Chapter 40: The Plan

Xie Sen looked at Maine in surprise. He knew that he was the master of the plant contract beast? When did he know that? No, he wasn’t at all!

Xu Da laughed. “I told you. You guys live together, and you’re so close. There’s no way he didn’t know.”

Xie Sen laughed awkwardly, as he thought about how he hadn’t really told Maine that he was a plant beast master. He changed the subject to business, and showed his hand to Xu Da. “Unfortunately, I can’t help. I don’t know why it won’t germinate.”

“It’s okay,” Xu Da’s disappointment quickly dissipated, his tone open. “Plant research is a long-term thing. I just didn’t want to give up any hope, so I came to ask you.”

Xie Sen was a little curious, “You work at the Institute too?”

Xu Da was in a trance for a moment, then smiled and said, “I am a titular member of the Institute. After I retired from my job, I can research any plant I come across that interests me.”

Xie Sen nodded. “Oh. So that’s how it is.”

Xu Da got up to say goodbye, thought of one thing, and reminded him, “By the way, many people suspect your identity these days, and a lot of people have called Ma Qun to ask. He always gives a vague response, but those people probably all guessed.”

“Guess what?” Xie Sen asked.

“Of course they have guessed that you are the owner of a plant contract beast,” Xu Da smiled at him, with some teasing. “From my life experience, I deduce that more and more people will have been pursuing you recently.”

Xie Sen thought of Julos’ birthday party, where he was inexplicably courted, and the corners of his mouth twitched. “Not really?”

Xu Da gave him a don’t-be-ignorant look, and patiently explained, “It’s been a long time since a plant-based beast master has appeared. Not to mention their ability to breed offspring–”

“Cough, cough, cough!” Xie Sen choked on his saliva. Who the hell is breeding offspring?

Xu Da laughed in understanding. As a person who had been through this, he understood that young people who hadn’t experienced this topic would be shy. “It’s okay, you are already an adult. You can marry at any time, but you should know more about physiology.”

“Stop it.” Xie Sen waved his hand speechlessly. He was a guy, why would he marry someone? A ghost story?

Xu Da laughed, “In addition to the reasons I just mentioned, a plant-based beast master is a great temptation for others because your plant can provide the extinct vegetable – red chili!” When he said that, he showed a puzzled expression. “I still haven’t figured out where you got your potatoes though.”

Xie Sen seemed to be fooling around. “My contracted plant is not a mimetic beast, but a mimetic plant that can disguise itself as various plants.”

“Really?” Xu Da was stunned, and even involuntarily took a step closer to Xie Sen.

“Haha, I’m just kidding. Only peppers and potatoes, no more!” Xie Sen said in a hurry.

Xu Da still couldn’t hide his excitement. “I’ve never seen such a magical plant contract beast in the historical dedication materials. If that’s true, that’s great!”

Xie Sen was splashed with cold water. “Don’t be too happy. The biggest effect is that it can produce fruit to improve my diet and enhance my combat power. There’s not much for others. You’ve tried. They can’t be planted.”

Xu Da returned to his senses, and shook his head with a light sigh. “That’s true.” In a moment he perked up again, and looked at Xie Sen with glowing eyes. “When are you going to make dried meat again? When are you going to make potato stew again? Make more, I’ll buy it!”

Xie Sen shook his head, and woke him from his dream. “Not these days.”

He had already made up his mind to activate the third plant on Saturday, and he was prepared not to expend the energy to make sure it did.

Xu Da looked disappointed, then looked at him expectantly, “Then you must tell me when you do it!”

Xie Sen looked at his expression in amusement. It was like when Long Teng mentioned food. He nodded, “Yes, but first of all, even if you are an acquaintance, the money is still not less!”

“Of course. I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t going to pay!” He said, but couldn’t help asking, “I see you leave early, and come home late every day. Are you working?”

“Mn. I work at Gold Medal,” he said and smiled. “And I’ve been transferred!”

Xu Da laughed, “Good, good. If you have any difficulties at work, remember to call me. I happen to know the boss of Gold Medal.”

Xie Sen was surprised. “Is there anyone you don’t know?”

Xu Da smiled again, very modest. “I’m older, so I know more people than you. Well, I won’t bother you anymore,” he said with a solemn look. “If you find anything new about plant cultivation, remember to let me know.”

Xie Sen nodded. “Okay.”

