Description
Huan Xiu transmigrated to the Zerg planet and decided to start his new life.
He happened to hear that a cub near the college had been bullied. It seemed that the reason was that the 'female' father of the cub was injured in the war and retreated to the rear line and now his future was hopeless. For various reasons, the cub was brutally expelled from the school.
As a sensational gossip, Huan Xiu didn't think that the other party was the man who helped him when he first came to the world – and he was recommended to be his 'female' concubine under the malicious arrangement of others.
Chapter 1: Becoming a Zerg
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: KarateChopMonkey
Author's note: There may be some new aspects in this novel, which I will generally end up explaining.
The word "person" in the dialogue is replaced by "Zerg". The character "human" may appear in the protagonist's inner thoughts and narration because the protagonist was a human being, which can be regarded as his habitual thinking. (This substitution is really annoying. Don't mind it too much…)
This novel is essentially a sugar stew with sex, and there will be no dramatic plot.
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Huan Xiu was in pain because he was unable to breathe. There was darkness in front of him like he was drowning, and cold liquid flowed down his throat.
Is this what death feels like?
Huan Xiu was not surprised. Since the advent of the so-called 'apocalypse', people around him have been dying. Even though he was working in the technical department of the army because of his job, he was only able to survive for half a year.
More terrifying than mutated monsters and zombies were the attacks and fights between humans. He couldn't figure out whether it was an ordinary bomb attack or a nuclear bomb that struck… There was no way he could have survived anyway.
"…!? Cough, cough, cough…" Huan Xiu opened his eyes suddenly, and instinctively turned over onto his back, bent over and coughed. Along with the feeling of vomiting, he coughed up a lot of water.
"Are you alright? Did you have an accident?"
Huan Xiu looked up after regaining his consciousness and saw the man in front of him carefully. He was in his twenties, with freshly cut, short hair. The other party's hair was wet and plastered to his forehead, and he looked somewhat uneasy and worried. Because, like himself, he was drenched and on the land beside a river dam.
"What happened to me…"
"You were drowning. I saw you struggling…"
"Did you get me up here? Thank you… I'm sorry, I have a headache. I don't remember clearly…" Huan Xiu wasn't lying, he had a splitting headache, as a lot of random information was flowing into his brain, making him confused.
"It's normal to have a brief loss of memory after being stimulated. Can you walk? I'll take you to the hospital."
Huan Xiu was very glad to meet such a kind person. Few people helped strangers these days. He nodded and stood up unsteadily. He noticed that he was not hurt, nor was he missing any arms or legs. It was not like a body that had been through an explosion.
After taking a close look at the man in front of him and the surrounding environment, Huan Xiu realized that something was wrong. This was not Earth as he knew it – as early as the beginning of the end of the world, the city's buildings were basically destroyed or abandoned, but this place still looked very modern.
He didn't dare to rashly ask questions and seem suspicious. Huan Xiu vaguely felt that there was another person's memory in his mind. Although it was very unreasonable… this place didn't seem to be the world he once lived in.
Arriving at the hospital in a mini spaceship-like vehicle, Huan Xiu quietly digested the memory of the body, while the man who had rescued him was taking him to the emergency room.
"Thank you so much." Huan Xiu only had time to say this to the man, before he was taken to the doctor's room for a comprehensive examination.
After a long body scan, Huan Xiu recovered from a shallow sleep. At the same time, the memory that did not belong to him also seemed to gradually finish merging.
"It doesn't seem too bad." The doctor looked a little irritated and discontentedly said, "He let a male Zerg drown. What was he thinking?"
Huan Xiu realized that the doctor's 'male Zerg' was addressed to him. Obviously, the dissatisfaction was not actually towards him but the man who saved him. He explained, "The one who sent me was just passing by and helped me. We don't know each other."
"Oh. So that's it," the doctor nodded. "You need to rest for a while and you'll be fine. We've already got your information and payment details. Would you like me to call you a car to take you home?"
Huan Xiu glanced at the wristwatch looking thing on his hand without moving. Before entering the ward, the other party confirmed he had this. His physical memory told him that it was something similar to a 'resident ID'.
"Sorry to trouble you."
"May I ask if you remember who pushed you into the river? This is a very serious crime," the doctor asked solemnly. Although it was not his duty, he seemed to be very angry for Huan Xiu.
"It was my own foot that slipped."
"This… Mn, please rest well." The doctor was skeptical. How do you accidentally fall into a river? But if the harmed party said so, it was not easy for him to pursue the matter.
Of course, Huan Xiu couldn't say who pushed him. Because he remembered – not only did no one push him, but he was depressed about his old love, so he committed suicide.
To be precise, it was the former owner of the body.
After leaving the room, Huan Xiu did not see the man who saved him and sent him to the hospital. He inquired about the man at the door, and a nurse told him that the other man had waited for a while, and then he seemed to have something to do and left in a hurry. Huan Xiu felt a little sorry that he didn't have a chance to thank him properly and didn't even ask the other person's name. He could only hope to see him again in the future.
This hospital was very far from "home", so Huan Xiu had enough time to carefully sort out the current situation on the way back. The original body's memory clearly told him that this was not Earth, but the planet of the Zerg. He was a male Zerg, and the young lord of the Huan family; a little aristocrat with almost no reputation. He was currently working in the Mechanical Department of the Research Institute, while at the same time working as a teaching assistant at the Advanced College.
Huan Xiu felt a little surprised as he was staring at himself in the window, his face was exactly the same as his original one. He looked a little younger but other than that, there was nothing wrong with it. Just like a carbon copy. He checked the information stored on the bracelet and Huan Xiu confirmed that this body even had the same name.
"It's spooky." Huan Xiu muttered in his mind.
In another world, this carbon copy, this body almost the same as his, was living a completely different life from him. He entered the other's body because they both died at exactly the same time?
Huan Xiu held out his hand and looked at it, and it was obvious that this was a well taken care of body. Living in such a comfortable and safe environment, it was really inconceivable that this version had died for the reason that 'the person I like is going to marry someone else'. If Huan Xiu told those people on Earth this, who were struggling to survive, he didn't know how they would feel.
What about the soul in this body? Could it be that he was blown up in my original world instead of me? Although the owner of the body wanted to die, Huan Xiu felt a little guilty when he thought about this.
But now that he had a chance to live again, Huan Xiu decided to make the most of it. He had a lot of things he wanted to figure out at the moment.
"So you decided to come back?"
As soon as Huan Xiu stepped into the house, he heard a particularly unpleasant voice.
The Huan family was a common aristocratic family with some years, but not much power and influence. But he was a very unpopular member of the family. After birth, his mother disappeared – on this planet, they were called the female father –, and his male father died early. Thus, this body was living while relying on someone else's charity. The original owner of the body seemed to have been an eccentric and sullen person, so he suffered from the cold stares from his relatives.
"I thought you heard that the Ai family's inferior female was going to marry Jiade as a concubine and ran out to be sad alone? I didn't expect that you would come back without crying."
"Maybe he reduced the swelling before he dared to come back?"
"Hahahaha…"
Several idle cousins got together again, and they didn't know what to do, and Huan Xiu, who happened to return home, ran into them. Verbal bullying of this introverted cousin, who had no support, seemed to become a fixed pleasure for them.
Are all the so-called male Zerg in this world so boring? Or is it just the aristocratic ethos? Huan Xiu was shocked by the way this group of young people, who were at least twenty years old in human years, gathered together to speak in the same way as a small group of middle school students would.
