It's time to give out the rings, Admiral!

"Yeah, yeah, Hiei-nee, hurry up and go, the Admiral is already waiting~"

Urged on by everyone, Hiei, who couldn't refuse and hadn't even thought about refusing, slowly stood up. She looked up at the boy opposite her who was also looking at her. Perhaps thinking of the admiral's gaze just now, she felt her cheeks suddenly become hot and flushed. She then walked towards her admiral.

“I was just saying I’d take a picture for you, but it looks like I won’t need to now. Although Tianshui isn’t a particularly important city, it’s still quite different from Tsugawa, but since we’ve come all this way, it wouldn’t be right not to have some souvenirs. Since everyone’s said so, let’s take a picture of the two of us separately, Hiei.”

As he spoke, watching Hiei slowly approach, someone's gaze once again drifted to a place they shouldn't have been looking at.

Volume 1, Chapter 488: Arrival

As they drew closer to Tianshui Port, the moist sea breeze grew gentler. Hiei, her skirt fluttering in the breeze and her face slightly flushed, gently approached the boy under his "appreciative" gaze and stood shoulder to shoulder with her admiral.

The boy continued talking, but the sensitive Hiei once again felt his admiral's gaze gradually sliding from his face down to his legs, and finally settling on his snow-white and clean toes in his sandals.

As if sensing the gaze, her ten glistening toes involuntarily twitched slightly, and a hint of endearing shyness flashed in Hiei's amber eyes. If it were anyone else, she might have been furious at such a gaze, but facing her admiral, gazing at his face being caressed by the sea breeze, Hiei felt no anger or resentment at being taken advantage of. Instead, she found that the slight joy she had felt since discovering the admiral's fondness for her feet had become even clearer and stronger.

She didn't quite catch what the admiral said after that first sentence. But at Lexington's urging, she stood beside the admiral, looking at his profile, and couldn't help but start to recall what had happened during the short week she had spent with him.

To be honest, nothing memorable happened in those short seven days. His admiral, who was not very familiar with the work and affairs of the admiral, could not be considered an excellent commander.

But Hiei, who was always being pulled along by Little Fei and Marani, who talked about how good the admiral was and what silly things he had done, actually loved the harmonious atmosphere of her port. Even ship girls of different nationalities, and even those who had been enemies, could become good friends, put aside their differences, and happily spend time together, discussing and even playing. Even when she was new to the port, she had even returned to the huge port that Marani had described.

Although the beautiful and kind ship girls seem easy to get along with, their original selves, as former warships, have their own grudges and enemies, making them not so easy to get along with. As one of these ship girls, she knows that the port's inclusive and harmonious atmosphere is all thanks to her admiral. After all, as the core and pillar of the port, the admiral's existence has the greatest influence on the many sisters in the port.

According to Marani and Little Fei, the admiral who accomplished such a feat with ease surprised and surprised Hiei. In their words, the admiral seemed to have done nothing to turn the port into what it is today. Therefore, even though he had become his own admiral, the newcomer Hiei couldn't help but be curious about this young man.

Curious, she wanted to know more about him, so whenever she had free time, she would often make him some snacks to eat, taking the opportunity to talk to him more.

As she gradually gained a deeper understanding of him, Hiei was pleasantly surprised. The more she learned about the admiral's personality and past, the more she realized that his personality seemed to resemble and overlap with the image of the admiral she had in mind. However, what puzzled and troubled her was that her admiral seemed to be a little... well... a little perverted. Because... he always liked to stare at his feet when he had nothing to do, whether he was barefoot or wearing socks.

She knew that there was a special group of people known as "foot fetishists," but she never expected that her own admiral would be one of them! This really troubled her for several days, because when she talked to the admiral, he would always stare at his feet while talking, which made her not know where to put her feet when she was talking to him.

