After I Stopped Being a Simp, My Husband Fell for Me on His Own - Chapter 31

When Yu Yi regained consciousness, the first thing he heard was the sound of the wind. It was the kind of wind produced by an old electric fan, accompanied by the low humming of a motor.

To Yu Yi, the time spent unconscious felt as if a section had been crudely snipped away. It seemed as though he had just closed his eyes and opened them only to find himself back at the garbage processing plant. He stared blankly at the old fan oscillating on the wall, then shifted his gaze to the moldy ceiling. He remembered that his old rental apartment had similar mold spots.

Then, Chen Cheng’s angry voice drifted over from the side: “Do you want to die?”

Yu Yi turned his head and realized Chen Cheng was not talking to him.

“For that little amount of money, you took on so many boosting orders? You have not rested for half a month, Meng Zhao. You are truly something else!”

“If I die, I die,” Meng Zhao replied. He was lying on a small bed next to Yu Yi, staring at the ceiling. His voice was flat, devoid of any emotion.

Furious, Chen Cheng kicked Meng Zhao’s bed hard, making a loud metallic bang. “Then why are you earning money? Get out right now!”

“I brought back three hundred kilograms of goods. Go check them,” Meng Zhao said, as if he had not heard a word, refusing to even look at Chen Cheng.

“Money, money, money! A single semester at the Combat Academy costs eighty thousand credits. Why do you need so much money?”

“Stay out of it.”

“If I do not care about you, who will?”

Yu Yi was stunned. Why was the Combat Academy tuition so cheap?

The two argued for a long while until Chen Cheng, exasperated by Meng Zhao’s lifeless attitude, turned around and realized Yu Yi was awake.

“Whoa!” Chen Cheng cried out. “You are awake and did not say anything?”

Meng Zhao added, “With you shouting that loud, who would not wake up?”

Yu Yi laughed awkwardly. “Haha.”

Chen Cheng glared at Meng Zhao and continued, “Yu Yi, your data report is out. We were right; your endurance threshold has increased to eight hours!”

Yu Yi was shocked. “Then before I was…”

“You reached your limit, so you fainted,” Chen Cheng explained. “It is fine. In fact, it does not matter if you faint in the Pollution Zone. Your body will automatically update itself, unlike certain Omegas.”

Chen Cheng emphasized the word “Omega” pointedly. Meng Zhao ignored him completely.

They slept there that night. The room was filled with several iron-framed beds that looked dilapidated, and the bedding was somewhat yellowed. Sleeping on the hard iron bed, Yu Yi felt as if he had suddenly regressed to his old, impoverished life.

Meng Zhao was also sleeping there tonight. Unlike Yu Yi, he went to bed very early. Yu Yi had intended to chat with him, but before he could even open his mouth, he heard steady snoring from the next bed.

He recalled Chen Cheng scolding Meng Zhao earlier about not resting for half a month due to boosting orders. No wonder he could sleep so soundly.

Boosting what? Boxing? Underground fighting? Remembering Meng Zhao’s solid, fluid muscles, Yu Yi felt a sudden wave of respect.

Since Yu Yi had been unconscious for most of the day, he could not fall asleep at night. He tossed and turned, eventually pulling out his communicator to send a message to Ji Xingxiao.

[Yu Yi]: Are you asleep?

Actually, Yu Yi did not really expect a reply. He just wanted to annoy Ji Xingxiao a bit. Because today was the first time he had truly piloted a mecha, he was quite excited. He wanted to share it with Ji Xingxiao but did not quite dare to.

After sending the message, Yu Yi logged into the mecha maneuver grounds to continue reading Earth-Render’s guides. Even if he could not practice in person, reading about it was good. While he was scrolling through a guide, Ji Xingxiao actually replied.

[Ji Xingxiao]: ?

Unexpectedly, he actually responded. Yu Yi quickly switched back to the chat. He stared at the virtual screen, blinked, and sent several messages in a row:

[Yu Yi]: I! AM! SO! TIRED! [Yu Yi]: Waaaah, I am hurting and exhausted!

