After I Stopped Being a Simp, My Husband Fell for Me on His Own - Chapter 26

“Are you still awake this late?” Upon seeing Ji Xingxiao, Yu Yi quickly managed a flattering smile.

Whether it was because Ji Xingxiao was his only “backer” or because he had witnessed the man’s sheer power, Yu Yi had been acting particularly deferential and eager to please lately. He could not help it. He might truly need to rely on Ji Xingxiao in the future. Having shamelessly forced his way into the man’s home and pointlessly called him “hubby,” it was too late for regrets. He had to be on his best behavior now.

“It is late,” Ji Xingxiao said dryly. “Do you not have class tomorrow?”

Deliberately ignoring the overly bright smile before him, Ji Xingxiao’s gaze swept over the screen in front of Yu Yi. A yellow warning for mental fatigue had already appeared at the bottom.

“I do,” Yu Yi replied, still appearing full of fighting spirit. He wanted Ji Xingxiao to see his hard work. “I am planning to practice all night until morning, then head straight to class!”

Back when he worked part-time in the Upper District, he often pulled night shifts. Compared to that, this level of intensity was nothing. However, having trained for years, Ji Xingxiao knew well that Yu Yi’s current excitement was merely an adrenaline rush. Continuing like this would only overextend his body.

“Depleting yourself like this will only lead to distorted data; it will not help you improve,” Ji Xingxiao said. He intentionally avoided mentioning that the simulation pod was displaying Yu Yi’s declining mental state. He did not want this habitually self-sentimental Beta to think he actually cared!

“Oh, is that so?” Yu Yi gathered from Ji Xingxiao’s tone that he did not want him using the simulation pod anymore. Realizing it was not ideal to linger in someone else’s bedroom so late, he nodded obediently. “Then I will head back to sleep.”

“Yes.”

As Yu Yi stepped out of the simulation pod, he noticed the external screen was still displaying his recent combat data. He froze instantly.

“This is…” Looking at his win rate, which was not even 40 percent, and thinking of Ji Xingxiao sitting at the top of the leaderboards, Yu Yi wished he could find a hole to crawl into.

“38 percent.” Seeing Yu Yi’s embarrassment, a rare, faint trace of a relaxed smile appeared on Ji Xingxiao’s usually icy face. “Actually, it is higher than I expected.”

“Really?” Hearing Ji Xingxiao’s words, Yu Yi brightened up again. “It is my first time in combat! I just barely got the hang of it.”

It is not exactly rapid progress, Ji Xingxiao thought, tempted to discourage him. But seeing Yu Yi’s sparkling eyes, he found himself unable to say it. He could only look away and respond with feigned indifference. “Oh.”

Yu Yi did not expect any words of encouragement, but in truth, that single sentence had already boosted his spirits. Yu Yi had always been the type to thrive whenever he was given a little bit of positivity.

“Then I am going to sleep!” Yu Yi walked to the door and pulled it open. Just before stepping out, he seemed to remember something and turned back to look at Ji Xingxiao. “Ah, right.”

Ji Xingxiao looked over.

“When does the Defense Academy start teaching actual combat?” Yu Yi asked enthusiastically. “I think it is great! For someone like me who cannot stomach textbooks, combat feels like it will help me improve faster.”

Ji Xingxiao remained silent for a moment. Yu Yi looked uncharacteristically radiant, possessing a pure passion for something from the bottom of his heart. Ji Xingxiao felt a bit reluctant to tell him the truth. But reality was reality. Since Yu Yi wanted to graduate from the Defense Academy, he would find out sooner or later.

“The Defense Academy does not focus on real-time combat training,” Ji Xingxiao said. “The combat training you just did is actually the specialty of the Combat Academy.”

In fact, even when Defense Academy students went out on missions with a squad, their actual combat participation was very low. Even if they went, they were relegated to trivial tasks like maintaining mechs, driving, or refilling nutrient solutions.

Yu Yi was stunned. “Then what on earth am I learning for all that money? Mech nursing?”

No wonder they only gave extra credits to the Combat Academy! Meeting Yu Yi’s dazed gaze, Ji Xingxiao gave a cold, blunt nod.

Yu Yi increasingly felt that studying at the Defense Academy was a massive trap. But what could he do? He was already there.

Lying on the bed in the living room with a hint of melancholy, staring at the faint blue glow reflecting on the ceiling, he began to feel lost. Perhaps Cheng Sui and the others were right; he really was not suited for the Defense Academy. Even if he handled this semester’s credits, what about next semester? What about next year?

Yu Yi felt as though he had returned to the uncertainty he felt years ago. He had not made it into university and had no money left, so he came to the Upper District to work. Seeing the prosperity here, the idea of staying at all costs took root. He had shamelessly sought out Cheng Sui, shamelessly entered the Defense Academy, and now, he had shamelessly moved into Ji Xingxiao’s dormitory. But the more he understood, the more out of reach it all felt.

When he woke up the next day, Yu Yi received good news. He got a reply to the inquiry he sent yesterday.

AAA Brother Chen Scrap Recycling: “Sure. When are you free for an interview?”

Yu Yi sat up with a start and quickly replied: “Is after 4:00 PM okay?”

AAA Brother Chen Scrap Recycling: “Fine.”

