Chapter 49

Xu Qingran briefly met his gaze, then silently looked away. "Why did you come back?"

Seeing how he looked both guilty and utterly self-assured, Shen Tingyu gave an angry laugh.

He closed the door and said, "I was afraid that if I didn't come back, next time you'd take a shower right in my livestream."

"I wouldn't go that far," Xu Qingran replied, looking back at Shen Tingyu.

It seemed to be raining outside, and tiny droplets clung to his hair and the clothes on his shoulders. He paid them no mind, however, changing into slippers and walking over before holding out the large bag he'd been carrying since he came in. "Take it."

Xu Qingran took it in confusion and looked inside, only to discover a brand-new fifth-generation Asteroid.

"?"

"Why are you giving me this?"

Shen Tingyu wore a half-smile. "If I didn't buy you a new one, was I supposed to let you keep using mine?"

Xu Qingran fell silent.

His tone was a tiny, tiny bit gentler than it usually was when they met. "Then I'll transfer you the money. I heard this thing isn't cheap."

"No need," Shen Tingyu said. "The money the Shen Family gave me would last me several lifetimes."

Xu Qingran: "..."

He couldn't stand people who flaunted their wealth.

Shen Tingyu went upstairs after giving him the Asteroid. Xu Qingran hefted the bag in his hand and decided to ask Shen Tianyi for Shen Tingyu's bank account details when he got the chance. The Xu Family had "left" him plenty of money too, and it would be a waste not to spend it.

Xu Qingran returned to his room and put the bag down. Only after taking a shower, still warm and wreathed in steam, did he unpack the Asteroid Shen Tingyu had bought him and examine it.

The dim yellow light on the desk shone on the silvery-white sphere, lending it a touch of warmth. He'd only seen Shen Tianyi use it briefly that day. He knew how to start a livestream, but not how to handle the initial setup.

Xu Qingran fiddled with it for a while, then took it upstairs.

As expected, the light was still on in Shen Tingyu's study, and the door was ajar. He knocked, and the man inside, who had also just showered and whose hair was still half-dry, turned to look at him. "Is there something wrong with it?"

"No," Xu Qingran replied. "I just don't really know how to use it."

Shen Tingyu pulled the door open and was about to invite him in, but stopped as he stepped aside when he saw his bare hands. "Gloves," he reminded him.

Xu Qingran had forgotten about that again. He could only put the Asteroid in his arms and go downstairs to get his gloves. When he returned, Shen Tingyu had already taken the Asteroid out of its box and was setting it up at the desk, his gaze focused.

Xu Qingran put on his gloves and walked over. "You people are so fussy every single day."

"We're both men. It's really no big deal if we see each other's hands."

Shen Tingyu's movements paused for a moment, and he chuckled. "You'd be at a serious disadvantage that way."

Xu Qingran couldn't relate. After thinking it over, he said as if it were only natural, "If you're afraid I'll be at a disadvantage, then let me see yours too. Wouldn't that make us even?"

"..."

Shen Tingyu fell silent again, a trace of awkwardness even flickering across his face.

He didn't respond to Xu Qingran's absurd "equivalent exchange." Instead, he held out the metal sphere he had just set up. "Hold out your hand and register your personal soul information."

Xu Qingran followed his instructions, then registered a backup fingerprint and linked his health bracelet, among other things. Once Shen Tingyu had finished setting it up for him, he briefly taught him what touching each side of the metal sphere did and explained the preinstalled software.

He also helped him set up a livestream account while he was at it. It seemed he really was worried about what had happened that day happening again.

Xu Qingran asked him, "Then can I go on your livestream one more time and tell your fans I've made an account, so I can draw some traffic?"

Shen Tingyu laughed at that.

"No." With that, he handed the fully configured Asteroid back to Xu Qingran.

It was the answer Xu Qingran had expected, and he wasn't unhappy about it.

Before he left, Shen Tingyu also asked for his contact details on his communicator and phone, adding him everywhere he could. Fully prepared, he would be able to find him at the first opportunity the next time he caused trouble.

Xu Qingran hefted his new toy. For the first time, he found Shen Tingyu's good looks pleasing to the eye, and his eyes curved as he smiled. "Thank you."

It had to be said that when Xu Qingran smiled, his looks really were alluring and beautiful.

Shen Tingyu instinctively recalled his prank that day and asked, "Not putting on that voice anymore?"

Xu Qingran paused, his expression gradually turning disdainful. "So that's what you like, General?"

If he hadn't been trying to disgust those netizens that afternoon, he wouldn't have done something so silly.

Shen Tingyu chuckled and turned back to tidy up the empty box and packaging on the desk. "I don't, so in the future, you can stay somewhere else and use that voice for other people."

Xu Qingran caught his implication.

He nodded. "Don't worry. Even if you wanted to hear it, you wouldn't get a turn."

With that, he left, thoughtfully pulling the study door shut behind him.

Shen Tingyu let out a soft sigh.

It was strange. Whenever he and Xu Qingran met, they couldn't have a proper conversation, and every time they finished talking, he was left with the conflicting feeling of being both annoyed and satisfied.

He was increasingly certain there was something wrong with their original compatibility match.

This wasn't the kind of response two souls with 99% compatibility should have.

Shen Tingyu stayed at home for only one night before leaving again.

Shen Tianyi didn't even know he'd come back. Only when he saw Xu Qingran holding a new Asteroid did he hear the astonishing news from him.

Xu Qingran wasn't so bored that he needed to pick fights with netizens every day, so he didn't immediately livestream again. Instead, he spent more time using the Asteroid to log on to the Empire's official website and read its records of alien creatures that had invaded in the past, finding them fascinating.

A few days later, the Imperial news station officially announced major news to all the people of the Empire.

They had even arranged an exclusive interview for the occasion. The interviewee was a middle-aged man from the Shen Family, who also seemed to be the family's usual spokesperson for public statements.

Sitting on the sofa, Shen Tianyi pointed at the man on screen, whose hair was neatly combed back, and said, "That's my second uncle."