But, as they say, things will work out when the time comes.
Shen Qiuxun carefully asked Ellie about nearby food deals. Fresh vegetables and meat were scarce on this Lower Planet. Most people like them normally lived on the lowest-grade nutrient fluid, occasionally buying some canned goods or pickles to improve their diet.
Ellie told him that this world also had something similar to group-buy takeout. She considerately took out her lightbrain and showed him how to snatch multiplier vouchers.
Shen Qiuxun was just pondering how to treat Xu Zhiyuan to a meal. Wasn’t this like being offered a pillow just as he was dozing off!
His luck was relatively good; his multiplier voucher actually expanded to a decent amount. It was like divine intervention!
Drinking nutrient fluid every day always made his stomach feel empty… Of course, after buying the food, his savings also took a heavy hit. He scrounged around and found that after paying for that hemostatic agent last time, his savings were almost entirely depleted after this group-buy takeout meal.
Luckily, he could supplement his income a bit each day by skimming some nutrient fluid off the top at the black market pharmacy, so he wouldn’t starve to death. As long as he could stay alive, it was fine.
There were two dishes: stir-fried green peppers with meat and stir-fried potatoes with meat. Shen Qiuxun tasted a little bit. The peppers and potatoes were rock hard, and the meat seemed synthetic; he couldn’t tell what animal it was from.
After sampling for a bit, he silently stuffed the tastier pieces of meat under the rice in his own box: Xu Zhiyuan looked like he had a huge appetite. Better safe than sorry, so he wouldn’t be at a loss.
During this time, he overheard a few other buyers chatting quietly. The phrase “that green-eyed Alpha” caught Shen Qiuxun’s attention.
“A few days ago, didn’t Blondie and his crew go looking for trouble with that green-eyed guy? They came back missing arms and legs. I secretly went to take a look… the broken end of the arm was a mangled mess, like it had been torn apart by hand alive.”
“Why would they be so stupid as to mess with him? Before, didn’t Yangzi and his group die silently at Yellow Sand Slope? Wasn’t that just…”
“Didn’t they say that warehouse worker, Xiao Hong, just glared at him, and his eyes were gone the next day?”
“I heard he used to run with star pirates, has several lives on his hands…”
The conversation of the few men began to grow indistinct.
Shen Qiuxun silently glanced at the group-buy takeout in his hand. With a heart as dead as ashes, he carefully packaged the food, put it into a completely black plastic bag, then pulled his scarf up and hurried home: The agreed meeting time with Xu Zhiyuan was almost here!
In the evening, when the sun slowly sinks behind the thick clouds, the temperature plummets like a roller coaster.
He crossed the alley, then climbed the pitch-black staircase. The view from the stairs slowly revealed the scene at the doorway. In the dim corridor, a figure leaned half against the wall. The light was faint, further accentuating the sharp, clear lines of his profile.
Shen Qiuxun quietly stepped back a little. He had to look carefully again to confirm it wasn’t a bad person, but his tentative Capture Target.
What was he doing blocking the door late at night?
Playing door god?
Seeing Shen Qiuxun approach, the man leaning against the wall slowly straightened up, hands in his pockets. Those grass-green eyes were hidden in the dark night. He lifted his eyelids, watching the Beta climb the stairs step by step. When he noticed the Beta’s focused attention on him, he blinked and shifted his gaze elsewhere.
Shen Qiuxun untimely recalled Ellie’s words: “He might very well be an interstellar fugitive.” The hair on his arms instantly stood on end.
The two stood facing each other at the doorway.
After a strange silence, Shen Qiuxun stole a glance at him. The scarf covered half his face, and only when he looked up, the stray hair at his forehead parted slightly, revealing a pair of pitch-black pupils.
“You… didn’t happen to forget your keys, did you?”
Xu Zhiyuan responded with a careless hum. He tilted his head up, observing the ceiling, leaning to the side looking perfectly at ease, just waiting for Shen Qiuxun to open the door.
“…” Shen Qiuxun rolled his eyes covertly.
Xu Zhiyuan looked down at him, frowning slightly. “You didn’t bring yours either?”
Shen Qiuxun spread his hands, his calm gaze managing to look somewhat innocent.
