NOVEL NEXT 18
Chapter 18: You Must Get Used to It Sooner
Yi Er quietly watched Qi Yao, then chuckled and said, “You caught on pretty quickly.”
Qi Yao languidly replied, “It’s because the job you gave me is too easy.”
Hearing Qi Yao’s blunt statement, Yi Er didn’t mind. After a moment, he said, “There really aren’t suitable positions for male zergs in the military district.”
“Why?” Qi Yao didn’t think so. In such a large military district, there couldn’t be a place for a male zerg? “Is there such a clear division of gender in the military district positions?”
Yi Er sighed, “Because from the moment male zergs are born, their rare gender determines that they should be protected.”
“…That doesn’t sound like something you would say,” Qi Yao remarked.
Yi Er smiled, “Why do you think it doesn’t sound like something I would say?”
“If you really think that, would you still fight with Ke Lisi? Would you reject so many male suitors at the matchmaking banquet?”
Yi Er responded with a silent smile.
Qi Yao continued, “It’s because of this ingrained mindset from birth that gender discrimination in this society is so severe, permeating from the outside to the inside, from thoughts to souls. No zerg has struggled because hierarchy is ingrained in their bones, it’s instinct, it’s also belief. They won’t think about changing it. Because there’s order in hierarchy, female zergs have to risk their lives for the stability of the empire on the battlefield, and when they return home, they still have to bow to their male masters… Locke is right, I should treat you better.”
“Locke?” Yi Er was engrossed in listening and suddenly heard an unfamiliar name, furrowing his brow.
“It’s the fan I just mentioned to you.”
“He said that to you?”
“No, I summarized it myself.”
After a pause, Yi Er asked again, “What else did you summarize?”
“I summarized… that I also want to stand behind you. Although I can’t give my all on the front lines like you, I’m willing to stand behind you.”
Resting his chin on his hand, Yi Er fixed his gaze on Qi Yao. “Hmm… through observation, I can tell that this statement comes from the heart.”
Qi Yao suddenly exclaimed, “Of course, it’s from the heart!”
“Anything else?”
“What else?”
“I want to hear your other summaries.”
“…I don’t have any for now.”
Yi Er raised an eyebrow and leaned back on the sofa, looking into the distance. He continued the previous topic, “An important reason the military district doesn’t want male zergs is to avoid vicious brawls over mating rights.”
Qi Yao suddenly remembered Ais, who knelt and proposed to him when they first met.
“Male zergs inherently feel superior and don’t care who gets hurt in the process of competing for mating rights. Even if both female zergs are injured, there will still be other females seeking their courtship. With advanced technology now, many female zergs can delay their estrus with suppressants. If it weren’t for reproduction and the second molting…” Yi Er realized he was saying too much and suddenly changed the subject, “Let’s not talk about this. Are you coming tomorrow?”
The topic shift caught Qi Yao off guard. “What kind of question is that? If the job is easy, wouldn’t I come?”
Yi Er remained silent.
Qi Yao understood, “Are you afraid I’ll cause a brawl in the military district? Don’t worry, I know my limits and won’t cause trouble for you.”
Yi Er smiled, “It’s not that.”
Qi Yao looked at the mysterious smile and suddenly realized, “Are you not planning to have me come tomorrow at all?”
“No.”
Qi Yao didn’t believe it. “You specially arranged this position for me. If I don’t come, wouldn’t it be disrespectful to your kindness? Besides, I already promised your fan that I won’t rely on you for support and will rely on my own hands to support myself.”
“Oh?”
“What ‘oh’? Every word and punctuation mark I’m saying now is sincere.”
“Sincere?” Yi Er said with interest.
“Absolutely!” Qi Yao declared firmly.
After listening, Yi Er nodded slowly twice, then stood up, extending his hand to Qi Yao. “Let’s go, it’s time to go home.”
*
With a job now, Qi Yao became busy when he returned home.
Locke’s behavior gave him inspiration. He deeply felt that if he wanted to gain more favor from Yi Er, he couldn’t just rely on words and making cookies.
He still didn’t know how to quickly increase Yi Er’s favorability. If he accumulated it one point at a time like usual, it would take forever. Moreover, since Yi Er stopped the cookie-giving behavior, his favorability seemed to have frozen, unable to progress.
Qi Yao was determined to make a big impression. He locked himself in his room, burying himself in the terminal, patiently searching for online courses on mechs.
The system floated leisurely, “Host, why are you suddenly interested in mechs?”
Qi Yao didn’t even lift his head from the terminal. “I’m not interested in mechs, I’m interested in Yi Er.”
“……?” the system questioned.
Qi Yao exclaimed, “! ”
What did he just say?!
What was he interested in?!
Qi Yao suddenly stiffened, lifting his eyes from the terminal to calmly analyze the meaning behind the words he blurted out.
