The bodyguard placed the child into the vehicle, and Ji Yuzhou followed shortly after.

“Head back. Tell Lu Hewang to wait for us there,” Ji Yuzhou instructed.

Lu Hewang was Ji Yuzhou’s personal physician. As Ji Yuzhou gave the order, he casually adjusted the car’s air conditioning, raising the temperature by two degrees.

The child curled up in a corner of the car, keeping a noticeable distance from the seat. Half of his body hovered awkwardly in the air, as if he were squatting on the floor. In the brief moment since boarding the car, he had already pulled his hood back up, as if it were a natural shield.

Leaning back against the leather seat, Ji Yuzhou remarked nonchalantly, “Are you that afraid of me?”

The car remained silent for a while. Then, the rustling sound of fabric filled the air. The child’s hooded head moved slightly. This time, Ji Yuzhou clearly saw it—the child was shaking his head.

“What’s your name?”

The car was silent, with only the faint hum of the vehicle speeding forward breaking the stillness.

Ji Yuzhou asked again, “How old are you?”

This time, Ji Yuzhou waited for a long while, but the child still didn’t respond. The car gradually came to a stop, and the bodyguard sitting in the front respectfully reported, “Commander, we’ve arrived.”

“Alright.” Ji Yuzhou didn’t say anything more and instructed the bodyguards to help the child out of the car.

“I-I can walk on my own!” The child suddenly spoke up when the tall men circled around to his side and opened the door to assist him.

This was the first time Ji Yuzhou heard him speak clearly. His voice had already passed the stage of puberty, carrying the magnetic tone characteristic of a young man. However, contrary to his prickly demeanor, there was a hint of softness in his tone. For a moment, Ji Yuzhou seemed to see a hedgehog bristling with quills, yet hiding tender pink flesh beneath its defensive spikes.

Ji Yuzhou chuckled lightly and instructed the bodyguards, “Let him walk by himself.”

The child slipped away from the bodyguards’ hands, limping as he followed Ji Yuzhou inside. Once in the room, Ji Yuzhou had him sit on the sofa in the living room.

Ji Yuzhou took a seat nearby and turned to Lu Hewang, who had been waiting for some time. “Check the injuries on him.”

Lu Hewang had been Ji Yuzhou’s personal doctor for a long time. Upon learning he was to treat an unfamiliar young boy, and hearing Ji Yuzhou casually refer to the boy as a “child,” he couldn’t help but feel curious. He teased, “General Ji, after all these years without a single scandal, turns out this is your type?”

“Stop speaking nonsense.” Ji Yuzhou shot him a glance.

The truth of the matter involved complex events from years ago. Few people knew the full story, and the intertwined forces made it unwise to reveal too much now. After a moment’s thought, Ji Yuzhou replied, “He’s the son of an old friend. I only just found him.”

As they spoke, Lu Hewang didn’t idle. He opened his medical kit and skillfully began cleaning the dirt and blood off the boy’s wounds before applying medicine with a cotton swab.

When the boy’s tattered clothes were removed, the injuries underneath were shocking. The wounds were clearly the result of long-term abuse, some even festering with pus—red, yellow, and smeared with grime. Ji Yuzhou had grown up in the military and witnessed far bloodier scenes, yet seeing almost no unscarred skin on this child, coupled with his cowering demeanor, stirred an inexplicable sense of pity in him. He turned his gaze aside.

From the moment they entered, the child hadn’t said a word. Throughout, he emained silent, complying mechanically whenever Lu Hewang instructed him to lift his arm or move. He seemed more like a lifeless machine than a person.

Once the injuries on his body were treated, Lu Hewang requested the boy to lift his hat so he could examine the wounds on his face. But unlike before, when the boy silently endured having his waist and thighs tended to, he instantly retracted his hand and shook his head with a panic-stricken expression, like a frightened animal.

“No…”

Ji Yuzhou could guess the reason behind this reaction. The boy’s unusual eye color likely made him the target of ridicule and scorn. Seeing that most of the other wounds were already handled, Ji Yuzhou said to Lu Hewang, “Leave us for a moment. I need to speak with him privately.”

Lu Hewang had wanted to say more, but Ji Yuzhou’s stern demeanor stopped him. Nodding, he left the room. Familiar with Ji Yuzhou’s temperament, Lu Hewang knew the young commander’s success came from his decisiveness and unwillingness to have his private affairs pried into.

As the door clicked shut, the infamous General Ji, known for his iron will and decisiveness, leaned casually against the couch, gazing at the child hiding beneath his black hat. His expression carried a hint of amusement.

His voice softened, tinged with a playful undertone: “You won’t tell me your name, and you won’t let me touch you. But you opened up so easily to the doctor?”

The child hugged his knees tightly, visibly flustered at Ji Yuzhou’s words. After a moment of hesitation, he curled further into himself on the sofa. A muffled voice emerged from under the hat, faint but audible: “Jiang Xunyu, seventeen.”

“Which characters for ‘Xunyu’?”

Ji Yuzhou’s low voice carried a magnetic warmth, and Jiang Xunyu subconsciously blurted the truth before realizing it. “…To seek light.”

“So, it’s ‘Xunyu’… A good name.” Ji Yuzhou repeated the name, savoring its sound. His guess had been correct—the boy’s surname was indeed Jiang. Smiling faintly, Ji Yuzhou said, “My name is Ji Yuzhou. I’m nine years older than you. You can call me Mr. Ji, or uncle, whichever you prefer.”

