Chapter 38: The Interstellar Marshal Who Doesn’t Save the Female Lead

Rejected, Jiujiu sat there, wings akimbo, occasionally turning his head to stare at his dad.

In the first half of his life, Shen Yijing always felt that very few things and events could stir his emotions. Everything he did seemed to be because he *should* do it, not because he *liked* to.

If it were his subordinates or anyone else throwing a tantrum over such a small matter, Shen Yijing would definitely be very impatient.

But seeing this bird named Jiujiu sitting there sulking, occasionally looking at him, afraid he wouldn’t coax him, his heart inexplicably softened.

“Alright, you can peck.”

Jiujiu leaned over and kissed his dad’s cheek. After kissing, he lifted his head, waiting for his dad to apologize to him.

“This isn’t pecking, this is kissing,” Shen Yijing gently corrected. His hospitalization was quite sudden, so he didn’t pack any luggage, only wearing his Empire Marshal’s specific uniform 1 when he left.

He recovered well and wasn’t stopped. When he reached the main entrance, a guard even asked if he needed help.

“No, thank you. Jiujiu wants something warm.”

Before Shen Yijing could answer, Jiujiu chirped a few times, refusing first.

After Jiujiu’s reply, Shen Yijing glanced at the seemingly confused guard, confirming that only he could understand what the bird was saying.

“No need.”

Jiujiu really liked the tassels on his dad’s clothes today. They swayed with his walking, firmly capturing his attention.

“Dad, your clothes are so beautiful.”

Shen Yijing generally didn’t like people complimenting such external things. To him, it wasn’t just a piece of clothing; it represented his honor, the result of much effort.

But looking down and seeing Jiujiu leaning over, his wings fiddling with the tassels, he felt that Jiujiu’s compliment was pure and sincere, just a simple compliment.

“Mm, thank you.”

They arrived at the most famous natural food restaurant in the Downtown Area. Shen Yijing swiped his ID card, and the queue interface automatically moved him to the front.

Entering a private room, Shen Yijing sat down and placed the electronic tablet in front of Jiujiu.

“What do you want to eat?”

It was only right to treat him to a good meal tonight after he worked so hard to treat him during the day.

Shen Yijing had long adapted to various flavors of nutrient solutions. He drank them to treat his injuries, but not all nutrient solutions tasted bad.

The Interstellar Era had been going on for so long. Historical records showed that the taste of nutrient solutions was indeed unpleasant at first, but after so many reforms, there were now all sorts of flavors.

If one had a particularly unique taste, they could even order custom ones directly from the nutrient solution factory.

Nutrient solutions could meet all the daily nutritional needs of the human body, while Natural Food could satisfy one’s cravings.

The culinary culture of the interstellar world had indeed experienced a hiatus due to a catastrophe, but human wisdom was infinite, and a new path was slowly discovered.

Through continuous experimentation, unknown food vegetables were found and given new names.

Natural Food was mostly very expensive because the current sunlight was not suitable for its growth.

Edible foods were either found on relatively remote planets, incurring high transportation costs, or cultivated by certain individuals. To obtain the best-tasting ingredients, temperature and humidity had to be strictly controlled, naturally driving up the price.

Jiujiu looked at the items on the tablet. Although he could read, he hardly recognized any of the items listed.

He could only look at the pictures, choose what he thought tasted good, and point twice with his wing, asking his dad to order for him.

Shen Yijing took a look. Both dishes were very expensive. The average imperial salary could basically only afford one meal a month, but for him, it was fine.

He had been on missions outside before, accumulated a lot of merits, and received many bonuses, but he was too busy with various missions to spend money.

And after he was injured, every visit to the hospital was free treatment, and the clothes he wore were always those issued to him.

“Dad, really?”

Jiujiu had previously thought his dad’s clothes looked very majestic, but now hearing his dad say this, he felt a little sorry for him.

Even the emperor dad from the previous world could relax and play with him after abdicating.

“Mm, so you can eat whatever you want. Don’t worry too much about me not being able to afford it.”

What Jiujiu wanted to say was that his dad didn’t have new clothes to wear, not that he couldn’t afford them, but that there wasn’t a suitable occasion to wear new clothes.

But his dad mistakenly thought he was doubting if there was enough money. He had just casually mumbled that it was a bit expensive when he unintentionally saw the price tag.