Although she was a little troubled for a while, Hiei didn't dislike it. After all, she was a ship girl. If she couldn't even accept the admiral's little hobby, what face would she have to call herself the admiral's ship girl? From the moment she became the admiral's ship girl, everything about her belonged to the admiral. Besides, attracting the admiral's attention like this only proved that she was very charming, didn't she?

The admiral wasn't tall, probably only a little over 1.7 meters. When I wasn't wearing high heels, I was a few centimeters shorter than him, but once I put on high heels, I could even be a little bit taller than him.

Hiei looked up at the boy beside her. The admiral, who was a little shorter than her, seemed like a child in her eyes. She couldn't help but feel an urge to get close to him and take care of him. However, this boy, who could still be called a child, was now the admiral she and so many of her sisters trusted and loved the most.

"Okay, I'm going to film! 1, 2..."

The youthful face reflected in Hiei's amber eyes, causing Hiei to involuntarily smile. Hearing Lexington's voice across from her, she suddenly felt much better and looked up at the boy beside her, raising her free right hand to grab his arm.

"I'm really looking forward to life in the future," she murmured to herself.

"Huh? What did you say? Hiei?"

"It's nothing, Admiral. Hurry up and stand still. Sister Lexington is about to take our picture. Don't get distracted."

"okay."

3. Say cheese!

"eggplant!"

With her back to a flock of seagulls that happened to be passing by, Hiei shouted loudly along with her admiral. Before the flash of the camera went off, she smiled and raised her arm to make a "V" sign while holding the admiral's arm.

"The photos are done, and they look pretty good, honey. Want to come and take a look?"

Lexington waved to Hiei and the boy, but just then, the passenger ship’s loud and long whistle suddenly sounded. The passenger ship was not far from the port, and the figures on Tianshui Port could be clearly seen. As the passenger ship gradually slowed down, it finally stopped at the side of a dock. Tianshui, we have finally arrived.

Volume 1, Chapter 489: Disembarking

"Thanks to you and your ship girls for helping us all the way, the passenger ship was able to reach Tianshui safely without any major incidents, Brother Su. Are you going to Tianshui Town later? Do you want me to arrange for someone to take you there? It's quite a distance from Tianshui Port to Tianshui Town."

"No need, thank you for your kindness, Captain. But I need to buy something before I go back, so I won't trouble you with your help."

"Alright, Brother Su, my ship will be staying in Tianshui for a long time. If you need any help, just come to me. Haha, I might need Brother Su's escort again in the future. Of course, I'll pay you, but don't overcharge me then!"

The passenger ship arrived safely at Tianshui Port in the afternoon. After disembarking and saying goodbye to the kind captain, the young man, who was finally back in Tianshui, went ashore with eight ship girls by his side. Perhaps because shipping had been rather sluggish recently, there were not many people in the huge Tianshui Port, even though it was not yet evening.

"Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, what are we going to do next? Are we going to go find Xiaorou now? I can't wait to see Xiaorou!"

"Don't be in such a hurry, Jiajia. Dad... cough... didn't the Admiral say he would take us to buy some things first? We might be staying here for a few days, so we need to buy some daily necessities and such."

"Yes, daily necessities are very important. Next, we need to think about where to stay tonight."

"No, don't run around, Jiajia and Ayanami. The Admiral told us to go buy daily necessities, so don't go too far."

Arriving in a city they had never been before, and with their dearest admiral, the girls were visibly excited after landing. They chattered and gathered together, looking left and right. Their flamboyant and smiling appearance attracted the attention of countless passersby, and their curious gazes almost caused the dockworkers to ruin their work.

However, Tianshui is at least a well-established coastal city, so even if the young man swaggered ashore with his group of girls who were practically fairies, no fool dared to come up and cause trouble.

Who doesn't know that the guy in Tianshui City who can bring so many beautiful girls must be an admiral? If you try to flirt with him like a clown, you'd probably have to make an appointment at the hospital and prepare a hospital bed first!

"Honey, where are we going next? Should we tell Xiaorou first? I'm worried that if so many of us suddenly go to see Xiaorou, she might be startled."

