Chapter 42: You Have to Be “Friendly,” Okay?
Mǐ Qiū had no choice but to follow him upstairs. Back in the room, the two of them sat face to face. Mǐ Qiū began, “Mainly, I need to go over the precautions for the hypnosis.”
She took out a small pamphlet regarding the precautions and handed it to Luò Shǎng Qín. “It’s roughly like this. There are only three pages in total, just take a look.”
Luò Shǎng Qín flipped through it casually. The instructions were actually quite clear, but a handwritten line had been added to the back of the booklet: If I have any small eccentricities during hypnosis, I must state them in advance.
Luò Shǎng Qín was a bit puzzled by this item. “Did Guide Mǐ add this herself?”
“I added it. For example, if you need the lights to be dimmer during hypnosis, or have any other requests—whatever you mention, I will try my best to satisfy you.”
Luò Shǎng Qín replied, “Strange enough, I don’t have any requests.”
Mǐ Qiū nodded at him. “Alright. Since that’s the case, let’s set the time for tonight. I’ll be there on time.”
After Mǐ Qiū finished speaking, she went downstairs, left the room, and returned to her own cabin. Back in her cozy room, realizing she hadn’t eaten snacks in ages, Mǐ Qiū indulged in the treats she had bought from the convenience store. She had bought quite a lot of spicy strips and the like. As for the flavor, most were spicy or barbecue. Mǐ Qiū found that the spicy strips here had a nice, chewy texture, and the flavor deepened slowly as you ate.
For Mǐ Qiū, who preferred strong flavors, it couldn’t be better. She found herself getting a bit addicted. Later, she grabbed a jelly. The jelly flavors weren’t all fruit; there were also some cheese and chocolate ones. The taste was… a bit strange. Not exactly something she could easily accept.
Taking advantage of the afternoon, Mǐ Qiū took a nap for about two hours. After waking up, she used her light-brain to catch up on some dramas. Recently, quite a few good shows had been released in the interstellar—the kind of slice-of-life dramas perfect for watching while eating. When she had nothing else to do, Mǐ Qiū would watch them and found them quite interesting. Stories, after all—the plain and simple ones felt the most real. So, holding Ruǎn Bái Bái, she spent the whole afternoon watching dramas.
It wasn’t until nearly dinner time that she walked out of her room. On the narrow table in the living room, cut fruit had already been prepared for her. Mǐ Qiū picked up a transparent fork and ate a piece of the juicy fruit. The taste of the fruit paired perfectly with the feeling of just waking up. It was so delicious that she focused solely on swallowing, the fork in her right hand never resting.
Qiū Chú Huán walked over to her and stood by her side, saying, “Guide Mǐ, I still remember your tastes. Tomorrow afternoon, you can go to the kitchen refrigerator on time and take out the red pomelo. This interstellar glass red pomelo is indeed delicious. I should say, my observation of Guide Mǐ isn’t too bad.”
Mǐ Qiū did indeed prefer eating red pomelo, but she hadn’t expected Qiū Chú Huán to have been observing her so closely. He continued, “I imagine peeling a palm-sized pomelo completely isn’t easy. Actually, there’s a knife in the kitchen specifically for cutting red pomelos. Guide Mǐ, these are all yours.”
Mǐ Qiū replied, “I usually eat about half, because a whole one is too much.”
Qiū Chú Huán said, “Then leave the rest in the fridge for Guide Mǐ to eat tomorrow. I certainly don’t want the fruit I worked so hard to cut to be divided up by other people.”
Mǐ Qiū said, “Alright then, I’ll eat it tomorrow. I really troubled you, thank you…”
“Guide Mǐ, there is no need for ‘thank you’ between us. This is what I should do.”
“Actually, you don’t need to do so much for me.”
“It’s voluntary; it’s something I’m happy to do. Guide Mǐ, you don’t need to have any psychological burden. I’m always willing to do anything for you. Guide Mǐ Qiū, as long as you know my intentions, that’s enough. Sometimes, I can’t read your heart, Guide Mǐ.”
