Fierce Love: Bringing Wife Home
Chapter 274 - 54: Asking for Votes

Chapter 274: Chapter 54: Asking for Votes

Yun Xiao stared with her cold, piercing eyes as tears fell mercilessly onto the bedding. She had been so cautious, yet she hadn’t realized that in front of Quan Shaoqing, she stood no chance, and everything was laid bare.

"Lift your head, look at me! You are a soldier, and you must bear the spirit of one. In this world, has anyone called you a monster?" Quan Shaoqing stood before her bed, his eyes commanding as he looked down at her, his tone shedding some of its harshness.

Yun Xiao still kept her head down, not understanding what Quan Shaoqing meant. Was he not afraid of her? Or did he not suspect her to be a monster?

It was a long while before she carefully lifted her head, her eyes filled with trepidation.

She saw Quan Shaoqing standing before her, upright and tall, broad and muscular, with bright phoenix eyes below thick eyebrows shining like stars, dazzling as the sun. Even so, she could not guess what he was thinking at that moment.

"Answer my question!" Quan Shaoqing commanded coolly.

"When I was a child, I was raised by a blind man. He said I was born enveloped in ice crystals, with snow flying in July, causing the death of my parents, and I was abandoned by the villagers in the wilderness as a monster. The blind grandfather who lived in a cave took pity on me and picked me up from the icy wilderness. When I turned six, he died, and I lived with a pack of wolves in the mountains. It was not until I was ten that an adventurer found and took me in. The blind grandfather said that I was different from others and should not let outsiders see my differences, or else they would treat me as a monster." Yun Xiao explained slowly, her voice trembling. Despite the education she had received and the many things she’d learned, there was no one else like her in her surroundings.

So, even though she knew she was not a monster, she dared not reveal her Special Ability to others.

Because the experience of being treated as a monster from a young age had left a profound and ingrained fear in her.

Quan Shaoqing could hear in her words the extraordinary experiences of her life: an orphaned child is the most pitiable. One could only imagine what kind of tragedy and pain such a girl had endured.

"What if I tell you that you are not a monster?"

At Quan Shaoqing’s words, Yun Xiao was somewhat incredulous.

He stepped forward, standing beside her, and sighing, he said, "You are not a monster, but a rare talent among people. There are many others in this world who, like you, have been endowed with Special Abilities, it’s just that you have never encountered them in your life. The power of an Ice-based ability is great, which is why you lost your parents the moment you were born."

"Ice-based ability?" Yun Xiao repeated the words softly, then slowly bowed her head, clutching the blanket in her hands. She had never heard the term before, and it filled her with both fondness and confusion.

"You’ve seen television dramas, right? You know about novels, right? You don’t even know this... that’s really something," exclaimed Quan Shaoqing, feeling that he couldn’t fathom what the young girl before him had been through. Why she didn’t know even the common knowledge that children understood.

As he spoke, he saw Yun Xiao shaking her head, "I only joined human society when I was ten, I had to learn every little detail about living, about speaking, about studying texts. All of my time was spent catching up to others, then skipping grades to further my studies. I hardly ever looked at anything beyond the textbooks, including television."

Quan Shaoqing rubbed his forehead, remembering Yun Xiao’s resume, which stated that she was born in Daliang Mountain, a remote Primitive Forest. The backward living and educational conditions had made her life so unfortunate.

Quan Shaoqing looked at Yun Xiao as she lowered her head again, silent and aloof, lacking self-confidence—perhaps she hadn’t found the value of her existence yet, therefore living a joyless life, caring too much about others’ gazes. Not knowing how to communicate, how to handle interpersonal dealings.

After all, she was nothing more than a kind child who had been abandoned by society without love.

Compared to Gu Xiaoxi, she seemed even more unfortunate.

"Don’t look down when talking to me. Yun Xiao, I’m telling you once more, you are not a monster, but a talented Special Ability User granted to you by heaven. You are not useless, you just haven’t found the meaning of your life yet, and your talents have not been unearthed. Look at me..." Quan Shaoqing said sternly. "I won’t make you leave the service just because you have this Special Ability. On the contrary, I will value you even more. Do you understand?"

Yun Xiao could hardly believe her ears, looking at Quan Shaoqing, the hope slowly igniting in her cold eyes, "Can I really be valued highly? Am I really not a monster?"

