IHNMSL Chapter 7
by VolareSince tacitly confirming their strange and harmonious relationship with the female bug, Yao had one more task each day: helping this silver-gold beautiful female bug stroke her wings.
Female bugs’ bodies are all sturdy and hard, with almost no difference from a thick metal plate except for their scorching temperature.
However, the cold and sharp hard wing edges that faced enemies softened into a puddle in the male bug’s hands with a light touch, reluctantly sticking to Yao’s fingertips, trembling and shaking.
Yao’s head rested on the female bug’s chest, listening to the hoarse, staccato sounds coming from the female bug’s throat. Her face, seemingly both pleased and pained, appeared completely split, making it impossible to tell whether she was suffering or enjoying it.
The female bug was mostly polite and restrained, but one thing Yao found particularly perplexing was… despite having a cold face… this seemingly prim and proper female bug was so direct and domineering when demanding kisses in bed that Yao was almost certain it wasn’t the same person.
“Do you like this?” Chen Xing held the little male bug’s hand as they walked down the street. Even after spending some time together, she still didn’t quite understand Yao’s dietary preferences.
The little male bug was too well-behaved, not at all picky about food. On the surface, it seemed like there was nothing he disliked. Even bitter leaves that most male bugs avoided, he could swallow silently without a word.
Rather than him being restrained and hiding his true thoughts, Chen Xing preferred him to be bolder and share his preferences.
Yao’s skin was a pale white from not being exposed to sunlight often. Holding such a slender, clean hand, Chen Xing’s mind always uncontrollably conjured images of delicate and fragile, expensive ice crystal carvings in a display window.
The thin female bug pheromones in the air were collected by the floating spherical antennae at the entrance and fed back to the intelligent control system. A guide robot followed them from a respectful distance, ready to provide service at any time.
A baseball cap concealed the little male bug’s forehead and eyes, and the remaining half of his face was hidden behind a black mask.
“Come try on some new clothes, you can’t just stay cooped up at home all the time.” Chen Xing didn’t know what Yao was afraid of. He was sensitive to surveillance cameras, and even this outing was something he’d only reluctantly agreed to.
The basement never saw sunlight year-round, and the little male bug didn’t like going out, always keeping himself huddled at home. The rent was almost due, and the female bug was thinking that she would at least have to change to a place with a balcony.
“Don’t you like it?” Seeing Yao hesitate with the clothes in his hand, Chen Xing was puzzled. The little male bug was born beautiful, and even a simple design could be worn by him with an extraordinary sense of high class.
“Could this buy a lot of nutritional supplements?” Yao widened his eyes slightly, looking at the female bug with confusion.
Yao counted carefully. The seemingly plain and inconspicuous all-black T-shirt actually had three zeros on its tag.
“Male bug clothes are made of special materials, this price is normal.” Chen Xing thought for a moment, took the clothes from the little male bug’s hand, and replied slowly, “These few are very suitable for Yao, do you want to try them on?”
In fact, anything with the words “male bug” attached to it on Central Star wasn’t cheap. Even a casual short-sleeved shirt started at several thousand star coins, close to the monthly income of an average worker bug.
“I see…” Yao’s pressure suddenly increased, and he thought of the things the female bug occasionally brought home for him. “Wouldn’t it be very hard for you to support me?”
Looking at the little male bug’s tangled expression, Chen Xing smiled, “That’s not something Yao should worry about. During the time you don’t have family guardianship, I will take good care of you.”
“I’m Yao’s lover, aren’t I?”
There weren’t many bugs at the digital fountain square. The female bug held a cotton candy in her hand and handed it to Yao. The night in this coastal city was very cool.
In addition to buying clothes, the female bug also took Yao to the supermarket to purchase some fresh ingredients. Having a precious male bug at home meant that daily meals could no longer be casually thrown together.
“Running away from home in a huff also requires learning some necessary survival knowledge, such as this. Yao, look at the words above.”
It was a green leaf print the size of a fingernail, a male bug edible label.
“Mm, I remember.” Yao nodded. This kind of basic life knowledge was actually taught occasionally in school.
However, most of the students in noble schools were kitchen novices like Yao, spoiled and surrounded by servants. They didn’t have the chance to see unprocessed ingredients, and the teachers wouldn’t consider this part of the content as a learning focus.
“If Yao encounters a situation where he’s hungry again and doesn’t want to ask for help from the aid center, he can—”
As if thinking of something, the female bug suddenly changed the subject, turned around, and took a processed ready-to-eat product from the shelf, “Are you hungry now?”
“Not really.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Yao was stuffed a fresh shrimp sticky rice ball by the female bug.
The fresh, sweet, and chewy shrimp, the soft, glutinous rice, sprinkled with a little light soy sauce, the rich and layered flavors burst in his mouth.
“Is it good?” The corners of the female bug’s eyes lifted as she smiled.
Yao was stunned. He couldn’t spit it out, nor could he keep it down. He said in a daze, “Chen Xing, haven’t we paid yet!”
“Compared to such small matters as paying, if you don’t want to ask for help from the aid center and are starving, you can do this directly, do you understand?”
In peaceful times, in a place like the Bug Clan’s Central Star, which was like the Bug Clan’s base camp, Chen Xing felt that Yao being willing to sell spiritual stimulants in the lower-class districts for a little bit of pitiful nutritional supplements was, in some sense, a strangely talented person.
“Are you… teaching me how to freeload?” Yao was stunned, his mouth widened. Eat without paying? It could be done like that…
“No, this isn’t freeloading. Each year, the Empire specifically allocates a portion of its financial budget as a male bug-specific living subsidy, such as basic food and daily necessities. Even if you don’t have money, the government will reimburse you.”
Just as Yao was panicking and staring wide-eyed at the female bug, a service robot eagerly flew over. To be precise, it should be said that it disliked its body’s movement speed being too slow, so it had separated its round little head.
“Yes, sir, if you’re hungry, these, these, and these can all be sampled for free. This one can’t, this one has too low of a safety level.”
The little robot ball picked and chose at a speed that left Yao dumbfounded, piling up a tall tower of delicacies in front of him, basically encompassing all the highest-end foods in the store.
At the end, the black display screen on the little robot bug’s forehead, which was rotating and leaping 360 degrees, kept popping out pink little hearts, making Yao unable to help but smile, worried that its chip would overheat and burn out its brain.
“It’s just an experiment, see, there’s absolutely no need to be afraid.” Chen Xing stroked the little male bug’s head to comfort him, “No one will blame you if you’re extremely hungry.”
The male bug’s health was clearly more important.
In the end, Yao still watched Chen Xing pay for all the purchased items one by one, and declined the enthusiastic robot bug that kept stuffing food into the bag.
“Are you thirsty, sir? Do you want to drink water?” The little robot bug cheerfully asked.
It had never been so diligent in the face of the supervisor’s intelligent brain, and the amplitude of its standardized smile had also widened by a few centimeters.
“Really don’t need help? Is sir too thin? Will you come often in the future? I will prepare more delicious food for sir every day!”
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