"Why don't you say something? Is your voice hoarse?"
"…Congratulations on your marriage?" Huan Xiu felt that he really had nothing to say. He couldn't say that 'the body was so sad that he jumped into the river just now, and now there is another soul in it'. He could only respond casually.
"… Ah?" Huan Jiade, who had been staying in the middle and appeared to be the head of this little group of male Zergs, was a little unhappy. Usually, Huan Xiu's reaction would be more interesting than this. "What's with your attitude?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I've got some work to do, so I'll go back to my room first. Good night." Huan Xiu felt that he couldn't deal with this group of 'middle school students'. He laughed awkwardly and quickly ran away. Since he was a distant family member with the same name, he lived in a side building. So after the meeting in the lobby, he went down the hall and went the other way.
The cousins, who never bothered to go there, were surprised to see the abnormal figure of Huan Xiu leaving quickly and looked at each other in dismay.
"He must have taken the wrong medicine today."
"Ha, I guess he is too upset to face the facts."
Although these male Zerg, who thought of themselves as a group of heroes, said this, they still felt quite frustrated inside. Because Huan Xiu didn't show the same expression of resignation and anger as before. Although he didn't contradict them, Huan Xiu looking very calm was the understatement of the day.
Of course, Huan Xiu was calm. This noble 'inferior female', who the body was originally infatuated with, was just a stranger to him. Although he had the memory, it was not enough for Huan Xiu to inherit the feelings of the former owner.
The Zerg did not have a men and women distinction but were distinguished by male, female, and inferior female instead. Huan Xiu was a little surprised.
Subverting the common sense of the people on Earth, the 'female' of the Zerg nationality seemed more like a typical male – generally tall and strong, responsible for physical labor, but were fertile and able to bear children. The 'males', including the body of Huan Xiu, were more like the typical 'office men' from his cognition – moderately built and generally did not have too many muscles. They were mostly engaged in mental work and research, and these 'males' were few in number. 'Inferior females' were more slender, but even so, were still within the scope of being a male.
"They are all males…" Huan Xiu couldn't help saying to himself.
He was originally gay in his world. Although he thought it was funny, Huan Xiu had to admit that the world was really 'kind' to him.
The 'Ai family's inferior female' that group of cousins mentioned, should be this one – Huan Xiu opened the portable wristband, called up the photo album, and easily flipped through a pile of photos.
This inferior female named Ai Le and the original owner of the body had known each other for a long time. The common means of association and marriage between nobles meant that they would often make children meet at an early age. Of course, Ai Le was not brought here to be introduced to Huan Xiu at that time; he, a neglected male of this Zerg family, was only brought along as a second thought, and that's how the two Zerg met.
It was not just the original owner's wishful thinking. In the past, Zerg seldom cared about him, but Ai Le was very gentle with him and took the initiative to contact him. However, when the original owner proposed further exchanges, Ai Le would take a step back, and the relationship would remain ambiguous. That was until a few days ago when the original got the news that Ai Le was going to marry his cousin to be a concubine. He thought about how he once said that he would marry Ai Le as his only female, but he didn't get a reply. Now the other party wanted to marry the person who bullied him all the time, which made him feel very humiliated.
It was very sad, but Huan Xiu was unable to understand this. This caused him to commit suicide? Huan Xiu still felt it was unforgivable.
He may have felt that such a life was humiliating and miserable, but how many people couldn't even dream of such a life?
Huan Xiu lay on the spacious bed, dazed. Ever since the End of the World, how long had it been since he had slept on such a soft mattress? The original had it quite good. The researchers' dormitory at least had wooden beds. How many people didn't even have beds on Earth?
Thinking of the past, Huan Xiu suddenly sat up from his bed and set out to search for information about Earth.
After a careful investigation until almost midnight, Huan Xiu finally came to a positive conclusion. This universe did have an Earth, and there was human life as well. This Earth had never experienced an apocalypse or a disaster like the other had, but has developed smoothly to the present day, bordering on the alien civilization – in short, this was not the Earth he knew, and he never existed there.
It was not impossible to accept this fact, but if someone was suddenly told that the world that they had lived on for thirty years no longer existed, everyone would be a little confused. Huan Xiu spent most of the night dealing with his emotions. He stayed up until dawn and finally got everything in order.
It was mean to say, but he was grateful to the owner of the body for giving up his life. He didn't expect to be able to live a stable life again. He was very glad that he could inherit the body's past and live a good life.
The sun had already risen outside the window, and Huan Xiu's brain, which had been working all night, began to feel tired. Unfortunately, he couldn't catch up on sleep during the day. Because – as his memory told him – he had a job, and today was a working day.
Generally speaking, would anyone carry a bag to work on the first day of their 'transmigration'?
Fortunately, all of the cousins were the type who didn't get up until the sun went up. In the morning, Huan Xiu had a quiet breakfast. When he was eating alone in the side building, he observed the Zerg servants around him. He noticed that several Zerg, though not much in awe of him, were still respectful. Indeed, his last name was Huan and he was a member of this family and was a precious male Zerg. Huan Xiu felt that the original owner was much too bullheaded. He always had to compare himself with his cousins to highlight his own misfortune. However, for Huan Xiu, who had nothing to lose, he felt that such treatment was nothing to be dissatisfied with.
"Thank you. You have worked hard." Huan Xiu politely thanked the Zerg who brought him breakfast.
The other Zerg was a middle-aged inferior female and when he heard this, he couldn't help closing his mouth in surprise. "No, I dare not…"
What a severe class and gender system… Huan Xiu thought to himself.
Huan Xiu went out with dark circles under his eyes.
He didn't know if it was a coincidence, but he was engaged in similar work in this world. Huan Xiu was puzzled. He was researching mecha and weapons, and had been given a rare opportunity to serve as a teaching assistant in the college… at least he was a senior technician. How could he be so miserable?
When he entered the lab, everyone just glanced up for a moment, but no one greeted him.
"Good morning." Huan Xiu sat down and took the initiative to greet his colleagues at the next table.
The other side looked surprised and pushed up his glasses, "Ah, good morning…"
Combined with his memory, Huan Xiu knew that the original owner was probably a stuffy jar who was too introverted to communicate with others. Combined with his status as an aristocrat of a branch family, other nobles looked down on him, while the common people misunderstood him and thought him arrogant.
"I didn't sleep well yesterday. I was so sleepy in the morning."
It seemed that the coworker didn't expect that Huan Xiu would continue to talk to him after he said hello. After a moment of stunned silence, the colleague on the opposite side answered, "Haha… What happened?"
"Emotional things."
"Cough, cough! So that's it. You still have this kind of distress…"
Huan Xiu saw the name tag on his work card on his chest.
"The dark circles under your eyes are really heavy. If you don't mind, let's talk during lunch break?" The Zerg, a male named Kaczki, was unexpectedly easy to talk to.
"Mn, if you don't find it troublesome."
"Who would think that gossip is troublesome?" Kaczki said with a smile. Today's Huan Xiu was very strange, but also seemed friendlier. He didn't know that the other person was such a character.
Other Zergs in the lab looked at each other a little and couldn't hear what they were saying from a distance. They were only surprised that Huan Xiu would chat with his colleagues. They wondered if this guy took the wrong medicine today? Or who he was pretending to be?
In a sense, the second guess was true.
Thanks to his professional counterpart and the memory of the body still remaining in his mind, Huan Xiu got on with his work very quickly. At this point, he was completely at ease, at least he could live in this world smoothly with no problems.