The system tentatively asked, “Host? Are you being sincere?”
“…,” Qi Yao snapped back without hesitation after coming to his senses, “What nonsense are you talking about? Just an emotionless good impression machine. Everything I do, say, and think is all for the sake of the HE. Don’t speculate about my intentions.”
“Ah, I see.” The system wasn’t fooled by Qi Yao’s words. It analyzed leisurely, “Actually, if you were being sincere, I would consider it a good thing.”
Qi Yao perked up his ears; he didn’t think being sincere was a good thing.
The system continued, “You know, Yi Er can see through your sincerity and insincerity at a glance. If you were sincere, your behavior would be genuine, and there would be no elements of deception in front of Yi Er. You could thrive in the sweet petting storyline. But if you were insincere and accidentally caught by Yi Er’s discerning eyes, your sweet petting script would be forced to become a chasing wife crematorium script. Host, based on my experience as a past system, with Yi Er’s disdain for male zergs, you two would definitely BE in the crematorium scenario.”
The theory was sound, but Qi Yao wasn’t intimidated. “Don’t worry, if it comes to a showdown, then I’ll be just a scumbag who deceives others, cheats, and schemes. It serves me right if my ashes are scattered, leaving Yi Er to be beautiful alone. That’s also a kind of indirect HE.”
Equally sound in theory, the system had nothing to say in response, so it simply shut up.
But suddenly, Qi Yao couldn’t concentrate anymore. He had flipped through countless pages of online course materials, but he couldn’t absorb a single word. In the end, all he saw were mechanical dots.
It was almost ten o’clock now. Since dinner, he had been alone in his room for three hours, and Yi Er hadn’t come to find him?
Didn’t they stay up late chatting together last night? Even if they didn’t chat, they could at least sit quietly together, right? Qi Yao felt restless.
Holding onto the jumbled courses he found on the terminal, he clicked into each one, but no matter how interesting the content was, it all seemed dull to him.
Maybe he should go ask Yi Er for help. Yi Er was experienced and could help him select some useful ones.
Qi Yao found a good excuse and went to Yi Er’s door, lightly tapping on it. After a long time, the door finally opened.
It was Xiao En who opened the door. A human and a machine faced each other across the door panel. Qi Yao was puzzled. “Xiao En? Why are you opening the door? Where’s Yi Er?”
Xiao En stepped aside, gesturing for Qi Yao to come in.
The window in the room was wide open. Yi Er was lying on the bed, one hand on his forehead, one leg on the bed, and one leg hanging off the ground. When he heard Qi Yao approaching, he hurriedly sat up.
“Are you feeling unwell?” Qi Yao asked anxiously.
Female zergs were also in good physical condition, so if Yi Er was sick, it must be serious.
“I’m fine,” Yi Er casually replied. “I’m just tired.”
The night breeze gently brushed the window curtains, carrying a faint scent to Qi Yao’s nose.
Qi Yao furrowed his brow sharply.
At the same time, he couldn’t help but wonder, if Yi Er was just tired, why didn’t he open the door for him, and why did Xiao En open the door instead? Why did Yi Er look uncomfortable lying on the bed when he came in, and why was he uncomfortable, yet the window in the room was wide open?
He wanted to open the window to let the scent of pheromones out.
During dinner, Yi Er had been fine.
So it was highly likely that Yi Er had an episode after returning to the room.
Almost as soon as he felt uncomfortable, he had Xiao En come to inject him with suppressants.
Xiao En was so obedient, just like Dean.
Xiao En heard the call and had already arrived in front of Qi Yao. Now, upon hearing the words “suppressants,” it automatically entered warning mode.
“Xiao En suggests a maximum of two injections of suppressants at a time. Overdosing on suppressants can lead to dependence and the dual side effects of disordering the estrus. For the health of the master, Xiao En will not provide a third dose of suppressants.”
Qi Yao couldn’t help but laugh and cry. Even a machine zerg knew not to rely on suppressants too much. “Yi Er, with me here, why do you still rely on suppressants to ease your pain?”
Yi Er had just finished the injection and hadn’t fully recovered yet. His voice was a bit hoarse at the moment. “I don’t want… to bother you.”
Qi Yao was displeased. “Bother? I’m your male master. Why would you think such a thing would bother me?”
Yi Er couldn’t say that he just wanted to use Qi Yao to get through the second molting. There were no other unnecessary thoughts. So, he racked his brains to find a reason. “I… I’m just not used to it…”
“Not used to it?” Qi Yao interrupted him, looking him straight in the eyes. “No, you better get used to it. As partners, this relationship will continue until one of us dies. So, you must get used to it as soon as possible.”
He turned to Xiao En again. “Xiao En, where are all the suppressants in the house? Find them all for me. From now on, all suppressants will be kept by me.”
“If Yi Er wants to use them, he must have my consent. Because I am his male lord.”