Plant Tamer Chapter 102: Less Energy

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

 

Xie Sen and Maine quickly disappeared from the onlookers’ view, and the students on the ground collapsed into a ball of confusion. “What’s wrong? What just happened?”

The students on the outside only felt a tightening around their waists, then a force pulled them to the side and then they fell to the ground.

The students on the inside shouted, “What are you crowding for? You can’t stand with limp feet?” They only felt that they were almost squeezed flat before they were overwhelmed by their outer classmates. “Get up quickly. My feet are going to break.”

The vines moved so fast that many people didn’t see them. The students who reacted quickly hesitated, “I think I just saw a green line.”

“Blurry eyes, right?” someone asked.

Back at home, Xie Sen was frowning as he sat on the sofa with his chin in his hand. Maine nudged his forehead. “Don’t worry.”

Xie Sen looked up at him. “What do you think? If it really is Xie Sen’s parents, what’s the best way to handle it?”

Maine thought of the dark-haired female’s words. Coldness flashed in his eyes, but it was quickly hidden. “Whatever you like.”

Xie Sen leaned back on the sofa. “Then I don’t care. For so many years, the Xie family never hid Xie Sen’s identity. If they really wanted to find him, they couldn’t have just found him now.”

Maine, “I’ll take care of it.”

In the evening, Xie Sen watched the news, stunned. He wasn’t surprised to see the news about his ‘biological parents’, he just didn’t expect that there appeared to be four pairs of ‘biological parents.’

The four pairs of partners, all with black hair and black eyes, said Xie Sen was their biological son. Each had earnest words, full of emotion and was particularly touching. One pair was fine, but to suddenly have four pairs come out, these touching scenes all became comical.

Originally, there were people discussing what Xie Sen said at school, and whether he was too heartless. When they saw this situation, it immediately turned into mockery.

[It’s hilarious, wasting my expression! These people are looking at the fame of the anchor and want to rub off on the benefits!]

[I said it can’t be the anchor’s parents. The anchor’s parents must have had an accident at first, otherwise how could they give up a child!? A child is so precious!]

[Yes, that person is also very problematic! Even if the child is lost, not to find him until now? The anchor is adopted and has always been open about it!]

[Really disgusting, a group of stinkers. Do they think the anchor is that easy to bully?]

[The first pair, the anchor’s adoptive father’s parents brought. Anchor even stated that he wanted nothing of his adoptive father’s things, and the Xie family severed relations. They should not have moved now. They want to get benefits from the anchor, right?]

[I think so, but do not know enough. If the anchor had no money, they wouldn’t want him in their life!]

Maine took Xie Sen’s shoulder. “They won’t bother you anymore.”

Xie Sen looked at him in surprise. “The other people, did you arrange them?”

Maine nodded his head.

Xie Sen pointed to the screen. “You bought the rhythm?”

“No,” Maine laughed. “The netizens are smart enough not to need someone to lead the rhythm.”

Xie Sen gave a thumbs up. “That’s good. Saves you time.” Anyone who tried to identify as his relatives in the future would be killed with a single stroke. When he thought about what happened at the school, he said with disgust, “Grandfather Xie and Granddad Xie are so annoying.”

Maine took him by the shoulders. “They won’t bother you again. If they do,” Maine said with a flash of ruthlessness. “I won’t be soft.”

Xie Sen saw him say that, and asked curiously, “What did you do?”

Maine, “Just published some of the things they did.”

Xie Sen searched for the Xie family, and saw a hot post, “I’ve never seen such brazen people,” which delved into the many odd behaviors of Xie’s grandfather and granddad, with their son and Xie Sen among the targets of the behavior. The specific incident when Xie Sen’s grandparents took back his place, and the distribution of his adopted father’s inheritance, were clearly stated in the post.

[This is too shameless, Xie Sen had only just been discharged from the hospital, right?]

[Huh. I remember it clearly. Just recently, Xie Sen has been working at Gold Medal.]

[It’s amazing that this kind of person can raise someone as good as Xie Sen’s adoptive father. If Xie Sen wasn’t strong, he would have been sleeping on the streets, right?]

[Yeah, if you ask me, the reason why Xie Sen didn’t awaken until he was an adult is because he was abused by them!]

[What a pity! If he had evidence, he could have charged them.]