Actually, after resting for so long, he was not that tired, but Yu Yi just wanted to act pitiful for Ji Xingxiao.

[Ji Xingxiao]: Are you still working right now? [Yu Yi]: Why? [Ji Xingxiao]: Nothing. If you are still working, I will call the police for you. This does not comply with the working hours stipulated by Federal Law.

He definitely could not have the police involved!

Yu Yi replied quickly: [No! I am lying down!] [Yu Yi]: I just miss the bed at home. [Yu Yi]: Only after sleeping on this iron bed did I realize how wonderful the sofa bed in the living room is.

Yu Yi purposely used the word “home.” He wanted to see Ji Xingxiao’s reaction. However, after sending those two sentences, several minutes passed before Ji Xingxiao replied:

[It is not even that good.]

Yu Yi silently closed his eyes. How can he be so unromantic?

Ji Xingxiao’s weekend was also quite dull. The three major academies had two days off every week, but Ji Xingxiao spent his days off in the training room. This time, however, he was somewhat distracted.

Although the two of them did not talk much on weekends, Ji Xingxiao could usually sense Yu Yi’s presence at this time. Out of respect for privacy, Ji Xingxiao never used his natural ability to spy on Yu Yi’s life, but his ability was too powerful; it was hard to ignore that there was another person in the dormitory.

With that figure, who always left him feeling flustered, suddenly gone, Ji Xingxiao, who was not used to the quiet, uncharacteristically chose to stay in the classroom rather than the more convenient dormitory.

A whole night had passed, and he did not know what that Beta was up to.

Wait.

Ji Xingxiao’s expression froze slightly. One of the keys he was rapidly manipulating went wrong, but he quickly adjusted his emotions and corrected the minor mistake. It was a test of extreme reaction speed; the holographic screen finally settled on a perfect, flawless S+. It was as if the slip-up had never happened but was merely a shift in rhythm.

Just as Ji Xingxiao was trying to use a new round of high-intensity training to cover the agitation in his heart, the door to the training room was rudely pushed open.

“I knew you would be here!”

Qin Feng’s voice came from the door. He rushed in and projected his grades onto the screen in front of Ji Xingxiao, pointing at a glaringly low score. “Here! Why did you give me such a low grade? I only forgot to fasten the safety valve that one time. Nothing happened in the end, did it?”

Ji Xingxiao’s gaze swept coldly over the report card before landing on Qin Feng’s face. “The fact that I did not report this matter is already showing great leniency.”

Qin Feng was choked up. If it had been reported, his grade would have been voided, putting him even further from meeting his credit requirements.

“Waaaaah, if you had just given me two more points in this one subject, I would have passed,” Qin Feng wailed. “Where am I going to find the time to make up credits?”

Ji Xingxiao ignored him and reached out to close the report card Qin Feng had projected. Qin Feng’s combat performance was decent, but he was too playful. He skipped almost every class he could, and his luck was so bad that he was constantly caught during roll calls. After being caught a few times and still skipping, his daily participation points were nearly gone. Even as part of Ji Xingxiao’s team, he was barely scraping a passing grade. Because he missed the last mission, he was two points short.

Qin Feng muttered under his breath, “Now I have to find someone to boost my rank in the maneuver grounds again.”

Ji Xingxiao glanced at him but did not comment.

Using boosters for the online maneuver grounds was almost an open secret at the Combat Academy. Unlike the Defense Academy, although most of the tuition for the Combat Academy was covered by the Federation, the selection standards were high and graduation was difficult; every single metric was tied to credits. Daily training, theoretical exams, mission performance, and commander evaluations: the requirement for each was not sixty points, but eighty.

The win-based credit system in the mecha maneuver grounds made up for the lack of credits for many students. Although each win only provided 0.5 credits, they added up, making it the only convenient way to save one’s grades.

However, Combat Academy students were usually very busy. Not everyone treated training as a hobby like Ji Xingxiao. It was hard for nineteen-year-olds to stay focused, and daily training already consumed the vast majority of their time and energy. No one wanted to spend their precious rest time grinding in the maneuver grounds. Thus, paying someone with free time and decent skills to boost their account online became a common, unspoken practice.