Moreover, the civilization of the Zerg was much more advanced than that of the original human beings' on his home planet. Huan Xiu was curious about the project at hand, constantly marveling at the power of this technology in his heart. He couldn't help but wonder what step these things could achieve if put in his own time.
During the lunch break, for the first time, Huan Xiu did not act alone under the eyes of the Zerg but went to the canteen with Kaczki at the next table as they agreed in the morning.
"I see… That's really too much. I didn't know that there was such a hierarchical division within the aristocracy."
"Is that the point?"
"Haha, sorry. But to me, you seem to be in good spirits."
"I wasn't until yesterday. But I've been out for a day and I feel more cheerful." Huan Xiu had seriously found an excuse for the change in his demeanor.
Kaczki had no doubts, "Oh, no wonder you asked for leave. That's good. I don't know how good the inferior female you mentioned is, but I think you can marry a lot of excellent Zerg sons with your qualifications. Don't get stuck on him."
Although the original was eccentric, it was not that there were no Zerg females pursuing him. Of course, the original was a rare infatuated hardhead among the male Zerg, so he rejected all those Zerg children.
"You're right."
"It's good to be lovelorn. You see, when you think about it, I think all Zergs should be different." Kaczki was very simple, so he didn't think about other possibilities at all. He believed what Huan Xiu said. "Just take advantage of the lovelorn time to change your image. That's what I saw on TV."
Of course, Kaczki himself didn't know what a breakup was. In a short conversation, Huan Xiu learned that such a little silly, white and sweet-looking commoner Zerg unexpectedly also had a female wife and two female concubines in his home. It was true that Zerg couldn't be judged by their appearance.
In other words, the marriage concept of the Zerg people was very strange…
Kaczki moved his hand to lift up Huan Xiu's bangs, "For example, trim your hair or something… Of…"
Huan Xiu was stunned to see Kaczki freeze, "What's the matter?"
"Wow, don't you have a very nice face? Cut your hair short, quickly!" Kaczki suddenly exclaimed, "You don't have a concubine yet, do you? How about introducing my brother to you?"
Huan Xiu exclaimed, "No. Thank you very much… What's more, don't push your brother to another family to be a female servant." A female servant was akin to an ancient 'concubine'; to put it bluntly, was like a mistress of the side room.
"No way, you are a noble. Besides, you seem to be reliable anyway." Kaczki said these words with a normal face.
There was a slight commotion in the dining room because of Kaczki's voice. The academy and other departments shared a cafeteria with the military department, which was full of female Zerg. So when they heard this kind of talk, they glanced their way. Huan Xiu, who was being watched from all directions, quickly asked the other party to keep his voice down.
"Haha, I'm sorry. But seriously, cut your hair. It's not as if you'll become a movie star in one fell swoop, but at the very least, new peach blossoms will definitely come!"
"It is a little bit long," Huan Xiu rubbed the tip of his hair, which blocked his eyes. "I'll go to the barber's on my way home." But not if the peach blossoms come.
Kaczki nodded sharply.
"Lunch break is almost over. Let's go back," Kaczki looked at the time. "I didn't expect to have such a pleasant conversation with you. Let's have lunch together again soon. Ah, by the way, why don't you ask the other Zerg from the lab to join you next time? They must want to talk to you too!"
"Okay." Huan Xiu smiled. Originally, he just wanted to start communicating with the nearest person and slowly change his impression in the hearts of his colleagues. He didn't expect that he really chose the right one.
In the afternoon, after the work in the laboratory was over, a Zerg came over and told Huan Xiu that the professor wanted him to go to the office.
Huan Xiu remembered that the original did have the position of teaching assistant. Because he was just one of the candidates, and the original's depressive personality was not suitable for education, his attitude had been relatively negative. He was absent for no reason yesterday, so naturally, the professor was dissatisfied with Huan Xiu.
Huan Xiu hoped he had a chance to fight for it. He was still interested in the Zerg college.
He didn't expect that he would still have to go through the experience of 'striving to stay in school as a Ph.D. student' once again in his life.
"Is Professor Jade in, please?"
"Ah, the professor is on the phone. Just a moment." A young male at the door was talking to his friend and appeared to be one of the TA candidates. He glanced at Huan Xiu, as if he didn't know him at all, and turned his head back to talk to his friends.
"How miserable!"
"Right? However, it's not hard to imagine what a high-ranking female Zerg would become after he has no value to the family."
"That's true, but it's really unlucky. Those who have no power lost their only capital."
"The front line is really dangerous… So the female and the cub were thrown out together?"
"Yes, it's a female Zerg cub anyway. It's said that he's carved in the same mold as his female father. He won't be liked by any male Zerg. He's not popular with them."
"No wonder it was said that there was a bullying incident in the primary school, kids these days aren't carefree either."
"Aren't all female Zerg like that? He'll just fight back and forth, no brain at all…"
"Ha ha ha…"
Huan Xiu didn't know if the two Zerg next to him didn't care about the privacy of the conversation, or if they regarded themselves as air. He felt uncomfortable listening to them, and though he didn't know the details, it was obvious that they were treating other people's tragic experiences as a joke.
But Huan Xiu didn't interrupt the conversation directly. He just went a little further away – out of sight and out of mind. It had nothing to do with him, and he didn't want to gang up with the other male Zerg. For the moment, Huan Xiu just wanted to live a peaceful life.
After waiting for about ten minutes, the professor was finally free. He asked Huan Xiu to come over for no other reason but to ask him about his sudden absence yesterday. Huan Xiu told his story, but he hid the suicide attempt. Instead, he apologized and said that he fell into the water carelessly when he took a leisure walk, and at the end, he deeply reflected.
The professor was also reasonable. He had heard that he was admitted to the hospital yesterday, and his attitude was so sincere that he could not bear to blame the younger male. In addition, he felt that Huan Xiu's mental outlook was better than ever before, and he also made great progress in bringing earlier research projects to discuss, so the idea of directly dismissing him today was temporarily put off.
Out of the door, Huan Xiu breathed a sigh of relief. The original has made many mistakes and he needed to make up for them one by one.
After leaving the college, Huan Xiu checked the barbershop nearby. He didn't want to change his image, but he thought that his bangs were getting in the way. He took the opposite road to his home, so he could walk through the whole college to see the scenes that only existed in his memory with his own eyes.
As the largest private noble college on the Zerg planet, the area of the school from the lower departments to the university was greatly exaggerated. He could have taken a taxi directly from the university, but today he decided to walk slowly from the university to the lower departments with the purpose of semi-sightseeing.
It was a good way to spend a leisurely day like this. Huan Xiu walked for a while, just thinking about it, and heard a noisy quarrel in the distance.
"Hm?" Huan Xiu looked over there curiously and saw a group of very small children gathered together. On closer inspection, he found that he seemed to be gathering for a fight – or rather, a group of children besieging another child. Although the opposite side was also fighting back, it seemed that the small group of Zerg were still more powerful.
"Say something! Poor Zerg was thrown away by his father!"
"Don't say it. Don't you see he's angry? Ha ha ha…"
"Hey! You…" Huan Xiu called out subconsciously. He was not nosy, but he was at least half an educator. It seemed that this group of students were from the lower class, so it was unjustifiable to ignore this kind of thing happening near the school.
"Ah, it's a school teacher!" A sharp-eyed child called out after glancing at the teaching assistant name tag on Huan Xiu's chest that had not been removed yet. Soon the group of children ran away in a panic.