Hè Chí’s arrival broke the conversation between the two. Dinner was ready, and Mǐ Qiū went to help serve the rice. Today’s dishes were exceptionally rich. Besides some fish and shrimp, there was actually barbecue. Mǐ Qiū noticed that the barbecue wasn’t just chicken; there was another kind of meat that looked a bit… weird. Yes, weird was the word.
Mǐ Qiū was very curious about what kind of meat it was. Suddenly, her eyes went wide. She looked closely at the texture of the meat and felt something was off. Sure enough, just as Mǐ Qiū suspected, following the lines of the texture, she could see traces of at least a hundred legs—it was dazzling to look at.
This meat was clearly bugs! Did they treat the Insect race as a platter of barbecue skewers? Mǐ Qiū still couldn’t accept it. With the previous Insect Mother dried mango, firstly, it only tasted similar but didn’t actually contain bugs, and more importantly, it still looked like dried mango on the outside. This was different.
Mǐ Qiū stared at it for a long time, swallowing her saliva. Even if she tried to imagine it wasn’t a bug, her inner defenses ultimately couldn’t be breached. Seeing her extremely ugly expression, Fù Róngqīng knew she must be frightened by the thing, so he said to her, “Guide Mǐ, if you don’t want to eat it, then don’t. Try the grilled chicken wings I made.”
Hè Chí added, “I was the one who wanted to eat the grilled insects. But Guide Mǐ Qiū, you could actually give it a try. It’s not that bad. The taste really isn’t as terrible as you think, as long as you can bravely take that step.”
Although Mǐ Qiū was genuinely curious about the taste—it was covered in a thick layer of chili powder and cumin, heavy enough that she could completely ignore the flavor inside.
Even thinking that, when it came to actual practice…
Mǐ Qiū braced herself. Sù Zé Chū, sitting opposite her, said, “Mǐ Qiū, there are so many lavish dishes in front of you. You can eat those; you don’t have to force yourself.”
Mǐ Qiū sniffed the skewer of bugs in her hand. Smelling it… it was actually quite fragrant. She felt she could indeed give it a try. So, Mǐ Qiū prepared to take a small bite—just one bite. But she hadn’t expected the bug to burst with juice. Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!
Mǐ Qiū screamed internally. She swallowed it without chewing at all. But since she had already bitten it, she had to eat that piece. Mǐ Qiū swallowed it whole,囫囵吞枣 (hú lún tūn zǎo – gulping down without tasting), and involuntarily dry-heaved. She managed to hold it back in the end, resisting the urge to vomit.
But once she had truly swallowed it into her stomach, she instantly regretted it. She felt a bit like she couldn’t digest it. Why was her lower abdomen faintly aching? Mǐ Qiū decided she would never eat such weird things again next time.
Such food was unbearable for her—Mǐ Qiū hurriedly drank a cup of warm, freshly squeezed soy milk. The sweet liquid entered her stomach, and she felt much better. Sù Zé Chū handed her a tissue, saying, “Look at you, sweating all over just from eating a skewer. Here, wipe it off.”
Seeing him make a move to wipe her sweat, Mǐ Qiū took the tissue and wiped it herself. Sù Zé Chū’s hand paused in mid-air, and he had to let it drop. Anyway, Mǐ Qiū hadn’t tasted much of it; it wasn’t terrible, but she definitely couldn’t say it was delicious.
Among them, Hè Chí was the only one eating the bug skewers happily. Originally, he made this because he liked it. Mǐ Qiū had no idea where the bug skewers came from. Later, she learned that the supermarket had a fresh food section, though the selection was limited—meat was mostly just chicken and duck. Mǐ Qiū really didn’t know they sold insect meat there. Hè Chí ate one after another, consuming about twenty skewers.
