Wanderer of the Zerg

Chapter 8: Preparation

When Ellis wasn’t assigned tasks by the military, he would visit Xi Tian’s home.

The apartment was a standard one-bedroom unit with a small balcony and a shower-only bathroom.

The room was simply furnished, with a soft brown sofa on a rug in the center of the living room and a low coffee table in front of it.

The bedroom had a large bed facing the door, with a desk and a chair beside it.

Ellis’s presence made the single-person room seem crowded.

Xi Tian’s home wasn’t exactly messy, but paper boxes were scattered all over. The balcony was filled with them on both sides, leaving only a window in the middle to let in light.

Xi Tian had to reorganize these scattered boxes. Ellis wanted to help, but as soon as he picked up a box by his feet, he found it unusually heavy. Xi Tian, looking nervous, quickly put down his box and said, “You take that one; I’ll handle this one.”

Ellis had initially thought these were just random items and hadn’t paid much attention, but Xi Tian’s reaction made him curious about what was inside.

He lightly shook the box he was holding, hearing a rustling sound from within. It was quite heavy.

“What’s in these boxes?” Ellis asked.

Xi Tian moved the box to a shaded corner of the balcony and, hearing Ellis’s question, took out a folding knife to open the one by his side. Ellis peered inside and saw rows of paper books.

Ellis gestured to the pile that nearly reached the ceiling, “Are all of these books?”

Xi Tian nodded.

It was hard to believe!

In a modern era where text had been digitized for years, many books could be viewed through terminals connected to smart systems. Even the most conservative government offices had adopted paperless environments. Printed materials, without music, dynamic pictures, or varied content, had fallen out of favor due to their high cost. For the same price as a certain number of books, one could buy an e-ink display that could be used for years. Besides those who were passionate about paper books, such a large collection was rare. Even Ellis himself had a classic e-ink reader, said to rival paper in text display quality. But it had been gathering dust on his bookshelf for so long he couldn’t remember.

Xi Tian took a call and went to pick up a food delivery.

Taking advantage of this moment, Ellis moved closer to examine the book spines.

There were titles like *Cognition and Behavior*, *The Evolution of Desire*, the renowned philosophical work *The Ideal State*, Freud’s *XXX*, and several foreign titles he couldn’t recognize.

Xi Tian returned with the food delivery and saw Ellis looking at the books. He handed Ellis a portion from the packaging. “What are you looking at? If you don’t eat now, you’ll miss out.”

“So many books. Some of these I’ve never even heard of.”

“I had been watching the online bookstore. Last week was the Navigator Festival, and the entire site was 50% off, with random free orders.

In a moment of impulsiveness, I cleared my shopping cart and ended up with these three boxes.” Xi Tian smiled wryly. “Because of them, I can hardly afford to eat.”

Ellis thought he was joking and didn’t take it seriously. “I wasn’t sure what was in the first box I picked up. It didn’t seem like books—it was very heavy, like some kind of machine.”

Xi Tian put down what he was holding, smiled, and pulled Ellis to the balcony, towards that box. Ellis was still holding his chopsticks.

With a hint of pride in his voice, Xi Tian pointed to the square machine inside. “I had this ordered from Earth through an agent. Printed books are particularly popular on Earth, and there are many small home printers available. I researched a lot before buying this one. Although Zerg Star and Earth are sister planets, home terminals here don’t support printers, so I had to buy a personal computer from them as well.”

“…” Ellis didn’t know how to respond, but he sincerely praised, “That’s impressive!”

Now he finally understood where the money went for Xi Tian, who wasn’t picky about clothing or food.

The home terminal was set up in the bedroom. For convenience, Xi Tian had Ellis sit on the bed while he sat on the chair at the desk. He skillfully navigated the home terminal with quick gestures and consulted Ellis for his opinion in a collaborative tone.

The home terminal was similar to a personal computer on Earth, more powerful than a personal wrist terminal and about the size of an adult’s palm. Unlike the delicate projection range of personal terminals, home terminals could project larger areas with clearer images and higher color saturation. However, due to their intricate internal structure, they were more fragile, making them popular in ordinary households.

Xi Tian, sitting on a strangely designed chair, operated the terminal with swift hand gestures, the brilliant light and shadows from the terminal complementing his presence.

This male was really going to become his partner.

Ellis drifted into a daydream.

A few days ago, they sat in the same positions, with Xi Tian showing him a floating projection of various rings, asking which one he liked best.

Now, Ellis was wearing that very ring on his left hand. The surface was smooth and white, engraved with unknown plant patterns. Inside, their initials were etched together.

Though the engagement between an adult male and female had no legal standing, they still signed an engagement agreement. It seemed a bit childish, including clauses like: during the engagement, neither party could marry someone outside the contract.

Nevertheless, they had the agreement notarized, and Ellis still felt sweet recalling the surprised and envious expression of the notary.

While Ellis daydreamed, Xi Tian had already made the decision about the house.

“The area should be one I’m familiar with, close enough to the city center for convenient transportation, but not in a commercial zone. It should also be away from schools and hospitals.”

A 2D map of the new district unfolded in the air, with yellow dots representing available properties. Xi Tian swiped his finger, eliminating the central area.

“It needs to be close to his unit so he doesn’t waste too much time on the road every day.”

He eliminated a large portion of the area to the left.

“We haven’t considered the layout yet. I prefer a two-story house with plenty of sunlight, a garden, and a quiet environment.”

Filtering by these conditions, many yellow dots disappeared.

Finally, he circled the area where the remaining yellow dots were most concentrated.

Ellis snapped back to reality: What happened? The house was already chosen, and the surrounding environment was excellent.

He was accustomed to Xi Tian’s fast thinking speed, unless Xi Tian deliberately paused to ask for his input. In fact, Xi Tian made decisions on his own.

Ellis didn’t have to worry about anything, which allowed him to focus more on watching this male.

If Xi Tian had chosen a different female instead of him, would the male still do all these things?

The sudden question surprised Ellis. He tried to imagine all the things that had happened recently happening to another unknown female.

He concluded, “Yes, he would.”

No matter who Xi Tian chose, he would still provide all these pre-marriage preparations to his partner.

It wasn’t because Ellis was special, but because Xi Tian wanted to do these things.

Ellis felt a bit disheartened.

But he quickly adjusted himself.

Now, this male was his.