Zerg Chapter 21: Telling the Truth

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: KarateChopMonkey

 

When Huan Xiu arrived at the hospital, he was about to ask Xi Ran where he was, but he saw Xi Ran standing in a trance at the entrance of the hospital through the window, looking worried, and immediately turned off his contact device.

“Stop right here.”

“Okay.”

Huan Xiu got out of the car and ran to Xi Ran in three steps.

“Master…” Xi Ran licked his lips and looked a little nervous.

“What’s the problem?” Huan Xiu couldn’t help but flip back and forth to see if there was anything wrong with Xi Ran again.

“There’s really nothing wrong, it was just a checkup…”

“There’s no big problem you’re hiding from me?”

“I can explain…” Xi Ran looked like he was choking, he seemed to feel immensely guilty about the incident and looked at Huan Xiu in a panic.

“It won’t hurt you, right?” Huan Xiu guessed.

Xi Ran hurriedly shook his head.

“It won’t cause missing arms or legs or anything, right?” Huan Xiu continued to guess the worst.

“…Won’t.”

Huan Xiu was slightly relieved that it probably wasn’t a ‘big problem’ like he thought.

“The hospital entrance is not the place to talk either. Let’s go first. You drove here, right?”

Xi Ran nodded, “This way. Master, you…”

Huan Xiu saw Xi Ran’s eyes going to the flowers and, in the confusion of the situation, forgot to correct the problem of his title, “Yes, sorry, I got nervous. This is for you.”

“This…”

“I discussed with Xiao Ye that we’d give you a surprise today to celebrate your smooth entry into the military as an instructor. I’ve booked a restaurant after picking you up,” Huan Xiu explained, “Xiao Ye has already gone to the restaurant to wait.”

“I’m sorry, but on such an important day, I…”

“It’s fine. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have found you sneaking to the hospital by yourself.”

Xi Ran’s whole body tensed up for a moment. “I’m sorry. I can explain to you.”

“Fine, but Xiao Ye is still waiting. Let’s go eat first, shall we? We’ll talk about it at home tonight.” Huan Xiu also wanted to know the truth, but on the road, Xi Ran had to drive and it was hard to talk, and he didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere of dinner. So since Xi Ran said he would explain everything, it wasn’t a bad idea to go home and close the door and talk slowly.

“Can you not mention my visit to the hospital to Xiao Ye?” Xi Ran had trouble asking for something, “I don’t want him to worry.”

“Okay.” Huan Xiu nodded in agreement.

Huan Xiu said they would talk at night and didn’t disturb Xi Ran on the way. However, Xi Ran was very uneasy because of the quiet atmosphere in the car. He couldn’t help but glance at Huan Xiu from his peripheral vision, worrying about seeing his partner’s unhappy expression.

“Don’t worry, just drive.” Huan Xiu smiled and said, “Are you afraid I’ll get mad?”

“Yes… I tried to deceive you earlier.” Xi Ran’s voice was apologetic.

“I’m really not happy about that…”

Xi Ran tensed up.

“…But you didn’t do it out of malice, did you? Let’s talk it out tonight. We’re a family now, and any problems we have can be solved.”

Xi Ran’s hand trembled a little as he held the steering wheel. He felt selfish as if he expected Huan Xiu to say something like this from the very beginning, in a gentle tone, telling him, ‘It’s okay’.

Amidst this expectation and fear of the opposite result, Xi Ran and Huan Xiu arrived at the restaurant.

His facial expressions were so complicated that Huan Xiu couldn’t tell what mood Xi Ran was in, so he gave him a friendly pat on the back to cheer him up, “Xiao Ye made the card especially for you. Compliment him a bit more.”

“Mn.” Xi Ran responded, whispering, “Master is a better parent than I am. After coming to this house, Xiao Ye’s personality is much brighter than before.”

“You just haven’t mastered the method yet.” Huan Xiu pushed Xi Ran, making him, who was a bit stationary, push open the door of the private room by himself first.

“Female father!” Huan Ye listened to Huan Xiu’s words and ordered cold dishes, but he didn’t move to take a single bite, obviously waiting for the two of them to arrive. As soon as he saw Xi Ran, he handed over the finished greeting card first, probably because he had never tried to show his face in such a way, which made him a bit embarrassed, “Open it at home…”

“That’s okay.” Xi Ran smiled and carefully put the card away.

“Male father…” Huan Ye noticed that he forgot to greet Huan Xiu, who had entered after him, and called out to him with some embarrassment.

Of course, Huan Xiu didn’t take it to heart, he didn’t think that his family should care so much about manners. In fact, he also wanted to tell Xi Ran that no matter what, Huan Ye was closest to his female father and all the worries were unnecessary. But it seemed that Xi Ran was still learning how to be a father, so Huan Xiu was happy to let them discover these facts themselves.

On the surface, the meal was quite enjoyable. At least Huan Ye didn’t find any problems. Although Huan Xiu had something on his mind, he just wanted to find out more about it tonight. Xi Ran was the only one who was always on edge. He always glanced at Huan Xiu when he was eating, afraid that he might be in a bad mood from his actions.

It was already nine o’clock when they got home, and Huan Ye was sleepy by this time, so he washed up a little and went to bed.

Huan Xiu poured a hot drink for each of them and wanted to sit down and have a good talk with Xi Ran.

When he entered the room with the cups, Xi Ran, who had been told to wait in the room, couldn’t sit still and stood there a little uneasily. When Xi Ran saw him enter, he helped to take the cup. 

“Come, sit down and talk slowly. I think there’s something you want to tell me.”

