After hearing that Xi Zhengqing was willing to speak to Qiu Yuan about it, Xin Hexue’s mood visibly lifted compared to before.
“Can you contact the maintenance personnel to come to the house?”
Xin Hexue pushed himself up from the sofa. The collar of his thin shirt was a bit loose, slightly open and revealing a patch of fair skin.
Xi Zhengqing asked, “What’s wrong?”
Xin Hexue shuffled over in his home slippers and waved his hand, calling over the bionic butler.
With a worried expression, he explained to Xi Zhengqing, “Number One seems to be damaged. Sometimes his neck leaks electricity.”
Sure enough, there was a bluish-purple mark on Number One’s neck where the bionic skin looked like it was becoming necrotic.
Xi Zhengqing frowned. He was certain this was the latest model from Nuwa Bionic Manufacturing, there was no way the quality would be this poor. “How did this happen?”
Xin Hexue wasn’t sure either, so professional technicians were still needed to determine the cause.
Xi Zhengqing nodded, indicating he understood. He glanced at the sky outside the floor-to-ceiling window and saw that it was already dusk.
“A repair technician will come here tomorrow morning.” Xi Zhengqing maintained a polite distance, like a gentlemanly guest. “It’s almost sunset. It’s not appropriate for me to stay overnight, so I’ll head back now.”
Xin Hexue invited him, “Won’t you stay for dinner?”
Xi Zhengqing looked at him deeply. “I won’t stay. I’ll find it hard to leave you.”
Lately, his words had already begun to cross the line between friends, tinged with ambiguous undertones.
His affection was blatantly obvious, but between them still hung a thin veil of “friendship” that could be pierced easily.
In fact, because Xin Hexue hadn’t shown any signs of resistance, Xi Zhengqing had been gradually closing the distance between them, step by step. Once Xin Hexue fully adapted to his presence, that would be the moment for him to take his place.
………
The maintenance technician replaced the bionic skin on Number One’s neck with a new one and explained to Xin Hexue, “This looks more like damage caused by a strong force, which even affected the internal wiring of the unit. But the damaged parts have now been repaired. Have you noticed any abnormal behavior from it recently?”
Xin Hexue shook his head in confusion. “Mm… everything about him seemed normal. He completed all his tasks very well every day. What kind of abnormal behavior do you mean?”
The technician looked a bit uneasy. Even he found the idea absurd, but still voiced his speculation. “For example… I mean, a self-hanging attempt meant to end its life? Of course, this is just my guess.”
‘Even a bionic man could hang himself?’ Xin Hexue was stunned.
The technician explained, “This is our company’s latest model. The reason it hasn’t entered the market yet is because it’s equipped with a chip that imitates human emotions. Some functions may still be unstable. It was arranged by Young Master Xi and delivered to you but…it was actually still in the testing phase. If you have time, could you write an experience feedback report? User feedback is very important to us, and we’ll do our best to improve.”
‘Arranged by Young Master Xi?’ Xin Hexue’s thoughts stirred.
If he remembered correctly, he had sent the message about needing to replace the butler robot to “Pei Guangji”. This bionic man was also ordered and sent by “Pei Guangji.”
It seemed that a single casual remark from the maintenance technician was enough to plant the seed of suspicion in his heart.
Xin Hexue was quite curious about Xi Zhengqing’s reaction when his lie was eventually exposed.
He smiled and agreed to the technician’s request. “Alright, I’ll write an experience feedback report for you later.”
The technician happily gave him an internal email address and said, “You can send the experience report via email. We’ll read it carefully. Thank you for your support of Nuwa Bionics Manufacturing. If there are any issues in the future, feel free to contact us through email. We’ll do our best to serve you promptly.”
After seeing the technician off, Xin Hexue turned back around to find the bionic butler quietly waiting for him.
The Cosmos in the villa’s garden grew in clusters. Since it was still spring and not yet blooming season, there was only lush greenery.
After thinking for a moment, Xin Hexue still asked him with a touch of human concern, “Number One, have you been feeling okay lately?”
Number One responded slowly, “Yes, Master. Everything is fine.”
Xin Hexue had originally treated him as just an object, no different from other robots that mechanically executed commands. But remembering what the technician said, that Number One was equipped with a chip to imitate human emotions…
Was there any situation that could drive a bionic man to hang himself?
Xin Hexue couldn’t think of one.
No, wait…
Could it be that Number One was still brooding over him forcing himself on him back at the Pei manor…?
He really didn’t expect a bionic man to be a chaste and upright man.
Xin Hexue decided he would try to avoid stimulating Number One too much in the future even though he and Number One had gone back to their usual master-servant dynamic ever since returning from the Pei manor.
Xin Hexue returned to his room and received a message from Xi Zhengqing.
