Wanderer of the Zerg

Chapter 22: The Package

Xi Tian sat at his desk all morning. He barely managed to get through twenty pages of his book, boiled water twice, and drank four cups of coffee.

Aside from feeling a bit more anxious, nothing was out of the ordinary.

He habitually checked the time, but his right wrist was bare; he had left his terminal in the living room.

The message he sent to Ellis remained unanswered. Checking the terminal frequently disrupted his thoughts, so he had removed it.

It had only been a little over a month, and he already found himself constantly thinking about someone.

This change happened too quickly.

To Xi Tian, Ellis was a special presence. He remembered being deeply impressed by Ellis on the day they met for their blind date.

Usually, if he couldn’t see the same face again within three to seven days, Xi Tian couldn’t remember the person. The more people he had to identify, the harder it became to recall them.

But he remembered Ellis on the first day and could easily recall his face in later memories.

Xi Tian was someone who followed his instincts. If a blind date didn’t give him any particular feeling, he would never hastily agree to marriage.

He didn’t consider himself a good person, but he wasn’t a bad person either.

Making a hasty decision and letting down an innocent person was something Xi Tian couldn’t do.

Xi Tian stood up and walked to the kitchen. Opening the fridge, he saw that there were only a few pieces of meat and vegetables.

Once he started cooking, there was no turning back.

Living a homebody life, Xi Tian had never thought about cooking. Ellis, on the other hand, couldn’t stay idle and had bought a bunch of cookbooks from the e-book store. He even subscribed to a cooking channel and eagerly cooked every day. Initially, Xi Tian participated, but after a few times, he lost interest and retreated to his own space.

Ellis’s enthusiasm, however, only extended to making lunch every day. Breakfast was brought home by Xi Tian after his morning exercise, and they usually ordered takeout for dinner.

Ellis wasn’t a great cook, but Xi Tian wasn’t picky. As long as the food was lightly seasoned, he was fine with it. Occasionally, when Ellis messed up lunch, they both made do with a can of food.

Xi Tian went to the living room, picked up the terminal from the sofa, and dialed a takeout number.

He opened the message interface and saw a message from “Ellis.”

Xi Tian’s gaze darkened, and his feelings grew complex.

When a person’s heart starts to revolve around someone else because of longing, does it mean they are gradually losing themselves?

When a person starts to change for someone else, will they lose their past characteristics? Will they still be themselves?

Xi Tian pondered this but still opened the message with his finger.

Ellis first apologized and then explained the reason. According to previous battles between the two stars, the duration ranged from one month to a maximum of two months. The message ended with a voice clip. Upon opening it, Xi Tian heard a slightly deep voice with a hint of unease asking if they could postpone the wedding until he returned.

The cloud of worry instantly dissipated, and Xi Tian laughed out loud.

He replied: I’ll wait for you, no matter how long it takes.

Love comes unexpectedly, and before the person is ready, they willingly step into its whirlpool.

A whistle sounded outside; it was the delivery drone.

Xi Tian, who hadn’t shopped recently, had planned to look at home goods in the coming days, but the sudden separation delayed everything.

Opening the door, he saw a large and a small package stacked at the entrance.

Bringing the packages inside, Xi Tian looked at the sender’s names. The large package was from his mentor, and the small one was from Liang An.

Without even thinking, Xi Tian knew the large package contained the books his mentor had mentioned earlier.

As for Liang An, this guy, who had been out of touch for a month, always sent gifts that brought unexpected surprises.

Xi Tian opened the small package and found a pile of brightly wrapped items.

Some were square with a protruding circular ring in the middle, others were long with an elliptical protrusion, and they were flexible. They were roughly the size of the terminal’s physical display screen.

They looked strange, and Xi Tian couldn’t figure them out.

He tore open one of the packages, and unprepared, he was splashed with an oily liquid from inside. A collar-like object fell to the ground, bounced twice with good elasticity, and rolled, leaving oil stains on the floor.

Xi Tian was extremely annoyed. He rushed to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and frantically washed his hands under the water. Angrily, he dialed Liang An’s contact number.

It only rang twice before it was answered.

On the screen, a young man with black hair appeared, sitting on a sofa, holding a wine glass.

“Long time no see. You look quite the mess now,” Liang An chuckled. “I’m surprised you’re not calmly reading your brick-thick books.”

“Speak properly! Stop being so pretentious,” Xi Tian frowned. “What’s with the package you sent? It’s dirty inside.”

“Well, I went back to Earth, and I’m still not quite adjusted to being back on Zerg Star,” Liang An coughed lightly. “Looks like you opened the package. I brought that back for you from Earth; you won’t find it on Zerg Star.”

Liang An and Xi Tian were both pure-blood male zergs. If there was any difference, it was that Liang An spent half his time growing up on Earth before university, frequently visiting Earth.

It was Liang An who introduced Xi Tian to the expensive hobby of collecting paper books.

“I did open it, but there’s something inside, all greasy and dirty.”

Xi Tian complained, looking disgusted. He accepted the file Liang An sent over.

“There’s no Smart Brain network coverage where I stayed on Earth, and I couldn’t receive any terminal messages. I only saw your wedding announcement after returning.”

Xi Tian opened the file, which was a product manual, and blushed instantly.

“……”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you blush. That’s rare,” Liang An sighed. “Back in university, you said you didn’t want kids too early. What I sent you is for that purpose.”

“You mean that little thing is for contraception?!”

“Yeah, the title on the manual says ‘condom’.”

“It’s so small, how do you… oh, I see. The manual explains how to use it.” Xi Tian suddenly understood but then felt conflicted. “Why is it so oily? It’s really dirty!”

“Ahem, I’m not the seller. How would I know?”

“What’s the success rate of this thing?”

“If you follow the instructions properly, you can enjoy yourself as long as you want.”

“Ugh, it’s disposable, right? So you use one and throw it away?”

“Right, there are no reusable ones. You can find these things all over supermarkets and stores on Earth.”

“Oh my gosh, Earth must be so chaotic,” Xi Tian muttered.

“…I can hear you. Earth is not chaotic! Not chaotic!!” Liang An sighed, rubbing his forehead. “People here often don’t get married, they have free unions and enjoy sexual love. Their sexual relationships are much more open than on Zerg Star. There are plenty of people like you who don’t want kids.”

“Sounds like a good place.” Hearing the exasperated sigh from the other end, Xi Tian quickly corrected himself.

“Actually, honestly, you should come to Earth and see for yourself. Aren’t you tired of staying in the same place all the time?”

“Siming is quite nice. I don’t have any plans for traveling yet.”

“Then why do you read so many travel notes? You know more than the guides. Not going out is such a waste.”

“I just like it,” Xi Tian said calmly.

“Fine, fine. You always get like this when I bring up traveling outside the star. I won’t persuade you anymore. The package I sent has different brands of single items. Try them out. If you like any, you can stock up.” Liang An said, “I just got home. Need to catch up on sleep. Talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

Xi Tian returned to the living room and carefully read the instructions while examining the items in the small package.

The instructions were tailored for off-world customers, detailing the usage steps, methods, and precautions in great detail.

At the bottom, it mentioned they could be used as novelty items.

Xi Tian inspected the special-purpose items in his hand. Some novel ideas began to form, just waiting for Ellis to return so they could experiment with them.

Thousands of miles away, Ellis, who was eating, suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

Maybe he was missing his master too much, he thought, shaking his head as he continued his lunch.