In addition to Xie Sen, the posting also picked up on the affairs of Xie’s grandparents and residents of their neighborhood. Those two people were particularly fond of taking advantage of the situation, and often gave Xie Sen’s adoptive father a mess to deal with when he was there.

A neighbor saw this post, and with extreme excitement, scolded once. They used small but disgusting things as examples, so that the onlookers hated them more.

Who knew when the neighborhood heard about the post, but it didn’t take long for another resident to say that when Xie Sen was a child, the two were especially bad to Xie Sen, and always scolded him. Xie Sen’s adoptive father argued with them many times as a result, and later they lived apart.

Xie Sen licked his lip, and looked down. The netizens had no relationship with the two people. All of them were picking a bottom. They said that they couldn’t talk to them, and they certainly weren’t good people.

[These kinds of people, I will not even glance at them!]

[Remember their faces. If I accidentally talk to them, I’ll rinse my mouth ten times even if there is no way to relieve the nausea.]

[Xie Sen is so pitiful. If only there was monitoring. Abuse of young children is illegal!]

That was posted less than three hours ago, but it had already generated a lot of buzz and made the news. Xie Sen’s grandfather and granddad were instantly blackened all over Star City, and were considered disgusting by everyone.

Xie Sen thought back to his predecessor’s diary. It did mention being beaten, but it definitely wasn’t as bad as in that post. What ‘slap from one door to the next door,’ ‘a kick until vomiting blood?’ It was very exaggerated.

Xie Sen turned his head, and nudged Maine with his elbow. “These neighbors, did you have anything to do with them?”

Maine said, “Well, I sent a message to them and suggested they check out the fun. The Xie grandparents were also informed.”

Xie Sen laughed at that. “Hahahaha! They must be furious.”

 

As Xie Sen predicted, Xie’s grandfather and granddad couldn’t continue to read half of the posts except for the floor where they were picked up. The other replies all cursed them, and it was really a test of the heart to finish the posts.

What’s more, people kept replying, and it was impossible to finish reading it after a while.

“Why post this? Motherfucker!” Granddad Xie was so angry that his face turned red, his chest rose and fell violently, and he slapped the sofa hard.

Grandfather Xie’s forehead was dark, and his expression was fierce. “Report it. Report it until it’s removed!”

Two people were angry and keen to report, but two message beeps came at the same time. The same message appeared in their respective bracelets. [According to the public, you and your partner abused a child. The circumstances are suspicious, so we are collecting evidence. You and your partner are not allowed to leave Star City this week. Please cooperate with the investigation.]

“Investigate what? If it wasn’t for my son, that bitch would have been dead long ago. What’s wrong with me beating him?” Xie’s granddad shouted sharply.

“Shut up!” Grandfather Xie yelled in a harsh voice, and waved a slap at his face. “It’s all your doing!”

Granddad Xie covered his face and froze. Then he jumped on him, and grabbed him while he said in a sobbing voice, “Now you blame me? It was you who hated him in the first place! It was you who said that all our pension money was used to feed that brat! If you hadn’t told me to make a scene until my son threw him into the orphanage, would I have done it?” The more he said, the more agitated he got, as he made bloody scratches on Grandfather Xie’s face. “Now you blame me, huh? Blame me?”

Grandfather Xie’s face hurt. He grabbed his wrist and pushed him back. “Go away! It’s all on your hands!.

The ‘Xie Sen’s biological parents’ sitting across from each other glanced at each other, then slowly moved to the door and quickly slipped away. The male looked depressed. “What garbage.They were brain dead before they talked me into it. They still want to make big money?”

The female noticed people pointing at them not a few steps away, hastily took out his mask and put it on. “We can’t stay on Brandt Star. Let’s go.”

“You two.” The pair had just reached the spaceport when they were stopped. “You have been reported. After an investigation, a problem has been discovered with your identities. Please come back with us to assist the investigation.”

 

Before they went to bed that night, Maine received a message. He caressed Xie Sen behind his ear. “There’s no blood relation.”

Xie Sen smiled. “I knew it.”

Maine gave him a kiss on the lips. “I checked your…the adoption records of Xie Sen’s parents. Both of his parents, I think, are gone.”

All young children on all the planets were precious, and few parents would have thrown away their children if something bad hadn’t happened.

Xie Sen was half-lying on him, as his head rubbed his shoulder. His eyes were closed. “Mn. It’s no surprise. Besides, I have you, and later when the baby comes, we’ll all be a family.”

