Mecha Chapter 5: Birds/beasts

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo

 

Luo XiaoLou ended up staying the night in the guest room, thinking about that contract, and he tossed it around for a long time without falling asleep. The next day, Luo XiaoLou resolutely woke up with two panda eyes.

The door to the master bedroom was still closed, but Luo XiaoLou didn’t dare to go in even though he wanted to grab the guy by the neck and say, ‘Get out of my house’. In any case, for Luo XiaoLou, living was more important than his dignity.

If he became stronger, it might not be impossible for him to get rid of this demon.

Luo XiaoLou dawdled over the unpalatable lunchbox and finally decided that he would prepare breakfast for Yuan Xi. In any case, he didn’t have the capital to resist that demon — who he would never address as his master — right now. If he deliberately antagonized Yuan Xi and angered him, the one who would end up being embarrassed would be himself, which would only make him even more humiliated and miserable.

Before there was no opportunity left to get out of this contract, Luo XiaoLou decided to try to kill off any possibility and excuse for that guy to get angry with him, and thus gain the maximum dignity and freedom for himself.

He was the one who used to cook when he dated Josa anyway. Oh — no! Why would I compare Josa with this jerk?

Yes, he could pretend that he had adopted a stray dog and had to prepare food for it (him), take care of the apartment, and so on — and on the bright side, the dog walking could be omitted.

Luo XiaoLou took out another potato and hated how fussy Yuan Xi was yesterday: a noble stray dog that knows how to be picky about its food.

This ‘one hundred federal dollar a piece’ potato was at least very large and worth the price.

Luo XiaoLou shredded half of the potato and braised the other half. Yes, braised potato without the meat. The vegetables were not worth mentioning and the meat was many times more expensive than the pork in 2012.

Luo XiaoLou finished cooking, and put another box of rice in the hot box. Looking at the fragrant shredded potato and braised potato, Luo XiaoLou gulped and left.

If he couldn’t go to school, he’d have to live at the bottom of society forever, never becoming stronger, never getting rid of the demon and his damned slave identity.

As soon as he arrived at the factory, Luo XiaoLou was pulled into Mr. Yang’s office by Mr. Yang, who was waiting by the door. He was surprised. 

Mr. Yang excitedly shook Luo XiaoLou’s hand, “XiaoLou!” 

Luo XiaoLou was startled by the enthusiasm of the person in front of him, and as he drew back his hand, he stammered out his question, “Mr. Yang, what can I do for you?”

Mr. Yang looked at Luo XiaoLou and said eagerly, “Luo XiaoLou, I contacted the top yesterday, and the top and I want the same thing. We want to sign a long-term contract with you. After becoming a regular employee, the company will pay you an extra five-thousand federal coins per month, and if you’re not satisfied with that, we can still discuss it.” 

Luo XiaoLou’s eyes lit up, then dimmed again. He stretched out his left hand, flicked open the communication device, brought up the personal information section, and then said, “Mr. Yang, I would like to sign, but I am still a student, so it’s not convenient for me to sign a contract with you. Not only that, after summer break, I’ll only be able to come over during my vacations.”

Mr. Yang was stunned. He had thought that Luo XiaoLou was a teenager from a poor family, but never expected that this kid was a student who came to work a summer job. Mr. Yang felt a strong sense of regret, but he was happy for Luo XiaoLou because there was no doubt that it was better for him to go to school.

While thinking, Mr. Yang took a glance at Luo XiaoLou’s communicator, and then immediately stared at it with round eyes, “Saint Miro Academy? You’re not kidding me, are you?” 

This student wasn’t only a student, but a student of Saint Miro Academy? That prestigious military academy that was stacked with money! Saint Miro Academy could be regarded as Planet Anse’s premier military academy. In order to nurture talents, the Academy was subsidized by the Confederation, and the tuition fee was very high, but the treatment was very good.

Students from all over the world wanted to enter Saint Miro Academy, because all the students who graduated from the Academy were young and talented. The students who had been admitted there had either power or wealth in their families. If they didn’t have any of these, they must be geniuses among the talents. Not only were the latter not charged tuition fees, but the school also paid high scholarships.

Yes, Luo XiaoLou was probably the last category. Thinking to himself, Mr. Yang’s eyes slowly changed as he looked at Luo XiaoLou. He patted Luo XiaoLou’s shoulder more amiably and exclaimed, “So our XiaoLou is so amazing! Go for it, your Uncle Yang is waiting to see your name on the Anse Celebrity List later.”

