NOVEL NEXT 09
Chapter 9: Natural Number 1
The door clicked open from the inside, catching Qi Yao off guard as he unexpectedly encountered a muscular and well-moistened chest covered in droplets.
Yi Er stood at the doorway wearing a jet-black silk bathrobe that shimmered like satin. He slightly lowered his head, his silver long hair still damp, with water stains at the tips dampening the robe. Droplets of water trickled down his collar, flowed over his collarbone, ran across the undulating chest muscles, and finally disappeared into the semi-covered depths of the robe.
Qi Yao: “…”
Being greeted by such a strong visual impact as soon as the door opened made his heart race uncontrollably.
Yi Er wiped his hair with a towel, “What’s up?”
Qi Yao cleared his throat, “You’re taking a bath, aren’t you?”
Wasn’t it obvious? Yi Er leaned closer to him, his deep blue eyes curved, “Yeah, getting clean before meeting my male master. After all, today is our wedding night.”
Being so close and making such jokes in that tone, Qi Yao couldn’t help but feel his ears heat up. He leaned back slightly, his feet involuntarily shifting away.
Embarrassed, he lowered his head and pushed the fruit plate forward, “You didn’t eat much tonight, so I brought you some food.”
Yi Er teased Qi Yao, satisfying his mischievous side, then glanced at the fruit plate and invited Qi Yao in, “Come in.”
Qi Yao carried the fruit plate and sat down on the single zerg sofa near the window, then placed the fruit plate on the nearby coffee table. As he turned his head, he saw the light brain placed on the table.
The content displayed on the screen panel was exactly the hot news Yi Er had just browsed—his wedding today.
So Yi Er also searches for himself on StarNet.
Yi Er dried his hair and brought over two glasses of red wine, handing one to Qi Yao and keeping one for himself. Then he sat on the sofa next to Qi Yao, looking in the direction of Qi Yao’s gaze and softly said, “Everyone is curious about who you are.”
Qi Yao didn’t care about these things. He only cared about whether he and Yi Er could end up together. “It seems like no one is blessing our marriage.”
“No,” Yi Er lightly tapped Qi Yao’s glass, “It’s me that no one is blessing.”
“…Why?”
Yi Er smiled bitterly, “Because no one believes that any male zerg would sincerely want me.”
Qi Yao fell silent for a moment. Thinking back, indeed, from the moment he arrived here, all the zergs he had encountered, whether it was Ais, Ke Lisi, or the popular netizens, had not spoken highly of Yi Er.
It was like… they were professional haters, never blessing him, and continuing to criticize him endlessly.
But the Yi Er he knew wasn’t like what they said, that he looked down on male zergs or even hated them.
He always felt that Yi Er wanted to be loved. He had felt this since the first time he saw Yi Er.
“Now you have it. Now there are zergs who sincerely want you,” Qi Yao looked into Yi Er’s eyes and said seriously.
But Yi Er avoided his gaze, swirled the wine glass in his hand, and asked in a low voice, “Who? The male master?”
“Um…” Qi Yao suddenly felt guilty. His words were simple, but his actions were driven by selfish motives.
Yi Er continued, “Does the male master sincerely want me?”
“…Um.”
Yi Er raised an eyebrow, “How does the male master want me?”
He said this calmly, but it made Qi Yao’s ears heat up again. “I didn’t think of anything else. I just came to bring you food.”
To bring food, and incidentally increase favorability points.
Yi Er took a sip of wine, leaned closer, his voice deep and heavy as he asked, “Anything else? What other things does the male master want?”
“…Nothing.”
“What do you mean by ‘nothing’?”
Qi Yao said firmly, “I mean, I didn’t think of anything else.”
Yi Er’s eyes became subtle. He held up the wine glass, walked to the sofa where Qi Yao was sitting, and slowly leaned in, the silver tips of his hair brushing against Qi Yao’s cheek. His breath carried a faint scent of wine. “I know, mating is the instinct male zergs crave. The male master… is thinking…”
Qi Yao instinctively tightened his grip.
Yi Er didn’t finish the second half of the sentence. With a crisp sound, he lightly tapped Qi Yao’s wine glass, took a sip of wine, then lowered his head, slowly approaching Qi Yao’s lips.
Qi Yao was startled, sensing what was about to happen next. He crossed his hands tightly across his chest, widened his eyes, held his breath, and leaned back against the sofa, “Yi… Yi Er…”
When there was only one centimeter left between their lips, Yi Er stopped.
