Chapter 4 - News of Marriage (1/2)
“Did you…and that guy…fight?”
“No.” Adrian sat down next to Fayn and frowned. “Why do you always think that I’m going to hit him?”
While the school principal was still making his speech, Fayn covered his mouth with the commemorative album so that he would not be caught by the cameras, and said, “I’m not the only one who thinks that! The principal had just started talking and that guy suddenly entered with red eyes, looking like he’s about to cry, and then you came in a few minutes later…what happened between the two of you just now?”
Adrian snorted: “With red eyes? Your imagination is running rampant.”
Fayn rolled his eyes and said, “Everyone saw it! You can replay the recording when we get back if you don’t believe me. A few cameras hovered over to him just as he came in, so you can watch it from any angle you want. Let me tell you, the virtual community is like a wildfire right now. Nobody’s talking about what the principal is saying, they’re all trying to guess what the two of you were doing—Did you really not hit him? Then what’s he crying for?”
Adrian frowned and subconsciously felt the need to refute: No, of course he wouldn’t cry if I’d hit him, Zhong Yan is definitely not the type of person who would shed tears from physical pain.
But he swallowed those words down just as they reached his lips.
“Nothing, we just bumped into each other and said a few words.”
He thought back to it for a moment; they really did just say a few words, and Zhong Yan had only responded with a single sentence! Though, he didn’t pass his few cents directly to Zhong Yan.
Clearly, his deputy did not believe him. He snorted, “Come on, do you think you can really make a representative counselor cry with just a few words?”
Adrian stared coldly at Fayn, and the latter was given a shock by the complete lack of warmth in his silver eyes. Suddenly, he had a realization: he had just violated a great taboo—mentioning Zhong Yan repeatedly.
“How is it any of my business whether he’s laughing or crying? Did you forget how he treated me right here, right at this very hour, seven years ago? Fayn, you were sitting right beside me then just like right now! Zhong Yan, that guy, he’s…” Adrian gnashed his teeth and spat out each syllable one by one, “Com-plete-ly heartless!”
Fayn nodded nervously. Those sitting right around them were all part of Adrian’s clique, and were all the current officers of the Navi Military Command. Everyone had originally perked their ears with great interest, but when they saw their commander breaking out in rage, all of them quickly averted their eyes and ears; suddenly, they felt great interest in the principal’s speech.
His ears were finally at peace, but Adrian could not restrain himself from mulling over what he said…Zhong Yan cried? What was he crying about?
He knew that Zhong Yan was a very sensitive person, and could become upset over one thing for quite a long time, but he would rarely see such a fluctuation in emotions with Zhong Yan. At the very least, he had never seen Zhong Yen bawl, laugh out loud, nor fly into a rage in all his three years of studying here. This black-haired and black-eyed youngster seemed to always be composed, reserved, and decent; it was hard to believe that such quality of nurture could come from an orphanage.
Without knowing it, Adrian was looking towards the guest table for the School of Social Sciences.
Seated in the seat of honor was the aged patriarch of the Yate family, Adrian’s grandfather, Stalvern Yate. The Yate family was a traditional pro-AI family, and during the past two centuries in the development of artificial intelligence, the Yate family had left a great imprint on the project. It wasn’t until more than ninety years ago when the first generation AI “Cocoon” was officially retired and replaced by the newer and stronger “Butterfly”, that artificial intelligence had officially begun to take full control of human society. The fame of this family who had consistently embraced the use of AI had also reached its peak.
In the eyes of many, nature still had to run its due course, the popularity of this family had already reached its end. The current patriarch, Stalvern, had only received one proposal from “Butterfly” in his younger days to procreate; during that time, he and his wife gave birth to a daughter, and that was Adrian’s mother.
After obeying “Butterfly’s” instructions to marry and procreate, Adrian’s father who had been adopted into the Yate family disappeared. In despair, his mother left the world early, leaving behind only a single seedling, Adrian. However, before this seedling had time to grow, it had started to sway towards a different path: he abandoned his grandiose family background and excellent academic resume to head towards the self-destructive future of the poorest region in the Federation.
But of course, nobody could have guessed at that time that any of this could happen. In just seven years, the cry of the public had engulfed the virtual community, and the remote and antiquated Navi System had already become a taboo existence for the Capital.
As a result, the Yate family that was not in a good relationship with the Supreme Commander of the Navi Military Command was put into an even more awkward position. The patriarch, Stalvern, was one of the predecessors of the twelve representing members of council. Three years ago, he left the Supreme Council, which vacated a seat amongst the twelve council members, and after more than a year of evaluation, the then twenty-six year old Zhong Yan finally received “Butterfly’s” favour, thus taking up that position.
There was a rumour amongst the people that it was the Yate family’s patriarch that referred Zhong Yan to “Butterfly”, thus influencing “Butterfly’s” final judgement. The reason why this young council member could be promoted at such an alarming rate was due to the great Yate family’s dredges and support that pushed him all the way to the current results. They seemed to have decided to use this against Adrian, who stood on the other side of the Federation and may ignite a conflict with them at any time.