Chapter 152 - 51: Vice Admiral Invites

"When did you figure it out? So suddenly. Was it yesterday? She asked you to save her, but you didn’t, then came to me after she framed me?" Hu Ping was surprised at how much his brother valued him.

Ji Heng: "You’re not important."

Hu Ping wasn’t annoyed; instead, he was happier. "Tell me, secretly share your thought process with your brother."

"My brother said, you can’t always want everything. Compared to marriage, I want a future more, and Su Xiaocai can give me more of what I want." Although learning from someone younger seems unbelievable, Su Xiaocai felt more like a miraculous big sister to him.

Unable to earn her trust, she would never truly teach him.

Perhaps she saw his determination, so she gave him the chance to lead today, advising him on what to do through the communicator.

Hu Ping: "Brother Ji is noble-minded, a saint reborn. Su Xiaocai is so alluring; if it were me, I’d choose her too. Even with a dozen or eight girlfriends, I’d still choose her."

Ji Heng: "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Liu Xun chimed in: "That’s why Brother Hu said he could give up a sea for Su Xiaocai, because he never owned that sea in the first place."

That hit hard, brother.

"Why are you eavesdropping on our brotherly conversation, you gossip-fiend?"

"You were buzzing in my ear, I’m not deaf."

Su Xiaocai chuckled, well done, Ji Heng was successfully turned, and Xue Huiyi had one less ally.

She never denied having a small group, but her small group wasn’t targeting anyone.

Focusing on what she wants to do, heading towards the goal of world peace.

Stubborn Xue Huiyi insisted on being an enemy, so Su Xiaocai had to play some tricks to "force" Ji Heng to choose sides.

Ji Heng abandoning Xue Huiyi was partly due to Xue Huiyi’s own actions.

If not for her actions, everyone could have coexisted peacefully.

At the cafeteria for a late-night snack, Ji Heng was still looking around, only seeing some of Xue Huiyi’s teammates, Xue Huiyi wasn’t there.

He suspected Xue Huiyi was avoiding him, but he had no evidence.

Giving up practice in the special training team was voluntary; he’d find another chance to talk later.

On the fifth day on Mechanical Planet, Su Xiaocai made the prize cooking robots; the pink one that could tell dry jokes was Sister Liang’s.

Liu Xun’s was made brown, dirt-resistant, very suitable for a single dog like him.

Patrolling the base station went smoothly, and a group returned happily, one soldier came to ask Su Xiaocai to come along.

Fan Li recognized the soldier’s identity, Admiral Bai’s assistant, also a colonel. Only rank Major General and above could ask such a high-ranking soldier to run errands.

Su Xiaocai was prepared, looking relaxed, "Sure, but could you bring me a meal? I’m hungry."

The colonel said no problem, she wasn’t a criminal or a suspect, and could enjoy the treatment of a full meal.

"Master, did you do something?" two roommates held Su Xiaocai and asked, having known her for so long, they all knew Su Xiaocai was definitely a brave soul willing to take risks.

They were just afraid she’d done something behind their backs, offended the Military Department, and they’d be unsure how to save her.

Su Xiaocai smiled, finally willing to come, she thought they’d drag it out for a few days.

"Don’t worry," Su Xiaocai stopped Wu Qingqing who wanted to come along, blinking, "I need to talk to the people above about something, probably about the game, wish me success."

Teammates were expressionless: shouldn’t have worried about this.

They guessed it might be a result of Captain Tai’s connections coming into play.

With her mind made up, Su Xiaocai followed that colonel.

The colonel led her to a military restricted zone, a place where students and outsiders were not allowed.

Passing through several metal doors, arriving at the underground basement level, she entered a simply designed office.

Su Xiaocai saw Admiral Bai, as the students called him.

Wearing a crisp military uniform with an impressive aura.

On seeing him, Su Xiaocai felt like a startled cat, goosebumps rising like a bristling cat.

Her instinct told her this person was extremely strong, stronger than anyone she’d met.

Admiral Bai’s appearance wasn’t circulated online, but his fierce reputation was well-known, people said he looked fierce.

