After I Stopped Being a Simp, My Husband Fell for Me on His Own - Chapter 34

Yu Yi did not expect Ji Xingxiao to see through his cleaned-up appearance with a single glance. He was momentarily struck by panic.

Fortunately, his brain worked fast. He stammered out a justification: “Sorting is actually manual labor. I did not want to come back smelling like sweat.”

Ji Xingxiao remained silent. His scrutinizing gaze continued to weigh on Yu Yi, as if he could see right through the cracks in the clumsy explanation.

“Yu Yi,” Ji Xingxiao suddenly addressed him by his full name. His gaze flickered to Yu Yi’s subtle Adam’s apple before quickly averting. He seemed to find the words difficult to say, but his tone remained commanded and cold: “Do not do anything illegal out there.”

Illegal things? Yu Yi was stunned. Had Ji Xingxiao found out? The fawning smile on his face froze.

However, in the next second, Ji Xingxiao practically gritted his teeth, sounding inexplicably irritable: “Specifically, you are not allowed to go to those messy nightclubs!”

The latter half of the sentence was an outright order.

So, he is just afraid I am going to nightclubs. A subtle feeling welled up in Yu Yi’s heart. Recalling their first meeting and how he had been dressed back then, it really was quite improper. He let out a long breath of relief and said brightly, “Is that what you were worried about?”

“What else?” Seeing that Yu Yi did not seem to care at all, Ji Xingxiao’s brow furrowed deeper. He said seriously, “You—”

Realizing that continuing would make him seem too invested, Ji Xingxiao abruptly pursed his lips. He simply stared coldly at Yu Yi, offering a silent warning.

“Do not worry, I have not been back to those places since,” Yu Yi said, his heart filled with an indescribable joy. He naturally sat down beside Ji Xingxiao. “If you are worried, you can check!”

As he spoke, he held up his arm like he was displaying a specimen, rolling up his sleeve to show his fair skin. “Look.”

What is this Beta trying to do? Panic surged through Ji Xingxiao. His body stiffened, and he instinctively tried to move away from the Beta who had suddenly leaned in.

Yu Yi, however, was undeterred. The more Ji Xingxiao retreated, the more Yu Yi pushed his luck. He pulled at his collar, revealing a sharp collarbone. “Look.”

Ji Xingxiao was speechless. This was simply shameless! If it were not for the fact that Yu Yi’s eyes looked genuinely innocent at that moment, he would have thought the worst.

Yu Yi was almost straddling Ji Xingxiao. Just as he made a move as if to unfasten his trousers, Ji Xingxiao reached his limit and pushed him away: “Shut up! Go to sleep!”

With that, he stood up abruptly, not sparing Yu Yi another glance as he marched straight into his bedroom.

He left Yu Yi alone on the sofa, clutching a cushion and laughing hysterically. He had rediscovered the joy of teasing Ji Xingxiao, just like the night he had used his tail at the club.

Not only was he engaged to the Alpha he fell for at first sight, but they were now living together. Could anyone in the world be happier than him? Even if it was only temporary.

Later that evening, Chen Cheng transferred the money, calling it goods payment. It was not as much as Yu Yi had hoped, but it was still five thousand star coins. To think that trash could be worth that much. Seeing the balance that had been stagnant for so long finally increase, Yu Yi was suddenly filled with motivation. He felt like everything was slowly getting better.

The next day in class, Yu Yi still could not bring himself to buy mecha consumables.

However, it was a simulated combat class. Yu Yi was much more composed and skillful when entering the simulation pod now. As the hatch closed and the familiar interface lit up, none of it felt foreign anymore.

He had no teammates to coordinate with, but after carefully reviewing the content, Yu Yi realized that the previous lessons he had not understood were simply due to overly complex terminology. Back then, he could not even open the cockpit or access the maneuver grounds without a communicator, so the lectures had sounded like gibberish.

Now that he had actual hands-on experience, he realized that the daily practice at the Defense Academy was merely about driving steadily under the simulated darkness of a Pollution Zone.

Yu Yi was silent. To him, even Chen Cheng’s windowless wreck of a mecha could do that, let alone this brand-new machine.

The only slight difficulty was connecting the nutrient bar to the combat suit’s energy port. The port was located on the arm, and to increase the difficulty of the lesson, the simulated pilot’s hand would sway back and forth, and one was not allowed to grab the hand to force it in.

So the nutrient bars from before were for external use. Thinking about how he had shoved one directly into Ji Xingxiao’s mouth that day, Yu Yi wanted to bury his face in the console. And Ji Xingxiao had actually eaten it!

Fortunately, this was not hard to master. After practicing a few times, Yu Yi could connect it easily. This was the first time he felt a two-hour class had passed so quickly.

When the class ended and the grading system lit up, Yu Yi’s practical score actually reached a perfect mark. When he stepped out of the pod, even Teacher Ruan, who was recording the grades, was a bit surprised: “Not bad. Having a Commander fiancé really makes a difference. Did he give you private lessons? You have improved so fast.”

Yu Yi wanted to say he had learned it all himself. But saying that felt like distancing himself from Ji Xingxiao, and right now, Ji Xingxiao was his biggest supporter. Besides, it was indeed because of Ji Xingxiao that he had been able to learn so much. So, he just gave a vague smile and did not argue.

