Chapter 31: Kiss Me (Includes 1.7w Nutrient Solution Bonus)

Chapter 31: Give Me a Kiss (Includes Bonus for 17k Nutrient Solution)

Xie Chi naturally wouldn't refuse.

He dove into Ji Chou's arms.

Just as he remembered, his wife's arms were still strong and warm. Xie Chi buried his head in the other's chest, slowly calming down from the scare.

"Alright."

After a long moment, Yan Wanqiu patted Xie Chi's shoulder: "Nie Huaiyi told me you didn't eat today. I brought you some food—go ahead and eat."

Xie Chi whined and stalled, refusing to get up from Yan Wanqiu's arms.

"I did eat—I drank nutrient solution. I was just busy with work in the afternoon and didn't go to the cafeteria."

That's when Yan Wanqiu remembered Xie Chi had nutrient solution.

Xie Chi had told "Yan Wanqiu" that he'd given him all his nutrient solution, but Yan Wanqiu himself hadn't believed a word of it. Besides, he also knew the feeling of being full from the nutrient solution would last all day, so he didn't push Xie Chi: "Then don't eat. I'll take it with me when I go. Tomorrow at noon I'll have Nie Huaiyi bring you a meal."

Xie Chi refused: "No, this meal has to stay. I can heat it up and eat it later."

Yan Wanqiu objected: "You're injured. You need to take care of your body—you can't eat leftovers from last night."

Xie Chi still couldn't bear to waste it. He clung to Yan Wanqiu and wouldn't let go, saying in a small voice: "But at the very most, I only get to see you once a week. It'd be such a waste to throw it away."

A waste of food, and a waste of Ji Chou's kindness.

Next time, he definitely wouldn't drink nutrient solution on the day Ji Chou visited.

Yan Wanqiu couldn't win him over, so he had to give in: "Fine, but don't keep it too long, got it?"

Xie Chi nodded vigorously: "I'll eat it tomorrow."

After all that commotion, Xie Chi had fully realized that he didn't know how to be in a relationship. After he spoke, he looked up cautiously at Ji Chou, feeling a bit conflicted.

He wanted to ask Ji Chou what else he'd done wrong and what actually counted as being in a relationship, but he was afraid that asking would make Ji Chou think he wasn't reliable enough.

He'd only just been upgraded from "little husband" to "husband."

After all that, it was already nine o'clock.

Yan Wanqiu patted Xie Chi, who was still snuggled in his arms, and said: "Alright, get up. If you keep hugging me, you won't have time to say what you need to say."

Xie Chi's eyes went wide in surprise: "Wife, you're still heading back tonight? Did Yan Wanqiu give you a time limit?"

"No." Yan Wanqiu quickly denied it to keep his reputation from getting any worse. "It's just that the cold snap is coming at midnight tonight. If I don't leave before midnight, I probably won't be able to leave until tomorrow noon after the snow's cleared."

"That works too," Xie Chi said immediately. "There's food in the fridge, and the bed's been swapped for a new one. You can stay as long as you like."

Yan Wanqiu: "..."

Yan Wanqiu glanced at Xie Chi's arm: "Your arm's in a sling—don't get any ideas."

Xie Chi took a second to realize what Ji Chou meant, and his face turned bright red: "I—I didn't... I was just talking about sleep!"

Yan Wanqiu looked at him with a knowing half-smile: "Who was it last night who wouldn't let me sleep?"

Xie Chi's face turned even redder.

He finally understood what Yan Wanqiu meant by "all that stuff."

How could both of them think of him like that? He wasn't the type to ignore his wife's health.

Xie Chi explained in a small voice: "That was an accident—I couldn't help it..."

Ji Chou had gotten his ride, but Xie Chi hadn't gotten off even once, and he was completely pent up.

Speaking of which, Xie Chi remembered the bad thing he'd done last night when he was too pent up, and said even more quietly: "I'm sorry. I didn't know that was the birth cavity. I just thought it felt really good, so I... Next time I'll be more careful."

Yan Wanqiu had come this time precisely to forbid Xie Chi from messing around, but his injury had thrown off his plans.

Now that Xie Chi had brought it up himself, Yan Wanqiu couldn't say anything harsh, so he could only reply: "It's fine, I don't blame you."

After all, he was an alpha—one time wouldn't make him pregnant.

Xie Chi let out a sigh of relief.

