Chapter 82: Predicament

Jiang Miao had a dream. In it, the “dog man” returned, holding her in his arms, tenderly loving her, just like before.

She couldn’t help but murmur, “Yan He, where did you go?”

She wanted to say, “Come back quickly, there’s a man here who looks exactly like you. He says he’s you.”

But the man didn’t answer her; he just lowered his head and kissed her.

The man’s lips were deft, skilled. But they weren’t familiar to Jiang Miao.

This unfamiliar feeling jolted Jiang Miao awake from her dream.

Lingering around her nose was the scent of an unfamiliar man. This smell, completely foreign and intense, had none of her own scent mixed in, nor any sweet milky fragrance. It was purely and strongly masculine.

She raised her hand, pressing against the firm chest of an unfamiliar man.

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Yan He wiped the blood from his lip and didn’t answer the question. Instead, he asked, “Why not me?”

He said, “My face, my voice, my life. Why him and not me? The one who matches you… is me.”

Jiang Miao panted heavily.

“The match is only genetic,” she said. “A match only means that our genes combined can most likely avoid hereditary diseases and optimize the quality gene transmission. It doesn’t mean anything else!”

The room fell silent again.

After a long while, Yan He spoke: “But if it were me who met you…”

He believed that he too could have outstanding children and could become a couple with such an excellent woman like Jiang Miao. In Yan He’s mind, this was beyond doubt.

“You’re wrong.” Jiang Miao mercilessly shattered his illusion, “If it were you, you wouldn’t have come to the capital star circle, you wouldn’t have participated in the matching process in this area, and you wouldn’t have met me.”

Jiang Miao didn’t say that even if they met, the result might not be the same.

“Jiang Miao, right now, all I want is to have you to myself, completely and exclusively. I’m making this request with the promise to restrain myself. Will you accept?”

His words seemed to echo in her ears, as if he had made this request just yesterday.

Replacing him, even with someone who has the same face, would never yield the same result.

That man, in Jiang Miao’s heart, even if she didn’t know his real face or his past life experiences, was becoming clearer in form. At this moment, Jiang Miao could fully distinguish between Yan He and “Yan He.”

Facing Yan He, Jiang Miao sharply questioned, “Do you think he took the life that should have been yours? That because of him, you’re no longer trusted, your career is stalled, and thus you resent him and also me, Major?”

Yan He pressed his lips tightly together.

Jiang Miao took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“Well, that’s just ridiculous, Major.” She ruthlessly tore everything apart. “Everything you’re experiencing now is because, as a soldier, you failed your mission and got captured.”

“This has nothing to do with him or you. If not you, it would be Zhang He or Wang He. If not him, someone else would have infiltrated our country, pretending to be someone.”

“This isn’t a personal vendetta. In matters between countries, you, I, and he have no personal will. Especially you and him, what are you two? At best, just small cogs in a warship. You are, and so is he.”

“In this event, the only innocents are me and my child!”

“Major, you say I’m unfair to you…” Jiang Miao’s eyes were full of reproach. “But as the person responsible for this event, as a soldier, is it fair for you to treat me, the only innocent victim and civilian in this event, like this?”

Yan He had no response.

Jiang Miao’s sharp analysis caused him pain.

This was a young prodigy who had always been ahead of others and envied by many, now experiencing the agony of falling from grace.

He wearily supported his head, most of his face hidden in the shadow of his hand.

After a long while, he said softly, “I’m sorry…”

Jiang Miao’s heart softened.

Unlike the natives here, she wasn’t as self-centered. In the society she lived in in her previous life, people cared a lot about “others,” about others’ opinions, and others’ feelings. In terms of social interactions, people from her previous life lived much more burdensome lives than those in this era.

But for an adult, even in a completely new environment and life, it was hard to shed those deeply ingrained traits.

“I accept your apology.” Jiang Miao paused and couldn’t help asking, “Are you struggling right now?”

Yan He lowered his hand, gave a bitter smile, and pleaded with Jiang Miao, “Please don’t touch the two in my room.”

