SZAR Chapter 77

Chu Xiu reached out and turned off the camera.

He bit his lower lip tightly, looking even more aggrieved than Yi Xi, yet his movements were decisive. He stepped beside Yi Xi, pried Yi Xi’s trembling, cramped fingers from the sink edge, and held them in his hand.

Yi Xi froze. “You’re not angry?”

Chu Xiu lowered his head, his voice muffled: “Why would I be angry?”

Though he said it, he tilted his face away, clearly upset. His posture and the slight puffing of his chest betrayed his true feelings.

Yi Xi gripped the counter tightly, bitterness rising in his throat. “I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have used a forbidden substance when you explicitly forbade it…”

“I’m not talking about that!” Chu Xiu interrupted sharply. The younger one lifted his head, and his eyes were slightly red: “I’m not talking about that!”

His tone was so intense that Yi Xi didn’t respond at all. He seemed stunned, then hesitantly reached out and gently touched the corner of the male Zerg’s eye.

It was wet.

That slight, glistening moisture was real, icy cold, but it made Yi Xi’s fingertips feel almost like they were burning. The male Zerg swiped at his eye fiercely, turned his face away so Yi Xi wouldn’t touch it, and grabbed Yi Xi’s hand, pulling him along: “Let’s go. We’re going home.”

Yi Xi stumbled under the pull, his glasses tilting on his nose, but he had no choice but to follow the force, almost half-dragged out of the building. He repeated the male Zerg’s words: “Home?”

Without turning his head, Chu Xiu grit his teeth: “Home. To do it.”

He was unbearably frustrated. Having just completed his secondary awakening, he was in the peak of his energy, enduring every night without release only because he considered Yi Xi’s frail body. And now, Yi Xi still wanted to use that harmful drug.

Chu Xiu didn’t know what Yi Xi was thinking, but if this was what Yi Xi wanted, he would do it.

The aircraft accelerated to full speed and landed with a thud in the small garden. Chu Xiu leapt out, rushed into the house, and again collided with the approaching robot, spinning it aside. He pushed Yi Xi into the bedroom: “Go shower.”

The male Zerg had just washed before going on camera, so he was already clean, no need to repeat it.

Yi Xi closed the bathroom door, feeling somewhat dazed.

That lingering dampness still clung to his fingers. He turned on the shower, letting the hot water cascade over his body. Then he reached out and wiped the steam from the mirror, letting his reflection appear clearly.

The body was overly pale, slightly thin. The worm-like markings on his back were rich and vivid, a stark sign of his pheromone-related condition. Around his wrists were small red marks, impressions just left by the male Zerg’s grip. Truthfully, the force hadn’t been strong, and Chu Xiu had quickly let go, but this body was fragile, intolerant of pain.

They said the first time would hurt badly, and for someone already unwell like him, the pain was especially sharp.

Yi Xi didn’t care. Compared to the pain, he feared other things more. Without the male Zerg’s approval to use the drug, he worried about the body’s reactions, trembling, gagging. Yet by the time he reached this point, there was no room for hesitation.

Wrapping a towel around himself, Yi Xi reached out and pushed open the bathroom door.

Chu Xiu sat on the bed, reading a book.

He didn’t glance at Yi Xi at all, his eyes glued to the pages as if they held a treasure trove of gold and beauties, yet his movements were slow, taking what felt like forever to turn a single page.

Yi Xi sat beside him, wrapped only in a towel, his expression hesitant.

The leader of Stellar had never appeared so informal in front of anyone. Yi Xi’s cool fingers rested lightly on the male Zerg’s shoulder, unsure whether to speak.

The next moment, the world seemed to spin. Chu Xiu gripped his shoulders and pushed him onto the bed. His hands braced on either side, pinning Yi Xi beneath him. From Yi Xi’s perspective, all he could see were the subtle movements of Chu Xiu’s Adam’s apple and collarbones.

His voice was husky: “Chu Xiu…”

Chu Xiu’s domineering stance lasted only two seconds. His gaze slid down from Yi Xi’s face, over his beautiful eyes and nose, and then, half-consciously embarrassed, he quickly looked away. He rolled over next to Yi Xi, hugging the blanket, murmuring, “Yi Xi…”

Yi Xi couldn’t tell if he was disappointed or relieved. He drew in a sharp breath and asked, “Shall we… start?”

Those simple three words felt trapped somewhere in his throat, leaving only a faint breathy sound.

Every muscle in his body tensed.

The pheromone rejection was a natural bodily reaction. Childhood traumas had instilled a reflexive aversion to the male Zerg. Even thinking about the scenes from his school days, where instructors had crossed boundaries, made his spine break out in goosebumps and his limbs tremble slightly.

“…Mm.” Chu Xiu nudged closer, lifting his gaze to Yi Xi. In a barely audible voice, he asked, “Yi Xi… is this your first time too?”

Yi Xi suddenly clutched the bedsheet tightly.

The flush left by the hot water faded quickly. He lowered his eyes; the darkness in them deepened. His lips trembled, his perfectly shaped brows knitted together, as if he couldn’t believe what the male Zerg had just asked.

To question a female Zerg whether this was her first time was, in essence, to cast doubt on her loyalty, a severe accusation indeed.