The gentle and steady Lexington nestled close to the boy, using her free hand to help her husband carry the heavy suitcase. Unlike the children's excitement, the well-traveled Lexington, after observing the terrain of Tianshui Port and memorizing it, was already considering what to do when she saw Little Rou.

She had already discussed many things with Guanghui while on the ship, but she only knew about Xiaorou's personality and habits from hearsay from her silly husband. As for how Xiaorou would behave after meeting her group of "sisters-in-law," she really couldn't predict, which gave her quite a headache.

"It's nothing, don't worry, Madam. Xiao Rou is quite resilient; we'll just head over there. Here, Unicorn, want some cotton candy?"

The boy took the string of cotton candy he bought from a nearby vendor with his spare change and handed the pink dessert to the unicorn who was quietly following his radiant sister. Radiant held the unicorn's hand and looked around at the place where her admiral had once been and lived. Meanwhile, the gentle and virtuous Hiei led the excited Jiajia and Xiaofei to buy the supplies that everyone would need in the next few days.

"Hehe, thank you, brother."

The sweetness of the cotton candy immediately brought a smile to the little girl's face, even sweeter than the cotton candy itself. Especially since the cotton candy was bought for her by her beloved older brother. The boy patted his little sister's soft head and looked up towards the port exit.

"Once Bi Rui and the others return from shopping, we can go directly to Tianshui Town. However, it's still dozens of miles away from here, and there are so many of us. It seems we'll have to find some cars to take us there."

However, when it came to taking a car, a hint of reluctance immediately appeared on the boy's face. At this time, the only vehicles that could be found to take him to Tianshui Town were probably those not-so-popular barrel carts.

Because these cars are cheap, sturdy, and easy to manufacture, an office worker can afford one by working hard and saving up for one or two years. In addition, they consume very little fuel, with fuel consumption of less than seven liters per 100 kilometers. Therefore, in this era of increasingly scarce and expensive fuel, they have become the most popular means of transportation.

However, the price of being cheap is that this kind of car is not as comfortable to ride in as a normal sedan, and it is quite noisy, especially when driving on roads with poor conditions. After driving for a while, your buttocks will feel uncomfortable. Young people who have ridden in this kind of car many times still have vivid memories of that feeling.

"Sigh... you silly goose..."

Lexington sighed. She was truly exasperated with her little fool. Well, since her darling had said so, what could she do? She just hoped he wouldn't regret it later.

There were plenty of shops at the port, making shopping very convenient. Before long, Hiei returned with several girls carrying plastic bags. In particular, Kaka was carrying a huge bag full of snacks, which made the boy envious. He never saw this girl stop eating all day, yet she didn't gain an ounce of weight. Looking at himself, he had been on the ship for over ten days, and he was practically developing a swimming ring around his stomach.

Having bought everything they needed, the young man left the port with eight girls of all ages, intending to find a few cars to take him to Tianshui Town. Just as he and the drivers had agreed to go directly to Tianshui Town, the sound of brakes came from behind him, and he heard a clear, joyful voice behind him.

"elder brother!"

Volume 1, Chapter 490: What's wrong with the girl?

"elder brother!!!"

With a screeching sound of brakes, a familiar yet melodious voice made the boy involuntarily withdraw his foot, which was already halfway into the bucket car. Turning around along with his equally surprised girls, the boy saw a girl in a gorgeous pink dress leaning halfway out of a luxury car, waving at him with a bright smile.

Seeing that familiar, beautiful face, the boy, finally feeling a sense of homecoming, smiled. The beautiful girl, amidst the surprised expressions of the few passersby who seemed to recognize her, opened the car door and ran towards the boy like a butterfly in flight.

"Brother! You're finally back!"

The girl waved her ivory-white arms and ran happily toward her long-lost sweetheart. She almost tripped over a small pebble, but thankfully she managed to stumble and fall, and under the worried gaze of her maid, Xiaojia, who was following behind her, she safely reached the boy's side and hugged his arm tightly.