His blue eyes, devoid of any desire, were like an icy cold abyss, neither disappointed nor expectant, just staring straight at Qi Yao’s tightly pursed lips.
Yi Er maintained this posture and asked inquisitively, “Does the male master not like it?”
“I…” Qi Yao stuttered, “I think it’s not the right time for us yet.”
“We’re already married, so when is not the right time?”
Qi Yao looked up, “But, do you like this?”
Yi Er’s breath paused for a moment. He stopped for a while, and something else rose in his pupils.
He closed his eyes, slowly withdrew from Qi Yao, “You came to find me, isn’t it for this?”
Qi Yao realized that Yi Er had misunderstood. He didn’t know what to say and could only say, “I know we should do this tonight, but I also know that you don’t like it.”
Yi Er turned his back to him, sipping the wine in his glass, listening to Qi Yao ramble on.
“Intimacy like this is built on the foundation of feelings. Although you are my female consort, I can feel that you don’t have that kind of emotion for me, nor that kind of feeling.”
“Without that feeling, you won’t be happy.”
“We have an equal spousal relationship, and you don’t need to fulfill obligations you don’t like because of your female consort status.”
“Yi Er, you can freely choose what you like and dislike to do. No one is forcing you, and I won’t either.”
The wine glass emptied, and Yi Er stood there blankly.
He never believed in such remarks. In his understanding, the union of male and female zergs was for the propagation of the species. Mating was instinctual, obligatory, and didn’t require emotions. How could a precious male zerg, who was so superior, give up his precious rights for the sake of emotions?
The female father and male father had already proved that even with a compatibility rate of 100%, it was impossible to develop feelings beyond rights and obligations.
That was something so extravagant that he didn’t even dare to be imagined.
This zerg, Qi Yao, was too audacious.
After a long silence, Qi Yao got up from the sofa. “Remember to eat the fruit. I’ll go back to my room first.”
Yi Er remained motionless with his back to Qi Yao.
Qi Yao knew what consequences would follow if a female zerg was neglected by the male on their wedding night, but he didn’t want to go against his own heart, let alone make things difficult for Yi Er.
Anyway, in this big house, only he and Yi Er were here. Even if they didn’t sleep together tonight, no one would know.
With this in mind, he walked slowly towards the door.
His hand rested on the doorknob, but suddenly, Yi Er called out to him, “Male master.”
Qi Yao paused, hearing Yi Er’s footsteps approaching.
Yi Er leaned against his back, one hand covering Qi Yao’s hand on the doorknob, gently removing Qi Yao’s hand from the doorknob.
This was the first intimate gesture between them in these few days of acquaintance. Qi Yao didn’t know that such a simple gesture could make his ears burn and his heart race.
Yi Er held Qi Yao’s hand lightly. “Stay with me tonight.”
With slightly cool fingertips, Qi Yao looked up incredulously. “Yi Er?”
Yi Er said, “I suddenly had a strong premonition that if I let you leave like this tonight, I might regret it in the future.”
Qi Yao’s heart, which was already beating fast, was gently scratched by these words.
“So, male master, stay tonight. I was just testing earlier, and now I know the result. I won’t do that kind of thing again in the future.”
*
Qi Yao soaked in the bathtub, not coming back to his senses for a long time.
God knows why he couldn’t even say a word of refusal and readily agreed to stay here? And now, he was soaking in the bathtub that Yi Er had bathed in.
Clearly, he could have just turned right and walked two steps to return to his own room.
Not a bit reserved.
The system was setting off firecrackers in his ears. “You scared me, host! I almost thought you and Yi Er were going to be Platonic! Do you know, host, because of your series of god-like operations just now, Yi Er’s favorability towards you has increased again!”
Qi Yao opened his eyes amidst the chatter. “How much did it increase?”
The system was very excited. “1 percentage point! This is a positive integer! We’ve never brushed out a positive integer before, host! This proves that General Yi Er has already developed substantial favor towards you! It’s not just a decimal point, it’s a natural number 1! A natural number 1!”
No kiss, no hug, just a few words, and they brushed out a whole number of favorability?
It’s not that difficult after all!
Qi Yao felt elated, feeling like he had mastered the knack of increasing favorability, full of confidence and high spirits, as if he could see the flag of HE waving in the distance, beckoning to him.