Housewarming Joy

Later, Jing Yi helped fish things into their bowls, but the ingredients cooked in the hotpot had all gone limp. The seasoning bowls were so cramped that even using spoons felt awkward. In short, no matter how they looked at it, they could never match the effortless flair of Jing Yi's wooden sticks!

This meal had yielded three main results—

First, they had completely "forgotten" their disgust toward bug meat. By the end, they fished out whatever was in the pot. Bug meat was delicious, with an exceptionally springy texture that far surpassed all the other ingredients, including meatballs and vegetables. Later on, people were even fighting over it—they simply couldn't stop!

Second, through tremendous perseverance and wisdom, they had mastered the once-disdained little wooden sticks—chopsticks—in just a few minutes. At any rate, they looked no worse than Jing Yi, one of the Earth people who had used them for over twenty years. Sure enough, motivation led to breakthroughs. The ancients had not deceived him.

Third, they had no choice but to acknowledge Jing Xiao Yi's status as a culinary god of his generation. He could turn the rotten into the miraculous. Compared to hotpot, every delicacy they had tasted in their lives before this was nothing. Yang Chun even seemed to take some mischievous pleasure in sympathizing with his good brother Grey Eagle. There was a kind of missing out called leaving just as hotpot started cooking at home...

—Ah, they had clearly been discussing serious matters. How had hotpot lured them so far off topic?

Back to the original scene!

After eating and drinking his fill, General Chen asked Jing Yi comfortably, "Little Jing, your genetic compatibility has now been rechecked. What are you planning to do next?"

Jing Yi smiled and took the opportunity to ask, "I actually really want to stay with the military. The longer I've spent here, the more reluctant I've become to leave the place where Amon once struggled, and to leave you and your wife. I just don't know whether, as a widower, I'm qualified to remain here... The Military District has plenty of housing for military families, doesn't it? If the military hasn't taken back the residence that was assigned to Amon, could I live there?"

General Chen pondered. "But the Qin Family..."

"I don't want to go to the Qin Family!" Jing Yi said with complete sincerity. "I'm not afraid you'll laugh at me. You saw what happened at the wedding that day. I made the Qin Family lose so much face, and the Jing Family I was born into won't care about me either. I wouldn't be comfortable living with the Qin Family! I already hated the feeling of living in a big family before. The Qin Family is several times more complicated than the Jing Family. Just thinking about that kind of life makes me shudder! So as long as there's even the slightest possibility, I don't want to go to the Qin Family!"

"Oh?" General Chen gave him a knowing half-smile. "You're no longer using Qin Meng as a pretext?"

"I knew I couldn't hide it from you... But I won't admit to using Amon as a pretext!" Jing Yi said, a little embarrassed. "I really do feel that living in the Military District would bring me closer to him. These past few days have practically been the most relaxed and happy days of my life. And think about it—if I dragged the Qin Family into this, setting aside whether that would be unfair, if the impact spread further, Amon's spirit in heaven wouldn't be happy either. I admit there was an element of deliberate guidance in what I told my fans, but apart from that, I wasn't going against my heart. Emergencies call for expedients. I hope you can understand."

General Chen nodded in satisfaction. "The fact that you can admit this to me at least proves you're not a foolish idiot who thinks himself clever. Guiding public opinion can indeed be very effective at times, but I need to remind you not to overdo it. Qin Zhengyu is no fool. On the contrary, he's an old fox who has become a demon. Don't anger him. When he feels there's no need to lower himself to your level, everything is easy to discuss. But if he becomes determined to make things difficult for you, then no matter how much you struggle, he'll have plenty of ways to teach you a lesson."

Those were the words of an experienced elder. Jing Yi understood that ordinary people would never get the chance to hear even a single reminder from General Chen, so he felt no displeasure at all. He nodded. "I know. No matter how overconfident I might be, I wouldn't think a minister would be easy to deal with. But what else could I do? I have no bargaining chips. I could only force myself to act. If I did something, there was still a chance I could avoid going to the Qin Family. If I did nothing, I could only be kept like a caged pet."

"You're wrong," General Chen said with a smile, tapping the table with his finger. "You've forgotten that I'm still standing on your side."

Author's note: [Good morning, little fairies~~~] [Yang Chun: Qin Mengmeng, we had hotpot today! Let me show you the pictures!] [Qin Mengmeng: ...I'm going to kill you!]

Housewarming Joy

When General Chen told Jing Yi, "You've forgotten that I'm still standing on your side," Jing Yi felt reassured, but he still underestimated the weight of those words.

Zhang Qiu and his group were politely sent away, without even getting to see Jing Yi one last time.

From that day onward, the Qin Family and the Jing Family seemed to vanish without a trace. Jing Yi remained on guard for a long while before finally believing that he was truly safe for the time being. He could stay in the Military District, where his sense of security was overflowing, and live, study, and work without fearing that a pack of wolves and tigers would come rushing in at any moment, drag him back to their lair, tear him apart, and eat him.

Why hadn't he realized General Chen had so much authority before? Jing Yi, who knew little about the ranks and powers of Mi Star people officials, was utterly confused. Based on what he had seen, he had always thought General Chen and Qin Zhengyu were roughly on the same level—mutually wary of each other and needing to save face for one another. At most, General Chen had a slight edge. In any case, he had never imagined the gap would be enough for a complete crushing advantage.