God knows how excited I was just over ten minutes ago when I received a call from the uncle I hired at the port that day, informing me that the passenger ship from Jinchuan had arrived! Ever since I heard from Xiaorou that Brother Yuchen would be returning from Jinchuan soon, I've been so excited every night that I can't sleep, just hoping to be the first to see Brother Yuchen when he returns.

Think about the piano tutor you just abandoned without a word. She's probably still at home, bewildered as to what urgent matter you had that you rushed out without even explaining, abandoning all your ladylike manners. But what can you do? You heard that Yu Chen is back. In order to see him as soon as possible, time is of the essence. How could you possibly have time to explain to her?

"Yuelin? What are you doing here?"

A faint fragrance wafted over him, and it wasn't until the girl beside him grabbed his arm that he realized what was happening. Even he hadn't expected to run into Miss Yue Lin here. Due to the difficulty of communication, even Xiao Rou probably didn't know when she would arrive. How did Yue Lin know that she would be back at this time? It seemed that she had come to the port specifically to find him.

"How did you know I would come back now?" the somewhat surprised boy asked curiously. The girl, who had long since ignored everything around her and whose eyes were only on the man in front of her, was finally able to smell the familiar scent of her beloved again. She slowly raised her head and gave the boy a bright and extremely cute smile.

"That's because Yu Chen and I are telepathically connected! I was practicing piano at home when I suddenly sensed that Yu Chen was back, so I rushed over to find you with Xiao Jia!"

The girl giggled as she spoke. If it weren't for her expensive dress and the maid, Xiaojia, following behind her, one would never guess that such a clingy girl was actually a wealthy heiress. Since the girl didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't ask. Anyway, he'd see Yuelin when he got back, and the boy was indeed quite happy, but…

"It's not time for school to end yet, is it? Why did you run out? Even if you're a young lady, skipping school every day isn't a good idea, is it?"

The boy gently touched the girl's soft bangs, but his concerned voice caused her pretty brows to furrow instantly. "What time is it? Yu Chen, why are you still saying that?! So clueless about romance, girls will hate you! Besides, Yu Chen, you're not that much older than me, why are you lecturing me like an elder all the time?! I don't need you to be my elder! One nagging grandfather is enough!"

"Brother! You still have the nerve to say that! It's already summer vacation, and school hasn't started for ages! Besides, you didn't even call me when you left. When I went to your house to look for you, Xiaorou said you went to Jinchuan. You've been gone for several days now. You didn't even tell me about something so important. I was so sad for days! Now that I've finally managed to be the first one to welcome you, you actually scold me!"

As she spoke, the girl's pouting lips looked as if they could hold several oil bottles.

She gets angry just thinking about it! He clearly promised to let her see him off when he left, but he stood her up. Afterwards, Xiao Rou, that brat, mocked her for a long time, saying that Brother Yuchen didn't care about her at all!

If I hadn't learned from Aunt Zhang, Yu Chen's neighbor, that Yu Chen hadn't told me he was leaving because he was afraid of missing my school, I would have left a few teeth marks on that big bad guy now that I'd met him, so he would never ask me to come along again!

And what's more, not only did he not invite me, he actually secretly went to fly economy class by himself to save money! I had heard long ago that Brother Yuchen was going to Jinchuan to take the admiral exam, and I even went to find out more about it and went on the passenger ship to Jinchuan to see for myself. Those pitifully small economy class seats are so tiny, so dilapidated, and so crowded and noisy, and yet we have to stay in them for more than ten days in a row! This is simply unbearable for a human being!

Of course I know that you want to save money, Yu Chen, so that you can spend it on important things in the future, like buying a wedding house and honeymoon trip after we get married!

But you're unwilling to spend money. Isn't there a rich girl around you who is willing to spend money? When something like this happens, why don't you ask your magical Yue Lin a Dream first? Your grandfather's shipping company has quite a few ships. I was already prepared to risk being grounded to "steal" one and send you to Jinchuan. But you ignored them and ran away by yourself!

