After I Stopped Being a Simp, My Husband Fell for Me on His Own - Chapter 16

Before Bai Ziqi left, he handed over a thin invitation. It was not made of paper; it felt icy to the touch, with the cold, hard texture of metal.

When Yu Yi flipped it over, he discovered the back had a gravity sensor. In an instant, a clear holographic navigation map emerged, with the destination pinpointed at the private ecological garden behind the Cheng family estate.

After returning, Yu Yi sat on the sofa studying the invitation Bai Ziqi had given him. He felt like it was made of some kind of rare metal.

“This thing does not look cheap. I wonder if it would fetch any money on the black market,” he thought.

Yu Yi felt that he was indeed becoming somewhat delirious from poverty.

While he was wallowing in his bitterness, a faint recognition sound suddenly came from the door.

Ji Xingxiao was back.

Yu Yi quickly turned around, his face brightening into a flattering smile as he beamed at Ji Xingxiao. “You are back?”

Ji Xingxiao had just finished high-intensity simulation training and had even taken a cold shower in the training room; the tips of his hair were still damp.

As soon as he entered, he saw Yu Yi sitting leisurely on the sofa, looking completely idle. A spark of nameless frustration suddenly flared up in his heart.

This person claimed to want to study. His grades were so poor he needed to retake classes but could not afford the fees, yet he showed no sign of taking action. Furthermore, he had not breathed a word about simulation cabin training; he did not look like someone trying to improve at all.

Ji Xingxiao became increasingly convinced that Yu Yi was simply lazy, a person who only wanted something for nothing.

With a cold expression, he acted as if he had not heard anything, walking straight across the living room and slamming his bedroom door shut with a loud bang.

“He is so cold,” Yu Yi muttered.

Having been met with such a cold reception, Yu Yi rubbed his nose. Any lingering hopes or attempts to test the waters were completely extinguished. He silently placed the card on the table and went to take a shower, feeling distracted.

The guest bathroom in the Command Academy dormitory was quite large, but there were too many switches inside. Yu Yi could not make sense of the symbols; after showering there for two days, he only knew how to turn the lights on and off. The ventilation and drying were sensor-activated, requiring no extra input from him.

“How am I supposed to bring this up to that scumbag father of mine?” Yu Yi thought.

Yu Yi grabbed the soap and lathered his head, absentmindedly scrubbing his short hair while mentally preparing his “sob story” script for Bai Ziqi’s birthday banquet at the Cheng family estate this weekend.

It definitely would not work to say directly that he failed several classes and needed to retake them.

He had just taken 200,000 starcoins. What could he possibly need more money for?

Dating?

Claiming he needed to buy a presentable gift for Ji Xingxiao?

But there were no holidays coming up, and he did not even know Ji Xingxiao’s birthday.

Besides, what kind of relationship requires a 200,000-starcoin gift?

Asking for 180,000?

No, that was too tight. After paying the retake fees, he would only have a few hundred starcoins left. He could only stay at Ji Xingxiao’s place until next semester anyway; he still had to apply for a Beta dormitory.

Yu Yi rinsed the foam off his head and body, turned off the water, and was about to head out when he realized, belatedly, that he had not brought his clothes in.

This was a problem.

Yu Yi looked around. This massive guest bathroom showed no signs of being used by anyone else. Not only were there no spare bathrobes, there was not even a towel.

Yu Yi wiped his face, speechless.

“It does not matter. Ji Xingxiao definitely will not come out,” he assured himself.

Ji Xingxiao never came out once he returned to his room until the next day. He used a private elevator in his room that went directly to the teaching area, completely bypassing the living room. Plus, since he had been training lately, it was even less likely he would emerge.

Thinking this, Yu Yi casually pulled open the bathroom door.

Then, caught completely off guard, he slammed right into a pair of cold, startled eyes.

Ji Xingxiao was actually standing in the middle of the living room, looking right over.

At this moment, Yu Yi was completely exposed.

“Holy crap!” Yu Yi froze for a second, let out a loud shout, then dove back into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

Ji Xingxiao had returned to his room with lingering anger, but just as he was about to settle into a deep state of relaxation, the communicator clipped to his right ear vibrated gently.

