Chapter 460 - Jian Family’s Son in Law
Chapter 460: Jian Family’s Son in Law
Alliance East border, Starlink Corporation’s First Fleet was positioned neatly in a row, waiting in that inky blackness of space.
Capital ship, the Horizon.
Jensen had a smile on his face. Among all of Avril’s followers, Jensen was most likely the only one who had come from a commoner’s background like Xia Fei. He had depended on his talent in command and strength when he was sixteen, graduating from the top command school in the Alliance, hired to be the assistant captain for Starlink Corporation’s First Fleet. In the several years since, Jensen had risen from an assistant to a captain, then from a captain to fleet commander in chief. His rise had been so quick that it left others flabbergasted.
Of course, after the war, the ten fleets that Starlink Corporation originally owned were now down to one, and so Jensen was only a fleet commander in chief in name, but the number of ships he was in charge of had not changed.
“Son-in-law is only a single warp away from our location and is presently recharging his ship’s energy. He should arrive at our position in fifteen minutes,” Jensen’s assistant, Ronald, reported.
Though most had not personally met Xia Fei, the love story of Xia Fei and Avril during the war had already been ingrained deeply into everyone’s hearts. Most had begun affectionately calling Xia Fei son-in-law, for all of them felt that it was only a matter of time before their young lady and he wed and that Starlink Corporation would sooner or later operate under Xia Fei’s name.
Most harbored much anticipation and longing for such an outcome, looking forward to when Xia Fei and Avril would live happily ever after like the prince charming and princess in the fairy tales. The majority of employees had no issue letting the famed Xia Fei take charge, either; after all, the man’s strength and character were well-known to everyone.
It was rather ironic. When the relationship that Xia Fei and Avril shared had become known a few years back, most thought that Xia Fei was a toad lusting for swan meat, wishing they could just stomp and kill this toady Xia Fei, feeling wistful sympathy toward their young lady’s blindness.
Now, no one dared to see Xia Fei as a toad. In fact, many felt that it was quite an honor for the Jian family to be able to claim kinship with Xia Fei. After all, Xia Fei was already acknowledged as an apex expert in the Alliance, of which the reputation preceded his. Xia Fei’s Quantum Holdings was already seen as a top-rated business in the Alliance, comparable to Starlink Corporation. Furthermore, the momentum of its development was astoundingly quick, meaning that it would be a matter of time before the company surpassed Starlink Corporation.
Jensen did not enjoy hearing everyone call Xia Fei son-in-law, but he was helpless to stop this from happening.
“Connect Xia Fei via video-call.” Jensen tidied his uniform as he instructed.
The screen turned on, and Xia Fei was displayed drinking a cup of tea. He gave a jovial greeting to Jensen, appearing to be completely at ease.
“Mr. Xia Fei, I am here under orders of the chairman to escort you to Sido. The young lady and the board chairman, the CEO, and your employees from Quantum Holdings are all waiting for your arrival there,” Jensen said in a rich voice. His tone was a little cold due to the dissatisfaction he was feeling deep down toward this average-looking man, who was about the same age as him.
“You’ll be my escort?” Xia Fei found this arrangement rather hilarious, but he still politely nodded. “No problem. My warship is currently recharging its energy, so I’ll be there soon.”
Jensen remained serious. “I know that you’ve got a very high cultivation, capable of taking down tens of thousands of foes at once, but out here in the stars, warships are the real power. With how the war has just ended, there are plenty of pirates active here in the border region, making it very unsafe. With Starlink Corporation’s First Fleet in my command as escort, I can guarantee that you’ll be safe the entire journey.”
“I agree as well that warships are the real power out here in space. Thank you for your hard work then,” Xia Fei said with a smile.
Turning off the screen, Jensen straightened his back further. Though he was no match for Xia Fei in terms of his martial arts strength or cultivation, he was at least rather confident when it came to warships and fleets, and Jensen was hoping that he would be able to save himself face through this.
*Whoosh~*
A temporary wormhole channel opened near Starlink Corporation’s First Fleet, and this huge wormhole was so large that there would even be space after fitting the entire First Fleet into it. Jensen looked out the window and could not help but widen his eyes.
“Such a huge wormhole? What type of warship is Xia Fei piloting?” Jensen hurriedly asked.
Before the radar control operator could even answer, Jensen saw Nirvana slowly making its way out of the wormhole. As a fleet commander, he of course knew from the outer appearance of this gigantic warship just what type it was.
“A Gaian Thanatos-class carrier!”
“Heavens! Son-in-law is actually piloting a capital ship! That’s too d*mn cool!”
“But of course. I heard that aside from the military, only the Adjudicator Union and the Monastic Order each have a capital ship, but what either owns is just a dreadnought. Son-in-law is the first civilian to own a carrier!”
“Owning a capital ship requires a license; I wonder if son-in-law’s capital ship is actually licensed?”
“What nonsense? Who do you think son-in-law is? He’s a great hero who barged into the insectoid territory alone and managed to kill countless insectoids. On one hand, you have Tai leading the military off into the Terminus system for a retaliation; on another hand, you have our son-in-law. Even if he doesn’t have a license, who’s going to stop him actually?”
Bouts of cheers erupted in the command deck. Perhaps it was a situation of ‘love me, love my dog’, but everyone felt that their prestige had risen now that Xia Fei was piloting his own capital ship.
“The largest ship we have in our fleet is this Horizon, an Amarrian Abaddon. Unfortunately, an Abaddon next to the Thanatos is like an ant besides an elephant.”
“Heh! To think we’re still so excited to escort our son-in-law. Turns out that he has a carrier. How ridiculous we must’ve looked.”
