CH 49.1

Chapter 49.1 – The Breadwinner Little Monster

Shi Yuan truly felt that since he was with Lu Tinghan, he would be responsible for this family.

He recalled what monsters like to do.

He had seen crows carry shiny eyes back to their nests, infected deer kill creatures that invade their territory and sharpen their antlers with their skulls, and peacocks actively spread their rotting tail feathers to court a human-faced flower.

You can’t do this when you are in the city. He could only think of other ways.

In any case, supporting a family was a basic skill, and it was the bottom line of a monster.

Wages have dropped too much after the peak period. Most people lived on food stamps, and Shi Yuan’s hourly salary was only 2 yuan. He didn’t know how Lu Tinghan’s salary was calculated, so he could only fill the household as much as possible, and he couldn’t let his future mating partner suffer from hunger.

In the next few days, Lu Tinghan went to the main city and did not come back. Shi Yuan worked hard to support his family.

The food stamps were not used up. He had a few cans of food and a few cookies left over, brought them home, and carefully put them in the cupboard so as not to leave Lu Tinghan with nothing to eat.

When he saw the occasional small flower on the roadside, Shi Yuan picked them home and put them in a small vase, he also brought back a few nice rocks and put them in front of the fish tank and made a small pile. He knew that a beautiful nest would make his mate happy.

Shi Yuan also heard Daisy talking about her domestic fish.

“Oh, my boyfriend gave me a few fish.” Daisy said with her chin in her hand, “It was given a long time ago, and I have been raising it, and now it has given birth to a few rounds of small fish. After each warning, I have to pay out of pocket to test them for infection, just like burning money.”

Another colleague interjected: “Throw them away, don’t keep them!”

“No way.” Daisy frowned. “Anyway, after raising them for so many years, I don’t want them to die, but if they are released, they will be infected outside the city. It’s really troublesome…”

Shi Yuan listened for a while and asked Daisy, “Can you give them to me to raise? I’ll pay for it.”

Daisy was surprised, “What do you keep them for? I didn’t expect you’d like this kind of pet.”

Shi Yuan said, “I want to support my family.”

“What?” Daisy didn’t understand at all and was confused, “If you want to keep them, I can bring the fish to you directly, no need to give me money.”

The next day, Shi Yuan went home with five or six fish.

They were all gray small fish, it was impossible to tell their breeds and they were not very good-looking, but they were lively and able to constantly blow bubbles. Shi Yuan filled Lu Tinghan’s old fish tank with water, let the fish go down, and watched them swim around.

In the evening, he made a video call with Lu Tinghan and told him: “When you come home, there is a surprise!”

Lu Tinghan asked, “What’s the surprise? You didn’t tear my clothes with your horns again, did you?”

“How is that possible?” Shi Yuan said, “I never tear down anything at home.”

Lu Tinghan recalled the living room full of cotton wool and clothes remnants before and fell into silence.

After another two days, Lu Tinghan came back.

In addition to Shi Yuan who rushed into his arms…

Lu Tinghan saw the cheap canned food on the table, a few wilting flowers, a pile of stones of unknown meaning, and the small gray fish with convex eyes in the fish tank – although it was hard to believe, these fish could only be described as “very wretched.”

Lu Tinghan: “…what are these?”

Shi Yuan introduced him: “These are the food stored at home, and the stones and flowers are used for decoration.”

“What about this one?” Lu Tinghan walked to the fish tank, and the wretched fish floated up one by one, staring at him with a sense of horror, “I never knew you were interested in raising fish.” His expression slightly softened, “It’s good that you like them.”

“What raising fish?” Shi Yuan asked, “These are the prey I brought home.”

Lu Tinghan: “…what prey?”

“It is the prey for hunting,” Shi Yuan replied, “And I have another prey—”

He raised the birdcage.

Inside the cage, a white bird flapped its wings wildly, squawking desperately, its voice hoarse, and cursed out all the swear words it heard in its lifetime.

“I saw it on the side of the road,” Shi Yuan explained. “At first, another group of people was chasing it, but it escaped, so I went after it and chased it for half the city before I caught it.”

Animals were not allowed on the streets of the city, and once found, they would be culled by teams. What Shi Yuan encountered was the culling team. In other words, this white bird, which was agile enough to escape the pursuit, was forcibly driven out of half of the city by Shi Yuan, and then was forcibly carried back, cursing and gibbering all the way!

It could be seen that Shi Yuan really wanted to catch it!

Lu Tinghan was silent for a while: “Shi Yuan, are you going to eat them?”

“No, I won’t eat them,” Shi Yuan said. “I’m not a pervert. But I thought you might be interested in them ah.”

Lu Tinghan was speechless more times tonight than the sum of his life: “…then am I that perverted?”

Shi Yuan was very happy: “Maybe—ah!!”

He was flicked on the forehead by Lu Tinghan again, he clutched his forehead aggrieved.

It took Lu Tinghan some effort to convince Shi Yuan that he was really not interested in these “prey”.

Shi Yuan was disappointed: “Then, I can only keep them.”

“It’s good to keep them.” Lu Tinghan said, “It’s also very lively.”

The wretched-looking fish spit out bubbles in the fish tank, and the white bird continued to curse. The cheap canned food was not very delicious, and the small flowers were about to wither. General Lu calmly put his arms around Shi Yuan and buried his head in a book.

Shi Yuan asked, “Am I good?”

Lu Tinghan: “Well, of course.”

At night, the bubble-spitter and the street-scolder went to sleep, and Shi Yuan entered Lu Tinghan’s room.

Before, when he occupied Lu Tinghan’s bed, he would always bring bribes. But now, he was open and honest, he was justified!

It was not only Shi Yuan who was different. For the first time, Lu Tinghan took the initiative to chat with Shi Yuan about the battle situation.

He said that “Leaping Antelope” had caused great trouble to the main city, and some outposts had been destroyed. When the next special infected creature appeared, space-based weapons would probably be used.

He said that General Su was so busy in the main city and that he had gone there to ease the pressure.

He said that fortunately, after the “Black Queen”, there were no infected creatures from Abyss No.0.

Shi Yuan rolled up the quilt to look at him, his eyes lit up under the bedside lamp, and asked, “In the future, will you be in charge of all the commands?”

Lu Tinghan: “Why do you ask that?”

“I keep hearing people saying that General Su is not as good as you, so it’s better to let you take full command,” Shi Yuan said, “The time Wolfgang was injured, I also heard others say that General Su made the wrong decision.”

Lu Tinghan touched Shi Yuan’s head: “War is a very complicated matter, no one can guarantee that they are always right. Even the best commanders will have mistakes, in the end, what is needed is a ‘clear conscience’.”

“Well, I don’t know much about these, purr.” Shi Yuan narrowed his eyes comfortably. “Then do you have a clear conscience?”

“Hmm.”

“What about General Su? Does he also have a clear conscience? Purr, purr, purr.”

Lu Tinghan did not answer, but said softly: “Go to bed, Shi Yuan.”