Abstinence Admiral Don't Bite, the Softer Mermaid Top Thug

Chapter 181 Engagement
"General, this is the latest news from Dr. West Asia. Monitoring data shows that signs of ancient marine life have been discovered near the First Street in the East District."

"Let me see."

Jing Weimian had just come out of the base command post when she received the data transmitted by Chen Yan. She opened the screen and scanned it, then after a moment's thought, turned to Chen Yan and asked, "What's the schedule for this afternoon?"

Chen Yan replied, "There is an important regional summit in the C City Star District."

There's no way I can refuse that.

On her way to the summit aboard her private starship, Jing Weimian received another call from her mother.

"Mianmian, I asked Lao Qin, and he said you're going to the C City star sector to attend a summit today, is that right?"

"What happened on the way back, Mom?"

Ms. Xu hesitated for a moment on the other end of the phone, then said:
“Mianmian, Madam Gu came to my house today and said that the shipping route from the North District to C City has been suspended for several days because of the military. Gu Lixi happened to be on a business trip through C City a couple of days ago and is now being forced to stay at the port on that shipping route and cannot come back.”

"Mianmian, could you help make some contact? It would be best if you could pick up Lixi along the way, so that Madam Gu can rest assured."

Jing Weimian knew that the military had temporarily closed the waterway from the North District to City C. She didn't expect that Gu Lixi would be stranded at the port of this closed waterway.

Jing Weimian considered for a moment and said:
"Mom, the closure of the waterway involves military secrets, so I can't go into details with you. However, I will have people speed up the investigation of personnel on the waterway. If the investigation results are clear, it should be able to resume passage by this evening. Tell Madam Gu not to worry too much."

After hanging up the phone, Jing Weimian told Chen Yan about it.

She sent Chen Yan with his men to urge the progress of the investigation along that route, and then she and two other vice generals arrived in the C City star sector to attend the summit.

When Chen Yan finished dealing with his business and rushed over, he ran into General Jing and his group who were coming out of the summit.

"General, the waterway has been almost completely surveyed, and Young Master Gu has just arranged for the first batch of personnel to leave safely."

Jing Weimian nodded and said, "That's good." Just as she was about to open her bracelet to reply to her mother's message, she heard Chen Yan continue:
"However, General, when Young Master Gu saw that I was the one who went to pick him up, he seemed to have misunderstood something and insisted on coming with me, saying that he wanted to thank you in person."

As she spoke, Jing Weimian looked up and saw Gu Lixi waiting at the foot of the starship. Remembering her mother's instructions, she took the initiative to walk forward.

"Are you ok?"

Gu Lixi stood behind the gangway, looking at her with tender and gentle eyes: "I'm fine, it's just that this time... I've troubled the general again."

"It's nothing," Jing Weimian didn't explain further, her gaze shifting slightly upwards towards the starship. "Madam Gu is very worried about you. I also have something to attend to and need to return to the capital star immediately. I'll give you a ride back on my way."

Gu Lixi nodded slightly and thanked Jing Weimian again.

Once the starship set sail towards the capital planet, Gu Lixi seemed to remember something and mentioned it somewhat apologetically.

"There have been quite a few rumors about me and the general on the capital planet lately. Those media outlets are always eager to make things up. If they photograph me getting off the general's starship, will it have any negative impact on the general?"

"You're overthinking it, it's nothing."

"Is that so?" Gu Lixi saw that she remained calmly leaning back in her seat, reading the invisible screen. After a short silence, he suddenly said, "The topic of me and the General on the StarNet is very popular. Even on the capital star, many people have asked me if the General and I are... getting married soon..." As he spoke, he stared intently at Jing Weimian's face, as if he wanted to get an answer from her.

Upon hearing the last sentence, Jing Weimian paused noticeably, switched off the invisible screen, and raised her eyelids to say:

"Do you feel these rumors are interfering with your daily life? If needed, I can have someone remove these related posts from the StarNet—"

Before he could finish speaking, Gu Lixi, who was usually calm, suddenly became somewhat eager. "Of course not, I just... have a favor to ask and would like to get the general's permission."

"what?"

“My parents valued power and status far too much. Ever since they learned that I had saved the general’s life, they have always hoped that my relationship with the general could be taken to the next level…”

At this point, Gu Lixi gently curled her lips, "They hope I can use this favor to curry favor with the general."

“I know that I have caused Your Highness a lot of unnecessary trouble for various reasons over the past few months. Of course… I also know that Your Highness probably doesn’t have those feelings for me…”

“I never imagined that the General would actually take a liking to me and make a marriage agreement with me. I just... didn’t want my family to trouble the General any longer in order to arrange our marriage.”

Meeting Jing Weimian's meaningful gaze, Gu Lixi continued, "So, what I mean is, could the General agree to help me put on a show—"

"If we could hold a fake engagement party, and then after some time the general could find some excuse to dissolve our marriage in name only."

Jing Weimian raised an eyebrow slightly, crossed her arms, thought for a few seconds, and said, "That would probably affect your reputation, Gu Lixi."

Gu Lixi looked at her frankly and said, "I'm fine."

After waiting a while, seeing that Jing Weimian still did not answer, Gu Lixi cautiously asked in a low voice, "Does the general think... I am taking advantage of his kindness?"

"It has nothing to do with this."

Jing Weimian still didn't explain, but after a moment of silence, she narrowed her eyes slightly and said.

“I can put on a fake engagement party for you, and you can use it to gain more benefits for your Gu family. However, as you said, I may cancel the engagement at any time. Think it through before you answer me.”

Gu Lixi replied very quickly: "I can tell the general right now that even if it's a fake engagement, I'm willing."

Jing Weimian was always meticulous in her work. After the starship arrived at the capital star port and she saw Gu Lixi off through the starship's hatch, she turned around and gave Chen Yan some more instructions.

Tell Chen Yan to go back and draft a relevant contract and send it to Gu Lixi.

Unbeknownst to Jing Weimian, at the same moment her starship set sail, a low cry was silenced outside the closed hatch not far from the busy starship port.

Lu Lianbai held Jing Xiaoyu's little hand, who had transformed into a human cub of about one year old, and carried a bulging suitcase in his other hand as they stopped at the port platform.

His expression froze, staring intently at the starship that had just vanished from the sky.

"Wife..."