Chapter 18 part 1
Luo Shizhen narrowed his eyes in contentment, feeling happy because of that “small cherry tomato.”
But alongside the satisfaction, another kind of craving rose in his heart.
Not enough. I want to eat more—
Luo Shizhen’s gaze circled the side of Xiao Shan’s neck, only to find that the “tasty treat” there had already been eaten clean by him. He could only give up with regret.
Hearing Xiao Shan say he had used purification, he patted his stomach blankly. “Purification?”
His reaction was always slow. It took a full ten seconds or so before he lit up with surprise.
“Big Brother!! So this is purification!”
Mr. Chen had said that the abilities of Awakeners varied greatly. Even within the same sequence, the way abilities were utilized differed, so there was no way to systematically teach him how to use his power.
Luo Shizhen had been confused when he heard that, but now he suddenly understood.
It turned out that the purification ability was just wanting to eat until full!
It didn’t feel that hard, after all. He was always greedy and always wanted to eat things.
Grandma was right. Hard work always pays off. He had trained so hard, and now look—he could use his ability!
He also had to thank Big Brother. After all, Big Brother had taken him to train for a whole day!
Luo Shizhen was excited and happy. He wanted to thank Xiao Shan, only to find the other looking dazed. Amidst the fierceness between his brows, there was a mix of disbelief.
He was still repeating, “You were able to use purification on me?!”
Luo Shizhen didn’t know the details, but Xiao Shan knew them clearly.
It had been thirty years. Among the Purification users who could manifest their abilities within the first three years of awakening, which one hadn’t done so only for their lover?
Just a moment ago, he had thought Luo Shizhen looked completely unenlightened and probably wouldn’t be able to use his ability for three years.
Yet now, Luo Shizhen had used purification on him?
But he and Luo Shizhen had known each other for less than two days!
Xiao Shan’s worldview was about to crack.
In this moment, he suddenly recalled Luo Shizhen praising his large pectoral muscles, saying he had a good figure, and touching his arm with a face full of fondness.
Because opposite-sex Awakeners repelled each other, there were quite a few same-sex couples among Awakeners. Xiao Shan was accustomed to homosexuality.
However, Xiao Shan considered himself a straight man. Pure straight, iron straight, board straight.
Although he had no intention of falling in love due to his obsession with improving his strength and training…
He was still a straight man.
But now—
Known fact: A novice Purifier using their ability on an Awakener implies that the Awakener is their lover.
Also known: Luo Shizhen had praised him countless times in two days.
The conclusion naturally would be—
“You… You like me?!”
Xiao Shan, who usually wore an arrogant expression as if he held contempt for everything in the world, even started to stutter.
Nothing could demonstrate sincere emotion more than a Purification user casting purification.
Luo Shizhen’s face was full of happy smiles. Hearing this, although he didn’t know why Big Brother suddenly asked this, he immediately expressed his loyalty:
“Big Brother! Of course I like you!”
From his perspective, the moment he arrived at the dorm, Xiao Shan actively accepted him as a lackey, kindly washed his clothes, personally helped him put on his combat suit, and tirelessly taught him training for a whole day.
Moreover, with Big Brother’s help, he could actually use his ability!
Big Brother was much better to him than his junior high classmate had ever been!
Luo Shizhen looked at his Big Brother with admiration:
“Big Brother, I can use my ability now. In the future, if you get polluted, I can help you purify it.”
I can also help Chu Xiao, Mr. Chen, Uncle Zhang, the Principal, Qin Yinian…
Luo Shizhen was still mentally listing the names of the Awakeners he had met, when he saw Xiao Shan suddenly stand up.
“No, you can’t like me!”
Luo Shizhen was confused. “Why?”
Big Brother was good to him; why couldn’t he like Big Brother?
Xiao Shan felt his mind was a mess. “You’ve only known me for two days. Just two days and you like me?”
Luo Shizhen scratched his head. “But Big Brother, you are so good. It’s hard not to like you.”
