Ye Mu sent a message: "Are you home yet?"
Luo Qi replied via terminal: "I'm home, what's up?"
Ye Mu's reply came back immediately: "Nothing major, I just miss you a little."
"No, missing you is major too."
Luo Qi pulled the blanket up, covering half his face. His cheeks slowly turned red, his mind racing with the answers from netizens in the forum. He grinned foolishly at the two messages on the screen.
Ye Mu, perhaps sensing Luo Qi's prolonged silence, sent another message: "Do you miss me?"
Luo Qi lifted the blanket and looked around. He saw 111, who had finished its cat food and was now grooming itself, licking its fur. Feeling inexplicably guilty, he buried himself deeper under the blanket before replying:
"I've only been gone a few hours."
Ye Mu: "It's been six hours, fifty-three minutes, and twenty-six seconds."
"Twenty-seven seconds."
Luo Qi couldn't take it anymore. He pressed the terminal against the pillow, patted his cheeks, took a deep breath, and then replied:
"I do, you need to come find me soon."
After typing this, Luo Qi closed his eyes and hit send, as if afraid of anyone knowing.
This was probably the most mushy thing Luo Qi had ever said in his life. He wondered what there was to miss after only being apart for a few hours.
Luo Qi snuggled into the soft blanket, a smile plastered on his face that wouldn't fade. It was over; he had likely fallen in love.
Ye Mu must have been busy, as he went back to his work after a few words, leaving Luo Qi blushing for a long time.
He had never thought that simply talking to someone through the star network, without meeting them, could be so joyful and yet so shy-making.
Luo Qi set the terminal aside, his gaze unfocused as he smiled foolishly. Suddenly, a cat's paw stepped on his face.
The ugly cat had grown fat from eating so much, and its paw left a small indentation on Luo Qi's face.
Luo Qi hissed, swatted 111 away, and scolded it irritably, "Don't you know you're heavy? And have you washed your paws after using the litter box?"
111 placed its other paw on Luo Qi's face, stepping back and forth on either side: "How dare you dislike a cat's paw pads? You stupid human."
Luo Qi's mouth twitched. Had this silly system gotten too into character? He pushed 111 away and rolled over, not wanting to deal with it.
111 narrowed its eyes and jumped to the other side, scrutinizing Luo Qi. Its round, big eyes stared at him, making Luo Qi a little embarrassed. He pushed 111 away as if to conceal himself and sat up:
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
111 licked its paw and suddenly said, "Something's not right with you."
Luo Qi's gaze darted around, his speech stuttering: "What, what's not right?"
111 tilted its head. Such a movement would be incredibly cute on another kitten, but on 111, it looked like a provocation: "Why are your ears so red?"
Luo Qi instinctively pinched his ears; they were indeed a bit warm. "Are they very red?"
111 leaned closer. Luo Qi leaned back against the headboard, unable to avoid it, and 111 saw it clearly: "Why is your face so red too?"
Luo Qi stiffened his neck: "It's... a little hot."
111 padded around Luo Qi in a circle, its big cat eyes seeming to hold a scrutinizing gaze. Luo Qi felt a bit guilty for some reason and said loudly:
"I really am hot! Nothing's wrong."
111 stopped and jumped onto Luo Qi's lap. "That's not right."
Luo Qi was starting to sweat. Was the host's emotional life really impossible to hide from the system? He wanted to ask the system for its opinion, so he sighed and said:
"Actually, it's because I..."
111 let out a loud meow: "I know! You must have done something bad!"
Luo Qi thought for a moment, then shook his head: "It's not bad, it's just..."
111 interrupted him righteously: "My guess was right! You must be holding a grudge because I scolded you earlier, so you gave me less cat food today, and I'm not even full!"
Luo Qi: "... You think I'm thinking about that, about giving you less cat food?"
111 nodded confidently. It must be what it thought. Look at this foolish host, smiling like that just because he'd teased it and left it unfed, his face and ears all red.
111 considered itself very magnanimous and could forgive Luo Qi, but only if Luo Qi added another scoop, no, two scoops of cat food.
Luo Qi was speechless. He poked 111's head hard. This useless system only knew how to eat. It would turn into a piglet if it kept eating like this.
Even though it ate more itself, it claimed he had given it less cat food. He grumbled inwardly, but still resignedly got out of bed to add more food for 111.
Forget it. Talking about the things on his mind to 111 was no different than talking to the large stone by the door.
For the past month, Luo Qi had been punished by his father and couldn't leave the palace freely. However, with Ye Mu gone, he hadn't had much interest in going out anyway.
He sat back on the bed and sighed. He now understood what those people in the dramas and movies he'd watched felt when they first experienced young love.
Luo Qi wanted to go back to Earth. He really wanted to see Ye Mu.
Cecilia noticed that Luo Qi had suddenly become much more serious and attentive to the affairs of the Insect Race. It wasn't that Luo Qi hadn't been serious before, but he had only diligently completed the tasks Cecilia assigned him, never willing to do anything extra.
Cecilia always scolded Luo Qi for not being serious, but Luo Qi would always act cute and obedient, making it impossible for him to discipline him, so he let it be.
This time, however, it was different. Luo Qi could finish the tasks assigned to him much earlier, and he often ran to Cecilia's office, as if curious about everything.
Cecilia only had him as a child and had no intention of stopping him. In fact, he was happy that Luo Qi was willing to do more, which would lighten his load.
However, as time went on, Cecilia began to notice something was amiss. Looking at other matters was just an excuse; he actually wanted to see if there was any news about Earth.
Cecilia discovered that whenever there were reports about Earth on Cecilia's desk that day, Luo Qi's stay would be exceptionally long.
Cecilia chuckled inwardly, but he didn't expose this discovery. Instead, he deliberately placed all the news about Earth at the end or at the bottom, so Luo Qi could only see it after finishing all other matters.
Thus, within a few days, everyone in the palace noticed that Luo Qi had become visibly busier, spending most of his time in the study.
Meanwhile, the Emperor seemed to have become more leisurely these past few days, often with a smile on his face.