Chapter 40 - The General's Wife is an Illegal Resident in the Star System

Translator's Note:

Hello, I hope you've all been doing well.

 

I’ve run out of pre-stocked chapters for this novel, and I’m currently focused on another project.

Releases will resume as soon as I finish it. I’ll do my best to wrap things up quickly, and once I’m back, I’ll batch-release the chapters that would have followed the usual update schedule before returning to the normal release pace.

Thank you for your patience!

 

Here you go, and I wish you a good read. 

Chapter 40: The Eldest Son's Rebuttal

 

 

"All right, all right, the children are home—leave it be," Marshal Qin finally interjected, his patience worn thin. "They don't come home often because of all your nagging."

 

Being reprimanded in front of her children made Madam Qin feel slightly embarrassed.

 

"Mother, why don't we go eat? I'm starving," Qin Ge quickly intervened, putting an arm around her shoulders and gently guiding her toward the dining table.

 

His distraction worked, and Madam Qin's focus shifted.

 

The five of them took their places at the table. Throughout the meal, Madam Qin continuously filled Qin Ge's plate, saying he looked too thin and needed to eat more. Her voice filled the room, full of maternal warmth for the son she hadn't seen in a long time.

 

Lu Li could understand her feelings. Having her second son back home after so long, she naturally had a lot she wanted to say. Yet, he could also see why her sons, now grown up, sometimes avoided returning home.

 

He felt a pang of envy at this familial closeness. The one who had filled a motherly role for him in this life—his father—had passed away early, so he had rarely felt this kind of motherly love.

 

Lost in thought, he was startled back to reality by the sudden sight of his bowl now filled with various dishes.

 

Aside from Qin Yu, the others at the table were all looking at him with varied expressions. Madam Qin's was notably hard to read; even though she had relented, her disapproval of Lu Li remained evident. Meanwhile, Qin Ge, as if intrigued, observed him with lively curiosity.

 

"You've given me too much," Lu Li murmured to Qin Yu, feeling a bit self-conscious under their stares.

 

"Eat more. You're too thin," Qin Yu replied with a hint of admonition.

 

"It won't help. I have a hard time gaining weight." Lu Li had once tried to bulk up, training diligently and eating heartily, but after a year, while his muscles had firmed, his body mass hadn't changed much. It was clear his body simply didn't hold on to weight easily.

 

Lu Li picked up a piece of meat and vegetables and placed them in Qin Yu's bowl in a gesture of reciprocity.

 

The moment he did, the three others glanced over in surprise, and Madam Qin, unable to hold back, finally spoke up.

 

"Qin Yu doesn't eat vegetables. You've been married for nearly half a year; how could you not know this?" Though her words weren't sharp, her disapproval was unmistakable.

 

Lu Li blinked, momentarily stunned before replying, "I know."

 

"Then why give him vegetables?" Madam Qin said irritably, turning kindly to Qin Yu. "You've never liked them; let me pick them out for you."

 

But just as Madam Qin reached with her chopsticks to remove the greens from his bowl, Qin Yu unexpectedly picked up the vegetables and ate them without flinching, his expression perfectly calm. Everyone was shocked.

 

Marshal Qin and Madam Qin, who had raised Qin Yu from childhood, had always struggled to get him to eat vegetables. On Glory Star, vegetables were sometimes rarer than meat, so there was always a dish or two of greens at noble tables, including the Qin family's. However, no matter how hard they'd tried, Qin Yu had always rejected them.

 

No one knew why he disliked them so deeply, but when he continued to grow up strong without them, the family had stopped forcing the issue. Nevertheless, everyone in the Qin household understood his distaste for vegetables as an unbreakable rule.

 

"Qin Yu..." Madam Qin could barely believe it. It felt like her eldest son had just slapped her face in front of someone she disliked. Although this wasn't the first time, this one stung particularly deeply.

 

She, his mother, had never managed to get him to make an exception even once. Yet Lu Li, without saying a word, had made him eat them without hesitation. Didn't that mean, in her son's heart, his wife was more important than his own mother? Madam Qin nearly crushed her chopsticks in frustration.

 

"Wow, Sister-in-law, you're the first person who's ever made my brother eat vegetables. You're impressive! No wonder—this is what they call true love, right?" Qin Ge's cheerful, teasing voice cut through the tension before Madam Qin could voice her displeasure.

 

"Uh..." Lu Li blushed slightly under his playful remark.

 

This was the second time he'd heard about Qin Yu's distaste for vegetables; the first had been from Qin Lu star's cook. Since Qin Yu hadn't outright rejected them, Lu Li had assumed he just didn't like them. Now, hearing it from Qin Ge, he realized Qin Yu didn't merely dislike them—he despised them.

 

Lu Li snuck a glance at Qin Yu, puzzled as to why, if he disliked them so much, he hadn't just said so.

 

Qin Ge noticed Lu Li's furtive look and smiled with even more amusement in his eyes.

 

He knew about their affairs even earlier than Marshal Qin did; he had heard of all the things his elder brother had done for Lu Li. After all, he was the only one in the Qin family who truly understood just how much he meant to his brother.

 

That his elder brother could eat his most detested vegetables didn't particularly surprise him; his words were meant more for their parents.

 

"Qin Yu, if you don't like it, don't eat it. No need to force yourself—our family isn't short on a few morsels of meat," Madam Qin said abruptly, putting her chopsticks down with a displeased expression.

 

The atmosphere, which had been pleasant, turned stiff once more.

 

Yet, to everyone's surprise, Qin Yu continued eating as if he hadn't heard her, even reaching for another piece of greens.

 

All eyes shifted to Madam Qin, whose face was twisted in shock, as if she'd been publicly humiliated.

 

"If you really don't like it, you don't need to eat it," Lu Li whispered to Qin Yu, recalling how he'd clashed with Madam Qin over him just days ago. He didn't want Qin Yu to go through another battle with her for his sake, even though, deep down, he couldn't help but feel a bit pleased.

 

"Who told you I don't like it?" Qin Yu finally responded. "If I don't want to do something, no one can force me." His first words were meant for Madam Qin, but the rest were directed at everyone.

 

In other words, Lu Li was the exception. He wasn't forcing himself; he ate because Lu Li was the one who had served him.

 

Madam Qin's sense of humiliation reached its peak, yet she wouldn't blame her son—only that "vixen" Lu Li who she felt had bewitched him. She was just about to lash out when a loud clatter echoed through the room, startling her.

 

Marshal Qin had set his bowl down heavily on the table and was staring at her. "What Qin Yu wants to eat is his own business. If you don't want to stay, then leave," he said.

 

Madam Qin was visibly upset but, catching the warning look in Marshal Qin's eyes, she remembered that today's purpose was to get everyone to come home more often. Reluctantly, she swallowed her complaints, though a sense of grievance lingered.

 

Qin Ge, sensing the tension, quickly stepped in, his cheerful charm smoothing the mood within seconds. When her annoyance wasn't directed at Lu Li, Madam Qin could still be a warm and caring mother.

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