Editor: Xinghe
Translator: YuQiChen/Churen
The crisis was averted.
Jiang Que let out a breath and relaxed into Shen Tazhi’s embrace, speaking honestly: “I don’t know either. It was just the title that popped into my head when I first saw you.”
“Then the driver who took me to the Anomaly Investigation Department on the way told me that you said I was your family. I thought ‘gege’ is also a kind of family, so I wanted to try calling you that when I see you again. I didn’t expect you to have this… um, strange reaction.”
Thinking about what just happened, Shen Tazhi couldn’t help but blush.
Jiang Que used his tentacles to take away the tea in his hand and reached out to hold Shen Tazhi’s hand: “If you don’t like it, I won’t call you that again, I’m sorry.”
When you do something wrong, you have to apologize. Xiao Que wanted to continue being a good child to Shen Tazhi.
Shen Tazhi’s expression changed several times, then he finally sighed and lowered his eyes: “It’s okay, I don’t mind. You can call me whatever you want.”
“But—what did you think of when you first saw me? Can you be more specific?”
There was nothing he couldn’t say, so Jiang Que said, “I was thinking something like ‘gege, I’m in pain and so lonely.’ I didn’t know why I was thinking that at the time, but I kind of understand now.”
He furrowed his brows slightly as he tried to explain, “It’s like, when I was at the Anomaly Investigation Department, I couldn’t sleep at night without you there, so I felt really lonely.”
“And, just now, I was so scared that you were angry. It’s probably the same as when you were afraid I would be angry before, right? You lied to me, and you told me you were nervous, but you were clearly scared.”
Jiang Que wrapped his tentacles around Shen Tazhi and rubbed against his neck like a kitten, saying seriously, “I’m sorry, I don’t really understand human emotions, so I’m a bit slow to react.”
“Next time, you must tell me promptly, otherwise, I won’t know. If I accidentally make you sad, I’ll be unhappy too.”
Jiang Que had always been straightforward about his feelings. This unexpectedly direct approach left Shen Tazhi at a loss.
He stood still for a moment, until he felt Jiang Que’s tentacles brush over his back, snapping him out of his daze. He squeezed out a voice from his throat:
“It’s okay… I’ll be by your side to accompany you in the future.”
“I will also explain everything to you in the future.”
Shen Tazhi, who was usually eloquent, spoke so clumsily for the first time.
He even felt a bit flustered, wanting Jiang Que to stop talking for a moment.
Don’t say such things when he has finally calmed down. He has no idea how to respond.
“Well, that’s great then.”
Shen Tazhi wasn’t angry about what happened earlier and agreed to keep accompanying Jiang Que, which made Jiang Que happy.
He wrapped his tentacles around Shen Tazhi’s wrist and swayed them back and forth, asking, “Can you continue telling me the novel? And what are we having for dinner tonight?”
The previously ambiguous atmosphere was completely disrupted by these two consecutive questions. Ironically, Jiang Que thought his questions were very appropriate —wasn’t the most important thing for him was to eat and read novels with Shen Tazhi? These two things were currently the biggest things in his life.
Shen Tazhi chuckled and sighed, “Sure, tonight we’ll have some home-cooked dishes. Let’s continue with the novel starting tomorrow. You’ve already heard enough today.”
“Okay,” Jiang Que agreed.
He took the tea from his tentacle and finally dared to drink it, finishing the sweet floral tea in the cup in one go. He then stood up from the sofa with Shen Tazhi in tow:
“Where’s the food? Let’s have dinner.”
“Que Que…” Shen Tazhi helplessly said, “Put me down first, I’ll take you to the kitchen and show you around the other parts of the house.”
One full hour later.
Jiang Que finally finished touring every corner of the villa, including the courtyard, and looked at Shen Tazhi with a hint of resentment, “Are you richer than Luo Shang?”
Shen Tazhi apologetically smiled, “Sorry, I don’t pay attention usually. I didn’t expect it to take this long to tour around.”
He was introducing things to Jiang Que as they walked, explaining everything from the layout of the rooms in the house to the types of flowers under the swing in the garden.
