Chapter 31: Got driven away, crying
On the fifth day, Yu Yan still woke up with a strong feeling of restraint.
012’s arms bound him even tighter than the straps, giving him a continuous experience of being kidnapped for several days.
Over these days, Yu Yan had tried persuading and threatening without success. 012 remained unmoved, and it had been more exhausting than persuading his rebellious fifth brother.
Could it be that the lower the number, the harder it is to handle? If he had known earlier, he should have just recognized 012 as the big brother from the beginning.
“Master, you really are a master,” Yu Yan said.
He turned over, pulled up the terminal to check the surveillance, and saw that 012 had stayed by his side all night, without sneaking out to find food or anything.
So he hadn’t eaten for five days. Yu Yan noticed the obvious signs of hunger on his head and observed his not-so-obvious expression, suspecting that 012 might be trying to starve himself to death.
“Are you trying to use starving yourself as a threat to make me go with you?” Yu Yan asked.
“That won’t work on you,” 012 replied.
“Very well, it seems you understand what kind of person I am.”
012 buried his head, grabbing Yu Yan’s hand and licking it.
He had been doing this for several days, not just his hand but taking any opportunity to lick. Even if Yu Yan immediately wiped it off with disinfectant cotton, 012 would do it again next time.
“Do you see the yard outside? If you really starve to death here, I’ll dig a pit and bury you there. That’s the only thing I can do for you.”
Yu Yan, wearing a high-neck sweater, waited calmly for him to finish licking and expertly disinfected his hand.
He wiped so frequently that it felt like his hand had become a couple of shades whiter.
He had already finished watching most of the popular science educational videos he had dug up. Today’s new program was social news, focusing on the clashes among several major groups in the Central District.
The report highlighted recent issues within the Life Group, which is mainly controlled by the Zhou and He families, leading to a drop in their stock prices.
Additionally, two other major groups had launched new products to challenge the Life Group, resulting in management and senior researchers leaving the Life Group’s affiliated companies and research institutes.
The turbulence beneath the sea was too far from the surface, where people could only see the small waves and not the deep currents.
Yu Yan felt a tickle in his throat and couldn’t help but cough a few times. After faking a cough for so long, it had become real.
Even after taking medicine, the itchiness in his throat persisted, and there was a metallic taste in his throat. He could only keep drinking water to wash away the rusty flavor.
After the news report on the commercial disputes among the major groups ended, Yu Yan got up and moved to contact Su He.
The hard-working protagonist was still working in the lab, diligently continuing her virus research while taking care of her beloved silver wolf.
Upon receiving her senior’s call, Su He was surprised to find that Yu Yan’s condition had worsened while he was resting at home.
Su He asked, “Senior, didn’t you take your medicine on time?”
Yu Yan coughed softly, “I did take the medicine on time. I set the temperature too low while sleeping and caught a cold by accident. It’s nothing serious.”
Su He was speechless, “Your immune system is not in good shape right now, making you more susceptible to illness than usual. You need to be careful. Do you need me to get some new medicine for you to try?”
“Thanks, but no need. This minor illness will pass in a few days,” Yu Yan replied. He felt he wasn’t that fragile. He had survived the virus outbreak period; he wasn’t about to be defeated by a simple cold and its complications.
“I contacted you to ask if you knew where Lu Qiufeng went. I haven’t been able to reach him these past few days.”
Yu Yan was considering whether to spend more money finding channels in the outer districts to dr*g and transport the stubborn 012.
However, since he wasn’t familiar with the outer districts and didn’t have those channels, he wanted to inquire with Lu Qiufeng. Unfortunately, Lu Qiufeng had been out of contact.
“Lu Qiufeng? He hasn’t been to the lab these past few days. It seems he took leave due to some issues at home,” Su He said, lamenting that Zhou Sheqing also seemed quite busy and hadn’t been in touch with her.
Yu Yan frowned slightly, chatted a bit more with the hardworking Su He, and ended the call.
Lost in thought, he felt another cough coming on and went to the kitchen to get some water.
012’s gaze followed him, watching him move slowly around the room. Despite being ill, and his breathing heavy, his expression lacked the gloom usually brought by illness.
This person didn’t care much about many things and was hard to change.
At night, 012 stubbornly continued to embrace him through the blanket.
After lying down for too long during the day, Yu Yan had trouble sleeping and chatted idly, “The glitter on you, that sparkling stuff, has lost its shine. Are you hungry?”
It wasn’t hunger but the lack of attention from a partner that had caused it to dull.
Yu Yan pulled his hand from under the blanket and examined 012’s gaunt face, “Hmm, it looks like you’ve gotten uglier.”
012 tilted his head and licked Yu Yan’s hand.
Yu Yan was almost numb to the sensation, “After licking, clean it with the disinfectant cotton yourself.”
012 complied.
After cleaning his hand, 012 touched Yu Yan’s hair, then got up and went to the balcony, lightly leaping onto the railing.
Yu Yan sat up from the bed, somewhat surprised, “Are you planning to go foraging or leave this place?”
“I’m leaving,” 012 said.
After persuading him for so long without any response, he suddenly wanted to leave.
Yu Yan didn’t probe further into his mental state and got up to say, “Wait a moment, I have something for you.”
He quickly fetched a bag and handed it to 012.
012 looked into the bag and saw a box—a sealed container holding Zhou Xiangcheng’s head.
“Take back what you brought with you.” It’s too difficult to deal with here.