This wasn’t a description of his persona but of his appearance.

Indeed, Admiral Bai’s appearance was quite unfriendly.

Su Xiaocai raised her guard, adjusted her mindset, and saluted, "Military Training student Su Xiaocai reporting, hello, Admiral Bai."

"You’re not my soldier, no need to be so nervous, have a seat."

Su Xiaocai quickly pulled out a chair, leaning back comfortably like a relaxed fish.

Admiral Bai laughed, which made him look even fiercer.

"You don’t seem afraid of me."

"As you said, I’m not your soldier, no need to fear you," as long as she didn’t make mistakes, she wouldn’t be punished by military discipline.

Pretending to be calm, Su Xiaocai observed the room she was in.

This seemed to be just a reception room; the bookshelf on the wall was purely for show, who came up with the bright idea to place romance novels on it.

What caught Su Xiaocai’s attention the most was the small potted plant on the table, "Can I take a look at that cactus?"

Admiral Bai: "As you wish."

Su Xiaocai picked up the small pot, the cactus was well cared for, green and juicy, with buds at the top ready to bloom.

Touching its spines, they moved, shyly clustering together, rejecting the intruder.

Quite cute indeed.

There was no such plant on Su’s Planet, cacti being hardy, Daddy Su hadn’t introduced them, he preferred challenging, high-difficulty flowers.

Like his approach when repairing mecha, he loved high difficulty.

Su Xiaocai wasn’t picky; as long as it was a plant, she liked it, just worried about causing biological invasions.

Admiral Bai observed, watching Su Xiaocai endlessly playing with the cactus, even poking at the soil to look at the roots.

The file stated that Su Xiaocai’s hobby was farming, her aspiration was also farming; initially, he thought the reality of this was dubious, but after meeting Su Xiaocai, he understood her gaze at plants could truly be called obsession.

There’s an old saying that the greener the thumb, the more you enjoy playing with plants.

Su Xiaocai might be a novice at hands-on farming, but it didn’t stop her from loving it.

Admiral Bai: "Do you know why I called you here?"

"Why?" Su Xiaocai didn’t take the bait, some things shouldn’t be admitted upfront, if Admiral Bai didn’t say it, she steadfastly played dumb.

Admiral Bai chuckled lightly, a clever little bean.

The colonel returned, knocking and bringing in a meal, the pushcart loaded with sufficient food for five people.

Admiral Bai didn’t like wasting food: "Did I not say skip my portion?"

The colonel: "This is all for Su."

Admiral Bai was speechless.

A beast’s appetite.

The profile said nothing about that.

Su Xiaocai: "Thank you, Colonel Brother, love it, all my favorite foods."

The colonel, younger and single, wasn’t used to flirting, and his ears turned red, "Take your time eating; Admiral, I’ll head out first."

"Don’t flirt with my soldiers so casually."

"Admiral, what are you thinking? I’m only sixteen, not even an adult," Su Xiaocai said, looking at the dishes, "Mind if I chat while eating?"

Admiral Bai was lenient with the little girl, "Do as you please."

He then sat down too, "You contacted a mine’s sales employee two days ago, why did you contact him?"

Su Xiaocai took a bite of her meal first, "Looks like he really got into trouble."

Admiral Bai: "Be serious."

Su Xiaocai furrowed her brow, "Looks like he really got into trouble."

That wasn’t acting!

Before Admiral Bai’s patience wore out, Su Xiaocai candidly said, "Admiral, since you’re asking like this, you’ve investigated the situation. Back then that sales employee was beaten, and it was indeed I who helped him. The beating was due to someone disappearing, and he was the only one who escaped, then got beaten by the missing person’s family."

The small employee was in a full state of confusion, as if unaware of the situation.

Details didn’t need to be stated outright.

Su Xiaocai said, "Whether he was acting or not, there are definitely issues. Naturally, I’m curious about the follow-up."

At first, Su Xiaocai leaned towards the employee acting, as there were hidden cues in his words.

She asked the employee to get a medical checkup just to test him.