Wanderer of the Zerg

Chapter 18: The Chill of Autumn

The autumn wind blew, making the trunks of the plane trees lining the road appear mottled. Only a few leaves remained on the branches, shivering before finally succumbing to the force of the wind, detaching, and spiraling to the ground.

On his way home, Ellis made a detour to the pastry shop Xi Tian had mentioned in passing that morning.

This pastry shop had recently opened and had garnered excellent reviews on the food forums. After Xi Tian saw it, he mentioned it a few times.

Under the warm yellow light, an array of colorful, exquisitely crafted pastries was neatly displayed in the transparent glass cabinet. There were sugar-coated pastries as yellow as flower petals, doughnuts sprinkled with white icing sugar, Black Forest cakes with chocolate shavings, and golden cakes with shimmering gold leaf. The sight was dazzling.

Even though Ellis didn’t like sweet food, the enticing colors aroused his appetite.

Ellis browsed around and finally chose a selection of delicate, soft glutinous rice balls in a combination of colors: creamy white, pale green, goose yellow, tender pink, rose red, and grass green. The sub-female shop assistant packed them into a square gift box, tied it with a red ribbon, and placed it in a paper bag before handing it to Ellis.

Walking along the road, Ellis imagined Xi Tian’s reaction upon seeing the pastries and smiled slightly.

If someone had told him a month ago that he would be joyfully entering marriage with a male, Ellis would probably have sneered.

From a young age, females were warned by adults to be considerate of males and protect them. Many females indeed acted this way, but some developed rebellious thoughts. Ellis was one of the latter.

As an orphan raised by the government, Ellis had spent twenty years witnessing that many job positions in society were held by females and sub-females, while males only appeared in government news or gossip magazines. This made it difficult for him to feel any affinity for the male group he hardly ever interacted with.

Ellis had an ordinary resume and a face that was considered above average among females, with a touch of delicacy in his features, making him the type that males favored at the time. This was one of the reasons he was often chosen in local matchmaking events. But with his dislike for males and his poor attitude toward the pampered males, he was labeled a “weirdo” by the frustrated males, with some even dedicating posts to rant about him. Angie used to enjoy munching on seeds while vividly reading out each of his “crimes.”

Unlike those who grew up listening to love stories and looking forward to marriage and children, Ellis never saw the allure of marriage. What was so bad about being single?

Encountering his current male partner, changes unknowingly began to occur.

Ellis was astonished by the male’s appearance, thrown off guard by his plans, and touched by his innocence. The male’s unexpected actions one after another completely captured his heart.

Such a male was rare, difficult to come by; no one could resist him.

A male like this, if he were to walk in front of everyone, would undoubtedly attract everyone’s attention and draw the gaze of more outstanding females.

Thinking of this, Ellis’s thoughts grew slightly heavy.

He remembered his struggles with the home science course in university.

At the time, he resisted vehemently against the content of the course, which advocated for being humble and submissive.

Disgusted to the extreme, he tore up textbooks, refused to submit assignments, and filled out exam papers haphazardly. Fortunately, this course was not mandatory in military school curriculum, and the teachers were lenient when grading, so they let him pass.

Now, the memories of his indignation had faded. Privately, he found his old textbooks and started to review the knowledge about females that he had missed out on over the years.

He didn’t want to miss his male partner. As long as there was a chance, he would hold on tightly.

After parking the aircraft, Ellis carried the pastries and looked towards the house, uttering a sound of surprise.

It was only two in the afternoon, with ample sunlight. Why were the windows tightly covered by curtains?

There were two layers of curtains in the house. The inner layer next to the window was a silver blackout curtain, and the outer layer was a normal light yellow linen curtain.

Right now, the reflection on the glass indicated the blackout curtain was down.

What could have happened at home that required the blackout curtain to be pulled down?

Ellis remembered how his partner would carefully draw the blackout curtains whenever they played around in the house during daytime. His face first flushed, then turned pale.

Ellis entered the foyer by unlocking it with his fingerprint.

Looking from the foyer into the living room, it was dimly lit.

Ellis set down the pastries, kicked off his shoes, and walked barefoot inside.

In the center of the living room was an opened box scattered with obvious adult toys; two of them were removed from their packaging. Next to the box was a book, the same one Ellis had seen his partner reading earlier that morning.

Suddenly, a low sigh came from the bedroom, unusually distinct in the quiet air.

Listening carefully, it came from the study.

The voice was soft, sultry, like that of a female.

The voice continued from inside:

“… Master, spare me.”

“You, spare me, please…”

The male chuckled softly, a pleasure evident in his laughter.

“I can’t hold on much longer. Your female partner is coming back soon…”

The sound of kissing followed.

Ellis approached the study, three steps away from the door, unable to move forward.

His body felt as if it had been drained of its skeleton, collapsing weakly in place.

Winter seemed to have descended upon him prematurely, his body filled with ice and snow, his palms cold and clammy.

In the study, by the bookshelf, was the first place they had made love after moving in.

The books on the shelf were ones he had painstakingly unpacked and arranged.

Not just the study, every part of this home had been meticulously cleaned by him over time.

Why, why did his partner have to be with someone else at home, in the study, in their first place of intimacy?

In his mind, a voice echoed: a male could do this. They were free to be with whoever they liked. It was perfectly natural.

