NOVEL NEXT 07
Chapter 7: Am I Not Living with Him?
Yi Er took out a knife and fork, cut a small piece of cake with roses on it, and placed it in front of Qi Yao. “It’s a beautiful little cake. Don’t you want to try it?”
Qi Yao: “Aren’t you angry?”
Yi Er didn’t understand the male zerg’s thought process. “Why should I be angry?”
Qi Yao hesitated. “The roses…”
Yi Er lightly raised his lips. “Roses? I don’t eat them either.”
Qi Yao really wanted to say that if you don’t like it, I can go and order another one. But Yi Er also served himself a small piece, except his didn’t have any roses on it.
He was absent-minded, very worried that his meager 0.2 favorability might have been ruined by himself. So, he nervously summoned the system to check if his favorability had dropped.
After the system checked, it pleasantly informed Qi Yao, “Host, it increased! When you returned the free gift at the marriage registration office, it increased by 0.1 percentage points!”
Thank goodness, thank goodness, the overall trend was upward, and it didn’t drop because of the roses.
But at the same time, it also proved that the ceremonial little cake was useless.
Qi Yao felt the road ahead was long, and even eating the delicious little cake didn’t taste good anymore.
How could he boost Yi Er’s favorability?
“What are you thinking about?” Yi Er put down the cake and looked at him intently.
Qi Yao certainly wouldn’t say, “I’m thinking about how to boost your favorability.” Instead, he made up something on the spot, “I’m thinking about what you like.”
Yi Er smiled. “Why do you want to know what I like?”
Qi Yao also looked at him. “As my mate, I want to know what you like. Isn’t that a normal thing?”
Yi Er blinked. “The question of what I like, I have never thought about it, because I only know what I don’t like.”
Qi Yao’s eyes darkened, and he continued his words, “I know you don’t like male zergs, especially those high and mighty ones who look down on zergs like you.”
The room fell silent. Yi Er didn’t speak anymore, and Qi Yao suddenly realized that he might have said something he shouldn’t have. He raised his eyes and bumped into Yi Er’s cold and deep eyes.
Yi Er was looking at him.
“You know I don’t like male zergs, so why did you agree to unite with me?” Yi Er asked him.
“…”
“Is it because I have something you want? Money? Property? Or status?”
“…”
“Did I hit the nail on the head?”
“I don’t.” Qi Yao said seriously, “I never thought about wanting those things from you.”
Yi Er didn’t intend to let him off the hook. “Then why did you agree to unite with me so readily? It couldn’t be that you took a fancy to me and fell in love at first sight, could it?”
“…”
Qi Yao was at a loss for words. He couldn’t tell Yi Er that he only agreed to unite with him to boost his favorability, step by step, to achieve a perfect ending. If he said that, would Yi Er believe him? He was afraid Yi Er would think he was mentally ill.
Seeing Qi Yao’s silence, Yi Er smiled gently, “I was teasing you. Look at how nervous you are, which male zerg would be like you?”
“…”
Silence followed.
Neither of them spoke again as they silently finished nearly half of the cake, leaving Qi Yao feeling nauseated at the thought of sweets for the next year.
But Qi Yao was surprised to find that Yi Er had a much better appetite than he did.
He kept this small discovery to himself, and when he left, he made sure to store the remaining cake properly. Along with the packages he had received, he took them with him on Yi Er’s aircraft.
The aircraft smoothly traversed the city’s airspace and, an hour later, landed in the spacious courtyard lawn of a luxurious building.
The side door opened, and Qi Yao stepped down from the aircraft, surveying the magnificent building in front of him.
It was a palace-style noble villa, with light gold and pure white as its main colors. Low-key exquisite decorations adorned the columns and door frames, and the front courtyard was vast, with sculpted fountain gardens aplenty.
It was hard to imagine that Yi Er, just a military female general, lived in such a luxurious place.
