APUTFFZG Chapter 12

Translator: Deyonna

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Raising a female zerg hadn't changed his life much.

Apart from having something to look forward to at home, life was still all about firewood, rice, oil, and salt*, the daily routine of going to work and coming home.

*Life's daily necessities

But lately, the living room and bathroom had been unusually clean.

015 cleaned every day, but it only swept up trash and tidied things, far from achieving spotless cleanliness. The bathroom was also kept dry and tidy, with no standing water or stray hairs.

Recently, the little robot housekeeper had also been malfunctioning much less. Short circuits and sparks, once common, had become rare, and it had even learned to cut carrot flowers.

When asked about the change, 015 only said, rather dimly, that it might be the new chip at work.

It wasn't until one dinner, when the food 015 served was completely free of the faint burned taste it used to have, that the change began to seem strange.

Ye Er grabbed hold of that round, chubby head, his expression grave.

"Come clean. Did you secretly update your system? The maintenance technician said before that with your small memory capacity, an update could cause a complete system crash."

015 blinked its electronic eyes and replied rather slowly, "No."

Ye Er suspiciously opened its head to inspect it but found no melted or broken components inside. Only then did he reluctantly believe it. "...But why wasn't tonight's dinner burned?"

As they talked, Xi Ze sat in the chair beside them, slowly stirring the nutritional meal in his bowl and eating quietly and quickly.

"Did you repair it?" Ye Er suddenly turned his head.

Xi Ze was caught off guard. His hand froze mid-motion. After hesitating for a few seconds, he admitted, "Yes."

"Are your eyes feeling better?" This was the only possibility Ye Er could think of.

Hughes had said that the female zerg's right eye was close to blind and the left eye was infected as well, but with ongoing medication there was a chance of recovery.

This time, Xi Ze neither nodded nor shook his head. He just tightened his grip on the spoon in his hand.

Seeing that he didn't want to talk about it, Ye Er changed the subject. "Did you also clean the living room and bathroom?"

"What cleaning? I didn't see it!"

015 gasped and wriggled out of Ye Er's hand. "You're still recovering! You shouldn't do anything strenuous!"*

*Aww, 015 is so sweet

This time, the female zerg hesitated longer, but eventually nodded. Ye Er had "ordered" earlier that there should be no lying or hiding on purpose, and his question had all but confirmed the answer anyway.

Even without the conditions for being a river snail, he had created them.

Ye Er nearly laughed in exasperation.

But looking at Xi Ze's tight-lipped, withdrawn expression, it was clear he wouldn't comply meekly.

"I want to find something to do. I can't just..."

The female zerg rarely spoke up on his own, and his voice sounded strained and hesitant as he tried to make Ye Er understand. "Do nothing all day, like a shameless parasite."

His strong pride as a soldier naturally kept him from simply lying around, eating the male zerg's food, using the male zerg's clothes, and recovering in the male zerg's house without doing anything in return.

Swords might wear down and break, but to be buried in a land of tenderness and lose their edge was a disgrace. It was a principle and a pride engraved in their bones.

Ye Er was struck speechless. He really hadn't thought about this before.

Perhaps the female zerg was simply bored and should be given something to do, but being blind was a significant obstacle.

He pondered for a moment, then got up and went to the balcony.

After a while, Ye Er came back in, the chill on his sweater not yet gone. He sat back down and began unwrapping the thing in his hands layer by layer.

He didn't notice that the female zerg across from him looked a bit flustered, his hand clenched into a fist on the table.

"I'm sorry, I won't do it again..."

"What?" Ye Er, oblivious, pressed the item into the female zerg's hands. "This is for you."

The female zerg fell silent, looking a bit dazed, then gingerly touched the object in his hands as if it were dangerous.

"The supermarket owner gave it to me as a freebie when I bought something a few days ago. He said it's easy to take care of and can survive even in winter, but I almost killed it in just a few days."

Ye Er looked at the little potted plant with some guilt. Its once beautiful green leaves and red vines had mostly withered and yellowed, with the leaves drooping and curled into points. It was truly on the verge of death.

"Can you help me loosen the soil and water it every day? Maybe it can still survive."

Xi Ze paused slightly and raised his eyes toward Ye Er. His vision was blurry, and he could only make out a vague, fuzzy shadow.

