Chapter 7: Wife, Please Don’t Chase Me Away

Chapter 7: Honey, Please Don't Kick Me Out

Chu Lanting had a dog when he was a teenager.

It wasn't any precious breed—just a puppy he'd found on the street in the pouring rain.

The pup was well-behaved. Back then, he lived with his grandmother, and food was scarce at home. They shared whatever they had with the dog.

As the dog grew up, every time he came home from school, he could see that black-and-yellow figure tearing down the alley toward him, especially its tail wagging like crazy.

Now, standing at his front door, watching Pei Du hobble toward him from the bed, Chu Lanting couldn't help but recall that time.

His expression softened. When he saw the other man standing before him, he frowned, suddenly snapping back to the present.

"Why are you up? Your injuries haven't healed yet."

From Uncle Tian, Chu Lanting had picked up some knowledge about spiritual power.

Uncle Tian said that humans with stronger spiritual power could pilot more advanced mechs and become the most capable commanders.

Even if severely wounded, they could recover quickly.

But there were downsides—they lacked empathy, were rigid, and had almost no warmth.

After hearing Uncle Tian describe them as having "no warmth," Chu Lanting became even more certain that Pei Du's spiritual power was no joke.

Otherwise, the original author wouldn't have repeatedly mentioned Pei Du's "cold and heartless" nature.

He didn't know whether Pei Du's memory loss was caused by a problem with his spiritual power.

All he knew was that if Pei Du ever regained his memory, and if he had treated him poorly or tried to take advantage of him, he'd be in serious trouble.

With that thought, Chu Lanting took his wrist and slowly guided him back toward the bed.

"You're badly injured. What if you trip and hurt yourself when you get out of bed?"

Pei Du immediately calmed down the moment he saw him.

Hearing the concern in his wife's voice, he sat on the edge of the bed, looking up at him with hopeful eyes. "I missed you, wife."

Chu Lanting had only been gone for two hours.

But Pei Du was new here and had lost his memory. Since Chu Lanting was the only person he knew, it made sense he'd feel insecure.

He reached out and ruffled his short hair. It was already dry, the strands slightly prickly, making his palm itch.

He pulled his hand back and smiled. "I got held up picking up the medicine. Sorry about that."

"Let's take the medicine first, then have something to eat, okay? Nutrient packs aren't filling—you must be starving, right?"

He set the food and medicine box on a small table.

Chu Lanting poured some water and, checking the dosage on the box, handed Pei Du his medicine.

The medical resources on Planet 207 were a world apart from those on the main planet.

Even basic medicines like anti-inflammatories were incredibly valuable here.

Watching him swallow the pills, the smile on Chu Lanting's face grew. "You just swallowed it like that? Aren't you afraid I might poison you?"

Pei Du, who had been thinking about something else, snapped out of his thoughts at the question.

A flicker of confusion appeared in his clear black eyes. He blinked, his fingers tightening around the cup.

"Of course not. My wife would never poison me."

His voice was full of trust, which actually made Chu Lanting feel awkward.

Taking the cup from his hand and filling it again, Chu Lanting nodded. "You're right. I'm not going to poison you."

"But you can't be so sure about the people here. You're still injured, so when I go out, you need to stay home, alright?"

Poisoning Pei Du wouldn't be worth it.

Chu Lanting was taken aback by his confidence.

How could anyone be so certain he wouldn't harm him? Even with amnesia, he should still have some common sense.

"Wife, are you going out? Where to? Will you be gone that long again?"

The rapid-fire questions left Chu Lanting unsure which to answer first.

He grabbed the bread from the table—hard as a baseball bat—and broke it into two uneven pieces over his knee.

Handing the larger piece to the other man, he said, "I need to go to work. I need to earn money or nutrient packs to keep us fed."

The money the original owner had saved would only last them a short while.

Chu Lanting also had no idea when the main planet would send someone to come for Pei Du.

If they wanted to get by, he had to go back to work.

"I'll come too! I'm totally fine now!"

Just as Chu Lanting finished speaking, a firm voice rang out in the room.

Startled, he nearly dropped the bread. He looked up at the man's "I'm perfectly fine" expression and, without thinking, poked at the wound on his chest.

"Ow! Wife, that hurts!"

"Mm. Your injuries haven't healed, so you can't come. Eat up. There's not much good food around here—I'm not sure if you'll like it."

Chu Lanting said the last part softly.

Pei Du's status wasn't anything to sneeze at. Having lived on the main planet, he must have had a pretty good life.

The question was whether he could adapt to life on this planet. If he couldn't...

Well, there wasn't much he could do about it.

Pei Du: ...

The room fell silent again. If you listened closely, you could hear the strained sound of chewing.

If anyone had walked in at that moment, they would have seen two figures—one tall, one short—sitting at a low table.

The shorter one had delicate features and pale, cool-toned skin. When he wasn't smiling, it made him seem even more distant.

Across from him sat a tall man wearing only a pair of faded shorts. He clearly had a handsome face, but the pitiful expression on it undercut his good looks.

Chu Lanting pretended not to see the face in front of him and just focused on chewing his bread.

The bread was hard, so dry it was almost impossible to swallow.

Even so, he merely slowed his chewing, without tossing it aside in disgust.

He wasn't picky about food—as a child, he didn't have the luxury of being picky, and as he grew up, he got into the habit of eating whatever was there.

He was an orphan, just like the original owner of this body had been. His parents had died early, and his elderly grandmother had barely managed to raise him until he was ten or so, and then she passed away too.

With no family left by his side, when he was at his hungriest, he'd buy the cheapest rice in the cafeteria and fill up on free seaweed soup.

The worst times were behind him now. Someone was by his side, eating with him, and he had two working hands and feet—wasn't that already lucky enough?

He washed the bread down with cold water, and once his stomach was full of water, Chu Lanting put down the half-eaten bread.

"Honey, are you full?"

A concerned inquiry reached his ears. The moment Chu Lanting looked up, he saw that the large half of bread in Pei Du's hand was already gone.

His eyes widened slightly as he asked in surprise, "You finished it all?"

He had thought Pei Du wouldn't eat such coarse food.

Pei Du felt a bit embarrassed under his gaze.

Thinking his wife was mad at him for eating too much, he hastily explained, "Honey, I didn't eat that much... no, I can eat even less. Honey, please don't kick me out, okay?"