Chapter 57
Chapter 57: Decay
Lin Jianyuan was stunned.
He opened the contract and saw a jaw-dropping number under compensation.
“One, two, three, four... five...” By the time he got to the end, his fingers were shaking.
He finally counted the last digit. “...Six.”
Six digits!
Six digits!
Lin Jianyuan thought he was seeing things. He couldn’t believe it.
He rubbed his eyes and counted again.
It wasn’t hard to count.
100,000.
Next to it, the amount was written out in full:
One hundred thousand.
A hundred thousand!
Wait, is this a monthly salary or yearly?
Lin Jianyuan, hands trembling, checked the details again.
Monthly.
It’s monthly!
A hundred thousand a month!
And that’s not including bonuses!
Bonuses are extra!
Lin Jianyuan’s mind spun. Was this hush money? Blood money?
How much work do they expect for this?
He quickly flipped to the “job description.”
He stared, dumbfounded.
Minimum four shifts per month.
Because this job requires direct contact with Aberrants, there’s risk of exposure to contaminants. An additional stipend is provided for mental contamination.
The contamination stipend wasn’t much.
Ten thousand.
Ten thousand per shift.
Four shifts a month, forty thousand total.
That’s a hundred and forty thousand altogether.
Lin Jianyuan: “...”
He almost laughed out loud. He was really losing it.
He’d just called ten thousand per shift “not much.”
Lin Jianyuan couldn’t take it. He grabbed his roommate and stammered, “Babe, come here... check if I have a fever. Or, um... what’s it called, is my sanity dropping?”
“?” His roommate didn’t get it, but still pressed a warm, soft intestine to his cheek, then his forehead.
Then said, “Nope. What’s wrong?”
“So am I dreaming?” Lin Jianyuan muttered. “Or did I take too much antipsychotic and now I’m hallucinating... No, I’m not even mentally ill, and I didn’t take any meds today...”
His roommate seemed to catch on and laughed. “It’s real.”
“It’s unreal... a hundred and forty thousand a month!” Lin Jianyuan snapped out of it and grabbed his roommate’s contract for comparison.
His roommate’s contract was a little different, mostly in job description.
Lin Jianyuan was in the “Field Team.” His roommate was in “Containment.”
His roommate’s salary was even more outrageous.
Two hundred thousand a month.
Two hundred thousand!
God, was he dreaming?
No, he couldn’t be.
Because not even in his wildest dreams would he dare imagine this!
Lin Jianyuan sucked in a sharp breath.
He called Shi Shaoning without hesitation.
“Hello.” Shi Shaoning’s tone was as gruff as ever.
“Hey, man, can I ask you something?” Lin Jianyuan swallowed, cautious. “Are you sure your Bureau didn’t, uh, give me the wrong contract?”
It was just too much. He couldn’t believe it.
Even with one zero less, it would still be a fortune.
After all, it was just four shifts a month!
For this little work, even ten thousand a month would be generous!
But the contract had an extra zero! A whole extra zero!
“No mistake,” Shi Shaoning said. “You get a hundred thousand, Xie Yu gets two hundred. What, not enough?”
“No, no!” Lin Jianyuan stammered, sounding pathetic. “Not too little! Too much! I can’t believe it!”
“It is a lot. Field team never gets this much,” Shi Shaoning snorted. “But your wife is an Aberrant. An S-class combat Aberrant.”
Their entire Bureau couldn’t break through his wife’s defenses.
Now that he was on their side, he was a weapon for the Bureau.
He could take down any Aberrant below S-class.
Three million a year was like buying a nuke—the Aberrant version.
A bargain.
Honestly, a steal.
Lin Jianyuan: “.”
Fine, so he was living off his wife now.
But he was still curious. He couldn’t help asking, “Sorry, can I ask...”
Shi Shaoning: “A hundred thousand.”
Lin Jianyuan: “Huh?”
“I get the same. A hundred thousand base, plus shifts. I have a senior title. You get the special post allowance because of... because of Xie Yu. So you’re at my level.”
Lin Jianyuan: “Oh, okay.”
“Don’t feel guilty about the money. You’re Xie Yu’s primary handler. If an S-class Aberrant goes rogue, the damage would be way more than this. You have to keep him in check.”
Lin Jianyuan was silent for a moment.
He said, “Understood.”
Shi Shaoning said coolly, “Anything else?”
Lin Jianyuan: “No.”
Shi Shaoning: “Bye.”
Shi Shaoning hung up.
Lin Jianyuan stared at the two contracts on the table, both worth over a million a year, and still felt like he was dreaming.
No, not just two million.
One was over a million, the other over two million!
He and his wife—over three million together!
Wait, how did it add up to three million? What?
How did this happen so fast?
