The Yao Family

Knock, knock.

"A-Qing, it's four o'clock. You can get off work now."

Ers's voice came from outside the door. He stood at the entrance to the consultation room right on time, his black uniform gilded pale gold by the setting sun. Even his usually stern features had softened a little.

"Hm? Is it that late already?" Yuqing rubbed her aching eyes, leaving their corners faintly red. The screen of the smart device in front of her was still lit, open to page 57 of the guide behavior manual.

She had spent the whole afternoon at her desk, with 01010 making her cram the basics of Federation guides. From pheromone matching rules to bonding heat cycles, from Spirit Toxin classifications to Berserk State emergency plans, a mass of information had filled her head. She hadn't even noticed the daylight fading outside.

She tapped the appointment list on the side of the screen, puzzled. "But there's still one sentinel who hasn't shown up for his appointment."

Ers glanced at the screen. His gaze landed on the last name on the list, marked with a scarlet warning, and he paused for only a second before understanding. "Lin He?"

"Right." Yuqing nodded, her fingertip pausing over the row of data, every figure highlighted in red. "His file said his condition was pretty serious, so I wanted to give him a thorough examination."

Besides, his condition was complicated. If she could soothe him successfully, her spiritual power could rise another level, bringing her another step closer to piloting a mecha!

"Let's go back first. He probably won't come today." Ers walked in and helped put the scattered medicine tubes on her desk back in the medicine cabinet.

He and Lin He had been transferred from the Central Military District to the Ninth Military District at the same time. When they were still recruits, they had gone on border missions together and fought off beast tides side by side. He knew better than anyone how difficult and reclusive Lin He could be.

Yuqing picked up her canvas bag and followed him out, but she couldn't resist asking, "Why? Was he sent on a mission at the last minute?"

Ers paused, lowering his eyes to glance at her. A barely perceptible complexity entered his voice.

"He's too withdrawn. For years, all he's cared about has been missions and training. He hardly interacts with anyone." He paused, his voice growing softer. "More importantly... he's probably afraid you won't like him."

Yuqing stared. "Won't like him?"

"His Spirit Entity is a black python, a cold-blooded species, and it's highly venomous." Ers glanced toward the end of the corridor, in the direction of the Dark Prison. His tone was even, but it held a trace of empathy as a fellow sentinel. "His mother disliked him because of his Spirit Entity ever since he was little. After he got into military school, he practically cut off contact with his family. Five years ago, his spiritual contamination reached the critical threshold, and he requested a transfer to the Ninth Military District."

"Two years later, his mother's family was brought down by political rivals. His younger brothers were talented but not hardworking enough to get into the Federation First Military Academy. But Federation military schools have a rule: if a family has a major general serving in the military, he can recommend them for extra points. Only then did his mother and her family find out he'd been transferred to the Ninth Military District..."

Yuqing pursed her lips, the glaring red in his file flashing through her mind again. She felt uneasy. "And then? Lin He definitely didn't help them, right?"

"Lin He didn't help them, but the Yao Family exploited a loophole in the regulations. The Ninth Military District's circumstances are unusual, and its casualty rate remains high, so the government offers Ninth District soldiers and their relatives many benefits every year. The Yao Family used their connection to Lin He to get quite a few benefits, and several of his younger brothers were admitted to military school." Ers continued:

"The Yao Family has made plenty of inquiries about how Lin He's been doing over the years..."

"Why? Did their consciences finally wake up?" Yuqing pressed.

Ers shook his head. "Because a huge sum is paid out when a Ninth Military District general dies in the line of duty-enough to return the Yao Family to high society."

Yuqing: Fuck, I want to punch someone.

"Wait, what gives the Yao Family the right to take it?!"

"Because Lin He is the only one left in the Lin Family. There's no one left on his father's side, so the survivor benefits and compensation naturally go to his mother's family, unless..."

"Unless what?" Yuqing really felt a little sorry for Lin He now.

"Unless he has an exclusive guide. As his spouse, the guide would have the sole right of inheritance. No one else could take a share-not even his parents or children." Ers took Yuqing's hand and suddenly stopped walking.

She knew that. It had come up in the basics of interstellar society she had just crammed. After a guide and sentinel formed a deep spiritual bond, the sentinel's spiritual contamination would drop significantly thanks to the guide's deep intervention.

To encourage guides to accept more sentinels and maintain social stability and safety, both the Federation and the Empire had marriage laws that went to extremes to protect guides' interests. Once a bond was formed, most of the sentinel's property was transferred into the guide's name.

"A-Qing, I have a lot of money. Could you give me a chance to pursue you?"

"Oh... huh?" Yuqing was a little dumbfounded. How had the conversation jumped to this?

Before Yuqing could react, the smart device on her wrist vibrated several times.

[Whoa, Host, he transferred you so much money.]

[Holy crap, you got rich overnight.]

"I can't accept it." She didn't know how much Federation currency could buy, but that long string of zeros was enough to leave her stunned.

It was too much. She wouldn't accept it no matter what.

"It's too much, Ers." Yuqing tried to reason with him.

"It's a small token of my feelings. Please don't feel burdened. Even if you're unwilling to accept me, I'm giving it to you of my own free will." Ers held Yuqing's hand down, his attitude resolute.

[Host, you can put the money in a shared account. He can just take it out whenever he needs it.]

Shared accounts were the mainstream household accounts in interstellar society. It wasn't just guide and sentinel families; most ordinary families used shared accounts to manage their living expenses, with the purpose of every sum clearly marked. The only difference was that in large guide-sentinel families, the sentinels needed the guide's consent to use the funds available to them.

"Good idea!" Yuqing clapped her hands and turned to Ers. "Then let's open a shared account. You can still use the money as usual."

"A shared account?" Ers was stunned as a tremendous surprise struck him like a blow. That meant she had feelings for him. He had only just asked to pursue her, yet was he already receiving the treatment of a husband?!

"Yes. I don't really know how to go about it at the Federation Bank, so you can take care of it and deposit the money when it's ready." Yuqing had only just arrived, so it was perfectly natural that she didn't know how things were done in the Federation. She accordingly returned the transfer.

"All right, I'll take care of opening the account." The smile on Ers's lips deepened. He continued, "A-Qing, I also prepared a gift for you in your room."

"Really? What is it?!" Yuqing's curiosity was piqued. He tugged at Ers and pressed him for an answer, but Ers refused to reveal it.

"You'll find out when you get back." Ers squeezed Yuqing's hand. "You'll like it."