Yi Er probably noticed his shock and doubt, and said, “After my military achievements, I bought it from the Queen Mother with my military merits, at a 50% discount.”
He gestured with a five, sounding somewhat boastful.
Qi Yao played along, “That must have been quite an achievement.”
Yi Er smiled.
The villa door opened from within, and a tall and young female zerg butler stepped out.
Yi Er said, “This is Butler Dean.”
Dean had received the news of General Yi Er’s marriage three days ago, so he had already tidied up the courtyard inside and out, prepared dinner for today in the villa, and heard the sound of the aircraft parking, he hurriedly put down his work to greet them. When he opened the door, he saw the male zerg standing next to Yi Er, who was half a head shorter than Yi Er, and then a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.
This male zerg had black hair and black eyes, and the gentle temperament emanating from his whole body was completely different from that of those male zergs he had encountered before.
Dean was a competent butler, and he quickly concealed his surprise. He put on a smile that was warm and flawless from start to finish, greeted Yi Er, and then turned to Qi Yao, saying, “Mr. Qi, hello.”
Qi Yao nodded slightly, “Hello.”
He noticed Dean’s amber eyes, the right one dim and slightly slower when moving, partially obscured by sparse golden hair, almost unnoticeable if one didn’t pay attention.
Yi Er asked, “Dean, is the room ready?”
Dean replied, “It’s ready.”
Suddenly, Yi Er’s terminal blinked, and he frowned, quickly turning it off.
Qi Yao asked, “What’s wrong?”
Yi Er gave Qi Yao a reassuring look and said to Dean, “You can take Qi Yao upstairs first. There’s something in the military district that needs my attention. I’ll come back after dealing with it.”
Dean seemed accustomed to this, “Do you need dinner to be left for you?”
Yi Er paused for a moment.
Qi Yao said, “Yes, please.”
Then he looked at Yi Er, “I’ll wait for you to come back so we can eat together.”
Yi Er replied, “Okay.”
After Yi Er left, Dean took Qi Yao’s luggage, along with the small leftover piece of cake, and led Qi Yao into the villa.
The huge villa was empty, with only Dean as the butler, and a mechanical zerg waiting in the corner.
Sensing the presence of a stranger, the mechanical zerg’s sharp eyes flickered a few times, its program activated, and it slid over to Qi Yao.
Dean stopped the mechanical zerg, inputting Qi Yao’s information while saying, “When I’m not here, it will take over my work.”
Qi Yao: “When you’re not here?”
Dean: “At five in the afternoon, it’s General Yi Er’s off time. The General likes peace and quiet, so when he comes back, I’ll leave, and I won’t return until the next day when he goes back to the military district to work.”
Qi Yao suddenly realized a problem, “So tonight… Dean won’t be here?”
Dean smiled, the unremarkable eye forming a comfortable curve, “It’s only four in the afternoon now, I still have an hour of work time left. At five, I’ll leave on time, and Mr. Qi Yao will have to take care of General Yi Er alone tonight.”
“Huh?”
“Mr. Qi Yao, rest assured, although General Yi Er is different from other female zergs, he doesn’t have any bad habits. I believe that with Mr. Qi Yao’s attentive company, General Yi Er will quickly open up and harmoniously spend the rest of his life with Mr. Qi Yao.”
Qi Yao listened, feeling a bit confused, “Open up? What’s wrong with him?”
But Dean didn’t intend to answer.
The mechanical zerg had already input Qi Yao’s information and moved in front of Qi Yao. Its mechanical eyes curved up, just as comfortable as Dean’s eyes, “Hello, I am the mechanical zerg Xiao En. Xiao En will do its best to serve Mr. Qi Yao, the master zerg.”
Qi Yao: “…”
Dean bowed respectfully, assuming a posture of welcoming the master, “Would Mr. Qi Yao like to go to the bedroom? The General specifically instructed to prepare a separate bedroom for Mr. Qi Yao.”
Qi Yao was stunned, “Separate? Aren’t we supposed to live together?”