Knowing he was in the wrong, Qin Feng did not push the grading issue further. His eyes darted around with a hint of gossip as he changed the subject. “By the way, where is my sister-in-law? You are still here training on your day off, leaving him all alone in the dorm?”

At the mention of Yu Yi, Ji Xingxiao’s movements paused imperceptibly. “It has nothing to do with you.”

“Fine, fine, I am leaving,” Qin Feng waved his hand. “That little Omega my family introduced to me is waiting outside. You should take a hint. You do not have any credit worries, so why not take him out for some fun?”

Qin Feng did not notice the temperature in the room dropping. He continued to mumble, “Otherwise, if you stay like this after you get married, doing your own things, you will get divorced sooner or later. Especially since he is a Beta.”

“Shut up!”

Ji Xingxiao crudely interrupted Qin Feng’s increasingly nonsensical talk. As if out of guilt, he practically gritted his teeth as he retorted, “Who said I was going to marry him?”

“Huh?” Qin Feng was stunned by the sudden flare of anger. He dithered for a moment. “Are you two not getting married? Is the engagement voided?”

Ji Xingxiao said nothing more. He just looked at Qin Feng with a cold, sharp gaze. There was a faint, nearly imperceptible hint of humiliation and anger in his eyes.

Terrified by the coldness in his gaze, Qin Feng shivered and retreated a few steps toward the door. “I am going, I am going!” He practically fled the room.

He should have known Ji Xingxiao would never marry a Beta.

Qin Feng brushed off the imaginary frost from his clothes, ran a hand through his hair, and walked out looking composed again. Silence returned to the training room. Ji Xingxiao stood frozen, his chest heaving slightly with anger. Qin Feng’s words seemed to echo in his ears.

Engagement voided? Divorce?

Simply nonsensical! Absolute rubbish!

The training did not end until late at night. When he returned to the dormitory, only the grey-green turtle was swimming slowly in the water wall created by his natural ability.

After cleaning up, Ji Xingxiao lay on the bed and closed his eyes. Just as he was about to fall asleep, his communicator vibrated slightly. Ji Xingxiao’s social life was very simple. Aside from his parents and teammates, he mostly communicated with Qin Feng. And, of course, recently, Yu Yi.

At this hour, it could only be one person.

Almost instantly, he accessed the communicator and saw Yu Yi’s message.

[Yu Yi]: Are you asleep?

Ji Xingxiao checked the time; it was already 11:30 PM. This Beta was actually still awake? Was he still working? What kind of work was it?

Ji Xingxiao sat up, remembering the first time he saw Yu Yi at a nightclub wearing very inappropriate clothing. He almost clicked on the holographic video call. Fortunately, his reason stopped him. Not wanting Yu Yi to realize how much he cared, Ji Xingxiao did not reply immediately. Instead, he got out of bed, poured a glass of ice water, and only after drinking it did he send a brief question mark.

He did not even put the glass down, still holding it in his hand.

The reply came quickly. Reading Yu Yi’s text complaining about being tired with multiple exclamation marks, he could almost picture the boy’s drooping eyes.

Ji Xingxiao thought to himself: He deserves it.

Who told him to go? He clearly could have…

Never mind, he could not. This Beta would only push his luck.

But Ji Xingxiao still replied: [If you are still working, I will call the police for you. This does not comply with the working hours stipulated by Federal Law.]

It was not that he was worried about Yu Yi; it was simply that it was illegal.

But that shameless Beta said he missed the bed at home. The moment he saw those words, the tips of Ji Xingxiao’s ears grew hot. Does he even know what he is saying?

However, Yu Yi’s second sentence seemed to only refer to the sofa bed in the living room. That was not even a bed for sleeping; it was just a multi-functional piece of furniture. It was not nearly as good as the one in his own room.

At that thought, Ji Xingxiao nearly crushed the glass in his hand.

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