Maine hugged him with warm eyes, and kissed him on the forehead. “Yes.”

The next day when he woke up, Maine was no longer in the bedroom. Xie Sen got up and stretched, but was surprised by Adam’s sudden yell, and almost twisted his back.

Adam, “A’Sen, the energy lowered! It’s lowered!”

Xie Sen immediately opened the System panel. After yesterday’s pregnancy vomiting, he knew that since he couldn’t eat meat, his consumption of vegetables would increase. He purposely checked the energy value, and minus the consumption of dinner, he still had 8,352 energy left. However, now there was only 8,351.

But now it was morning. Maine gave him back 9 energy every day when he woke up and saw him, which meant that he suddenly had 10 less energy!

“Why is it suddenly less?” Xie Sen asked.

Adam, “I don’t know. If I hadn’t been awake, I probably wouldn’t have noticed. I was going to wait for you to wake up and say good morning to you, but then I noticed that the energy was suddenly 10 less. I checked. There are no new plants active, and there is no record of redemption today.” He said soothingly, “Don’t worry, I’m going to check and see what’s going on.”

Xie Sen thought about how he just yelled, and inexplicably wanted to laugh. “Well, I’m not in a hurry.”

While he was brushing his teeth, Maine came into the bathroom, wrapped his arms around him from behind, and kissed him on the side of his neck. “Good morning.”

Xie Sen’s eyes curved up, and he said vaguely, “Good morning.” He looked at Maine’s energy level, 9/10, which meant that Maine’s 9 energy had already been returned to him, so it was indeed 10 less energy.

Breakfast was green vegetable porridge plus eggs, corn and apple juice. Except for the eggs, all the rest were redeemed from the System. The color was extraordinarily nice, it looked appetizing and tasted especially good.

Xie Sen loved the corn. It was full of golden kernels, and tasted very sweet with moisture in each kernel, which made it very tasty. He even nibbled two whole ears of corn, then threw the cobs in the trash, and slowly sipped his apple juice. Maine reached out and wiped his fingers on his lips. Xie Sen subconsciously tilted his head, and saw the yellow-colored crushed corn on Maine’s hand.

He took a piece of paper and wiped his mouth haphazardly, then lifted his chin and tilted his face to Maine’s left and right, “Any…”

When he saw Maine lick the crushed corn from his fingers into his mouth, his ‘more’ stuck in his throat and his face slowly reddened. He coughed lightly, and said righteously, “Don’t tease me during the day!”

Maine’s eyes flashed with laughter. The corners of his lips curved slightly. It was a handsome face, perfect in three hundred and sixty degrees. “What do you mean by flirting?”

Xie Sen stared at him. “Don’t play dumb.”

Again, Maine laughed huskily. His voice broke the silence, reached Xie Sen’s ears, and made his heart pound inexplicably. He knocked on the table, “Now it is okay to laugh. Hahaha. But not in such a low voice.”

Maine smiled more deeply instead, and obeyed his words. Xie Sen was speechless. “Forget it. Although you’re still very handsome, it’s a little silly.”

Maine, “Don’t worry, I’ll pay attention when someone is around. I know you’re thin-skinned.”

“Who said that? I’m not a girl!” Xie Sen hummed lightly. “I’m being conscious of creating a high-minded and harmonious environment.”

Maine laughed again. He couldn’t resist cupping his chin and kissing him, then wasn’t able to control it for a moment. He invaded his mouth, ready to tangle with him for a moment. But before he reached deeper in Xie Sen’s mouth, his face twisted for a moment and his head pulled back. “Hiss…Why is it so sour?”

Xie Sen laughed and hooked an arm around his neck. “Do you want to continue the kiss?”

Maine lightly pinched his cheeks. “Ah, open your mouth and let me see. It’s so sour, how can your teeth stand it?”

Xie Sen inexplicably wanted to laugh again. His eyes crinkled, as he opened his mouth to show him. His voice was hard to understand because of that action. “My teeth are especially healthy. Haha! You make me feel like I’m at the dentist.”

Maine moved to make him close his mouth and frowned. “Is the plant getting worse?”

Xie Sen gave him a kiss on the corner of his lips. “No, when I redeemed the apple, the acidity was up to me. When I redeemed it, I suddenly craved something very sour, so I chose the medium sour flavor and liked it.”

