After finishing his conversation with Zhao Miaomiao in Yin Mingzheng's arms, Shi Qing didn't make any other moves and obediently nestled in the man's embrace.
Yin Mingzheng felt an itch in his arms and, lowering his gaze, he saw that the young man might be feeling guilty. He was gently massaging the spot where he had twisted it earlier.
As he massaged, he kept his eyes closed, pretending to be asleep.
A faint smile unconsciously tugged at the corner of Yin Mingzheng's lips. He didn't expose Shi Qing and continued to carry the young man back.
To Yin Mingzheng, Shi Qing's personality was straightforward and easy to understand. He was direct and sometimes a bit cunning, but he didn't hide his true self.
Sure enough, after returning, Yin Mingzheng placed the young man on the soft bed. The young man, who had just been "asleep," immediately became lively. Like a newborn dragon showing off its scales, he rolled and tangled in the sheets, elongating his tone as he insisted that Yin Mingzheng accompany him for a bath.
Today, Yin Mingzheng had gone to inspect the outer city area. The base had a total of eighteen protective barriers, one layer after another, to ensure that even the low-level insectoids from outside, with their limited intelligence, could be trapped within the barriers.
Soldiers monitored the barriers 24/7 and requested clean-up when a sufficient number of trapped insectoids were detected.
During this time, Yin Mingzheng felt that his psychic power had significantly increased, and even his abilities had improved. Today, he experimented with the low-level insectoids trying to breach the barriers.
Killing insectoids was physically demanding work, and although he never allowed these creatures to get close to him, he still worked up a sweat.
Back when Yin Mingzheng lived alone, he could handle sweating it out and just deal with it for a night, planning to shower the next day. However, now that he had a cleanliness-loving companion in his small bed, he couldn't just "deal with it."
So he had to first coax the cuddly little leopard who wanted to snuggle and climb on him, promising to accompany him after his bath.
As Yin Mingzheng took a shower, Shi Qing acted like a little fool on the bed, playing around and teasing in a sweet and playful tone.
"Mingzheng, hurry up, I'm sleepy!"
"My stomach is growling, are you done yet?"
This was Shi Qing's unique way of being clingy. Even though he could sleep with his eyes closed and reach for food from the bedside cabinet without a problem, he insisted on having Yin Mingzheng come over to cuddle him to sleep and feed him.
Under this coquettish urging, Yin Mingzheng had to speed up his shower. Suddenly, he noticed that the constant hums and coos of affection that hadn't stopped since they returned had vanished.
Yin Mingzheng paused his shower and was about to wrap himself in a towel and check outside.
Whoosh!
The curtain in front of him was pulled open.
A pair of beautiful silver-white eyes appeared, and the young man entered with a mischievous look.
"Mingzheng, let's shower together!"
Yin Mingzheng took almost half a second to think, and another half a second to grab the towel hanging on the wall and quickly wrap it around himself.
The young man seemed surprised by his rapid actions, tilting his head with a bewildered look. "What's wrong?"
Yin Mingzheng lowered his head, hiding the sudden blush in his ears, and stammered, "I've finished, you... you can come in and shower."
With that, he awkwardly scuttled out while wrapped in the towel.
Shi Qing stood in place, turning around to watch his back with a puzzled expression.
"I bet he used his abilities just now; he ran so fast," Shi Qing thought.
The system was utterly baffled. "Even after kissing and hugging, why is he still acting like this?"
Although it could only see a mosaic, it could piece together what had happened considering the context.
"Can't you see? Kissing and hugging are just ways to comfort me. As long as nothing truly happens, he'll always find a way to push me away," Shi Qing explained.
The system was shocked and raised its voice, "After all this, he still wants to push you away? What if he suddenly rejects you in the future, even for a split second? That could be enough to eject us from this world without a protection period."
Shi Qing nonchalantly began to prepare for his shower. "We need to lower the rejection level to an absolute minimum, not just reduce it to the level of a stranger. It should be raised as good feelings."
The system, with a screen full of mosaics, stammered, "It's against the rules for me to change the terminology..."
"Host, even after everything you and Yin Mingzheng have done, he still wants to reject you? Isn't he afraid of hurting your feelings?" the system asked.
