This Is My Planet - Chapter 121 - Chapter 121 – Gongsun Family
Sitting up from the game cabin, Gongsun Jiu looked down at her hands.
They were delicate, feminine hands.
Underneath her nightgown, there wasn’t much in the way of cleavage, but there was still a slight curvature…
Her long, slender legs were crossed neatly. Her feet were beautiful, crystal clear.
Gongsun Jiu felt a bit dazed for a moment…
This was the first time in who knows how many years that she remained a woman even outside of the game.
In the past, whenever she left the game, she would see a male frame, rough hands, and she would always have a sensation of spiritual disjunction, especially after she became acquainted with Xia Guixuan and started accompanying him in the arena as a woman… Ever since then, every time she left the game cabin and saw her male self, she would need several minutes to adjust to her real identity.
She couldn’t even adapt sometimes, and Yan Wuyue also noticed several strange occurrences.
Because the her in the game was the real her, much more addictive than the false reality of the real world.
But unfortunately, reality was much more important than the game.
This time, still in her female body when leaving the game, Gongsun Jiu was unexpectedly touched… She had never thought that she would still have moments of being a woman in reality.
Because she was secretly returning to the capital, she needed to change her identity. What might be troublesome for others happened to be just right for her—reverting to her original form, removing the concealment artifact, wouldn’t that be assuming another identity?
She couldn’t be so casual under normal circumstances; once exposed, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Now, she returned as a distant female relative of the Gongsun family, staying in the guest house of the family head.
The family head was her father.
Faced with the important decision of making the head of state her enemy, Gongsun Jiu must of course seek the support of her father and the consensus of the Gongsun family.
However, even her father wouldn’t have expected that his daughter, who claimed to be taking a bath and resting first upon her return, would immediately dive into a game cabin to find a man.
Of course, this was also important… Gongsun Jiu knew the significance of Xia Guixuan’s cooperation commitment, which might be even more important than the consensus of the entire family.
“Knock, knock…” There was a knock on the door.
Gongsun Jiu left the game cabin, adjusted her nightgown, and went to open the door.
The door opened, revealing a middle-aged man with gray hair and glasses standing expressionlessly outside: “You said you were going to take a bath and rest, but why do I feel like you’re about to fall asleep?”
Gongsun Jiu scrutinized him for a moment and smiled slightly. “You’ve aged… but you look even more distinguished now. No wonder your son is so handsome.”
The man was stunned at her words and instinctively looked around before furrowing his brows. “What kind of frivolous talk is this?”
Gongsun Jiu blinked her eyes and silently mouthed, “I’ve come to seek refuge with relatives.”
The man was, of course, her father, Gongsun Hui, the current patriarch of the Gong family.
Seeing Gongsun Jiu say this, Gongsun Hui frowned in discomfort, paused for a few seconds, then shook his head and entered the room.
As Gongsun Jiu closed the door, father and daughter looked at each other quietly for a while. Then, Gongsun Hui sighed, “Are you actually happy to be disguised this time?”
Gongsun Jiu smiled. “It’s rare to be a real person for once, of course, I’m happy.”
“What is real?” Gongsun Hui said sternly. “A man is your real identity, you’re a man!”
Gongsun Jiu didn’t argue, just smiled and said, “Understood. But since this is a disguise, I have to act a bit, right? Otherwise, if others see this girl with a commanding presence, wouldn’t it be more troublesome?”
Gongsun Hui looked at her sternly.
When he was middle-aged and without heirs, his position in the main branch was precarious. After his wife became pregnant, he secretly patted her belly, hoping for a boy. However, the result was a girl.
All relevant parties were silenced, claiming she was a boy to stabilize his family’s position. He originally planned to observe whether there were any outstanding children in other branches for adoption in the future.
Unfortunately, he found that the next generation was all useless, only interested in drinking and womanizing. On the other hand, the daughter he had raised as a boy since childhood displayed extraordinary potential and ambition.
“Xiao Jiu, it would have been better if you were really a boy.”
“I don’t understand why I have to pretend to be a boy. What’s wrong with being a girl, Dad? Like General Yan Wuyue fights just like any man.”