Shen Tazhi hadn’t originally planned to be so detailed, but thinking about the long time ahead where Jiang Que would be living with him, he couldn’t help but want to explain things more thoroughly.
He wanted Jiang Que to understand this home, to make him less unfamiliar with the human world.
During this time, he stopped several times to ask Jiang Que if he wanted to eat first. But Jiang Que, despite feeling hungry, insisted on continuing to listen while resentfully suppressing his hunger, determined to satisfy his curiosity before eating.
“I’ve remembered everything, let’s eat!”
Finally satisfying his curiosity, Jiang Que directly wrapped Shen Tazhi up with his tentacles and skillfully found the way back home from the small garden. He then swiftly ran towards the dining table, not forgetting to change their shoes in the garden with his tentacles as they entered, putting on indoor slippers —just as Shen Tazhi had taught him.
From the garden to the dining table, it only took thirty seconds.
Jiang Que obediently took his seat at the dining table, set Shen Tazhi down, then went to the nearby bathroom to wash his hands, all the while instructing Shen Tazhi, “You said the food is ready, just need to heat it up. Wait for me, I’ll wash my hands and then see how to use that machine for heating food.”
Washing hands before meals was also taught by Shen Tazhi, and he truly learned quickly.
Shen Tazhi stood in place, waiting for Jiang Que to come out of the bathroom after washing his hands, looking at Jiang Que’s happy expression. The thought that had just been suppressed couldn’t help but emerge again: With Jiang Que’s learning speed, how long could he keep teaching him?
“Shen Tazhi?”
Seeing Shen Tazhi standing still, Jiang Que called out to him in confusion.
Shen Tazhi snapped out of his thoughts and smiled, “Let’s go, I’ll show you how to use the microwave in the kitchen.”
“Okay.” Jiang Que once again wrapped his tentacles around Shen Tazhi’s wrist, pulling him forward.
Shen Tazhi, feeling the dampness of the tentacles, looked down in confusion, seeing that all eight of Jiang Que’s tentacles were dripping wet.
“Tentacles are also hands, so if you wash your hands before meals, you should wash your tentacles too, right?”
Seeing Shen Tazhi looking at his tentacles, Jiang Que explained.
He even added, “It’s uncomfortable to wash tentacles on the sink, the bathtub would be better.”
“Ha…”
A scene of Jiang Que washing his tentacles in the sink flashed in Shen Tazhi’s mind, and he couldn’t help but laugh, regretting not following to see it earlier.
“What are you laughing at.” Jiang Que poked him unhappily with his tentacle, “You put such small hand towels in the bathroom, they can’t even dry my tentacles properly. Don’t laugh at my damp tentacles.”
He wasn’t even laughing because there was water on the tentacles.
Shen Tazhi’s voice carried a hint of laughter, “Sorry, sorry, I won’t laugh anymore. But in the future, if your tentacles aren’t dirty before meals, you don’t need to wash them separately, just wash your hands.”
“Okay…” Jiang Que raised his tentacles to signal that he understood, “But if we treat them differently like this, my tentacles might feel upset. I’ll have to comfort them tonight.”
These days, Jiang Que’s stereotypical behavior of talking to himself had gradually decreased. Shen Tazhi hadn’t even heard the sound of his tentacles a few times recently, but he still naturally assumed that his tentacles could speak and needed comforting.
Without responding to that, Shen Tazhi changed the subject, saying, “Let’s go, I’ll take you to the kitchen.”
In the kitchen.
“Wow…”
Jiang Que watched the rotating microwave, marveling for what seemed like the umpteenth time today.
“This one is red, just like the alcohol lamp and the volcano, all the same color.”
He was referring to the warm orange light emitted when the microwave heated food.
Standing nearby, Shen Tazhi watched curiously as Jiang Que leaned over the counter, staring intently at the plate spinning in the microwave. Anxiously, Shen Tazhi explained, “When the light is on, it means it’s working. It needs to be off before you can open it and take out the food.”
