Huang Jinchen, very unsatisfied, yelled, “I can look but not eat, and you won’t let me jerk off either?!”

This cry seemed to have been practiced. It was in no way impacted by his present physical condition. He had plenty of breath and pronounced every word correctly. Kou Tong had been feeling guilty. Now he immediately pounced to put his hand over Huang Jinchen’s mouth. Lowering his voice, he said, “You prick, this is a private residence! Do you understand what a private residence is? The sound insulation isn’t so good!” 

Huang Jinchen, with his mouth covered in a comical pose, met his eyes helplessly. Just then, there was a knock at the bedroom door. Kou Tong’s mom’s voice came doubtfully: “Tongtong, are you awake? Who was yelling just now? Just talk it out if you need to, don’t argue.” 

Cold sweat rolled off Kou Tong. He gave a dry cough. “Oh, it’s fine, mom, we’re not arguing. I just got water in my ear while I was washing my face, so I can’t hear very clearly…” 

Then these words came to a very unnatural sudden stop, because Huang Jinchen had taken the opportunity to yank on Kou Tong’s belt. 

This Huang Er-Pang definitely liked to show off in front of an audience! 

Kou Tong was angered, silently struggling with him, fighting over his own belt. But as soon as he released his hand covering Huang Jinchen’s mouth, this guy took a deep breath from the diaphragm as though ready to utter a cry that would be heard for hundreds of miles around, like a loudspeaker broadcast to let the whole house know what inharmonious things the two of them had been experiencing in this room.

The world was so beautiful, but scoundrels were so skilled; Dr. Kou, unflinching in the face of death, nearly bristled. In this emergency, he bent his head and covered Huang Jinchen’s lips, blocking his voice.

Huang Jinchen giddily thought, Hey, that’s exactly what I wanted. An unexpected windfall. So he stopped fighting over his belt, grabbing Kou Tong’s waist with one hand, holding the back of his head with the other, pressing him to himself. 

Kou Tong’s mom hesitantly muttered something outside the door. The general idea was something like “you can even get water in your ear while washing your face, you’re really getting more and more talented the older you get.” Then she asked, “What do you want for dinner?” 

Kou Tong gasped, spared no effort to throw Huang Jinchen off, and in the midst of his many pressing affairs took one second to respond to his own mother: “Whatever!” 

Kou Tong’s mom particularly hated it when people said “whatever,” so she gloomily said, “How annoying. I’ll just make your least favorite food, then.” 

At last, she left. 

Kou Tong obviously breathed out in relief, his tense body relaxing. 

Huang Jinchen buried his face against his chest, laughing hard enough to pull a muscle. 

Kou Tong wished he could face the heavens and heave a huge sigh of relief, but instead he had to keep his voice low. “Tell me the truth, what did you eat growing up?” 

Huang Jinchen held him in his lap, rubbing indiscriminately. Kou Tong grabbed him by the neck and shook him. “My mom’s going to call us to dinner in a while. Do you want to challenge the lady’s endurance?” 

Aggrieved, Huang Jinchen said, “You were the one who stoked the fire in the first place. You unfaithful lover, are you planning to love me and leave me?” 

Kou Tong’s face was grim, but as he thought about it carefully, this really did seem to be the case. So he rather awkwardly gave a dry cough and quibbled: “Nonsense, you were the one…” 

Huang Jinchen said, “I’m a gentleman who uses his mouth but not his hands. You were the one who started groping!” 

Kou Tong: “…” 

Huang Jinchen took his hand and put it on his own lower body. Insolently, he said, “Help me out, and I’ll be quiet. That’ll do, right?” 

Kou Tong looked at him. “Don’t make a sound.” 

Huang Jinchen nodded, making a zipping gesture over his mouth. 

This was a threat! Extortion! Kou Tong, looking displeased, began to help him find relief. Huang Jinchen at last behaved. He quietly closed his eyes and laid a hand on Kou Tong’s back. Though Dr. Kou’s performance was very lacking in dedication, rather hasty and perfunctory, he still felt…that it was better than any other time. 

