As soon as these words came out, Xie Yinxing’s pretty face immediately wrinkled.
She twisted her skirt with her both hands, and stared at Garcia and Jiang Jianming reluctantly, then said in low spirits, “… Anyway, it’s mine now, so give it back to me!”
“It’s yours now, what about before?” Jiang Jianming took a bite of the apple Garcia just handed over, and asked lightly.
Although it was not a rare variety like ‘Irene Agate’, apples were still inherently delicious fruits.
Xie Yinxing raised her eyebrows and snorted, “You don’t know! That guy can’t even open a bottle cap, and him having a gun can only scare people. I think it’s a waste to put it in the hands of that kind of garbage, so I brought it here.”
Jiang Jianming couldn’t help but laugh, then returned the apple to the original owner, and took the gun from Garcia.
He fiddled with it briefly. Although the model was small and looked like a toy, it was indeed a real thing, with everything from the safety to the trigger and to the magazine.
Having been in contact with Xie Yinxing, he quickly guessed the general cause and effect…..This gun should be a custom-made product for some noble child, maybe the original owner was a playboy who came to show off or even bully other children after receiving the weapon. Xie Yinxing couldn’t bear the sight of it, so she just took it away.
Garcia was not very interested in Xie Yinxing, or rather, there were not many things in the world that could arouse this person’s interest.
He held onto Jiang Jianming and didn’t want to let go. He first confirmed that there were no injuries or illnesses on him, and then began to inquire again if there were any abnormalities at the banquet.
Jiang Jianming couldn’t help but whisper, “There is nothing at all, but this is inside the courtyard, how did you get in? Didn’t anyone see you?”
“No, the surveillance is broken.” Garcia gestured with his gaze to the apple in his hand, “…still want to eat it?”
“Won’t eat anymore, do as you please.” Jiang Jianming perfunctorily comforted Garcia, and then pondered what to do with Xie Yinxing in front of him.
Logically speaking, he should have confiscated the gun, or handed it to Madame Donna, but…
Jiang Jianming hesitated at that moment, which was rare. He thought of the current situation of the empire’s undercurrent surges, and he didn’t know what it would be like in a few years.
This girl was like her father, bold and clever, perhaps it’s not a heinous thing to have a weapon for self-defense.
Eight or nine years old…When I was her age, I seemed to be following my adoptive father to fiddle with mechas. A child belonging to a noble family like Audrey should have also done it earlier.
It’s just that they are all guided by someone. Xie Yinxing’s mother obviously would not approve of her daughter going the same way as her husband.
Jiang Jianming thought for a few seconds, walked up to Xie Yinxing and squatted down, leveling his gaze to her, “Xingxing, you taking this gun, what do you want to do with it?”
Xie Yinxing blinked and said, “A weapon.”
“What would you use a weapon for?” Jiang Jianming continued to ask, “Weapons are props for hurting or even killing people. This is not a good thing.”
“Oh…” Xie Yinxing thought for a while, then slowly frowned.
Garcia didn’t speak, he stood beside Jiang Jianming and continued to eat the apple he brought, staring at the two with interest.
“But, but, what if there’s a big bad guy?”
Xie Yinxing suddenly raised her two small hands, bent her fingers, and pounced in front of Jiang Jianming with wide eyes, making a monster-like gesture, “Woo!”
Garcia quickly stretched out his hand and pulled Jiang Jianming back. The little girl pounced on nothing and made a face at Garcia angrily.
“Bad guys come to hurt the good guys, so someone needs to shoot the bad guys – that’s what father is like, and I want to be a hero like father!”
She was still young, thus she was apparently not intimidated by the almost identical appearance of Garcia and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. She just thought it was a friend of Jiang Jianming with a bad personality.
In the peaceful night, Jiang Jianming smiled softly.
He put his palm on top of the little girl’s head, but looked at the sky, and said slowly, “However…..if this is a world without bad guys, and no one needs to shoot, wouldn’t it be better?”
“Ah……”
Xie Yinxing’s eyes flickered, and she opened her mouth thoughtfully.
After a while, she nodded. “It makes sense.”
