Chapter 107: Chapter 107: Seeking Guidance

That evening, Ares insisted on taking Lu Xiao home first before he went out, a gesture that left Lu Xiao not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

When she saw Ares at the entrance of her office building, Lu Xiao thought she must have misremembered and that his dinner party wasn’t tonight.

But after asking, she learned it wasn’t her memory that was faulty. Ares had gone out of his way to pick her up and take her home.

His reason was simple: he was worried about her going home by herself.

Lu Xiao had a feeling that if she offered to go to the dinner party with him right then, Ares wouldn’t have refused.

But she felt it was unnecessary. Ares deserved to have his own personal space.

After dropping Lu Xiao off at home, Ares was about to start cooking, but Lu Xiao quickly stopped him. “Ares, you should get going. Aren’t you already late?”

Ares paused and looked at Lu Xiao. “There’s no rush. They said they’d wait for me.”

Lu Xiao said disapprovingly, “If you keep them waiting, they won’t invite you next time. Hurry up and go. I’ll make my own dinner.”

Seeing her insistence, Ares had no choice but to relent. But as he was leaving, he was so reluctant to go that it seemed like he was heading off to some arduous mission instead of a dinner party. The sight left Lu Xiao at a loss for words again.

She stood at the door and waved to Ares. “Have fun!”

Looking at the young female’s gentle, smiling face under the light, all Ares wanted was to stay home. He didn’t want to go anywhere at all.

He wasn’t the type to enjoy social gatherings in the first place. He’d only agreed because Hades and Chrisman had suddenly invited him out, and he couldn’t very well refuse.

But he had already decided in his heart, ’Just this once.’

He drove to the tavern they’d agreed on.

Military males like them, who came from the armed forces, all had their usual gathering spots. As he pushed the door open, he immediately spotted two figures sitting at the bar, eagerly awaiting his arrival.

Upon seeing him, Vice Admiral Hades waved. “Ares, over here!”

Ares nodded, walked over, and pulled out a chair to sit. The bartender asked, “What can I get for you?”

“A glass of lemon water, thank you.”

Hearing his answer, Major General Chrisman chuckled. “So well-behaved. Not even drinking, just water. Did your female master forbid it?”

“I don’t want to smell of alcohol and bother her.”

“How could the smell bother her? What time will you even be getting back? Won’t she be asleep? Unless… you two sleep together?” As the realization dawned on him, Chrisman stared in astonishment at Ares, who was politely thanking the bartender after receiving his lemon water. Chrisman’s eyes were wide with disbelief.

Ares simply set his lemon water on the counter and gave him a casual glance. “Yes.”

That simple one-word answer hit Chrisman like a punch to the gut. “No way, man. Did you ask for that?”

“Yes.” ’It was true, after all. Nothing to hide.’

Hearing Ares’s frank reply, Chrisman wasn’t actually surprised. But before he could say more, Hades, sitting on the other side, cut in, “Every night?”

Chrisman immediately leaned closer to Ares, as if to hear his answer more clearly.

Ares raised an eyebrow. “Did you two invite me out just to ask me about this?”

“Hey, man, just answer the question. This is really important to us,” Chrisman said, his face a mask of pure pleading.

Ares was left a little speechless but still answered, “Yes.”

“You’re living the dream, man! Can you please tell us how you did it?” Chrisman looked envious. He thought about his own relationship with his female master; while it wasn’t exactly stiff, there wasn’t much to it either.

’That’s why he wanted to change things. Who wouldn’t want a female master who’d come pick them up after work? Even if it wasn’t every day, just once in a while would be amazing!’

Hades was in a similar situation to Chrisman, which was why he had tagged along today.

But Ares didn’t answer. He took a sip of his lemon water instead. “First, you tell me why you really wanted to see me today.”

An unnatural expression flickered across Chrisman’s face. He cleared his throat and exchanged a look with Hades. “Actually, you were right. We asked you here to learn from your experience. How on earth did you manage to get such a good relationship with your female master? Good enough that she even comes to pick you up from work?”

Hades nodded. “Could you tell us? We don’t need much, just a few tips would be fine.”

Ares glanced at the two of them, his lips thinning into a line. “Honestly, I haven’t done anything. My female master is just a good person.”

Chrisman stared, stunned for a moment, then looked at Ares in disbelief. “No way. We came from the same military district, we fought on the same battlefield together… we’re practically brothers-in-arms who’ve faced death together, right? What’s there to hide? You’re really holding out on us? That’s pretty cheap, man.”

Ares sighed, a hint of resignation in his voice. “I’m telling you the truth. You guys know me. I’m not exactly a smooth talker, and my personality is pretty reserved. The only thing I can do is try my best to fulfill my duties as a male. But that’s not hard for you guys; we’re all the same in that regard. There’s nothing special about it. So it’s really not about anything I did. It’s just that my female master is a genuinely good person.”

’If he absolutely had to say something,’ Ares thought, ’it’s just that I was luckier. I got to meet Lu Xiao one step ahead of everyone else and had a head start.’

Everything else was because Lu Xiao was willing to give it.

After hearing Ares out, Chrisman finally believed him. After all, Ares really was the most reserved one among them.

Back when they were on the battlefield, during the occasional break, everyone would talk about their ideal type of female. They’d describe all sorts of things, but Ares would only listen, never participating. When asked, his answer was always that he’d never thought about it.

Who would have thought he’d later meet a female master who would treat him so sincerely?

“Alright, fine, I believe you. But you really hit the jackpot, man. I heard your adjutant, Kevin, has even eaten at your place? And your female master cooked personally?”

“Yes. Cooking is her hobby, and she’s very good at it. Everything I know about cooking now, I learned from her.”

When it came to Lu Xiao, Ares truly had endless things to say. But at the same time, he didn’t want to say them. He didn’t want anyone else to know just how wonderful Lu Xiao was.

“You’re kidding, Ares. As a male, how could your cooking skills…”

Before Chrisman could finish, Ares cut in, “Are you a good cook?”

The question was a direct hit. Chrisman burst out laughing. “Okay, okay, you can teach me sometime! My female master tried my cooking once and told me to never do it again.”

Vice Admiral Hades, who rarely spoke, slapped his thigh upon hearing this. “That’s right! You could teach us how to cook!”

Ares hadn’t expected the conversation to take such a strange turn. ’Now I want to go home even more!’

Chrisman seemed to read his mind, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Come on, man. You’re not going to leave us behind now that you’ve found happiness, are you?”

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