36: Shock

After resting for most of the day, Yan Zhuohua finally recovered. Due to exhaustion—but actually out of embarrassment from being carried back all the way at noon—Yan Zhuohua's dinner was brought up by Yan Qinghe to the bedroom to eat.

And that bowl of Nourishing Tonic Soup.

Early Sunday morning, Yan Qinghe woke Yan Zhuohua up. After breakfast, he took Yan Zhuohua, Mom, and Second Brother to the study on the fifth floor.

They were going to discuss the weapons project there.

Mom and Second Brother are both Researchers, working at their own Research Institute while also holding positions at the official Research Institute.

This weapons research project was developed by Mom, Second Brother, and a Researcher from the Fu Family along with several official ones. They had worked on the preliminary research for this project in secret for over twenty years—so secret that no one except a few Researchers and direct official leaders knew that the Yan Family and Fu Family had collaborated to such an extent.

From the personnel allocation and research time, one could see why this weapon could be called epoch-making. It was now the year 322, and weapons research in various countries had never stopped, making great progress. However, since the last generation of weapons, there had been no major breakthroughs in this area for nearly a hundred years. This also meant that if any country could develop a new type of weapon first, its military capability would leap to the top of the world in one fell swoop, and by a massive margin at that.

Therefore, various countries had increased their investment in weapons research, and Huaxia was about to achieve significant results after years of research.

This was the origin of the project.

In the study, Second Brother Yan Zhuoyan briefly introduced this weapon. Everyone could understand it this way: it was a first-generation version of a common setting in interstellar novels—a "flying mecha."

After listening to Yan Zhuoyan's introduction, Yan Zhuohua basically understood. Speaking of which, if this weapon successfully became a standard military weapon, perhaps E-sports Players would become highly sought after. Because operating a mecha quickly and making corresponding judgments and operations based on rapidly changing situations required extremely high hand speed, accurate judgment, and strong psychological quality. It was very similar to what E-sports Players do on the field.

It's just that e-sports seemed like an embryonic version of the operation, and it didn't require a high level of education. Operating a mecha would require ten or even dozens of times more skill buttons, as well as sufficient knowledge reserves.

Because of this, Yan Zhuohua might become the first person to Test Pilot the mecha. As a family member of a Researcher, his relevant knowledge reserves, while not professional, far exceeded those of ordinary people; his training since childhood gave him excellent physical fitness and military literacy; his five years of experience as an E-sports Player could barely be counted as "work experience"; and as a member of the Yan Family, his loyalty was definitely sufficient.

Yan Zhuohua was so shocked by these analyses that he was speechless. He thought he was just doing odd jobs for Yan Qinghe, but he didn't expect to turn into the protagonist.

Mom Jiang Fuyue saw his shocked expression and explained with a smile, "Don't worry, the Fu Family also has an alternative Test Pilot. His situation is very similar to yours—he has knowledge, childhood training, and sufficient loyalty—it's just that his evaluation values in various categories aren't as high as yours. Everyone was originally planning to choose Fu Yifeng, but knowing you came back two months ago, we temporarily added you to the shortlist."

"Then didn't I steal his job?"

"No, this matter is of great importance. To succeed, everyone must choose the best one, so no one will have an objection, including the Fu Family and Fu Yifeng. Besides, there can be more than one Test Pilot."

Yan Zhuohua understood; he had returned at such a perfect time that he had essentially delivered himself to their doorstep.

After explaining clearly, Yan Zhuoyan introduced the relevant materials again.

The content regarding the preliminary project was also clearer now. Once the mecha testing was confirmed to be error-free, it would go into production, which required pre-stocking some unimportant but high-volume components. This was the main focus of the preliminary project.

After understanding his task clearly, Yan Zhuohua left the study with a shocked heart.

The amount of information received over the past two days was too much, and his state of mind was constantly fluctuating. Yan Zhuohua felt he needed a good release to organize his thoughts and mood.

So, Yan Zhuohua spent the whole afternoon on the bed in the bedroom.

The matter was simple. In short, Yan Qinghe knew Yan Zhuohua wanted to do something to release his emotions, so he rejected his plan to go skydiving at the Military Camp on the grounds that time was too tight and rushed. Instead, he stubbornly used his status as the head of the household to choose a way to let Yan Zhuohua vent that was more physically and mentally pleasurable.

How should I put it? It was simply "shameless!"

In the evening, Yan Zhuohua lay on the bed expressionless, staring blankly at the ceiling. He really couldn't figure out how Yan Qinghe came up with such a hooligan-like act of debauchery in broad daylight. And "physically and mentally pleasurable"—did he have no idea who was the one actually enjoying it? Was he just going to throw caution to the wind and stop hiding after revealing his true face?

Thinking of Second Brother's perverted smile when he was dragged back to the room by Yan Qinghe after lunch, Yan Zhuohua wanted to go live on Mars. "You've lost your wife, Yan Qinghe."

Unaware that he had already lost his wife, Yan Qinghe was busy in the kitchen dishing out a portion of dinner for his wife to take upstairs.

Under everyone's gaze as if he were a hooligan, he was completely undaunted. He even proactively asked for a bowl of Nourishing Tonic Soup for Yan Zhuohua and asked his cousin if the prescription from last time could still be used.

Jiang Fuyue suddenly wanted to do another DNA test; she couldn't quite accept that she would give birth to such a thick-skinned son.

Fortunately, Yan Zhuohua didn't know what was happening downstairs; otherwise, he would have died of shame and indignation on the spot.

When Yan Qinghe came in with dinner, Yan Zhuohua was still playing dead on the bed. Yan Qinghe finally felt a bit guilty now. He tentatively approached Yan Zhuohua and took his hand, "Are you still uncomfortable? Eat first, and after dinner, I'll give you a massage, okay?"

Yan Zhuohua didn't want to talk to him.

"I know I was wrong. Please forgive me, don't be angry anymore."

"You might not find those words familiar, but my ears are tired of hearing them!"

"I promise, I won't touch you for the next few days, okay?"

"..." A bit tempted! "How many days?"

"This week. I won't touch you for this entire week!"

Yan Zhuohua became happy; he didn't expect that being angry would bring an unexpected pleasant surprise.

"Then you're not allowed to be so blatant at home anymore. With so many people around, I'm very embarrassed. I don't even know how to face them. I have my dignity too."

Seeing him speak, Yan Qinghe immediately agreed unconditionally, "Alright, alright, I promise, I won't let you lose face again!"

Only then was Yan Zhuohua completely satisfied. He haughtily accepted Yan Qinghe's service and got up to eat dinner.

While carefully feeding Yan Zhuohua bite by bite, Yan Qinghe watched his tsundere and proud little expression. Yan Qinghe's gaze as he looked at Yan Zhuohua was full of tenderness. So cute!