C113 – Adoptive Mother’s Communication

Because the location was chosen by Qiao An, with his character, it was naturally impossible for him to choose an expensive place to spend money. The finalised location was a small restaurant near the First Academy.

 

 

When he received the address, He Yishu sighed rather helplessly: “Qiao An is too good at saving money for me.”

 

 

Adrian smiled faintly, holding He Yishu’s hand, as they left the military headquarters and boarded the spaceship.

 

 

When they arrived at the restaurant, Qiao An and Zheng Juncheng were already sitting inside.

 

 

Seeing He Yishu, Qiao An subconsciously glanced towards Zheng Juncheng and said somewhat unnaturally, “You guys are here; sit down and order your food.”

 

 

He Yishu’s gaze deliberately turned twice between Qiao An and Zheng Juncheng before he took his seat with a smile. “I was going to treat you to a big meal, but the food in this restaurant is really good.”

 

 

After the four of them discussed and ordered the dishes, Qiao An began to stammer: “Xiao Shu, that… me…”

 

 

“What’s wrong with you?” He Yishu could guess what Qiao An was going to say, but he knowingly teased, “You’re even stammering; it can’t be that you have encountered any problems, right?”

 

 

“No, it’s just…” Qiao An’s face turned red.

 

 

Just when he was feeling very embarrassed and didn’t know how to speak, a warm hand rested on the back of his hand, and Zheng Juncheng, who was sitting beside him, spoke steadily, “Qiao An and I have become lovers.”

 

 

Qiao An’s hand shook slightly, but he didn’t shrink back; he only lowered his head even further, looking very shy.

 

 

“So you guys are already together; congratulations.” He Yishu looked smilingly at Qiao An, who couldn’t wait for his whole body to shrink directly under the table, and intentionally said, as if he had come to a sudden realisation, “But in this case, it seems that this meal should be even more of a treat for you guys; after all, becoming lovers is very worth celebrating.”

 

 

He Yishu was only trying to make a joke, but Zheng Juncheng said very seriously, “Today is my treat.”

 

 

Qiao An also blushed and said, “Or… let me do it; it really should be a treat.”

 

 

He Yishu couldn’t help but laugh out loud: “I’m just kidding; let me treat you today no matter what; after all, I’ve made lots and lots and lots of money today; as for the two of you, it’s better to treat us to dinner another day.”

 

 

“But…” Qiao An wanted to say something else but was interrupted by He Yishu.

 

 

He Yishu deliberately laughed and teased, “I know you and Zheng Juncheng must be very happy together, but even if you’re happy, there’s no rush today.”

 

 

Hearing this, Qiao An had no choice but to obediently keep his mouth shut, but his face seemed to get redder.

 

 

After the food was served, the four of them chatted as they ate, and as they talked, they came to the matter of the Mecha Competition.

 

 

Now that the Mecha Competition was nearing its end, the final would soon come, and as long as both Qiao An and He Yishu weren’t eliminated, then one day they would meet on the field.

 

 

He Yishu smiled and said to Qiao An, “When we meet on the field, just let the two of them fight, and the two of us will just watch from the sidelines.”

 

 

Qiao An knew very well that the reason why He Yishu said this was because if he were to use his Han character rune cards on the field, there was no way that he and Zheng Juncheng could be their opponents.

 

 

But if He Yishu didn’t use the Han character rune card, in fact, this itself was a kind of concession; after all, the rules of the competition didn’t state that he couldn’t use the Han character card. Although he was stronger, he wouldn’t use them because he knew them, which made Qiao An feel a little guilty.

 

 

Seeing that Qiao An was silent, He Yishu waved his hand and said, “You don’t have to take this matter to heart; if you really mind, just learn how to make Han character rune cards first, and then we can have a good fight on the field again.”

 

 

Adrian also said at the side, “Xiao Yishu won’t just refrain from using the Han rune cards just because of you; he also refrained from using Han rune cards during the first double duel, but we still won.”

 

 

Adrian’s words weren’t just relieving Qiao An, but also telling him that even if He Yishu didn’t use his Han rune card, the victory or defeat of this battle might not change.

 

 

Although these words were slightly rude, Qiao An felt better after hearing them, but no matter what, he knew very well that, at least in this match, the reason why He Yishu didn’t use the Han rune card was mostly because of him: “Thank you.”

 

 

Zheng Juncheng, however, looked straight at Adrian and said, “You’re right, the outcome of this match is indeed unknown.”

 

 

Although Zheng Juncheng’s mental energy level was only A+, his mecha control ability had reached S-class, so he still had the strength to fight it out when he met Adrian on the field.

 

 

Adrian’s dark green eyes faintly swept over Zheng Juncheng and he didn’t say anything more, only reaching out to give He Yishu a piece of his favourite braised meat.

 

 

For a guy who had just gotten into a relationship and was eager to show off in front of his lover, Adrian wasn’t so concerned about him, not to mention that the only thing he cared about was He Yishu’s opinion, and as for other people, he really didn’t have the heart to care about that much.

