Big Orange was terrified, especially when she made eye contact with Lu Xunji; her heart was pounding wildly.
If it weren't for the calico scent in the room that made it feel more at ease, it might have been stressed by now.
Xie Ji was in an inexplicably good mood tonight and quickly forgave Lu Xunji for his frantic "comforting" behavior in the bathroom.
Lu Xunji himself was somewhat unhappy. Xie Ji was small in every way and easily got hurt, so much so that they hadn't reached the final step yet.
Before going to sleep, he applied medicine to Xie Ji's lips and then hugged and kissed him for a while.
Xie Ji nudged him. "Damn, you licked all the medicine off!"
"Reapply it." Lu Xunji took the ointment. "Sorry."
"Hmph." Xie Ji rolled his eyes. "Sorry now? You'll still hit me this hard next time. You really are... You need to control yourself, brother!"
Lu Xunji leaned down again and kissed him on the lips. "Are you used to it?"
Xie Ji glared at him. "What habit? What kind of habit?!"
Lu Xunji: "Anywhere is fine. I like the feeling of being enveloped by you; it's very comfortable."
Xie Ji: "..."
Xie Ji: "..."
Xie Ji: "..."
What are you talking about, bro!
In fact, ever since Lu Xunji said he liked him, he has rarely started with zero frames like this. Xie Ji had forgotten that he was actually a crazy guy who was obsessed with that kind of thing.
Xie Ji looked at him with utter despair. "Brother, I thought you had changed for the better."
Lu Xunji smiled softly and said, "I love you."
So what's the relationship between these two things?
"It's okay." Lu Xunji lowered her head and nuzzled his nose. "But I love you."
Xie Ji: "..."
Xie Ji turned and lay down. "I don't understand, what does that mean? I'm going to feed the chickens, cluck cluck."
"The moon is very round tonight," Lu Xunji, holding him close. "I love you."
Xie Ji's whole body turned red, and she buried her head in the pillow.
"I love you so much, so I feel content when you comfort me."
"Stop talking," Xie Ji hummed softly, "I really need to sleep. I have to get up at four tomorrow to cut pig feed!"
"Can you get used to it in the future? Get used to me, get used to my love."
Xie Ji: "I'm sorry, I'm illiterate, baba baba."
Lu Xunji nuzzled the back of his neck. "Do you know about the United Kingdom winter time?"
Xie Ji, in a fit of despair, retorted, "So what? London snow won't fall on my chicken coop."
" London winters are very cold, and it's hard to endure them alone."
Xie Ji: "I think you're just someone who doesn't know how to harvest corn."
The other party rejected your sentimental writing and continued farming.
Lu Xunji chuckled softly behind him and hummed a lullaby to him gently.
Xie Ji couldn't understand how someone could have such boundless energy. If it were Xie Ji himself, he would probably fall asleep the moment his head hit the pillow, humming a lullaby. If he kept humming like that, he'd have to switch to a repose lullaby.
"Can't you go to sleep?" Xie Ji turned around. "If you keep doing this, I'm going back to sleep."
Lu Xunji's glassy eyes stared intently at him, revealing a pleading and innocent look like that of a young animal.
Xie Ji: "..."
No, buddy.
Are you a movie star?
Can I talk to you? I want to hear your voice.
Xie Ji said warily, "You just did that today."
Lu Xunji took a voice recorder from the bedside table. "I just want to hear your voice to fall asleep, my Little Kitty Baby, be gentle with me."
Xie Ji's teeth ached from his persistent pestering. "What did I say?"
"Say you love me, it would be best if you could catch your breath a couple of times."
Xie Ji pointed at him and said, "Buddy, don't push your luck."
Lu Xunji: "Okay."
"..." Xie Ji thought for a long time, then covered the recorder and whispered, "Baby needs to sleep."
She paused, then sang a children's song off-key, before tossing the recorder to Lu Xunji: "Listen to your baby's lullaby, don't bother me."
Lu Xunji put the recorder under his pillow, and finally the noise stopped. He hugged Xie Ji and went to sleep peacefully.
Before going to sleep, Xie Ji checked the doors and windows. Having been a cat before, he naturally knew which places in the room were easy to escape from, so he checked them all carefully to make sure he hadn't missed any exits before he could finally go to sleep peacefully.
Big Orange originally planned to escape under the cover of darkness, but after searching all night, it found that not even a mosquito could fly out. Exhausted, it lay in the cardboard box and silently shed tears.
Boss, boss, where are you?! Come save me!!
