APUTFFZG Chapter 33.2

Translator: Deyonna

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Xi Ze looked up and smiled at him, but the smile was different from his usual gentle, amiable one. His eyes were slightly narrowed, with a hint of indifference and lingering aggression.

He looked like a snow leopard strolling beside its mate as it ate, its icy gaze warning off covetous intruders.

Yet now and then it couldn't help lowering its head to rub against its mate and solemnly lick the blood from its soft fur.

Thump.

Ye Er's eyes widened slightly, and his breath hitched.

The next second, without warning, he choked. He clamped a hand over his mouth and coughed violently, his cheeks and ears turning deep pink.

"...Male Lord?!"

A voice full of worry and panic rang in his ears, and a big hand patted his back rhythmically, helping him catch his breath.

Ye Er shook his head as he coughed, then chuckled quietly to himself, as if amused by his own loss of composure.

A faint sweetness lingered on his tongue, outweighing the slight bitterness of the matcha powder. It was rich and velvety, far more delightful than any dessert.

He didn't know when it had started, but Xi Ze had begun to devote himself to these things, seeping into his life as subtly as air.

The female zerg would quietly and thoughtfully take care of things 015 couldn't help with or often forgot.

Such as the quality of his meals, which were not only becoming more delicious and sumptuous but also increasingly tailored to his tastes, as if the female zerg had custom-made them for him.

Sometimes he forgot to bring his pajamas into the bathroom, and before he could call 015 to bring him a set, he would reach out and find clothes hanging on the doorknob, always in the color he wanted.

A few times he lost track of time while working on the joint project and was so famished that he planned to eat leftovers, only to find that Xi Ze had just finished preparing a meal, already served, the rice still steaming hot.

At first Ye Er was very happy, but later the happiness turned into a kind of worry.

It wasn't until he stayed up late again and found a late-night snack waiting in a thermos on the dining table that he finally realized this couldn't go on.

The next day at breakfast, Ye Er looked at the food on his plate for a long time, then put down his chopsticks. His expression solemn, he said, "Xi Ze, I have something to tell you."

Xi Ze was a little surprised. He glanced at the untouched breakfast, looking somewhat vexed. "Is the breakfast not to your liking? If you want something else, I'll go make you another one..."

"It's not about that," Ye Er cut in, looking into the female zerg's eyes, trying to make him understand how important this was.

"You don't have to go this far. Just let 015 do it. I didn't pick you up so you could do these things."

Xi Ze paused briefly, and understanding crossed his face. But he didn't agree right away. Instead, he lowered his head, chuckled lightly, and said, "There's something else I'd like to do, but Male Lord hasn't allowed me to."*

*my dude is thinking about segs XD

"What haven't I allowed you to do?"

Ye Er was confused, but the female zerg didn't answer, leaving him to figure it out on his own.

After thinking for a long time, he decided Xi Ze was probably just bored and spending all his time on these chores, so he immediately ordered a new terminal as a gift for him.

With the terminal, he finally stopped seeing Xi Ze always cooking or on his way to prepare food.

But before Ye Er could relax, he found that Xi Ze was still flawlessly doing everything he had done before, and managing his time very well. If anything, the terminal let him connect to the Star Network and find more comprehensive, polished recipes.

"Try it. Does it taste good?"

A brand-new dessert was set in front of him. Ye Er stared at it for a moment, then heard Xi Ze's questioning voice, edged with unspoken expectation.

He scooped up the first bite and held it out to the female zerg. "Eat."

Xi Ze paused. Seeing the male zerg's serious expression, he knew there was no room for negotiation, so he could only take the bite off the spoon without touching it.

"Very sweet," Xi Ze said after savoring it.

Ye Er didn't know why he felt relieved, as if a tangled knot had been untied.

Then he scooped up a mouthful himself and put it in his mouth. The soft sweetness filled his mouth, and it really was extremely sweet, just as the female zerg had said.

He finally understood that Xi Ze wasn't doing these trivial chores so meticulously just because he had nothing to do.

It was because he cared about Ye Er deeply, cherished him, and wanted to treat him well that he was willing to invest his time and energy in these things tirelessly.

But he didn't want to be the only one enjoying it. At the very least, they both had to taste this sweetness to make it fair.

"Have another bite."

Ye Er scooped up another big mouthful and held it out to the female zerg, who lowered his head and took a bite.

In the end, they shared the dessert, taking bites in turn.

Time passed slowly like this. They were too lazy to count the exact dates, and it was almost a week before the New Year.

---

A thorough cleaning was always done at home at this time of year. In the past, 015 had simply tidied up a bit, and Ye Er hadn't paid much attention. But he had forgotten that a thorough cleaning often dredged up many long-forgotten things.

"Did Male Lord raise this? Why is it here?"

015 turned around and saw Xi Ze lift a board on the balcony and take out a small pot of withered succulents.

The plant was dusty pink all over. Its once round, plump leaves had withered into thin, irregular strips, looking as dead as dead could be.

015 stopped sweeping and exclaimed in surprise, "So this one wasn't thrown away after all."

Xi Ze looked up at it in confusion and set the small plant in its outstretched mechanical hand.

"His Excellency has raised many of these plants. Let me think... I think there have been a dozen pots, but they've basically all died. Even though he took great care of them, he'd raise one pot and kill one pot, and eventually they were all packed up and thrown away."

Picturing the tragic scene from 015's description, Xi Ze went silent for quite a while.