With that, an address was sent over. Looking at it, Yu Yi realized the company was located on the fringe between the Upper and Lower Districts. It made sense. Space in the Upper District was at a premium. The closer to the center and the three major academies, the more expensive it got. There was no need for a scrap recycling business to be in a pricey area.

After class, Yu Yi followed the address sent by Brother Chen, boarded the train, and headed to the peripheral zone. This place was even more remote than where Old Ba lived. It was technically Upper District territory, but it looked no different from the Lower District. Yu Yi got off the train and walked through increasingly secluded alleys filled with discarded parts and puddles of filthy, black water. Finally, he arrived in front of a dilapidated factory building.

The factory before him was as ruined as the abandoned plants in the Lower District. It used obsolete double iron gates that were rusted, dented, and wobbling on their hinges. Above the iron gate, Yu Yi saw a crude sign cut from low-grade alloy. The dusty sign read: “High prices for recycled scrap mechs, simulation pods, power weapons…”

The words following were long covered by dust and blurred beyond recognition. The air was also thick with the indescribable smell of machine oil. This place was too run-down. Yu Yi stood at the entrance for a long time, not daring to enter, feeling like he had been scammed. He was even more afraid it was a black market trap to harvest his organs.

But as a Beta, nothing on his body was particularly valuable. On the market today, the most expensive items were Alpha and Omega glands. They would not go through the trouble of luring a Beta all this way. Yu Yi rubbed his neck nervously. He stood at the door, neither entering nor retreating. He thought he really should tell someone his whereabouts; otherwise, if something happened, where would anyone find him?

But as he scrolled through his contacts, he could not find anyone to send the message to. Old Ba? By the time he came to the rescue, the grass on Yu Yi’s grave would be two feet tall. Cheng Sui? He probably would not even bother to respond. The rest were just casual colleagues from past part-time jobs. His old friends from the Lower District had long since lost touch because he had been too busy struggling to make a living after moving to the Upper District.

If I do not go in, well, I am already here. What if it really was a job opening? The daily pay offered was quite high, and he was truly desperate for money.

Yu Yi clutched his thin, card-like communicator, hesitating at the door for a long time. Finally, his eyes settled on one name: Ji Xingxiao.

He could only send the message to him. Yu Yi shamelessly sent a message to Ji Xingxiao: “If I am not back by 6:30 tonight, you MUST call the police!”

He followed it up with his current location. Then, he stuffed the communicator into his pocket, took a deep breath, and pulled the bell hanging next to the iron gate. The bell had to be pulled by hand. Yu Yi felt like he rarely saw these even in the Lower District; it was too retro. The sound was the harsh, piercing screech of metal scraping against metal. Yu Yi frowned and pulled it a few times before a man walked out.

“Stop pulling, stop pulling! That sounds terrible!”

Yu Yi thought to himself, So you know it sounds terrible!

The man who emerged looked to be an Alpha in his thirties. He had a cigarette dangling from his mouth and walked over in a pair of flip-flops that went clack-clack-clack. A large silver chain hung around his neck, swinging back and forth. He pulled the iron gate open. “Here for the interview? Yu Yi?”

“Yes,” Yu Yi nodded.

Yu Yi then realized that the cigarette in the man’s mouth was the kind that actually burned, which was truly a rare sight.

“Oh, come in.” The man turned back. “My name is Chen Cheng. Just call me Brother Chen.”

“Okay, Brother Chen.” Yu Yi followed behind him.

As Brother Chen led Yu Yi into the factory, the smell of machine oil grew even heavier. The place was piled high with mech parts, and black liquid, likely oil leaked from inside the mechs, pooled on the ground. That was probably the source of the factory’s stench. In the back of the scrap yard, there were many simulation pods. Yu Yi glanced at them and noticed they were all the spherical type. From a distance, they looked like rows of dusty gray eggs.

Seeing these, Yu Yi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like a legitimate scrap recycling place, just a bit worn out. Brother Chen kicked open a wooden door. “In.”

Yu Yi followed him in. Inside was a small office, though minimalist would be an understatement. At a glance, there was just one desk and two seats. One of the seats was a long wooden bench, likely salvaged from somewhere.

“Sit, do not be shy.”

The only decent thing in the room was the ergonomic chair Brother Chen sat in, though it too looked years old.

“Oh, okay.” Yu Yi sat on the bench opposite him, feeling a bit stiff.

Brother Chen took the cigarette from his mouth, held it between his fingers, and got straight to the point. “What can you do?”

“I can do quite a lot of things.” Regardless of whether he actually could, Yu Yi knew he should be vague and say he could learn. He decided to be direct. “I am a student at the Defense Academy.”

Hearing this, Brother Chen chuckled, appearing unsurprised. “Defense Academy? Tuition there is not cheap.”

“Yes,” Yu Yi said honestly. “I am here to earn my tuition.”

“Oh?” Brother Chen smiled, his tone turning meaningful. “You will not earn 800,000 a year here.”

“800,000 is indeed…” Yu Yi followed along absentmindedly, but then the smile on his face froze. He stared at Brother Chen, stunned. How did he know the exact amount?

“However,” Brother Chen narrowed his eyes. The corners of his eyes drooped slightly, making him look lazy and harmless, but his tone carried a hint of temptation. “I can introduce you to a job where you can earn 800,000 a year.”

Having said that, he pressed the glowing ember of his cigarette directly onto the desk, burning a black ring into the wood.

Yu Yi thought, It is over. This really is a black market organ-harvesting factory.

Support