Luckily, his wife wasn't mad about it. It seemed this kind of thing was okay in a relationship.

Xie Chi snuggled back into Yan Wanqiu's arms and chattered about the mission details he could share, mentioning how Yan Wanqiu had become easier to talk to after he saved him.

He left out the parts about being wanted, getting hurt, passing out, and being carried back by Yan Wanqiu. Finally, he looked at Ji Chou and carefully asked the question that had been nagging at him for a while.

"...Wife, I think I dreamed about you back then. You said earlier that I was calling out in pain in your arms—did you come see me when I got back to camp?"

Yan Wanqiu remembered how, to keep Xie Chi conscious, he'd thrown all dignity aside and admitted to being his wife, and he felt super uncomfortable. He instinctively wanted to deny it, but the words were on the tip of his tongue when he remembered he'd already let it slip in his earlier rage.

"Yes." Yan Wanqiu admitted through clenched teeth.

He quickly covered: "His Highness notified me to come. He asked me to see you one last time."

Xie Chi was a bit surprised by Yan Wanqiu's generosity, then frowned with concern: "Did I scare you back then? I was a real mess at the time."

No wonder his wife had busted through the window to see him the very next night.

Yan Wanqiu paused, then looked down at him and said: "It did scare me a little. Don't do that again."

Xie Chi nodded hard: "I won't!"

He couldn't show up in front of his wife like that again—it had really scared her.

Even though he'd been scared by his wife's anger earlier, that was because she cared about him. Xie Chi was still really happy about this evening's visit.

Under his persistent coaxing, Yan Wanqiu had no choice but to grit his teeth, take a shower, and change into pajamas to stay the night.

Watching Xie Chi excitedly drag out a second thick quilt with one hand, Yan Wanqiu silently told himself.

It's just sleeping together—no big deal.

If he used "Yan Wanqiu doesn't allow it" as an excuse again, the relationship between him and Xie Chi, which had barely started to recover, would probably plummet back to freezing.

With troubles at home and abroad, he still had use for Xie Chi. He was doing this to use him...

"Wife! The bed's all set!"

Yan Wanqiu was snapped out of his thoughts by Xie Chi's voice.

He looked at the big bed in the bedroom, clearly bought for two people, and the corner of his mouth curled up almost imperceptibly: "Mm."

He slowly sat down beside Xie Chi under Xie Chi's expectant gaze.

For the first time, sleeping in the same bed as his wife at home, and on a new bed he had personally chosen, Xie Chi was both excited and nervous.

"So... should we sleep?"

Just as Xie Chi was blushing and trying to find the right words, a soft "click" sounded, and the room plunged into darkness.

The power had gone out.

Only the combustion furnace in the living room continued to burn quietly, emitting a faint orange-red glow.

"Don't move."

The moment the power went out, Xie Chi's face turned cold. He pulled out a handgun from his storage space and positioned himself in front of Yan Wanqiu, scanning the surroundings warily.

He lowered his voice and quickly explained: "I made some enemies during this mission. This blackout feels off—someone might be coming to make trouble."

As he spoke, Xie Chi himself was a bit puzzled.

According to the intel he had gathered this afternoon and the terminal's analysis, no faction would be dumb enough to come after him at this time.

The cold front was arriving tonight—even locals could easily die from the sudden drop in temperature, let alone pull off a high-risk assassination.

Footsteps slowly started echoing outside the door, accompanied by noisy voices, but most were saying they were "looking for His Highness."

Xie Chi was even more puzzled now.

Yan Wanqiu was also observing the situation. He peered out the window for a bit, then spoke up from behind Xie Chi: "It might not be an assassination. I see the whole area is dark—is this a city-wide blackout?"

Xie Chi had never seen a power outage in his entire life, so he was stunned: "So can it be turned back on?"

Yan Wanqiu: "..."

Yan Wanqiu went on to explain: "It can't be turned back on. This is a blackout. Blizzard City gets half its power from Frostbite City. Funny thing is, our camp is self-sufficient except for indoor lighting. Looks like Frostbite City got orders from the main planet and cut power to all of Blizzard City."

Xie Chi suddenly got it and praised her sincerely: "Babe, you're so smart!"

He had all this info, he just hadn't put two and two together.

But Yan Wanqiu's face only got more serious.

With the whole city suddenly going dark, a lot of people would probably freeze tonight. He needed to get back fast to organize relief efforts, or the locals would start holding a grudge against him.

