Chapter 35 – Acting coquettish

Editor: Xinghe

Translator: YuQiChen/Churen

Call him gege when he needed something, and Shen Tazhi when everything was fine.

Jiang Que really had a knack for playing with titles.

Shen Tazhi couldn’t help but think, where did Jiang Que learn this cute threatening style from? What kind of nonsense had the people in the Anomaly Investigation Department been teaching him?

But he quickly had no time to think about anything else because Jiang Que, seeing he hadn’t responded, dissatisfiedly wrapped all his tentacles, except the ones entwined in gauze, around him, clearly with the stance of “I’m going to sleep like this with you today.”

Wait… don’t separate his legs.

Shen Tazhi struggled in vain for a moment, ultimately unable to escape the fate of being tightly bound by Jiang Que’s tentacles on all four limbs. Clearly overwhelmed by too many stimuli in just one day, he couldn’t even control the panting at the edge of his lips when he spoke:

“Que Que… I didn’t say I disagree.” Shen Tazhi adjusted his breathing, “You should let go of me first.”

“I don’t want to.” Jiang Que firmly refused to let go. “If I let go, what will you do?”

He began to count his own recent shocks: “Before, underground, you always slept with me, and even told me bedtime stories. Now, you not only don’t tell me stories but also don’t stay with me. You’re really going too far.”

The more Jiang Que spoke, the more aggrieved he felt. Shen Tazhi was being unreasonable, he extended a tentacle, slammed the door shut with a ‘clank’, and deftly locked it. Climbing onto the bed, he looked at Shen Tazhi in a kneeling position on his abdomen and said, “I want you to sleep with me. This is not negotiable, otherwise, I can’t sleep.”

This move was a bit too much…

“Jiang… Que.” Shen Tazhi struggled to speak, “You should get up first, let go of me.”

Usually, Shen Tazhi called him “Que Que”, though Jiang Que had always found the title childish. But now, suddenly being called by his full name, he felt uncomfortable.

Yet Jiang Que didn’t understand why he felt uncomfortable, so he actually furrowed his brow and slowly released Shen Tazhi, falling into contemplation by himself.

“Jiang Que” and “Que Que”, what’s the difference between these two titles?

Shen Tazhi finally breathed a sigh of relief, propped himself up with his arms, sat up, and then lifted Jiang Que off him, earnestly saying, “I’m sorry. I initially thought you needed your own private space, so I thought of giving you a room to yourself.”

“I didn’t finish my sentence earlier. I’m not unwilling to stay and keep you company. I will continue with bedtime stories in the future, and I won’t run away when you let go of me.”

“In that case, can you consider forgiving me?”

Shen Tazhi’s actions had proven that he was truly skilled at coaxing Jiang Que with a stroke of his fur. Jiang Que, who had been angry just a moment ago, was easily coaxed by Shen Tazhi. Disregarding the issue of titles, he happily wrapped his tentacles around Shen Tazhi and said, “It’s okay, I’m not angry, let’s go to sleep.”

Shen Tazhi raised his hand, feeling the sweat on his neck that had unknowingly trickled down. He said, “Wait a moment, I’ll go take a shower.”

He felt an urgent need for a cold shower now, or perhaps every night in the future.

Just a quick shower, still within Jiang Que’s waiting range. Jiang Que obediently cooperated, changed into pyjamas, then crawled into bed, covering himself with the blanket. Following Shen Tazhi’s example, he only let a small tentacle tip peek out from the pillow.

Shen Tazhi chuckled while patting Jiang Que’s head, then headed to the bathroom.

The sound of rushing water echoed from the bathroom as Jiang Que contentedly rolled in the soft, warm bed, hands hugging the blanket, waiting for Shen Tazhi, eventually falling asleep without any defense.

As long as Shen Tazhi was there, he could sleep peacefully.

When Shen Tazhi quickly finished his shower and came out, he saw Jiang Que curled up in the center of the bed, bundled up in all the blankets. The rest of his tentacles were twisted and turned, even in his dreams, still remembering to rest on the pillow – a lesson from Shen Tazhi that one should rest their head on a pillow while sleeping.