“I know.” Jiang Que pointed to the simple black drawings on the microwave with his tentacles, “It’s marked here, don’t treat me like a child, I’m very smart.”
“Indeed, very smart.”
As Shen Tazhi spoke, he remembered Jiang Que earnestly washing his tentacles in the sink earlier and couldn’t help but want to laugh.
To hide his laughter, he continued, “We also have an oven at home, which can heat multiple dishes at once, but the food from the oven won’t taste as good as the microwave’s. The oven is mainly used for baking biscuits, breads, cakes, and other baked goods.”
“Biscuits.” Jiang Que caught onto the keyword, “The biscuits I eat, are they made in the oven too?”
“I made them, I baked them in the oven,” Shen Tazhi replied.
Immediately losing interest in the microwave, Jiang Que became more curious about the oven instead, “Where’s the oven? I want to learn, I want to make biscuits too.”
“Beep!”
Just then, the microwave beeped, the orange light went out, and Jiang Que’s attention was once again drawn back to it.
“Does that mean it’s done?” Jiang Que turned to ask Shen Tazhi, who was about to bend down to open the oven.
Silently standing up, Shen Tazhi said, “Yes, but don’t open it yet. Let me go get an oven mitt first, be careful…”
His words were not finished, but Jiang Que opened the microwave with a “pop” and deftly picked up the plate with his flexible tentacles.
The scalding plate on his tentacles caused even his originally black tentacles to turn red from the heat. However, Jiang Que seemed completely oblivious to the sizzling sound in the air and the pain in his tentacles. He looked expectantly at Shen Tazhi and asked, “And then? Do I put it on the dining table?”
Before Shen Tazhi could answer Jiang Que’s question, he quickly put on heat-resistant gloves and snatched the plate, which was about to turn Jiang Que into a small roasted octopus. He put the plate back on the kitchen’s large marble table and then frowned as he pulled Jiang Que’s tentacles closer.
“Don’t you feel the heat? Your tentacles are almost burnt.”
With his reddened tentacles curled in Shen Tazhi’s hand, Jiang Que finally realized, “Ah, so the sound just now was my tentacles getting burned?”
“Yes.” Shen Tazhi led Jiang Que back to the living room, reopened the recently opened first aid kit, and somewhat gritting his teeth, said, “In the future, listen to me before you act. You’re fine this time, but what if something happens next time?”
As he spoke, he opened the burn cream, not sure if human medicine would work on Jiang Que, but he decided to apply it to the other’s reddened tentacles.
In a low voice, Jiang Que said, “You’re so fierce.”
This time, Shen Tazhi didn’t back down, “If I’m not fierce, you’ll just have to wait until the next time you turn into a grilled octopus.”
He meant to scare Jiang Que, but Jiang Que completely misunderstood, “Grilled octopus? Is it delicious?”
He knew there was barbecue in human society because he had seen two barbecue vendors fighting to the death in the middle of the night, seemingly over the best spot to attract customers.
Listening to the people around him at that time, Jiang Que thought barbecue must be delicious, so grilled octopus should be a type of barbecue, right?
Shen Tazhi: …
From his pocket, Shen Tazhi took out his phone, searched for images of an octopus, dimmed the screen, and showed it to Jiang Que, saying, “This is an octopus.”
“Wow, it has tentacles too.” Jiang Que compared his tentacles to the octopus on the screen and concluded, “But my tentacles are bigger and prettier.”
Putting away his phone, Shen Tazhi found another picture of a grilled octopus and showed it to Jiang Que, saying, “This is a grilled octopus.”
Jiang Que looked at the screen, at the delicious-looking octopus covered in various barbecue seasonings, and then at his tentacles that were still outstretched for comparison, and fell silent.
Finally, he belatedly understood Shen Tazhi’s meaning, “You mean I’ll be grilled like this?”
Shen Tazhi nodded.
Jiang Que continued to remain silent.
Quietly, he rolled up the remaining seven tentacles.
