# Chapter 84

### Chapter 84: Yellow Crystal

Lin Jianyuan went with Pei Shuo to the office.

He hadn’t come to the office at night in ages. Swiping his badge to get in, he felt an odd, guilty thrill.

But when Pei Shuo flipped on the lights, the whole place was flooded with harsh white.

"Perfect," Lin Jianyuan nodded. "That miserable feeling is back."

"Bro," Pei Shuo gave a wry smile, "I told you, you didn't have to come."

"Cut the crap." Lin Jianyuan always got irritable the moment he stepped into this company. "Let's get moving."

He pulled out his chair and sat at his old workstation—the desktop was still there.

He typed in the password. Still the same as before.

For a second, Lin Jianyuan almost doubted he'd really quit.

The thing the overseas client wanted fixed wasn't hard, just a pain in the ass.

They had to dig up old data and make a few tweaks.

The good news was, Pei Shuo was more than up to the task now.

Lin Jianyuan noticed Pei Shuo was almost working at his own pace.

That left Lin Jianyuan both impressed and a little sentimental.

Still, there was a mountain of work.

Good thing he came to help.

Lin Jianyuan thought with relief, If he'd actually believed Pei Shuo's nonsense and let the kid come back to work alone, he wouldn't have made it home before morning.

Might as well just stay and start the next shift.

Jiang Chen loved idiots like him.

Beep.

His phone buzzed.

Just a quick ping, not an alarm—an important notification.

Lin Jianyuan glanced at it. Internal memo:

"S-class Aberrant \[Delirium] has been contained. Currently being transferred to the containment division. All relevant personnel, please prepare."

Almost at the same time, his roommate messaged him:

"It's over."

"Where'd you go?"

That question made it clear his roommate was already back at the basketball court.

Lin Jianyuan got up at once and stepped out to call him.

"Hey, babe. I'm at the office." Lin Jianyuan leaned against the hallway wall, phone in hand.

At night, the whole floor was dark except for their office.

His low voice echoed softly in the corridor.

For some reason, he felt unusually tender inside.

"What are you doing at the office?" his roommate asked over the phone.

The next second, the familiar pink digestive system appeared before him.

Lin Jianyuan opened his arms, and his roommate walked over for a hug.

They held each other quietly, without a word.

Just stood there in the hallway, holding on.

They didn't even hang up the call.

Both still holding their phones. When the hallway lights went out, their screens became the only glow in the dark.

"Baby," Lin Jianyuan stroked his roommate's back, "are you tired?"

"Not at all," his roommate laughed. "Where's the grilled pineapple?"

"I wasn't sure how long you'd be, so I paid but didn't have them grill it yet—didn't want it to get cold and gross. I just messaged the boss, we'll pick it up in ten minutes. Where's Shi Shaoning?"

"He went home already."

"Oh."

They swayed gently together in the dark.

Just quietly clinging to each other.

It felt like they were recharging from each other's warmth and breath.

After a while, Lin Jianyuan said, "Baby, come meet Pei Shuo with me. Come on, handsome, light up for me."

So his roommate glowed.

"I used to think you were just so well put together you practically glowed," Lin Jianyuan chuckled as he led his roommate into the office. "Turns out it was all cognitive modification."

"\~"

"Pei Shuo," Lin Jianyuan said, "my wife is here."

"Huh?" Pei Shuo, clearly fried from overtime, looked up in a daze.

He froze.

"Hi there," his roommate waved his glowing duodenum at Pei Shuo—in Pei Shuo's eyes, it probably looked like a hand.

His roommate smiled and said, "Good evening, I'm Lin Xieyu. I'm Lin Jianyuan's partner."

Pei Shuo's jaw dropped. He couldn't get a word out.

"Hey, what's up?" Lin Jianyuan teased. "Stunned by how good-looking my wife is?"

Pei Shuo snapped out of it, blushed hard, and jumped to his feet. "H-hi, sister-in-law! I'm Pei Shuo, Yuan-ge's apprentice!"

"See? Now do you believe me?" Lin Jianyuan gestured for his roommate to sit, then went back to work, teasing, "Still think I've lost my mind?"