[Xi Zhengqing: Qiu Yuan said he’s currently preparing for a new film, but casting hasn’t started yet. Next Thursday is his birthday. He’ll be hosting a cruise party on international waters, and he hopes to meet with you there.]
[Xi Zhengqing: He also invited me. There will be a lot of people at the party, so I’ll stay by your side, you don’t need to worry.]
Of course Xin Hexue wasn’t worried at all.
Qiu Yuan’s love value had been rising strangely. The system prompts had added up to only five points, but the actual love value had reached forty.
Based on the 8× love value, and the similar scent he detected on Qiu Yuan that matched the one he smelled when he encountered the tentacles at the Pei manor, combined with the Qiu family’s background, it was a reasonable guess that the other party was a mutant species.
The Qiu family’s previous generation had conducted dangerous biological experiments, and had actually dared to use their heir as an experimental subject. But the others in the core zone seemed completely unaware.
Everyone had been kept in the dark. Even Xi Zhengqing probably wouldn’t have guessed that the childhood friend he regularly had meals with was actually a mutant with eight tentacles.
Xin Hexue sent a message back to Xi Zhengqing, thanking him.
After dinner, once he finished washing up, it began to rain outside. The sound of rain hitting the leaves made a crackling sound, like white noise perfect for falling asleep.
His body felt limp and lazy as he curled up under the covers.
He left only the reading light on at the head of the bed.
Xin Hexue wrapped the blanket around himself and turned over.
He opened his communicator. The soft white light in night mode lit up his delicate brows and eyes.
Xin Hexue tapped on a user’s profile picture and entered the chat window.
Back then, when Xi Zhengqing first appeared under the identity of Pei Guangji, he used the excuse of changing communicators to add a new “Pei Guangji” contact for him. The original, real Pei Guangji’s account had already been manipulated by the other party and added to the blacklist.
But after Xi Zhengqing left, Xin Hexue removed Pei Guangji from the blacklist.
Xin Hexue kept scrolling up through the chat history.
He stopped at a day in November, when the first snow of the season had fallen.
That day, he received the verdict and death notice of his adoptive father Xin Bao, which were mailed by the public security system. He then had a quarrel with Pei Guangji because of it, although calling it a quarrel wasn’t quite accurate. It was more like a rebellion by “Xin Hexue”. Now that his adoptive father Xin Bao was dead, any entanglement between “Xin Hexue” and the arrogant upper class had completely lost its meaning, and he proposed terminating the contract with Pei Guangji.
But Pei Guangji had an urgent work trip and had no choice but to leave immediately. He said that he would explain everything once he returned and that under no circumstances would he agree to Xin Hexue leaving the villa.
Not long after that, Pei Guangji had an aircraft accident.
Xin Hexue swiped the screen again.
The night of the argument.
He had sent a message to the other side:
[I hate you.]
[Let’s terminate our contract. No matter what, I want to leave here. I don’t belong here. District Six would suit me better.]
[I’ll find a way to work hard and pay the one million starcoins back.]
The timing was probably just before Pei Guangji’s aircraft accident, but Xin Hexue didn’t know whether the other party had seen the messages or not.
In the following one or two days, he continued to message Pei Guangji.
[The villa’s permissions are locked.]
[What do you take me for?]
[Am I a canary you locked in a cage, one you can come see whenever you’re pleased, just for your amusement?]
He questioned Pei Guangji several more times. Those two days of messages looked more like emotional outbursts.
[…I hate you.]
[But I hate myself even more. I can’t accept that I actually fell in love with such an arrogant, cold and egotistical person, someone who even indirectly caused my adoptive father’s death…]
[Maybe it was all a mistake from the beginning. I shouldn’t have signed that contract.]
During the week when Pei Guangji completely vanished, Xin Hexue sent messages to this unresponsive account every single day.
[Why haven’t you come back yet?]
[Can you unlock the villa’s permissions? I can’t get out. The villa is too big and too quiet. I’m the only one here…]
[Are you back? I think I just heard something in the living room.]
[It turns out the mechanical cat tripped the cleaning robot.]
[I think I’m starting to hallucinate.]
[Why won’t you come back? Are you trying to make me submit like this?]
From the content of the messages, Xin Hexue’s mental state clearly worsened, even showing signs of Stockholm Syndrome.
[Today is my birthday.]
[The villa feels so empty.]
[The lilies in the vase have withered.]
[I think I have a fever. I feel sick.]
[My stomach hurts too.]
[…]
[…You win.]
[Come back quickly, I can’t take it anymore. This time, I’ll be obedient. You can do whatever you want to me, I won’t resist, and I won’t say I want to leave anymore.]
After this period of time…
[You came back.]
[But you seem a bit strange, you even stopped using this account and changed to a new communicator, so you didn’t receive the messages I sent earlier, right?]