It seemed that Jiang Que truly loved this bed.

A smile appeared on Shen Tazhi’s lips.

Although Jiang Que had no blanket left, Shen Tazhi would not break his promise. He went to the next room, fetched another blanket, and laid it beside Jiang Que.

Gently moving Jiang Que to the other side of the bed, Shen Tazhi covered him with the blanket. Despite being extremely cautious and even making minimal movements, Jiang Que seemed to sense something, rolling over to Shen Tazhi’s side the moment he lay down.

Unconsciously, his other tentacles also moved closer to him, leaving Shen Tazhi momentarily stunned.

Looking at Jiang Que, he saw him breathing steadily, appearing obedient with his cold, indifferent black eyes closed, like a pretty young master from an ordinary family who knew nothing of the world.

This wasn’t the first time Shen Tazhi had seen Jiang Que’s sleeping face up close, but it was the first time they shared a bed.

Inappropriate feelings began to surface again, but Shen Tazhi quickly dispelled those strange emotions by repeatedly telling himself, “Jiang Que still doesn’t understand.”

He shared half of his blanket with Jiang Que, covered his stomach, and was about to take out his phone to check the long-ignored emails when he heard a low murmur from Jiang Que:

“I don’t like it when you call me Jiang Que.”

Shen Tazhi turned his head and saw Jiang Que still nestling next to him, fast asleep, breathing deeply with no signs of waking up.

Was he sleep talking?

But what kind of sleep talk was this? Did he dream of returning for revenge and abandoning the name Jiang Que for someone else?

Shen Tazhi couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought.

Just then, he heard the next sentence.

“Gege, you should call me Que Que.”

…Alright.

The cold shower and psychological preparation seemed to have been for naught.

Shen Tazhi’s already thin drowsiness was completely shattered by Jiang Que’s dream talk. He sighed, sat up straight, and grabbed his phone to check his unread emails.

The report he was supposed to receive from Jiang Que’s body inspection should have been handed over to him on the spot by the Anomaly Investigation Department, but the situation at the time was not suitable at all. He didn’t even have time to mention the inspection report before hastily leaving.

Fortunately, the investigator in charge of the examination was quite insightful. Without him having to ask, the investigator had already sent the electronic version of the email. Such smooth handling was rare in the Anomaly Investigation Department, where abilities varied widely and personalities were peculiar. It was no wonder Xi Jing insisted on leaving Du Lulu behind even after receiving the team’s mission orders.

Du Lulu was quite suitable for diplomatic-related work, but unfortunately, her personality was too simple.

This thought just flickered briefly in Shen Tazhi’s mind. He didn’t care much about others’ fates, he just opened the email.

The email contained the electronic version of Jiang Que’s body check report and the text records of all the conversations in the monitoring room. Shen Tazhi started reading impassively, but as he read on, his expression became increasingly strange.

Clearly, Du Lulu had said, “I don’t know what will hatch for now,” and “It needs to mature before laying eggs.” So how did it suddenly become urgent for Jiang Que to lay eggs immediately, and he could definitely produce little tentacles?

Was this guy even listening properly to what others were saying?

Shen Tazhi thought to himself, then couldn’t help but lightly pinch the face of the sleeping Jiang Que in a retaliatory manner.

Really… making him almost think he was really going to…

No, perhaps he should indeed prepare in advance if Jiang Que’s tentacles really had some kind of “maturity period.”

Even if he thought it was an unfair decision to have any kind of relationship with the current Jiang Que, it didn’t mean he could just hand Jiang Que over to someone else.

After all, who knew what was going on in Jiang Que’s little brain, which seemed to agree but might be thinking about something else entirely. One day, he might be tricked away by someone else with some delicious food or good looks, and end up letting someone else lay eggs for him.