The kids slipped away so quickly, that Huan Xiu couldn't rush up and catch them one by one, so he stopped after a couple of steps.
He turned around and went to the child who was still sitting next to the wall. Zerg cubs grew very fast after infancy in order to get rid of the weak and unarmed stage as soon as possible. To become the size of a human child of six or seven years old, it took about a month. After that, there would be a long period of several years, followed by a second awakening, jumping directly to the appearance of a teenager. The last three awakenings, the time spent in adulthood, varied according to different qualifications of the child.
This child in the primary school uniform was obviously in the state after the first awakening. His specific age, Huan Xiu could not tell.
"Are you all right?" Huan Xiu went over to ask.
The young Zerg obviously recoiled, his eyes full of vigilance staring at Huan Xiu, his bruised face showing a tense look.
"I'm a school teacher." Although I was almost fired a moment ago.
"I'm not…" The young Zerg said something in a low voice, but Huan Xiu didn't hear clearly.
Being a college teaching assistant and taking care of a cub from the elementary department were two different things, Huan Xiao reluctantly smiled and tried to look kind, "What did you say? I didn't hear you clearly. Can you say that again?"
"I'm not a student at the school anymore… Teacher doesn't need to care about me." The young Zerg's voice was weak, but firm.
"But you are in your uniform." Huan Xiu thought this seemingly reclusive cub was trying to be brave.
"Not now. I'm going to quit school."
Huan Xiu had a headache, as the cub didn't seem to want to talk and he was only answering when asked. But when he met with this kind of thing, his conscience couldn't bear to ignore it, so he patiently asked, "What exactly is going on?"
"This is the school for the nobility. I'm not… anymore… because my male father doesn't need us anymore…" The cub talked intermittently, and his voice was very low, so Huan Xiu could barely hear it even when he got close.
"Ah." Huan Xiu digested the information and suddenly remembered something. The gossip that I heard from the two male Zerg at the professor's door this afternoon. Could it have been this matter?
"Are you waiting for your parents?" Huan Xiu asked.
The young Zerg nodded, "My female father said he would come later today…"
"Now that I've met you, I'll be a good Zerg to the end and wait with you until your father comes. It wouldn't be good to meet a classmate like those ones from before," Huan Xiu saw that young Zerg was still motionless in the corner of the wall, and did not force him to come over. Instead, he squatted down together with him. "Can you tell me your name?"
The young Zerg looked nervous and faltered, "…Shi… Ye…"
"Shi Ye. Is it the night character? What does it mean?"
"Born at night…"
Huan Xiu was speechless, "That's…" Really a name that you won't forget. 1
This young Zerg named Shi Ye, kept glancing suspiciously at Huan Xiu under the light. Huan Xiu's skin obviously didn't have any Zerg lines, and even if he was young, he knew that he was a male Zerg.
Most of the teachers in the primary department were inferior females, and few of his classmates were male Zerg. The ones he knew were always high and mighty, or never participated in irrelevant matters. As far as he could remember, it was the first time that a male Zerg, apart from his male father, spoke to him.
And unlike his male father, who as soon as he saw him, would have a cold look, this one was talking with a smile.
Shi Ye, who thought he had peeked undetected, was surprised he was still not alone. Huan Xiu, on the other hand, didn't know what to say. Was there something wrong with him? Was this child so puzzled that his eyes kept going up and down to sweep over him?
It was awkward to wait. Huan Xiu asked Shi Ye to contact his father and tell him about his injuries from before, so that the other party would come sooner since something happened.
"I… I don't care. I don't want to bother my female father. The injury will soon heal." Shi Ye shook his head, seemed a bit evasive, but his tone was very firm.
Although the female Zerg had a strong recovery ability, it was not fully developed in the cub stage, and it would take a day and a half to recover from minor injuries. Huan Xiu felt helpless and wondered how the child developed his stubborn temper.
"I'll contact him for you."
"No need…!" Shi Ye was a little confused. In front of him was an adult male Zerg who seemed to be a school teacher. Although he had never met him before, the nametag with the school logo was real.
"It's a teacher's order. Students have to abide by it." Huan Xiu shamelessly used this relationship, although a college assistant and a cub in the elementary department had nothing to do with each other.
No matter what other idea Shi Ye had, he was just a kid. So after being heavily intimidated, in the end, he gave over the contact information and Huan Xiu sent a message to his female father.
Sure enough, the father came late because he didn't know. When he saw the message sent by Huan Xiu, his father called him immediately. After checking the situation, the father was very grateful to Huan Xiu and rushed to school.
Huan Xiu hung up the phone and frowned. Was it his delusion, or had he heard that voice somewhere before?
About fifteen minutes later, a car stopped on the side street and a female Zerg got off. After looking around, he ran anxiously towards their direction.
"Thank you so much… Ah!"
"Ah!" Huan Xiu looked up and was stunned.
Wasn't this his 'lifesaver'?
Half an hour later
"I'm lacking in my duty as a father. I can't believe I didn't notice this before."
"From what you've said, I'm sure you've been very preoccupied with a lot of things lately. It's normal to be negligent."
In a family restaurant, Huan Xiu was sitting face to face with his 'lifesaver', having a chat.
He didn't expect that after a short day, the two sides who did not leave any information or contact details, had met again like this. According to the rumor he heard before, the man in front of him, Xi Ran, was the miserable female Zerg who was 'swept out of the house with his cub'.
Huan Xiu said that he wanted to thank Xi Ran, so after taking Shi Ye to the hospital for a check up, Xi Ran first sent Shi Ye home, and then went out alone with Huan Xiu. There were a lot of things that were inconvenient to say in front of children.
"He looks afraid of troubling you. It must have happened a few times before."
"So you are a teacher."
Huan Xiu waved his hand, "Oh, no, I'm a teaching assistant in the University Department, and my main job is still in the graduate school. Today, I was walking from the college campus, and I met your son on the way." After thinking about it, Huan Xiu added, "Don't use honorifics with me, I seem to be about the same age as you."
Xi Ran was not willing to talk about his own situation and he didn't ask why Huan Xiu was in the water yesterday. He just kept thanking him over and over. It was obvious he was not good with words, but attached great importance to the child.
"But I didn't know you were the… female father of such a big child." Huan Xiu wanted to say 'mom', but stopped his mouth quickly. Using the word 'mom' with a serious face for this 1.8 meters 2 male body was too contrary.
"In fact, Xiao Ye's awakening wasn't that long ago. He was fast for a female Zerg cub."
The implication was that Shi Ye was not very old. It was true that the age of the Zerg people was very vague in terms of appearance. Huan Xiu made a conversion and estimated that Shi Ye might be less than one year old in terms of human age.
The world was still too sci-fi.
"Xiao Ye mentioned that he was going to quit school?" Huan Xiu also used the nickname for Shi Ye. He remembered that the boy had said that he was no longer a student in the school. Now he asked Xi Ran, "Are you transferring to another school? Because… you're not an aristocrat anymore?"
Xi Ran nodded in silence.
"I see. It's a pity." Huan Xiu expressed his understanding. Unfair as it was, aristocratic colleges had overwhelming educational resources. Shi Ye seemed to be a clever boy, but as an outsider, there was nothing he could do to help.
"Thank you very much for helping Xiao Ye today." Xi Ran stood up again and bowed solemnly to Huan Xiu, who stopped him. Huan Xiu was a little embarrassed. Before, he was rescued from the water and sent to the hospital, but he didn't even say thank you after he came out. Now, he helped his child and was unexpectedly thanked for a whole night.
