The temperature in spring is still slightly chilly.
However, District One was located in the mid-to-low latitudes. Once the sun rose and hung in the sky, any place with mountains and water would take on a scene of warm sun and blooming flowers, and was filled with the gentle beauty of spring.
The villa sat nestled by the mountains and water. Last night, a strong wind blew in late, bringing spring rain that fell through the night. By dawn, the rain marks had evaporated, leaving only early dew on the leaves and the tinkling of spring water in the mountain forest.
The weather forecast showed no rain for today.
It was a good time to replace the wilted flowers in the villa’s garden with new varieties.
A qualified butler-type robot should consider such matters.
Before this, he was nothing more than a mutant species without any interest in life and immersed in mechanical slaughter.
Number One knew nothing about flowers. He simply followed the programming of the previous smart butler and ordered new flower seedlings from the flower farm, preparing to transplant them into the garden.
When asked over the communicator what kind of flowers he needed this time, Number One subconsciously answered, “Cosmos.”
He only knew the name of this flower.
At the time, his shadow was hidden within a child, and Xin Hexue told him that petals of cosmos flowers always had an even number, eight petals.
Though it wasn’t an organizational command that he was required to remember, he still remembered it.
That was the first time he saw Xin Hexue, at a hospital in the western part of District Six.
He had only followed the organization’s order to start a fire at the Pei family’s pharmaceutical factory in West City. Whether the heir of the Pei family would be harmed or not was not the requirement. His mission was to infiltrate District Six afterward and wait for further orders.
He waited until Qiu Yuan instructed him to sabotage aircraft of the Pei heir.
Although Qiu Yuan wasn’t the leader of the Huozhong Organization, he was considered an ally. Therefore, he had to carry out his command.
He destroyed the aircraft’s braking system.
Number One planted the seedlings into the small soil pits.
Cosmos had a long blooming season, and the farm had told him this was an early-blooming variety that would flower in May or June.
“Are you planting flowers?”
A gentle voice came from behind.
Number One turned his head.
Xin Hexue’s health wasn’t good. When the sun shone so brightly that ordinary people could wear light coats, he still needed to wear a windbreaker and a cotton coat, with a light apricot-colored turtleneck underneath.
Even so, his exposed slender knuckles were still pale.
Number One stared at him and responded slowly, “Mm.”
Xin Hexue stepped forward. “Cosmos?”
Number One nodded again.
Because of their strong ability to reproduce and adapt, cosmos were also known as the flower of the universe. Xin Hexue was very familiar with them.
This was his home planet’s flower, minor planet B3081 of the Alpha star system.
Outside his palace, there used to be a vast sea of these flowers.
With a faint sense of nostalgia, an extremely soft and gentle expression appeared on Xin Hexue’s face. “Do you know the legend of the cosmos?”
Number One could use his bionic programming to search for information, but he didn’t. Instead, he shook his head.
Xin Hexue narrated calmly, “According to the legend, the youngest daughter of the King of Cosmos was cursed. She would be forever alone for all eternity. The curse was so powerful that no one in the kingdom could break it. So, the Cosmos Princess remained alone in the castle…”
“She spent a long time in that state, always all alone, and often sitting on the swing late at night crying.”
Xin Hexue remembered the beginning of the story, and also the cliché ending of the legend, “A knight from a distant land passed by the castle of the Cosmos Princess. The knight and the princess fell in love at first sight. When love arrived, the curse was finally broken.
This was a very old legend. By the time of the interstellar era on his home planet, it was already so ancient that it could no longer be simply called outdated.
However, due to the traditions that had been passed down, cosmos flowers were still regarded as the flower of lovers and appeared as a unique symbol in all kinds of love poems.
Xin Hexue stepped forward and stood very close to Number One . “Don’t move, okay?”
Number One obeyed and didn’t move a muscle.
The young man leaned in even closer, carrying a faint cool fragrance on him, and gently wrapped his arms around Number One.
While Number One was dazed, soft fingers pressed on the joint at the back of the bionic man’s neck, and the chip popped out.
The bionic man’s eyes dimmed as if they lost all light, entering a semi-shutdown state.
Xin Hexue deleted the memory records related to that night from the chip.
Passing out like that was too embarrassing. The memory footage couldn’t be kept.
He pursed his lips together and, once it was done, reinserted the chip back into place.
K watched the little cat delete the black history out of embarrassment.
He liked recording the host’s work processes. For that, K had an encrypted folder full of photos and videos related to Xin Hexue. But this was the only time he didn’t record anything. Seeing Xin Hexue delete the contents of the bionic man’s memory chip, K even felt a sense of relief.
Once reloaded with the memory chip, the bionic man paused slightly.
Xin Hexue: “You can continue with your work now.”
