Chapter 20: The Secretary’s First Day of Vacation

Happy new year! Early chapter today to celebrate. Your regularly scheduled update will go back to normal on Wednesday.
-moondancer

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Hearing Lucas’ words, Luo Ran stroked his chin and asked, “Is Admiral afraid I will resign from my post if I get married?”

“You’d dare?!”

He chuckled. “Admiral, rest assured, I will always be your secretary until you retire.”

Even if he got married or something, he still had to work.

Lucas was barely satisfied with this.

Luo Ran laid down. It felt like he was trapped in cotton candy, or wrapped by a soft cloud.

As Lucas’ bed, it was of course thickly covered in his scent. Nestling inside felt like being embraced by his pheromones.

Luo Ran’s mind became confused for a moment.

It was too comfortable.

As if every nerve in his body was unfolding, the restlessness and discomfort slowly faded away.

The source of those pheromones wasn’t far away, and the scent of bitter earth permeated the bed.

Luo Ran sneakily shifted around and pulled at the quilt to cover himself from head to toe.

To receive such ample, compatible pheromones during his special period was undoubtedly a timely help.* Luo Ran was so satisfied that his fingers curled up.

“Good night, Admiral…”

“Nn.”

They settled into silence.

Lucas curled his tall body on the sofa inside the office, unable to stretch out properly, whereas Luo Ran comfortably burrowed into the bed. This scene was a bit contradictory.

But Luo Ran was too tired and couldn’t think so much, and he soon fell asleep.

Lucas sat up and looked towards the person inside the inner room.

When Luo Ran passed out, Lucas caught him.

Luo Ran carried the scent of white tea on his body, wispy and elegant. Lucas thought that it might be because of the incense used in the office.

For the first time, Lucas found that Luo Ran was so light and soft. He even looked a little fragile when he lost consciousness.

He was different from his usually perfect image. Luo Ran typically looked gentle yet distant, as if everything was under control.

Lucas frowned slightly to see that Luo Ran seemed to have shrunk in his sleep.

He didn’t fear the cold himself, so his quilts tended to be thin.

After some thought, he took the coat he just hung up and covered Luo Ran with it.

Luo Ran subconsciously grabbed it and relaxed into a deeper sleep.

“Tsk…”

Lucas thought, sleeping like this, this fool wouldn’t even know if someone tied him up and sold him.

Then he lay on the sofa and also fell asleep.

So when Luo Ran saw the coat over his body the next morning, he was stupefied.

His first reaction was that his bad habit flared up again and he pulled another coat over to hug, making ice flood his veins.

Later when his memory returned, Luo Ran guessed, is this… something Lucas gave?

As he held the thick coat in his arms, he was a little surprised.

Lucas wasn’t someone who would do such a thing, much less something so considerate.

Sick people could enjoy special treatment?

Luo Ran shook his head. He got up and folded the coat properly, ready to iron it for Lucas before he left for his holiday.

He got himself ready for the day, then saw that Lucas, as usual, hadn’t woken up yet.

Although…

Luo Ran was quite surprised to see him squeezing on the sofa like a soda can.

He felt uncomfortable just looking at him.

Luo Ran looked at the coat he carried, then at Lucas, who’d pressed himself into a ball.

He smiled at the sight then turned to make coffee and choose the day’s clothes for Lucas.

Lucas couldn’t live without a cup of coffee before work.

This was something he did every morning. Even if he was on holiday, he couldn’t slack off.

* * *

When Lucas awoke, he found himself the only person in the office.

The bed was neatly made, the coat was ironed, and a thermos bottle, a stack of clothing, and urgent documents were placed on the table.

Lucas stepped closer to take the clothes and found a small note stuck on the pile.

Be happy, it’s a new day 0v0

Lucas was taken aback, then rubbed at his face.

“Tsk…”　　

　　—— XXXX ——

It felt surreal when Luo Ran returned home.

To sit in his armchair with nothing to do, really was an amazing feeling.

He didn’t even have any work to do though the sun hadn’t set.

He actually didn’t have anything to do.

He felt an emptiness that he wasn’t used to and even had the urge to find something to do to while away the time.

Luo Ran sat for a long while before he realized – he finally had a holiday!

The excitement came slowly until it washed through his entire mind.

He got up, grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, and happily huddled in bed as he planned out how to spend his three days of break.

The first day… The first day…

Just sleep.

Luo Ran simply wrote ‘sleep’ into his timetable for the first day.

He habitually rose early and slept late day in day out, and had never experienced the extravagant life of sleeping in for a whole day.

The second day… Luo Ran remembered that his parents called him a few days ago, complaining that he rarely returned home.

Then he’d go home and spend a night there, and take his younger siblings out shopping for new clothes.

The third day…

Luo Ran didn’t know what to do, so he went on the forums to look for suggestions.

[The empire’s newest retro amusement park! No high-tech gadgets, no AR,* no tests of skill, but you’ll want to stay forever!]

[Retro Amusement Park, the best place to visit ancient Earth for families and couples, you’ll regret it if you don’t come!]

Luo Ran curiously clicked on it.

In this era, anything about the culture of ancient Earth would explode in popularity, such as the milk tea shops which once swept through the capital.

This time, the amusement park restored scenes from famous movies of the era, and promoted it as a must-see place for couples, which immediately drew everyone in.

Luo Ran was also a little interested when he saw it.