Xie Sen saw Xu Da off with relief, and went to the kitchen to make dinner. As he did, he called out in his mind as he cut the meat, “Adam. Adam…”

“A’Sen, did you miss me?” The soft male voice rang out in his head.

“Uh-huh,” Xie Sen nodded very naturally. “I still have things I want to ask you.” He told him about the peppers and potatoes that couldn’t be planted.

“Of course they can’t be grown. Neither the red energy, nor the yellow energy has been retrieved yet. Currently they are equivalent to dead things.”

Xie Sen cut the meat, and tilted his head in confusion. “Red energy and yellow energy. What are they?”

“That’s my original energy.” As soon as Adam spoke, Xie Sen felt the peony on his right shoulder glow slightly.

Adam continued in his mind, “My native energy consists of five elements. Gold, wood, water, fire and earth, represented by white, green, black, red and yellow energy. Each energy corresponds to all the plants of the representative color. Peppers and potatoes belong to red energy and yellow energy. When they have native energy, they will have life and can be planted.”

Xie Sen thought about his words mentally for a while, as he stared at the dull petals of the peony on his shoulder. Suddenly he had a bad feeling. “Does this mean that your native energy is scattered into five parts? My body will have to find all the energy to fully recover?”

Adam said vaguely, “It may not be…”

“What do you mean, not necessarily?”

Adam’s voice rose, persuasively, “Look on the bright side of everything. Maybe there are two energies together. Besides, as long as you activate three types of plants I can feel the location of the energy. It’s just a matter of minutes to find it!” he added. “It’s easy!”

Xie Sen said hopelessly, “There is no way that the energies will be scattered in the same place, right?”

Adam was silent, but before Xie Sen asked again, Adam stammered, “It’s not impossible, but it’s very unlikely. It’s definitely not too fragmented. It’s harder to disperse the same energy than to disperse my own energy.”

Xie Sen’s eyes were dark. He felt that he would have to walk an incredibly long road to full recovery. Still he couldn’t help it, and said excitedly, “You’ve already dispersed your own energy! How much harder could it be?”

“A’Sen, you’re so mean,” Adam said accusingly.

He used a boy’s voice, which sounded heartbreaking, and Xie Sen felt guilty when he thought about how his energy was dispersed because he was saving him. “I’m sorry, I was wrong. You’re right. I’ll think of things in a good way. Maybe all five energies are together! I have good news for you. The day after tomorrow I will be able to activate the third plant!”

“Wow!” Adam’s voice was partially aggravated, but also extraordinarily excited and full of essence, “Sen you are fantastic! You don’t have to worry. Every time you find an energy, your controlled time will be extended by four hours, and your body will become better.”

Xie Sen’s eyes lit up. That meant that finding one type of energy would make his safe time after waking up twelve hours, and finding two would be sixteen hours! In that case, it would basically not affect his daily activities.

He was relieved to finally know this good news, and he smiled. “That’s good. I’ll call you when I activate the third plant.”

“Okay!” Adam responded, and went to sleep to replenish his energy.

“What kind of plant is this?” Maine’s voice suddenly came from behind him.

Maine was extremely close to him, and as he turned around, the two were almost too close together. Xie Sen’s heartbeat suddenly accelerated. He subconsciously took a step back, and touched the cooking table. He patted his chest, and let out a soft breath. “Why are you walking around without any sound at all?”

Maine said, “You were concentrating too much.” He reached out, and pulled down Xie Sen’s collar over his right shoulder to reveal the peony which had been re-covered by the fabric after Xie Sen let go of it.

“Peony,” Xie Sen’s shoulder was unintentionally touched by his fingers, and he couldn’t help but shiver. 

Maine looked at him strangely. “Cold?”

Xie Sen shook his head. “No.” He slapped Maine’s hand away, pulled up his collar and babbled, “I’m hungry.” He turned around and continued to cut the meat. “Go wait outside. Dinner will be soon.”

Maine leaned back with his hand on the counter, looked at him and asked, “Are all the beast prints in the plant line on the right shoulder?”

“I don’t know.” Xie Sen answered honestly.

Maine, “That’s right. There hasn’t been a plant beast master for a long time,” he mused for a moment. “Did the pepper and potato grow out of it?”

Since it was technically right, Xie Sen nodded.

“The color, it looks a little off. Is it injured?” Maine asked again.

“Sort of,” Xie Sen thought about it, and took the opportunity to explain the situation. “It has something to do with my body, too. You remember when I said my body needs to find something to heal? It will tell me where those things are.”

