Zerg Chapter 23: Reminiscing the Past

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: KarateChopMonkey

 

The next morning, Xi Ran’s love and care for Huan Xiu intensified. In the early morning, Xi Ran not only cooked food but also made coffee and brought it to Huan Xiu’s bedside along with sliced bread.

Huan Xiu woke up to the aroma of coffee and had a headache at the same time, “I can just go down and eat it, I don’t need you to bring it to the bedside…”

“I told you I wouldn’t let you suffer.”

“Just going downstairs for a meal won’t cause any suffering at all.” Huan Xiu understood that in Xi Ran’s eyes, that statement meant doing everything in his power to be good to him. But unlike many other male Zerg, he had a stable job and financial resources and was not overly demanding in bed. Xi Ran had a hard time showing his love, so he had to show his feelings by exaggerating on such trivial matters.

“Master doesn’t like this?” Xi Ran looked a little chagrined that the way he thought it out didn’t seem to please Huan Xiu.

“I prefer to have breakfast with you guys… By the way, is Xiao Ye up yet?”

“Mn. That… the food, do you want me to take it down again?” Xi Ran inquired.

“I can take it myself…” Seeing Xi Ran look even more lost, Huan Xiu changed his tune. “But I have to wash up, so I’ll trouble you.”

“No trouble.”

“By the way, I’ll keep this,” Huan Xiu picked up the mug of coffee he had poured and sniffed it, smiling, “Thank you. I’ll be right down, you and Xiao Ye can eat first.”

Now Xi Ran’s face looked happy, and Huan Xiu thought about how easy Xi Ran was to understand.

In the middle of breakfast, Huan Ye took out the introduction paper that the school had sent out for a week-long exchange program and needed a parent’s signature to confirm it.

“Are all the Zerg going?” Huan Xiu looked over and over again at the paper, but the information given was pitifully little, probably because it was implied that the parents knew about this. After all, most of the parents at Noble School graduated from the same school.

“It’s your choice… but if you go you have to pay extra for accommodation and three meals a day…”

Huan Xiu recalled the remaining memories in his body as if this was something that used to happen every year in the college. The original owner had always been eccentric and reluctant to communicate with the family, so he never chose to participate in such activities.

“Then go. How much can the fee cost?” Huan Xiu looked at his destination, a big city not far from here. The elementary school kids were still young, so the school probably wouldn’t take them far away from here.

“Can I go? I didn’t make it last year, but I’m looking forward to it this year… ” Huan Ye was obviously very happy, holding the paper signed by Huan Xiu and carefully putting it into his school bag.

Xi Ran looked at Huan Ye in surprise. Huan Ye had enrolled in school last year, but he had never mentioned it to him… or maybe he had mentioned it to him, but he had forgotten about it?

He couldn’t help thinking about the living environment at that time. Maybe Xiao Ye was very upset by the situation, and he didn’t dare to talk to him about it. At that time, he always went to work for two or three days. He didn’t put his energy into Xiao Ye. Now Xi Ran regretted it.

In the morning, Xi Ran secretly read the congratulatory card Huan Ye wrote to him, congratulating him on his job, Huan Ye only knew that it was a good thing that female father got the job, but to be frank, he was still too young and he didn’t know anything about the front line or other military terms. He also wrote about his father’s injury at the front line and how hard it was for him afterward, and how wonderful it was that he has finally recovered and had a new home.

Afterward, Huan Ye used some childish phrases to describe how good his male father was and how he hoped they could live together as a family forever, which was like a dense essay.

The more Xi Ran realized that Huan Xiu was the reason for the change in Xiao Ye’s personality, the more he realized that he was a very unqualified father in comparison.

Xi Ran dropped Huan Ye off at the primary school, and then took Huan Xiu to the graduate school. 

Huan Xiu saw Xi Ran’s absent-minded expression and thought he was worried about Huan Ye going away from home.

“Xiao Ye’s only leaving at the end of the week. Plus, The school will make sure they won’t have any issues.”

“Ah, oh… I’m not worried about him. He’s a very independent kid.”

“Then what are you worried about?”

“I…” Xi Ran described the struggle in his heart to Huan Xiu.

“Last year… maybe he just didn’t want to bother you, he’s always very considerate of you.”

Xi Ran shook his head, “Maybe I wasn’t even home at that time. He is still so young, yet he had to keep even such a small thing to himself. Thanks to a wonderful father like you, I can’t imagine what kind of a Zerg adult I would have raised him to be…”

Xi Ran described how excitedly Huan Ye complimented him in the greeting card.

Huan Xiu glanced at the side of Xi Ran’s face as he was driving. He looked calm, but his tone was a bit tense. Huan Xiu smiled and said, “Are you out of balance?

“What… is unbalanced?”

“Do you feel as if Huan Ye is now more dependent on me than you, his biological female father… does it make you uncomfortable?”

“No way! Xiao Ye likes you and you take care of him, That’s really rare…”

Huan Xiu didn’t believe him and pressed on, “I know that, but it’s not the same thing as my question.”

“……” In the vicinity of the research institute, Xi Ran found a parking place and was silent for a while before admitting in a small voice, “…A little bit, yes. But it’s not like I think it’s a bad thing!”

“I know, I know,” Huan Xiu was busy stopping Xi Ran, who was about to stand up, to prevent him from hitting the roof of the car, “This is a perfectly normal mood.”