Yi Xi’s expression turned completely cold. He stared at Chu Xiu steadily: “Although I was once kidnapped, nothing bad happened. If you still have doubts… perhaps…”

Perhaps you should discard me and start over.

That day, so many female Zerg wanted to marry Chu Xiu, discarding or replacing him was nothing extraordinary.

He had already slipped into the distant, formal “you” in his speech.

“No, no.” Chu Xiu buried his face in Yi Xi’s chest, inhaling like a cat sniffing catnip. The shower gel smelled of white peach, and mixed with the warmth of Yi Xi’s skin, it rose into a soft, sweet fragrance.

He tilted his head to look at Yi Xi, eyes pleading: “What do I do? I don’t know how.”

Chu Xiu held Yi Xi’s hand, their fingers interlacing tightly, whispering: “I don’t know…”

“Teach me, Yi Xi.”

He begged like a diligent student: “Teach me…”

Yi Xi froze.

Chu Xiu’s little tuft of hair perked up, pressing against Yi Xi’s chest. His request was gentle and polite, his beautiful eyes pure, as if he truly knew nothing.

Yi Xi had no other choice. He forced himself to recall what he had been taught in school twenty years ago, took Chu Xiu’s hand, and carefully guided his trembling fingers over his skin, teaching him how to explore and appreciate.

Goosebumps rose in clusters along Yi Xi’s arms, but there was no nausea. Chu Xiu’s fingers were hot and tender, yet gentle, like a merchant handling a jade artifact, or a collector carefully polishing a treasured piece. Chu Xiu pushed the blanket aside, taking in the things he loved, handling them like a child with a favorite toy, touching and squeezing it with delight. Yi Xi felt the heat of his gaze burn him and whispered: “Let’s get to the main part.”

The next moment, Chu Xiu drew a sharp breath.

He wasn’t naïve at all; his innocence had been an act. Having finished the appetizer, he certainly wouldn’t skip the main course. A thin layer of sweat formed on Yi Xi’s forehead. He wrapped his hands around Chu Xiu’s neck, whispering his name.

“Chu Xiu.”

“Cointreau.”

“Male Lord…”

Strangely, Yi Xi didn’t feel pain.

On the StarNet, there were so many gruesome cases, countless experiences from predecessors warning that this would hurt, that it should hurt, that one should be unable to walk normally for days, that breathing and eating would bring pain. But Yi Xi’s mind was filled with strange emotions, some sour, some astringent, some indescribable, but not a single twinge of pain.

He didn’t feel any pain at all.

At some point, his tense nerves completely relaxed. His muscles went soft, his strength gone, leaving everything to the Male Zerg. He didn’t even know when it started, or when it ended; he only knew that by the time he was drifting toward sleep, and Chu Xiu called Si Si to clean up the mess, he was nearly unconscious.

The Male Zerg bent down and affectionately kissed Yi Xi on the cheek.

He reached around Yi Xi’s legs, and amid Yi Xi’s surprised protest, lifted him up, kicked open the bathroom door, and took another shower.

Yi Xi had fallen asleep in the bathtub. Exhausted, he was hanging onto Chu Xiu, who carried him back to bed, wrapped him in blankets, and then activated the light-brain.

It wasn’t even four o’clock yet, peak working hours, when every tiny fluctuation in the exchange could decide the movement of hundreds of millions in funds, and the leader of Stellar had wasted an entire afternoon playing around at home with the youth.

And he would waste several more days.

Chu Xiu opened StarNet and found the video he had saved: 《How to Get Through the Fatigue Period.》

After being guided in their mental seas, female Zerg all experienced a fatigue period, short ones lasting three days, long ones up to half a month. They would be lazy and unmotivated, drowsy and wanting only sleep, some even clinging to their male.

Chu Xiu felt a little excited.

This abstinent elite, Yi Xi, should be punctual to the second. Strict with himself from childhood, indifferent to personal desire, Chu Xiu had never seen him linger in bed. Every time Yi Xi woke up, he was already gone.

So Chu Xiu scrolled down in a good mood. The video was the experience of a female Zerg, aimed at educating newlywed females about the fatigue period and how to cope. On the blackboard, she listed one, two, three, four: don’t catch a cold, don’t eat stimulating foods, don’t stay up late, don’t overexert yourself, get plenty of sleep, and so on.

Back in high school, Chu Xiu had never been this focused. He carefully jotted down all the key points, then scrolled down to the comment section.

Many female Zerg were complaining, saying it was basically impossible to follow all of it, just getting a little breathing room during the fatigue period was enough.

Chu Xiu sighed faintly. After reviewing all the useful tips in the post, he roughly noted what needed attention, then exited the video and moved on to gather usable recipes.

Without him realizing it, he had given the video a like.

《Yi Xi’s Home Meals Today》 was a trending account with over a million followers. One action from him sent notifications to countless fans:

 ⟦ The account you follow, 《Yi Xi’s Home Meals Today,》 liked 《How to Get Through the Fatigue Period.》⟧

Fatigue period?

Netizens were stunned: 【???】

No — what was happening? In the morning, they were all anxiously worrying about Yi Xi, feeling sympathy for the big boss, and now it was suddenly a fatigue period in the afternoon?