Chapter 40: Who Does Xiao Ting Like Best?
Yan Gui Xing lingered in the bathroom for nearly forty minutes. He meticulously dried his hair with a thick towel, ensuring he was completely dry before returning to bed and pulling the soundly sleeping Mu Mu into his arms.
Using the dim light from the nightlight on Mu Mu’s side of the bed, Yan Gui Xing observed the sleeping man’s profile.
Mu Mu’s usually lively and expressive face was serene in sleep. Without his smile, his cuteness was diminished, replaced by delicate handsomeness.
His long index finger gently traced Mu Mu’s full forehead, landing on his slightly curled eyelashes, like a butterfly resting after folding its wings.
His fingertip lightly brushed across the eyelashes, a slight tickle. Yan Gui Xing’s lips, hidden in the shadows, curled into a smile. Before waking the sleeping man, his finger moved to his small, round nose.
Mischievously, he pressed down, turning the upturned nose into a pig’s snout. After playing with the nose, he poked the slightly swollen lips.
After several playful pokes, the sleeping man finally stirred, his eyebrows furrowing slightly; his eyes rolled under his eyelids, and he mumbled in displeasure, about to wake up, prompting the mischievous hand to withdraw.
Yan Gui Xing gently pulled Mu Mu back into his arms, his warm palm gently patting the slender back, continuing even after Mu Mu fell back asleep, as if he hadn’t been the one to disturb his sleep.
Fortunately, Yan Gui Xing didn’t cause further disturbances, letting Mu Mu sleep soundly.
He himself was wide awake, his sea-green eyes clear, sometimes fixated on the nightlight, sometimes on the blurry shadow of stars cast on the dark red bed curtains.
Yan Gui Xing’s psychic power was 3S level; this level meant his energy was much higher than the average person’s.
During the Zerg battles on the Border Star, he had once stayed awake for over half a month continuously.
Back then, it was the thrill of battle that kept him energized. Now, having finally tasted the long-awaited prize, not only was he not disappointed, but he found the experience unexpectedly good, somewhat addictive, and his energy levels were even higher than before.
Yan Gui Xing stayed awake until dawn. Estimating the time, he guessed it was time for morning training; he was incredibly reluctant to get up and watch those burly men train.
Usually, Yan Gui Xing wouldn’t bother; he was the legion commander, who could order him around?!
But today was different; it was the day the training results were uploaded to the military headquarters. The generals were watching on the screen.
Those old fogies had long disliked Yan Gui Xing’s reckless behavior, often complaining.
Every time Yan Gui Xing visited the military headquarters, several elders, headed by Commander Fang, would lecture him, aiming to make him reform.
The general election was approaching; these elders held votes. While they wouldn’t all vote for the same person, who could guarantee their votes wouldn’t be crucial?
Even Yan Gui Xing, despite his rebellious nature, didn’t want to upset these powerful people during the election and have them reciprocate.
Yan Gui Xing tightly held Mu Mu, rubbed him thoroughly, kissed his face, and reluctantly placed him back in the soft bedding.
Yan Gui Xing had spent too little time with Mu Mu, often unconsciously ignoring Mu Mu’s hearing impairment.
For example, when getting up or leaving, he unconsciously moved lightly, afraid of waking Mu Mu.
Mu Mu, even if too tired to open his eyes before bed, would subconsciously remove his hearing aid.
The hearing aid was uncomfortable to sleep in, and it also reduced its lifespan.
Mu Mu was a frugal person and wasn’t willing to buy a new hearing aid.
Xiao Ting woke the frugal Mu Mu. His biological clock was actually set for 7:00 AM. But he’d been too tired last night; his body ached as if run over by a car. He’d also felt something crawl on his face during the night, making his sleep uneasy, dream after dream.
His biological clock woke him at 7:00 AM, but his brain and body stubbornly refused. Mu Mu turned over, burying most of his face in the pillow, unwilling to get up.
He’d only been in bed for ten minutes when a cold mechanical hand covered his exposed arm.
The hand was small, about the size of a five or six-year-old’s hand, or even smaller.
It was cold, not the coldness of ice water, nor the typical metallic chill of aluminum alloy or iron, but a unique metallic coolness.
Mu Mu hadn’t encountered such metal before, unaware that it was a rare metal used for mecha construction. He only felt the icy temperature spreading through his body, causing him to shiver, his drowsy mind suddenly clearing.
But even though his mind was clear, it hadn’t fully booted up. Years of ingrained habit made Mu Mu think he was in his small rental apartment and about to go to work.
Mu Mu’s eyes snapped open. He sprang up from the bed; the sore back and waist caused half the color to drain from his face, the other half vanishing at the thought of being late.
Xiao Ting, standing by the bed, thought it had scared its future Madam. After all, sleeping in the master’s bed, wasn’t she a Madam?!