As the email gradually reached its end, Shen Tazhi was calculating how to provide some nutrition for the slightly malnourished Jiang Que when he saw a special note from Du Lulu at the end:

[Mr. Shen, regarding the testing content for Jiang Que, I need authorization from Senior Xi Jing to provide you with that information. However, the senior is currently on a mission, and I am unable to reach him at the moment. Once I get in touch with him, I will immediately send it to you. Please understand.]

Just as Shen Tazhi was about to send an email to inquire about the specific testing content for Jiang Que from Du Lulu, he paused.

This girl… had quite a terrifying sixth sense, almost able to guess what he wanted to ask in an instant.

Shen Tazhi retracted his initial words. He felt that if Du Lulu received a bit of training, she wouldn’t suffer much in the business world.

Indeed, the Anomaly Investigation Department produced talents.

Thinking this, Shen Tazhi sent an inquiry email to Chief Wu.

Xi Jing wasn’t around, which could be easily resolved. Just needed to ask someone higher in position than Xi Jing.

In the end, she was just an ordinary investigator. Du Lulu was still lacking in this regard.

.

The next day.

Jiang Que was awakened by a piercing light.

Hmm… his eyes hurt.

He closed his eyes tightly and took a while before daring to open them slowly. In his gradually clearing vision, he finally found the ‘culprit’ that woke him up early – the faint morning light seeping through the crack in the curtains.

The innermost layer of this room used thick sun-blocking curtains. But perhaps due to the rush last night, the curtains that should have been tightly closed had a gap, allowing the glaring light to enter the room.

He had returned when it was already dark last night, hence why he wasn’t bothered by the light after taking off his sunglasses.

As Jiang Que thought about this, he pulled the blanket up to cover his eyes and tried to roll back into the warm bed to continue sleeping.

Just as he was about to burrow into the covers, he accidentally bumped into a warm chest.

The familiar scent of shower gel, it was Shen Tazhi.

Shen Tazhi didn’t break his promise. After taking a shower last night, he came to sleep with Jiang Que. But Jiang Que fell asleep before Shen Tazhi even arrived.

He was annoyed. How could he fall asleep so easily last night? Next time, he must wait for Shen Tazhi before going to sleep together.

Jiang Que thought regretfully, then reached out and hugged Shen Tazhi. His little tentacles wrapped around Shen Tazhi like an octopus, holding him as if embracing a huge pillow, and fell asleep peacefully again.

Shen Tazhi, warm and soft, was extremely comfortable to hug while sleeping.

Jiang Que fell into a sweet nap, while Shen Tazhi, held tightly by him, suddenly woke up from a nightmare where Jiang Que almost strangled him with his tentacles.

Opening his eyes, Shen Tazhi looked at the tangled tentacles in front of him and thought helplessly, no wonder he had such a strange dream.

“Phew… Phew…”

A soft breath sounded, and Shen Tazhi, constrained by the tentacles, struggled to lower his head slightly. He then saw Jiang Que sleeping soundly with both hands hugging him, buried in his embrace under the covers.

Why did he treat him like a pillow…

Shen Tazhi helplessly tried to move, but as expected, he couldn’t break free from Jiang Que’s ten arms’ embrace. He had to give up struggling and lay quietly on the bed, waiting for Jiang Que to wake up.

Summer days always started early, with the sky gradually lightening up. When the light seeping through the curtains became too bright, Shen Tazhi finally noticed the glaring light. He struggled to reach out a hand from Jiang Que’s suffocating embrace, touched the curtain remote control placed on the bed, and closed the curtains completely.

The room finally darkened. Just as Shen Tazhi was putting the remote control back, Jiang Que, who was tightly hugging him in his sleep, made an incomprehensible murmur and slowly released his hold.

“Que Que?” Shen Tazhi asked uncertainly.

“Good morning, Shen Tazhi.” Jiang Que rubbed his eyes awake, noticed the room had turned completely dark, and curiously asked, “Did you just close the curtains? Were you woken up by the light earlier?”