“I’ll help you find them together.” Maine said immediately.

Xie Sen put the chopped meat into a large bowl, turned on the heat and as he made dinner, he said, “I can’t be sure of the location. Maybe it’s far away.”

Maine suddenly reached out, and grabbed his shoulder. He didn’t push hard, but his body moved closer to Xie Sen, and his tone was firm, “I’ll go with you even if it’s far away. You have to tell me where you’re going. You can’t leave alone!”

Xie Sen looked at his tense face and laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ll tell you for sure. I’m not one to leave without telling you.” He shrugged his left shoulder. “Take your hand off. It’s in the way.”

Maine was satisfied. The corners of his mouth hooked up lightly, and he removed his hand from his shoulder. “I’m planning an outing too. I haven’t decided on a destination yet, so it’s good to follow you.”

Xie Sen was shocked. What he feared most was Maine suddenly leaving Star City. “Going out? What do you want to do?”

“To find my contract beast,” Maine looked sideways at the wound on his shoulder, his eyes cold. “With a contract beast, I will be stronger.”

Xie Sen looked at him, and asked the question he had been wanting to ask for the past two days, but hadn’t dared to ask, “Are you going to…get revenge?”

“Of course.” Maine’s eyes were dark and certain. “I don’t care if they acknowledge me or not, but I can’t stand the fact that they’ve cheated me for so long, not to mention…”

His tone became extremely low and dark. Xie Sen instantly understood what he was going to say- not to mention that his dad’s death had something to do with the Cox family.

Maine concluded in a cold voice. “I will not spare any of their family members!”

Xie Sen hurriedly asked. “What do you want to do?”

Maine did not answer, but asked back, “What do you think is the most painful thing?”

Xie Sen immediately said, “Definitely not death.”

He didn’t want Maine to resort to destruction to retaliate against the Cox family. He feared Maine would attack indiscriminately, just like in the book. He organized his words quickly. “Death is just a moment. The real pain is standing on high and falling to the dust, having all that you want and then losing it all. Being stepped on by people you despise.”

“You’re right,” Maine said, “Last night in the forest, I was frantic to send them all to hell, and then…I just had the same thought as you.”

Xie Sen was surprised. Did Maine’s words mean that even if he hadn’t said those words just now, he wouldn’t use the extreme means in the book? And Maine’s change of mind, was it because of him?

Xie Sen smiled, “We thought of the same thing. But the Cox family is strong. It isn’t easy to deal with the Cox family.”

“No hurry.” Maine was calm. “We’re still young. we can take our time.”

“Yeah, and there are a lot of things worth doing besides revenge.” Xie Sen perked up, curious. “What’s your dream? Is there anything you want to do?”

Maine looked at him intently. “When I was very young, all the kids around me had people to play with, but I didn’t. So I thought, ‘I want to design robots to play with me in the future.’ Later, I got used to being alone, and didn’t want robots to play with. I realized that the most reliable thing was strength, so I wanted to design robots that could fight with me. Now…” He paused. “I want to be with you all the time.”

Xie Sen froze. His heart was beating wildly, and he laughed, “I said I’d be there for you all the time. Robots sound cool, and I’m looking forward to you making them. Nowadays, robots are mostly used in factories. I think your idea is great. If you make it, it will definitely make money, and it can be a way to accumulate funds. Against the Cox family, money definitely can’t be lacking.”

“Mn. I’ve put together my designs from college in the past two days, and I have a complete program for a companion robot for toddlers. In a few days I’m going to start a robotics program company to work with manufacturing companies to jointly develop robots.”

Xie Sen marveled. “So you’ve been thinking about it for a long time! But why do you want to open a company in a few days? Do you have enough money? I have more than half a million here, so you can use it first.”

He asked Maine to borrow money, to earn more than 200,000 of it.

The corner of Maine’s mouth was slightly hooked. “I have enough money, but I’m under eighteen, so I can’t open a company.”

Xie Sen turned his head incredulously. “You, not yet eighteen? Not quite an adult?”

Maine nodded his head.

Xie Sen instantly felt that people really could not be compared, it was completely self-abuse!

“You’re too good, aren’t you?” He couldn’t help but exclaim, instantly feeling that he was too much of a rookie. After that, he thought of what it meant for Maine to be under eighteen, laughed, and teased him, “Hey, call me brother!”