"Yuan-ge," Pei Shuo said, half-laughing, half-helpless, scratching his head awkwardly.

But Lin Jianyuan suddenly turned serious. "I get it, really. You guys just care about me. I appreciate it. I really do."

"Don't—don't say that," Pei Shuo said, rubbing his nose, embarrassed. "You're making me feel bad. It's not that serious, bro. You've always been good to me. Look, you even came to help me work late."

After a while, his roommate got up to fetch the food from the barbecue stall downstairs.

Lin Jianyuan reminded him, "Take it slow. Be careful on the way."

His roommate got the hint and, instead of teleporting in front of Pei Shuo, obediently "walked" out and "took" the elevator.

As soon as his roommate left, Pei Shuo visibly relaxed and let out a quiet sigh.

"What, nervous?" Lin Jianyuan teased.

"A little," Pei Shuo admitted with a laugh. "It's my first time meeting your wife, after all. Plus, I always thought—well, anyway, now that I've met him, I feel like I can finally relax. I really am relieved."

Lin Jianyuan suddenly had the urge to ask what his roommate looked like in Pei Shuo's eyes.

It was a weird question, but he could find a way to make it sound reasonable.

Just say he was face-blind.

Yeah. He had enough issues already—one more wouldn't matter.

He'd say he couldn't recognize faces, then ask Pei Shuo what his roommate really looked like...

Lin Jianyuan quickly mapped out the conversation in his head.

But when he opened his mouth, he realized there was no need.

Forget it.

Whatever Pei Shuo saw, it was just "cognitive modification."

Not the real him.

He'd seen his roommate's real form from the start.

His roommate was just a fresh, soft pink digestive system.

So it didn't matter. What he looked like.

After all, he'd already had thoughts about reproductive systems with his roommate looking like this.

Damn.

His kinks really were a bit weird.

His preferences had evolved into the shape of a pink digestive system, for god's sake!

Thinking that, Lin Jianyuan suddenly felt at peace.

At the same time, he couldn't help remembering that talk with Dr. Cen about dick sleeves.

Nope.

That was still a step too far.

His wife was too innocent.

If he really did it that way, it would feel like objectifying him.

Even Lin Jianyuan couldn't stand the thought.

Hell, it was worse than that!

Just thinking about it made his chest ache.

Nope.

He was already getting soft-hearted!

But maybe, he could try something else...

He wondered what his wife would like.

"Bro?" Pei Shuo looked at him, puzzled. "What are you thinking about? Why are you grinning like that?"

"You wouldn't get it," Lin Jianyuan shook his head, mysterious. "People in love just end up smiling for no reason."

If Shi Shaoning had heard that, he would have rolled his eyes and spat out a mouthful of dog food.

But right now, it was Pei Shuo in front of him.

The big golden retriever of a kid just looked at him with shining eyes and said,

"That's so nice!"

"\~\~"

Maximum emotional value.

Pei Shuo really was the king of hype.

Worth coming in just to help this kid work late!

His roommate was back from the barbecue stall in no time.

The quiet late-night office filled with the aroma of cumin and chili powder.

Besides barbecue, Lin Jianyuan had bought cold Coke and beer.

His roommate poked at his straw, duodenum wrapped around the Coke, sipping beside him.

Lin Jianyuan and Pei Shuo worked while chatting and laughing.

In a blink, they finished everything that needed doing.

Pei Shuo dutifully sent the files to Jiang Chen for review.

Jiang Chen didn't reply.

Lin Jianyuan called him directly.

Jiang Chen still didn't pick up. Clearly, he'd handed off the work and gone to bed, leaving Pei Shuo to burn the midnight oil.

Without a word, Lin Jianyuan mouthed, "Babe."

His roommate got the hint.

He teleported over using the navigation.

A gutful of intestine gave Jiang Chen a big old slap.

Jiang Chen jolted awake.

Still dazed, he saw Lin Jianyuan's name on the caller ID and jumped again.

Under the threat of this midnight horror, Jiang Chen obediently reviewed and forwarded Pei Shuo's revised files.

"Bro, you're the best," Pei Shuo said, full of admiration. "Only you could get Jiang Chen to fall in line like that."

