After I Stopped Being a Simp, My Husband Fell for Me on His Own - Chapter 11

“What is wrong with you?”

“My stomach hurts. I took medicine, but it is not working.” Yu Yi did not even bother looking at the underwear. He endured the pain and asked, “Do you have a medical treatment device? I would like to borrow it for a moment.”

Ji Xingxiao nodded.

To be honest, for the briefest moment when Ji Xingxiao nodded, Yu Yi thought the man might pick him up in a princess carry to move him to the sofa. His heart skipped a few beats at the thought.

Then, Yu Yi watched as Ji Xingxiao heartlessly stepped over him as he lay on the floor and headed straight for the living room. The person currently wriggling on the floor visibly stiffened.

Ji Xingxiao tapped a touchpad beneath the television cabinet in the living room. After a few casual swipes, he retrieved the treatment device. Yu Yi, being quite sensible, crawled over. Halfway there, Ji Xingxiao walked back toward him. They met in front of the sofa, and Ji Xingxiao handed him the device.

Yu Yi clutched his stomach and said weakly, “I do not know how to use it.”

Ji Xingxiao knelt down on one knee, pressed the long white cylindrical object against the center of Yu Yi’s abdomen, and pushed a button. With a soft beep, the machine immediately began diagnosing the cause of the pain and administering relief.

In less than thirty seconds, the analgesic effect kicked in, and Yu Yi felt significantly better. He let out a sigh of relief, sat up while clutching the machine, leaned against the edge of the sofa, and found the energy to joke, “Husband, you have a great physique.”

Ji Xingxiao shot him a sharp look.

“I am just joking. Sorry for disturbing your sleep,” Yu Yi said with a smile. He stood up slowly and lay back down on the sofa. He no longer had the strength to say anything more provocative.

Ji Xingxiao said nothing and appeared ready to return to his room. Yu Yi suddenly called out to him, hesitating slightly. “Could you help me pour a glass of warm water?”

Ji Xingxiao went to do so. When he returned, he found that Yu Yi had fallen asleep while holding the treatment device. He placed the glass quietly on the coffee table.

The blue light reflected from the fish tank cast a soft veil over Yu Yi’s quiet, sleeping face. It was rare to see him this peaceful. Ji Xingxiao looked down at him, his dark eyes showing no emotion other than a cold, calculating scrutiny.

Ji Xingxiao did not entirely believe Yu Yi’s words. The background check confirmed that Yu Yi was indeed Cheng Sui’s son. Given the Cheng family’s wealth, even a son from a former wife should not be so poor that they could not afford tuition. Both the Cheng and Ji families knew the engagement was a mere formality, but this Beta seemed to be taking it seriously. Or perhaps he knew it was fake and was simply putting on an act.

Ji Xingxiao’s gaze swept over Yu Yi’s entire body. The person on the sofa was fast asleep, curled up and mumbling something. Ji Xingxiao frowned but could not help leaning in to listen. The voice was faint and indistinct, repeating phrases like, “Good cow cat, bad cow cat.”

A cow-patterned cat? Ji Xingxiao was baffled.

The next morning when Yu Yi woke up, the treatment device had already provided a diagnosis. He skimmed the results and discovered that his agonizing pain last night was not a stomach disease, but rather overeating.

Yu Yi stared at those words for a long time and decided to eat something light for lunch today. It was so embarrassing. Was it simply because he had not eaten good food in too long?

There was still no movement from Ji Xingxiao’s side, and Yu Yi did not intend to disturb him. He cleaned the treatment device, placed it on the coffee table, and headed to class.

In the Upper District, small illnesses could be resolved at home without medicine or hospital visits. This kind of device was a staple in almost every household here, but to someone from the Lower District like Yu Yi, the price was astronomical.

Before learning about the purification missions, Yu Yi had always thought mechas were just toys for the Upper District nobility. Now that he had a basic understanding, he began to realize some cruel truths. Eighty percent of the population in the Lower District were Betas, while the Upper District was the complete opposite. Despite both being lands purified for human survival, he wondered if the Betas in the Lower District were simply the inferior genes that had been filtered out. Did they not deserve quality education, healthcare, or even the right to know how the world functioned?

The morning class was a practical mecha session. Yu Yi sat quietly to the side. Every class had an even number of students so they could partner up in pairs. Yu Yi was the forty-first student, inserted by Cheng Sui. He had no partner.

Mechas were far too foreign and distant for someone who had lived in the Lower District. During his first practical class after enrollment, he had been mocked by his classmates because he did not know how to open the cockpit door. They had used an astonished tone, asking, “You do not know how to open the hatch? No way!” They had even shouted for the teacher, making it a public spectacle.

The teacher had also looked at him with disbelief, asking if he had an experimental model at home. It was always the same few phrases, as if his ignorance was the greatest joke in the world. Perhaps there was no malicious intent, but the sheer surprise was enough to wound Yu Yi’s pride.