Just as Yan Wanqiu was scrambling for an excuse to say goodbye to Xie Chi, he watched Xie Chi stash his gun and flop onto the bed.

"Since nobody's here to kill me, let's just go to sleep. At least we don't have to bother turning off the lights."

Yan Wanqiu: "..."

Does this guy have a brain the size of a walnut?

Yan Wanqiu reminded him: "Isn't this a bad idea? Sure, the blackout doesn't hit the camp's heating, but most citizens in Blizzard City still rely on Frostbite City for electricity. They're getting dragged into this because of us. With the cold front hitting tonight, no power means tons of civilians freezing in the city. If we don't deal with this fast, people are going to get pissed."

Xie Chi didn't seem too worried: "It's fine. Yan Wanqiu's got it—he'll figure it out. If there's a real problem, he'll come get me. If he hasn't, it's all good."

Yan Wanqiu went quiet.

Don't trust him that much at a time like this.

Yan Wanqiu checked the time—it was already 11:30.

He couldn't put it off any longer. It sucked for Xie Chi, but he had to go.

Just as Yan Wanqiu steeled himself to pull the "Yan Wanqiu doesn't allow sleepovers" card and leave—

"Thump thump thump!"

Someone pounded urgently on Xie Chi's door.

Nie Huaiyi's worried voice rang out from outside: "Captain Xie, are you there? Get out here quick—something's wrong! The whole city's dark, and His Highness is missing!!"

Xie Chi shot up in bed.

Yan Wanqiu's missing?

Wasn't he fine this morning? What the hell? Did his Pheromone Dysregulation Syndrome act up again?

Without thinking twice, Xie Chi grabbed a gun and handed it to Yan Wanqiu, hastily instructing him: "Keep this for self-defense. You're too recognizable, so stay put and don't go out. I'll check what's going on."

And before Yan Wanqiu could even answer, Xie Chi was already throwing on his coat.

So the cold wind wouldn't blow in on Ji Chou, and so Nie Huaiyi wouldn't see anything he shouldn't, Xie Chi only opened the door a crack, slipped out, and immediately shut it behind him.

Yan Wanqiu sat there on the bed, holding the gun, totally stunned.

He was always the one rushing to leave Xie Chi, always the one walking away from him. This was the first time he'd ever watched Xie Chi walk away like that.

He suddenly got why Xie Chi was always clinging to him and refusing to let him leave.

A goodbye that rushed really did leave you feeling empty and hollow.

.

Outside the door.

Trusting his inner thermal layer to keep him warm, Xie Chi just threw on a thin coat against the wind.

He leaned back against the door, looking serious as he faced Nie Huaiyi: "His Highness didn't say where he went?"

"No." Nie Huaiyi shook his head, looking at Xie Chi. "You don't know either?"

"I don't know." Xie Chi sighed, offering his guess: "It might be the Pheromone Dysregulation Syndrome flaring up again—he's gone out to kill. What did you need me for?"

Nie Huaiyi figured Xie Chi's guess made sense too. After all, Yan Wanqiu had been a mess, all violent and unstable, just yesterday, and now he was suddenly handling official business—anyone would think he was running on fumes.

He dropped the Yan Wanqiu topic—if His Highness wanted to kill, nobody could stop him—and turned to Xie Chi: "Captain Xie, the entire Blizzard City has lost power. Our camp can fire up backup lights in ten minutes, but we're not sure if we should. Also, the towns around the mine aren't fully upgraded yet—half of them still depend on Frostbite City for heat. Emergency distress calls are already coming in, and a lot of civilians, once they found out Frostbite City cut the power to get back at us, are already starting to protest. So what do we do now?"

Xie Chi: "..."

Xie Chi's head was about to explode: "Is there seriously nobody else in camp who can make a call?"

Nie Huaiyi looked at him: "After His Highness, you're next. After you, it's me."

Xie Chi: "..."

Xie Chi shot back at Nie Huaiyi: "What's your take?"

Nie Huaiyi gave a shy smile: "I'm not as sharp as His Highness. Basically, I'd say hold off on the backup power, send troops to move the folks near the mine, and then just hold the camp until His Highness gets back."

In short, make as few calls as possible, keep Yan Wanqiu's turf intact, and wait for him to come home.

Xie Chi's head was pounding even harder.

There was less than thirty minutes before the cold snap hit, and by the time Yan Wanqiu got back, it would be way too late.