"You can't keep flipping your days and nights like this," Lin Jianyuan said. "Tomorrow, talk to Jiang Chen. Tell him to negotiate a reasonable work schedule with the client. Don't wreck your health just because you're young, or you'll regret it. I'm living proof."

Pei Shuo nodded earnestly. "Got it, Yuan-ge. Everything you've taught me has been super useful."

Now Lin Jianyuan finally understood why he was so willing to open up to this kid.

Turns out, sincerity was this kid's secret weapon.

Whoever dated him in the future was in for a treat.

They'd get top-tier emotional value every day.

A nice night of barbecue and basketball had turned into two teams working overtime.

It was always them who got the short end of the stick.

No matter what job, they couldn't escape overtime.

At least things turned out well in the end.

Before midnight, Lin Jianyuan finally made it home with his roommate.

It was the middle of the night.

Exhausted, Lin Jianyuan fell asleep holding his roommate.

The room was kept at the perfect temperature and humidity.

Perfect meant Lin Jianyuan could hold the pink digestive system under the covers without feeling too hot or cold.

The bed was just the right kind of warm.

Both of them could sleep comfortably.

Xieyu was getting ready to sleep too.

Strictly speaking, he didn't need sleep.

He only got drowsy when he ate too much. That was food coma.

Lin Jianyuan had taught him that word—food coma.

Xieyu didn't actually need sleep.

But being held like this, in a cozy bed, with Lin Jianyuan's warmth all around—even without a full stomach, he started to feel sleepy.

So what was this called?

Warmth coma?

Human coma?

So funny.

The pink digestive system nestled in his human's arms.

He tipped his head up.

chu\~

Chu\~

He kissed him out of habit.

Kissed his human's Adam's apple. Kissed his human's lips.

Kissed the tip of his human's nose.

His eyes.

His forehead.

Then back the way he came.

Xieyu decided lips were still the best. Soft, but not too soft.

Lips were made for kissing.

chu\~

Chu\~

Xieyu held his sleeping human and kissed him again and again.

It always felt like one more kiss would be enough.

But no matter how many times he kissed, it was never enough.

So strange.

So funny.

Oh, he got it now.

It must be because he kept kissing the same spot\~

So try somewhere else.

Switch to the little lollipop and have a taste.

Ah—munch.

He knew there was nothing to eat, but Xieyu still took it into his mouth.

He licked and sucked out of habit.

He knew there was nothing there.

But he still liked licking and sucking.

Xieyu curled up in his human's arms, hugging him tight.

Happily sucking on his favorite little lollipop.

And then.

Just—

Crunch.

A weird cracking sound made the calcium lamp by the window jump in fright!

Wh-what was that?

What just happened?

The anxious lamp trembled.

It stared in horror as the powerful S-class Aberrant opened his mouth and reached down his throat.

He rummaged around.

And pulled out a yellow crystal.

Xieyu: "?"

Anxious lamp: "Huh???"

If only the squish toy, Little Stone, Angel Eyeball, Abyssal Maw, and the others were here.

They'd know exactly what to say:

"Shush! He's savoring it!"

But they weren't.

All the other toys were in the nursery except the anxious lamp.

There was a bookshelf in the nursery.

Every toy had its own little cubby.

So the calcium-rich, atmosphere-setting, anxiety-ridden Lego, left alone in the master bedroom, witnessed Xieyu gnawing his way to a weird crystal in the middle of the night.

Now it watched in despair as Xieyu fell silent.

Watched in despair as he tossed the yellow crystal into his mouth and chewed.

Listened in despair to the crunching as it was ground to bits.

Then, in despair, it met the S-class Aberrant's gaze.

"What's a dick sleeve?" Xieyu asked, puzzled.

Anxious Lego: ".................."

Help!

Help!!!!!

"Forget it, you're not human, you definitely wouldn't know."

Seeing the useless thing trembling, Xieyu knew he couldn't count on it.

So he decisively pulled out Xiaohongshu.

In the dark room, the phone screen lit up the whole pink digestive system.

The pink digestive system lifted his pancreatic head and typed skillfully into Xiaohongshu:

"What is a dick sleeve?"

Done.

Hit search.

A flood of results popped up.

Xieyu stared at the screen, deep in thought.