“Two brainless people together really can’t get anything done, huh.”
Xu Zhiyuan glanced at him, his brow furrowed as he looked at the door lock.
What now? The landlord was working who-knows-which-factory. Could they climb in through the outside window?
“Is there a spare key?” Shen Qiuxun touched his nose.
Xu Zhiyuan shook his head. Looking at the palm so close by, he thought this Beta had really nice hands.
【The other party must be very frustrated right now. You can gently comfort him.】
Shen Qiuxun wanted to roll his eyes again, but held back. He reached into his pocket and fumbled for the thing he wanted.
‘Better to rely on yourself than ask others, System Buddy.’
The System glanced skeptically at Shen Qiuxun’s thin arms and legs: 【Are you going to kick the door open?】
Shen Qiuxun thought to the System: ‘Who do you think you’re looking down on?’
He gestured for Xu Zhiyuan to take the plastic bag from his hand. The strap had pressed into the bend of his fingers, leaving a faint pink mark.
Xu Zhiyuan stared at those pale fingertips, subconsciously rubbing his own fingers together. After a long pause, he seemingly reluctantly extended one finger to hook the bag and take it. The faint pink mark lingered in his mind.
Shen Qiuxun then pulled out a wire from somewhere and inserted it into the keyhole. His head tilted slightly, his bangs parting a little, vaguely revealing his pale, utterly bloodless skin and a pair of eyes as calm as a lake. Thick eyelashes cast a dark shadow over his eye sockets, carrying a unique sense of clean tranquility.
The pitch-black pupils that seemed to reflect the door lock shifted. Suddenly, a “click” sound rang out, and the door swung open.
‘Be enthralled by my magnificence, System Buddy.’ Shen Qiuxun pocketed the wire and pushed the door open.
【.】
Xu Zhiyuan glanced at the keyhole, his gaze unconsciously drifting back to the pocket where Shen Qiuxun had put the wire. A rare hint of curiosity appeared in his grass-green eyes.
Shen Qiuxun reached out to take the plastic bag back, noticing his expression. “Never seen a lock picked before?”
His cold fingertip brushed against the man’s knuckles, like a cool maple leaf drifting from afar just before autumn’s temperature drops.
Xu Zhiyuan instinctively clenched his hand, the chill held within his palm. His ears burned slightly. Snapping back to his senses, his features, naturally a bit fierce, twisted as he looked up at the ceiling: “Like I care.”
His brows and eyes were naturally aggressive; even this small gesture was full of sarcasm.
Xu Zhiyuan felt an itch in his heart, the image of that composed, pale face he’d just seen constantly replaying. His thoughts ran wild for a moment. He turned his head to find the other person already seated in a chair.
“…” How could he be so insincere.
Shen Qiuxun hadn’t given his psychological turmoil a single thought. Food was more important. In this microwave-less world, he had to treat his stomach well.
The room was much warmer than outside. Shen Qiuxun took off his scarf, revealing a neck faintly hidden by the collar of his coat. His entire body seemed to be one color, flawlessly pale.
He carefully opened the plastic bag, then lifted the lid of the Chinese-style takeout box. The aroma of food filled the air.
Shen Qiuxun’s mood brightened a bit. He set out two bowls and chopsticks and beckoned Xu Zhiyuan over.
The man walked over, pulled out a chair, and sat down. Looking at the two dishes on the table and the two boxes of sticky white rice, he was a little critical. “You’re treating me to this?”
Shen Qiuxun opened his own lightbrain, his attention entirely off the man across from him. “Yep, touched? I saved up for a long time for this… But it’s fine,” he looked up at the man briefly, his dark eyes lifeless and unfocused. He just pulled his lips into a perfunctory smile. “I’m happy to spend money on you.”
Xu Zhiyuan unexpectedly met his gaze and felt something poke his heart. His ears burned strangely. Looking at the two bowls of unappealing-looking Chinese-style takeout on the table, he found them much less objectionable: Shen Qiuxun couldn’t even bear to buy himself nutrient fluid, yet he was treating him to such “grand” food.
He really did like him, after all.