The other students climbed out of their pods slowly, none of them caring about the grades. As they left the classroom, they were all discussing the upcoming winter.

“There is a Winter Year this year, and a Winter Banquet. Have you prepared your formal wear?”

Winter. Yu Yi slowed his pace.

The temperature inside the Pollution Zones remained at an uncomfortably high level year-round. To save energy, the Upper District usually only simulated spring, summer, and autumn, with autumn being the longest and most comfortable.

Whether to maintain ancient social traditions or due to some obsession of the upper class, every four years the Upper District would activate a massive environmental simulation system to drop the temperature below zero and create artificial snow.

The Lower District did not have this. To be precise, every day in the Lower District was as hot as summer.

It had been four years already. Yu Yi remembered the first time he came to the Upper District; it happened to be a Winter Year. He did not have any clothes to protect him from the cold and shivered violently in the sudden freeze. Even now, he remembered the pain of his hands and feet being red and swollen from frostbite.

Yu Yi hated winter the most.

Winter, huh. Yu Yi wondered if he should just go back to the Lower District as usual. It only happened once every four years, and winter only lasted a month. With the money he had now, if he did not have to save for tuition, he could rent a very nice house in the Lower District.

But now that he could earn money again with such high rewards, he felt much more confident. It was not enough, though; he needed to earn even more.

With that thought, he pulled out his communicator and clicked on the chat with AAA Final Exam Booster Xiao Meng.

[Yu Yi]: Hey, Brother Meng, are you there?

[Auto-Reply]: Hello Boss, I am taking orders. There is a discount for finals; get 0.5 credits for every one hundred wins!

Yu Yi was speechless. At this time, the Combat Academy should be in class, so Meng Zhao should not be out on a mission in a Pollution Zone. After a moment, a reply came:

[AAA Final Exam Booster Xiao Meng]: What is up?

[Yu Yi]: Brother Meng, I want to take boosting orders too.

A voice call immediately popped up. Yu Yi looked around to make sure the other students had left before he dared to answer. Wait, why was he feeling guilty? They were both students of the three major academies; what was wrong with chatting? The school did not strictly forbid boosting for credits anyway.

“Sure,” Meng Zhao said. “I actually have too many orders to handle myself. I can pass some to you.”

“Really?” Yu Yi brightened. “That is great.”

“Yes, but I will take a ten percent cut.”

“Deal, no problem!” Yu Yi agreed generously. As long as he could earn money, it was fine.

“Okay. The market price here is five hundred star coins per win. How many accounts can you handle? I have several here that are twenty points short. Orders are due the day after tomorrow.”

“What?” Yu Yi was stunned.

“What? Do you think it is too little?”

It was not that he thought it was too little. At Yu Yi’s level, the fastest he could win an online match was forty minutes, and that was only if he matched with amazing teammates and easy monsters. Otherwise, it was at least an hour. And that was just for one win.

While the hourly rate seemed high, Yu Yi could not guarantee that win rate. That day, he had played for six hours and only finished ten matches, winning only three. With the time limit, winning two hundred matches on even one account within three days while still attending classes was impossible.

“I will think about it,” Yu Yi muttered.

“Whatever, I am hanging up.” Meng Zhao seemed busy and did not bother saying more, cutting the connection.

Yu Yi felt a bit dejected. It was not just about not earning the money; he just felt like he was still too weak, unable to grasp the opportunity even when it was right in front of him.

This class was the last one of the morning. On his way to the cafeteria, Yu Yi spotted someone familiar. The person was wearing the academy uniform with a silver iris pinned to the chest.

The Defense and Command Academies did not have uniform requirements, but the Combat Academy did. Their uniform was a standard black military style, and the long military boots made the visitor’s straight calves look even leaner.

Bai Ziqi.

Yu Yi did not recognize him at first, not until Bai Ziqi walked over with a smile as bright as a spring breeze: “Brother.”

Yu Yi looked at him, remaining on guard. It was strange; were he and Bai Ziqi that close? Thinking back to the rut incident, things always felt odd.

Seeing that Yu Yi did not speak, Bai Ziqi continued on his own: “I got into the Combat Academy!”

“Oh, congratulations,” Yu Yi said.

“Thank you.” A hint of shyness remained on Bai Ziqi’s face. Perhaps because he had differentiated, Yu Yi felt that his face, which looked quite like Bai Changfeng’s, was not as feminine as before. The boyishness had faded, replaced by a bit of heroism in his features. He looked hesitant: “Did you have a fight with Father?”

Was it not obvious? It had been so long since he had returned to the Cheng house.

“We did not fight,” Yu Yi curled his lip. “I just have nothing to say to him.”

“Is it because of what happened with me last time?” Bai Ziqi looked at Yu Yi cautiously.

“No.” Yu Yi frowned, not wanting to get involved with Bai Ziqi. He said bluntly, “Did you come here for something?”

“Oh, it is just that I moved out.” Bai Ziqi’s face flushed slightly, appearing embarrassed. Then, as if gathering courage, he looked at Yu Yi and said seriously, “I have an apartment near the Combat Academy. If you are willing, you could come by occasionally.”

Yu Yi was confused.

Bai Ziqi’s voice grew smaller and smaller: “Or we could live together.”

Yu Yi was shocked.

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