Wanderer of the Zerg

Chapter 43: Getting Drunk

Stars twinkled in the sky, and the night breeze was slightly cool.

After finishing the barbecue, the sleepy children started nodding off, and the parents with kids began to say their goodbyes. Those who remained played games, drank, ate, and filled the air with laughter.

Xi Tian rarely drank alcohol because he disliked anything that made him lose control. But today, he was so happy that he drank the high-alcohol-content drinks brought out by the host after the wine ran out. One glass after another, he became tipsy.

Drunk, Xi Tian couldn’t stop smiling. He smiled at everyone he saw, unknowingly attracting attention. He felt great, thinking he was clear-headed, though his steps were unsteady. When he tried to stand up, he staggered, and it was only with Ellis’s help that he stayed upright, clinging tightly to him.

When they finally bid farewell to the host, Xi Tian, feeling hot from all the fun, unbuttoned his coat while Ellis, wearing a thin shirt, rolled down his sleeves and held onto Xi Tian firmly.

The road home was lit by old-fashioned street lamps from over twenty years ago, their light blindingly white and hard to look at directly.

Xi Tian hummed a tune, pulling Ellis in the opposite direction he was supposed to go. Their hands stretched apart, then Ellis pulled him back. This back-and-forth continued, with Ellis not letting go, and Xi Tian smiling, not caring.

Xi Tian’s unsteady steps almost caused him to fall several times, but his good mood remained unaffected. He hummed a tune in a dialect Ellis couldn’t understand, soft and melodious. Before learning Xi Tian was born in the south, Ellis had assumed he grew up in the capital because his standard Mandarin was flawless.

Once again, Ellis pulled Xi Tian back too forcefully, causing Xi Tian to fall against him. Quickly turning around, Xi Tian placed a hand on Ellis’s shoulder, his eyes sparkling with reflected light. He tilted his head, smiled, muttered something, then ran off, leaving Ellis bemused with laughter trailing behind him.

When they reached home, Xi Tian pressed the door lock multiple times without it opening. Frustrated, he banged on the door, claiming it was broken. Ellis, catching up, found it amusing since the home’s door had a fingerprint lock, while this one required a key.

The clock’s hands moved steadily as Ellis made some sobering soup. When he brought it to Xi Tian, he found him asleep on the sofa, arm covering his eyes as if shielding them from light. Ellis had already removed Xi Tian’s coat, hanging it up, and gently woke him to drink the soup before helping him to bed.

In the daytime, parents sent their kids to school in the small town. Those who had jobs went to work, and those who didn’t stayed home.

When Xi Tian woke up, his head ached dully. Unlike the sharp pain he had felt before, it now just felt heavy. He realized that it was better for him not to drink alcohol again. Struggling to check the time, he saw that he had slept in and sighed, pulling the covers over his head, pretending he hadn’t noticed.

Unlike the previous day, Ellis was still sleeping beside him.

Ellis maintained his usual routine of staying up until his eyes couldn’t stay open anymore. Back home, Xi Tian knew he spent his nights surfing forums, but here, the slow internet made that difficult. Ellis’s personal terminal was always on his left wrist, within Xi Tian’s reach. Ellis’s terminal was always open to Xi Tian, but he never felt a strong urge to invade Ellis’s privacy.

Sighing, Xi Tian rubbed his head. Laziness could be repetitive, and if this continued, his good habits of the past few years would be ruined, which was quite troubling.

Xi Tian woke Ellis up. Half-asleep, Ellis mumbled a good morning and tried to go back to sleep. But Xi Tian wouldn’t allow it. Feeling a bit mischievous, he thought it unfair that he had to wake up early while Ellis got to sleep in. He chose to ignore the fact that Ellis went to bed later than he did, unwilling to admit he was projecting his dissatisfaction onto Ellis.

He pulled the covers off Ellis, who, when groggy, always believed that sleep was paramount. Unconsciously, Ellis resisted Xi Tian’s attempts to wake him. Xi Tian grabbed Ellis’s pajama collar and pulled him up. Annoyed by the cold, Ellis grumbled, eyes half-closed. In his sleepy state, Ellis’s strong arms overpowered the weaker Xi Tian, pinning him down.

Though Xi Tian could have fought back, it was just playful tussling between partners. Ellis, with his head buried in Xi Tian’s neck, mumbled, “Be good, don’t fuss, let me sleep.”

Xi Tian couldn’t help but laugh, not really angry. Soon, Ellis fell back asleep in that position, with the blanket on the floor.

Despite everything, Ellis could still fall asleep, and Xi Tian had to admire him for that.

