[Was kicked out]

A restful night.

Sheng Jing awoke after a night of deep sleep. He pulled open the curtains, unlatched the window, and breathed in the fresh air. His gaze inadvertently dropped, then suddenly froze. In the faint morning light, a young man was on a morning run. Though the youth’s physique wasn’t particularly robust, his running body exuded vibrant vitality and the essence of youth.

Sheng Jing had never seen Tong Yu run before, but that wasn’t why he was stunned. He was stunned because the young man before him was a Tong Yu he had never known.

A spirited, sunny, outgoing, and life-loving Tong Yu.

Without even realizing it, Sheng Jing stood by the window, his gaze following the youth until his morning run ended and he returned home, glistening with sweat.

Tong Yu wiped his sweat as he pushed open the courtyard gate, his gaze moving upward, meeting Sheng Jing’s unexpectedly.

“Morning,” Tong Yu grinned, waving at Sheng Jing.

Sheng Jing’s pupils constricted, as if scalded. He reflexively pulled the curtains shut again.

Tong Yu didn’t mind. He hadn’t expected to completely change Sheng Jing’s attitude overnight anyway.

He went back inside, showered, and then headed downstairs to make breakfast.

…

Sheng Jing emerged from his room and stood at the top of the stairs, staring towards the kitchen for a good while before finally descending.

“Master, good morning,” Little Fatty, the robot, greeted him while setting things on the dining table.

Sheng Jing casually asked, “What’s this?”

“Vinegar and chili,” Little Fatty replied. “Master Tong Yu uses them every time he eats wontons.”

‘Every time he eats? He’s developed a habit.’

“Master, your ordered nutrient fluid has arrived. Would you like strawberry or mango flavored?”

Sheng Jing wanted to say “any flavor is fine,” but as he caught whiffs of the delicious aroma from the kitchen, his mouth suddenly wouldn’t open.

Just then, Tong Yu emerged from the kitchen, carrying a bowl of freshly cooked wontons: “Little Fatty, put the leftover wontons in the fridge for tomorrow.”

“Understood, Master,” Little Fatty replied to Tong Yu, but didn’t leave immediately. Instead, it continued to ask its other master, “Strawberry or mango flavor?”

Sheng Jing: “Yesterday, he knew to ask if I wanted fried rice, but today it’s just nutrient fluid? Did the circuits burn out during charging yesterday?”

Tong Yu, wanting to improve his relationship with Sheng Jing, immediately said, “Why drink nutrient fluid? I’ve made wontons. Care to try a bowl?”

Tong Yu had made a portion for Sheng Jing when preparing breakfast. He didn’t know if Sheng Jing would eat it, but the ingrained good manners wouldn’t allow him to only make breakfast for himself.

Sheng Jing looked at the bowl of wontons placed before him: thin skin, generous filling, and an inviting aroma. He subconsciously swallowed, wanting to eat, but still somewhat hesitant.

Tong Yu noticed Sheng Jing’s hesitation and added, “100 star coins a bowl.”

Sheng Jing looked surprised.

Tong Yu smiled. “If I take the money, I’ve received my compensation. A delicious bowl of wontons like this, one hundred star coins isn’t expensive, right?”

Sheng Jing understood Tong Yu’s implied meaning: as long as he paid these one hundred star coins, Tong Yu wouldn’t make any further demands of him.

Perhaps it was the abundance of “surprises” this morning, but Sheng Jing hesitated for a moment, then immediately transferred one hundred star coins to Tong Yu. He then sat down steadily at the dining table.

Little Fatty’s robotic brain made a quick assessment and decided it should still ask its master: “Master, do you still need nutrient fluid?”

Sheng Jing’s voice was stiff: “No.”

“Pfft~” Sheng Jing’s look of wanting to eat but feeling too embarrassed was inexplicably amusing. Tong Yu couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

Sheng Jing’s body stiffened, his gaze fixed on Tong Yu. It was clear that if Tong Yu laughed any longer, he would flip the table and leave without eating.

“My bowl is still in the kitchen.” Tong Yu quickly dashed back to the kitchen to prepare another bowl of wontons for himself. The whole process took about three to five minutes, but when he came out with the wontons, he saw Sheng Jing still sitting in the same posture, his wontons untouched.

“Why aren’t you eating? Is it not good?” Tong Yu thought that shouldn’t be the case. After all, the original owner’s mom’s “dark cuisine” on the day he transmigrated hadn’t even made Sheng Jing’s face change color, let alone his own cooking skills, which he had diligently practiced during the Earth’s pandemic.

By the way, Tong Yu wasn’t a culinary expert. His cooking skills were entirely developed out of boredom during the pandemic lockdowns. Several months, with no other entertainment besides eating.

And another thing, even with several months of lockdown, he couldn’t avoid the pandemic. He unfortunately caught it, heroically fought it for half a month, and then recovered. The day after he recovered, he happily went out to play basketball, and then he died.

Cough… Past is past. Let’s not talk about those bad memories this early in the morning.

“Waiting for you.” Sheng Jing waited for Tong Yu to sit down before picking up his chopsticks.

“Huh?” Tong Yu took a moment to understand that Sheng Jing meant he was waiting to eat together.

‘This person is quite polite.’

No one dislikes feeling respected. Tong Yu’s mood brightened without reason. He proactively recommended chili and vinegar to Sheng Jing: “Add a little chili and vinegar, and it’ll taste even better. I don’t know if you’re used to it, though, so you can start with a little and try it.”

