Foot to Foot
The chair was a bit high for He Ruge. Just as he was contemplating how to climb onto it, a strong hand gripped him under the armpit and lifted him up like pulling a radish.
At that moment, He Ruge remembered those pets whose necks were grabbed.
…Why am I so proficient at imagining myself as a pet?
In the suspended moment, He Ruge awkwardly raised his thumb, stubbornly curled his toes around his slippers, preventing them from slipping off.
He was placed on the chair by Mr. Xi with a puzzled expression. Mr. Xi also considerately adjusted the distance between the chair and the table, then sat naturally beside He Ruge.
Indoors, Mr. Xi wasn’t wearing a military cap. A cluster of silver curls fell from his forehead, resting on his slightly prominent brow bone.
His blue eyes stared directly at He Ruge, bright and shiny, somewhat like a child seeking praise.
He Ruge didn’t know how he understood Mr. Xi’s gaze. He took a deep breath, thinking that he should be calm.
When a litter scooper first holds a cat, an awkward posture will surely make the cat uncomfortable. He needed more patience to accommodate this newly appointed Earthling Mister.
After all, he wasn’t a little kitten. If held uncomfortably, he could still scratch the person’s face.
He Ruge’s expression showed no signs of anything unusual, but he silently calculated Mr. Xi’s favorability points in his mind. However, for some reason, the blue eyes beside him suddenly dimmed.
If this person had two cat ears, they would surely droop in a listless manner.
…It’s really strange, why does he always compare this tentacle monster to a cat?
He Ruge pursed his lips and focused on preparing to eat.
However, Mr. Xi beside him did nothing. He didn’t eat, didn’t hold chopsticks, just sat upright and stared at He Ruge, making He Ruge feel uncomfortable even speaking.
He took a deep breath and politely asked, “Mr. Xi, aren’t you going to eat?”
Does he think he can be satisfied just by looking at me?
Only then did Mr. Xi pick up the bowl and hold the chopsticks, but it seemed like his first time holding chopsticks. He couldn’t manage to pick up a piece of fish from the plate. The fish meat was tender, and what was originally a whole fish was now poked full of holes.
He Ruge felt like a weird light was coming from the fish’s eyes—
A ghostly, unblinking gaze.
Truly a foolish alien, not even able to handle chopsticks.
He Ruge silently mocked him in his mind. But shouldn’t a tentacle monster’s tentacles be very agile?
For example, when doing indescribable things in indescribable places, they always manage to control the force and angle just right.
Like typing on a keyboard with tentacles, they can type quickly and accurately.
While He Ruge was lost in thought, Mr. Xi finally succeeded in picking up a complete piece of fish after three or four failed attempts. He patiently placed the fish in the spoon and skillfully used the chopsticks for a more difficult operation.
The man’s side profile was distinctly handsome, dressed in military attire exuding authority. However, the hand that should have been holding a gun was currently clumsily removing fish bones. This strong sense of dissonance made He Ruge unable to help but take another look.
Unexpectedly, Mr. Xi suddenly looked up, met He Ruge’s gaze, and then this man, who seemed reserved, smiled, revealing two small tiger teeth.
He put the piece of fish from the spoon into He Ruge’s bowl and whispered, “I love fish the most.”
He Ruge looked at the fish in his bowl. Normally, he would have a lot of sarcastic remarks in his mind, such as why a tentacle monster would have tiger teeth and love fish. But at this moment, he fell silent for some reason.
He wasn’t used to accepting others’ kindness.
“Thank you…”
Holding the bowl, his little lover solemnly thanked him with a straight face, and a small “+1 Favorability” floated above Mr. Xi’s head.
This thank you seemed to have added special effects in Xi Guican’s world, with gongs and drums thundering, firecrackers popping, and Xi Guican almost wanted to turn into his animal form and roll around!
God knows how anxious he had just been. Xi Guican originally came with full confidence to complete the task, but the favorability dropped to a pathetic 8 right after the therapy game started.
Mr. Xi Guican didn’t know what he had done wrong. From the moment they met, He Ruge seemed dissatisfied with him, deducting favorability no matter what he did.
And this therapy game was linked to He Ruge’s illness. If the favorability rating never reached 100 points, would He Ruge never wake up?
The pressure Xi Guican felt was even greater than when he was in the Star Wars before. He had no way to retreat; he had to complete the game mission, or else his lover would sleep forever.
Encouraged, Xi Guican crazily served He Ruge food. However, apart from the fish he initially gave, which added a bit of favorability, nothing else did. But even so, Xi Guican stubbornly continued to serve him.