“Yeah,” Shen Tazhi replied, “How did you know? Did the light wake you up before?”

“Yep,” Jiang Que said as he slowly got up from the bed, intending to change out of the pyjamas as Shen Tazhi had taught him.

“I was just thinking about sleeping, forgot that you taught me how to use the remote control to close the curtains.”

As Jiang Que spoke, his pyjamas fell to the ground.

Shen Tazhi quickly averted his gaze, not daring to look at Jiang Que’s naked back.

*Sound of clothes dropping*

With a light sound, it seemed like Jiang Que had also taken off his sleeping pants.

Shen Tazhi’s muscles tensed unconsciously.

Only after the rustling sound of clothes disappeared and Jiang Que walked into the bathroom to freshen up did Shen Tazhi dare to slowly get up. He walked to the bathroom door and knocked, “Que Que, I’ll go next door to change clothes first and be right back.”

“Okay.” Jiang Que’s muffled voice came from inside the bathroom, toothbrush in his mouth, “You can bring your clothes to my room as well.”

Shen Tazhi’s wardrobe was large enough to fit both their clothes, so only Jiang Que would naturally make such an ambiguous request.

Shen Tazhi chuckled inwardly, replied with a “okay” and then left the room to change clothes.

Jiang Que freshened up quickly. He could brush his teeth with one hand, hold a cup with another, use both hands to lather up face wash, warm a towel with one hand, comb his hair with the other, and even had two hands free. Therefore, when he emerged from the bathroom, Shen Tazhi hadn’t returned yet.

He simply pushed the door open to find Shen Tazhi.

The room was still dim, probably because Shen Tazhi had already closed all the curtains in the house. Jiang Que briskly walked to the door of the next room and knocked, thinking that daytime was much more troublesome than nighttime.

Wait… Humans also turn on the lights at night, right? Shen Tazhi didn’t turn on the lights last night??

As Jiang Que was ‘clack clacking’ on the door with his tentacles, he suddenly stopped.

When Shen Tazhi heard the urgent knocking on the door and quickly washed his face to open it, he was unexpectedly embraced by Jiang Que.

“Que…” His first call hadn’t even come out yet when he blinked and asked, “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“Shen Tazhi, you’re so good to me.” Jiang Que sighed and wrapped Shen Tazhi, who had already changed clothes.

Shen Tazhi didn’t understand. Just as he was about to ask what was going on, he heard Jiang Que continue, “But you humans can’t see clearly in the dark, right? I can’t stay in the house all the time or wear sunglasses. I also want to slowly adapt to the light.”

“So that’s it.” Shen Tazhi smiled, looking unconcerned. “It’s okay, I’m very familiar with my home. If you want to see the light, we can take it slow.”

Even if Jiang Que hadn’t mentioned it, he would gradually help Jiang Que adjust to the light. He had just thought that it was Jiang Que’s first day at home last night and wanted him to feel comfortable at least. That’s why he didn’t turn on the lights.

“Okay.” Jiang Que said, “When I can be under the sun without sunglasses, you have to take me to see the volcano.”

He still remembered the microwave light, the flame of the alcohol lamp, and the volcano that had flashed in his sight last night.

“No problem,” Shen Tazhi agreed.

He was the head of the Shen family. Even if the group was busy, it didn’t necessarily require him to be there in person all the time. Occasionally working from home or taking a short break was also possible, just like now, he had taken a full two weeks off to focus on accompanying Jiang Que.

Jiang Que was very happy because he knew that whatever Shen Tazhi promised, he would definitely follow through. So, he quickly pulled Shen Tazhi downstairs:

“Let’s go eat!”

“Que Que, it’s nine o’clock now. Do you want to have breakfast or lunch?” Shen Tazhi asked.

“Nine o’clock?” Jiang Que was puzzled for a moment, but he quickly made a decision, “Let’s have brunch!”

Even though he didn’t know exactly what time nine o’clock was, he was hungry.

Shen Tazhi fell silent for a moment, finally remembering something he had temporarily forgotten in a corner due to too many complicated matters:

“Que Que, would you like to understand humans a little more?”