“If we need to shoot, it means that there is an enemy in front of us, and it means that our country, our relatives and friends are or will be harmed by the enemies. This is a very sad thing.”
Jiang Jianming said, wrapped Xie Yinxing’s little hand with his own hand, led her to raise the gun, and pulled down the safety.
“Therefore don’t shoot for fun, don’t shoot to be a hero.”
His voice softly fell into the girl’s ears, “When you raise the muzzle of the gun, you will be very sad. When you pull the trigger, you will be in pain…Endure the pain and remain strong.”
Bang!
Jiang Jianming pressed Xie Yinxing’s finger and pulled the trigger, the bullet shot out, breaking a snow-covered branch not far away, causing it to fall to the ground with a snap.
Xie Yinxing was stunned, and after a few seconds, she said softly, “Wow…you, you are amazing.”
Jiang Jianming sighed softly in his heart.
The moment he pulled the trigger, his pain was…
I actually had to teach such a young girl myself how to use a weapon.
Xie Yinxing put on the safety in a dignified manner, and hid the small pistol. Jiang Jianming looked at the time, “It’s getting late, children shouldn’t run around at night, go find your mother.”
Xie Yinxing pulled Jiang Jianming’s hem reluctantly. “Big brother, where do you live? Can I play with you often in the future? I haven’t heard you tell the story about father and the Silver Big Dipper yet.”
“Do you have a wrist device?”
Jiang Jianming asked Xie Yinxing, and the little girl nodded.
“My name is Jiang Jianming,” Jiang Jianming exchanged contact information with her, and touched her head, “call me anytime.”
“Is it really possible?” Xie Yinxing’s face lit up immediately, and she happily took off the bracelet hanging on her wrist. The chain was made of pearls, and the pendant in the middle was inlaid with a ruby the size of a fingernail.
She put the bracelet on Jiang Jianming’s wrist, and said with a smile, “For you, Big Brother Jiang.”
Jiang Jianming was taken aback for a moment, and said with a smile that he could not accept such an expensive gift.
But Xie Yinxing insisted, and Jiang Jianming finally accepted it, while thinking that it would be a big deal to buy something for the girl and Madame Donna next time.
“…….”
Garcia stood beside him with arms crossed, frowning coldly and looking away.
He thought to himself: Why does Jiang Jianming always gather a bunch of other humans around him, and then pat and coax them?
It can be as long as a few days or as short as a few minutes, no matter how stubborn human beings are, he will tame them perfectly.
So…am I also one of the humans he easily tamed?
Garcia shook his head secretly: No, maybe this is a normal phenomenon, and a creature like myself that has no relatives or friends is an exception.
“Your Highness…Your Highness?”
When he recovered, Jiang Jianming was calling him from the side.
The pair of black eyes of the handsome disabled human being was curled up, and he was waving at him. “Let’s go, we should also head back.”
****
Late at night, the snow outside had almost stopped. The two left Laurent’s mansion while hiding everywhere, Garcia put on a face cover, and Jiang Jianming rented an air vehicle on the side of the road and drove it back.
Returning to the officer’s dormitory in the Golden Sun Wheel, Jiang Jianming looked up at the night sky again, letting his thoughts soar.
Another day without gains, and only the unease in the heart was growing.
Tomorrow will be the last day before New Year’s Eve. The emperor will go on a royal progress, and the people of Aslan Star City will gather to celebrate.
But the batch of dangerous real crystal ores is still nowhere to be found.
There is no other way. The military has been on high-intensity alert these days, but after all, the enemy is in the dark, and even if something happens, they can only act as circumstances dictate.
Jiang Jianming even wanted to pray that this batch of real crystal ores had been used to make new crystal weapons, folding mechas, or energy chips.
No matter what is known it is good, at least it is “known”, and the known is not as terrible as the unknown.
After thinking and thinking, he had already reached the doorstep. Garcia stopped suddenly, and grabbed Jiang Jianming’s wrist without looking.
“Bracelet,” he squinted his eyes and coldly said, “take it off and give it to me.”
Jiang Jianming: “Your Highness?”
Garcia said patiently, “You said that nothing unusual happened at the banquet, and Laurent didn’t take action on you either.”