You don't know, when she heard that you went to Tsugawa with such difficulty and hardship, she was depressed and heartbroken for many days. She was only happy when she heard that you had successfully passed the exam to become an admiral!

"Ah, because the Naval Academy doesn't have summer vacation, I forgot that other schools are already on summer vacation. I'm sorry, Yuelin, I left in a hurry and didn't call you. I was just afraid of delaying your studies."

"Hmph~ Why go to school? A girl can just learn a little bit, anyway, I don't have to worry about not having enough to eat in the future."

"Hey, you can't say that. What's wrong with girls? Can't girls study? Yuelin, studying isn't just about having food to eat in the future. It can also improve a person's character, temperament, and moral standards. Didn't you envy me for knowing so much before? I learned all of that through studying."

Volume 1, Chapter 491: Wasn't it agreed that there would only be two?

The girl was enraged by the boy's pretentious attitude. In her anger, she immediately showed him her shiny little silver teeth, her clear, dusky eyes scanning back and forth across his neck, as if considering where to leave a nice tooth mark on him.

However, the girl ultimately couldn't bring herself to do it. Leaving aside the fact that they were in a bustling port, even if she had completely forgotten everything else, she would still be subject to many different stares from those around her. Imprinting plum blossoms on Yu Chen's body—an intimate act that could potentially escalate into inappropriate behavior—shouldn't wait until Yu Chen confessed his feelings and considered her his girlfriend or wife. At the very least, they should find a place where no one was watching!

"Hmph! If you talk like that again, I'll bite you!"

The girl angrily waved her little white fist and said reproachfully to the boy, "I don't need a Yu Chen who wants to be my elder or just treats me like a cheap little sister. All I want is a Yu Chen who treats me like a beautiful and lovely girl and wants to make me his wife. He's a bad boy, but he's also incredibly charming!"

The girl was completely absorbed in their world, her tender and affectionate demeanor drawing the attention of many on the port. Looking at her clothes, the luxurious car behind her, and the maid in her maid outfit, it was clear she was a true heiress. It was hard to believe that she would show such a clingy and infatuated expression to an ordinary boy, and it made everyone envious of the lucky guy being cuddled and pampered by her.

Who wouldn't want to meet such a beautiful, cute, and clingy rich girl when they were young? Of course, I still do now!

Even if they were envious, most of these innocent passersby were just watching the show unfolding on the port as if they were spectators. After all, the young man wasn't just accompanied by this delirious young lady. Behind him was a group of girls of all ages and builds, whose looks and temperament were no less than hers. For example, there was the blonde beauty Saratoga, who now had a pale face and considered herself her brother-in-law's cutest and most considerate sister-in-law.

Just a few minutes ago, Jiajia was excitedly imagining how she would praise Xiaorou after meeting her brother-in-law, and how she would use countless snacks and dolls to win Xiaorou over and make her a steadfast and reliable ally. But suddenly, this unexpected obstacle appeared out of nowhere. Before she could even figure out what was going on, this shameless girl grabbed her brother-in-law's arm and pulled him into her embrace.

Judging from that vixen's tone, she seemed to know her brother-in-law well, and he didn't seem to mind her intimacy. Although she had expected that her brother-in-law would meet many acquaintances after arriving in Tianshui, the current situation was clearly beyond her expectations—to actually seduce Saratoga's brother-in-law in front of me, Saratoga, you're really brave! I don't think you take me, Saratoga, seriously at all!

Thinking it over, the girl decided to go up and confront this little vixen who had appeared out of nowhere, telling her, "Who are you? Why are you getting close to my brother-in-law! Even if you're friends with my brother-in-law, I, Saratoga, am not afraid of you!" Then she could take advantage of the situation to rescue her brother-in-law, who was suffering torture in the arms of that vixen!