Quan Shaoqing nodded emphatically, then reached out to gently pat her shoulder, reassuring her, "I have a few subordinates like you. They are geniuses I’ve gone to great lengths to find among hundreds of millions of people. They are exceptionally talented, with amazing abilities. As long as you promise to be loyal to the nation for life, I can grant you special privileges, even greater than those of your regiment leader."

Hearing Quan Shaoqing’s words, Yun Xiao bit her lip, her facial muscles tense, and beneath her long eyelashes, tears were already swirling in her eyes. A breeze from outside blew in, stirring her soft hair. She fought against the joy in her heart to keep from crying, but in the end, she couldn’t help but begin to sob.

Her tears fell like beads off a string, the sound of her sobbing intermittent as she tried to hold back. She had never felt as free and joyous as at this moment, feeling truly human.

She had finally received respect, a profound respect for her soul.

She lifted her head to look at Quan Shaoqing and said with her hoarse, broken voice, "I don’t ask for much power, I just want to stay in the army. And I swear, as long as the army will have me, my life will be for my country. The army is my home, and I will work hard to be a useful person!"

Quan Shaoqing looked at her face stained with tears and pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket to give to her, "Wipe your face. You don’t need to be afraid of anything in the future. I will find someone to train you in secret and develop you into a useful talent."

Yun Xiao froze there, looking at the hands that offered her the handkerchief, distinct in joints, fair like jade, those powerful fingers seemed to grasp an entire world, so strong, beautiful, noble.

She accepted the handkerchief, her fingers trembling, the trajectory of her fate had begun to reverse since meeting him.

She was like a dried seabed, coming across the vast ocean.

Yun Xiao got up from the bed, barefoot, climbed down from the bed, and knelt before Quan Shaoqing, bowing her head in gratitude for his recognition.

Gu Xiaoxi was the ray of sunshine in her despair, while Quan Shaoqing was the Bole of her life. They were the benefactors she would remember for her lifetime, thankful for giving her courage, warmth, and a future.

Quan Shaoqing’s face darkened as he looked at Yun Xiao kneeling on the ground, and he said sternly, "Stand up. My subordinates do not kneel before others as weaklings, do not whine like cowards, and certainly do not cower without daring to lift their heads."

Yun Xiao wiped away her tears and immediately stood up from the ground, saluting Quan Shaoqing with her head held high and chest out, she shouted, "Yes, sir!"

Even though tears kept streaming down, it wasn’t from sadness, she was crying from overwhelming joy.

Seeing the fighting spirit ignited on Yun Xiao’s face relieved Quan Shaoqing.

The girl did indeed have a pitiable fate... Let it be, having her follow Gu Xiaoxi might make her shine. They might even make a remarkably synergistic team.

"That’s all for our discussion today, go back and get some sleep! Otherwise, if Xiaoxi sees this, she might think I was bullying you. As for the matter of your special ability, you may tell her, but apart from her, you must tell no one else. Do you understand?" Quan Shaoqing’s face was somber as he spoke in a serious tone.

"Yes!" Yun Xiao nodded solemnly.

By the time Gu Xiaoxi returned, it was already late at night. The Three Volumes of Techniques of the Great Accomplishment Realm were not so easy to practice as she had felt from the beginning.

When she circulated the Cultivation Technique of Volume One, her Inner Strength was more robust than before, the Spiritual Energy that she gathered in her hands was denser, and she became stronger herself. But the speed of her practice had slowed down to half of what it used to be.

After three hours of imbuing and expelling during practice, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t gather any more Spiritual Energy.

Gu Xiaoxi looked up at the sky, perhaps Earth’s Spiritual Energy was becoming increasingly sparse, and the Spiritual Energy she could acquire was even less. The Great Accomplishment Realm required much more Spiritual Energy to sustain.

She sighed. It seemed she had to take it slowly, there was no rushing it.

When Gu Xiaoxi got back, she saw Xiao Xiao trying to break free from its leash at the gate, obviously trying to find something to eat.

She strode forward, patting Xiao Xiao’s head, "If you continue to be disobedient like this, I think it’s better to send you back to the logistics unit. From there on, you can get fat, grow old, and nobody will care."

Xiao Xiao shook its little head, now realizing its mistake.

But Gu Xiaoxi couldn’t let her off, a mistake needed to be punished, so it would be remembered for next time. "Since you’ve made a mistake, reflect on it properly right here. Even a dog must have pride and valor. Understand?"

Xiao Xiao whimpered and lay down on the ground, starting to contemplate its life as a dog!

Was it really wrong? "Wu wu wu..." Xiao Xiao made a pitiful whining sound from its mouth.