“Mr. Ji…” Jiang Xunyu murmured hesitantly, resting his chin on his knees. Hearing Ji Yuzhou say his name over and over stirred something in him—an unfamiliar feeling, like a small cat softly pawing at his heart.

No one had ever spoken to him in this tone before.

Lost in thought, Jiang Xunyu was startled when Ji Yuzhou stood and approached him. “Take off your hat and let me check your wound?”

Before Ji Yuzhou even finished speaking, Jiang Xunyu instinctively tightened his grip on the edges of his hat, bowing his head. His knuckles turned white from the pressure. “There’s no need…”

His voice trembled, but Ji Yuzhou didn’t press him. Instead, he calmly shifted the topic. “Then… can your eyes see clearly?”

Jiang Xunyu fell silent, his lips pressed into a tight line.

He had always known his eyes were different. People accused him of being diseased and dirty, or they called him a monster. Even the orphanage director had once consulted a fortune teller, worried that taking in a child with abnormal eyes might bring misfortune. Jiang Xunyu was aware of all of this, pretending not to hear.

Most people only cared whether his eyes would bring them bad luck. Apart from his parents, no one had ever asked him such a simple, sincere question about whether his eyes could see properly.

Caught off guard by Ji Yuzhou’s words, Jiang Xunyu felt a sudden warmth in his eyes. Embarrassed by the thought of shedding tears, he blinked rapidly, forcing them back.

“I can see clearly,” he sniffled, worried Ji Yuzhou might not have heard him, and repeated himself, “I can see clearly.”

Ji Yuzhou’s voice carried an even stronger hint of amusement as he gently coaxed, like luring a hedgehog to retract its spikes, “Then can you look up at me? Would you be willing?”

Would he be willing?

Of course, he wanted to. But…

Jiang Xunyu hesitated. Ji Yuzhou’s voice was so persuasive that his pale, trembling fingers slowly lifted the edge of his black hat.

Just one glance, Jiang Xunyu told himself. Just one glance to see what the man who saved him looked like.

When Jiang Xunyu lifted his eyes and saw Ji Yuzhou’s face, the man was smiling. His alluring peach blossom-shaped eyes curved upward, with specks of starlight scattered in the deep black of his irises.

Jiang Xunyu quickly dropped his gaze, but Ji Yuzhou’s eyes were already etched into his mind.

Beautiful.

That was the first word that popped into Jiang Xunyu’s head.

Other than “beautiful,” he couldn’t think of any other way to describe Ji Yuzhou’s eyes. For the first time, Jiang Xunyu regretted his lack of education. For something so breathtaking, he couldn’t find the words to do it justice.

Deep, intense—those were the kinds of eyes Jiang Xunyu had always dreamed of having. But instead of feeling envious, he found them perfectly suited for Ji Yuzhou. He didn’t think someone like him deserved such eyes.

Jiang Xunyu’s movements were so much like a startled little animal that Ji Yuzhou found it amusing. For the first time, he understood why people enjoyed teasing cats. Leaning back casually against the soft sofa cushions, he deliberately teased Jiang Xunyu, “Are you that afraid of me? Don’t like me?”

Jiang Xunyu instinctively shook his head, then realized Ji Yuzhou might not see it with his head still under the hat. His fingers nervously picked at his nails, causing a sharp pain, and after much hesitation, he muttered a single word: “…Dirty.”

Jiang Xunyu’s voice was so soft that even Ji Yuzhou, trained to have exceptional hearing, couldn’t catch what he said. He frowned slightly. “What?”

Jiang Xunyu stayed silent for a moment before biting his pale lips and whispering, “You saw it… I’m dirty.”

After speaking, he lowered his eyes in a pained silence.

The words of the fortune teller that the orphanage director had consulted echoed in his mind, haunting him endlessly: “Heterochromatic eyes are rare, a sign of misfortune and calamity. It’s better not to get too close to avoid bad luck.”

Jiang Xunyu’s response was vague, but Ji Yuzhou’s keen intuition quickly pieced things together. Seeing the boy’s cowering figure and recalling the director’s earlier comments, Ji Yuzhou could guess what was troubling him. Eyes are the most distinctive feature of a person’s face, and in a world where black eyes were the norm, prejudice against heterochromatic individuals was deeply ingrained.

Ji Yuzhou had also just witnessed Jiang Xunyu fighting with others. Though it was a two-against-one situation, the other boys bore their fair share of injuries. Jiang Xunyu was no docile pushover.

For someone who could be so fiercely relentless, to now be this considerate about how others might see him… Ji Yuzhou wondered: Was it because he had saved him?

Ji Yuzhou, who had grown up in the military surrounded by deception and manipulation, rarely encountered such a straightforward and earnest person. Jiang Xunyu’s naive, almost foolish sincerity was something he found endearing.

Looking at Jiang Xunyu’s frail figure, Ji Yuzhou suddenly changed his plans.

Originally, he had intended to help him recover and then enroll him in a school. That would fulfill his sense of obligation and repay an old favor. But now…

“I don’t mind that,” Ji Yuzhou said slowly. A child like this—pure, loyal, someone who would give their heart completely with even the smallest kindness—was a rare find, a promising seedling to nurture.

He looked at Jiang Xunyu and softened his voice slightly. “Xunyu, would you like to come back to the military base with me?”