Qizi Chapter 1

QZ Chapter 1

Translator: MoMoePom

Editor: LadyBlue

Quality Checker: Kittsune

First Published on Ainus.h.i.+.

Translator’s WARNING

As much as I hate to warn people in the beginning of a novel, I have to do it for this one. While reading, please pay attention and remember that this novel sets on a planet that’s not Earth and these people are of a different species from humans. The way their society is organized, the way they are raised are all very different from we are. Later in the story, you might feel certain concepts or actions are ridiculous, but just think twice about it, imagine what if you are a person growing up in such a society.

Just be patient and enjoy it! I promise you that the story will worth the read! o7

Chapter 1

In the princ.i.p.al’s office located at the second-floor of the Bikong Inst.i.tute, the princ.i.p.al watched a group of lively students clamoring from his window with his light gray eyes as they walked towards him from far away.

"I once met a visitor from a distant galaxy when I was young, " the princ.i.p.al opened his mouth leisurely, "his eyes were like clear blue crystals, as if they held the entire ocean in them, something impossible to forget."

The corner of his mouth curved up slightly as he recalled those pleasant memories, "I once told him, you must have the most beautiful eyes in your planet, but guess what he said?"

The other person in the room did not respond, but the princ.i.p.al continued anyway, as if he was not expecting a reply, "He said that back in his hometown, everyone had different colored eyes. Some had jade green, some ruby red, some amber gold… Even though I cannot witness the scene myself, imagining it is quite pleasant."

As the group of students approached, their faces became increasingly visible. They were all different in appearances and body shapes, except for their eyes, which all had an uniformly smoky gray color.

There were so many pretty colors in this world, but they all gathered here and were unified into the most blatant one. All colors on the light spectrum had been partially absorbed and the rest was mixed and reflected back as a cloudy gray, spreading into the entire pupil.

"Compared to theirs, how dull the colors of our planet are.", the princ.i.p.al sighed.

Not far behind him stood the dean, a man much bigger in size. His eyes were dark as ink, as if even light could not escape once it was trapped in. However, a color as deep and insightful as this had also become one of the "dull" colors in the princ.i.p.al’s words.

The dean secretly s.h.i.+fted his eyes from the students to the princ.i.p.al's face. Even though this man always started sentences with phrases like "when I was young" or "those old memories", his body and appearance had little difference compared to those of the students in the inst.i.tute. One would not be able to tell his real age without looking at his eyes.

This was the Tianxiu Planet. There were only three types of eye colors here, which also served as an important indicator of one's ident.i.ty. Most of the students in Bikong Inst.i.tute, regardless of their gender, had smoky-gray eyes, a color unique to juveniles. Only a handful of the student’s eye color had changed, indicating that they had already awakened – transformed from a Nestling into an Adult, and soon would no longer belong here.

The people on this planet consisted of neither children nor elders. They were born into the world through an extremely special process. After a long period of hibernation, they woke up with juvenile appearances. They were born with the abilities to survive, thus there was no need for them to learn how to stagger or stutter. They even managed to keep their fundamental memories of survival through their endless reincarnations.

They had neither parents nor siblings. Everyone was born equal, and there was no differences in their social status. In their Nestling stage, all adults shared the responsibility of raising them together, letting them spend the first few years of their life in elementary inst.i.tutes like Bikong. After their Adult Ceremony, they would enter the second phase of maturation and transform into Adults, then remain in their adult forms till the next hibernation.

These were the Tianxiu people, who had neither birth nor real death. They had been living on this planet for thousands of years, generation after generation.

"They are tenth-graders, aren’t they?" The princ.i.p.al watched them pa.s.sing by one by one. Since it was impossible to tell people's age from their height and appearance alone, almost all educators had developed some kind of photographic memories.

The dean glanced at them quickly and soon locked on a few targets. "Yes, most of them are nine or ten years old in Nestling stage, a high-incident phase for awakening."

"It would be nice if they can pa.s.s their awakening phase light-heartedly, like they are now." The princ.i.p.al gave the window a few knocks with his finger. "I don't want to see another repet.i.tion of those past tragedies. For this year's Health Cla.s.s, we should send over someone who is gentle enough…"

The group of students who just pa.s.sed by had now gathered into cl.u.s.ters of twos and threes, discussing about the fitness test that had ended not long ago.

"I've heard that there were two students in our grade who scored over 300 in the last fitness test. Is it true?"

"Who else could they be? I'm sure it's Ling Xiao and Ying Feng. I'll bet!"

"Which of them do you think had the higher score?"

"I guess it's Ling Xiao."

"It must be Ying Feng. Even though Ling Xiao is quite strong, Ying Feng is just slightly better…"

They were having such a lively discussion, that they failed to realize that not far behind them walked one of the two people at the center of their conversation.