Xi Ran’s look of holding his heart in his mouth was really clear to see at first glance. Xi Ran put down his cup, didn’t go to Huan Xiu, but silently handed him the pregnancy report that he had prepared beforehand.

“What is this…?” Huan Xiu looked at that piece of paper and saw another load of paper on the table, “Those are?”

“These are re-examination reports, there’s nothing wrong with them.”

What he meant was that the problem was on this piece of paper.

Huan Xiu looked down to read the words on that piece of paper – fortunately, it wasn’t handwritten by a doctor, otherwise, it would have been difficult to understand.

There was no complicated medical language on the paper, instead, it was very simple and easy to understand the low pregnancy rate and the reason for it, and in the advice column, there was only ‘keep a happy mood’ which was nothing substantial.

“This is? Huan Xiu looked up at Xi Ran, who looked like he was waiting for his trial, and the look on his face reflected, ‘I’m ready and you want to talk about this?’

“I’m sorry, I’ve known about this since before you took me in as a concubine. In fact, I knew this before I was discharged, but I’ve been hiding it from you…” Xi Ran said and kneeled down, almost shocking Huan Xiu with the pounding sound.

“What are you doing!?” Huan Xiu tried to pull him up, but he couldn’t. 

Xi Ran continued, “Please let me finish.” Xi Ran continued, “Please let me finish my story…  I was worried about Xiao Ye’s future, and I was so distracted that I wanted to keep it a secret. I didn’t expect that you would never ask to see my medical report. Later, I became more and more attracted to you… and felt even more guilty. But I thought that in the future you would have a female monarch and other children, and perhaps wouldn’t be so eager to have children with me, so I let it go.”

“That’s why you went… again.” Huan Xiu thought about how he had just mentioned to Xi Ran about having him as a monarch and thought that the move had made the other person incredulous and thus anxious about the issue.

“Mn. I was wondering if there would be a turnaround and rushed to make another appointment for a test. But it really didn’t get better.”

“Forget about that, get up first.” Huan Xiu tugged Xi Ran with great effort, but if he decided to stay on his knees, he could do nothing.

It was only after Huan Xiu’s attack of pulling that Xi Ran stood up discouraged, “Are you mad?”

“I’m a little upset that you’re hiding something from me, but that’s all. It’s not like I can’t understand.”

“……” Xi Ran looked at Huan Xiu, his tone somewhat uncertain, “Then… do you still want me?”

“Nonsense! Didn’t I say I don’t care about children, as long as I have Xiao Ye, that’s enough?” Huan Xiu felt as if all his previous words had dissipated in the wind.

“But after all, words and facts are two different things.”

“You mean my words are not credible?” Huan Xiu squinted, Xi Ran thought he was angry and almost went down on his knees again.

Huan Xiu held Xi Ran in his arms and said, “Okay, okay, don’t move, don’t move like this. Ah, I can’t stand.” Huan Xiu pressed the person down on the seat and helplessly said, “We were fine before, weren’t we? You said you wouldn’t call me ‘you’ and you forgot?”

“Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention when I was in a hurry…”

Huan Xiu shook the paper in his hands, “I thought there was something seriously wrong with you, I was worried for a long time. This kind of thing can’t even be considered a problem.”

“Then…” Xi Ran was a bit nervous, and after struggling for a long time, he asked Huan Xiu with difficulty, “Then can I still be your monarch?”

Huan Xiu smiled, “Do you want to?”

Xi Ran looked serious and solemn,  “…I want to. I want you to only have me.” 

Such a determined speech still quickly broke down, Xi Ran couldn’t help but add, “…Is that okay?”

Huan Xiu couldn’t help but laugh out loud and sighed helplessly, “You can. You really can. I don’t want anyone else. Can you rely on me a little more when you are with me?”

Xi Ran’s head tilted to the side, avoiding Huan Xiu’s line of sight. Huan Xiu noticed his shaking shoulders and froze. Was Xi Ran crying?

Huan Xiu never thought that such an ordinary sentence could touch the most vulnerable part of Xi Ran’s heart. This seemingly strong and determined female Zerg had a mask that seemed to never cry, and perhaps Xi Ran had persevered alone until now.

“Master, I think I’m selfish.” Xi Ran’s voice was a bit hoarse.

Huan Xiu didn’t try to look at Xi Ran’s face, but instead, he walked up to him and gave him a half-hug.

“I found myself wanting to hear you say that you’d like to be the only one me from the bottom of my heart. Even if… it would deprive you of your right to have a child of your own…”

“You can’t call it deprivation if you choose it yourself,” Huan Xiu patted Xi Ran’s back, who was choking on his voice, “And you’re silly, it’s not selfish, it’s the right thing to do.”

They embraced each other quietly until Xi Ran’s emotions slowly subsided, and when he turned his head, there was no trace of tears.

“Sorry for showing Master my bad side again.”

Huan Xiu rubbed his fingers near the corners of Xi Ran’s eyes, “I’m satisfied with your bad side.”

Xi Ran laughed, his eyes bent to stare at Huan Xiu without stopping.

“Just throw this away like wastepaper,” Huan Xiu raised the paper in his hand, “Besides, you only have a low pregnancy rate, it’s not lifelong infertility. You’re worrying too much.” Huan Xiu interrupted Xi Ran when he wanted to explain again, “Alright, I don’t have any expectations at all. Don’t be afraid that I will be disappointed.”

“……” Xi Ran opened his mouth and closed it again. After a long time, he said with some resignation, “How does Master know what I want to say?”

“Because you’re an easy-to-understand Zerg.”