Mǐ Qiū felt an indescribable sensation just watching him eat… After she finished dinner, Sù Zé Chū went to the backyard with her to walk off the meal.
Sù Zé Chū asked, “You didn’t have to eat that just now. Why force yourself to do things you’re not willing to do?”
“You could tell?”
“Mǐ Qiū, you don’t have to cater to everyone’s emotions here. You’ll be very tired like that, very tired.”
She naturally knew it wasn’t good to do so, but she couldn’t just not give face, right? That would be even worse. Mǐ Qiū had to explain to him.
“It’s not like what you said. Since everyone grilled it, I didn’t want to ruin their mood.”
Sù Zé Chū stared at her steadily. Mǐ Qiū had to say, “Alright, alright, I know. I pay too much attention to everyone’s emotions. If I had known, I definitely wouldn’t have eaten it just now…”
Seeing Mǐ Qiū like this, Sù Zé Chū couldn’t bear to lecture her anymore. He was just worried that she considered everyone else in everything she did, but never herself. He said to her, “If you need stomach medicine, come find me anytime.”
Mǐ Qiū looked up at him and said, “Thanks, but I don’t think I’ll need it. I’m fine for now. I’m just not used to eating that, purely. It wasn’t unsanitary, and I didn’t eat much.”
Half an hour later, it was time for Mǐ Qiū to perform her hypnosis work. She felt like she had been running constantly these past few days, but even so, she still got very nervous during the preparation for every hypnosis session. Mǐ Qiū’s fingertips were a bit cold. Luò Shǎng Qín followed her steps clearly. After he lifted his shirt, Mǐ Qiū’s hand felt around on his firm abdominal muscles. After touching them so much, the feeling was just… ordinary. The Sentinels here all had eight-pack abs, and even the firmness was about the same.
Mǐ Qiū noticed his body temperature was exceptionally hot, and his ears were flushing red. Mǐ Qiū asked, “Captain Luò, are you okay?”
Luò Shǎng Qín had only known training and more training in the past. Naturally, he hadn’t had much contact with Guides. His first contact was actually with Mǐ Qiū. Her slow, small movements at this moment gave rise to a strange feeling in his heart.
He didn’t understand why hypnosis required this. Mǐ Qiū’s hand kept covering his abdomen, and his body began to heat up unconsciously. He asked Mǐ Qiū, “Guide Mǐ Qiū, is this really okay? I mean… can you soothe my spiritual body well?”
Mǐ Qiū replied, “Captain Luò doesn’t need to worry about this. I will perform the soothing properly. Even if it’s just the first time, there will be some effect. So now, I can begin.”
Mǐ Qiū then entered his dreamscape very smoothly. In the shallow dream, she could see his spiritual body. At this moment, she suddenly panicked because the opponent was strong enough to bite her head off in one mouthful. Its bite force must be incredibly powerful. Mǐ Qiū was less than five meters away from it now, but she could already feel a faint numbness and trembling all over her body. She didn’t dare to make eye contact with it, not even for a second…
This wasn’t because she was pretending to be fragile, but because the black bear opposite her was waving at her, greeting her with both hands. But how could Mǐ Qiū not be clear about its intentions? Its paws were furry and broad; a single slap could flatten and crush her directly. To a black bear, she was just something to pick its teeth with, not even a snack…
So Mǐ Qiū’s reaction was an instinctive fear, but she also knew she couldn’t hurt it. There were weapons at her hand; Mǐ Qiū could pick up a rock from the ground, or break off a small branch from the tree trunk next to her. But she knew very well that the opponent’s strength meant it couldn’t be easily smashed or injured by these stones and branches. It might even enrage this black bear…
So Mǐ Qiū dared not make any rash moves at this moment. But getting close to this black bear was also incredibly difficult. Oh my god, the bear in front of her would absolutely tear her to shreds. How was she supposed to face this hellish difficulty level with a five-star danger rating? She was so anxious that she hadn’t thought of any countermeasures. It was looking at her.