The male zerg had forgotten to take his fingers off the backs of Xi Ze's hands. They were cold and smooth to the touch, just like the small clay pot in his palms, and impossible to ignore.

He quietly tightened his fingers and replied softly, "...Okay."

It was as if he were afraid of disturbing a butterfly that had landed on his eyelashes.

The little plant was called a Red Jade Vine. As it matured, its vines turned a vibrant red, like glossy jade, and it demanded careful attention to how often and how much it was watered. Beginners could easily kill it by accident.

Xi Ze seemed to have some experience caring for flowers. Even though he was blind, he clumsily got the hang of it.

Whenever Ye Er walked through the living room, he would see Xi Ze solemnly loosening the soil around the Red Jade Vine. With his slightly furrowed brow, he didn't look like he was gardening. He looked more like he was working out plans on a sand table or proofreading classified documents.

After a few days of care, Ye Er went over to observe it for a moment and let out a long hum. "It doesn't seem to have changed much."

In fact, the little plant had improved quite a bit, going from a wilted clump to showing signs of perking up.

Xi Ze lowered his gaze as if avoiding Ye Er's eyes, and after a while said softly, "There's been some change. The stem has grown half an inch, there's an extra leaf, and the vine feels a bit smoother..."

He seemed to have completely forgotten his passive resistance of silence. The female zerg described the plant's changes with the same focus and seriousness as if he were carefully detailing the performance and structure of a mecha.

Ye Er rested his chin in his hand and smiled silently at those words.

He reached out to touch the newly grown tender leaf, huffing a laugh. "I hope you know what's good for you. Grow up quickly."

Xi Ze was taken aback by the first half of the sentence and the pause that followed. It wasn't until he heard the rest that he realized the male zerg was talking to the Red Jade Vine.

The tone was clearly reproachful, but it carried a light, affectionate smile and a slight upward lilt at the end, like a kitten reaching out to scratch his heart with soft paws, setting off a burst of tickling.

After "threatening" the little Red Jade Vine, Ye Er narrowed his eyes and said in a softer voice, "You need to get better soon too."

Xi Ze's hand on the coffee table suddenly trembled, and then his fingers tightened.

He didn't realize his ears had turned red. His cold, serious expression had given way to a hint of fluster. After a long hesitation, he opened his mouth and said, "...Mn... okay..."

"Forget it. Thinking about these things won't get them done. I'll be diligent about changing your dressing. I'll try to get you better before the New Year, or else you'll have to eat tasteless nutritional meals."

Ye Er let out a tired yawn, got up, ruffled Xi Ze's hair as usual, then left calmly.

Recently, the weather in Aitar had been very good, with several sunny days in a row. The long-lost sunlight pierced the somber clouds and lit the endless snow with dazzling brilliance.

The little Red Jade Vine basked in the sun for a few days, gradually stretching out its branches and leaves.

The wounds on Xi Ze's body also showed signs of healing, most notably the wide laceration on his back.

The female zerg's bone wings had been connected to countless blood vessels and nerves. Pulling them out had been like uprooting a tree, tearing the flesh apart, and the pain was unbearable, beyond words.

After about a week of care, the wound had gone from severe mutilation to inflammation and swelling, and the discharge had changed from foul blood to a seep of tissue fluid.

But at every stage, the gauze would stick to the wound soon after a dressing change and be torn off forcefully at the next one, which was like torture.

Each time Ye Er changed the dressing, he ended up drenched in sweat, and the female zerg lying on the waterproof cloth was even more tense, his whole body taut.

The expanse of pale honey was beaded with tiny droplets of water, like a pot of melting maple syrup, though less hot and thick. The outer edge of the upturned flesh was tinged white and trembled ever so slightly, as if from extreme cold.

After handing the cleanup over to 015, Ye Er stood up and stretched his sore muscles. Xi Ze took a moment to relax before reluctantly sitting up and grabbing the coat beside him to drape over himself.

"Thank you."

At the slightly hoarse voice, Ye Er turned to look at him. "It looks like the wound is healing. Maybe it'll scab over soon."

Xi Ze hummed in reply, but he looked at a loss, unsure how to respond.

The wound was healing slowly, but he still didn't know what was going on between himself and Ye Er.

After all, neither of them was so naive* as to overlook the many obstacles and be open about who they were. They were just barely getting along, relatively peacefully.