"No problem. Anyone who sees it will do that."
"…" Xi Ran moved his lips and whispered, "They wouldn't."
Huan Xiu couldn't answer and laughed twice.
After that, Huan Xiu took the initiative to pay the bill. Xi Ran was not willing to let him pay, but Huan Xiu paid with the reason of 'it's repaying your kindness'. When he sent Shi Ye home with Xi Ran earlier, he saw that the other party lived in a bad building, which was probably rented temporarily after he left his husband's house. Therefore, Huan Xiu felt that the other party might have some temporary financial problems.
Xi Ran finally accepted the kindness from Huan Xiu in silence.
"If you have any problems, please contact me. I'll try my best to help if I can." Huan Xiu wrote down his contact information for Xi Ran. The first person he saw in the world was Xi Ran, whose looks were exactly in his strike zone – that's all he knew for now.
However, since he had such a chance encounter, Huan Xiu hoped from the bottom of his heart that he could have further contact, and it would be nice if he could help the other party in some way.
"That's not a good idea," Xi Ran didn't take it immediately, pushing the piece of paper back to him. "If you're in touch with me, you may also get involved in the bad gossip. You'd better not."
Looking at Xi Ran's serious look, Huan Xiu sighed. He now knew where Shi Ye's immature stubborn temper had come from.
"Take it anyway. It's getting late. I'll go first." Forcing the other party to accept it, Huan Xiu took a step back, said goodbye with a smile and left.
Xi Ran sat in his seat for a while. He didn't know what the male Zerg was thinking, so he looked confused. Eventually, he couldn't ignore it and put the note in his pocket.
When Huan Xiu left in the morning, he happened to miss those idle cousins at home, but when he returned, Huan Xiu inevitably met them. In fact, in theory, everyone should be in their own rooms at night, but this group of Zerg had to get together to chat on the road that Huan Xiu had to go through, which made him suspect that they were deliberately blocking him.
"Oh, our cousin is back." It was his cousin named Huan Jiade again. Of course, his tone was not welcoming at all.
"Yes. What are you doing? Chatting?"
"…Ha, yes. We are discussing what should be prepared for the ceremony," Huan Jiade maliciously asked Huan Xiu, "It's about the little inferior female from the Ai family. Do you remember him?"
Huan Xiu expressed some surprise, "Will there be a ceremony for cousin who is going to marry an inferior female? I didn't think cousin would care about this kind of concubine. Oh, sure enough, you still have to care about the Ai family, right…"
Huan Jiade's face was angry, and he realized that there was something wrong with Huan Xiu these past two days. How can his response to his sarcasm be so calm? What's more, the sentence just now seemed to sarcastically imply his fear of his family.
Some of his other cousins were puzzled. Huan Xiu really didn't like Ai Le anymore? But he was trying to die just a week ago? Or was he trying to save face now?
"We almost forgot there was a Zerg like you in our house. Fortunately, we met. Would you like to attend the ceremony next month? There are so many invitation letters that—"
Huan Xiu was stunned for a moment. He thought the other party was talking nonsense, but he didn't expect there to be a real ceremony. He wasn't expecting I'd destroy the wedding out of anger, right? He didn't think this cousin was the kind of male Zerg who would have a lot of respect for concubines.
"If you're sure," said Huan Xiu, stepping forward to take the invitation from Huan Jiade's hand, laughing. "Thank you, brother."
Huan Jiade was speechless and disgusted by Huan Xiu's slightly mocking 'elder brother' remark. But from the perspective of seniority and etiquette, there was nothing wrong with the other party.
"Did he take the wrong medicine?"
"What the heck…"
The group of male Zerg began to talk after seeing the figure of Huan Xiu disappear through the side door.
"It's not like the first day we've known him – I guess he has already gone back to his room to cry," said Huan Jiade scornfully.
"Ha ha, and also…"
"He needs a swollen face to support such a fatty." 3
Although Huan Jiade said that, he knew in his heart that there was something different about Huan Xiu. It made him disgusted, that the 'creature' who had always been inferior to him suddenly became very mature overnight and easily dove on top of him.
Huan Xiu, who returned to his room, did not know what had happened outside after that. He glanced at the information on the invitation letter and compared his schedule to make sure that there was no extra arrangement for that day, so he added it to his itinerary. It was just like receiving an invitation from a colleague at work, there was no fluctuation in his heart.
Last night, he deleted all the photos of Ai Le from the former's mobile phone gallery. Although it was not easy to evaluate the love of others, Huan Xiu, who inherited his memory, had to say that this inferior female named Ai Le was not a good thing.
When he knew that 'Huan Xiu' loved him, Ai Le clung to him but was also seeing other male Zerg. After enjoying the attentiveness and ambiguity for many years, he still chose the more powerful Huan Jiade – knowing that this person hurt 'Huan Xiu' the most.
As a male Zerg, the original had a rare infatuation in this male-dominated society. It was a pity that he had a bad eye and had taken fancy to someone who didn't cherish his infatuation.
When it came to respecting males, Huan Xiu couldn't help but think of Xi Ran he met again today. The other seemed to have been on the front line, but because of an accidental injury he suffered some permanent damage, which was enough to end his military career. According to the words of those Zerg, a commoner female Zerg who had no future and was expelled from his husband's family with his child, it seemed that his life was about to be reduced to a laughing stock.
Huan Xiu was a little uncomfortable. He glanced at the communicator and saw that Xi Ran hadn't contacted him. When he spoke, he could see that the other side was stronger. Although his eyes were full of fatigue, his words did not reveal a trace of weakness.
Unless the other Zerg really encountered a serious situation, or he lost his self-esteem, he would probably not come to find him on his own.
"I hope his life will go well."
Huan Xiu didn't know how Xi Ran's life was, but at least for a short time after that, Huan Xiu's life was on the right track.
Due to the delay the day before, Huan Xiu stopped by to have his hair cut the next morning before he went to the lab. When he arrived at the research room, his new style really caused a great surprise. Huan Xiu took this opportunity to get closer to many people, and once again received Kaczki's enthusiasm from the next table who was trying to sell his brother to him.
The original owner of this body was originally a 'bookworm', otherwise, he would not have ended up in this job with such an unpleasant personality. With Huan Xiu's current character, he was more like a fish in water. He also quickly won the favor of the professor when he worked as a teaching assistant twice a week. He classified all these reasons as 'suddenly figured everything out' and 'cheered up after being lovelorn'.
It sounded ridiculous, but actually no one cared about the reason. Huan Xiu was a pleasant guy now, and it was enough for his ordinary colleagues and superiors and subordinates to know that. Fortunately, the original did not have any close friends, otherwise the switch may be revealed. Huan Xiu felt very lucky that he didn't need to pretend to be someone else and live cautiously.
One of those who actually began to notice that Huan Xiu had changed was, sadly, the bunch of cousins who had been bullying him.
Huan Jiade held a more solemn ceremony than originally planned. There was a rumor that his female monarch was depressed for three days because he was also a female Zerg from a noble family. Huan Jiade had to spend some time to get the female to accept this.
When Huan Xiu found out about this, he thought it was incredible. Was his cousin a child? To piss him off, he was looking for trouble for himself? If Huan Xiu didn't read the real disgust from the other person's eyes, he would be afraid that the other was actually secretly in love with him.
A month later, Huan Xiu took the invitation and went to the ceremony like normal.