“I guess?” Jiang Que wasn’t very sure.

He came out to eat good food and read novels with Shen Tazhi, as well as to find the group of people who had imprisoned him in the abyss. But Shen Tazhi said that they were already dead, leaving him unsure of what he should do.

He had seen many humans in the abyss and thought he already understood enough about them. It wasn’t until Shen Tazhi and the members of the Anomaly Investigation Department appeared that he vaguely realized that humans might be different from the greedy and selfish bunch he had in mind.

So, further observation of humans seemed like a good choice?

With this in mind, Jiang Que firmly answered again, “I do.”

Shen Tazhi then smiled, “Shall we start with some basic human-related knowledge first, is that okay?”

“Sure,” Jiang Que agreed without hesitation.

“Great.” Shen Tazhi shook his phone, “I’ll go make brunch first, then in the afternoon, I’ll arrange for a private tutor for you.”

“Okay…” Jiang Que agreed upon hearing ‘brunch,’ then realized after speaking, “Private tutor?”

Shen Tazhi grinned, “Yes, a private tutor. They will be responsible for teaching you all the knowledge that humans learn from elementary school to high school. If you decide to go to college in the future, you won’t have to worry about lacking knowledge.”

Jiang Que fell into silence.

Jiang Que remembered the countless suffering students he had seen before, and also thought of the harsh and unreasonable teachers who would readily hit people without reason. He asked softly:

“Will the teacher be mean to me?”

In truth, he wasn’t afraid of those who were mean. Whoever was mean to him, he would just deal with them, but humans wouldn’t hit teachers, so he couldn’t harm the teacher either.

He could only endure it, feeling stifled and unhappy.

“No, they won’t,” Shen Tazhi chuckled, “They wouldn’t dare to be mean to you. I’ll find a few more backup teachers for you. You can choose whoever you think is good, okay?”

“Okay, then I’ll go to class.” Jiang Que readily agreed.

He didn’t reject knowledge, otherwise, he wouldn’t have eaten the malice just for a fleeting glimpse of the human world. As long as the teachers weren’t as unreasonable as he had seen, he would be at ease.

And he also wanted to figure out what ‘rebirth’ really meant. Perhaps the teacher could explain it to him.

“Then I’ll find three teachers for you first. Do you want all three teachers to come on the same day for a trial lesson, or should I arrange them to come one by one on different days?” Shen Tazhi asked as he tied his apron and walked into the kitchen.

Jiang Que followed into the kitchen and thought about it after hearing Shen Tazhi’s question.

If they did trial lessons one by one on different days, it would take three times longer to find the teachers. But if they did all three trial lessons at once, they would only need to set aside one day. Time spent with Shen Tazhi was precious, so the less time used, the better.

He firmly said, “I want all three teachers to come for a trial lesson together.”

As Jiang Que spoke, his small tentacles were already sticking to Shen Tazhi’s body, and he elongated his voice to ask, “Gege, if I study seriously, will you reward me?”

He wasn’t foolish. Last time, when Shen Tazhi used linguistic traps to deceive him into agreeing while they were still underground, he had questioned Shen Tazhi about the differences in ‘liking’. Shen Tazhi had cleverly diverted the topic using his speaking habits.

This was enough to show that “finding teachers for lessons” was just as important as “what is liking”. Although he didn’t see it as a big deal, since Shen Tazhi thought it was important, Jiang Que naturally wanted to take the opportunity to see if he could get more things in exchange.

Shen Tazhi, who was entwined by tentacles, stopped his preparation of washing rice, sighed helplessly and smiled with lowered eyes.

It was indeed a habit to call him gege when there was something, and Shen Tazhi when there wasn’t.

This wasn’t a good habit, but unfortunately, after successfully gaining the right to sleep with Shen Tazhi last night after a bit of a fuss, Jiang Que was getting more and more proficient in using it.

In novel terms, this was… acting coquettish?

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