But still, why?

Ellis couldn’t accept this “natural order” reasoning.

Just a door away, the voices inside gradually faded, replaced by giggles from the female.

He clung to his partner, whispering softly, “Master, you will marry me, won’t you? I’m much better than those stiff females, aren’t I?”

The male seemed to reply, and the female’s laughter chimed like silver bells.

A deep anger surged within Ellis. His throat felt choked up, his heart pounding rapidly in his chest.

In his mind, he pictured the rifle he had in the military, now empty in his hands, as if he were holding it with his thumb and forefinger, aiming at the study door, targeting the unknown face of that female.

But would that scare his partner?

Suddenly, Ellis hated himself for even considering it. He needed to consider his partner’s feelings.

Why should females only marry one male?

Why can males marry multiple females?

Why must females bow down, unable to betray or rebel?

Why can males be so high and mighty, freely choosing?

Why, why, why!

In the study, the voice of the female started softly again.

Ellis gestured the “gun” towards his temple, then lowered his hand.

Suddenly, Ellis felt the urge to escape.

He struggled to his feet, stumbling towards the foyer, accidentally knocking over the box of pastries in his haste.

He didn’t bother to pick them up, hastily slipped on his shoes, and rushed out the door.

Outside, in late autumn, the sun was high, the autumn wind chilly.

None of this compared to the chill in his chest.

He had left his coat inside, but he had no strength left to go back for it.

He wandered aimlessly until he came upon a supermarket. He walked in and asked the cashier for a pack of cigarettes.

As he lit one, the smoke eased his anxiety somewhat, though the cigarette in his trembling fingers still shook.

The cashier, a middle-aged female, sat heavily in his overburdened chair, creaking with every movement. He smiled with his fat cheeks squeezing together, eyes hidden.

“Little brother, what’s wrong? From the looks of it, did you have a quarrel with your male partner and get kicked out?”

“…Master, it seems there’s someone else,” Ellis blurted out, desperate for someone to confide in.

“Ah, you know, males are just born that way. Us females, we gotta bear with it, give way a bit, and everything will blow over,” the cashier continued to smile.

“Even if… even if the male is looking for someone else, we should just tolerate it?” Ellis raised an eyebrow, taking a deep drag on his cigarette, exhaling a long puff of smoke.

“Which male isn’t fickle? They can’t control themselves below the waist. We females just need to keep an eye out and throw in some obstacles when we sense trouble brewing. That’s how things go in relationships, right? Who wants to take it so seriously…” The cashier spoke as if he were a caring neighborhood committee member.

Signs, signs.

Suddenly, Ellis remembered something. He stubbed out the cigarette, pulled out a few bills from his pocket without counting them, and hurried back home.

In the background, the cashier’s relieved voice could be faintly heard: “That’s right, what hurdles can’t couples overcome…”

The sunlight was warm, the autumn breeze cool.

His rationality finally returned.

His master was not a hasty person; upon entering, a quick glance at the foyer revealed no third person’s shoes.

Even if his master was really seeking someone, there would have been signs beforehand.

Most importantly, he didn’t even push the door open to take a look.

Ellis started with brisk steps, finding them too slow.

He sped up, but it still felt slow.

Finally, he simply jogged all the way.

Entering, he was breathless, a thin layer of sweat on his forehead.

He hurriedly picked up the dropped pastry box, the coquettish voice of the female still lingering in the room.

This time, he walked straight to the study, hesitated for no moment, and pushed the door open.

Inside the study, there was no imagined female. His master was asleep at the desk, arms pillowed, deeply asleep.

On the desk side, the family terminal screen was playing an indescribable activity of two zerg.

At that moment, it happened to be playing the part Ellis had heard last time.

…

Ellis really wanted to shoot himself in the temple this time. Was his brain fed to the dogs?

It was clearly just about pushing the door open for a peek, but he had let his mind wander, embellishing and directing a drama in his own head.

Ellis sighed, wiped his forehead with a handkerchief, the sweat in his palm.

He paused the small film on the screen, squatted down, and patted the master’s shoulder.

“Ellis, you’re back.”

Xi Tian was still half-asleep, his eyes sleepy.

“Master, do you want to go back to bed?”

Xi Tian waved his hand, turned his head still resting on his arms, apparently intending to continue sleeping.

“Master, I apologize.”

Ellis whispered softly, lifted Xi Tian and headed towards the bedroom.

Feeling a cold breeze, Xi Tian couldn’t help but hold the neck of the female.

The breath against the female’s skin fluctuated, with a familiar tobacco scent.

“Smoking?”

“Yes, I smoked half a cigarette at the gathering.” Ellis laid Xi Tian down on the bed and pulled the blanket over him.

“Oh.”

Xi Tian was still a bit groggy, not really pondering the truthfulness of this statement.

He grabbed Ellis, who was about to turn away, and said, “Come up and sleep with me for a while.”

“I’ll change my clothes, they’re dusty.”

“I want to hold you to sleep, stay with me!”

“Okay.”

Without further ado, Ellis stripped off his clothes soaked in autumn wind and slipped into bed, embraced by Xi Tian’s warm body.

Perhaps because today was too exhausting, or maybe because the room was too dim, before long, the two drifted into a deep slumber.