Chapter 161: Chapter 161: What Do You Think About Dating a Younger Man?

The dark clouds had scattered at some point.

Golden sunlight pierced through a crack in the clouds, falling upon the scarred body of the young man.

His wings had transformed back into normal human arms, bound by chains. He was leaning forward, half-kneeling beside the girl.

His head was bowed low, resting gently on the girl’s shoulder like a faithful devotee.

After an unknown amount of time, the two of them finally moved.

Her eyelashes trembled softly, and Jiang Qingli slowly opened her eyes.

Her vision was blurry for a moment before meeting a pair of sparkling eyes.

"Jiang..."

He opened his mouth, his voice hoarse.

He only managed one word before his face turned completely red.

Que Feiling turned his face away, his well-shaped lips pressed together. It was a good while before he opened them again to finish what he started, "...Miss Jiang."

"It’s been a while," Jiang Qingli said, smiling as she patted his head. "Que Feiling."

Que Feiling’s face grew even redder, and even his exposed skin flushed pink.

He moved his arms, wanting to bury himself in his wings again.

But his arms were still bound. He could only meet her gaze and answer in a low voice, "Sorry, did I scare you?"

"You were a little scary at first, but your wings are quite magnificent." Jiang Qingli reached out and wiped the bloodstains from his face.

The girl’s voice was very soft, as if she were afraid of startling him.

’She’s so close to me, closer than the last time we met.’

’She’s even more beautiful than last time...’

Que Feiling knew he shouldn’t be having these thoughts right now, but the moment he was near her, his mind was filled with nothing but wanting to be close to her, nuzzle against the crook of her neck, and preen her feathers with his beak to court her...

After being stared at by the young man for a moment, Jiang Qingli asked, a little puzzled, "What’s wrong?"

Que Feiling blushed even harder, as if he’d been caught doing something wrong.

Thinking he was uncomfortable because of the chains, Jiang Qingli contacted the people outside via her comms.

Through the intercom, a researcher’s excited voice came through. "Miss Jiang, thanks to you, Mr. Que’s contamination value has dropped to 40%! However, we need to run multiple tests over the next ten minutes. Can you stay alone with Mr. Que for a little while?"

"I can." Jiang Qingli nodded, then asked, "Can you unlock his chains? It must be uncomfortable being tied up."

"We’ll release the collar on his neck first. The rest will have to wait until after the ten minutes."

As the researcher’s voice faded, the collar fastened around Que Feiling’s neck unlocked.

Fearing Que Feiling might be unsteady, Jiang Qingli raised a hand to support his head.

"Your skin is so hot," Jiang Qingli remarked. "Is it because of your Fire Ability?"

Que Feiling mumbled an affirmation, not daring to admit it was because he was so shy.

Being touched by her while fully conscious, Que Feiling hardly dared to breathe.

It felt as if breathing too heavily would blow away the dreamlike scene before him.

Ten minutes later, Que Feiling’s contamination value was fluctuating slightly between 39% and 41%, and all his other vitals were normal.

The chains binding Que Feiling fell away. Medical personnel entered the room, supported him, and carried him to the medical bay on a stretcher.

Jiang Qingli, stained with blood, was taken for a check-up as well, and to clear away the residual scent of the male.

With the situation resolved, all the researchers breathed a sigh of relief and cheered softly.

Mo Sinan wiped the sweat from her brow and smiled in relief.

’Thank goodness, the director’s life is saved!’

But she celebrated too soon. The storm inside had subsided, but the one outside was just beginning.

Amidst the cheers, Que Zhiyu was the first to speak. "Youchen?"

Jiang Youchen was silent for a few seconds before asking, "What is it?"

"Well, it seems the children get along quite well. I’d like for them to interact and spend more time together, preferably with the goal of marriage. What do you think?"

With Que Feiling out of danger, Que Zhiyu’s tone was much lighter. "As it happens, your parents and I will be attending a summit next week. I wanted to ask you in advance, what do they like?"

After her long spiel received no reply, Que Qingqiong frowned and asked, "Marshal Jiang?"

"Ahem, Miss Que." Mo Sinan, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up. "Marshal Jiang has already hung up."

Que Zhiyu: "..."

Que Qingqiong asked, "When did he hang up?"