“Dad, Jiujiu is easy to raise. I don’t have to eat these things.”

Before, Jiujiu never quite understood why some people were reluctant to spend money. The money earned was meant to be spent; keeping it unused was the real waste.

But now that it was his own dad, he realized that sometimes he was truly reluctant to spend it. It was money his dad earned through such hard work. If it wasn’t spent wisely but squandered by him, he would want to peck himself hard.

“You don’t need to save money for me like this. You are my responsibility now.”

Being able to heal his Mental Power injuries and being so close to him, even if he spent all his money on Jiujiu, Shen Yijing was willing.

He believed that even if it wasn’t him, any person with damaged Mental Power would make the same choice.

“Dad, then I’ll be reluctant.”

“What’s there to be reluctant about?”

Shen Yijing had always rejected the things that the Research Institute spent so much money researching. In his opinion, these things were too expensive, but now he suddenly seemed to understand why they were expensive.

Such a cute and cuddly little bird, a thoughtful little darling who would even act spoiled with him, it was normal for it to be a bit expensive to research.

“You work so hard.”

Jiujiu rubbed against his dad. When Shen Yijing was cutting steak for him with a knife and fork, he even acted like a “ruthless bird” again, using his wing to push the knife.

Because he touched it himself, his very tender skin was quickly cut by the sharp knife, and blood emerged.

Shen Yijing instinctively stood up when he saw this. Jiujiu rubbed his injured wrist against his dad’s hand.

Immediately, Shen Yijing felt a burning sensation from where they touched, but upon closer inspection, there wasn’t even a trace of blood.

Jiujiu was fearless when acting like a “ruthless bird,” but now that it was over, after the wound healed, he started chirping and crying about the pain.

Shen Yijing didn’t even have time to think about what had just happened. He immediately grabbed Jiujiu’s wing and examined it carefully, checking repeatedly but seeing no wound.

If he wasn’t absolutely certain that he had indeed seen this Little Chubby Bird bleed just now, he would have wondered if he was dreaming.

Feeling like he was an injured bird, Jiujiu had no appetite for the rest of the meal, sitting there with his head down, waiting for his dad to feed him.

One of the people working under Shen Yijing happened to be at the same restaurant for dinner today. Hearing that their Marshal was also there, he wanted to go over and say hello.

Unexpectedly, upon entering, he saw the Marshal, who had never shown a smile in front of them, carefully feeding a bird.

Cutting the food into small pieces and spoon-feeding it to the bird.

Even though the Marshal’s affection for him was very obvious, the bird would occasionally be ungrateful, turning its head away to express its refusal to eat that particular item.

The person who wanted to say hello saw this scene and secretly worried for the bird. The Marshal was not the type of person who had the patience to slowly coax others.

In a situation like this, the Marshal would definitely get angry next.

He just wondered if such a small bird could withstand their Marshal’s wrath.

Jiujiu didn’t like the taste of this dish. After he turned his head, Shen Yijing moved the spoon closer to him again, hoping he would taste it before saying he didn’t like it.

“I won’t eat this. If you feed it to me again, I’ll peck you.”

Stubbornly turning his head to the other side, Jiujiu even tried to hit his dad with his wing.

The taste of this food was very strange. He had just seen the price tag and it was very expensive. If he had to describe it, it was probably like the Houttuynia cordata that Jiujiu had seen in a certain world before.

Some people who liked to eat this found its taste unique, but Jiujiu just happened to be a bird who didn’t like it.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you like this? Then let’s get something else. You haven’t eaten much tonight.”

Shen Yijing gently coaxed him. Perhaps it was because the bird kept calling him “dad,” which made him feel like he really was his father.

So, as a father, wasn’t it normal to coax a child who was throwing a tantrum and didn’t want to eat?

“Dad, someone is watching you.”

At Jiujiu’s reminder, Shen Yijing turned his head to look at the window. When he saw a very familiar face there, his gentle expression from coaxing his child instantly turned cold.

“Why are you here?”

“Ah, Marshal, I just happened to be here for dinner. I heard you were here, so, so I came to say hello. I’m leaving now.”

After saying this, he quickly made his escape. He had said that the Marshal couldn’t possibly like coming to such places. It turned out the Marshal wasn’t here to eat himself, but to feed a bird.

The bird ate better than him. Humans were inferior to birds, indeed.