The next morning, as soon as Xie Ji opened his eyes, Lu Xunji leaned over wanting a good morning kiss, but before he could get it, Xie Ji had already dashed off to check on Big Orange.
Lu Xunji narrowed his eyes, his gaze falling on Big Orange.
Big Orange: "..."
It desperately wanted to escape, but it couldn't.
Why is this human looking at it with such a threatening gaze?
It didn't do anything?!
I implore Heaven! Discern the loyal from the treacherous!
After confirming that Little Orange was in good condition, Xie Ji began to wash up.
They all had to go to class in the morning. Xie Ji went to his first-year individual combat training course, while Lu Xunji went to the mecha simulation training pod as usual.
So we'll talk about taking Big Orange to the hospital after they finish class tonight.
-
Before leaving, Xie Ji prepared delicious raw meat and bones for Big Orange.
The Big Orange tree held its chin high with great arrogance, resolutely refusing to accept handouts!
But after wandering around the room all night, I was really hungry. Not long after Xie Ji and the other person left, Big Orange started eating rice.
-
During the break, Mu Yao came to find Xie Ji.
It's been a long time since I've seen Mu Yao. He's in the same department as Little Jin Li, Mecha Design and Maintenance. The teaching buildings are quite far apart; it takes more than an hour to walk there by the school's sightseeing bus.
Mu Yao put a very nice pair of cufflinks on him.
The blue stone on the cuff was perfectly cut and shone brightly in the sunlight.
"Do you like it?" Mu Yao put the cufflinks on Xie Ji's school uniform sleeve. "I found this by chance in an abandoned mecha. The moment I saw it, I thought of our Little Ji Baby, so I used this energy core to polish this accessory overnight."
Xie Ji looked at the cufflinks. He seemed to have heard Little Jinli mention the energy core before. It was said to be something that was hundreds of times more expensive than diamonds, used to power mechs. A 3S-class military mech would only need one such energy stone to operate for a year.
"Damn, that's expensive." Xie Ji rubbed the cufflink, touching it with obvious affection, and whispered to Mu Yao, "So, what do you need my help with?"
Mu Yao clicked his tongue. "Can't I just give it to you because I think it looks nice?"
"So you're putting on an act with your brother now, huh?" Xie Ji glanced at him sideways. "If you need anything, just tell me. I can't help with big things, and I'm too lazy to help with small things, but remember, if you need anything, just tell me. It doesn't cost anything to talk to me."
Mu Yao: "..."
"Okay, actually there's still a small problem that I need your help with."
Xie Ji put the two cufflinks into his pocket. " A-Yao, please speak."
Mu Yao coughed and said, "It's like this, our department is having a party in a couple of days."
Xie Ji nodded. "Holding a party right after the start of the semester, your mecha repair department must have a lot of money."
"Never mind that, I haven't found a partner yet, so..."
Xie Ji pointed to himself. "Your mecha maintenance party, can a mecha soldier like me even attend?"
"If I were to appear as your dance partner..." Mu Yao's hands, which were behind his back, twitched slightly, and his Adam's apple bobbed nervously. "Is that alright?"
Xie Ji agreed without hesitation, "Sure, I don't have class tonight anyway."
Mu Yao returned home satisfied; the party was scheduled for 8 PM the next night.
Xie Ji thought about it and decided that he should tell Lu Xunji about attending the party in advance, since the party would last for quite a while, and it wasn't like going downstairs to throw out the trash.
Having spent a lot of time with Lu Xunji, Xie Ji could roughly understand what kind of person Lu Xunji was. The Princess Bro sensitive and pretentious, had a low sense of worthyness, and was prone to overthinking, which led to some bad habits.
For example, an almost pathological desire for control and possession.
Even if he didn't attend classes with Xie Ji, he would still hug Xie Ji and ask him about everything that happened at school that day when he got home in the evening.
He wants to know everything, from who you talked to a few extra words that day to how many times you went to the bathroom.
However, sometimes Xie Ji couldn't explain it clearly, but he wouldn't get angry. He would use his badge to access the school's administrative privileges and check the surveillance footage from that period.
If it weren't for a sliver of humanity holding him back, Xie Ji Lu Xunji have loved to put a dog leash on him.
He set a time reminder on his personal computer and then went back to class.
Before returning to his dorm that night, Xie Ji had mentally rehearsed countless times how to tell Lu Xunji that he had agreed to be Mu Yaoyao's dance partner at the party.
When they opened the dormitory door, they found that neither Lu Xunji nor Big Orange were home.
Big Orange was used to being a wanderer, so Xie Ji wasn't worried about what would happen if he ran away. It was just a bit strange that Lu Xunji wasn't home at this hour.