Maine, “It was quite sweet the other day.”

Xie Sen patted his stomach. “Because the baby has grown a bit!”

Maine helplessly held his hand. “Don’t pat it like that.” He touched his stomach. “Will it be uncomfortable if it’s too sour?”

“No, don’t worry,” Xie Sen laughed. “I will definitely tell you if I’m not feeling well. I’m not the kind of person who refuses to seek medical help. I believe in early treatment and early recovery.”

After breakfast, Xie Sen took a walk in front of his home. The contract beasts were running that morning, and greeted each other as they came near him. They also slowed down again.

Xie Sen smiled and waved his hand, and told them to go to the accommodation area later.

He had just put his hand down when he heard Adam say, “I found the reason!”

Xie Sen was on his feet, and leaning against the fence. His gaze was on the contract beasts, “What’s going on?”

Adam, “I felt the energy in your abdomen, and I guess that the baby absorbed it. The last time I used my plant energy to sense the location of the water energy, I felt a slight pull, and now it seems that the baby was absorbing the energy then, so the energy created a pull between me and the baby.”

Xie Sen straightened out his thoughts, and put his hand on his abdomen. “You mean that the System plant energy and the gratitude energy obtained by activating the plants can both be absorbed by the baby?”

“Mn. In fact, they are similar. The Plant System energy is also transformed from gratitude energy.”

Xie Sen wondered, “Then why is it suddenly absorbing gratitude energy?”

Adam explained, “Because recently there have been no plant activations, ah. Each activation of a new plant, excluding the System increased energy, will have overflow energy. This part can be used and absorbed. With no plant activations, there is no Plant System energy to be absorbed, so there is only the absorption of gratitude energy.”

Xie Sen looked down at his stomach, “Will it be bad for his health?”

“Of course not!” Adam said proudly. “The baby will be healthy. He must have found all this good stuff, and absorbed it on his own.”

Xie Sen, “Wouldn’t that mean he absorbs 10 energy every day? Or should I activate a new plant for him to absorb plant energy?”

Adam mused, “Well, it’s 10 energy now, but it may be more when he grows up. Don’t activate a new plant. If you activate a new plant, most of the gratitude energy will be turned into System energy. A plant can be absorbed by him with only a limited amount of energy. It is better to absorb gratitude energy directly.”

Xie Sen calculated the remaining energy, plus the energy Maine gave back every day, and started to worry, “In that case, there isn’t enough energy.” Xie Sen patted his stomach. “I eat so well every day, the baby will be healthy even if it doesn’t absorb energy!”

Adam, “…A’Sen, they say that a pregnancy will cause someone to become silly for three years. You’re not silly, are you? The baby absorbs it on its own. It won’t stop absorbing unless there is no energy.”

Xie Sen bristled. “Who said that? I’m very smart. You are the System, block the energy. Let me exchange it for plants, okay?”

Adam’s voice was full of anger, “A’Sen, are you still unable to accept the baby? Are you going to abuse him?”

Xie Sen, “…” He sounded sure. “I like him and I’m looking forward to him. I’m just worried about the lack of energy. After all, vegetables and fruits are a necessity. It’s not necessary for him to absorb energy, other babies can grow well without it.”

Adam, “I can feel his plant affinity. He is probably a plant-based beast master like you. He has his own need for energy, so if he is able to absorb a little more in your belly, he may be able to awaken early in the future.”

Xie Sen suddenly thought of Gu Luo’s words. The reason why the plant-based beast masters disappeared had a lot to do with the disappearance of plants. They didn’t have sufficient nutritional intake from plants. He thought of his predecessor’s suffering because of the late awakening, Xie Sen immediately said, “Well, let him absorb it if he likes, as long as it doesn’t affect his body.”

Adam said, “Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on him. A’Sen, keep collecting energy! Never stop collecting energy, it’s very useful!”

Xie Sen felt the same way. “Yeah, I’ll do my best.”

He turned around and went back home, ready to start the food and energy program. Maine, who was leaning against the door, asked, “What just happened?”

Xie Sen figured he had been communicating with Adam for a while, during which he stood there motionless, while Maine had probably watched the whole thing. He went over, grabbed Maine’s hand, and they went back to the living room. He explained the situation, “The energy is really useful, and I’m going to collect more of it while my movements are still unhindered.” He expanded on the food plan, “…Or make boiled fish. The chili is already out there anyway, but to make it taste good, ginger and garlic and other seasonings should be used. Just bundle it with gauze and put it in the soup base so no one can see it.”