Number One: “Yes.”
Number One couldn’t say it, but Xin Hexue deleting a portion of the memory from the bionic chip was ineffective.
The bionic man’s body didn’t remember, but the mutant Cutter still remembered clearly.
Someone arrived outside the garden.
An Alpha greeted gently, his gray artificial eye looking at him. “The weather is very nice today.”
Xin Hexue lowered his gaze and responded politely, “Yes. But Mr. Xi, your work must be very busy, right? There’s really no need for you to come visit me every day…”
Xi Zhengqing walked around the flowerbed and came inside. “Today is Saturday. Although the Xi Group has a heavy workload, even the heir has the right to enjoy weekends, right?”
He continued to ask jokingly, “Or do you think I’m a workaholic?”
Xin Hexue shook his head and said helplessly, “Mr. Xi, I didn’t mean that.”
Xi Zhengqing: “Do you find me annoying? By dropping by every day uninvited, have I disturbed you?”
Xin Hexue answered, “No, not at all.”
Xi Zhengqing seemed relieved by that response and even looked at him a little dependently. “I was really worried I overstepped and disturbed you. I don’t have many friends, so I hope my over-enthusiasm hasn’t scared you off.”
Xin Hexue avoided his gaze and didn’t meet Xi Zhengqing’s eyes. After a long time, he said softly, “I don’t have friends either. Because of some experiences in high school, it’s hard for me to form close relationships with others. I’ve become used to loneliness, so when I interact with people, I might come off as cold.”
“But it’s not directed at you.”
When the young man confessed so frankly, his dark lashes trembled slightly, and under the sunlight, his skin was so white it was nearly translucent.
There was something unsaid in his words.
Although Xin Hexue didn’t go into detail about his high school experiences, Xi Zhengqing had investigated. Because of his face blindness, he had suffered school bullying during his high school years in District Six. As a result, he now had mild social anxiety disorder. When he became the center of attention, he would instinctively develop an excessive panic reaction.
Xin Hexue lifted his gaze. His eyes were a light shade of black, especially clear under the sun.
“I didn’t think you were being a bother, I’m just not quite used to it yet.” Xin Hexue thought for a moment. “Maybe… maybe I could call you Zhengqing? Would that bring us closer and make you feel better?”
[Xi Zhengqing love value +3]
Xi Zhengqing smiled. “Of course you can. Other than my family, no one’s called me that before. I’m really happy.”
Xin Hexue had a soft heart.
Xi Zhengqing understood that. With his unchanging daily visits and steady greetings through the communicator, not too frequent nor too sparse, Xin Hexue’s attitude had clearly softened.
He had a lot of patience when it came to the young man.
Xi Zhengqing was waiting for the moment Xin Hexue would completely trust him and reveal his soft belly like a cat.
Whether it was the unusually gentle side he only showed to Pei Guangji, or the nasty side that stepped on Alpha things with a raised foot, Xi Zhengqing liked it all.
He wanted all of Xin Hexue.
[Xi Zhengqing love value +2]
Xin Hexue’s eyes curved, the curvature of which reveals the cunning and sharpness of a cat.
Xi Zhengqing didn’t realize that the more proactive he was, the deeper he stepped into the lion cat’s hunting trap.
He warmly extended an invitation, “Do you want to go out for a walk? We can just stay in Nancheng. I brought the car today.”
For longer cross-district trips, Xi Zhengqing usually preferred an aircraft. But when time allowed, he also chose traditional cars. Of course, a traditional car was more than enough just within Nancheng of District One.
Xin Hexue hesitated for a moment. “I… I don’t go out much. I don’t know where to go.”
Xi Zhengqing had already planned it all out. “I know a good restaurant in Nancheng. Let’s have lunch together? Afterwards we can just wander around the city center. It’s a good way to kill time and it won’t waste the spring sunlight.”
Unable to refuse such sincerity, Xin Hexue said, “Alright.”
………
Xi Zhengqing wasn’t very good at cooking, but he did have excellent taste in picking restaurants.
He had paid attention to Xin Hexue’s preferences and found that the young man clearly preferred ancient civilization’s Chinese cuisine. So today he chose a private Chinese restaurant.
After lunch, Xi Zhengqing answered a phone call.
It was from his nephew, Xi Xiaode.
After the call, Xi Zhengqing apologized slightly, “I forgot I promised to buy my nephew some stationery. Would you mind if we stop by the stationery store while we’re out?”
Xin Hexue readily agreed. “Sure, we’re just wandering anyway. It doesn’t matter where we go.”
There was a large stationery store nearby where many students came to buy school supplies.
Among a crowd of teenagers, the two of them stood out because of their outstanding appearance and they frequently attracted glances.