And its eyes were full of disdain or a sense of hostility. Mǐ Qiū’s intuition was indeed correct; the black bear strode towards her. It seemed to walk slowly, but in reality, it was in front of her in just a few steps. Mǐ Qiū didn’t even have time to react much. No, no! Mǐ Qiū realized her legs were completely unable to move.
Mǐ Qiū tried very hard to calm her heart down. She had to calm down now. The more critical the moment, the less she could panic. At this time, Mǐ Qiū saw it squeeze out a smile at her. Was this smile for her? But its gaze was clearly not that friendly. Mǐ Qiū’s intuition had rarely been wrong. She… still couldn’t trust it.
Mǐ Qiū took two steps back. Her steps were small, and the black bear seemed to follow her pace. She took two steps back, and it also took two steps back, not moving forward. This confused Mǐ Qiū even more…
What did this black bear want to do? It looked like it was just imitating her. So, to further verify this, Mǐ Qiū put her hand on the tree next to her. She found a very strange thing: the black bear also put its right paw on the tree. Such details seemed to explain the problem even more. So Mǐ Qiū tapped the tree trunk lightly with her finger, and the black bear did the same. Since that was the case, it must be imitating her. Then was its gaze just now also imitating her? This place was full of woods and had no mirrors, so Mǐ Qiū didn’t know what her expression looked like. But she seemed to recall someone saying that when she was overly scared, she would make a very fierce expression—not exactly fierce, but keeping people a thousand miles away.
Mǐ Qiū did indeed sometimes… deliberately pretend to be tough, also to scare others away. Thinking this, she took two steps forward, and it followed suit with two steps forward. It seemed she wasn’t wrong. But why did this black bear keep following her various movements?
It seemed she had indeed misunderstood it. But fortunately, since it wasn’t aggressive towards her and showed a current level of friendliness, she could officially begin her soothing work. But she didn’t know if it could understand her words. Mǐ Qiū tested it out, saying to it, “Hello, Little Shǎng, can you sit down?”
The black bear sat down naturally. Before sitting, it looked around at its environment, then checked if there was any debris beneath it before sitting down on the ground free of messy, broken branches. It looked at Mǐ Qiū, its eyes filled mostly with confusion. But its confusion didn’t matter; Mǐ Qiū could guide it slowly.
Mǐ Qiū said to it, “I won’t hurt you, and of course, you shouldn’t hurt me either. We are very friendly, right? Can I touch you gently? Very, very gently. I won’t hurt you, trust me.” She was asking for its opinion.
It extended its palm. Its hand seemed capable of wrapping around her entire body. She placed her hand on its palm. Actually, its paw wasn’t as hard as she imagined; it was also soft. Mǐ Qiū said to it:
“Then can I pet your head?”
The black bear put on a very puzzled look, tilting its head, seemingly not understanding what she wanted to do, just staring at her. Mǐ Qiū continued, “You don’t need to worry. I just want to pet you, simply pet you. Don’t look at your huge body; you’re actually quite cute, aren’t you?”
It was the first time the black bear had been called cute. It seemed a bit at a loss, scratching its head with its left paw. Looking at Mǐ Qiū, it blinked, letting her pet its head. But it looked like Mǐ Qiū had a little trouble reaching it, so the black bear bent its body slightly so she could touch it. When Mǐ Qiū touched it, she found the black bear felt very nice, very nice indeed!
Later, the black bear trusted her completely. It would lick her hand from time to time. Mǐ Qiū felt her palm tickle. It kept being affectionate with her like this. Mǐ Qiū was incredibly happy. Being able to soothe successfully was only one aspect. The most important thing was that Mǐ Qiū felt she could live in harmony with it, and dangerous situations wouldn’t occur. Turns out she couldn’t misunderstand it just because it looked fierce. Mǐ Qiū’s soothing of the spiritual body this time had ended.
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