Chapter 44: Brown Eyes (18)

The small hotel had to pay taxes this month, under all sorts of categories. The higher-ups were pressing hard, and the new landlady was nowhere to be found, so Shen Qiuxun had to handle it himself.

As a university student who had aced “Principles of Accounting,” Shen Qiuxun felt it would be a piece of cake. So, guided by online tutorials, he opened the tax filing list—and his vision went black.

How could the interstellar era have so many tax categories and payment channels? Wasn’t there a unified one-click tax payment system?

Noise tax, land tax, tap water disinfection tax, and… a tax on the accumulation of fallen leaves at the doorstep?!?!

He had considered finding a part-time tax accountant, but a quick search of the prices revealed that a few hundred credits was just a drop in the bucket, barely covering the service.

It worried Shen Qiuxun so much he couldn’t even enjoy his dinner.

Fu Mingchuan, who was clearing the dining table, heard his sighing. He silently finished washing the dishes, poured a glass of honey water, and sat down beside Shen Qiuxun to massage his shoulders. “Has Little Xun encountered some difficulty? Perhaps you can tell me about it.”

Shen Qiuxun looked up, then back at the transparent screen in front of him. “Why do you collect so many taxes and not unify the channels? Isn’t this purely making trouble for the common people?”

“Common people?”

“Oh, I mean interstellar citizens.”

Fu Mingchuan smiled. “Because different tax categories are managed by different superior departments, and those different superior departments might not belong to the same faction. Rather than complicating matters for themselves with calculations, it’s naturally more convenient to trouble the lower-level citizens.”

“Humph.” Shen Qiuxun swatted his hand away. “I hate you.”

Fu Mingchuan crouched down, holding Shen Qiuxun’s hand and leaning his face against Shen Qiuxun’s waist. “Don’t hate me. I’ll help you.”

“You know how?” Shen Qiuxun was highly skeptical. He looked down and saw Fu Mingchuan’s gentle, honest face. He reached out and squeezed it carelessly. It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of asking Fu Mingchuan for help, but expertise matters in different fields, and besides… could Fu Mingchuan be smarter than him?

No way.

Shen Qiuxun withdrew his hand and heard Fu Mingchuan’s laughter. He frowned and looked over, saw the man’s smiling expression, and stretched out his foot to kick him away.

Fu Mingchuan stuck to him like glue again, reaching out to intertwine their fingers. His voice was sticky-sweet, as if laced with candy. “Trouble Little Xun to be my eyes.”

Shen Qiuxun decided to trust him for now.

He pulled the man back to the table. The two of them leaned together, and Shen Qiuxun described the button positions to him. Following Fu Mingchuan’s instructions, he acted like a tax-filing machine. The process was clear and gentle, so smooth it seemed rehearsed, making one suspect he wasn’t blind at all.

Shen Qiuxun waved his hand hesitantly. The other’s pupils didn’t move. Finally, the tax payment was successful. Looking at the success page before him, Shen Qiuxun breathed a sigh of relief and found the man beside him a bit more agreeable.

After a moment’s thought, he pulled over Fu Mingchuan’s hand. “Is it very inconvenient, not being able to see?”

[Does the book teach you to just casually grab and tug at people?]

‘I’m trying to complete the mission. What are you spouting nonsense about now?’

[.]

Fu Mingchuan raised his other hand to enclose Shen Qiuxun’s hand. The corners of his mouth curved up, but a trace of melancholy and desolation lingered in his brows and eyes. The pink apron he still hadn’t taken off made him seem like a permanent fixture of this cozy little rental room.

“A little bit, but it’s okay. Little Xun will be my eyes, right?”

Meeting those clear, warm, tender eyes, Shen Qiuxun cleared his throat. “How about I save up money so you can have surgery?”

[?]

‘The book says I need to learn to make empty promises, and besides, we won’t even be here that long.’

Kitty woke up, nimbly jumped off the recliner, then climbed up Fu Mingchuan’s body to perch on the man’s shoulder, meowing. Then it hissed at their joined hands.

