The Little Succubus's Hypnosis Manual - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Feeding – Afraid He’d Starve to Death at Home

The phone call ended with a beep, and Xie Nanxing’s mood visibly brightened. He didn’t even bother eating—he rushed to the entryway and stood there, eagerly waiting for Zhou Qiyue to come home.

The housekeeper placed heat covers over the dishes and said to him, “You should sit on the couch and wait. Mr. Zhou won’t be back for another twenty minutes.”

But Xie Nanxing didn’t hear a single word. He shook his head and insisted on waiting at the door.

“Mr. Zhou, you’re not eating?” his assistant asked when Zhou Qiyue abruptly got dressed and headed out after taking a call, just as his lunchbox had been set down in front of him.

“Mhm,” Zhou Qiyue responded and took the elevator straight to the parking garage, driving home.

In the past, when stray cats delivered to the pet store wouldn’t eat, Zhou Qiyue simply told the store manager to handle it. He was just an investor, after all.

He should be treating Xie Nanxing the same way. But when he recalled the police report yesterday—Xie Nanxing said he had no parents, no home—he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy.

He didn’t even know how to eat. How had he made it this far?

Zhou Qiyue was genuinely worried the kid would starve to death in his apartment—which would be terribly inauspicious.

The smart lock recognized his face and automatically opened the door. Zhou Qiyue stepped in, a bit breathless from the rush. And there at the entrance, the little troublemaker was waiting, eyes shining as he looked up at him.

Zhou Qiyue had heard colleagues talk about how clingy their cats and dogs were—how they’d run up to greet them the moment they got home.

Xie Nanxing’s blank, lifeless eyes suddenly lit up like a spotlight when he saw Zhou Qiyue. He pushed himself up from the floor, but he stood up too fast, and everything went black.

Zhou Qiyue quickly stepped forward and caught him, guiding him inside.

“Why were you squatting at the door?” Zhou Qiyue scolded.

Xie Nanxing shook his head. Wherever Zhou Qiyue had touched felt like a breeze had brushed against his skin, sending a wave of comfort through him.

As he inhaled the sweet, fragrant energy Zhou Qiyue gave off, he wanted nothing more than to bury himself in his arms and take a deep breath—but he was afraid of being kicked out, so he restrained himself and gently leaned against him instead.

“You…” Zhou Qiyue suddenly grabbed his arm, making Xie Nanxing panic. Had he noticed something?

It was the first time someone had waited for him to come home. Zhou Qiyue ignored the fluttery feeling in his chest, like it had been filled with cotton candy.

“Don’t tell me you don’t know how to eat?”

Xie Nanxing pointed at the chopsticks. “Don’t know.”

Succubi didn’t use chopsticks. They ate fruit straight from trees. But he was only half succubus. Since arriving in the human world, not only had his stomach been constantly empty, he hadn’t been able to absorb much energy either. It was a double starvation.

He clutched his growling stomach and looked at Zhou Qiyue with pleading eyes.

Since he was already home, Zhou Qiyue pulled out a chair and sat down. Aunt Wu removed the food covers. She’d made quite a bit—enough for two.

“Sit here,” Zhou Qiyue said, pointing to the seat beside him. Xie Nanxing immediately sat down without hesitation.

He watched as Zhou Qiyue effortlessly picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks. Trying to imitate him, Xie Nanxing nervously picked up his own pair and tried to grab some vegetables. But the chopsticks started fighting in his hands and slipped with a clatter onto the table.

Zhou Qiyue stood up. Xie Nanxing grew anxious, trying again and again to pick up the food, but the more nervous he got, the more his hands shook.

He glanced at Zhou Qiyue, terrified the man would think he was stupid and throw him out to that big-bearded man from before.

His whole body trembled slightly from fear, but suddenly a large hand enveloped his.

A surge of delicious energy followed.

He turned to look—Zhou Qiyue was guiding his hand, adjusting his grip on the chopsticks, helping him pick up a piece of fish and bringing it to his mouth.

Xie Nanxing bit into it. Since he was still recovering, Aunt Wu had made the dishes light. The fish melted in his mouth, the bones already removed. He swallowed it whole and let out a soft hum of satisfaction.

“Mmm~ So yummy!” he said excitedly, looking at Zhou Qiyue like he wanted to shower him with every word he knew to describe delicious food.

No wonder some succubi chose to stay in the human world even after completing their missions—how could humans have food this good?

A soft chuckle sounded beside him. Xie Nanxing instinctively turned his head and saw Zhou Qiyue smiling—a rare, gentle curve that softened his sharp features like a flower blooming on a snowy mountain. Xie Nanxing was momentarily stunned.

“Glutton,” Zhou Qiyue said, retracting his smile. He tapped Xie Nanxing on the head with his knuckles. Xie Nanxing held his head and continued staring at him.

