Her Celestial Farm on the Scrapyard Planet novel Chapter 208

Chapter 208 Household Money

Finished

“I’m not married, so I sent it all to my mom,” the third soldier said simply, his eyes fixed on the blinking signal lights of the starships in the distance. “She always tells me not to, says I should keep it for myself. But what’s the point of me keeping it? Better for her to eat well and dress well.”

The soldiers kept talking in low voices. There were no grand declarations in their words, just the plainest, most direct kind of concern and the practical plans they made for their families‘ futures.

Standing at the edge of a battlefield where life and death were impossible to predict, leaving behind the pay they earned at the risk of their lives for the people they loved most was the last and heaviest form of security they could offer.

Cristian, dressed in a sharply tailored silver–white general’s uniform, passed through the residential block with his aide, Elmer, on the final inspection before departure. The stars on his epaulets reflected the base lighting with a cold metallic gleam. He happened to catch every word of that conversation.

He didn’t stop walking, and his expression stayed as cold as ever. But in those deep eyes, as sharp and distant as winter stars, there was a flicker of something subtle enough to vanish almost before it appeared.

Only after they had left the residential block and entered a quieter connecting corridor did Cristian suddenly speak, his voice flat and unreadable. “Elmer.”

“Yes, General Hewitt.” Elmer immediately stepped half a pace closer.

“Do all soldiers in the military do that?” Cristian kept his gaze forward, toward the massive outline of a warship visible at the far end of the corridor.

Elmer looked completely baffled. He had no idea what that meant.

Cristian clarified. “Transfer all their pay to their wives?”

Elmer froze for a second, clearly not expecting that question from him. After thinking carefully through what he knew, he answered with caution. “General Hewitt, there’s no formal regulation about it, but it is… a common unspoken practice in frontline units, especially in long–term high–risk sectors like ours. After all…”

He paused, choosing his words. “Everyone out here is living with their life on the line. No one knows what tomorrow will look like. Leaving their pay to their wives back home gives them some financial security, so if something urgent happens, they won’t be left helpless.

“And it’s also a kind of comfort, I guess. If the worst really does happen… at least their family will have money in hand. Life will be a little easier, and their chances of getting through it will be a little better. The unmarried ones usually send it to their parents instead. Just like those guys said, there’s really not much for us to spend money on at the front beyond the basics.”

After saying that, even Elmer felt a little emotional. As Cristian’s aide, he knew his general came from the Hewitts, one of the kingdom’s top military families, and had lived in comfort from childhood.

Once he entered the military, his talent had carried him upward at remarkable speed. His focus had always been on strategy, tactics, equipment, training, and the outcome of war. He had probably never truly paid attention to the most real and heaviest burden carried by ordinary soldiers, the families they left

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Chapter 208 Household Money

Finished

behind.

Cristian fell silent. The corridor held only the sound of their footsteps and the distant hum of machinery.

He thought of the large amount of stellar coins sitting in his personal account. As one of the kingdom’s youngest major generals, his salary and benefits were extremely generous.

On top of that, the Hewitts had never lacked money. His parents had never needed financial support from him, and he himself had very little interest in material comforts. Aside from buying professional books and occasionally adding to his equipment, he hardly spent anything at all.

Over the years, the number in that account had grown to a considerable sum. He’d never even bothered to look too closely at how much.

Now, though, he was married. Even if that marriage had begun with an unexpected genetic match. Even if he and his wife had never even properly met.

Still, what those soldiers had just said, along with Elmer’s explanation, landed like a stone dropped into still water, sending out faint ripples.

A soldier’s custom. A family’s security. That wife of his in name, Elizabeth.

As far as he knew, the Schofields had long since abandoned her, and she herself had been exiled to a garbage planet with a brutal environment and scarce resources.

Her financial situation probably wasn’t very good. No matter what, she was his wife under the law now, which meant he ought to bear that responsibility.

Cristian barely hesitated. Or rather, the brief pause he took was more about confirming whether the act was reasonable than deciding whether to do it.

He stopped walking and opened the military encrypted device on his wrist, pulling up his personal account. One glance at the balance told him it was even larger than he’d estimated.

Then he found a name in his contacts, one he had never used before but that had always been there- Elizabeth.

Without a single extra word or any explanation at all, he entered a whole number. Five million stellar coins. Then, in the note field, he typed two words. “Household expenses.”

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