Xin Hexue paused in front of the shelf for oil pastels. Xi Zhengqing asked, “Do you like painting?”
Xin Hexue shook his head. He pointed at the oil pastels with the childlike packaging. “Kids should like this, right? I want to give it to your nephew as a gift, even though I haven’t met him yet.”
Xi Zhengqing smiled. “No, he knows you. I don’t know if you remember, but back in the hospital in West City of District Six, he was visiting a classmate with flowers and happened to run into you.”
Xin Hexue picked up the box of oil pastels. “Then would he like this gift?”
Xi Zhengqing: “He would. I’ll take him out to play with us sometime.”
Xin Hexue replied, “Mm.”
Xi Zhengqing slowly strolled through the stationery store alongside him.
By comparison, the internal family relationships of the Xi family were much more harmonious than those of the Pei and Qiu families. Unlike the Pei family with illegitimate children everywhere, or the Qiu family where blood-related relatives were so cold to each other they were like enemies, the Xi family valued harmony the most. The husband and wife were loving, and the relationships between the children were fairly friendly. As a result, Xi Zhengqing also gave the younger generation in the family the proper care and love of an elder.
Xi Xiaode needed a set of rulers, a new mechanical pencil, and an eraser.
While choosing the eraser, Xi Zhengqing suddenly said, “I remember hearing back in school that if you wrote the name of the person you liked on an eraser and used it up completely, your unrequited love would come true and you’ll be able to remain together forever.”
When he said “the person you liked”, his light gray eyes looked at Xin Xue seriously.
His feelings were very obvious, but he restrained himself and looked away because of their status as friends.
Xin Hexue raised the corner of his lips and glanced at him while he wasn’t looking. “Really?”
‘So Xi Zhengqing had changed tactics and started walking the pure love route?’
Xi Zhengqing: “But it’s just the kind of thing students feel at that age.”
Back in school, Xi Zhengqing had been the model genius student and had never paid attention to those things. This was something he’d heard from Xi Xiaode.
His nephew always wrote “Xiao Mei” on his erasers and lost one every half semester.
Later, after wandering a bit more, they decided to have dinner outside. When Xi Zhengqing took Xin Hexue home, the moon had already risen.
Getting out of the car, the air was a little chilly.
Xi Zhengqing tentatively touched Xin Hexue’s hand. “Your hand is really cold.”
Xin Hexue was already used to it. “Is it?”
Xi Zhengqing said with a calm expression, “My hands happen to be warmer. Don’t catch a cold, I’ll warm them up for you?”
He said it like it was just a small favor between friends.
When Xin Hexue didn’t explicitly refuse, Xi Zhengqing held the young man’s hand and tucked it into the pocket of his coat.
An Alpha’s body temperature was higher, and both his large hand and the coat pocket were warm.
Xi Zhengqing asked, “Are you free next weekend? I want to introduce you to some of my friends. It’s a hot spring resort in North City, okay? There will be one else, just friends and friends of friends.”
‘Xi Zhengqing’s friends… Zuo Yongyan and Qiu Yuan?’
Xin Hexue smiled. “Okay.”
Xi Zhengqing glanced at him again and said goodbye, “Then I’ll pick you up in the morning.”
The night dew was heavy, and the shadows of trees swayed.
As Xi Zhengqing walked out, he subconsciously slipped his hand into the pocket of his black coat.
There was a firm texture.
He suddenly stopped and took out something from the pocket of his coat.
It was an eraser.
The clear plastic wrap had been opened, but the paper sleeve around the eraser itself hadn’t been torn yet.
All the stationery he bought had been left in the car.
When they held hands just now…
Xin Hexue?
His heartbeat suddenly sped up, especially as he slowly peeled back the paper sleeve of the eraser.
A corner of handwriting appeared at the top.
Xi Zhengqing felt like a teenager. His blood was surging and his chest pounded with a belated, youthful heartbeat.
He carefully removed the eraser’s cover.
Regrettably, his name wasn’t written on the eraser…
—Look at the windowsill.
Following the clue from the writing, Xi Zhengqing turned to look at the second-floor windowsill of the villa.
The lights inside the room were on.
The moonlight outside was long and soft.
The color of the moonlight was so gentle. It fell on Xin Hexue like water, pure and bright.
Xin Hexue smiled at him, his body leaning forward slightly with one hand resting on the balcony railing. “Be careful on the road.”
The voice drifted from the spring night wind, very light and soft, like a fine drizzle, even more like the whisper between lovers.
Xi Zhengqing felt a tingling sensation in his heart.
I thought Xin Hexue would torture him by writing Pei Guangji’s name on the eraser 😆. Anyway, today my power has been on and off so I’ll be dropping only this chapter. Let’s see tomorrow.