Mo Sinan: "Right when Miss Que said ’with the goal of marriage’..."

Que Qingqiong: "..."

"What does that mean?" the aunt asked, puzzled. "Is he not satisfied with our family? Oh dear, it’s my fault. I should have first mentioned what support we can offer Miss Jiang and him, how many shares we could give her..."

Que Qingqiong disagreed slightly. "Auntie, this is matchmaking, not a romance. Xiao Ling doesn’t like arranged marriages. He won’t be happy if you do this."

"Dating is fine too!" the aunt muttered. "Their genetic Match Value test came back at 95%. Logically, they should have been assigned by the system. It’s all the fault of this stupid research institute for locking up our Xiao Ling and labeling him as high-risk, preventing him from entering the gene pool. Otherwise, he’d have been married long ago..."

After a moment of thought, Que Zhiyu said, "I need to find a master to do a reading."

Que Qingqiong clicked her tongue. "Auntie, what is there to calculate? Xiao Ling and Miss Jiang are a match made in heaven. Can’t you see such a simple fact?"

The aunt clapped her hands. "You’re right! Since it’s a match made in heaven, I propose we double the dowry!"

Mo Sinan: "..."

’The legendary, hereditary confidence of the Vermilion Bird Clan certainly lives up to its reputation. The other party hasn’t even reacted, and they’re already planning the dowry.’

’Then again, if Que Feiling is really lucky enough to be chosen by Jiang Qingli, then Jiang Youchen probably won’t do anything to their Regulatory Office... right...?’

...

After it was all over, Jiang Qingli left the Regulatory Office, seen off by Mo Sinan and a crowd of researchers.

Several males had been waiting for a long time in the garage.

The moment Jiang Qingli waved goodbye to the people from the Regulatory Office and sat down in the car, Qin Muye and Gu Nian each wrapped an arm around one of hers.

Qin Muye actually wanted to hug Jiang Qingli directly, but that rabbit Gu Nian was faster, hooking his arm around her left. So he had to settle for second best and take her right.

In the driver’s seat, Yi Nuo discreetly observed the girl’s condition through the rearview mirror.

After confirming she was all right, he averted his gaze and started the car for the trip back.

Compared to Yi Nuo, who only dared to check on her with his eyes, Qin Muye was far more direct.

The Prince placed his hands on her shoulders, looking her up and down before leaning in to sniff her scent.

After confirming there was no scent of another male on her, he still asked worriedly:

"He didn’t touch you, did he?"

’It doesn’t count if *I* touched *him*, right...?’

To Jiang Qingli, it was just normal contact during the course of a mission. But to prevent the puppy from getting jealous, she nodded anyway.

Only then did Qin Muye let out a breath of relief. "I’ll bring you here from now on, too."

The Regulatory Office existed outside the system, so the Imperial Family couldn’t interfere. All he could do was accompany her more often.

Beside her, Gu Nian sighed silently.

’What a stupid dog. Sister is just telling a white lie.’

’But... the fact that Sister is willing to tell him a white lie means she still cares about him, right?’

The white-rabbit-like young man’s lips curled. He squeezed her fingers and smiled in satisfaction.

BEEP—

Two chimes sounded.

Qin Muye’s and Jiang Qingli’s terminals received messages at the same time.

Qin Muye opened his to find that Que Feiling had replied to his message.

Que Feiling: [^-^]

Qin Muye: ?

’How weird.’

He blocked him.

Beside him, Jiang Qingli had received a message from an unknown number.

Unknown Number: [Hello, Miss Jiang. I am Que Feiling’s older sister, Que Qingqiong. Thank you for your hard work today. I have already submitted the mission reward, and it will be delivered to your residence shortly.]

The name of the Que family’s heir was legendary; Jiang Qingli had seen her on the cover of financial magazines.

She typed a reply: [Miss Que, hello.]

Que Qingqiong: [No need to be so formal. Just call me Sister Qingqiong.]

Jiang Qingli assumed she was calling to ask about Que Feiling, so she obediently called her Sister Qingqiong and waited for her to ask about the healing session.

Who would have known that after the "typing..." indicator appeared for a long while, she would suddenly ask a question completely unrelated to the mission—

[Miss Jiang, may I ask your thoughts on relationships where the woman is older?]