Chapter 56: Face Blind—But Only to Women

Yun He hurriedly tried to smooth things over. “Hey, Chief, don’t be mad, don’t be mad. Our Third Brother isn’t much of a talker and sometimes doesn’t know where to draw the line, so it’s easy for people to misunderstand him. But I promise, he definitely means no harm. He’s a good guy, really.”

Yuan An chimed in as well, “Yeah, yeah, Chief, didn’t you say you’d take us to pick out a spot for our houses? I think this empty lot next to Uncle Mo looks pretty good. Let’s build there—one house for me, one for Third Brother.”

For the sake of the money, Yun Qimu just snorted and let it go.

“You mean the spot next to Mr. Mo, right? Follow me,” she said, pinning her badge to her clothes, wrapping her thick coat tighter, and striding off in the lead, ignoring Wu Xingyu completely.

A flicker of confusion passed through Wu Xingyu’s dark, deep eyes. He really did feel it was foolish to have missed out on giving his promise. Back in the Empire, so many women—even duchesses—had tried to get his word, but he’d never given it.

Seeing the look in his eyes, Yuan An covered his face with his chubby hand and tried to reason with him. “Third Brother, this isn’t the Empire anymore. The Chief doesn’t know who you are, so your promise isn’t worth as much as a single spirit coin to her. You get that, right?”

Wu Xingyu shot him a cold glance. “My promise is the most valuable thing, no matter where I am.”

With that, he lifted his long legs, a little huffy, and stomped after the others in his military boots.

“Third Brother’s still as cool as ever,” Yun He whistled, then slung an arm around Yuan An’s neck.

“Let’s go. Nothing we say ever works on Third Brother anyway. But it’s weird—he didn’t throw the Chief out this time. Last time, a duchess’s daughter tried to grab his hand during a social event, and he flipped her over his shoulder so fast she broke two ribs. She screamed nonstop—the whole place was chaos.”

“After that, the duchess’s daughter never dared show her face at parties again. Not long after, she ended up marrying some useless son of a minor duke. I’m sure Third Brother had a hand in that. Just goes to show how much he hates women who try to touch him. Do you think he’s holding a grudge against the Chief this time?”

Yuan An’s jaw dropped, eyes wide in confusion. “That happened? I had no idea.”

“Hmph, would I lie to you? I’m the little prince of gossip at noble banquets—nothing I say is fake,” Yun He said, nose in the air, looking very pleased with himself.

Pei Yu perked up, face full of interest. “That brat’s always been ruthless since he was a kid—guess he hasn’t changed a bit. Breaking a girl’s ribs? That’s exactly the kind of thing he’d do.”

“So, was the duchess’s daughter pretty? Prettier than the Chief?”

“Well…” Yun He frowned, thinking hard. “I don’t think so. But she was called the ‘Flower of the Empire’—one of the top beauties.”

Pei Yu stroked his chin. “Tsk tsk, that brat really doesn’t know how to appreciate a beauty. If it were me, I’d definitely have a fling with her. You guys don’t get it—on this exile planet, there are tons of men and hardly any women. Even Ah Hua is starting to look cute to me. Sigh!”

He felt bitter. As dashing and charming as he was, how come he’d never met a gorgeous woman who truly understood him?

As for the Chief—sure, she was beautiful, but he knew better than to mess with her. He had that much sense.

“Actually, to Third Brother, all women look the same.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Yun He glanced around, making sure no one ahead was listening, then whispered, “Third Brother is face-blind—but only to women.”

“Ew!” Pei Yu’s eyes went wide, face full of shock. “How did we never notice?”

“Well, Third Brother’s smart—he hides it well. He can tell people apart by their clothes, jewelry, even their voice. And he doesn’t interact with many women, so there aren’t many chances for slip-ups. Only my brother, with his eagle eyes, ever noticed something was off. Otherwise, Third Brother could’ve kept this secret forever. Back in the Empire, it wasn’t safe to talk about, but here, it’s probably fine.”

“Hahaha… Feels so good to finally say it! I’ve been dying to get this off my chest. If I held it in any longer, I’d probably blurt it out in my sleep.”

“Ha! So the brat has a secret after all,” Pei Yu said, rubbing his chin, eyes darting as if he was cooking up some mischief.

Yuan An was still in shock. Just then, the long-legged figure ahead suddenly stopped. Yuan An’s eyes darted nervously as he hurried to change the subject. “Um, where did Uncle Mo go? He disappeared right after lunch.”

“Where else? He went to his flower field, of course. He treasures that field more than his own cousin—me!” Pei Yu pouted, not noticing Yuan An’s attempt to change the topic.

Yun He caught on, and quickly followed up, “Yeah, I wonder if they’ve managed to contact Molan City yet. I wonder if my brother and the others have made it there.”

“That depends on their situation. If they have a hovercar or a mech, it’ll take about three days to get from here to Molan City. But if they’re on foot… It took me a whole month and three days to walk here from there.”

“Whoa, that far?”

“Yep, that far. Don’t let the exile planet’s reputation fool you—it’s actually huge, almost as big as the Empire’s central star.”

Yun Qimu, who had just returned from arranging the cabin construction, heard this and her face immediately darkened.

That far?

She’d been planning to use Molan City’s help to double the population in fifteen days. She thought she could send Pei Yu to recruit people with a little reward, and he’d be happy to do it.

But now, distance was a problem. There were no renewable energy sources on the exile planet, so people were stingy with hovercars and mechs. No one wanted to waste the fuel.

So, the plan to send Pei Yu to recruit people for a few spirit coins was out.

“Do you guys know if there are any other settlements or tribes nearby?” Yun Qimu suddenly approached from the side, startling the three of them so much they nearly jumped out of their skins.

“Y-y-you—when did you get here?”

“Just now.”

“Then, then—”

“Just now, when you said it takes a month and three days to walk from Molan City to here,” Yun Qimu cut them off, eyeing them suspiciously. “What were you guys whispering about that you’re so afraid of me overhearing?”

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