He could see the problems with that plan, and there was no way Nie Huaiyi couldn't see them too—the guy had come to him specifically because he wanted a better solution.

But this had never happened in history before!

If it were up to him, he'd probably screw it up worse than Nie Huaiyi would.

Xie Chi paced in a panic, cursing Yan Huishi for pulling that poisoning stunt and You Fuzhu for being so vicious, before finally thinking in despair that maybe he should just try giving Yan Wanqiu a call.

—Wait, he could call in reinforcements.

A lightbulb went off in his head.

His wife had figured out the city-wide blackout at a single glance earlier—maybe she'd have better insights.

"Send me the detailed files. I'll go inside, grab a coat, and come back out with a full plan. If I can't come up with anything, just go with your plan for now. I'll head out to look for Yan Wanqiu in a bit."

Xie Chi finished in a rush, then turned and went back inside.

Nie Huaiyi stood there staring at the closed door, feeling like something wasn't right.

Why didn't Xie Chi just come with him to the meeting room to talk it over?

Well, Captain Xie was so trusted by His Highness—there was no way he'd do anything to hurt the camp. If they went with his plan, waiting a little longer wouldn't hurt.

Nie Huaiyi shook off the thought, sent the detailed files to Xie Chi, and went back to staring at the "His Highness" chat that had been unanswered for so long, worrying.

His Highness had always had episodes of Pheromone Dysregulation Syndrome from time to time, but he'd always gotten everything arranged beforehand. This was the first time he'd disappeared without having time to prepare.

His Highness's condition seemed to be getting worse and worse.

Remembering what Xie Chi had said last time—"Yan Wanqiu has at least a year left"—Nie Huaiyi silently made up his mind.

Once this whole thing was over, he'd bring up Fu Zhu with Captain Xie again.

Whether it was a trap or not, at this point they had no choice but to try whatever they could.

.

Inside.

Yan Wanqiu could pretty much guess why Nie Huaiyi had come to see Xie Chi, but he didn't expect that guy—the one who'd said "perfect, no need to turn off the lights" during a blackout—to be able to run the camp. So while Xie Chi was gone, he quickly opened his own personal terminal and looked over the files Nie Huaiyi had sent.

Just as he was frowning in thought, drafting and redrafting a response, the door creaked open again and quickly closed.

"Honey! I need to ask you something!"

Xie Chi came running in.

Yan Wanqiu immediately shut off the terminal and hid it, opening his mouth to give the excuse he'd prepared to leave, when Xie Chi started rattling on without pausing for breath: "Yan Wanqiu's disappeared. Nie Huaiyi just came to ask me what we should do about the camp's situation. I have no clue what to do. I was wondering if you could take a look at it. I won't hide what you did from Yan Wanqiu—if he blames me for leaking info, I'll take the punishment. This also gives you a chance to show what you can do, so next time Yan Wanqiu thinks about messing with you, he'll think twice."

After saying all that in one breath, Xie Chi looked nervously at the expressionless man and added, "Though there's definitely risk. That Yan Wanqiu is unpredictable—he might be totally unreasonable and blame you even if you do a great job. Anyway, it's up to you. If you don't want to do it, I'll head out to find him now."

Yan Wanqiu's expression changed slightly.

This move by Xie Chi suited him perfectly.

He could solve the problem right away without damaging the relationship between Yan Wanqiu and Xie Chi, and he could even reward "Ji Chou" once he switched back to being Yan Wanqiu, which would win Xie Chi over even more.

He said flat out, "It's fine. Even if His Highness isn't happy, I won't blame you. What files? Let me see."

Xie Chi handed over the terminal right away.

Yan Wanqiu opened it and took a look.

The files Nie Huaiyi had sent Xie Chi were exactly the same as the ones he'd gotten—he'd already read them and had a rough idea in his head.

But he still pretended to think it over for a few minutes, then said, "I do have some thoughts. Can I use your office software? I'll write up a concrete plan. If you think it's good, you can use it."

Xie Chi nodded eagerly. "No problem at all!"

His wife was seriously brilliant!

With permission given, Yan Wanqiu didn't hesitate. He opened Xie Chi's office software, glanced at the blank interface that had clearly never been used, twitched his mouth, and quickly started typing away.