 

 

He Yishu swallowed the braised meat in one mouthful, satisfaction immediately written all over his face, and the small sabre-rattling atmosphere that had just risen completely dissipated.

 

 

Ending the topic about the match, the four of them continued to eat in a harmonious atmosphere; however, just as the meal was about to come to an end, Qiao An’s light device suddenly rang, and when he looked down, it displayed an unfamiliar communication number.

 

 

The few people present, other than Adrian, were all on good terms with Qiao An, and after thinking about it, he didn’t avoid it and directly accepted the request.

 

 

As soon as the communication was connected, a voice came from inside that made Qiao An very surprised; it was exceptionally familiar: “Xiao An, this is mom; I’ve finally gotten in touch with you.”

 

 

Qiao An’s heart skipped a beat. He Yishu, sitting opposite him, directly frowned. He Yishu had heard this voice before; it was the adoptive mother who had already severed ties with Qiao An.

 

 

After experiencing the entanglement of his adoptive parents before, Qiao An finally gathered the courage to follow He Yishu’s example and directly added the contact numbers of these people to the blacklist. However, he didn’t expect that the other party would use a different contact number to contact him.

 

 

In just a moment, the harmonious atmosphere faded, and Qiao An subconsciously clenched his fists.

 

 

After a moment of silence, the voice at the other end of the communication came again: “Xiao An, are you still thinking about Mom’s anger? I have already explained to you before that it was your father who forced me to severe ties with you, and I was also forced to do so.”

 

 

Qiao An really didn’t want to continue hearing such false words. He took a deep breath, interrupted the other party’s voice that was full of apologies and helplessness, and directly asked, “May I ask what it is that you want?”

 

 

The other party was silent again for a moment before tentatively saying, “Xiao An, mom has something very important to tell you; can you promise to meet with mom?”

 

 

After experiencing all the brutal facts before, coupled with He Yishu’s subtle influence, the current Qiao An would no longer be as fearful as he was at first, when he didn’t dare say or do anything: “If there is really something very important, please say it straight away, otherwise I’m going to hang up.”

 

 

“Don’t hang up yet!” Qiao An’s foster mother’s voice sounded very anxious, and then she choked in a low voice, “Xiao An, mom knows that mom treated you badly in the past and made you suffer a lot of grievances, but you also have to understand mom; after all, you’re not mom’s biological son, and for mom to be able to raise you to such a high age, I’ve already been very responsible, right?”

 

 

If it were He Yishu, when he heard such words, he would definitely directly hang up without saying a word, but Qiao An’s character was completely different from his; even though his brows had already frowned deeply and one of his hands had already been half raised, ready to press the end button at any time, Qiao An still didn’t really hang up directly.

 

 

“We don’t have any relationships now; that’s something I’ve said many times before.” Qiao An’s voice sounded cold and resolute, but his actions had actually highlighted the softness in his heart.

 

 

“I know, I know that we don’t have any relationship now, and you’re not obligated to do anything for mom anymore, but mom really had no choice but to contact you.” Qiao An’s adoptive mother cried even harder: “Ever since your father was released by the military department, he’s had a drastic change in temperament, and he’s either hit or scolded me and your brother. Mum now really can’t stand this kind of life anymore. Xiao An, save mum, oooh. Please save mum.”

 

 

Qiao An’s adoptive mother’s voice was filled with suppression and pain, and if one didn’t understand the previous situation and directly listened to her say this, one might still mistake her for a very pitiful mother.

 

 

However, the four people present were all very clear about those events in the Qiao family, so none of them were able to feel even the slightest bit of sympathy for her.

 

 

Listening to his adoptive mother’s suppressed sobs, Qiao An remained silent for a long while before he spoke, “I’m sorry, I really don’t have any relationship with you anymore, and I need to remind you that you were the one who initiated the dissolution of the relationship with me in the first place.”

 

 

Although there was still a slight softness in his heart, after all his previous experiences, Qiao An had already seen the true colours of these people clearly and would definitely not allow himself to do anything foolish because of his softness!

 

 

Qiao An’s adoptive mother’s crying came to an abrupt end because of these words. A moment later, she said even more pleadingly, “Xiao An, even if you refuse to help mother, I won’t blame you; after all, it is true that mother did too many things wrong before, which made you so disheartened, and all of this is my fault… but right now, I only have one last request, and that is, I hope to be able to see you for a while, okay?”

 

 

This time, Qiao An was silent for a much longer period of time, and apart from his adoptive mother, who held her breath, the remaining three people in the room had their eyes on him, likewise waiting for his answer.

 

 

After a long interval, Qiao An sighed heavily. “I’m sorry, I won’t see you again, and please don’t contact me in the future.”

 

 

After saying these words, Qiao An’s hand finally pressed on the option to end the communication, and then he directly added her number to his blacklist.

 

---