Shi Qing replied, "Hurt my feelings? That's irrelevant."
Once he was done lathering up, Shi Qing formed a large bubble with his hands and blew it. "See, my current relationship with Yin Mingzheng is like this bubble. It looks beautiful and colorful on the surface, but in reality..."
He extended a slender, white finger and gently poked it.
The bubble silently burst.
"If it weren't for me clinging to him and being affectionate, do you really think he would treat me like this now? Despite his friendly and approachable exterior, he actually has a three-fold higher level of rejection than an average person."
The system, unable to see through the mosaic, had no words.
But soon, it began to mumble, "What if he pushes the host away? What about your level of rejection? It's hard to estimate how one person will react to another person; a 50% rejection level is already the natural level of distrust when meeting a stranger. If you two separate and stop hiding, after a year or two, who knows if he'll suddenly start rejecting the host? Even if it's just for a second, it could be enough to eject us from this world without a protection period."
Shi Qing, undisturbed, continued with his shower preparations. "We need to lower the rejection level to an absolute minimum, not just reduce it to the level of a stranger. It should be raised as good feelings."
The system was at a loss. "He's already with you, and he still wants to push you away...?"
"Alright, alright, go back to memorizing the Tao Te Ching," Shi Qing said.
After calming the system, which seemed to be lost in thought, Shi Qing pulled back the curtain and called out sweetly, "Mingzheng, I forgot to bring the towel."
Yin Mingzheng was still drying his hair. He hesitated for a moment, stood up, and found Shi Qing's towel. Just as he was about to hand it over, he saw Shi Qing already pulling back the curtain, smiling carefreely.
Yin Mingzheng: "..."
He immediately lowered his gaze, reached out his arm to hand over the towel, and once it was taken, the heroic human hero resumed his normal expression and walked away from the bathroom.
However, as soon as he sat on the bed, he couldn't muster the motivation to continue drying his hair.
Initially, Yin Mingzheng had just wanted to stabilize Shi Qing, so he wouldn't impulsively take him back to the spaceship. Their escape this time had relied on Shi Qing's trust in him, and if they were taken back, he would never have the chance to return to the base.
Of course, the best way to ensure their escape was to kill Shi Qing right now.
But Yin Mingzheng couldn't do it.
He gently awakened the sleeping young man on the bed, and when Shi Qing, still drowsy, sat up and rubbed his eyes in confusion, Yin Mingzheng's heart skipped a beat momentarily, but he quickly returned to his normal expression.
"Do you remember the psychic who helped you yesterday, named Cheng Jun?"
Shi Qing shook his head blankly, his voice soft and mellow, "I don't remember."
But in his consciousness:
[Of course I remember! The handsome little guy with the hat, big eyes, a prominent nose, a sunny smile, and a bit shy, just a bit younger.]
Yin Mingzheng gently patted the young man's head and coaxed him, "I have to leave the base for a few days. I'll probably be back in at least five days. Cheng Jun has the highest psychic talent among my subordinates, and he's the same age as you. Can you play with him during this time? He'll protect you."
Yesterday, Yin Mingzheng had noticed that Cheng Jun's gaze towards Shi Qing wasn't quite right, but at the time, he didn't think much of it. It was common for youngsters to admire beauty, and Cheng Jun had been an orphan in the base since he was ten, rarely encountering someone as beautiful and clear as Shi Qing. It was normal for him to have some thoughts.
After weighing the pros and cons, Yin Mingzheng found that Cheng Jun was a suitable choice. They were about the same age, had good looks, strong psychic abilities, and Cheng Jun genuinely liked Shi Qing.
Obviously not fully awake yet, Shi Qing nodded obediently.
Although Yin Mingzheng wanted Shi Qing to agree, seeing him nod so quickly left an emptiness in his heart.
In the end, he was still a child; as long as there was someone to keep him company, it didn't matter who that person was.
After getting ready, Yin Mingzheng quickly brought Shi Qing to Cheng Jun.