There were dedicated chefs in the villa, and the food was exceptionally delicious. Coupled with Mr. Xi who kept serving him, He Ruge accidentally ate too much. Although he didn’t like wasting food, he insisted on finishing the food in his bowl even though he was full.
But Mr. Xi loved serving him food so much that the food in the bowl unconsciously piled up high.
He Ruge struggled to swallow a bite, preparing for the next one when suddenly he heard Mr. Xi’s voice, “If you can’t eat anymore, don’t force yourself.”
Xi Guican, who had been observing He Ruge, noticed a small detail. When He Ruge was enjoying his meal, his favorability didn’t increase, but his dangling legs would unconsciously sway.
However, as he ate more, his originally swaying short legs stopped moving, and his belly bulged. Mr. Xi Guican knew that He Ruge had never had a big appetite, and it should be even smaller after shrinking.
He Ruge was puzzled about how Mr. Xi Guican could tell that he was full.
His expression hadn’t changed much all along, and Mr. Xi Guican didn’t know his usual appetite.
“It’s a bit wasteful,” the little lover frowned, like a frugal head of the family, “I’ll take another bite.”
Without hesitation, Mr. Xi Guican reached out and took the bowl, “Let me help you.”
He effortlessly finished all the rice in three quick moves, not even leaving a grain behind.
He Ruge: “Huh???”
He stared blankly as Mr. Xi finished all the rice, unsure how to feel for a moment.
Only parents in this world wouldn’t mind leftovers eaten by their children, right?
Could it be that Mr. Xi doesn’t see him as a pet but as a child?
There was another complex emotion in his heart. From the first meeting until now, Mr. Xi had behaved very “high-class”.
He wasn’t someone you could casually encounter on the street, completely unrelated to down-to-earth things like finishing leftovers.
He Ruge was too shocked, so shocked that he accidentally burped.
Mr. Xi was wiping his mouth with a tissue, and when he heard the childish burp, the man’s expression suddenly became very, um, indulgent?
Maybe it was the lighting, or maybe the angle, but at that moment, those deep blue eyes were like the sparkling sea, with an indescribable tenderness.
After thinking for a while, He Ruge thought that Mr. Xi must feel pride when feeding his pet, similar to the satisfaction of seeing one’s pig grow bigger and stronger.
…Actually, Mr. Xi wasn’t that harsh.
After close contact, one would discover that he was a gentle person.
If only he didn’t resemble a tentacle monster.
Before this, He Ruge had a brainstorm to set the male lead as a tentacle monster because the prototypes of male leads like cats, tigers, foxes, phoenixes, gluttons, dragons… were all over the place in Jianghu novels.
He Ruge wanted to write a more novel male lead and, considering his usual desire to become a tentacle monster to type faster, he impulsively set the male lead as a tentacle monster.
A gray-purple giant octopus from outer space, without a single hair.
He Ruge imagined what a hairy octopus would look like, and after imagining it, he couldn’t help but shudder.
Too scary.
Even if such a large octopus were made into octopus balls, no one would dare to eat them.
After dinner, Mr. Xi led He Ruge for a walk by the seaside. Mr. Xi left large footprints on the beach, especially large footprints!
Like the imprints left by fins on the sand after diving.
It was the first time He Ruge had seen such large footprints in his life. Could it be that the Yeti footprints in Shennongjia* were actually made by Mr. Xi…
*T/N: District in Hubei, China
While Mr. Xi was walking ahead, He Ruge tentatively stretched out his foot towards the large footprint. Like a thief, one foot accidentally stepped into the large footprint.
So within the bold and unrestrained large footprint appeared a miniature little footprint, which reminded He Ruge of Russian nesting dolls, where one big doll contains a smaller doll inside.
His other foot quietly sneaked into the large footprint as well. He Ruge found that Mr. Xi’s footprint was more than enough to accommodate both his feet. He then carefully squatted down and pressed his two hands into the footprint.
Then, little He Ruge couldn’t help but laugh. He dared not laugh too loudly, fearing that his childish behavior would be seen by Mr. Xi—leaving him faceless.
With a guilty conscience, He Ruge looked up at Mr. Xi’s back. The man’s cloak rustled in the wind, his long legs stretching to the sky, and just his back alone could capture countless girls’ hearts.
Indeed, Mr. Xi was very handsome…
He Ruge lifted his two small hands, brushed off the sand from his palms, then stepped out of the range of the large footprint, using his foot to erase his small footprints and handprints.