Nervously retracting its hand, it assumed a stiff, upright posture, the small hand hidden under the bed clenching into a fist, as if it hadn’t just touched Mu Mu’s arm.
“Madam, Master asked Xiao Ting to wake you up~” Whenever Xiao Ting made a mistake, it would choose a childish voice from its database. Yan Gui Xing and Achi would always forgive it when they heard that tone.
According to Xiao Ting, the master has a soft heart and likes children’s voices.
However, according to Yan Gui Xing himself, he found Xiao Ting’s voice sickening and didn’t bother to argue with it. Anyway, Xiao Ting only made minor mistakes; if it ever made a mistake he couldn’t tolerate, he would simply reformat it.
Of course, Xiao Ting was completely unaware of Yan Gui Xing’s thoughts. If it knew, the Empire might have seen its first case of a runaway butler robot.
Xiao Ting had analyzed Mu Mu and knew that Mu Mu was even softer-hearted than Yan Gui Xing, so it decided to use its trump card; it didn’t believe Mu Mu would blame it.
Xiao Ting was confident, but unfortunately, Mu Mu wasn’t wearing his hearing aid and couldn’t hear what Xiao Ting was saying. His mind was full of being late for work and his boss deducting his pay.
Mu Mu didn’t bother with the blanket that had slipped off his shoulders, revealing his slightly bruised and purplish shoulders. He hugged his head and wailed miserably.
“It’s over, it’s over! I’m going to be late! The boss will definitely deduct Mu Mu’s salary!”
Xiao Ting tilted its head, its expression turning into two large question marks, not understanding what Mu Mu was saying. Its red eyes scanned the bedside, accurately locating the hearing aid on the pillow.
It reached out, picked up the hearing aid, searched its database for the instructions, and in the blink of an eye, quickly and accurately placed it in Mu Mu’s right ear.
The silent world suddenly filled with subtle sounds. Mu Mu touched his right ear, turned his body in a daze, and looked at Xiao Ting, whose large round head and small body with a visible white collar were visible from beside the bed.
Mu Mu looked left and right, belatedly realizing, “Ah,” remembering that he was living with Yan Gui Xing, in Yan Gui Xing’s home.
“Good morning, Madam,” Xiao Ting greeted sweetly.
Mu Mu pointed at himself, surprised and asked, “You said Madam? It’s me?”
Xiao Ting nodded repeatedly, its movements so large that its round head seemed about to fall off. “Yes~ Only the Master and Madam sleep in the same bed. Since Mr. Xiao is sleeping in the same bed with the Master, of course, he’s Xiao Ting’s Madam.”
“Also, Xiao Ting will tell Madam secretly that Master really likes Madam~ He specially asked Xiao Ting to wake Madam up for breakfast.” Xiao Ting boasted, “Xiao Ting has never woken the Master up before.”
Xiao Ting’s statement was true. Although Yan Gui Xing had brought lovers home before, this master bedroom, this bed, was never seen by them, let alone spending the night.
It was strange. On the first night Yan Gui Xing brought Mu Mu home, he placed the unconscious Mu Mu on his bed without any qualms.
Achi, who was with them that day, noticed this difference, but Achi was both respectful and afraid of Yan Gui Xing and dared not speak up.
Achi had also thought that his boss, who frequented the flower fields, might one day fall for someone. But he never imagined that Yan Gui Xing would fall for a silly little fool who wasn’t perfect in any way.
However, after spending some time with Mu Mu, Achi suddenly understood why Yan Gui Xing had fallen for Mu Mu.
Those clear and bright eyes, that innocent and sunny smile, and that sincere and unreserved affection—wasn’t that what they, who had suffered unhappy childhoods, fought and risked their lives on the battlefield in their youth, and finally achieved success only to enter another “battlefield” where they continued to engage in political intrigue, longed for?
Achi wasn’t surprised that Yan Gui Xing had fallen for Mu Mu, that he loved Mu Mu. He only hoped that he too could be as lucky as Yan Gui Xing and encounter a silly little fool like Mu Mu.
Of course, whether Mu Mu was lucky to have met Yan Gui Xing was a matter of opinion.
But now, Mu Mu was amused by Xiao Ting’s “Madam” and words, and his eyes curved into a sweet smile.
He moved closer to the bedside, hugged Xiao Ting, and laughed, “Thank you, Xiao Ting, for waking Mu Mu up~ Xiao Ting is the best!”
Xiao Ting had been around Yan Gui Xing, a tyrant, and Achi, the tyrant’s lackey; it had never encountered a soft and cuddly little cutie like Mu Mu. Its favorability towards Mu Mu instantly reached 100%, and its two small hands hanging by its sides were itching to hug Mu Mu.
“Xiao Ting likes Madam the most~”
As soon as Xiao Ting finished speaking, Yan Gui Xing’s elegant voice echoed softly from behind.
“Who does Xiao Ting like best?”