*Slang for "sweet and naive." Often used for people who seem naive or overly simple in their behavior or thinking.

Or perhaps this was all part of the male zerg's game, a gentle yet cruel game of house, in which the Red Jade Vine and the dressing changes were merely props and daily chores.

Like watering, fertilizing, and waiting for a tree to mature, then picking its juiciest, plumpest fruit.

He didn't know, when that time truly came, whether what awaited him would be new growth or complete destruction.

The heating in the living room was on full blast, but it still felt cold without clothes. Xi Ze sat on the sofa, lost in thought, not noticing that his hair was damp with cold sweat and his lips were unnaturally pale.

Then a towel was draped over his head, and Ye Er's voice came.

"Wipe off the sweat so you don't catch a cold. I'll ask 015 to feed you some hot milk later. Go to bed early tonight."

Xi Ze's eyelashes trembled slightly, and he suddenly decided not to think about it anymore.

The itch of flesh and blood regrowing was more unbearable than intense pain, as if tender shoots were drilling into the crevices of his bones and weaving through his blood vessels, making even breathing hard to endure when it hit.

To avoid scratching the newly formed scab in his sleep by accident, Xi Ze stayed up all night with his eyes shut. His suppressed, restrained breathing seeped through the crack in the door from the quiet living room into Ye Er's room.

The room was dim. Ye Er lay in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, and eventually fell asleep to the gradually softening sound of Xi Ze's breathing.

One day after work, Ye Er brought home a dog-shaped bolster pillow.

Amid 015's excited cries, he held the fluffy tail out in front of the female zerg. "Want to touch it?"

"What is it..."

Xi Ze looked somewhat hesitant, his fingertips pausing on the soft fur. He tilted his head slightly and asked softly, "Is it alive?"

Ye Er let out a "pfft," then smiled and tucked the long dog into his arms. "This is for you to hold. It's not good for your legs to curl up, and this will be more comfortable."

The injury on Xi Ze's back made it hard for him to lie flat, but when he slept on his side, he unconsciously curled up, which was bad for his legs and the injury on his front and left his posture somewhat twisted. It looked visibly uncomfortable.

Ye Er had discovered this one morning when he woke suddenly and went into the living room for a drink of water.

Xi Ze instinctively touched the stuffed animal. Against his fingers, hard and stiff with calluses, the fabric and fur felt exceptionally delicate, and the cotton filling was as soft as a cloud.

"...Thank you."

He seemed a little at a loss, faced with the thing in his arms and the gentle tone of the male zerg in front of him.

He had once been confident that he would never be deceived by lies and masks, however cleverly disguised with sweet words and acts. A person's nature could never be concealed. A single glance or breath would inevitably give away some flaw.

Putting on an act in a brief encounter was hard enough, let alone keeping it up through long, intimate contact.

Malice couldn't be hidden, and neither could tenderness or goodwill.

Countless arrows dipped in honey were striking his defenses, unrestrained, soft, and light, like a stone left soaking in a honey pot for a long time. Even his once-indestructible shell was slowly being eroded.

"I'll see when it's convenient. I'll take you to the hospital for a follow-up, and..."

Ye Er didn't notice his complicated emotions and began working out when to schedule the second follow-up exam.

"My New Year holiday is coming up, with about half a month of free time. Speaking of which, I need to get some things ready for the New Year."

"We're running low on rice and noodles at home, and we could buy some flour too..."

015, as always, responded energetically. "We can try making some desserts. I recently downloaded a new recipe!"

Ye Er tapped 015's metal head with his fingers and couldn't help chuckling. "Hmm... Just make sure you don't blow up the kitchen."

This very homey* conversation happened every day.

*Daily family life

Just like other ordinary, warm residents, they chatted casually with the zergs closest to them, planned what to eat and buy, and laughed and teased each other.

Xi Ze had hardly ever experienced this kind of life. There was obviously nothing special about it, but it felt like a glass of rich, mellow golden rice wine—

The saccharine fragrance filled his mouth and nose and seeped into every pore like air, enticing each cell to indulge and every nerve to relax.

Xi Ze's fingertips touched the tip of a curled leaf on the Red Jade Vine.

Like succulents that burst out of their pots and spread, it was proof of vigorous growth, even though it had been on the brink of death not long ago.

Life may be bitter, but life is tenacious.

For the first time, he harbored hope.

☰