This felt more unreal than finding out he wasn’t mentally ill.
More unreal than his wife actually being the pink digestive system.
Because this was—
Over three million!
“What did he say?” His roommate came over, warm, soft throat nuzzling him. “What did he say to make you so dazed?”
Lin Jianyuan couldn’t help but smile.
He reached out and pinched his roommate’s gallbladder.
Honestly, this was just too funny.
Somehow, his roommate, the pink digestive system, felt more real and warm than the contracts on the table.
He didn’t even know anymore if he was crazy or not.
Lin Jianyuan repeated what Shi Shaoning had said to his roommate.
He’d expected his roommate to promise something sweet, like “I’ll always listen to you” or “I’ll never go wild as long as you’re here.”
Instead, his roommate said, “He gets a hundred thousand? Then why did I only get a thousand in kickbacks?”
“What?!” Lin Jianyuan was shocked. “What kickback? What thousand?”
“Because I caught two A-class Aberrants on the street and asked Shi Shaoning for a kickback. I asked for 80 percent, and they sent me 1600. So the original price for one A-class must be a thousand.”
Lin Jianyuan: “???”
Lin Jianyuan’s mind blanked. He held up a hand. “Wait. Let me get this straight.”
Kickbacks? His wife had actually asked the Bureau for kickbacks?
What kind of world was this, where Aberrants could hustle the Bureau?
How did the big fish go around catching little fish and flipping them for a profit?
Wait, 1600.
Did his wife risk it for the kickback because—
“Phone?” Lin Jianyuan asked suddenly.
“Yeah.” His roommate nodded. “I needed to buy a phone. The phone was 1559, so with 1600 I had 41 left. That’s why I didn’t have enough to pay you back at the supermarket.”
Lin Jianyuan: “...”
Lin Jianyuan looked at the digestive system in front of him.
His heart suddenly gave a hard thump.
Oh god!
Oh god...
Lin Jianyuan’s heart melted. He couldn’t help but hug his roommate and whisper, “Babe...”
“Hmm? What’s wrong now?” His roommate smiled, kissed him, and said, “You’ve been so emotional lately. Why?”
God.
He doesn’t get it.
He doesn’t even know why I’m moved...
He really is a clueless Aberrant who doesn’t understand human feelings...
Lin Jianyuan’s heart had gone soft and tender.
He hugged his wife tighter, nuzzling his nose against her throat.
His wife was ticklish, laughing and squirming in his arms.
“What are you doing? That tickles.”
“I love you.”
“I know.”
“I love you so much. I’m crazy about you.”
“Ah...”
“Ah what?”
“You made me hungry.”
“?”
“I want to eat you again.”
Lin Jianyuan tensed, but after all he’d learned, he knew his wife’s “eat” didn’t mean what it usually meant for gay couples.
So he leaned in and brushed his lips against his roommate’s. “Go ahead. Eat.”
“This is just a nibble,” his roommate said, oddly shy. “I want to take a big bite. But you might not be able to handle it.”
Boom!
Blood rushed south. Lin Jianyuan couldn’t stop himself from thinking about sex again.
“If you want to... then go ahead,” Lin Jianyuan said, his breath hot.
He could feel the heat because they were so close.
Their lips were nearly touching, only parting when they spoke.
Even that brief separation was almost unbearable.
He wanted to kiss his roommate hard, deep, messy, hungry.
He wanted to do much more than kiss.
“If you want to eat, then eat...” Lin Jianyuan murmured, almost sighing.
He kissed his roommate gently.
“Then, I’ll eat now.”
His roommate’s voice was playful, the end rising with a smile.
Clearly in a very, very good mood.
Lin Jianyuan smiled, indulgent.
He braced himself for something bizarre.
Then he watched his roommate open his mouth.
He watched as his roommate’s mouth stretched wider and wider, until he could see every inch of the pink mucosa, see straight down the throat, deeper and deeper, until—
So wide it defied imagination!
Then everything went black.
His roommate swallowed his head in one gulp.
Lin Jianyuan: “.”
Lin Jianyuan: “???????”
What?
Wait, what?
This wasn’t the weirdness he’d prepared for!
Too close.
He could feel the soft mucosa sliding over his cheeks and forehead, muscles shifting around him.
Too deep.
He could hear his roommate gulping down negative emotions, swallowing with greedy gulps.
Gulp.
Gulp.
Thump.
Thump thump thump thump!
Lin Jianyuan’s heart pounded.
Lin Jianyuan: “...”
No, wait.
How could this make his heart race?
His whole head was in his roommate’s mouth, everything pitch black—no, after a moment, he realized there was a faint light.
A little light filtered through the stretched pink throat, reaching his eyes.
What a bizarre sight!