This was Ji Xingxiao’s personal communicator, designed with extreme subtlety. The streamlined silver metal hugged the contour of his ear bone, with a deep blue sapphire embedded at the top. It was usually hidden beneath his black hair, making it hard to notice.

It was an invitation from the Cheng family.

An optical screen expanded in his field of vision. Ji Xingxiao skimmed through it. The content stated that it was Bai Ziqi’s birthday this weekend and invited the Ji family to attend.

Ji Xingxiao casually tapped the blue sapphire on his ear and closed the invitation.

He was leading a team into the Contaminated Zone for a mission next week and needed to train this weekend. He had no time for this kind of social gathering.

However, the problem was that he did not have the Cheng family’s contact information, and there was no return address on the invitation. There was no need to disturb his parents, who were far away in the Central Star System, over such a trivial matter. After a moment of hesitation, Ji Xingxiao decided to go out and have Yu Yi decline the invitation on his behalf.

To his surprise, Yu Yi was nowhere to be seen. Ji Xingxiao scanned the living room, and as he turned toward the bathroom, his gaze collided, completely defenseless, with the sight of a stark-naked Yu Yi.

Beneath the shock was pure disbelief.

“Does he do this every day? In the dormitory of an Alpha like me, wandering around naked without a care in the world?” he thought.

How indecent!

And then to act all panicked and run back inside—it was clearly a deliberate attempt to seduce and test him, using such disgraceful methods to secure a chance to be taken to the Contaminated Zone.

High-level Alphas with natural abilities had shorter susceptibility periods and much stronger self-control.

A Beta who could not even release pheromones actually dared to think he could use such lowly tactics to seduce him?

Suppressing the violent surge in his heart, whether from anger or something else, Ji Xingxiao let out a contemptuous sneer.

He sat straight down on the sofa, leaning back into the soft cushions, staring coldly at the closed bathroom door.

He wanted to see how Yu Yi was going to play out the rest of this scene.

Yu Yi shrunk back into the bathroom, leaning against the cold door, feeling utterly speechless.

“Retreating does not help; I still do not have clothes,” he realized.

Yu Yi sighed, steeled himself, and cracked the door open an inch, poking his head out cautiously. “Um, I did not bring my clothes in.”

He had no idea that this behavior only served to confirm Ji Xingxiao’s suspicion of his “ill intentions.”

“He just wants to trick me into the bathroom,” Ji Xingxiao thought.

A cold scoff came from outside. “Do you think I will take the bait?”

Yu Yi was silent. What was he talking about?

Yu Yi was baffled. It was as if he were some kind of perverted exhibitionist who had intentionally flashed Ji Xingxiao.

The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he got. Yu Yi decided to just let it all hang out. “I really do not have clothes! Why would I lie to you? If you do not mind, I am just going to come out and grab them.”

“Do not you dare come out!” Ji Xingxiao’s voice rose sharply. He had clearly underestimated the extent of Yu Yi’s shamelessness.

Ji Xingxiao pursed his lips tightly, his gaze sweeping toward the transparent glass pane in the center of the bathroom door. Yu Yi was hiding behind it, but since the full-obscure mode was not on, his entire silhouette was visible.

“He is definitely seducing me! I will not fall for it!”

Ji Xingxiao coldly averted his eyes, suppressed the strange agitation in his heart, and tossed out a sentence: “Figure it out yourself.”

With that, unwilling to stay a moment longer, he got up and returned to his room.

The sound of the door slamming was thunderous.

Hearing that rude bang, Yu Yi knew Ji Xingxiao had gone back to his room. He curled his lip in annoyance and walked over to the sofa to pull his pajamas out of his tattered bag.

“Honestly, who knew that someone who is never seen would suddenly pop out today of all days,” he muttered.

Just as he finished pulling on his pants, Ji Xingxiao’s door opened. As if he had timed it, he walked out expressionless, his tone stiff. “I am not going to the Cheng family’s birthday banquet this weekend. I am busy.”

“Oh, they invited you too?” Yu Yi was quite surprised.