Jiang Miao sighed and said, “I’ve heard about the military’s unwritten rules, that people who have been captured are no longer trusted.”

“Yes,” Yan He said. “Especially since I haven’t had any children.”

Jiang Miao: “What does having children have to do with it…”

“It’s also an unwritten rule,” Yan He explained. “There’s no written documentation, but everyone knows that to become the commander of a ship, you need to have at least three children. In the military, you’ll find that the higher the rank, the more children they have.”

Jiang Miao recalled a conversation with a general once. The old general had twenty-one children, a staggering number.

She vaguely understood, “Is it to strengthen these people’s sense of belonging and loyalty?”

Yan He nodded but said, “Does it really matter? Why should having children tie someone down?”

“That’s something only a young person without children would say. However, in this society, the bond between parents and children is much weaker than it was in ancient Earth times. This is why the higher up you go, the more you’re encouraged to have more children, relying on quantity to strengthen these bonds, right?

Once you reach a certain level, crossing class boundaries, you can form families and expand your lineage.

While the general public is happily focused on self-fulfillment and pursuing personal pleasure, the upper echelons quietly continue the basic societal units from thousands of years ago.

And ordinary people remain oblivious.

‘You’re too calm,’ Yan He suddenly said.

Jiang Miao was taken aback.

‘You’re too calm. The people above think you’re not sad enough, not angry enough,’ Yan He said, looking at Jiang Miao.

Jiang Miao responded blankly, ‘What should I do then? Should I cry and make a scene?’

Yan He remained silent for a moment, then told her, ‘They think that for a young woman suddenly faced with such a drastic change, you are too rational and calm, as if you have something to rely on.’

Jiang Miao was stunned for a while and then gave a bitter smile.

‘They’re mistaken. With… with Troy, I just…’ She didn’t know how to express herself, and after organizing her thoughts, she said, ‘Of course I’m angry, but… deep down, I know that guy… no matter what happens, he’ll definitely protect my child. So even though I’m very angry, I’m actually not that sad.’

She saw Yan He frowning and knew that this single, childless young man probably couldn’t understand her feelings.

‘Of course, I’m sad. But with everything that’s happened… this isn’t a petty lovers’ quarrel or breakup; this is a major event concerning national security. In this incident, we, including you and me, and him, we’re all so insignificant.’

‘This sense of insignificance makes me feel powerless. Especially with so many violent elements involved in this matter—armed people barging into my house, the explosion at the safe house on Tracy… and didn’t people die on Capitol Hill too?'”

“With so many terrible things happening, I don’t want to cry and make a fuss because my expectations are very low. Finding my child and reuniting come later. As a mother, my only wish now is for my child’s safety. Really, I just have this one thought: as long as my child is safe and unharmed, that’s all I need.”

Yan He understood. “So, that guy took your child, yet you still believe…”

“Yes!” Jiang Miao interrupted, lowering her head, almost as if talking to herself. “I believe he won’t hurt the baby. I also believe he’ll do everything he can to protect the baby.”

She looked up at Yan He and told him, “That’s the foundation that allows me to remain rational and calm throughout this.”

“Of course, when I first saw you, I almost lost it,” she said with a self-deprecating smile.

Yan He remained silent.

Jiang Miao rubbed her face and asked, “Xiaona, what time is it?”

Xiaona replied, “It’s 5:41 AM. Do you want to get up, Doctor?”

Jiang Miao said, “Yes, let’s get up.”

The floor-to-ceiling windows began to increase in transparency, and the room started to brighten. Although it was a gradual process, it was still blinding for Jiang Miao and Yan He, who had been talking in the dark for a while. Both instinctively raised their hands to shield their eyes, only lowering them after a moment.

“Your face looks paler than a corpse, Major,” Jiang Miao mocked Yan He. “Go freshen up. You can take another nap if you want; I have a meeting with my boss at ten-thirty, so there’s still time.”

Yan He retorted, “You’re not much better off, Doctor.”

Jiang Miao rubbed her face. “Then I need to freshen up properly. Major, Major?”

