Insectoids: The Job of the Males

Chapter 70.1

Predestination

Translated by boilpoil
Edited by boilpoil

Thanks to this wave of passion for marriage, perhaps the birth rate of the insectoids will see a visible uptick.

Really, Cheng Zhaoci suspects that he is probably doing the wrong job right now. He’s not some kind of newborn genius with amazing memory, or even a comic artist who’s singlehandedly pushing the standards and quality of new works, but rather, he should open a marriage consultancy firm. Money would probably just rain down on him.

At school, meanwhile, his teacher for both basics of mechas and interstellar travel is Bai Jun. Bai Jun is the true genius here; outside of his physical abilities and questionable emotional intelligence, he’s in a league of his own.

It’s actually quite the honour to be taught by him – in particular, Cheng Zhaoci’s class is one-to-one. Actually, because of his status, he only has one-to-one classes. There is no chance for him to slack off.

Ah… perhaps he can never be happy again. When Mr Liang was teaching him, he still gave him ample time to draw his beloved comics. Nowadays, his day consists of studying, and that’s it. At night, he doesn’t dare overwork himself, in case he might just up and die like last time.

That mostly leaves him only productive on the weekends, which made him announce to his fans that his weekly updates will be stretched to monthly updates. His readers are devastated, directing their complaints to the school. Let him draw what he wants! At home! Why should a male be studying all these subjects he’s not good at?

Cheng Zhaoci is inclined to agree, only, after a few days of study, he realises that his ability to process information is at least as great as his ability to memorise now. He is no longer ‘bad at’ anything – except those subjective comprehension of ‘author’s intent’ and whatnot in his past life. That stuff is entirely dependent on luck. The more practical-minded insectoids haven’t yet invented such fiendish questions.

Still, he can’t help but fall in love with the feeling of intellectual superiority. He slipped into the sad path of a mediocre artist not just because he hated studying, but also because he was pretty bad at it. He could force the words into his memory, but it’s not like he could truly understand or anything.

Well, now he does. So what he should do is quickly use his newfound knowledge to finish whatever vision the President has, and free himself to continue drawing.

“… I’m actually pretty thankful to you,” Bai Jun suddenly says this in the middle of the lesson, in the small classroom with just the two of them.

While it’s true they might as well just homeschool Cheng Zhaoci at Grand Marshal Lu’s mansion if it’s all the same, but the school gives them easier access to a variety of specialised machinery. The President also seems set on introducing Cheng Zhaoci to more males and winning them over.

Well, he did. The males who know Cheng Zhaoci is behind the romantic wave sweeping the nation already treat him warmly, like he’s their fairy godmother or something, if such a legend existed in the insectoids.

Bai Jun explains, “I got so many messages from shemales and demis. Shemales are actually pretty motivated when it comes to finding a partner, you know.”

… And it took you seventy-plus years to realise that shemales court males really aggressively?

“I didn’t even need to stalk them to find out their interests just so I could talk to them. It feels nice,” Bai Jun is smiling, and asking Cheng Zhaoci back, “can you imagine the feeling?”

“… I don’t even need to imagine. I’m still 18, but I already have my cijun, and we have already been in bed. Why do you not think I’d know?” Cheng Zhaoci speaks quite frankly. In fact, he, the recently adult, and whose combined age is still less than Bai Jun’s years, might know even more than he does, despite his age being enough to be his granddad.

Shemales can do far better than keep a conversation going – Cheng Zhaoci was subjected to an onslaught of words when Wei Zhuo read out his ‘critical self-reflection’ in dramatic fashion last night.

Well… He was quite genuine, bless his heart, but it sounded really like a report to a superior. It still had emotional impact, but it was something weird to tell a xiongzhu, Cheng Zhaoci thinks.

The weirdness is still cute in Cheng Zhaoci’s eyes, though. Actually, he really felt like laughing when Wei Zhuo was all apologising with this ‘end-of-the-world’ look on his face, but he held it in, so that Wei Zhuo wouldn’t feel even more awkward.

Then, when Wei Zhuo was finally finished, ears flushed full with red, waiting for the Sword of Damocles, Cheng Zhaoci only had really, really wholesome thoughts in his mind looking at him like that.

To peel his serious form and check him out fully… No, wait. He shouldn’t think about that. Wei Zhuo is not remotely close to coming home any time soon.

They still had fun last night. While hugs and kisses were out of the question, there is still a lot you can do when there are holograms… Like him telling the Group Captain to take off his clothes, and relieve himself.

Well, and things naturally went downhill from there.

Now that he thinks about it, maybe he is a little bit perverse. Did this awaken alongside his grade S mental aptitude? Or maybe he’s a born pervert. Maybe both. Hey, as long as he’s able to keep that side of him in check, the happiness is all the same, no?

Bai Jun sees Cheng Zhaoci with this sated smile and red cheeks, and so quickly starts pouting himself. He clears his throat, “right. Time to resume our lessons. No daydreaming.”

“Wait what?”

“Break’s over. We must waste no time,” says the cold and merciless Bai Jun, “we fight for the future of the insectoids, and we’re not here to indulge in love and romance. And you call yourself a grade S male?”

Oh yeah, now he’s definitely channelling the homeroom teacher of his past life. He just has one question – didn’t he freaking start this?