The vinegar was store-bought, but the chili oil was his own homemade concoction. Tong Yu found that the seasonings in this interstellar era were vastly different from Earth’s, forcing him to make his own chili oil.

If only he knew how to make vinegar, he would have tried to make his own bottle too. The vinegar in this era, how should he put it, had no flaws other than being excessively sour.

Sheng Jing clearly understood interstellar vinegar better than Tong Yu. So he only added a small amount of chili oil, then dipped a wonton in the soup and took a bite. His eyes immediately lit up.

He looked at Tong Yu in surprise, but quickly averted his gaze when Tong Yu looked back at him.

“How does it taste?” Tong Yu asked expectantly.

“Mm.” Sheng Jing hummed, but the speed at which he ate his wontons noticeably increased.

Tong Yu chuckled and didn’t press further—no need to force the other to admit it was delicious. Now reassured, he happily dug into his own meal. Breakfast passed in harmonious, savory bliss.

Little Fatty, sensing the opportune moment, came over to clear the dining table.

Without food to buffer the awkwardness, the two sat facing each other, and the silence quickly became uncomfortable. In such a scenario, Sheng Jing was clearly more composed than Tong Yu, sitting there as if he didn’t know what awkwardness was.

Tong Yu didn’t believe it. He racked his brain for a topic: “Um… you haven’t had any problems recently, have you?”

“Hm?” Sheng Jing was puzzled.

Tong Yu: “I mean, I’ve been drawing quite a bit of your spiritual power lately. Has it affected you?”

Sheng Jing’s gaze deepened. He instinctively felt that Tong Yu was about to use this as leverage for a demand. “My work state has been very good recently; you’ve been a great help.”

Though he didn’t know what conditions Tong Yu would set, he wouldn’t dispute the facts.

Tong Yu’s face lit up with joy upon hearing this: “It’s good that I can help. I was afraid I was drawing too much and it might affect you.”

While Awakened individuals all hope their contractors will draw off some of their unruly energy, there are limits to how much. Once the unruly energy in the spiritual sea is depleted, if the contractor continues to draw, it will affect the Awakened’s spiritual sea.

To put it simply, it’s like a mature apple tree. You initially just pick up the rotten apples that have fallen to the ground. But once the rotten apples are gone, if you don’t stop and still want to pick more, you’ll start shaking the apple tree to make it drop more apples. That tree is the spiritual sea.

Sheng Jing: “If I can’t sustain it, I’ll disconnect the spiritual link.”

“Oh, oh, you can do that? I completely forgot.” Tong Yu genuinely had forgotten. After all, during this time, he had been using Sheng Jing’s spiritual power as freely as tap water—it seemed to just flow whenever he needed it. “Um… I’ve thought about it. Even though you no longer wish for me to be your contractor, the contract can only be terminated after a year. So, I was thinking, could I continue to draw your spiritual power as I am now, until the contract is dissolved?”

Though Tong Yu’s tone wasn’t forceful, his confidence was high. Without his help in drawing off the excess unruly spiritual power, Sheng Jing would be uncomfortable, and Tong Yu would, at most, just be unable to go online… ‘Tsk, that actually sounds pretty uncomfortable too.’ Okay, this really seemed like a mutually beneficial arrangement; Sheng Jing should have no reason to refuse.

However, Sheng Jing didn’t immediately agree as Tong Yu had expected. Instead, he frowned in thought.

Tong Yu’s heart sank. ‘Could he disagree?’

“Um, don’t worry, I won’t go back on the divorce. When the time comes, if you want to terminate the contract, terminate it; if you want a divorce, get a divorce. I won’t say another word,” Tong Yu guaranteed repeatedly, thinking that besides this concern, Sheng Jing had no other worries.

Sure enough, Sheng Jing’s gaze towards him changed: “How did you use up so much spiritual power in the virtual network?”

Although the original owner didn’t often help him clear his spiritual power, Sheng Jing still had common sense. Such a massive loss of spiritual energy must have a specific reason.

Tong Yu: “I created a game online. Everything from the plot to the scenes, I fabricated myself, and that requires an enormous amount of spiritual power.”

Sheng Jing immediately understood. So that was it. Among all types of spiritual power consumption, imagination and creation were the most draining. Just like them, imagining they could create a spaceship capable of traversing the  Galactic Storm and returning to Earth.

Sheng Jing took a card from his pocket and handed it to Tong Yu.

Tong Yu picked it up, looking puzzled: “What is this?”

“It’s a virtual cabin activation card, it works just like a virtual helmet. I’ve already notified the research institute to send the virtual cabin over; it should arrive this afternoon,” Sheng Jing explained.

“A virtual cabin? The kind you can lie down in to play games? The kind you can fill with nutrient fluid and stay online for days?” Tong Yu rattled off all his imaginings about virtual cabins.

“If you need to, you can fill it with nutrient fluid. Just remember to close the door properly.”

‘Close the door? What for?’

Tong Yu paused, then understood. Nutrient fluid was certainly liquid, and if he was soaking in it, he’d have to take off his clothes.

Tong Yu imagined himself immersed in nutrient fluid and was immediately disgusted, shaking his head repeatedly: “Never mind, never mind. I’ll stick to coming out to eat.”

Sheng Jing deeply agreed, as Tong Yu’s cooking was far superior to nutrient fluid.

“Oh, right, are you heading back to the research institute soon?” Tong Yu remembered Sheng Jing saying he was leaving today.

Sheng Jing, who had just finished breakfast and was planning to help Tong Yu install the virtual cabin after lunch: “…”

He left.

But his retreating figure carried a hint of vexation.