Before the girl could even finish thinking things through and prepare to step forward, her arm was grabbed by her quick-witted older sister, Lexington. Knowing full well that her restless younger sister was about to cause trouble again, Lexington glared at the girl, causing her to show a somewhat aggrieved and confused expression. Lexington then shook her head.

Jiajia may not have heard it, but Lexington, who had been carefully observing everything happening around her husband since she found him, heard her husband exclaim "Yuelin" in surprise while talking to the black-haired girl.

Back in the port area, her husband had already talked many times about his experiences in Tin Shui Wai over the past year. And apart from Xiao Rou, this kind and approachable young lady who took good care of her beloved naturally became the most attention-grabbing character besides Xiao Rou.

From her words, they learned that Miss Yuelin was the granddaughter of a prominent entrepreneur in Tianshui City. In human terms, she was a true heiress. It was safe to say that if it weren't for the help of this approachable young lady, their husbands and Xiaorou would have had a much harder and more difficult year in Tianshui.

Therefore, even though the girl clung to her husband from the very beginning, Lexington wasn't angry. Even though for ship girls, it's disrespectful for other girls to ignore them and cling to their husbands and admirals in front of them, Lexington found it hard to feel any ill will towards this girl who had helped her husband so much.

Beside him, Xiaofei stared expressionlessly at her darling and the girl named Yuelin, but Lexington could feel that the grip on her fingers had noticeably tightened. Meanwhile, compared to Hiei and Ayanami, who were also somewhat confused and frowning, Illustrious, holding Unicorn Sister's hand, walked forward gracefully and confidently…

"Admiral, is this Miss Yuelin?"

Noticing that the atmosphere between her sisters seemed to be getting a little strange, Glorious, who cared about her admiral, took the initiative to step forward and break the deadlock. Just like her sister Lexington, she couldn't feel any ill will towards a girl who had helped her admiral so much. With some curiosity, she looked at the black-haired girl opposite her, who could be said to have a beautiful face among the ship girls, and gently asked her admiral beside her, radiating kindness and goodwill.

Glorious was looking at the girl, and the black-haired girl was also observing Glorious. Just before Glorious slowly approached his admiral, the girl, who was talking to her sweetheart after a long time, noticed this beautiful woman with long silver hair and a frighteningly high chest, who looked even more like a noble lady than herself.

Thinking that this must be the silver-haired ship girl in the photo that Xiaorou showed her, the woman Wang Jing mentioned whose chest looked like it had two balls in it, the girl suddenly tensed up while also letting out a big sigh of relief.

Fortunately, I never intended to oppose Brother Yu Chen's ship girls like Xiao Rou did from the beginning. Otherwise, if I had really made an enemy of such a woman, I don't know how much suffering I would have endured!

Having witnessed a radiance even more elegant and gentle than in the photos, the girl was momentarily stunned. She smiled slightly and wanted to greet Yu Chen's ship girl, but just as she raised her arm, she suddenly rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

Wait a minute! Weren't we supposed to only have two? How did it suddenly become so many?!

Volume 1, Chapter 492: Ship Girls Before

The girl rubbed her eyes. At first, she thought she was seeing things and mistaking Yu Chen's two ship girls for eight. However, when she rubbed her eyes and opened them again, the scene in front of her remained unchanged, and the girl's mentality immediately started to collapse a little.

No, wasn't it agreed that Yu Chen only had two ship girls?! Whether it was the information I got from Wang Jing or from Xiao Rou, it only said that Yu Chen currently only has two ship girls! So what am I seeing now?! Could it be that I opened my eyes wrong? Or am I actually still at home, just in my bed, having a nightmare about Yu Chen coming back? Or perhaps, because I've been so eager to see Yu Chen these past few days, I've damaged my brain to the point that I can't even distinguish between two and eight anymore?!

The girl's composure crumbled slightly. Even if she wanted to deceive herself, the scene before her was so real it couldn't be more so, and the pain emanating from her forearm, which she was gripping, clearly and undeniably told her: "Girl, everything you're seeing is real, so accept reality!"