Maine was a little worried. “Will you be able to stand the smell of fish?”

Xie Sen said, “It’s okay. I made fish last night. I’m not afraid of smell, I just can’t eat it, although maybe I can eat it with the taste covered.”

Last night, in order to check if he could eat fish, he asked Maine to make some, but it wasn’t spicy enough. Like the meat, he hadn’t reacted to the smell. After all, the side dishes were System redeemed plants and the aroma was rich, but when he ate it he nearly threw up.

Maine was relieved. “What are the requirements for the venue? I’ll choose the location.”

Xie Sen thought about it. “A place that allows a lot of people, but it also needs security to maintain order.”

Maine nodded, “I’ll arrange it. When should it happen?”

“As soon as possible. I need to collect as much energy as possible during the small months.” Xie Sen hugged him. “It’s good to have you here. It’s a relief.”

Maine took his face and kissed it, then rubbed his fingers against his smooth skin. “You’re the one who’s saving me. You provide all the food, and I can’t help.”

“Who says you can’t help?” Xie Sen tilted his head, and gripped his fingers. “I just cooked some food. You arrange most of the work, not to mention that since I’m pregnant, you now cook all the meals.”

Maine looked at him intently. “I want to do more for you.”

Xie Sen hugged him tightly. “It’s already a lot. You’re really super nice! You don’t even know how good you are!”

 

Maine was fast and booked the venue that afternoon. He showed Xie Sen the pictures of the venue as he explained, “The address is Star City Mall. It’s the biggest mall in Star City, and there’s a lot of traffic. The location I booked is a booth.”

Xie Sen looked at the screen. It was an open-air booth, a bit like a classroom structure. The front was slightly raised in front of a large wall, while the rest of the floor was slightly lower, and took up a large area.

Maine pointed to the open space. “I made a deal with them that there would be queuing rails set up here, one person wide, in a repeating ring so that people could line up neatly. Everyone in the area will be able to smell it.”

Xie Sen’s mind immediately went to the scene when he used to go to the amusement park to stand in line and praised him, “That’s a good idea.” He thought about it. “But that wouldn’t be good for a lottery. If the audience inside draws, it’s not convenient for people to get out of line.” He nodded his chin. “I’ll go to the live broadcast room to make an announcement later. The sampling will be considered a fan benefit. Tomorrow, the order of the queue will be first come, first serve. The moment the chili is released, the fragrance will disperse. There will also be energy from back. Although it’s not as much as the people who get to eat, if there are many people around, the harvest will be good.”

Maine rubbed the top of his hair. “Okay. I’ll have the fish filleted in advance. Give me the ginger and garlic, and I’ll go take care of it now.”

Xie Sen went with him to the kitchen, where Maine made a portion of ginger, garlic and some other spices, then wrapped it in plastic wrap.

Xie Sen exchanged the super-hot chili peppers and let them explode themselves in the spice jar. In fact, if the spices were ready, anyone could do it, but Xie Sen was doing this for energy so he had to do it himself.

After the preparations were done, Xie Sen posted an announcement on the live stream [Fan Benefit! Tomorrow morning at 10:00. Star City Plaza A1 near booth 108, Live, on the spot, to make boiled fish. Free samples. PS: You need to line up in order to try. Eat until it’s gone. The guardians have the time, so do not miss out!]

His live broadcast had been stopped during the day for several days. Fans also knew that recently the fae had to receive treatment, and that the situation was special, but there were no bad comments as they could watch at night.

Although it wasn’t broadcast during the day, the iron fans set live stream opening reminders, as well as announcement reminders. After all, the anchor had a history of sudden live stream openings, as well as sudden announcements.

Especially so near the end of the month. They were looking forward to the early August contract beast meeting!

When the notification alert sounded, fans were ready to brush the small watermelon and grab the meeting tickets. First, they looked and, eh, nothing to do with the meeting. Then they looked again, oh my!

Many fans jumped up in place, “This is definitely the best fan benefit I’ve ever seen in my life!”

[Anchor, I’ve read the announcement, I kneel down and request that the announcement be withdrawn!]

[Yes, yes, yes. Withdraw the announcement!]

[I’m going to prepare the floor!]

[I just want to ask, am I still in time to get in line from home?]