Jiang Jianming: “Yes.”
Garcia: “So now, you’re back with an intact body without any illnesses, and the only change is an extra bracelet.” He deliberately paused, “Should I not care?”
Jiang Jianming lost his voice.
Garcia gave him a restless push and pressed him against the corner of the wall. “Something is wrong with you, can’t you even think of this? What happened?”
Jiang Jianming pursed his lips and told Garcia about Xie Yuduo. He whispered again, “Sorry, there have been too many things, my mind may be a little chaotic…thank you for being here.”
The information about Xie Yuduo was so shocking that Garcia didn’t speak for a long time after hearing it.
After a moment of silence, he inexplicably pulled Jiang Jianming’s wrist, removed the bracelet, and put it in his own wrist.
“I’ll keep it for now, if there’s no problem, I’ll return it to you.”
Garcia dragged Jiang Jianming into the room, grabbed another washed apple and stuffed it into his arms, “Don’t think too much. You overthinking like this…will be prone to illness and death.”
****
At the same time.
Inside the mansion of the Sekt family, the windows were dark and the lights were turned off.
Xie Yinxing just got out of the shower and rolled onto her bed. The girl was lying on her bed, her two little feet dangling, she was holding a wrist device, with a look of joy on her face.
“Oh…..it’s great that Xingxing and the big brother chat so happily, haha.”
Prime Minister Laurent’s voice with a gentle smile came from the opposite side of the wrist device.
“En!” Xie Yinxing nodded vigorously, “Big Brother Jiang is really very good, just as His Excellency Laurent said.”
Laurent: “Yes, that big brother, like your father, is a hero who fought for the empire. Did Xingxing give the gift to big brother?”
“Give!” Xie Yinxing replied cheerfully, “Thank you, Your Excellency Laurent, for helping me prepare the gift!”
At this time, there were footsteps outside the door. The girl looked back and stuck out her tongue. “Ah, mother is here. Good night Your Excellency Laurent, goodbye, until next time.”
After saying goodnight to each other, Xie Yinxing cut off the communication. At the same time, the door opened, and the cold and charming appearance of Madame Sekt…..Donna walked in.
Donna glanced at her daughter on the bed. “Emilia, you were chatting with His Excellency Laurent again?”
“En.” Xie Yinxing turned over and threw herself on her mother’s shoulder.
But soon she “suddenly sobered up”, puffed her cheeks in feigned anger and said, “No, it’s not Emilia, it’s Xingxing!”
“Xingxing…is that the name your father gave you?”
Donna sighed slightly in low spirits. She hugged her daughter, patted Xie Yinxing’s cheek and sat on the side of the bed, then said quietly. “If your father is willing to be like His Excellency Laurent…”
Donna raised her face and stared at the group photo placed by Xie Yinxing’s bed in a trance. In the photo, Xie Yuduo held Xie Yinxing, who was still in her swaddling clothes in one hand, and held her with the other.
…That was an old group photo from several years ago. After so many years, Xie Yuduo couldn’t even squeeze out the time to return to the empire and take another group photo with the grown Xie Yinxing.
Donna leaned against the head of the bed, looked at the group photo for a long time, and murmured. “A man who doesn’t even care about his own family, a man who can’t even accompany his daughter growing up, what kind of hero is he?”
“But…” Xie Yinxing laid herself in Donna’s arms and said, “Father is just father, different from His Excellency Laurent.”
The girl grabbed her mother’s finger and said seriously. “Although His Excellency Laurent is also very gentle and has always been very kind to mother and Xingxing, Xingxing doesn’t want his father to become His Excellency Laurent. In that case, the original father will disappear. “
Donna was startled, and after a while, she slowly smiled. There was some bitterness in that smile, and some more complicated and indescribable emotions, “…Xingxing is right.”
“This year’s New Year’s Eve, we will not go to His Excellency Laurent’s mansion, nor will we go to other noble’s mansions either.”
Donna turned off the bedroom light for her daughter. In the dark, she closed her eyes and kissed Xie Yinxing’s forehead. “It will be just Mother and Xingxing alone.”