“……”
It was a dark, moonless night, and just then, the drifting clouds revealed a sliver of moonlight, illuminating 012’s sudden smile.
Holding the bag, 012 said to Yu Yan, “You’re a strange human, but I don’t dislike you.”
Yu Yan: Oh, listen to that—quite the attitude. The favorability rating above his head had risen to 90.
“Go on, be careful and don’t get caught,” Yu Yan waved his hand and lay back down in his room.
After a moment, he glanced back at the balcony and saw that 012’s figure had already disappeared.
“Butler, set the indoor temperature to a comfortable level for humans,” Yu Yan sneezed.
So cold. It was bearable for a short while, but it was really intolerable for a longer period.
The electronic butler responded immediately, “Understood, Master. The temperature has been adjusted to 26 degrees.”
Tonight, Yu Yan finally had the freedom to lie in his large, comfortable bed with a suitable temperature, but he couldn’t fall asleep.
Perhaps he was a bit worried about 012.
He tapped his forehead.
There was nothing to worry about. That guy was incredibly skilled, daring to kill alone in the Central District and managing to infiltrate his home without triggering the electronic butler’s alarm.
More capable than he had anticipated, breaking through barriers to get outside was no big deal for him.
Outside on the balcony, 012 sat on a branch of a large tree in the yard. He gazed at the darkened window and pulled out a bag of synthetic blood plasma from the sack Yu Yan had given him.
It had been pressed under the container with Zhou Xiangcheng’s head.
He was very hungry and had endured it for several days.
Every day, Yu Yan had told him, “I don’t have your food here. If you’re hungry, just leave.”
But 012 knew there was fresh blood plasma in the refrigerator’s safe.
He knew, but he didn’t eat it.
They were both testing each other to see if one would compromise.
In the end, it was 012 who chose to compromise. The partner he desired didn’t need him, and his presence only caused frustration for the human.
He opened the blood plasma bag, touched the cold surface, and then stopped. Instead, he opened the packaging and drank the blood plasma in a human way.
After drinking, he took one last look at the window before turning and flying away.
He had lost his nest and his partner.
Or rather, he had never really had them.
…
The next day was overcast. As usual, Yu Yan lingered in bed for a while, only getting up after he had fully woken up, taking care of himself and preparing food.
Without his shadow always following him, the sofa was empty.
Yu Yan leaned on the sofa and watched TV for a while. He suddenly sighed as he had on his first visit to the office.
“The place feels a bit empty,” he mused. Maybe he should set up a landscape box and grow some aquatic plants?
He wasn’t keen on keeping other pretty living things.
The beautiful programs he had enjoyed in the past few days were all watched. Now, only some boring stuff remained. Yu Yan wasn’t very interested, so he flipped to a paid video resource site for the research community, hoping to find something interesting to pass the time.
The videos included experimental records and wild capture records of mutated creatures in the wilderness. An idea suddenly popped into Yu Yan’s mind—he searched for videos related to white bats and ribbon birds.
Sure enough, there were videos available. Yu Yan clicked on one at random.
It was a recording from a field capture team, showing mutated white bats in the winter forest. Unlike typical bats that preferred caves, these mutants liked to live inside the trunks of giant trees, huddled together in clusters of white.
In the footage, one mutated white bat was continuously licking another white bat.
After licking, it flew out of the tree hole to search for food.
Their living area was in the coldest part of winter, where finding food was extremely difficult. Once they left the tree hole, they were likely to die in the violent snowstorm.
Thus, the licking behavior of the white bats was a form of affectionate farewell.
Yu Yan: …
He glanced at his hand, which was almost scratched. No wonder this behavior had been occurring frequently these days—it was an instinct.
Mutated white bats also liked to use licking to soothe their partners, or male white bats would carefully lick female bats before becoming their food.
Some researchers believe that the licking behavior is to leave a strong scent on the female to ward off other males and prevent her from quickly seeking another mate.
Other more sentimental researchers think that the behavior of male bats is meant to tell their partner, “Don’t forget me too quickly.”
Yu Yan mused to himself that these two explanations were essentially the same, just one was more overtly animalistic while the other added a layer of human-imagined romance.
With a subtle change in expression, Yu Yan switched videos to watch those related to mutated ribbon birds.
Ribbon birds preferred living in forests with slender, flexible branches, ideal for nesting.
Seeing the nesting behavior reminded him of some… Yu Yan continued to switch videos.
The next video showed a laboratory simulating a wild environment, recording the process of a pair of mutated ribbon birds raising their young.
The two ribbon birds in the nest were affectionate towards each other. They frequently used their beaks or claws to groom each other’s feathers, especially their long tail feathers, with the same meticulous care as if preparing a bride’s wedding dress.
Listening to the chirping of the birds in the video, Yu Yan thought about how 012 had been trying to touch his hair these past few days, despite Yu Yan repeatedly brushing him off.
Yu Yan: …
So, 012 had been trying to groom his hair.
See, that’s what happens when you find the wrong partner.
Humans have no such habit.
…
Two days later, at the Fifth District Evolution Research Institute, Yu Yan, dressed in his uniform, lazily walked through the door.
Passing by Su He’s laboratory, he peeked inside to greet her.
Su He was surprised, “Aren’t you on vacation for a few more days? Why are you back at the lab today?”
Yu Yan sighed in resignation, “It’s boring at home. Might as well come back and work.”