Ling Xiao pulled a long face. The result of the fitness test was sent to everyone's personal terminal directly from the server. Even though other students were not aware, but the officer had told him implicitly that although his score was good, it was not the best in his grade.

There was only one person who possibly had a higher score than him in his grade, Ying Feng.

Ying Feng and he awoke within an hour of each other, and the two of them were signed to study in Bikong Inst.i.tute at the same time and stayed as cla.s.smates since first grade. It had been ten years till now. They had almost every premise to be good friends, but because of Ling Xiao's compet.i.tiveness and Ying Feng's indifference, they were still strangers to each other even today.

Ying Feng could beat Ling Xiao in almost all fields by just a bit, but this "bit" was enough to shackle Ling Xiao to second place forever. The only thing that could save Ling Xiao's face was the fact that he was two or three centimeters taller than Ying Feng. This had already become the only win he could get between the two of them in ten years.

"Why do you have such a long face?" Lan Sheng, one of his best friends, threw his arm around Ling Xiao's neck. "Let me guess, did you lose to that guy again?"

Ping Zong, who was walking on the other side, elbowed Lan Sheng, thinking, 'Why is this guy so straightforward?'

"What are you afraid of? Our Little Ling Xiao is the best at turning sorrow into motivation. This small failure is hardly a breeze to him, isn't it?"

"Of course." Ling Xiao's fighting spirit was aroused by him again, "The officer said we were only two points apart. If I just work a little harder, I'll definitely outcla.s.s him."

Lan Sheng punched him right on his chest, "Absolutely! I have faith in you."

The three of them returned to the cla.s.sroom together. Till they stepped through the door, Ling Xiao was still quarreling with Lan Sheng: "Also, I'm older than you. Don't call me Little Ling Xiao."

"You woke up only half a year before me, not to mention that age doesn't mean anything in Nestling stage."

"Why are you so confident that I won't mature earlier than you?"

"Hahahaha, you?"

The two of them chatted happily, and soon, more boys started to joined them, flooding the cla.s.sroom with their chattering sound. When Ying Feng appeared at the door, Ling Xiao was the only one who noticed him.

Ying Feng's seat was located in the last row of the cla.s.sroom, therefore he had to pa.s.s by Ling Xiao's group on his way. When he was walking by, Ling Xiao, who was initially leaning against the desk, suddenly stood up perfectly straight. He raised his chin and congratulated him with a tone that could hardly be called flattering.

"Congratulations to you."

Ying Feng didn't even turn his face. He coldly glanced at Ling Xiao, who was trying to make himself look bulky, from the corner of his eye, and pa.s.sed him without a word. The surrounding students knew by heart how the two of them had never been able to get along with each other, therefore they just turned a blind eye to what was happening, pretending to see nothing as always.

Seeing how Ying Feng ignored him completely once again, Ling Xiao fumed with rage.

"Sooner or later, I'll…I'll…" Ling Xiao came up with the dirtiest parting shot he could ever think of as a Tianxiu Nestling: "I'll take his heart-tip blood and make him my Qizi, so that he will submit himself to me for his entire life!"

These brave words that Ling Xiao threw out with such confidence, were like an atomic bomb dropped inside the cla.s.sroom, blowing everyone's mind. In these juviniles' perceptions, the Adult Ceremony was merely a vague concept. Although many of them would soon face their own awakenings, the relations.h.i.+p between Adults was still something of the utmost mystery to them.

Everything they knew about Adults, came from those vulgar readings they managed to sneak out from somewhere. In those distasteful descriptions, Qizi was no different from a s.e.x slave manipulated by the power of their Qizhu and by no means able to resist. It was obvious how bold and improper Ling Xiao's words sounded in the ears of a group of unmatured juveniles.

"Haha." After a long period of silence, someone squeezed out a few awkward laughs. "Ling Xiao, you really have guts to be able to say that."

Once the deadlock was broken, the group of students immediately seconded it as they resumed their clamoring again, like how children in p.u.b.erty sometimes brought up dirty jokes unintentionally, felt embarra.s.sed yet could not stop to probe further.

"Nah, yesterday, I heard the teacher in the equipment department said," Lan Sheng suddenly lowered his voice mysteriously. Taking it as a hint, everyone else immediately gathered around him in a circle. "…said that he was done four times in one night, and his legs were still shaking when he got to work."

"No kidding!" Someone screamed. Someone laughed. "Why would he talk about it?"

"I swear it's true! I heard him complaining to his Qizhu over the terminal. There was no one in the office at that time, even I could only eavesdrop on the conversation outside the door."

It was hard to close that gate to the restricted world once it was open. "What else did he say?"

"Don't know. That's all I've heard. I was afraid he would see me, so I ran away."

"Tch'', everybody sneered at him. It was a great opportunity to peek into the Adult world, yet he had ruined it.

