information about him. But for some reason, there were many posts on the Star Network speculating that he was actually a female. They said that since he had repeatedly refused to choose a wife, it was impossible that he was even interested in females.
Shi Lan was utterly shocked. She couldn’t believe Ye Ming was so single that people were even questioning his gender.
She went on to look up the others. There wasn’t as much information on them as there was for the two public figures, but in some posts, there were plenty of comments from females lamenting how these men were stone-hearted and not the least bit gentle.
She closed the chip with a wry smile. Hugging her Xiao Du, she let out a long sigh. "Damn it all. Everyone in this prison is a ’lonely king’..." freewebnøvel.com
’How am I supposed to heal this?’