Ji Xingxiao looked at Yu Yi as if he were an idiot. He blurted out, “We were originally…”

At this point, he felt he had fallen into Yu Yi’s trap again. Yu Yi was clearly trying to provoke him into mentioning their engagement. He immediately shut his mouth.

“Originally what?” Yu Yi did not understand.

Ji Xingxiao said icily, “Nothing. You can only stay here until next semester, understand?”

“Oh,” Yu Yi replied.

He did not specify if it was the start of next semester or the end.

“From now on, in the dorm, you are not allowed to…” Here, Ji Xingxiao choked, his expression looking quite pained.

Yu Yi silently finished for him: “I am usually not like this, really.”

Ji Xingxiao did not speak, but his face was full of distrust.

“Actually, that awkwardness just now could have been avoided entirely,” Yu Yi said suddenly.

“What?”

“You could just add me.” Yu Yi waved his phone. “If there is something, you can just message me.”

Ji Xingxiao felt even more strongly that Yu Yi was doing this on purpose, trying to use the situation to get closer to him.

In his heart, he did not want to give Yu Yi his contact information. He did not want the slightest connection with this thick-skinned, lying, mediocre Beta. However, it was true that not having a way to communicate while living together was very inconvenient.

Ji Xingxiao could only reluctantly agree.

Fortunately, the communicator was not device-locked. When Yu Yi pulled out his square phone, a model rarely seen anymore, Ji Xingxiao gave it several suspicious looks but did not ask questions.

On the weekend, Yu Yi went to the Cheng family estate. He was still wearing his faded, tattered T-shirt, showing zero intention of dressing up.

Yu Yi had never been inside the Cheng family’s private ecological garden.

The environment of this planet was not suitable for flowers to survive; every stem had to be nurtured inside specially made transparent glass covers.

The Cheng family garden was even more extravagant. The entire garden was encased in a massive, fully transparent glass dome. Inside, it had its own ecological recycling system. When Yu Yi had the honor of seeking refuge with his scumbag father at age eighteen, he had glimpsed that circular glass dome from the narrow window of a storage room. It was a dense, unfamiliar greenery he had never touched.

Today, it seemed to be specially decorated. Yu Yi noticed flowers placed throughout the garden, blooming under precisely controlled lighting.

Yu Yi realized belatedly that these flowers were more beautiful than any he had seen in the ecological supermarkets. In those markets, a single flower cost 500 starcoins, and there were thousands here.

He rarely saw flowers and did not know the species. They looked like tiny, low-hanging bells. The scent was not sickly sweet; instead, it carried the fresh fragrance of plants. It smelled wonderful and looked beautiful, so he stopped to look for a while.

“These are Lilies of the Valley,” a familiar voice sounded from behind him.

Yu Yi turned around to see Bai Ziqi smiling at him. “It is the same as the scent of my pheromones.”

Today’s birthday boy wore a well-tailored white suit. The fabric seemed different from ordinary cloth, shimmering with a luxurious pearlescent glow under the artificial light. A pink Lily of the Valley was pinned to his breast pocket. Every gesture exuded the refined elegance unique to those from the Upper District.

Yu Yi replied casually, “Oh, it smells nice.”

For some reason, upon hearing Yu Yi’s words, half of Bai Ziqi’s face suddenly turned red. He stammered, “Thank you.”

“You are welcome.” Yu Yi thought it was a bit strange but did not dwell on it. Right now, he just wanted to find a quiet corner to talk to his scumbag father about the retake fees. So he asked, “Where is the scumbag? I mean, your dad?”

Clearly not expecting Yu Yi to ask about Cheng Sui so suddenly, Bai Ziqi blinked before answering, “He should still be in his room. He will be over in a bit.”

“Oh, right. Ji Xingxiao has training and cannot make it.” Yu Yi nodded, delivering the message. Since they had nothing else to talk about, he waved his hand. “Go ahead and get busy. Happy birthday.”

A look of hesitation appeared on Bai Ziqi’s face, but he was quickly called away by his classmates.

Yu Yi went to the dessert table, grabbed some food, and wandered around sourly. Finally, he found a quiet spot to sit down and eat.

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