Xie Chi sat next to Ji Chou, watching him write with effortless ease, and secretly pulled out his terminal, turned it into glasses, and used the terminal AI to decode Ji Chou's plan and see if there was anything he could add.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Ji Chou—it was mainly that Yan Wanqiu, that petty tyrant, had inexplicably been in a good mood today, but there was no guarantee he wouldn't start nitpicking tomorrow.

It was about Ji Chou, and Xie Chi couldn't stand to see him covered in wounds again, so he had to be careful.

But the more he read, the more Xie Chi's eyes lit up.

Ji Chou's strategy was completely different from Nie Huaiyi's defensive approach, but it wasn't about brute force either.

He split the entire residential area of Blizzard City into five major zones, picked out capable people in the camp who came from the disaster areas, and ordered them to go back to their hometowns. With Shi Peijue's technical support and the Shadow Guard's muscle behind them, they'd rally the people at the center of each of the five zones and build thermal stations overnight.

Thermal stations, like the name said, were facilities that used thermal ore as an energy source for heating and power. The town next to their camp had one of these big stations, supplying all the energy for the camp and the surrounding areas.

With Shi Peijue's improved energy tech and Mr. Ai stepping up mining, the efficiency of thermal ore had gone up several times over and output had doubled. The people around the camp alone couldn't use it all—the camp's warehouses were already stuffed to the brim.

Blizzard City was way too deep under Ice City's control. When it came to picking an energy source, people instinctively went with Ice City's electricity over the newly arrived Yan Wanqiu camp. Plus the infrastructure wasn't there yet, so Yan Wanqiu's original plan was to slowly tear out the inefficient combustion furnaces in his territory, put in heating pipelines for centralized supply, and then expand outward step by step.

But tearing down and rebuilding was way slower than just building new. Since Ice City didn't give a damn about the people, Yan Wanqiu's camp could quickly grab the market and dump energy at cutthroat prices.

The labor came from the locals, the thermal ore came from their reserves, and the wages they paid out would come right back as heating fees from the people.

It killed a bunch of birds with one stone: getting the locals organized for disaster relief and heating, quickly expanding the camp's energy market, extending their reach, and even winning people over.

—And yeah, most of the manpower and supplies used in Ji Chou's plan came straight from the camp's existing stockpile meant for upgrading the heating pipelines.

Even a royal prince's personal guard and direct camp didn't need heating pipeline tech that advanced, yet here it was being used for disaster relief and the people. Even if Yan Huishi were here, he couldn't find fault with Yan Wanqiu over this.

And below that were all the meticulous details—Ji Chou hadn't just laid out the big picture. He spelled out how to organize people tonight to get the situation under control fast; how to set up insulation stations for civilians other than the big heating station workers; how those stations could later be turned into patrol posts for garrisoning; how to keep order in the camp without backup power these next few days; and he even wrote out the mobilization slogans.

The more Xie Chi read, the more blown away he was.

This was written by someone who worked in the kitchen?

The terminal AI also chimed in after reviewing it: "This strategic plan has extremely high execution value. Recommend immediate implementation."

Yan Wanqiu finished typing quickly, let out a breath, and turned to Xie Chi. "There you go. Take a look—"

He stopped mid-sentence.

Because Xie Chi was staring at him with sparkling eyes, those round eyes full of admiration and excitement.

"Perfect! This is all perfect! I'm sending it right now!"

Xie Chi sent the document straight to Nie Huaiyi, then threw himself at Ji Chou for a hug. Excited and smitten, he planted a big kiss on the side of the other's face.

"Babe, you're really amazing. I think I like you even more now."

With one arm looped around the man's neck, Xie Chi chattered on excitedly: "If it weren't for you, Nie Huaiyi and I would've caused a huge disaster tonight. I've gotta tell Yan Wanqiu what you did. It's such a waste for talent like yours to be stuck in the kitchen. If anything goes wrong tonight, just blame it all on me..."

Yan Wanqiu, with the young alpha clinging to him, watched the black-haired youth, who looked ready to hug and kiss him again, and a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

Although he doubted whether Xie Chi had fully understood what he'd written, no one could help but feel pleased when their lover looked at them with such admiration.

He thought to himself, *You clueless fool—back when I was being "Yan Wanqiu," I did things far more impressive than this simple draft, and you never came running to admire me then.*

But what he said aloud was tinged with a smile:

"If you think I'm so impressive, then give me another kiss? I'll teach you what to do if something like this ever happens again."