015 had originally meant to throw it away at once, but now that it had been dug up so suddenly, it felt a little reluctant to part with it. It set the pot on the floor and watered it, more as a gesture than anything.

"It's really dead. It won't even drink water."

The compacted soil couldn't absorb the water. Only the surface got wet, and the rest ran onto the floor. 015 seemed a bit sad and turned the water up.

Xi Ze stayed behind it and watched for a while, then stopped it before the barely living plant was completely submerged. "That's not how it's done."

The female zerg rolled up his sleeves and began working on the small, miserably dying plant from scratch.

By the time the dry soil was moist and soft again, fit for growing, Xi Ze's slender fingers were covered in soil and muddy water.

The rotten, withered parts of the succulent had been cut away with a sharp knife and lay in a scattered pile on the floor, leaving only a tiny core that was still pink.

"Why cut it off? Now it doesn't even have a whole body left."

A crying face appeared on 015's screen, looking a little sad.

"If it's rotten, you can only cut it off. The bad part drags down the part that's still good. You have to be willing to cut it off to keep the rest alive."

Xi Ze explained in a low voice.

He used a small shovel to carefully put the soil back into the flowerpot and transplant the tiny plant. There was no telling whether it would survive, but it at least looked much better.

015 lowered its head and examined the little potted plant up close. It actually detected a faint trace of life inside, even though its system had earlier judged it a dead seedling.

It gasped in surprise and switched on its exaggerated praise mode. "You're amazing! It actually came back to life! Wow..."

---

When Ye Er went out to get water, the world outside was already shrouded in hazy twilight.

Through the open balcony door, a brilliant rosy sunset filled the sky and cast a shimmering light on the floor.

But what caught his interest was not the sunset but the figure sitting in it.

Xi Ze wore a white shirt and cargo pants, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing strong, smooth arm muscles.

His palms were wide, his knuckles distinct. He held a pot of soil steadily, and Ye Er could just make out the veins bulging on the back of his hand and forearm and winding into his sleeve, strong and reliable.

The female zerg's movements were nimble, and he looked less like he was loosening soil or watering than tinkering with some high-tech mecha part.

A proud, sharp military female, even one reduced to mud and beaten to a pulp with wounds all over, would recover his original tenacious, dazzling self if you picked him up, washed him, and nursed him back to health.

Ye Er's lips curved in a faint smile as his gaze drifted casually downward. But the moment he saw something familiar, his smile froze.

Hold on, what's that in his hand...?

"All right, put it somewhere shady."

Xi Ze wiped his hands dry with a towel and was about to take the plant off his knee and set it down when a hand suddenly pressed down on his.

"Where did you find this?"

He looked up and saw the male zerg's eyes wide, his lips pursed in annoyance and even a hint of humiliation.

"What's wrong?"

Xi Ze paused. The spot where he was touched stiffened, and he didn't move the hand under the male zerg's fingers. Even his breathing slowed.

Ye Er took a closer look and confirmed it was the plant he had raised and killed. Stubbornly*, he looked at 015 beside him, hoping it hadn't told the female zerg about those "incidents."

*Unresigned to one's fate

Xi Ze understood the look and coughed lightly. "I already know."

"...Forget it right now!" Ye Er covered his face and crouched beside the wheelchair, mumbling away for a long while.

Xi Ze blinked and covered a laugh with a cough, then said deliberately, "What if I can't forget?"

Ye Er shot him a deadly glare, but with his cheeks puffed up and flushed red, it had basically no deterrent effect. A soft, curled ear tip peeked out from his black hair, very tempting to touch.

Xi Ze's muffled laughter caught in his throat, and his gaze was completely drawn to it. For a moment, he felt a little dazed.

He tightened his fingers to restrain himself, and when the male zerg's sulking eased a bit, he lowered his eyes and asked softly, "Male Lord, are you feeling better today?"

Ye Er was startled.

How did Xi Ze know he had been in a bad mood lately?

He glanced at the female zerg out of the corner of his eye, his tone a little dazed. "So that's why you've been making all these delicious things for me these past few days, to cheer me up?"

"Not really. It's just that I've only recently recovered my eyesight, so I can finally make a few things."

Xi Ze corrected him, then added, "Even if Male Lord's mood improves, I won't stop."

In the future...

Ye Er instantly fell into thought, his lips pursed.

He wanted to say something, to ask something, but couldn't find the words. On second thought, it didn't seem necessary to dig any deeper.

Xi Ze would leave one day, while Ye Er was already stuck where he was, too weary at heart and powerless to chase after anything.

It was just that he couldn't, for that reason, resist getting closer to the female zerg. It was like liking a puppy: even knowing its lifespan was only a dozen or so years, people couldn't suppress their affection and not raise it, pet it, and stay close to it.

And that day hadn't come yet, had it?

As far as he could see, it wouldn't come in the next two or three days at least. Instead of worrying and overthinking, it was better to enjoy the remaining time wholeheartedly.

Ye Er sighed and finally decided to free himself of any worries.

He reached out and took the female zerg's hand resting on his knee, stroking the hard knuckles of his fingers, and received a tighter grip in return.

And if that day really came—

He would be willing to give him freedom and watch him fly high.

---

One of the general's courting methods: feeding bear cookies X5, strawberry cakes X5, madeleines X5, Portuguese tarts X5, mini mousse squares X5...

Ye Ye's reflection result: lie flat, free himself of worries, see through it all, and then open his mouth and wait to be fed.

☰