Indeed, Jiang Miao’s face was paler than usual, caused by lack of sleep and emotional stress.

But this didn’t diminish her beauty; if anything, it added a touch of fragile beauty.

However, her inner strength far surpassed her outer fragility.

At this moment, Yan He began to understand the man who had impersonated him. He understood why that man had gone out of his way, choosing to use his own sperm to conceive a child with Jiang Miao rather than Yan He’s.

Clearly, using Yan He’s sperm would have made things simpler.

A pregnant man, carrying a child—who would suspect he was a spy? It was the perfect disguise. The only cost was ten months of burden, which, given their physical capabilities, wouldn’t be any more strenuous than their training.

---

Whether the mission was completed or not, at the time of retreat, leaving the child behind would have been so clean and efficient.

Yet that guy chose a more troublesome path.

He actually had a child, a life created by him and Jiang Miao. He even took that child away, which, for a spy, was simply making things harder for himself.

Yan He, puzzled over this for the past few days, felt he was starting to understand as he gazed at Jiang Miao in the morning light.

Jiang Miao called his name twice, bringing Yan He back to reality.

“I apologize for disturbing you. I’m sorry,” he said, apologizing again for what happened during the night.

Jiang Miao nodded slightly.

The morning light fell not only on her but also on Yan He’s shoulders.

Yan He and that man were indeed very similar.

His shirt was unbuttoned, revealing a handsome Adam’s apple and a solid chest. Just as Jiang Miao had once told Tanaka, this was her ideal type.

But Jiang Miao knew that no matter how similar they looked, she would never confuse the two of them.

After Yan He left Jiang Miao’s room, Jiang Miao felt she couldn’t sleep anymore.

She first instructed Xiaona, “Cancel the major’s cohabitation privileges, change them to guest privileges, and set my bedroom as a restricted area for him.”

Xiaona replied, “Okay, Doctor. Permissions have been updated.”

Jiang Miao then said, “Fill the bathtub. I need a bath.”

Jiang Miao had only slept for a little over an hour, not enough to restore her energy. But a hot bath could effectively relieve her fatigue and relax her.

After her bath, she stood in front of the mirror, applied skincare products, but her face still looked a bit pale. Thinking about returning to the office today to see Helena and her colleagues, Jiang Miao didn’t want to appear in front of people looking like this.

“Give me Makeup Look 1,” she said.

Her favorite daily work makeup was set as Makeup Look 1, which was the one she used most frequently.

The makeup machine was connected to Xiaona. Xiaona responded, “Alright, updating Makeup Look 1… update complete.”

Jiang Miao had set up all connected devices in her home to her preferences. She disliked the advertisements for new makeup products and cosmetics promotions, so she had long disabled those push notifications. She would only update them manually when she felt like it.

Suddenly, Jiang Miao looked up.

The mirror turned into a screen, but it wasn’t displaying any new makeup look.

A crooked line appeared on the screen. To an untrained eye, this line, out of context, was hard to decipher.

But Jiang Miao recognized it. That guy had shown her this line extracted from star maps multiple times.

“Miao Miao, this is our journey.”

“You, me, and the baby, we’ll leave here together and go far away.”

“If we can’t go together, your journey starts from Baishi Star. We will definitely reunite.”

Jiang Miao hadn’t told Yan He one thing.

The reason she had remained calm—angry but not too angry, sad but not too sad, besides firmly believing that the man would not harm Jiang Rui and would protect him at all costs…

Jiang Miao also believed that, even if the face was fake, some things were definitely real.

She and that guy would meet again!

She and Jiang Rui would meet again!

“Bastard!”

Seeing the message left by the man, Jiang Miao squeezed this word through gritted teeth and punched the mirror!

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Sansukini: I feel quite sorry for the real Yan He. But at this time, he’s just feeling sorry for himself, that’s why he’s thinking that it could have been him with Jiang Miao. If the fake Yan He didn’t appear and it was him who showed it, the relationship wouldn’t have been as intimate.
So… did anyone expect this twist?

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