After confirming the destruction of evidence, He Ruge trotted behind Mr. Xi with his short legs, occasionally “accidentally” stepping into Mr. Xi’s footprints, just like when he was a child and liked to intentionally step on fallen leaves on tree-lined roads to hear the rustling sound.
As he stepped, He Ruge suddenly remembered a mythological story where Fu Xi’s mother, Huaxu, saw a large footprint by Leigong and curiously stepped on it, resulting in her becoming pregnant from stepping on a god’s footprint… Then she became pregnant with Fu Xi*.
*T/N: According to Chinese mythology, the creation god Pangu transformed into various elements after his death, including a powerful being named Huaxu. One day, Huaxu stepped into the footprint of the thunder god, Leigong, and soon found herself pregnant with twins: Fuxi and Nuwa
He Ruge silently withdrew his probing foot, obediently walking behind Mr. Xi for a stroll. He noticed that the distance between each footprint left by Mr. Xi on the beach was almost precise, like when a feline animal’s hind paw always steps into the paw print left by the front paw.
Strange, he felt Mr. Xi was like a cat again.
After the walk, Mr. Xi and He Ruge went to take a bath. Mr. Xi originally wanted to help He Ruge bathe, but He Ruge firmly declined his kindness.
The shower gel was strawberry-scented. After bathing, He Ruge felt like he had turned into a big strawberry, with the risk of ants carrying him away while he slept at night.
As soon as He Ruge walked out of the bathroom, he saw Mr. Xi in a gray bathrobe. Mr. Xi was holding a plate of strawberries, his silver hair dripping wet like the freshly washed strawberries. Upon seeing He Ruge come out, Mr. Xi’s blue eyes lit up.
“Here, have some fruit.”
The prepared shower gel was strawberry-scented, and the fruit on the plate was also strawberries.
It seemed Mr. Xi really liked strawberries.
In He Ruge’s mind, he couldn’t help but imagine Mr. Xi in black military uniform, sitting in a dignified manner, eating strawberries with a serious expression.
For some reason, He Ruge felt like laughing. He thought Mr. Xi might actually be a somewhat cute person.
To make it easier for He Ruge to reach the strawberries, Mr. Xi specially crouched down, “There’s a massage chair here, would you like to try it?”
He Ruge took a bite of the strawberry, pondered for a moment at Mr. Xi’s words, and nodded gently. Although children’s bones are not fully developed and they shouldn’t sit in massage chairs often, sitting in one occasionally shouldn’t be a problem.
He had developed many occupational diseases from his previous life as a full-time writer, though it wasn’t that serious for He Ruge yet.
After writing for a long time, his cervical vertebrae, back, and waist would ache slightly, and his hands would become sore and swollen. At those times, getting a massage would be much more comfortable. However, He Ruge was reluctant to spend money on massages, so sometimes he would relax in a massage chair in the mall.
This made He Ruge have an inexplicable fondness for massage chairs.
So Mr. Xi led He Ruge to enjoy the massage chair. There was a dim room specifically for the massage chair in the villa. When He Ruge sat down in the massage chair, the large screen in front suddenly lit up, showing an animated cartoon.
He Ruge guessed it was a home theater. This luxurious and decadent life of the rich… it was truly wonderful.
The plot of the cartoon was very childish, playing SpongeBob SquarePants. However, He Ruge found it very interesting.
He didn’t have many memories of cartoons from his childhood; one could say he was someone who didn’t have much of a childhood.
On the screen, Patrick Star said, “SpongeBob, guess how many candies I have in my hand. If you guess right, I’ll give you both candies!”
SpongeBob thought for a moment and said, “I guess five.”
Then Patrick gave SpongeBob two candies and said, “I owe you three more, I’ll give them to you next time.”
He Ruge was inexplicably touched by this.
At that moment, he heard Mr. Xi’s deep voice, “He Ruge, little friend, guess how many strawberries are in the bowl?”
He Ruge was stunned for a moment. He turned his head stupidly, the calmness of a little adult disappearing from his face, becoming more like the innocence that only children of this age had.
In the dim light, the man’s sharp features seemed much gentler, his blue eyes showing a faint smile.
“If you guess right, I’ll give you all five strawberries in the bowl.”
…Mr. Xi seems really cute.
He Ruge looked at the bowl of strawberries, noticing that Mr. Xi was still properly covering the bowl with his palm, covering it tightly so not a single strawberry was visible. Like Mr. Xi’s large footprint, his palm was also large.