Luo XiaoLou’s face flushed, but he didn’t say anything. This academy wasn’t something he’d gotten into on his own. And now, even though he had been catching up on his previous knowledge, he had only finished reading the elementary level school textbook. That mall receptionist and Mr. Yang, however, both held him with such high esteem, he felt guilty and awkward, and even more determined to study hard.

“Let’s put it this way, although I can’t sign a contract with you, I’m a bit reluctant, but there’s no regret. XiaoLou is going to be a big person in the future. But you’re too efficient. Such efficiency is special and will bring unexpected benefits to our factory, so at the end of this month, I’ll still pay you a bonus of three-thousand federal coins. When you start school, you can come to the factory to work part-time on weekends when you are off, or during winter and summer vacations.”

Mr. Yang, whose real name was Yang Yi, was a round and shrewd man who already liked Luo XiaoLou, and as soon as he saw that Luo XiaoLou was a student of Saint Miro Academy, he had even more ideas of making a good relationship. He was convinced that a talented young man like Luo XiaoLou would become a celebrity in the future, a person that everyone wanted to suck up to, and it would be too late to make a move then.

The odds of meeting a student from Saint Miro Academy were even lower than winning five million coins, and it was impossible for a branch factory like theirs to recruit students from such an advanced school. Even their main factory didn’t have any. If he got on good terms with Luo XiaoLou now, in case something happened in the future, Luo XiaoLou would be able to remember the old friendship and lend a hand, and that would be a benefit that was hard to find.

Luo XiaoLou was pleasantly surprised to hear about the prize money, but at the same time, he was very touched by the fact that Mr. Yang had always taken good care of him. Now he could complete at least three sets of work every day, and with Mr. Yang’s bonus, he would be able to get his hands on a salary of almost 20,000 federal coins this month. Although he couldn’t afford the tuition fees, it gave Luo XiaoLou great confidence that he was not unable to support himself.

As for the tuition fees, Luo XiaoLou had already seen that he wouldn’t get enough within just one month’s time, so he had another idea. If it didn’t work, he would think of other ways when the time came.

Today, the bonuses from the sky with their little wings kept flying around Luo XiaoLou’s head. His mouth was curled at the corners, and the new steps he made were slowly becoming more proficient. He finished three sets before the end of the day. When he was busy, he even forgot about the demon at home.

By the time Mr. Yang had deposited the money into his communicator account and he was ready to go home for dinner, Luo XiaoLou remembered what he had to face when he got back.

Luo XiaoLou frowned, but walked home dejectedly.

When Luo XiaoLou entered the apartment, Yuan Xi was watching TV on the couch in his robe, with Luo XiaoLou’s admission documents and several notebooks belonging to the original owner thrown on the coffee table next to him.

When he heard the door open, Yuan Xi turned around and was about to tell Luo XiaoLou what to do, but he suddenly frowned and said with a disgusted look on his face, “What’s that smell? It stinks! Get yourself cleaned up right now and get cooking, I’m starving!”

Luo XiaoLou was tired after a long day in the workroom. He had been greedy for more work, so he did sweat a little. But when he saw Yuan Xi’s rightfully bossy look, he shivered with rage.

When Yuan Xi didn’t get a satisfactory answer or a sincere apology, he squinted and began to move his wrist, staring at Luo XiaoLou and asking slowly, “What, do you have a problem with that?”

Luo XiaoLou bit his lips, desperately trying to convince himself to calm down, he couldn’t beat Yuan Xi, and with Yuan Xi controlling his life and death, he had to be even more patient. It took a long moment before Luo XiaoLou turned his face away and whispered, “Of course I have a problem with that, but my life is in your hands.”

The spineless words however satisfied Yuan Xi a little. He looked at Luo XiaoLou with even more contempt and ordered, “Then get your ass in there and don’t make me say it twice.”

Luo XiaoLou headed to his room and was about to go inside, when it occurred to him that the room had been taken over by the guy. Luo XiaoLou sneaked a glance back and ended up seeing Yuan Xi glaring at him like he was ready to stay mad. He had to explain, “I, my clothes are in there.”