Xie Ji paced around the room, then sat on the sofa, still trying to figure out how to tell Lu Xunji about it. Half an hour later, the sound of the door being swiped open came from inside. Xie Ji turned around and saw Lu Xunji walking in carrying a cat carrier.
"You... you took Big Orange to the hospital?" Xie Ji stood up hurriedly. "When did you go?"
"This afternoon," Lu Xunji, walking in and placing the cat carrier on the table. "The training plan was completed ahead of schedule, so I came back to take it to the vet. The vet said it's in good health, around three years old, in its prime, perfect for a thrilling neutering surgery."
Xie Ji nodded. "That's good, it's alright... Ah?!"
A weak, trembling meow came from the cat carrier.
Xie Ji pounced on him, opened the cat carrier, and scooped up the Big Orange cat. " Big Orange, Big Orange, are you alright, Big Orange?!"
The Big Orange cat let out a mournful meow.
Xie Ji turned his head to brush the Big Orange's tail; the two small bells that had been hidden were gone, and the wound had been simply bandaged.
Xie Ji choked for a moment. "Why did you sterilize him?"
Lu Xunji said, "I've investigated this cat. In the past two years, he's been roaming around the school, causing all sorts of trouble and resulting in at least twenty-three female cats getting pregnant. These kittens won't live long after they're born. Besides, since you've decided to adopt him, if you don't spay or neuter him, he'll definitely run off."
Xie Ji glared at the Big Orange: "How could you have ruined so many female cats? But even so, you can't..."
Lu Xunji stood quietly to the side, sipping his tea, and concluded earnestly, "I'm doing this for his own good."
"..." Xie Ji belatedly realized, "Is it really not about settling a personal score?"
Lu Xunji raised an eyebrow. He was always frank with Xie Ji: "Just a little bit."
Xie Ji took a step back while holding the Big Orange, and swallowed hard.
This guy is a real jealous king.
Big Orange is just a small, pitiful but gluttonous male cat!
What did it do wrong?!
Now, the little male cat has become a little grandfather.
What was originally a welcome back to the young master has now turned into a welcome back to the palace by Eunuch Ju.
Perhaps because the anesthesia hadn't worn off yet, Big Orange lay in Xie Ji's arms with a look of utter despair, a single kitten tear falling from its eye.
From that moment on, he was no longer the domineering Big Orange he once was; he had lost the most important thing a male cat could have!
Lu Xunji's deep purple eyes swept over Big Orange, finally landing on Xie Ji's face. He narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, I took him to have the sterilization surgery without consulting you. Will you blame me?"
Xie Ji swallowed hard. "No, no way, how could that be? Hehe, you're absolutely right. It's a blessing for Big Orange to have you."
Big Orange: "Meow meow meow!"
This is a blessing for you, do you want it?!
Xie Ji coaxed Little Orange back to her room without mentioning the party to Lu Xunji at all.
He was afraid that Lu Xunji might kill him in a fit of anger.
He has to figure out a way to cover it up!
After he finished showering that evening, he saw Lu Xunji sitting on the swing in the rooftop garden making a phone call. When Xie Ji approached, Lu quickly hung up.
"Um, I wanted to talk to you about something." Xie Ji, still wearing his cow-print pajamas, stood in front of Lu Xunji, his eyes darting around quickly. "I have something to do tomorrow night, so I might be back a little late. You don't need to cook my portion when you cook dinner tonight."
Lu Xunji paused for a moment, then gently asked, "Can you tell me what it is? Where are you going? How long will you be gone? Can I pick you up after you're done?"
"No, no need, it's just a small matter." Xie Ji licked his lower lip and said, "Don't worry, I'll definitely be back before midnight."
Lu Xunji was silent for two minutes. "Could it be a little earlier? I want to see you sooner tomorrow."
"I'll try my best." Xie Ji scratched his head. "Anyway, don't wait for me, and don't save me any food."
Lu Xunji guessed a bit. "Are you going out with friends?"
Xie Ji nodded. "Well, I guess so."
"..." Lu Xunji didn't speak immediately, and after a long while, he finally said, "I respect your freedom to make friends, but Xie Ji, are you able to maintain a proper sense of propriety?"
Xie Ji was taken aback, not understanding. "What sense of propriety?"
We're all good buddies, why should we need to maintain any boundaries?
"For you, I hold a different kind of respect than others, given our very special relationship," Lu Xunji said. "While I don't want you to hide anything from me, having secrets is your right. I won't control your friendships, but I hope you'll be completely honest with me. Is that alright?"