Fu Mingchuan came back to his senses, slightly lowering his head, his eyes hiding astonishing affection. With a straight nose and thin lips, his brow bone was well-defined, his cheeks slightly flushed. “With those words, Little Xun could tell me to die and I’d do it willingly.”

“What’s the big deal?” Shen Qiuxun pulled his hand away to squeeze Kitty’s little leg, lifting Kitty into his arms. Watching Kitty chase its tail in circles, then accidentally tumble between his legs and land belly-up, he curved his lips. “As long as you don’t deceive me, I’ll naturally treat you well.”

Fu Mingchuan heard the laughter in his voice. His heart felt like it was coated in layers of honey, unbearably sweet. The glib words of affection that usually came so easily to him couldn’t be summoned now. Finally, he could only manage a strained “Mm.”

“Speaking of which, why are you so skilled at paying taxes?” Shen Qiuxun played with the kitten’s paws, asking absentmindedly. “You don’t have some hidden identity I don’t know about, do you?”

“My mother used to work in the Tax Department. I picked it up from her.”

Shen Qiuxun abruptly stopped his movements and looked up, the laziness in his brows instantly freezing over. He controlled his tone, not letting his mood show. “Really? What did your parents do?”

Hearing his question, Fu Mingchuan’s expression noticeably fell. He leaned down, resting his head on Shen Qiuxun’s legs, and stroked Kitty’s head. “They… because they picked the wrong side during the last political upheaval, they were dismissed and exiled to a remote Lower Planet. They are under strict personal surveillance there, and I haven’t been able to exchange more than a few words with them all year.”

They just couldn’t read the situation clearly. Duped by a few people, they thought they’d become “founding heroes” and refused advice to retreat, insisting on charging to the front lines. Sending them to a fringe planet to cool their heads was a good thing.

“And what about you?”

Fu Mingchuan tilted his head, his hand slipping under the hem of Shen Qiuxun’s shirt, his expression innocent, his eyes slightly narrowed. His black-brown pupils were hidden behind the thin lenses of his glasses, as if shrouded in a thin layer of fog. “They surrendered all their rights and pleaded with their superiors, so I was spared punishment. I was demoted and transferred to the Lower City District streets. Maybe this is where I’ll be for life.”

He smiled as he spoke. “It’s just that later, I met Little Xun… Every loss has its gain. I lost my job but was picked up by you.” He lifted the fabric at Shen Qiuxun’s waist and leaned forward to kiss the flat stomach. “I’m so lucky.”

[Meeting you was the worst misfortune of his eight lifetimes.]

‘Mm, can you help me look up his parents’ identities?’ Shen Qiuxun wasn’t sure he believed it. He grabbed the man’s hair to pull his head up and offered a fake smile. “Mm, me too.”

[Does not comply with regulations.]

‘Please, Big Bro System.’

[.]

After some more intimate cuddling, the kisses traveled up from Shen Qiuxun’s waist, almost reaching where the T-shirt couldn’t be pushed higher. Just as things were about to take a turn for the improper, Shen Qiuxun, stone-faced, kicked him away.

Fu Mingchuan kissed the corner of his mouth, got up to clean, and Shen Qiuxun turned to send a message to the shopkeeper. An unfamiliar number sent him a document. Opening it, he found a verdict ordering the exile of the Fu couple, with official seals that appeared genuine. It seemed he hadn’t been deceived.

Attached below was also Fu Mingchuan’s prior information. Before his demotion, he had worked in a minor tax department in the Upper City District. There were no outstanding deeds; he looked like a very ordinary departmental staff member, not some hidden master biding his time.

Completely reassured, Shen Qiuxun breathed a deep sigh of relief, rubbing his chest through the fabric. How hateful—once bitten by a snake, he’d be afraid of well ropes for ten years.

Such is life, such is life.