Having already imagined the sadness of all eight tentacles being burnt, Jiang Que said with great sorrow, “I’m sorry, I won’t touch the microwave randomly again.”
He really didn’t want to end up like a grilled octopus.
The analogy had worked well; Shen Tazhi saw the genuine sadness on Jiang Que’s face and finally put away his phone. He wrapped Jiang Que’s burnt tentacles in gauze and returned to his usual gentle tone, saying, “It’s okay, it’s not burnt yet. In the future, even if you don’t feel pain, don’t touch dangerous things casually, okay?”
Jiang Que nodded repeatedly, “Got it.”
After this ordeal, he seemed much more obedient. When they returned to the kitchen, he quietly stood aside, observing how Shen Tazhi used heat-resistant gloves to handle the plates. Maybe still a bit shaken, he didn’t mention the oven from before and only occasionally asked about the names of certain dishes.
When all the dishes were brought to the table, Jiang Que didn’t dare to make any rash moves.
Carefully placing the gauze-wrapped tentacle on the table, he then took a bowl of white rice handed to him by Shen Tazhi and asked with chopsticks in hand, “Can I eat now?”
“You can,” Shen Tazhi sighed, “You don’t need to ask me about such things. What I mean is, listen to me completely before doing anything in the future.”
“Okay,” Jiang Que agreed, whispering, “I was just a bit excited.”
“I know, that’s why I didn’t blame you,” Shen Tazhi said as he used his chopsticks to pick up a chicken wing for Jiang Que, “I’m just worried about you. I know you’re not afraid of pain, but if you get hurt, I’ll be upset. Understand?”
“I understand… it’s delicious!”
Taking a bite of the chicken wing, Jiang Que immediately forgot about being scolded by Shen Tazhi earlier.
Although the chicken wings looked brown, they were sweet, and just the sauce on top made them delicious when eaten with white rice.
Jiang Que took a big bite, the sticky sauce getting on his face, but he didn’t mind and took another bite of hot rice.
This was the first satisfying meal he had had in the past two days, and even his small tentacles were happily relaxed.
“These are cola chicken wings; I thought you might like them,” Shen Tazhi said, adding a portion of oyster sauce lettuce to Jiang Que’s plate.
The lettuce had just been bought from the market that morning, fresh and crisp, lightly blanched and drizzled with oyster sauce, adding a fresh fragrance to the originally refreshing lettuce. One bite might even give the illusion of chewing meat.
The slightly salty dishes clearly suited Jiang Que’s taste. After taking a bite, he helped himself to another large portion and couldn’t resist giving his opinion:
“This is tastier than the vegetables you gave me back then!”
Shen Tazhi chuckled, “That’s because underground, the vegetables were vacuum-sealed and not fresh anymore. Fresh vegetables are delicious too. Tomorrow, I’ll stir-fry some vegetables and cook beef for you.”
Jiang Que had no idea how to pair vegetables and beef. To him, humans had countless types of dishes, each with countless mind-boggling combinations that he might never finish trying in his lifetime. He couldn’t distinguish between them for now and was too preoccupied with enjoying the meal, nodding in approval as he ate.
Shen Tazhi quietly watched him eat, then got up to prepare a bowl of Sha soup1tbh idk how to translate this. I know what it is but idk what its called in English. 𮨻湯 is a type of soup thats thickened with starch (My family uses potato starch) Originating from Xuzhou, China for Jiang Que to have on the side before starting to eat himself.
He said, “It’s just the first meal, so I haven’t made too much. There are many kinds of food for humans to eat. If you want anything specific, just let me know, and I can make it for you slowly in the future.”
Jiang Que continued to nod, completely putting aside the scolding he had just received from Shen Tazhi.
Shen Tazhi was simply the best human ever!
After finishing the meal, Jiang Que curiously watched Shen Tazhi put the bowl in the dishwasher and then wiped his mouth clean. By then, it was already late at night.
Glancing at his phone, Shen Tazhi said, “It’s already ten o’clock. Let’s go upstairs, brush our teeth, wash our faces, and sleep. Can you do that?”