Growing up, this was the first time Xiao Shan had met someone like Luo Shizhen—someone who could say such confession-like words with such a natural tone, without blushing or heart palpitations.
His heart did beat a little faster, but he forcibly suppressed it.
“…Anyway, you can’t like me. Give up. I won’t like you back.”
Luo Shizhen was surprised and a little disappointed. “Big Brother, you don’t like me?”
He thought Big Brother had fully accepted him. Otherwise, why would he take him training and give him a massage?
It seemed Big Brother was just a good person, not because he was a good lackey.
Xiao Shan was made to feel like he was the one with the problem by Luo Shizhen’s surprised tone.
“I’ve only known you for two days. You don’t think I could fall in love with you in just two days, do you?”
Even flash marriages weren’t that fast!
“Wait, you’re confusing me. Even if I knew you for two hundred days, I wouldn’t like you. The gender isn’t right!”
Luo Shizhen was blank. “Gender?”
What did this have to do with gender?
“I’m a straight man, understand?”
Luo Shizhen was even more lost. “What does ‘straight man’ mean? A man who stands very straight?”
Xiao Shan realized that Luo Shizhen always had a way of saying things earnestly that left people speechless.
“You said you like me, yet you don’t know what a straight man means?”
Luo Shizhen lowered his head in shame. He indeed didn’t understand many things, which was one of the reasons he struggled to fit in with the class.
Because he put almost all his time and energy into studying, and usually had to help his grandmother with housework and picking up bottles when he went home, he had no time to play with his phone. Luo Shizhen didn’t know about popular internet slang or news. Sometimes when classmates used a meme, he would take it seriously.
Fortunately, Luo Shizhen had a way to remedy this. “I’m sorry, Big Brother. I’m too stupid. I’ll look it up right now.”
Xiao Shan: “…”
He watched helplessly as the kid actually took out his phone and started Baidu-ing “What does straight man mean.”
Luo Shizhen looked at his phone intently and read in a small voice, “Straight man, originally refers to men whose sexual orientation is female…”
Xiao Shan felt uncomfortable all over listening to him read it out.
“Alright, alright. It means that I don’t like men. Even if I fall in love, I want to find a woman. Understand?”
Luo Shizhen nodded and replied loudly, “Understood!”
After replying, he looked at Xiao Shan with a silly, shy, and secretive glance, his dark, bright eyes clear but holding a hint of fawning:
“Big Brother, I’m a straight man too. I also like girls. We are the same.”
“Can I like you now?”
Xiao Shan’s brain froze for a second.
He even wanted to rush out, grab Lu Qiujin, and make him help analyze what exactly the situation was.
“You’re a straight man?”
Luo Shizhen nodded like a chick pecking at rice.
“You like girls?”
Luo Shizhen nodded again.
“But you still want to like me, a man?”
Luo Shizhen nodded, but halfway through, even with his dullness, he realized something was wrong.
“No, no, Big Brother. I like you, but not the romantic kind of like. It’s… it’s the kind of like for a Big Brother.”
He chuckled, not taking Xiao Shan’s misunderstanding to heart. He climbed up by himself, wiping away his sweat while speaking:
“How can a man like a man?”
Although Hongxi City was a city, it wasn’t a major one, and the mindset wasn’t very open. Not to mention Luo Shizhen grew up in a small town.
The ideology instilled in him since childhood was that a man should find a good job, buy a house, find a girl to marry, and have a child.
There were even more details, such as following Grandma’s teachings: do all the housework when the wife is pregnant, wash diapers for the child, take care of the child, and let the wife sleep well.
One shouldn’t be like Grandma when she was young—washing diapers in cold water right after giving birth and not resting properly, which left her with lifelong ailments.
He had even practiced the skill of washing diapers by helping wash diapers for the neighbor granny’s newborn granddaughter for over a month.
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Thank you for the translation, but is there a chpt or part missing? Last chpt (17.2) they started trainig but this chpt he apparenlty used purificaton off screen???
Thank you so much for letting me know! There’s a part 3. Uploading it.