The strange sensation of his whole head wrapped in mouth and esophagus!
Help.
So this was what a “big bite” meant.
This was his roommate’s favorite way to “eat him up.”
So it really was!
This big a bite!
Thump thump thump thump!
Then something even scarier happened.
Lin Jianyuan realized that as he lay stiff and helpless, being devoured—
Not only was his heart racing.
He was short of breath, blushing, scalp tingling, dizzy.
Wait.
No way.
Could he possibly...
Was he actually turned on by this?
“...?” His roommate suddenly stopped and let go.
Then gently patted Lin Jianyuan’s damp face with a duodenum.
And asked, puzzled, “Why aren’t you breathing?”
Lin Jianyuan: “What...?”
Lin Jianyuan felt dizzy.
He didn’t even process what his roommate was saying. “...Huh?”
“Humans need to breathe, right?”
His roommate poked his nose with a duodenum.
Then, as if that wasn’t enough, leaned in and kissed his nose.
“Humans die if they don’t breathe, right?” his roommate said. “Why did you hold your breath in my throat?”
Lin Jianyuan: “?”
??????
Wait, he could breathe in there?
So he wasn’t suffocating because his roommate swallowed him.
It was because he’d forgotten to breathe himself?
Him? A former straight guy?
He’d been so overwhelmed he forgot to breathe?
Lin Jianyuan: “.”
He wilted.
“What’s wrong? You’re not happy if I really eat you.”
His roommate laughed, pinched his nose with a duodenum, then his cheek.
Like soothing a sulky puppy.
“Nothing. I just feel doomed.”
Lin Jianyuan buried his face in his hands.
“My kinks are getting weirder and weirder. Ahhh.”
Suddenly, his phone rang. Shi Shaoning was calling again.
“Meet at your place tomorrow at five. Taking you to Bureau orientation.”
Shi Shaoning sounded half-dead.
Lin Jianyuan blurted out, “What the hell? Five? Does the Bureau run on donkey hours?”
Shi Shaoning gritted his teeth. “It’s not the Bureau, it’s my dumbass film crew. The idiot director changed the schedule again, so I have to run back and shoot all day tomorrow...”
Only then did Lin Jianyuan remember that Shi Shaoning was also a rising actor.
By day, a celebrity. By night, saving the world.
That was one hell of a life.
Then again, acting paid well too.
For Shi Shaoning, the Bureau’s salary probably wasn’t even that much.
He must genuinely love both jobs.
Or he’d have dropped one by now.
Lin Jianyuan remembered Shi Shaoning saying, “Acting is my dream.”
But what about the Bureau?
Was that his dream too?
Lin Jianyuan suddenly remembered the kickback question and flipped through the contract.
He noticed there was nothing about Aberrant capture bonuses.
Since Shi Shaoning was still on the line, he asked.
Shi Shaoning replied, “No.”
Lin Jianyuan: “Then the kickback you gave my wife?”
Shi Shaoning snapped, “That was my own money! All to catch an S-class Aberrant!”
Lin Jianyuan: “...”
Lin Jianyuan was about to praise his dedication, but Shi Shaoning added, voice venomous:
“I reported it to the higher-ups! It was a nightmare! I finally got promoted to A-class, and your wife handed me two more A’s! Do you know how many pages of reports I had to write to explain it? Do you?!”
Lin Jianyuan: “.”
Got it.
The contract said promotions depended on catching Aberrants.
Shi Shaoning had just been promoted, and his wife had forced two Aberrants on him.
No wonder he had to write a report.
No wonder he paid out of pocket.
His wife hadn’t given him a receipt, so he couldn’t even expense it. Ha.
Night.
Lin Jianyuan lined up the little toys on the table.
—Just kidding. These weren’t real toys!
They were all Aberrants!
Talking, sentient Aberrants!
No way he could keep them in the bedroom!
How was he supposed to have fun with his wife with them around?
“By the way...” Lin Jianyuan shut the door, then turned back. “When you used to sneak into my room at night to nibble on me, were they all here too?”
His roommate was sprawled on the bed, scrolling Xiaohongshu.
The appendix swayed like a cat’s tail. His digestive tract gurgled, full from Lin Jianyuan’s feeding.
His roommate said, “Yep.”
Lin Jianyuan walked over and pinched his throat. “Aren’t you embarrassed? Not even a little shy?”
“Why would I be shy about eating?” his roommate asked.
Lin Jianyuan: “...”
Fair enough. He didn’t have an answer.
Even though he thought his roommate’s eating was way too sensual.
But to his roommate, it was just eating.
Was this what people meant by “incompatible worldviews” in couples?
Lin Jianyuan shook his head.
Still, his roommate’s throat was great to touch.
Soft and cool, warming under his fingers.
Kind of sexy, honestly.