It’s a good thing that the three of them left early today, Huan Xiu still had time to talk to Xi Ran in the car.

“Really?” Xi Ran was a bit skeptical, “I think it’s my fault. It’s true I didn’t provide a good enough environment for Huan Ye before, but I also didn’t treat him kindly enough… I see you always touching Xiao Ye’s hair and talking to him gently, and he always smiles happily. I’m just reflecting on whether I’m being too hard on him.”

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. You don’t have to doubt yourself, you are very qualified as a female father.” Huan Xiu thought about Xi Ran smilingly touching Xiao Ye’s head and speaking to him in a soft voice, and suddenly got cold shivers.

Xi Ran listened to Huan Xiu’s reassurances and sighed softly, “…It’s hard to raise a child, even harder than operating a mecha when fighting on the front lines.”

“I remembered something from the past.” Huan Xiu said, “When I was little, my mother spoiled me all the time, but at home, my father was the strict one. Then in kindergarten… I was three or four years old, which means I was a little younger than Huan Ye. My father scolded me for doing something wrong, and my mother came to comfort me. At that time, I thought my mother was very nice, so I shouted some silly things at them, like ‘I just want my mommy, I don’t want to spend my life with my daddy anymore.’”

Xi Ran knew that on Earth, mom and dad roughly meant female and male father.

“Do you see how much more sensible Huan Ye is compared to when I was little?”

“…Then does the Master think I should change my usual attitude towards Xiao Ye?” Xi Ran looked a little puzzled. He was not the best at expressing his feelings, and with his belief that stricter rules were necessary for a child’s proper development, it was probably extra difficult for him to become a ‘loving mother’ all of a sudden.

“Listen to the end of my story. At that time, my father didn’t say anything, but when I woke up in the middle of the night and saw my dad sitting on the sofa in the living room, crying,” Huan Xiu laughed at this point, feeling a bit helpless at the same time. “I have remembered this incident for a long time. To be honest, I was really shocked at that. I didn’t realize that someone who has always been so serious would be so upset because of my words. Later on, when I got older and thought about it, he was right about a lot of things. It’s just that, like you, he wasn’t born that way and was always more easily misunderstood.”

“But I did fail to take care of Xiao Ye.”

“At least ever since I met you, you have always cared about him. You took him to school every day, cooked him breakfast and dinner, and pointed out when he made mistakes but didn’t scold him, could there be a better father?”

Xi Ran hesitated to say ‘you’, but then he realized that he was very different from Huan Xiu in terms of personality, so maybe he should continue to do what he is good at.

“Thank you… Master is always the one to guide me.”

“Of course.” Huan Xiu smiled. Xi Ran was already much better than when they first met. It had to be said that Xi Ran must have had psychological problems at the beginning, but after a few months of being together, at least on this kind of problem, Xi Ran was able to figure it out on his own, which was already remarkable.

“This is the first time Master has ever mentioned his parents.”

“Ah, after all, I didn’t tell you about my background before. And the ‘me’ of this world doesn’t have parents.”

“…… Sorry.” Xi Ran was apologetic. In the Earth world, Huan Xiu’s parents were killed in the disaster. In this world, Huan Xiu’s father died young and his female father’s whereabouts was unknown.

“It’s not your fault, don’t apologize.”

If he had to say that he has some regrets on Earth, Huan Xiu thinks it was because he hadn’t been back to see his parents for almost a year before the outbreak of the post-apocalyptic crisis. When things got worse, he was put under government surveillance as a talented person, and when his parents tried to bring them back together, they were nowhere to be seen.

After a sad moment, Huan Xiu was not allowed to look back. After all, those who had passed away cannot be reversed, and it was true that he had to live his life.

“I’ve said too much by accident, it won’t affect your trip to the barracks, right?” Huan Xiu looked at the time and was worried.

Xi Ran checked the time, “No, if we leave now, I expect to be there five minutes earlier than the scheduled time.”

“Precise,” Huan Xiu laughed, “I don’t pay attention to the time when I’m talking to you. By the way, goodbye kiss.”

Huan Xiu leaned over from the passenger seat and gently kissed Xi Ran on the lips. He didn’t know if it was because he was a little sad from remembering what happened in the past, but his behavior now was extremely warm.

“Ah, mn, Master……” Xi Ran, as always, had no power to parry kissing, and opened his lips obediently for Huan Xiu to claim.

“I don’t want you to go to work if you’re like this…” Huan Xiu whispered in a joking voice.

Xi Ran was stunned, obviously taking the joke seriously and was embarrassed.

“Oh? May I?” Huan Xiu was deliberately trying to ‘gain an inch’.

“I just got this new position, so it would be better not to miss work… But if Master doesn’t want me to go, I’ll take the day off.” Xi Ran’s tone was very firm.

Seeing that Xi Ran was definitely unwilling to be absent, Huan Xiu finally stopped teasing him, “I’m just kidding. I’m just kidding. Work is more important.”

“In the evening…”

“Mn?”

Xi Ran cleared his throat and said to Huan Xiu in all seriousness, “After work, I’ll be sure to serve Master well when I get home tonight.”

Huan Xiu was at a loss as to what to do when Xi Ran made such a steamy remark – perhaps the other’s natural EQ was off the charts.

But Huan Xiu still couldn’t help but smile, “Then I look forward to it.”