“I already showed you. You do it yourself now.” Zhou Qiyue sat back down.

But Xie Nanxing was still too clumsy. He failed every time.

Whenever food dropped, he’d sneak a glance at Zhou Qiyue, but Zhou Qiyue just ate quietly, seemingly not paying attention.

Xie Nanxing didn’t know whether to feel relieved or disappointed.

Sensing the intense gaze on him, Zhou Qiyue finally looked over. His eyes fell on the untouched bowl of rice. “Hungry?”

Xie Nanxing pursed his lips. He didn’t know if having such a prime source of energy sitting across from him but being unable to feed on it made him hungrier, or if the food he couldn’t manage to eat made it worse.

Either way, he nodded vigorously. “Hungry.”

“Idiot.” Zhou Qiyue set down his chopsticks. They clinked lightly against the bowl.

Xie Nanxing froze. He stared at Zhou Qiyue in panic. So it really was because he was too stupid? Was Zhou Qiyue going to be like the others and mock him for being a half-breed succubus? Mock him for not even being able to master the basics of charm?

His grip on the chopsticks slipped. They dropped loudly onto the table.

“Wuwu—” he panicked and tried to pick them up again, but before he could, Zhou Qiyue pulled them out of his hand.

“You can’t eat with chopsticks that touched the floor, dummy.” Zhou Qiyue walked to the kitchen, got a new pair, and came back. He picked up Xie Nanxing’s bowl, added food to it, and patiently began feeding him again.

“Open up.” Zhou Qiyue held the chopsticks to his mouth. Xie Nanxing blinked, then opened his mouth, chewing and swallowing as another bite quickly followed.

Because of the feeding, they now sat face to face. Zhou Qiyue might’ve called him an idiot, but he still fed him patiently.

Xie Nanxing felt that no one in the world could be better than Zhou Qiyue.

At first, Zhou Qiyue had only offered to feed him because he couldn’t just let someone starve in his home after bringing them there. But when he met Xie Nanxing’s adoring gaze, he felt a strange heat rise in his cheeks.

“Don’t look at me like that. You have to learn to eat by yourself. Otherwise, when you’re sent to the orphanage, no one will be this nice to you.”

Zhou Qiyue said it to prepare him mentally.

But Xie Nanxing’s bright eyes immediately dimmed. He looked at Zhou Qiyue in disbelief, as if asking, You’re really going to send me away?

Zhou Qiyue had given away countless stray cats and dogs. Even the clingiest ones were better off with a proper home, so he never hesitated. But looking into Xie Nanxing’s eyes, he found himself unable to say the words.

A voice in his head whispered: Just let him stay.

He shook the thought away, fed him the rest of the rice, and even gave him a bowl of fish soup.

His stomach was full, but the hunger for energy wasn’t satisfied. Xie Nanxing looked at Zhou Qiyue, wondering how he could make prolonged physical contact without being obvious.

But when he leaned in, Zhou Qiyue calmly extended a finger and pressed it against his forehead, gently pushing him back.

“I’ll help you take a bath.”

Xie Nanxing froze, then looked down at himself. Zhou Qiyue must’ve helped him wipe down and change clothes last night.

But he had come from the garbage heap. Was Zhou Qiyue disgusted by his smell?

In the other world, they bathed in hot springs in the mountains. Here, all he saw were tall buildings—no sign of a mountain.

He tugged at the hem of his clothes, a bit hurt.

“You think I’m… dirty?” Xie Nanxing looked up with injured eyes.

“I picked you out of a trash can. What do you think?”

“Mm.” Xie Nanxing wanted to say You didn’t pick me—I clung to you. You only took the kitten. But it was too difficult to explain. He could only follow pitifully behind Zhou Qiyue toward the bathroom.

Just in case, Zhou Qiyue asked, “Do you know how to use this?”

Xie Nanxing followed the direction he pointed and gave the expected answer.

“No.”

It was a shower. Zhou Qiyue demonstrated, “This is the top showerhead—it’s enough on its own. This one’s the handheld, for close washing. And this is for washing your feet.”

“Got it?” Zhou Qiyue asked.

As he turned each knob, corresponding streams of water flowed. At first, the water was cold, splashing onto Xie Nanxing and making him yelp as he darted behind Zhou Qiyue, trembling like a cat refusing to bathe.

Normally, Zhou Qiyue would just grab a cat by the scruff and dunk it in a basin.

But this wasn’t a cat. This was a living, breathing person.

He irritably tugged off his tie and tossed it in the laundry basket. Xie Nanxing’s eyes followed the motion, lingering on his open collar and then his bare chest.

Seeing that Zhou Qiyue didn’t notice, Xie Nanxing boldly stared.

Zhou Qiyue figured—well, he’d already wiped him down once. What’s one more time?

“Come with me. I’ll wash you.”