Thinking it was a throat just made it sexier...
Lin Jianyuan’s thumb stroked slowly along his roommate’s throat, feeling that strange, cool texture.
It felt amazing. He couldn’t get enough.
He couldn’t help but lean in for a kiss.
His roommate squirmed away, ticklish.
Lin Jianyuan pinned him down. “Don’t move.”
“But it tickles,” his roommate laughed softly.
Lin Jianyuan said, deadpan, “Deal with it. I want to kiss you.”
His roommate paused, then let out a long breath and said gently, “Okay~”
Lin Jianyuan: “.”
Thump!
Thump thump!
Crap. His heart.
His heart was pounding again.
When his heart raced, he lost all strength.
He couldn’t keep up the tough act.
He gave up and pressed his lips gently to his roommate’s.
chu~
Chu~
One kiss led to another.
chu~
Chu~
More kisses.
chu~
Chu~
chu~
Chu~
……
...
They cuddled, wrapped around each other, sticky-sweet.
Lost in kisses, the world faded away.
Somewhere in the haze, Lin Jianyuan began to ponder a serious question.
Were they going to stay platonic forever?
Just keep kissing?
Never do anything more?
...Okay, before today, he definitely wanted more.
Or at least, before his roommate took that “big bite.”
But after that, he was a little scared.
He was honestly scared.
He was terrified his roommate would pull some new, body-bending trick on him!
……
...
Meanwhile, outside the bedroom.
Squish toy: “Sigh.”
Little Rock: “Sigh.”
Angel Eyeball: “What are you sighing about?”
Squish toy: “I’m so bored.”
Angel Eyeball: “Go for a walk if you’re bored.”
Squish toy rolled its eyes. “Go for a walk? Dream on! We’re working off the books in Lin’s house—there’s no clocking out! Take one step outside, and Xie Yu will bite you in half, I swear!”
Angel Eyeball: “...”
As the only Aberrant present who’d actually been bitten in half by Xie Yu, Angel Eyeball had a PTSD flash.
Squish toy looked satisfied at Angel Eyeball’s shivering, then turned to lecture another newcomer. “And you, Big Mouth! Don’t get any ideas! Don’t think you can sneak out while they’re at work. Lin Jianyuan works for the Bureau now! If you run, you’ll have ten Bureaus after you!”
Abyssal Maw: “...”
The two new Aberrants were thoroughly unnerved by squish toy.
Little Rock tried to comfort them. “Don’t mind him. Boss Squish is just petty—still mad you knocked him flying that time.”
Squish toy snapped, “What did you call me?”
“Boss Squish. Oh, right, you’re not officially appointed yet. My bad. Since Lin Jianyuan didn’t make you head steward, we’re all equals, so we should get along, right, Little Squish?”
Squish toy: “...####”
Squish toy lost it and charged at Little Rock.
Little Rock didn’t dodge, just let him charge.
Whap!
Squish toy smacked right into Little Rock!
And was immediately tripped, face-planting.
With a splat, squish toy fell off the table!
Squish toy: “...”
Little Rock: “Oops, forgot again. I’m a tripping stone! Look at the mess!”
Squish toy: “........”
Angel Eyeball: “Sigh.”
Abyssal Maw: “Bro, why are you sighing too?”
Angel Eyeball: “Those two are so boring. By the way, how’s the garbage eating going? Are you getting enough?”
Abyssal Maw: “No way. Lin Jianyuan’s house and office together don’t add up to much. Barely anything.”
Angel Eyeball: “Yeah, same here. Haven’t eaten in days. Xie Yu, that jerk—eats everything and leaves us nothing.”
Abyssal Maw: “Don’t even start. After what they did to us, you really expect them to treat us well?”
The two old toys sighed over their tragic fate.
Little Rock, in the middle of bickering with squish toy, suddenly stopped and said, “Huh?”
Angel Eyeball: “What’s with the ‘huh’?”
Squish toy bounced around under the table. “Come on! Keep fighting! I’m not scared! Just wait till I get back up there—”
“I just realized—I haven’t eaten in ages...”
Little Rock sounded confused.
Angel Eyeball & Abyssal Maw: “And?”
Little Rock paused, spun in a circle, then called to squish toy. “Hey! Snail! Did Lin Jianyuan ever feed you before I showed up? Or let you out to find food?”
“No! I’m too important! Lin Jianyuan can’t live without me for a second! He’d never... huh?”
At that, squish toy started to feel something was off.
Angel Eyeball picked up on it, voice low. “What do you mean? What are you getting at?”
Little Rock: “It’s just... none of us have eaten in so long...”
Little Rock looked down at his round, pitch-black body, indistinguishable from any rock on the street.
“So why haven’t we decayed?”
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