According to his seniority and status, Huan Xiu sat in the corner of the Huan family section. It was a ceremony, but it was a lot simpler than a wedding. After all, this was a concubine, and he couldn't be more in the limelight than the main wife was when he married his husband. It was the first time that Huan Xiu had participated in such a ceremony. He remembered that the original never responded to similar invitations before and would only lock himself in his room.
He looked straight towards the center, and there stood the slender, inferior female, Ai Le. The other party seemed to sense Huan Xiu's gaze, and looked up slightly, locking eyes with him. His expression was somewhat subtle but it couldn't be said that he was sentimental or anything.
No. No way. Do you really want to hang on to others when you're married? Huan Xiu was astonished. He knew that the original would have found an excuse and escaped. But he didn't have any scruples. He just looked over there with no expression. Sure enough, it was Ai Le who retreated first and looked away in a panic.
Huan Jiade glanced at Huan Xiu's line of sight, and seemed to make a triumphant glance.
Huan Xiu felt tired. He didn't want to get along with these insufferable relatives.
He had been an adult for ten years. Couldn't he move out of the house? His female father was unknown since he was born, and his irresponsible male father died accidentally by drunkenly stepping off a staircase. The original body of Huan Xiu had lived in his cousin's house since he was a child. He had been suffering for more than ten years, but it seemed that he never wanted to move out until he died. Generally speaking, it was because of his own timidity.
This was immediately put on Huan Xiu's agenda. Even if his aristocratic title would shrink rapidly after he left his family, he didn't care. Because the troubles of the social aristocrats were too many for him to cope with. He just wanted to live a normal, everyday life.
In the twinkling of an eye, Huan Jiade and Ai Le were already in front of Huan Xiu. Huan Xiu said some old-fashioned blessings in a very uninspired way. In fact, his mind had already drifted to find a reason to leave his family.
Huan Jiade mocked, "I heard you don't have a partner yet. Is it that you have a secret love that refuses to be with you? Cousin, you're not getting any younger. Do you want to think about your marriage occasionally?"
"Ah, this cousin is really thinking about his younger brother." A relative nearby flattered him.
"You're too kind." Huan Jiade fake smiled.
"Thank you. I'll think about it," said Huan Xiu, not surprised.
Huan Jiade was the most upset by his nonchalant appearance. But he seemed to suddenly think of some interesting ideas, and his expression became cheerful. Without saying goodbye, he dragged Ai Le to the next seat.
Huan Xiu didn't think that the look Huan Jiade gave just now was anything good, but he didn't think the other party could cause much trouble to him. Eighty percent of the time, it was just middle school student level mischief and pranks before. So he acted like he didn't see it and let it go.
He didn't expect that the nature of Huan Jiade's 'prank' was many grades worse than before.
Huan Xiu, who had already mixed in with his colleagues in the research room, was eating with the other Zerg in the canteen at noon. He still didn't talk much and most of the time just listened in silence, only occasionally responding with a word or two. Soon after eating, he felt the Zerg staring at him behind his back. He was very sensitive to the gazes cast around him, and immediately looked back a little uncomfortable. Two Zergs from other sections of the research department, who seemed to be inferior females, exclaimed.
There were no 300 silver Liang in this place, which made Huan Xiu more convinced that the two inferior females who had gathered together to whisper were talking about him.
"Wow, are you really lucky after having your hair cut?" Kaczki joked.
"What can I do for you?" Huan Xiu didn't think that, because it was obvious that the faces of the two inferior females were not admiring, but suspicious.
"No, nothing, sorry!" Without answering him directly, the two inferior females ran away in a hurry.
On the way back to the lab, Huan Xiu felt the same kind of gazes from all directions. His inability to grasp the situation made him uneasy. What was going on?
Back in the lab, Kaczki took out his contacts, glanced, and then opened his eyes in surprise. "Huan Xiu, is it really true?"
"Hm?"
"'Hm', what 'hm'? Don't you know? It's your own business." Kaczki swiped the screen, one dropping in thin air, and showed it to Huan Xiu.
Huan Xiu fixed his eyes on it and was surprised.
Since when was he going to marry?
And according to the news, it was the female Zerg, who was kicked out of his house recently.
Wasn't that… Xi Ran?
Huan Xiu was a little confused for a moment, "I really don't know… Who told you about this?"
"My concubine said his friend's brother's…" Kaczki reported a long list of relationships, "said you matched. Didn't you? Is there something wrong? You're not old enough to need a government match, right? Well… Although it's true that a male Zerg can refuse the match unilaterally, but even if it's only nominated as a concubine, it's not right that the match will be rejected by the male Zerg…"
Because of the relationship between interests and marriage, the relationship between nobles was often complex. It was normal for such things to spread from ten to one hundred in an instant in noble colleges. Huan Xiu knew why so many Zergs looked at him curiously before.
Assuming that this so-called matching information was true, if he did not know the news yesterday, it must have happened only today. In a short period of time, once they knew about this private matter, they had publicized it. It was not that Huan Xiu liked to doubt it, but there were no other candidates except those cousins who weren't busy all day and weren't friendly with him.
As Kaczki said, although Huan Xiu's identity was not valued in the Huan family, it was far from being 'degraded' to be matched with a divorced female Zerg. What's more, Xi Ran was a commoner, not to mention, he had a young Zerg, even if he was to only be a concubine, it was a blessing for him.
Huan Xiu didn't really understand these things, but only after listening to Kaczki's quiet, indignant explanation did he realize the meaning behind it.
"To be honest, I think it's probably the Zerg in my family who are behind this." Huan Xiu couldn't help but speculate about Huan Jiade's behavior when he attended the wedding.
"You mean the cousins who used to pick on you all the time? Wow, there are still such things…" Kaczki stopped and put forward another possibility. "Say, is it possible that the female Zerg surnamed Xi, found a way to do this? You see, he has no way out now, and the child is also a big problem, so he casually found a good looking male Zerg… Although you can refuse, given the slightest chance, he will make a lot of money!"
"No way." Huan Xiu froze for a moment and shook his head. Although he had only met him twice, he didn't think Xi Ran was that kind of Zerg. Last time, Xi Ran didn't even want to ask Huan Xiu to help him with some small things, unless he was pretending that time as well – then he could really become a film emperor, so Huan Xiu didn't have any doubts.
"Well? Do you know him?" Kaczki was surprised.
"Mn… I guess. I've met him by chance before."
Kaczki regretted saying all that. Since Huan Xiu knew the Zerg, it may not be good for him to make wild guesses.
It was useless for them to say more here. Huan Xiu thanked Kaczki for his concern and decided to ask again when he went home. Gossip spread quickly, and in one afternoon, almost all the Zerg in the whole research room knew about it. Huan Xiu looked as usual, and they were embarrassed to mention it. It was only after Huan Xiu received the news from his uncle, the head of the family, that he went home early and had a general discussion.
When he got home and entered the guest room, Huan Xiu saw his uncle sitting on the sofa with Huan Jiade. His uncle saw Huan Xiu come in and silently waved to him to come and sit down.
After Huan Xiu's father died, his uncle took him in. However, it seemed that it was just out of obligation. From childhood to adulthood, the number of times that Huan Xiu met with him alone could be counted with one hand.
"You know about the match, right?"
Huan Xiu nodded.
"You're less than thirty. Although it's not normal for you to marry at this age, it's really not to the point where you need to be matched," the head of the Huan family said frankly. "There's nothing to hide. This time is Jiade's prank that's gone too far."
Sure enough… Huan Xiu really didn't feel there was any suspense about it.