Yuan Xi snorted impatiently, “Then what are you waiting for, get your garbage out of my room right now. Do I have to put up with you coming in and out of my room all day long? What a stupid idiot.”

This is my bedroom! Luo XiaoLou angrily retorted in his heart, holding back from yelling back and pushing the door into the room.

Seeing the situation inside the bedroom, Luo XiaoLou was stunned.

The master bedroom, which was tidy and clean yesterday, was now a mess.

The few pieces of clothing that were worn yesterday, including underwear, were scattered on the carpet, the blanket was half dragged under the bed, and the frog alarm clock that was on the bedside table was now lying pitifully at the foot of the bed. Seeing Luo XiaoLou, the alarm clock dutifully reminded, “Master, you should get up at seven this morning! Get up!”

Luo XiaoLou rubbed his brow, he simply couldn’t tolerate this mess, especially since it was still his apartment — his new apartment!

After taking a few deep breaths, Luo XiaoLou calmed himself down, then brought out a few pieces of clothing that belonged to him. He paid special attention to his underpants, which were thankfully not missing. Luo XiaoLou was relieved. The only thing that was missing was the large, loose bathrobe, and then Luo XiaoLou wondered oddly: Was there nothing underneath that bathrobe? 

Luo XiaoLou shuddered violently. This man was too abnormal to think about any further. He quickly picked up his clothes and picked up the frog alarm clock on the way out. Before leaving the room, he also made the bed and took out the clothes that Yuan Xi had left behind. He was neither going to buy him new ones nor offer his own, since the two of them were not even the same size.

Luo XiaoLou put his clothes in the closet in the guest room, which wasn’t much smaller than the one in the master bedroom, and this made him feel much better. Luo XiaoLou carried his housecoat into the bathroom and threw the clothes Yuan Xi had left behind into the wall dryer.

When he got out of the shower, he placed Yang Xi’s clean clothes on the master bed. Yuan Xi’s expression had been so impatient that he turned to Luo XiaoLou with a blank stare while watching TV, and he hadn’t even bothered to say anything sarcastic to him.

Luo XiaoLou went into the kitchen and saw two dishes waiting to be washed in the sink.

Luo XiaoLou gave them a disgusted look and threw them into the automatic dishwasher. Then he began to worry again, did he need another potato? But even such monotonous food was still too extravagant for him. 

He was now getting over seven-hundred federal coins a day, which was indeed already a lot for him, but if Yuan Xi was getting two potatoes a day, it was simply the same situation as before, when he didn’t own more coins.

Luo XiaoLou was going to cry. This bastard. Does he have any idea how much trouble he’s caused others!

At that moment, the kitchen door was kicked twice, and then the impatient voice of Yuan Xi came from the doorway, “How long are you going to dawdle? Aren’t you useless? Are you really waiting for me to discipline you myself?”

Luo XiaoLou’s hand shook as he grabbed the refrigerator door, while trying to ignore the beast at the kitchen door, and then took out a potato and started peeling it.

Those words had actually been said by Josa before when she was joking, but it had only felt sweet at that time. Besides, Josa was his fiancée, but who was that man outside the door?

Luo XiaoLou chopped the potato into two pieces. Even if Yuan Xi were a woman, Luo XiaoLou wouldn’t want such a woman as his fiancée… God, what was he thinking?

Finally, Luo XiaoLou came out with two plates. One plate of spicy shredded potato, one plate of mashed potato, and two lunchboxes.

After setting everything on the table, Luo XiaoLou took a lunchbox for himself and prepared to go to the guest room. He really didn’t want to look at Yuan Xi’s face while he ate.

“Sit down, I don’t want to eat alone.” A lazy voice said from behind him.

How annoying can one person really be? Luo XiaoLou returned without a good feeling and sat in the chair opposite Yuan Xi.

“I didn’t realize someone as idiotic as you is a student at Saint Miro Academy.” Yuan Xi said slowly as he picked at his shredded potatoes.

Luo XiaoLou greedily looked at the shredded potatoes, swallowed, and hung his head to continue eating from his lunchbox.

“So, we’ll be in the same school from now on. Well, some of the errands that need to be run will be a lot easier when you’re there.” Yuan Xi added.

Luo XiaoLou choked and looked up sharply. God, are you fucking messing with me?

 

The author has something to say: 

 

Well, Yuan Xi is a beast, isn’t he?