Upon hearing the good news early in the morning, Cheng Jun's face was so excited that he was almost bursting with excitement. With a flushed face, he kept stealing glances at the young man who was holding onto Yin Mingzheng's arm and drowsily dozing off. He awkwardly tried to hide his thoughts.
"Big Boss, rest assured! I will definitely take good care of the young master!! Definitely!!"
Yin Mingzheng, fearing that Cheng Jun wouldn't dare to think too much because of his presence, nodded, "Yes, Shi Qing is someone I treat like a younger brother. You must take good care of him."
Younger brother!!
Cheng Jun's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly, "You can rest assured, Big Boss! I will take good care of Shi Qing!"
"Shi Qing, come here."
Yin Mingzheng pulled the young man and gently pushed him towards Cheng Jun, saying, "You should spend time with Cheng Jun these few days. Buy whatever you like, and the money will be transferred to your account."
"Um..."
Still half asleep, Shi Qing nodded obediently.
Seeing that he didn't seem to have any reluctance, Yin Mingzheng felt a bit empty inside.
Truly a heartless child.
But it was better this way; it would prevent Shi Qing from developing feelings for Cheng Jun instead of him.
With that in mind, Yin Mingzheng took Cheng Jun and began to give detailed instructions, "I've prepared food for Shi Qing. You just need to bring him back at meal times. In the evenings... he can sleep at your place, but not in the same bed. Also, he likes going out and shopping. When I'm not here, you should keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't get into conflicts with the second-generation members of the base, especially Yueyou Yuan."
Yueyou Yuan was the leader of the second-generation members in the base, the one who loved to play the most and danced the most vigorously. He had always considered himself Yin Mingzheng's arch-nemesis and was the one who organized the celebrations in the base when Yin Mingzheng was "sacrificed."
Cheng Jun nodded at each point, "Big Boss, rest assured, I will always be by Shi Qing's side and make sure he doesn't get hurt!"
They hadn't even grown close yet, and he was already calling Shi Qing by name.
For a moment, Yin Mingzheng felt a little uncomfortable and began to doubt whether he had chosen the right person. Cheng Jun seemed too young, and Shi Qing was too innocent. What if something inappropriate happened between them...
On the third day, Yin Mingzheng, who hadn't slept well for two consecutive nights, gradually became irritable, and the members of his team were too scared to speak when they saw him. They were afraid they would provoke this dragon who was breathing fire.
On the fourth day, with a black face and seeming tireless, Yin Mingzheng swept the surrounding area of all the insectoids and then announced in a cold voice that they were returning to the base.
The driver, who was in charge of driving, was urged by the boss to go faster and faster, and the pressure made him sweat profusely. They finally arrived at the base's entrance, and he felt completely drained.
Oh my god, the boss's temper is getting colder and colder.
The human hero was the first to get off the vehicle. With long strides and a game console in his hand, he almost rushed into the base impatiently.
He had to see how Shi Qing was doing, whether things were going well.
If these days he had indeed developed some feelings for Cheng Jun...
Yin Mingzheng stopped in his tracks, standing still for two or three minutes, frightening the team members who had gotten off the vehicle behind him. No one dared to say a word, afraid to provoke the fire-breathing dragon of a boss.
If they really developed feelings for each other, Shi Qing was already tens of thousands of years old. Whether in the universe or on Blue Star, he was an adult, and Yin Mingzheng wouldn't interfere.
Just as he was thinking this, a cool sports car, which could only be driven within the base, drove up to him arrogantly, and the horn honked loudly.
Beep—
Yin Mingzheng was very familiar with this flamboyant red convertible. It belonged to the most arrogant and influential second-generation member of the base, Leyou Yuan.
As expected, the next moment, the familiar carefree voice came from inside the car, "Yo, General Yin is back. It's been a while."
Yin Mingzheng didn't have time to chat with this second-generation member right now. With a cold face, he gave him a glance and was about to move on.
The result of this glance was that he froze in place.
In the red convertible's passenger seat, his little prince was sitting comfortably. When he saw Yin Mingzheng looking over, he even smiled happily and extended his hand to greet him.
Ka.
Yin Mingzheng's hand-held game console shattered.
Leyou Yuan! Shi Qing was only tens of thousands of years old, and he lied to a child like that!
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