Since he was a Beta with mediocre abilities and Cheng Sui had given no special instructions to look after him, the teachers naturally ignored him during practical lessons. Having his self-esteem bruised, Yu Yi had somewhat given up and spent his time sleeping in the corner.

It was not that he had not tried to work hard, but the textbooks did not teach the basics, like how to open a hatch. Furthermore, he had to work part-time to earn amounts of money that his classmates probably would not even bother picking up if they dropped it on the ground. He had spent his time running around just to stay in the Upper District.

In the past, his pride and his exhaustion from work had led him to enjoy the solitude of being ignored. Now that he had money and no longer needed to work multiple jobs, he felt he could no longer waste time. He stood up and spoke to the teacher, Mr. Ruan, who was recording real-time data for the students. “Teacher, I do not have a partner.”

Hearing the student who usually spent his time sleeping suddenly speak, Mr. Ruan did not even look up. “Then just find one.”

Classes had been in session for nearly three months. The students already had established partners, and forcing a change would cause resentment. Mr. Ruan threw the problem back to Yu Yi. Yu Yi recognized the dismissive attitude and replied calmly, “They all have partners. They will not let me join.”

“You have to find a way yourself,” Mr. Ruan said, frowning. “Why did you not speak up sooner? School has been in session for so long.”

Since the beginning, Yu Yi had been isolated by his classmates. Even if he did not have to work, no one would have wanted to partner with him.

“I am coming to you because I have no other way,” Yu Yi said plainly, spreading his hands. “I have paid my tuition. If I know nothing by the end of the semester, it is the Defense Academy that will lose face.”

“What kind of attitude is that?” Mr. Ruan’s face darkened. “Is this how you speak to a teacher?”

Yu Yi replied, “I simply do not want to embarrass the academy when my fiancé goes on a purification mission. If I remember correctly, the teammates he selects are expected to go on missions with him even if they have not completed three years of study, right?”

Yu Yi felt a bit guilty saying this. Their engagement had not been made public, and Ji Xingxiao certainly had not selected him as a teammate.

Mentioning Ji Xingxiao made Mr. Ruan fall silent. He looked at Yu Yi with astonishment, seemingly having heard the rumors. After a moment, he asked, “You? Are you two truly engaged?”

Ji Xingxiao was an incredibly rare natural Ability User and a genius who had broken academy records since enrollment. With a father who was the Supreme Executive of the Federal Military and a mother who was a co-founder of the Defense Academy, it was unthinkable that such a high-level Alpha would be engaged to this Beta.

While Cheng Sui was a powerful Chairman of Commerce and Bai Changfeng was the strongest Omega of the Combat Academy, students with such backgrounds were not uncommon. However, Yu Yi was merely a son from a previous marriage and a mediocre Beta. No one could understand why Ji Xingxiao would choose him. Rumors had spread, but the Ji family’s stance was unclear, so most people assumed Yu Yi had been rejected until he moved into Ji Xingxiao’s dormitory.

“Of course,” Yu Yi said righteously, showing the ring on his hand. “He was the one who gave this to me!”

By using Ji Xingxiao’s name, Yu Yi finally gained some respect. Mr. Ruan agreed to personally assist him in training. Yu Yi beamed and thanked the teacher.

They started from the basics. “Before a mission, the area is surveyed. Unless there are large-scale contaminated organisms that need purification, mechas are generally used for transport,” Mr. Ruan explained while switching the experimental mecha to driving mode.

“Does that mean we will encounter creatures like monsters?” Yu Yi asked excitedly.

“It is possible,” Mr. Ruan nodded. Pointing to a row of buttons, he explained, “This button ejects the charging compartment for the Land Suit.”

“A Land Suit?” Yu Yi was confused. “What is that?”

“The purification missions we execute are actually land expansion plans issued by the center for each star system,” Mr. Ruan said. “In the lands beyond the two districts, there are still sources of contaminated pheromones left over from the apocalypse. These are fatal to Alphas and Omegas; they cause pheromone disorders and can even destroy the glands. Therefore, one must wear a Land Suit during operations.”

Yu Yi wondered why they did not recruit more Betas for these tasks instead of setting such high bars for them. He asked, “If the pheromones outside are fatal to Alphas and Omegas, why can it not be mostly Betas doing the work? It has no effect on Betas.”

Mr. Ruan, a high-level Alpha with extensive combat experience, explained as he switched the mecha to another mode, “A Beta’s physical strength cannot support the intensity of field missions. With the help of pheromones, an Omega who is not in their heat cycle can execute missions continuously for a month, and an Alpha can go for up to three months. No Beta can achieve that.”

A month without any rest? Yu Yi was stunned. What kind of monsters were Alphas and Omegas? He did not dare to say a word.

“Furthermore, Betas do not possess special abilities, so combat teams generally only carry one student from the Defense Academy,” Mr. Ruan continued. “Therefore,” he looked at Yu Yi pointedly, “your basic knowledge of mechas is lagging too far behind. I suggest you get a mecha of your own or use online simulations to practice.”

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