Ji Ting furrowed his brow. "Why are you here?"
Qin Zaiye wasted no words. "The troops originally stationed here are leaving to participate in military exercises in the Central Theater Command, so we're taking over guard duty for six months."
Ji Ting's brow relaxed, but his expression grew colder. "You said you would serve your sentence."
"I always keep my promises. I already served my time, but it was only four months and twelve days because my sentence was reduced twice."
Ji Ting looked at him without blinking. "Were those two reductions because of your father?"
Had anyone else asked that question, Qin Zaiye would have taken it as mockery and gotten angry. But he could tell Ji Ting meant nothing of the sort. He simply wanted to know the answer.
Following that line of reasoning, he gave the most convincing answer he could. "Given your current importance to the country, no one would dare break the rules on this matter. If you have any doubts, you can immediately request a review from the Inspection Department."
His guess was right. After hearing that, Ji Ting said nothing, merely nodded and turned to leave.
"Ji Ting."
"Anything else?"
Qin Zaiye fell silent for a moment, then said in a tone that sounded utterly unfamiliar to him, "You look pale. Are you ill?"
"No need for your concern." With that, Ji Ting returned to his dorm room and closed the door behind him.
Qin Zaiye stood outside the door for quite a while before turning to leave.
After a brief three-hour rest, Ji Ting woke with his head so foggy that he repeatedly considered skipping lunch.
But remembering his promise to Ji Yanzhi, he forced himself out of bed.
The lunch rush was already over, and the cafeteria was sparsely occupied, with