Huan Jiade seemed to have never thought that this would upset his father. He tried to explain, "He said he wanted to get married last time, so I helped him…"
"Open your eyes and stop telling lies! Now a group of random Zerg are talking about our Huan family, saying we are only worthy of second-hand goods that the Shi family didn't want. Have you considered these things when you did it?"
"He… he is not a Zerg of our family…"
"But he's the same sex as you, and he lives in our house! That's enough to be a joke!"
As soon as Huan Xiu's uncle said this, Huan Jiade also shut up and cowered to the side without saying anything. Huan Xiu was still wondering what was wrong with the master of the family today. He even helped him punish his eldest son. The thought that it had something to do with the family's reputation made sense to him.
"There's nothing we can do about it. Figure out a way to handle it yourself. Don't wander around outside for a while." The master seemed to be in a bad mood, and this was not a big deal, but Huan Jiade, who had no brain, while he was trying to defame Huan Xiu, he also defamed his own family. The master of the Huan family just used this to teach Huan Jiade a lesson. From the bottom of his heart, he still preferred his son. To Huan Xiu, an outsider Zerg, it was enough to explain what was going on.
"Ah, uncle. In fact, I have something to say."
"Mn? What?" The master, who had already got up and was ready to leave, stopped and looked back. He had never heard Huan Xiu speak in front of him. From childhood to adulthood, the child would only be silent and listen to him.
"I'm sorry to have been a bother and stay with you for so many years. After listening to what my cousin said, I think maybe I'm old enough to start a family. It happens that the research institute is busy with work, so I need to move closer to it, and I don't have to occupy space here." Huan Xiu made a somewhat guilty face.
Huan Jiade's eyes were staring at him like he saw a ghost. But having just been lectured, he didn't dare to speak out. When Huan Xiu saw this expression in his eyes, he almost laughed out loud.
"Our family doesn't lack space. But that's a good idea. You've grown up. If you really thought it through, suit yourself." The family head was surprised. It was a good thing that Huan Xiu was willing to disassociate himself from his family on his own.
Although the cause was somewhat bizarre, Huan Xiu had achieved his second goal ahead of time – to move away from his relatives as far and as soon as possible.
Huan Xiu was still a good man. Before, Huan Jiade had spread gossip about him, and then he spontaneously spread the news that he wanted to leave the Huan family to live alone. Although some Zerg wondered whether it was the master who drive him out of the house out of cruelty, in general, most Zerg watching the drama knew the fact that Huan Xiu had nothing to do with the Huan family.
The head of the family, who knew about this matter, felt that Huan Xiu was very perceptive, so he was in a good mood. He generously gave Huan Xiu a lot of pocket money and real estate in his name. Huan Xiu didn't know whether the head was playing a loving relative or he rewarded him for being sensible. Anyway, he accepted it with a clear conscience, and from then on it was a clean break.
The storm soon passed. In fact, from the very beginning, the focus of this incident was that 'the match of Huan Xiu was actually a divorced concubine'. They had no doubt that Huan Xiu would immediately refuse this unlikely match – but just having such a relationship was enough for him to become a joke.
Employees at the marriage center were surprised to see the matches still waiting for a response. As for any male Zerg, they would have felt disgusted and immediately would have rejected it with a click. They didn't even need to come in person, just fill in a few lines online and submit it. But this entry stayed for a few days without any change.
Why didn't Huan Xiu refuse immediately? He really didn't know. At this point, he felt that he should at least talk to Xi Ran, and they knew each other already anyway. During this period of time Huan Xiu was discussed a lot, not to mention Xi Ran who was already in the forefront of the storm.
After being busy for a while with the move, Huan Xiu finally settled down in his own single family residence. Now he finally had time to request a meeting with his matched partner.
Even though Huan Xiu left his contact information when they last met, Xi Ran never sent him any messages. So the quickest way for Huan Xiu to find him was to go directly through the marriage center.
The person who processed his application that day was a young inferior female, who did not know the truth of the matter, had a bad impression of Huan Xiu. After all, there must be something wrong with the matched female Zerg who was given the divorce band. So when he saw Huan Xiu that day, the front desk was so surprised by the other party's excellent appearance, that he couldn't say anything, despite his low expectations.
"Excuse me, may I ask…?" Huan Xiu felt that the staff member seemed to be distracted, so he patiently asked again.
"Yes, yes, I'll take care of it for you right away. We'll get in touch with you later without delay." The Zerg at the front desk nodded.
"Is it okay to call him directly now?" asked Huan Xiu.
"Ah…? Yes!"
"Then I'll just wait here. Can I talk to him when you get through to his phone?" Huan Xiu didn't understand why the Zerg people were so similar to the ancient society with their 'matchmaking center'. It was like they were one two ends of the border, so maybe he still had to write letters to the other for a while?
"After that, we can help you arrange a more specific meeting time and place…"
"Don't bother arranging it. Call him and tell him to contact me. He should have my number… Tell him I want to talk to him face to face."
Front desk Zerg, "Huh?"
"Is that out of line?"
"Not really. Just a moment." There was a bit of confusion on his face, but he did it immediately.
Huan Xiu asked around a bit beforehand. Xi Ran was temporarily transferred to the logistics department after he was injured and retired from the front line. Theoretically, he was quite free every day. Sure enough, the phone went through soon. Huan Xiu couldn't hear the voice of the other side, but the front desk described it clearly and told Xi Ran that Huan Xiu was on their side right now waiting for a reply. After the confirmation, the front desk cut off the call.
"He said he would contact you."
Xi Ran's action was very fast. In a few seconds, Huan Xiu's mobile phone rang.
"Thank you." With a polite smile, Huan Xiu turned around, answered the phone and left.
The front desk Zerg was stunned for a while. Finally, he came to his senses and discussed with his colleague next to him in surprise, "What's going on? Do they know each other?"
"Was that the one just now that everyone has been talking about recently, Huan… Xiu?" It happened that the one next to the front desk Zerg had no work to do, so he came over and joined in immediately. "How young and handsome! What's the matter? Did he contact the female soldier surnamed Xi? Is he really considering marrying him as a concubine?"
"Hush, keep it down. Don't let the higher-ups catch us chatting at work."
"Oh, oh… I'm still so surprised."
"I'm not…? He seems to be very good," the inferior female also glanced at the other person's back, "I'd be willing to be his concubine a hundred times! I have not had a partner yet…"
"But there must be a problem. He is a male Zerg, but he hasn't been married so far. Could he be some kind of… pervert or sadist behind the scenes? Isn't there a lot of such things among the nobles?" The colleague next to him became alarmed. The inferior female recalled the conversation with Huan Xiu. The other side was very gentle and appropriate at least at first glance, and he seldom saw such a male Zerg in the marriage center. Embarrassed, he said, "Oh, in that case, I don't think it's unacceptable to be slightly…"
"Wake up. And it doesn't matter to us anyway, okay?…"
Huan Xiu, who had already gone far away, sneezed and was completely unaware of the fact that he had been 'stigmatized' as a sadist.
"Are you all right?"
"It's nothing. By the way, I see you still have my contact information. I didn't hear from you, so I thought you had thrown it away."
"No way!" Xi Ran countered subconsciously. He had not received such pure kindness for many years, so he kept the note carefully all this time. But his problem couldn't be solved Huan Xiu's kindness. Naturally, Xi Ran didn't want to disturb the other.
"You know about the match, too, don't you?"