It just so happened that he could go himself to try it out first. If it went well, he could take his siblings there as a reward for finishing their exams.

After planning out his next three days, Luo Ran happily laid down and played on his terminal.

He thought for a while and decided to check up on Adjutant Lu Cheng.

Earlier, using his identity as a secretary of the empire, Luo Ran had asked the Starnet Administration Bureau for admin powers when he was taking care of Nina’s case.

This was why he could unobtrusively observe Nina, Rong Duo, and others, even though no one used their real names. After all, he could see their backend data while they had no clue he was doing so.

Lu Cheng was different from Rong Duo. Rong Duo kept a steady and placid demeanour at work, whereas Lu Cheng was a rough army man who couldn’t control his facial expression at all. 

Luo Ran discovered that as long as he and Lucas were in the same frame, the adjutant would laugh as foolishly as if he were marrying off his daughter.

Luo Ran had already experienced many battles, and the man who went through The Evil Admiral’s Doting wasn’t the same person as before. He had long lost confidence in his judgement of the people around him.

When Luo Ran searched for Lu Cheng in the backend data, he found that Lu Cheng was rather frank. He didn’t bother with a username, instead directly using ‘Adjutant Lu Cheng’ as an ID to… ship people.

Luo Ran: “…”

Lu Cheng’s newest post:

@Adjutant Lu Cheng: #Lucas/Luo Ran Report# Today Madam Secretary collapsed from illness, I was going to catch him but who knew that the admiral would! Immediately jump down from the command platform, faster than lightning! One step ahead!!

My hand was about to touch Secretary Luo! Then the admiral directly! Slapped my paws away! Then, then! He knocked me away!!

The admiral was very agitated! Very nervous! Whoosh! He carried the secretary in his arms!

My hand was slapped red!

Ah! What a wonderful love!

The rest, I can’t say! Respect their privacy!

Likes: 311.7k

Comments:

[A wonderful love! I can do it! Aaaah I’m too happy, can a sister draw this waaaahhhh it’s a princess carry!]

[A wonderful love! I was a little sad because of the marriage talks before, but the admiral’s true love is indeed our Secretary Luo!]

[A wonderful love! A bit of inside information can make us happy for a week! Adjutant, charge!]

Luo Ran: “…”

For this to go on the hot search was already outrageous.

What was even more outrageous was that the post had even more likes than posts from the Imperial Army’s official account.

Come to think of it, with this amount of likes, if it were in the time of ancient Earth, Lu Cheng would already be beheaded due to his incredible influence on the masses.

Although…

Luo Ran lightly frowned.

He hadn’t been aware of his surroundings when he collapsed. Was Lucas the one who caught him?

Luo Ran didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. This series of events was too weird.

Luo Ran spent an entire afternoon happily surfing on the web, but elsewhere, Lucas wasn’t nearly as comfortable.

“Admiral, according to your itinerary, next is a meeting with several adjutants at the military department, the topic is overhauling our mecha fuel…”  Rong Duo stood near Lucas’ desk with the itinerary in her hands, trembling as she reported the schedule.

“There’s no need to tell me directly!” Lucas erupted in annoyance. “Just arrange it yourself! Do I also need to teach you how to prepare the documents?!”

“Yes…!!” Rong Duo wanted to cry but had no tears. “Then I’ll go out first…!!”

“Wait.” Lucas scowled. “The documents?”

Rong Duo: “?”

With a sullen face, Lucas said, “The documents for the meeting. Give them to me.”

Rong Duo wanted to cry again. “They’re not… ready yet, I’m sorry, I didn’t know Admiral would want them now. I’ll sort it out right now!”

Lucas couldn’t be bothered to scold her.

After Rong Duo left, Lucas irritably sipped at his coffee.

Tch, it’s awful.

This cup of coffee brewed by that afternoon’s substitute secretary was too disgusting.

With it so sweet, did they want to poison him?

It felt the same as the time Luo Ran unexpectedly took a day off without warning. Nothing went smoothly. No one could keep up with his tempo, nor could they understand his needs.

Lucas frowned.

There were two days left.

He didn’t know what that little bastard was doing now.

After a pause, Lucas decided to ask the Starnet Administration Bureau for backend access.

Then Lucas saw the countless posts and videos that Luo Ran reblogged that day.

Lucas: “…”

He’s pretty relaxed.

Lucas looked through them one by one.

Cat videos, dog videos, recipes, gardening techniques…

And little lifestyle tips.

[Seven ways to tie a tie! Go seven days without a repeat!]

[The world’s five most fragrant coffee beans, do you know them all? Do you know how to brew them?]

[Incense Collection 101]

[The Fastest and Simplest Way to Tidy Your Home!]

Lucas sneered. If he didn’t know better, he’d think this was the search history of a housewife.

[Retro Amusement Park map]

[Retro Amusement Park ticket prices]

He frowned slightly.

Amusement park?

Looking around, Lucas soon found the tagline was – Top Spot for Couples!

Lucas exploded.

This little bastard asked for a holiday so he could take someone on a date?!

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Translator:
Adjutant Lu best wingman

Edit 03/01/22: noticed the third and fourth paragraphs repeat the first two, that’s now fixed

Footnotes:

1. A timely help [雪中送炭]: lit. ‘to send charcoal in the snow’; an idiom to represent giving material or spiritual support to people in distress.
2. AR: augmented reality; imposing virtual objects on real life; think Pokemon Go for an example

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