His gaze fell on Shen Qiuxun’s slightly thin shoulders and neck. Suddenly, his heart felt sour, an inexplicable feeling. But he decided to eat with great relish, so Shen Qiuxun wouldn’t be disappointed.
Shen Qiuxun was watching today’s news feed while secretly observing his dining companion’s movements: The other party wasn’t scrambling for food like he’d imagined. His back was straight, his head slightly bowed, and his eating revealed an unexpected elegance…
Before Shen Qiuxun could figure out this little point of confusion, a question interrupted his thoughts.
“You like this car?”
The lightbrain page he’d left open had stopped on an advertisement: Xunfei Technology Group’s newly launched amphibious and aerial supercar, the Apollo! Speed beyond space-time!
It had an extremely cool exterior, perfectly fitting Shen Qiuxun’s imagination of a vehicle in this interstellar world. That’s why he’d stayed on the page to look at it carefully.
Of course, the price was also astronomical: 15 million. Here’s a cold joke: Shen Qiuxun’s current annual salary was three hundred dollars. One tube of low-grade nutrient fluid cost fifty cents. Meaning… he only needed to work non-stop, without eating, drinking, or sleeping for 50,000 years, and he could buy this sports car in full.
What a hopeful life.
“Hmm…”
“Its performance isn’t that great. Just a flashy hollow shell,” Xu Zhiyuan commented. He knew Betas didn’t earn money easily; it was better to choose a more cost-effective goal.
【He seems to know a lot.】
Shen Qiuxun secretly rolled his eyes. “I think the exterior looks pretty cool. But it doesn’t matter to me, can’t afford it anyway.”
He clicked on the ad’s comment section. The comments filling the screen were uniformly:
“Showy but useless husk.”
“Might as well buy a 20k motor tricycle.”
“The Apollo can’t compare to my Yadea 6666 E-Bike. The Yadea 6666 can carry 300 jin of cargo and comes with a 20-year warranty.”
The System had a realization: 【He’s devaluing the car because he can’t afford it himself.】
‘Makes sense.’
Xu Zhiyuan seemed to say something else, but Shen Qiuxun was too focused on eating for it to register. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, okay, okay. I think so too. You really know a lot.”
“It’s alright, just know a little.” Xu Zhiyuan suppressed the urge to smile, his heart feeling warm: He definitely likes me.
【You could comfort him with ‘Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west; never bully the young and poor,’ acting as a considerate confidante to gain Affection.】
‘We’re both broke, what’s he got to be cocky about?’ Shen Qiuxun glanced at the man across from him and pursed his lips.
After the meal, Xu Zhiyuan cleaned up.
Back in his bed, Shen Qiuxun discussed this mission with the System.
Both man and System fell into a strange silence for a while. Shen Qiuxun clenched his fist to psych himself up.
He opened his lightbrain and found Xu Zhiyuan’s CloudChat, which he’d just added: The avatar was pitch black. The username was a crude “ZY.”
Completely featureless, just like the man himself.
Shen Qiuxun stared at this avatar for a long time, deliberating. Cautiously, he changed his own CloudChat name to Kiwi.
【Why?】
“Look, his avatar is pitch black, and my name is Kiwi! Kiwi and pineapple are both fruits, and pineapple plus black can form ‘Black Pineapple’—it sounds like ‘I Like You’ in slang. It’s a secret way of confessing. The day he discovers it, he’ll definitely be touched.”
【.】 It’s not actually just because you like eating kiwi, is it?
“Don’t you think it’s very clever, System Buddy?”
The System was somewhat speechless. After a moment: 【Host, forgive my impudence, but have you ever been in a relationship?】
Shen Qiuxun rolled over, recalling his history of struggle. He’d been so busy just trying to make a living, where would he find the time to fall in love? “No.”
【Then how can you be so sure you’ll succeed in capturing him?】
Shen Qiuxun waved his hand dismissively, somewhat distracted. “I’ve seen a pig walk even if I haven’t eaten pork. Don’t you worry, I guarantee it’ll be fine.”
Just as he was about to sleep, his lightbrain suddenly vibrated. A number saved as “Shopkeeper Jace” sent this message:
【Think carefully about what we discussed the other day, and give me an answer promptly.】
What thing?
A tsundere and a brick, who will prevail lol