If it rained, could Mr. Xi’s palm be used as an umbrella?
There’s a saying, “Big head, big head, rain doesn’t worry me, others have umbrellas, I have a big head.”
So, if this saying was applied to Mr. Xi, it would be “Big hand, big hand, rain doesn’t worry me, others have umbrellas, I have big hands.”
He Ruge decided to play along with the childish Mr. Xi.
“I guess there are five.”
Sure enough, there were five strawberries in the bowl, all of which went into He Ruge’s stomach.
The strawberries Mr. Xi bought were really sweet. The strawberries He Ruge usually bought for a cheap price were always sour-sweet, but Mr. Xi’s strawberries weren’t sour at all; they were juicy and sweet.
After eating the sweet strawberries, there were no other snacks left. Meanwhile, Mr. Xi went out again and returned with a beautifully packaged box that looked like snacks.
At first, He Ruge guessed that the box contained chocolate. However, when the box was opened, he saw a row of glowing… white stones?
In the dim room, they emitted a soft glow and smelled inexplicably delicious. He Ruge, who hadn’t seen much of the world, was stunned. He watched Mr. Xi take a piece of white stone and put it in his mouth, leisurely inhaling towards the stone. The stone instantly turned gray, as if the shiny things inside had been sucked into Mr. Xi’s stomach.
He Ruge didn’t know what this thing was, nor did he dare to ask. Perhaps this was just how magical the world of the rich was. If there were cakes that looked like action figures, there would naturally be foods that looked like stones.
He Ruge caught a whiff of the “stone’s” fragrance in the air and couldn’t help but take another deep breath, feeling refreshed and relaxed.
“Here, take a breath,” Mr. Xi invited.
He Ruge picked up a piece of white stone, which emitted a faint light in his palm, and the wonderful fragrance became even more enticing at such a close distance. He Ruge imitated Mr. Xi’s actions and put the stone in his mouth.
…Hmm, he didn’t suck up anything.
Mr. Xi clenched his fist and covered his lips, letting out a soft laugh.
“I almost forgot, you still can’t absorb it now.”
He Ruge: “???”
Sorry, not only can’t I absorb it now, I couldn’t absorb stones in the past either.
Mr. Xi poked the stone a few times with his finger and then gestured for He Ruge to try again. This time, He Ruge successfully absorbed it.
There was a refreshing flow like fairy Qi rushing into his mouth from the stone, flooding his limbs and hundreds of bones. Coupled with the massage from the massage chair, He Ruge felt so comfortable that he almost couldn’t get up, feeling like he was floating- feeling immortal.
It turns out that the happiness of the rich really is unimaginable.
In his heart, He Ruge couldn’t help but shed tears of poverty.
He Ruge didn’t know what the stone was exactly. Since the world after crossing over already had aliens, it was normal for strange stones like this to appear.
After absorbing this stone, He Ruge returned to his room to prepare for bed. Mr. Xi held a fairy tale book and followed He Ruge into the room, insisting on reading a fairy tale to He Ruge.
After spending half a day together, He Ruge felt that Mr. Xi was quite nice. At least as a caretaker of Earthlings, Mr. Xi took care of him with great diligence. Not only did he consider his food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, but he also took into account his spiritual needs with meticulous care.
The way the man sat at the bedside reading fairy tales… It resembled the fantasy He Ruge had once had about his father.
If he weren’t an orphan, if he had a father, his father would also sit at the bedside like Mr. Xi, using a deep, mellow voice to softly read fairy tales.
After finishing the story, he would carefully tidy the bedcovers, turn off the lights, and say “goodnight” to him.
“Goodnight,” Mr. Xi stood in the darkness and said to He Ruge.
He Ruge also whispered “goodnight.” Because in the darkness, he thought Mr. Xi couldn’t see his expression, so when he said this, He Ruge smiled.
It was a sweet, easily satisfied smile of a little child.
Xi Guican, who could see in the dark, saw everything, saw that childish smile, and felt He Ruge’s “likability +10” floating above his head.
This made Xi Guican unable to help but have a silly smile for a moment, revealing his two small tiger teeth.
Fortunes change, now you and I take turns being dad.
Sleepyblue’s Corner:
Hi, guys! We’re near towards the main story completion of this series✨🎉. Unfortunately, daily updates for the next chapters will be changed because school season’s starting again :< . . . Releases will be made 2x/ week every Mondays and Thursdays, but for every 3 ko-fi donations, an additional chapter will be posted a day after the donation has been made ^^