…

“Head of the Family, based on your description, we found these individuals. According to the investigation, this person is the closest to Madam.” Qin Zhe handed over the file in his hand and stepped aside, his gaze carefully neutral. It had to be said, since Madam was found, his work environment had seen a qualitative improvement.

At least he no longer had to wonder every day whether he’d see the sun tomorrow!

Xu Zhiyuan opened the file and saw a ID photo on the front page: gentle, handsome. His gaze shifted back: a Beta. His hand holding the file suddenly clenched.

Those two sentences that had almost become his recurring nightmare echoed in his ears again: “Alphas are just creatures controlled by pheromones anyway… A Beta companion is better. They’re emotionally stable and know how to take care of you.”

“His name is Fu Mingchuan. He’s a law enforcement officer at the Three Waters Street Office. He’s had a few encounters with Madam. On September 28th, he was reported for colluding with the enemy and was wanted. He disappeared that same night, with his last known whereabouts being the Second-hand Market on Three Waters Lane.”

“Disappeared?” Xu Zhiyuan met the black-brown eyes in the photo. “Who reported him?”

“It was a virtual number, routed through many layers. The tech department hasn’t been able to crack it yet.”

“Mm.” Xu Zhiyuan tossed the file aside and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Continue the investigation.”

Qin Zhe walked out the door and ran into Jiang Shiyan standing by the window. He walked over and followed his gaze outside to a bare elm tree. Seeming slightly interested, he asked softly,

“A Beta, is there any need to care this much?”

Qin Zhe paused briefly, then sighed. “It’s precisely because he’s a Beta… that he cares.”

Who could speak clearly about the things that happened on Planet Gamma?

It was rather pathetic, when you thought about it: the Head of the Family, a highly sought-after S-class Alpha, actually jealous of a Beta.

Xu Zhiyuan sat in the house. From the window, he could clearly see the tree outside the small rental house of Shen Qiuxun. Its leaves were withered and yellow, with only two or three lonely dead leaves still clinging to the branches.

He sat for a long time, then got up and went out. He knew Shen Qiuxun was working the night shift at the small hotel now.

A few minutes later, he stopped at the rental house’s door. Looking at the wooden door before him, he suddenly felt dazed. It was as if opening this door could take him back five years, as if they had never been apart, just like before.

He thought: I just want to wash Little Xun’s underwear. Washing underwear is so troublesome. I just want to be a Snail Boy—no, a field-snail man.

He took a piece of wire from his pocket and poked it into the keyhole. Click—the door lock opened. He opened the door and saw a simple little house. The recliner by the balcony suddenly shook. A black cat jumped out of the recliner, meowing as it rushed toward the door. Then, lifting its head and clearly seeing the uninvited guest before it, it arched its back warily, its glossy fur bristling.

Only when Xu Zhiyuan met those green cat eyes did his heart skip a beat. A light, soft feeling seemed to strike his heart. Could Little Xun be…

“Little Xun, did you forget something?”

The bathroom door opened, and a tall, slender figure stepped out. Dressed in a pink apron, with gentle features, his entire being radiated an aura of “domestic husband,” “virtuous and capable,” “gentle and considerate.”

In that instant, the warmth that had just risen in Xu Zhiyuan’s heart was as if seized by a giant, invisible hand and yanked violently down, plunging like a drop tower. A chill instantly invaded, wrapping tightly around him, quickly freezing into ice.

His eyes narrowed slightly, the anger and unwillingness within them almost overflowing, yet forcibly suppressed. It was like a volcano about to erupt but held back desperately, all emotions churning and boiling deep inside, yet, for various reasons, unspeakable.

Fu Mingchuan’s pupils moved slightly. He adjusted his glasses, bent down, and reached out. “Kitty, come here. Don’t bother Mother. Mother is busy.”

As if he hadn’t noticed anything amiss with the person at the door, he waited until he touched the black cat, picked it up, and then looked gently toward the doorway. “Come home early tonight. Kitty and I both miss you very much.”