Chapter 41: Men’s Aesthetics
’Rich people always put on such airs. How could they possibly condescend to listen to an orphan girl?’
The Director was silent for a long time.
Jian Yu was still waiting for advice. "Mom?"
"Yes, I’m here." The Director snapped out of her daze.
Her lips trembled as she mumbled, "They didn’t force you, did they? With your health, you can’t be reckless."
Even in a different world, the Director’s warnings were exactly the same.
It was no different from a copy-and-paste.
"You absolutely can’t have a child. In your current condition, having a baby would be a death sentence! You should break up with them rather than let them tie you down with a child."
She knew Jian Yu well and was aware that the girl was prone to flights of fancy.
Never having been in a relationship really makes a difference. She saw men, especially handsome ones who looked like they’d stepped right out of a comic, through some seriously rose-colored glasses.
"A little kiss, a hug, holding hands... that’s enough to satisfy your curiosity. Don’t take your health for granted. Just... just think of them as useful connections. I can tell they’re not ordinary people."
"Also, don’t rush to cozy up to the rich and powerful. Try to keep a low profile. It’s easy to offend people before you’ve figured out the situation."
"You worked so hard to get into Weis Lan Academy. The most important thing is to find a cure for all your strange ailments. When you have free time, make sure to talk with your professors."
"Don’t think your professors are a bother. Once you leave Weis Lan Academy, you won’t have access to people like that anymore. You should count yourself lucky that they’re willing to answer your questions."
The Director was long-winded.
Jian Yu listened very attentively.
Finally, the Director got back to the main point.
"What you should want from them is pure love, or even their favoritism, but it can never be the kind of affection a noble shows to a subordinate."
’How is that any different from playing with a kitten or a puppy?’
As for them not listening to you...
The Director thought for a moment. "You could give them nicknames. Call them by their full names when you’re angry, and use their nicknames as a reward. Make them get lost in the sound of you calling them."
She asked Jian Yu what their names were.
After she heard them, she fell silent again.
’They still sound so familiar.’
’Maybe they’re just similar-sounding names?’
Ling Yanzhi? Xi Yu?
The Director pondered, "It’s hard to come up with good ones... How about just Ah Yu? Or Yanyan?"
Jian Yu played with the bubbles in the bathtub for a moment. "Yanyan? Ayue?"
At first, the Director thought the names were a bit strange and didn’t sound particularly good.
But when the names were spoken by Jian Yu, the Director’s heart melted into a puddle, and her ears tingled at the sound.
She had Jian Yu whisper the names twice more, listening carefully for any sounds on the other end.
Only after confirming the two men weren’t around did the Director dare to speak. "Do you remember what I told you before you boarded the starship?"
"Not to bleed?" Jian Yu looked up. She knew something was off with the Director.
"There’s something... I don’t know how to tell you. I’ve kept this to myself for a very long time. If they hadn’t asked today, and if you hadn’t come to the Imperial Capital Star, I don’t think I would have ever brought it up."
The Director’s voice grew distant as she drifted into her memories.
Ever since she was a child, Jian Yu had suffered from a host of strange illnesses that could never be diagnosed.
When she was four, her right leg swelled to a frightening size. The doctors suspected it was some kind of tumor.
But the scans didn’t show anything.
The medical equipment on Digital Star 666 was primitive. The diagnosis was inconclusive, so they didn’t dare to operate.
Jian Yu was in terrible pain, but she never cried out. She just bit down on her blanket, looking so pitiful.
Feeling helpless and her heart aching for the girl, the Director took her to other planets.
While waiting at the space station, she overheard two people whispering to each other, their faces flushed with excitement.
They were talking about selling something to make a huge profit.
The Director didn’t want to get involved, so she moved away after overhearing a few words.
Who would have known they were actually smuggling Beast Fruits, a favorite food of Alien Beasts.
"On the way, our starship was attacked by Low-level Mutant Beasts."
There weren’t many Beast Fruits, but they attracted a lot of Flying Beasts.
The Mutated Beasts varied in size, but their lethality wasn’t high.
Their only special ability was that when the starship was making a spatial jump, they could flap their wings, using the airflow to intercept the vessel and disrupt its course and trajectory.
The scene was chaotic. She had only recently become the Director back then and wasn’t very level-headed, nor did she have much of a self-sacrificing spirit. She could only shield Jian Yu and hide in a corner.
The starship was filled with mostly ordinary people. The few Half-awakened on board had no Mechas or Contracted Beasts, and their spiritual power wasn’t strong enough to inflict any real damage on the Alien Beasts.
There were very few people capable of fighting back. Soon, the starship was forced to activate its protective shield, coming to a halt in the void of interstellar space.
"The protective shield broke. The ship deployed its emergency survival pods, but the Alien Beasts flew in, killing and injuring many people."
Screams, roars, and wails filled the air. Everything was a blur of blood.
"The strange thing was, from beginning to end, no Alien Beast came near us."
The man next to us, terrified of dying, grabbed me and tried to push me in front of him as a shield.
"And guess what happened?"
Jian Yu heard the Director swallow.
She had an inkling, but her memories were a blur. She couldn’t recall the details.
The Director quickly continued her story, so Jian Yu remained silent.
"You were so frightened that you coughed up a mouthful of blood. When you threw yourself into my arms crying, I was terrified too. All I could do was quickly cover your mouth."
As you coughed, blood trickled from your mouth, covering my hand.
An Alien Beast’s claw lunged at us, and I instinctively raised my hand to block it.
"The Alien Beast froze, as if it had been paralyzed. Its lunge stopped mid-air."
"My eyes were wide. I’m sure I wasn’t mistaken. From its body language, even the look in its eyes... I think it was afraid of me."
Military support arrived quickly. Before I could confirm anything else, the Alien Beast was driven off by a Half-awakened piloting a Mecha.
Afterward, I didn’t tell a soul. I thought I was the special one, so I kept it a secret from everyone.
The Director recalled feeling smug about it for a long time. She secretly investigated it for more than half a year.
I bought a small Alien Beast on the black market and tried to tame it, but it nearly bit me to death.
I bought it in the afternoon, and it had run away by midnight.
Still not giving up, I got my hands on an Exotic Beast Egg.
Turned out I’d been scammed. It was just a regular duck egg.
The life of a nobody isn’t worth much. Later, even though I realized the secret had to do with you, Jian Yu, I didn’t dare say anything.
The Director gave up. ’Tch. I knew something that good could never happen to me.’
Jian Yu broke out in a cold sweat.
The call ended, but the Director’s words still seemed to echo in her ears.
"I suspect your blood has a deterrent effect on Alien Beasts."
"At Weis Lan, you’ll have many opportunities to encounter Alien Beasts, but I hope you think things through carefully before deciding whether to investigate this further."
"You have a blood clotting disorder. You must keep this an absolute secret. Don’t tell anyone unless it’s absolutely necessary. If you were healthy, I’d rather you just lay low and earn a little money for me now and then."
Jian Yu collected herself and stood up with a loud SPLASH of water.
She put on her nightgown and walked out to the mirror.
The gown fell to her ankles. It was a blush-pink dress with ruffles, soft and smooth to the touch, with no other adornments.
The playful style, on her, took on an air of sweet innocence.
’Men’s taste... it probably won’t change even in tens of thousands of years.’