[You said you had a small accident, and your vocal cords were damaged…]
[It’s okay. Just stay with me like this, I won’t go anywhere.]
A victim who looked to be on the verge of collapse mentally.
As fragile as a wilted bouquet, drained of all vitality and bloom.
Xin Hexue curled the corner of his lips.
He didn’t know if Pei Guangji would see these messages after waking up, but he had already arranged the script for him.
He asked K about the current situation.
[Pei Guangji love value: 90/100]
[Xi Zhengqing love value: 90/100]
[Pei Ying love value: 85/100]
[Qiu Yuan love value: 40/???]
[??? love value: ???/???]
“?”
Xin Hexue: “What’s with the last one?”
K was also puzzled.
[The last one isn’t included in the script.]
[There is no character detail here.]
[The host doesn’t need to worry about it. The script only requires the love value for the first four to increase. It also requires heartbreak points for Pei Guangji, Xi Zhengqing, and Qiu Yuan.]
Xin Hexue: “Mm, got it.”
Pei Guangji’s heartbreak value had only stayed at eight points from the day of the first snow.
As for Xi Zhengqing, who knew when he had already contributed twenty points of heartbreak value from self-inflicted pain caused by jealousy toward Pei Guangji.
Once Xi Zhengqing’s love value was full and Qiu Yuan’s was about halfway, it should be time for the plot point when Pei Guangji wakes up.
By then, the heartbreak values of all three could be increased together in sync.
…
The birthday banquet of the Qiu family heir was grand and extravagant.
On international waters, a private cruise ship worth over seven hundred million starcoins sailed. During its construction, the entire exterior was polished by hand, and just the paint job alone was worth nearly eighteen million starcoins.
To the Qiu family, this massive cruise ship was merely a toy. But what made it special was that such a toy could only be afforded by the wealthiest elites of the Federation.
Rather than being a means of transportation, it was more like a symbol of core zone status.
During the day, the cruise ship hosted a pool party.
Everyone with status and face in the core zone was invited onto the ship.
It was a sunny day and the sun was shining brightly.
Even so, Xin Hexue didn’t get into the water.
It was still spring. Compared to Alphas with vigorous energy and strong physiques, he didn’t have that kind of health. The cold water of the pool would definitely make him sick.
Besides, he didn’t like going into the water.
He was even a little superstitious about it.
It was like how a cat would never want its long fluffy fur to get wet.
The wet feeling would make the whole mood feel heavy, messy, damp and cold.
So, he just lay on a blue pool chair lazily, basking in the sun.
He didn’t care about the kind or malicious glances sweeping over from the pool not far away.
The protagonist of the party hadn’t shown up yet. Word was he was resting and would only appear during the evening ball.
Xin Hexue hoped Qiu Yuan wasn’t already dead.
His thoughts drifted aimlessly until a strange Alpha at the poolside whistled loudly at him.
The Alpha was only wearing swim trunks. When he got out of the pool, water dripped from his body and splashed onto the ground.
The Alpha seemed amused by the Beta young man’s conservative outfit.
He wore a pure white long-sleeved shirt as the base, with a sweater cardigan over it…he looked like he was dressed for a different season than everyone else.
But the skin exposed at the cuffs was whiter than frost or snow, and the delicate face showed no flush from the heat. He looked like cool white jade, clear and refreshing, yet inexplicably teasing to the heart.
Someone stood in front of the lounge chair and blocked the sun.
The young man only softly asked, “Is something the matter?”
His voice was like a clear stream flowing through a mountain spring.
The unfamiliar Alpha’s tone sounded a little flirty.
“Can I buy you a drink?”
Xi Zhengqing had said he was going to get drinks and fruit, and had left temporarily, still not back yet.
Facing the unfamiliar Alpha’s suggestive gaze, Xin Hexue had no patience to deal with someone like this.
He was just about to decline when a hand suddenly reached in between the two of them.
The blonde hair glinted under the sun. The Alpha wore sunglasses, and his thin lips curved in a half-smile. “Sorry, he already has a date.”
The flirty expression on the strange Alpha’s face disappeared. He looked a little unwilling, but clearly lacked the strength to challenge Qiu Yuan, and left in embarrassment.
Qiu Yuan turned his head and asked Xin Hexue, “Do you want to talk somewhere else?”
Xin Hexue stood up. “Mm.”
As they passed a quiet, empty hallway, the tentacles couldn’t help but sneak out from a dark spot.
Xin Hexue walked by without looking and deliberately stepped on it hard.
The tentacle was flattened onto the floor like a pancake. Its mimicry and shape-shifting ability preserved the footprint outline left by Xin Hexue.
‘Cat paw print!’
‘I got stamped by my wife…’
‘So happy…!’