“There are plenty of people eyeing General Yan Wuyue’s fine figure, only wanting to keep her as a private pet. Now that she’s renowned, no one dares to do that for the time being. But once the human and descendants go to war, with her mixed-blood identity, I see her eventually having to attach herself to someone’s family…”
“But will our family do that?”
“Our family won’t… You could even marry someone and carry on the lineage. But… in other branches where there are heirs, it’s unacceptable for the main branch to marry a woman. It will definitely cause trouble.”
“Then I’ll just be a boy, that’s fine, right? I can do everything a man can do, I’ll be more of a man than those useless men.”
“Then you’ll have to be a man for the rest of your life. For yourself, and for the glory of the family.”
“How am I supposed to be a man for the rest of my life?”
“A few days ago, an interstellar merchant approached me, asking if I wanted a gender transformation technique. They might have noticed something…”
“Then… do it.”
“Be sure you’ve thought it through. Once you change, you can’t change back.”
As time passed, no one had expected the degree to which the interstellar merchants had fooled them initially. This change was a false one; remove the disguise, and she was still a woman. The promise made back then is now terrifying.
If it were revealed that Gongsun Jiu was a woman, the Gongsun family would become a laughingstock, jeopardize her father’s position in the main branch, and mess up Gongsun Jiu’s own future.
Gongsun Jiu herself should know better than anyone; she had always been reassuring.
After staring at each other for a while, Gongsun Jiu knew what her father was thinking. She smiled as if nothing was wrong. “Please sit, Father.”
Sitting opposite each other at the coffee table, Gongsun Jiu brewed tea with elegant hands, the steam enveloping them, blurring their faces. Through the mist, Gongsun Jiu sat upright, looking every bit the meticulous deputy marshal.
Wanting to be a “real person” again wasn’t easy.
Twenty-some years of habit were hard to break. She didn’t know why she could change so completely in front of Xia Guixuan, yet couldn’t do the same in front of her father.
“You know the significance of being a man.” Seeing her straight military posture, Gongsun Hui’s expression eased a little, sipping his tea and slowly saying, “It guarantees the continuity of our main branch’s status and inheritance, and it’s also your stage to display your skills. Being raised as a boy since childhood was your choice. Otherwise, I could have adopted someone else… You’ve always done well, don’t disappoint me now that you’re in your twenties or thirties.”
“It was my choice, and it’s also the family’s glory.” Gongsun Jiu said with a hint of sarcasm, “Adopting someone else? With the current bunch of useless people, would you even acknowledge an adopted son?”
Gongsun Hui replied calmly, “Temporary uselessness doesn’t mean there’s no hope for the future. As long as the lineage can continue, there will be a time for resurgence. If it were a daughter, although she could be married to carry on the lineage, it would cause a lot of trouble if other branches already have male heirs. You know that… Once again, being raised as a boy was your choice. Why are we arguing about this today?”
“I don’t want to argue about this,” Gongsun Jiu smiled slightly. “What I want to argue about is something else… Father, do you really think we can wait for the lineage to continue and rise in the future?”
Gongsun Hui said calmly, “Do you have any evidence for what you said about the Head of State?”
“No evidence.”
“…”
“As a qualified military commander, intuition is often evidence. If everything must be decided only after collecting clear evidence, the galaxy fleet would have exploded several times.”
Gongsun Hui found himself unable to argue with his daughter about this.
To put it bluntly, even if he has some political acumen, how can he compete with the national commander?
From another perspective, the Gongsun family’s generation gap was a bit severe. After looking at the next generation, all he found were useless individuals, none worthy of adoption. Coupled with his own selfishness, he could only pin all his hopes on his daughter…
Over the years, the Gongsun family had invested a lot of effort to cultivate a family system with Gongsun Jiu as the core, with almost all resources poured into her. What she was determined to do had to be supported by the family, no matter how controversial. Otherwise, the family would be in trouble; they simply didn’t have the strength to turn to another core.
Gongsun Hui felt a bit tired for a moment.
“Dealing with the Head of State is gambling with the family.” Gongsun Hui finally said slowly, “If you succeed, you become the Head of State; if you fail, the whole family perishes. Give me a reason why we must do this.”