NOVEL WEB 56
Chapter 56: Daily Routine of arranging Books
The attraction between the two people ultimately ended in union.
“How long have we been together?” Xi Tian poked his head out of the blanket, having hogged it all to himself, leaving Ellis shivering beside him.
Ellis glanced at the digital calendar, and then a green color blocked his view as Xi Tian pulled him tightly under the covers.
“It’s been over half a year since our blind date last September, and now it’s April 13th.”
“We’ve actually been together for so long!”
Xi Tian, used to living alone for a long time, found that living with another person day in and day out for half a year was indeed quite a long time.
“Being with you feels like it will never get old.” Xi Tian kissed Ellis on the cheek.
From an evolutionary perspective, a male’s love for a female typically lasts 1.5 to 3 years, which helps maximize reproductive benefits by mating with different females.
Xi Tian knew this early on and used to try to control his emotions to prolong the passion. It wasn’t until he saw Korawa and a female being married for six years but still in love that he understood why so many love stories are passed down, and he stopped suppressing his feelings.
As for whether he would still love Ellis decades later, Xi Tian would confidently answer: Yes.
“How should I respond to that?” Ellis looked slightly troubled. “Should I say thank you for the compliment?”
Xi Tian laughed heartily and answered without hesitation, “You’re welcome.”
Ellis glanced at the sunlight streaming through the window. “Why is it that no matter where we are, we always end up spending the most time in bed?”
Xi Tian, now dressed, handed Ellis his clothes and said, “Honey, this isn’t ‘wasting time,’ it’s ‘loving each other!’”
When Ellis heard the term “honey,” he started coughing uncontrollably.
Xi Tian quickly handed him the water from the bedside table, amused. “You really react strongly to that, honey.”
Ellis, who had been sipping water cautiously to avoid choking, immediately closed his mouth tightly and held the water cup away, feeling like he wanted to dump the whole cup on his head to calm down.
“Wow, you really react strongly.”
Xi Tian took the water cup back and, fully dressed, embraced the half-naked Ellis, pushing him down on the bed.
“It’s just that I called you ‘honey.’ Did I call you that too infrequently before?”
Ellis wanted to reject the seemingly silly nickname but couldn’t bear to be distant from his beloved.
“Conflicted?” Xi Tian could tell what Ellis was thinking and chuckled. “You should get used to it; I plan to keep calling you that.”
“Okay.” Whether out of embarrassment or frustration, Ellis wished he could pretend he didn’t hear.
“My clothes are all wrinkled because of you.”
Ellis realized what he had done, quickly letting go and trying to smooth out the wrinkles with his hands, making Xi Tian think of a squirrel he’d seen in the yard as a child, using its front paws to hold and eat corn kernels.
“You’re so cute!” Xi Tian kissed Ellis.
“???” Ellis was puzzled, wondering what he had done to make Xi Tian think that. After all, he was a year older than Xi Tian!
“Get dressed and come help me out,” Xi Tian said as he walked out of the bedroom.
Ellis turned over in the soft bed, covered his face, and let out a deep sigh.
His face felt hot; he decided to stay in for a while longer.
When Ellis finally emerged, he heard a noise and saw the only iron door in the room being pushed open. Inside were several unspecified machines, some scrap paper, and bookshelves on three walls filled with books.
Xi Tian was in front of the bookshelves, looking around and occasionally pulling out books to rearrange them.
It was clear that Xi Tian had a habit of organizing books by the initial letter of their titles. For him, tidying up the disorganized books was a pleasure.
“Is it really okay to just move things around here?” Ellis asked with some concern.
“Important things of the mentor wouldn’t be kept in a place anyone can easily access,” Xi Tian said, handing Ellis a thick book.
“Just put it anywhere for now. This isn’t a book; it’s a scrapbook.”
“Scrapbook?” Ellis looked puzzled as he opened it.
Growing up in a digital environment, Ellis found this quite novel.
The ‘book’ was actually a notebook with news clippings from newspapers glued firmly onto the pages.
Ellis initially flipped through it casually, but gradually became engrossed in some of the small stories inside. He found a spot and sat down to read through the pages.
Xi Tian, who had intended to have Ellis help, found himself left alone and sighed in resignation, returning to his organizing.
Xi Tian hummed an unknown little tune, melodious and soothing.
It seemed he only knew this small part of the song, repeating it over and over in a loop.
As Ellis flipped through three-quarters of the scrapbook, the stories became fewer, replaced by more serious news reports. The reports became lengthy, covering topics like the bankruptcy of the largest book production company on Zerg Star, an explosion at a nameless biological research institute on asteroid C197, and political turmoil from the highest leadership change on Zerg Star.
Ellis paid special attention to the dates of these reports, which were over thirty years old.
Finally lifting his gaze from the scrapbook, Ellis felt a deep and heavy mood as he faced such distant and detailed history.
On the other side, Xi Tian had finished organizing two bookshelves. He clapped his hands and looked at his work with satisfaction.
Then he sat next to Ellis, showing off his achievements.
The shelves indeed looked much neater, but Ellis was still absorbed in his thoughts, which made his response a bit perfunctory.
Xi Tian’s initially high spirits dampened, and he sighed, losing the motivation to finish the task he had planned to complete in one go.
Noticing the lack of activity, Ellis realized he had affected Xi Tian and felt a bit apologetic. He pointed out his recent discovery in the scrapbook to Xi Tian.
It turns out that the best way to lift Xi Tian’s spirits and shift his attention was to change the subject.
“My mentor was very obsessed with that period,” Xi Tian explained, “It was during that time that he lost his family.”
“?” Ellis was confused.
“My mentor also had a family and seemed to have worked in the field of biological research. That research institute was on C197. It’s said that this is why the mentor adheres to celibacy and refuses to start a family,” Xi Tian said, resting his chin on his hand.
“Then, Professor Cody must be very pitiable?” Ellis blurted out, and then immediately regretted his words, feeling embarrassed.
In the society of Zerg Star, a person who does not start a family is often considered to have an incomplete life, especially for females.
Xi Tian wanted to tap Ellis on the head with the scrapbook he was holding, but it was too heavy, so he refrained.
“If he hears you say that, you’ll never set foot in his residence again. There are all kinds of opinions in society: ‘celibacy is a cancer,’ ‘marriage without love is meaningless,’ ‘males who don’t marry or take concubines have poor kidney function,’ ‘females who don’t have children are incomplete.’ Everyone has their own views, and it’s impossible to listen to them all.
It’s already hard enough for someone to come into this world; why should their life be dictated by others’ remarks?”
“I’m sorry, my lord,” Ellis said, lowering his head in apology.
“Hmm,” Xi Tian said gently, looking at him, “I understand.”