“I can,” Jiang Que took Shen Tazhi’s hand and led him upstairs, saying, “I saw it before.”
He had seen it when observing those students. They would wake up at five in the morning and brush their teeth and wash their faces with cold water in a daze. The feeling of despair at that time was also very strong, so he remembered it vividly.
Rather than focusing on getting ready for bed, his attention was more on Shen Tazhi’s phone.
He wanted a phone too because humans used it to search for information, which meant he could learn things on his own without Shen Tazhi’s guidance.
But how should he bring it up to Shen Tazhi…
Before Jiang Que could figure out what to say, Shen Tazhi led him to the bedroom door.
The bedroom door opened, revealing the familiar darkness inside.
Jiang Que, who was already accustomed to darkness, didn’t feel strange. He walked to the bathroom door as if on familiar ground, only turning around to find that Shen Tazhi hadn’t followed him inside.
“Shen Tazhi?”
Confused, he looked at Shen Tazhi leaning against the door frame, watching him.
Shen Tazhi nodded at him, “Go wash up, I’ll watch you go to bed and leave. If you don’t want that, I can leave now. Remember to call me if you need anything, I’m right next door.”
Jiang Que slowly froze in place.
He looked incredulously at Shen Tazhi, “You’re not going to sleep with me?”
Shen Tazhi initially thought Jiang Que didn’t want his territory invaded by him, but he didn’t expect Jiang Que to say such a thing, looking at him with resentment, as if he had done something terribly wrong.
So he also hesitated for a moment before subconsciously asking back, “Do you want to sleep with me?”
Even underground, they slept in separate sleeping bags, so what gave Jiang Que the idea that they should sleep together?
What did he mean by that? Wasn’t the initial idea when Shen Tazhi brought him to the room for them to sleep together?
Jiang Que began to quickly recall the events in his mind.
What did Shen Tazhi say when he brought him into the room?
Oh, it was “Do you want to see your room?” “Your room is on the left.”
Shen Tazhi always said “your”, not “our”, and Jiang Que had misunderstood, assuming that the large bed was definitely for Shen Tazhi and him to share.
Jiang Que sadly pursed his lips. He didn’t want to be separated from Shen Tazhi. He still wanted to hear Shen Tazhi’s breathing and fall asleep entwined with him.
He tentatively asked, “Where is the next room?”
Shen Tazhi then took his hand and led him inside. After about three or four steps was another door.
Opening the door, inside was a small bedroom, not as large as the one he was staying in, looking like it was put together temporarily.
Although there were only three or four steps between the two doors, the bed in this room was against the far wall, opposite his bed, with a distance of at least a dozen steps between the two beds!
A distance even his longest tentacle couldn’t reach!
Except for when he went to the Anomaly Investigation Department, he had never slept this far from Shen Tazhi.
After three seconds of thought, Jiang Que felt it was unacceptable.
He looked up at Shen Tazhi, who had an expression of taking things for granted, making Jiang Que even more certain that it was unacceptable.
He wanted to sleep with Shen Tazhi, or else it would be no different from sleeping in the dark abyss.
If coming out was no different from being in the abyss, then it would be too tragic.
With these thoughts in mind, Jiang Que didn’t hesitate anymore. He directly wrapped Shen Tazhi with his tentacle, lifted him into the air, carried him back to his own bedroom, and then threw Shen Tazhi onto the bed.
“Que Que?”
Just a moment ago, he was showing Jiang Que the room, and the next second, Shen Tazhi, who was thrown onto the bed, was puzzled.
Jiang Que stood by the bed, using his tentacle to stop Shen Tazhi from getting up.
“Gege,” he called, successfully seeing Shen Tazhi stiffen.
“Gege,” Jiang Que repeated, imitating the tone he imagined Ying Qian would use, pitifully saying, “I don’t want to sleep apart from you, I want to sleep with you.”
“If you don’t sleep with me, I’ll… I’ll…” After thinking for a moment, he fiercely threatened, “I’ll dismantle this bed here, take the blanket, and go to your room to squeeze on your small bed.”
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