"I…" Xi Ran didn't know what to say for a while. His first reaction to the news was guilt. He didn't know why, but he felt Huan Xiu should never be involved in this kind of thing. A female Zerg had no means to respond to the match, everything depended on the intention of the male Zerg. But a few days passed and the match was not rejected, which also made Xi Ran very confused.
"I can't make it clear on the phone. Do you have time to come out and have a face-to-face talk tonight?"
"If we are seen by other Zerg, it may have a bad effect on you…" Xi Ran subconsciously wanted to avoid it.
"It's already like this, I don't care anymore."
"Sorry."
"Oh, I don't mean to blame you." Huan Xiu corrected. "Anyway, if it's convenient for you, we can go to the restaurant we went to last time. You should have sent Xiao Ye back after five o'clock, right?"
Xi Ran didn't expect that Huan Xiu would think about Xiao Ye, so he felt more guilty. Although he was in the logistics department, it was not convenient for him to gossip too much in the army, so he had to make an appointment with Huan Xiu first.
"Mr. Huan, I'm really sorry."
If one really thought about it, in theory it was Huan Xiu's cousin who should apologize. But obviously, the other side didn't think so.
In the afternoon, when Huan Xiu rushed from the research room to the restaurant, Xi Ran was already sitting there. Huan Xiu glanced at the time, five minutes to five. Then he arrived early.
"Have you been waiting long?"
"Mr. Huan…!" Xi Ran had his head lowered and was thinking about something, looking a bit tired. Only after hearing Huan Xiu's voice did Xi Ran notice that he was already in front of him. He sprang to his feet and said, "This time… Please listen to my explanation. I don't know anything about this incident. I'm also aware that theoretically, a female Zerg like me can't match with you…"
"Take it easy. I know it's not your fault." Huan Xiu patted Xi Ran on the shoulder and asked him to sit down first. It was not dinner time yet, so there were only a few customers in the family restaurant. The ordering counter was a long distance from the seats on the second floor. There were no other Zerg around at this time.
"I've also heard rumors that it's a trick that you directed by yourself or something like that…" Such remarks were not in the minority.
Xi Ran looked a little anxious and was just about to say something, when he was interrupted by Huan Xiu, "I know, I know. This was my cousin's doing. I know it already." Huan Xiu didn't elaborate on the history of his feud between him and his cousin, but only briefly explained the reason for this matter, and added, "and I don't think you're a Zerg like that."
"…I don't deserve it. It's still causing you trouble." Xi Ran's previously tense muscles seemed to relax a little. But from the look in his eyes, the other side still had some feeling of awe or fear.
Huan Xiu was helpless. He found that Xi Ran's words and actions had become respectful towards him again.
"Is Xiao Ye okay? Has there been any more conflicts with his classmates again?"
"…I don't think so." Xi Ran's tone was not very sure. He must have thought that even if Shi Ye had a fight with his classmates at school, he might not tell him when he came home.
The two sides were silent for a while, so Huan Xiu took the initiative to get to the point, "I haven't rejected the match yet."
Xi Ran was not sure what he meant, "You… don't know how to?"
Huan Xiu was amused. "I'm not a kid. I know how."
"I don't mean to degrade you. I'm sorry."
Seeing that the female Zerg was going to stand up again and apologize to him again, Huan Xiu quickly pressed him down, "Don't be so sensitive…"
So Xi Ran was silent again.
"Well, I actually didn't think it through myself. But I also understand your situation and before I said that I wanted to help you. Now it just so happens that I can help you…"
"Don't joke around. How can you help with this kind of thing? Besides, I didn't do anything." Xi Ran looked surprised, as if Huan Xiu had just said something blasphemous.
"You saved my life." Huan Xiu held his head in one hand and looked at Xi Ran.
"That's what a normal Zerg would have done in that situation." Xi Ran said it very simply.
"Hey, it's actually not just for the sake of repaying a favor… that's why I said I didn't think it through. I also have a good impression of you. Even without this incident, I originally wanted to have some further exchanges with you – although you didn't contact me at all."
"I don't want to trouble you. I'm already grateful to you for saving Xiao Ye."
"It was just preventing the kids from fighting…" Huan Xiu laughed, and felt that things were really going smoothly for him.
Huan Xiu had always liked men, and Xi Ran was the first person he saw in this world, who left a deep impression. As he said, this man was straight in his strike zone. Although him having children was beyond his imagination, he didn't care about it. He still wanted to contact the other man as friends first.
But the male and female Zerg in this world didn't seem to have the concept of 'ordinary friends'… After living these days, Huan Xiu also knew a bit about the Zerg society.
Since there was no limit on the number of concubines, male Zergs could accept almost all female Zerg who expressed favor. In such a social situation, marriage became extremely casual. Due to the importance of children, the partner was not deemed by quality but rather quantity. Most of the time, a relationship began by 'accepting' there was no 'start from friends, ambiguity, confession, association, marriage' process.
When Huan Xiu, who was slightly biased against the Zerg tradition, found himself in such a ready-made opportunity, he even thought about the feasibility of 'marry first, then see how it goes'.
Isn't it irresponsible of me to think this way?
"You might not know my matter yet. I'm not qualified to stand next to you… Besides, I can't abandon Xiao Ye under any circumstances."
Huan Xiu wondered, "Huh? Why abandon him? I've been looking into your business… I'm sorry, I was asking around for some information about you. I just wanted to know more. I don't think there's anything wrong with you – it's more like your ex-husband has a problem."
Xi Ran looked at Huan Xiu. He frowned slightly and didn't know how to respond.
"I can accept Xiao Ye. So he can continue to study in that school." Huan Xiu offered. He was amused that his speech in modern times could be called 'detaining a single mother from other places with a registered permanent residence in the urban area' or something like that…
"…"
Obviously, Xi Ran, who had been very firm before, was shaken strongly after hearing this. He could do anything by himself, but if he could accept Xiao Ye as Huan Xiu said… A female Zerg cub without a male father could be said to have a bleak future.
It was hard for him to refuse.
"But I don't have anything to repay you with…" Xi Ran whispered, "I don't have a family background or looks. After this transfer, there will be no further development in the military headquarters."
So much so that…
Huan Xiu's kindness made him scared to death.
Huan Xiu was stunned. The Zerg's evaluation criteria for appearance seemed to be slightly different from his own – it seemed that they regarded weakness as beauty?
"Your appearance looks very good to me. Capable and refreshing. Your face is sharp and angular, and it is very flavorful," Huan Xiu raised his hand and gestured, "Your body looks great, too. Uh… are my comments somewhat rude?"
"Are you mocking me?" Xi Ran and Huan Xiu's brain waves were not on the same channel at all.
"I'm not…" It was a lot of trouble to explain, so Huan Xiu directly said, "Well, just assume my taste is strange, okay?"
"…" After a long silence, Xi Ran, as if he just made some sort of decision, said, "If you really don't mind Xiao Ye, I'd like to… As a concubine…"
"But in that case, Xiao Ye will be looked down upon with you in the future, right?" Huan Xiu interrupted him.
This hit Xi Ran's sore spot, and he had nothing to say.
Huan Xiu suggested, "Although I wanted to talk about it first, this accident came in a really subtle way… Or, how about we arrange the matching, and just follow that, hmm?" Before Xi Ran could hesitate again about what to say, Huan Xiu continued, "Actually, I might've been a bit impulsive for a moment. When this impulse wears off, I can't say for sure…" Huan Xiu knew that although it was basically true, it was very sly.