Feeling drowsy after their playful struggle, Xi Tian pushed Ellis to the side, picked up the blanket, and covered them both again. Accepting that the day was already a write-off from the moment he woke up, he decided to go back to sleep.

Ellis woke up feeling refreshed. Despite his habit of staying up late for nearly ten years, his body didn’t seem weaker than his peers’. He always attributed this to his relatively sufficient sleep. However, he couldn’t understand why he could easily be awakened before falling asleep but was as solid as a rock in the morning.

Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, he realized the situation was bad. It was already close to noon, and he could even hear the bell signaling the nearby elementary school’s lunch break.

Ellis had already gotten up, but his thoughts were still focused on the local customs he had researched the previous night.

This was really bad. He had slept in so late and now felt a twinge of anxiety.

Outside, the doorbell rang with a delivery. He hurriedly threw on clothes and slippers and ran out, only to see Xi Tian already accepting the package. Despite Boulder’s limited mechanical capabilities, many tasks still relied on traditional manpower.

Xi Tian smiled and bid farewell to the deliveryman. The deliveryman was wearing a yellow work uniform and a duckbill hat. When he lifted his face again, Ellis saw the surprise on his face—it was the same person who had gotten completely drunk at the party last night.

Ellis felt a wave of embarrassment, his face burning. Xi Tian glanced at him but said nothing, taking the package inside. Ellis couldn’t grasp Xi Tian’s intentions and felt somewhat anxious. In fact, he wasn’t like two months ago, constantly trying to please Xi Tian with textbook techniques and always worrying about breaking the rules.

He was uneasy and a bit scared but still felt compelled to ask Xi Tian for clarification.

When he awkwardly brought up sleeping in late, Xi Tian sat in his chair with a cold expression, staring at him without saying a word. Ellis stood there, feeling like a servant, crestfallen and unsure what to do.

He truly didn’t know where he had gone wrong, as Xi Tian had always been clear with him before. Now that Xi Tian wasn’t speaking, Ellis was at a loss for words, and the atmosphere remained tense with no clear resolution in sight.

Xi Tian’s eyes grew weary from glaring, finally sighing and saying, “Can’t you just soften up and ask me sweetly what happened?”

Ellis’s mind was a mess. After all, in the past, he had always explained things to Xi Tian, only asking questions in line with Xi Tian’s words, but he had never actively sought out information from Xi Tian.

Nervously, Ellis glanced at Xi Tian, blurting out, “Should I kneel down and apologize?”

Xi Tian couldn’t hold back any longer. Naturally a cheerful person, he hadn’t been this serious in ages, not even one percent of the time he spent smiling.

Standing up, he rolled up the newspaper next to him into a tube and tapped Ellis on the head. “Aren’t we doing fine? Why would you come up with such a foolish idea?” Ellis quickly nodded, acknowledging his mistake.

This time, he finally took the initiative to ask Xi Tian a question: “Why was Lord male angry?”

Xi Tian’s smile faded, giving Ellis another stern look. It was hard to say, perhaps because you pressed me down in bed this morning and wouldn’t let me get up?

However, this little episode quickly passed.

As Ellis rushed to cook, Xi Tian told him not to hurry and made porridge instead. As Ellis was surprised, he couldn’t help but worry. Lord male’s cooking skills were really not that proficient, and last night, even when drunk, he remembered asking Ellis how to cook.

Thinking back to last night, Ellis asked, “Does Lord male remember what happened after getting drunk last night?”

Xi Tian shook his head and said, “I can’t remember.”

As he scooped porridge into a bowl and handed it to Ellis, he cautioned, “I didn’t add sugar.”

The porridge was made from mixed grains, clearly a concoction male made casually according to his mood, with less water resulting in a thick consistency.

Ellis felt a bit frustrated. Cooking was clearly his responsibility, but Xi Tian took over as if he were being irresponsible.

“I tried it. The porridge is still edible, but I didn’t quite get the water proportion right. I’ll adjust it next time.”

“Oh, okay,” Ellis replied.

“Why so indifferent? You’re not still mad at me for being cold earlier, are you? I wasn’t angry with you. Are you angry with me?”

“No,” Ellis sighed, “I just feel incompetent.”

“In what way do you feel incompetent?” Xi Tian prompted.

“This shouldn’t have been male lord’s job,” Ellis still believed his previous cooking attempt had just been a whim and didn’t expect it to be taken seriously.

“Some tasks aren’t necessarily meant for one person or another. If I feel like doing it, I’ll do it. This has nothing to do with you. Just like last time at mealtime when you apologized to me for forgetting to order soup, these small matters aren’t worth spending energy on. They can be easily rectified.”

Xi Tian smiled at him. “Go ahead, taste it. How does it taste?”

In those eyes, from beginning to end, there was only him.