“Now, it’s the son-in-law escorting us instead.”
The conversation in the command deck caused Jensen’s face to turn pale. He wished he could just crawl into an underground crevice and hide, for he had previously been lecturing Xia Fei about the importance of warships in space.
The screen suddenly turned on, and Xia Fei smiled. “Sorry to trouble you all for the escort.”
Every word hammered home onto Jensen’s face. His body shuddered, grinning back forcefully as he said through gritted teeth, “Yes.”
…
Planet Sido, Dietris Star Region, what used to be a western border region of the Panhuman Alliance. Now that Venal Galaxy had been razed to the ground, the Alliance government, economy, and military all moved westward to Sido, designating it as the temporary capital of the Alliance while they awaited for Venal Galaxy to be rebuilt so that they could move back.
Avril’s new home was located on the outskirts of Sido in a fairly old-fashioned garden bungalow which covered a sizable plot of land. This place was a lot simpler compared to the grandeur of Sunset Villa, but neither Avril nor anyone from her family complained. Compared to the days they had spent aboard warships during the war, the life they had here on Sido was practically heaven.
The Jian family was exceptionally busy today. Countless famed individuals of the Alliance were packed in here, standing in the garden or the corridor if they failed to secure themselves seats. Xia Fei was about to arrive in a few hours, and everyone wished to catch a glimpse of the hero from the legends.
Charlie, Porter, Boateng, Sarah, Andre, Wu Long, and other department heads of Quantum Holdings were being treated as the most important guests of the Jian family, and all of them had been arranged to sit in the VIP lounge, which Avril’s grandfather Ernst hosted. Qin Mang, Thuram, Moon Song, and Chen Dong were also present. Basically, anyone who shared a good relationship with Xia Fei had been invited, receiving the best hospitality that they could offer.
Life truly knew how to make a joke out of man. When Xia Fei first came to the Jian family, he merely wanted to know if Avril was still alive, hoping to catch a glimpse of the lady that he missed. He was heavily obstructed back then and even received plenty of eyerolls from everyone around. Pang Xing’s father Pang Hai even stepped out and fought with him.
Now, perhaps even a dog that Xia Fei raised would be nobler than a prized hunting dog, despite it just being a mongrel which was hardly worth half a star coin.
While the garden was bustling with noise, Avril’s bedroom was even livelier.
“Miss, would you be wearing this skirt today?” A maid presented a beautiful pink long dress and asked.
Five to six maids were all in a hurry helping Avril with her attire. Each and every one of them was wearing a soft smile on their faces. It was said that the son-in-law was coming back, so even these maids were feeling happy for their lady.
“This one looks too flamboyant, and our son-in-law always prefers the subtle. I think it’s better if the lady dresses herself a little simpler.”
“That’s before. Son-in-law is now an important figure, and plenty of rich heiresses will have their sights set on him. If the lady doesn’t look outstandingly pretty, it may not be appropriate.”
The maids were all chattering, each of them calling Xia Fei son-in-law, which caused Avril to blush red, completely embarrassed by it.
Row upon row of dresses was on display, and pieces of jewelry were all laid out. The gaggle of maids was all abuzz picking out a suitable look for Avril, causing her to experience a bout of indecisiveness in that moment, clueless on what she should be wearing.
In her panic, a maid, who was in her thirties, quietly tugged at Avril’s sleeve and leaned in to whisper, “My lady, I got what you asked for.”
Avril felt her heart thump wildly as her rosy cheeks reddened even further like ripe red apples.
She anxiously grabbed the maid’s hand and went into the side room, locking the door behind her.
The maid pulled out a bottle of blue liquid and sneakily stuffed it into Avril’s palms.
“My lady, there will surely be no problem if you use this. There’s a time when my own spouse was indifferent to me, so I added just a little to his meal that night and he turned into a savage tiger, causing me to come down with exhaustion every night.” The maid excitedly shared this tidbit.
Avril did not recover from her anxiety, slipping the little bottle into her undergarments as she gingerly asked, “There won’t be any side effect, right?”
“It’s completely natural, and the only side effect is that son-in-law won’t ever leave you,” that maid cheekily tittered.
Avril hurriedly covered her two ears, so embarrassed that she dare not raise her head. “Okay, that’s enough. I’m dying of embarrassment here.”
The maid chuckled. “What’s there to be embarrassed about? You and son-in-law being together is heaven ordained. Something like this will only help ensure that your nights are even more passionate; that’s all.”
Avril bit her lip and somewhat grumbled, “Xia Fei always said before that I’m still young, but I’m definitely not that anymore.”
The maid quickly consoled her. “That’s only because the son-in-law cares about you. A woman’s first time will always be somewhat painful, but the happiness you’ll feel soon after can wash you over endlessly like the sea waves…”
Avril stamped her feet all flustered, like a kitten of which the tail had accidentally been stepped on. “Okay, that’s enough. I don’t want to hear it.”
However, that maid continued, nagging incessantly as she described what happened between a man and a woman.
Avril was both abashed yet intrigued, covering her ears but also carefully listening to what this maid was talking about. She would take plenty of deep breath when the topic got intimate, almost having trouble keeping herself standing upright.
Some time later, Avril quietly slipped out from that side room like a little goldfinch which had done something bad but was afraid of being scolded, looking around furtively to ensure that there was no one around before hurrying back into her room.
“Oh, my! I forgot to instruct the lady not to use too much at once,” the old maid muttered to herself. “Forget it. The lady has always been very timid, and this is her first time, too. I doubt that she’ll dare use much at once…”