“Kou Tong…” He quietly called Kou Tong’s name, but he wasn’t deliberately making trouble. His voice was very low, slightly hoarse, with an indescribable texture. Amid his rapid breaths, it seemed to be blurted out into Kou Tong’s ear, lingering. Huang Jinchen’s hand laying on Kou Tong’s back suddenly clutched his shirt, his fingertips pressing against Kou Tong’s back through the thin cloth. 

Like an unconscious murmur on returning from a dream in the middle of the night, coming from the depths of the heart and reaching another person’s soul. 

The outcome was that by the time they were finished clinging, a long time had passed. 

The two of them lay side by side on the bed, like intimately lying temple to temple. Huang Jinchen was still holding Kou Tong, unwilling to let go. But Kou Tong was thinking. All of a sudden, he said, “In all these years…have you ever met another person from the Seed?” 

Huang Jinchen paused. “Apart from those companions I saw a few times who later got taken away when I was little, in all these years, you’re the only one I’ve met.” 

“It’s because of genetic rejection,” Kou Tong said. “It’s very hard for a genetically modified child to grow up normally and survive.” 

“Yeah,” Huang Jinchen agreed. 

“But it doesn’t mean that we aren’t people.” Kou Tong turned his head and looked into Huang Jinchen’s eyes. He reached out to brush hair away from his forehead. “It also doesn’t mean we’re a different species from other people.” 

Huang Jinchen was silent, not saying a word. 

Kou Tong said, “There’s nothing about us different from others. You shouldn’t think…that it’s like you and I are the only people in the world who are the same. If you want, you can get close to other people, build different relationships with different people. Then you’ll find that actually every person has some point in common with you, maybe an interest, or maybe temperament or means of dealing with business, some similar experience, or…something else.” 

Then Kou Tong sat up and buttoned his shirt, which had been half unbuttoned. He straightened out his messy hair a little, bent down to pick up his fallen UV-protection lenses, and put on his shoes. He said to Huang Jinchen, “You can try, I’m not lying to you…”

But Huang Jinchen suddenly interrupted him: “I’ve already found someone better.” 

Kou Tong considered and said, “If you tell a person to pick the biggest apple in an orchard, and he can only go one way, can’t look back, he’ll definitely keep walking all the way through—because there are limitless possibilities up ahead…” 

Huang Jinchen laughed. He asked, “Do I seem like that kind of simpleton?

“I only need to judge whether the apple in my hand is big enough and good enough for me.” Sir Er-Pang sat up and casually swept his hair. His indolent appearance was particularly sexy. He caught Kou Tong around the neck and kissed him. “Darling, I’m not an autistic child, and I didn’t grow up in the Land of Peach Blossoms. I know what people are like. I know them in all walks of life. And I know what I’m like.” 

Then, full of vitality, he stood up and opened the window, winking at Kou Tong. “Let’s air out the room and not give my mother-in-law a scare.” 

Then he walked out humming a tune. 

Outside the Projector—the ST Base, working through the night. 

“So this is what you’ve come up with?” Wu Xiangxiang asked Chang Dou incredulously. “Scan indiscriminately, then send a probing signal, and then what?” 

Chang Dou said, “Continue scanning for forty-eight hours. The frequencies Dr. Kou can receive are fairly high…” 

Wu Xiangxiang nodded. “Right, you’re making him think of a way to pull himself out. You’re so full of ideas.” 

Chang Dou angrily said, “This is a viable idea! Since they’re trapped inside, Dr. Kou and the others must have lost some kind of control mechanism! He’s the creator of the whole system, but there’s an obstacle to him collecting information. This way, we can help him locate himself inside!” 

Wu Xiangxiang commented, “Yes, the mountain won’t go, so you’re making him come?” 

Chang Dou looked at him, huffing with rage. “This is a new concept! Lateral thinking! I’d bet that you’ve never thought of it! What do you want to do, take this thing apart?” 

Wu Xiangxiang, his goatee quivering, said, “I despise you and your bald chin! I despise all living creatures of low IQ!” 

The group of technicians working through the night looked furtively at the two of them, simultaneously thinking: Are these two actually here to work, or are they here to ruin things? 

…Dr. Kou probably would have to fend for himself.