Ling Xiao sneered with disdain, "Four times a night is nothing. Just wait till I become someone's Qizhu, I'll do him seven times a night, till he won't be able to get off the bed for three days." After he finished, he intentionally gave a certain someone's seat a glance. Surprisingly, the other person raised his head, and his eyes met Ling Xiao's for a brief moment.

Some kind of strange wowing scream bursted out among the boys, filled with cheers such as "amazing" or "good luck", was.h.i.+ng the room like recurring waves. Girls retreated further to the side, and could not wait any longer to draw a line between themselves and those shameless ones.

Yao Tai walked into the cla.s.sroom just in time to hear every word of Ling Xiao's arrogant speech. She spat at his words in her mind.

'These boys don't know enough to be prudent. Look at them talking so wildly already when their lower bodies do not yet know how to grow hair. Instead of an education on mental health, that leading Nestling is in more need of a good whipping while tied up. That's going to teach him a lesson.'

She stepped onto the platform in her high heels. Seeing that the teacher had arrived, the giggling students scattered and returned to their own seats.

Yao Tai was one of the few in the inst.i.tute whose body shape could make one feel proud of, and her eyes had that deep and insightful black color as well. Many students referred to her as Queen Yao behind her back. Strictly speaking, she should not be counted as one of the teachers in the inst.i.tute.

Indeed, right after she stepped behind the podium, some students had already raised their hands.

"Dr. Yao, are you subst.i.tuting today?"

The school's doctor Yao Tai crossed her arms: "From today on, we will add a Health Cla.s.s to all tenth graders. I will be your teacher for this cla.s.s. If you have any related questions, feel free to ask me."

Health Cla.s.s? The student's eyes lit up, but no one dared to ask.

"What's wrong? No questions? Wasn't there a lively discussion just now?"

Knowing that they were caught in the act, a few of the boys who had shooed scratched their heads in embarra.s.sment.

Yao Tai didn't want to go further on this incident with them. She turned around and drew two body outlines on the action-sensor-board. Because of the curves, they could be easily distinguished as a man and a woman.

"I believe everyone already knows that we Tianxiu people are very different from most of the other species in the universe. Our reproduction method can be cla.s.sified as as.e.xual reproduction, which is very rare. We only have two phases throughout our life: the Nestling stage and the Adult stage, and this is also the reason why we have developed a unique system to account for our age."

"You," She randomly pointed at a student in the front row, "How old are you this year?"

"Nine years old in Nestling stage." The student answered fluently.

"Very good. I am eighty-seven years old in Adult Stage this year. How many years older am I than you?"

"Eh…" The student who was asked could not come up with an answer.

"You should say, 'I don't know'.'' Yao Tai continued, "The span of everyone's Nestling stage is different. The earliest record of the completion of an Adult Ceremony occurred at four years old in Nestling stage, yet some people are still not awakened even at their eighteenth. These are all extreme cases though."

"Over eighty percent of Tianxiu people will reach their s.e.xual maturity around the tenth year after they wake up, which means–" She intentionally dragged out the last syllable, glancing through the students one by one at their faces, "I'm afraid that a majority of you sitting here right now will soon enter your s.e.xual awakening phase."

At this point, the girls who were shy had already blushed, but Yao Tai continued without any change on her face, "Although we reproduce as.e.xually, and there is no need for us to mate in order to reproduce like other species, it doesn't mean that we have no physical desires. The main reason for our s.e.x is to complete the second phase of maturation, so we can become real Adults."

What Yao Tai was lecturing was the knowledge that these students wanted to know the most yet were unable to get their hands on normally, therefore everyone now concentrated with all of their might, their ears pointing up.

However, as if she wanted to tantalize their curiosity to the greatest extent, she changed her topic abruptly into an introduction of the cultures of other planets.

"Many of our neighboring planets, or even those distant galaxies, have very different social structures from ours. The most obvious one is that they have families. People can be born into different families–someone born into a wealthy family can be overwhelmed with luxury while someone born into the slums suffer their life without a penny. They are born with gaps in status and wealth and are treated with utmost inequality."

"Their lives were born unequal from the very beginning and were differentiated into superior versus inferior, born of wife versus born of concubine, high status versus low status, n.o.ble versus peasant. Even if a person can change his fate through nurtural efforts, the difference between their starting point can be as huge as heaven and earth. I'm afraid that the only thing that can be said to be equal between them is the fact that no one is able to choose their background."

What Yao Tai had said opened a door to the recognition of a new world. This was the first time the students were told that some people were forcibly divided into different social cla.s.ses right after they woke up–actually it was birth, but they did not understand the concept of birth. Their views were broadened, yet at the same time they felt extremely lucky.

Yao Tai knew exactly what was in their minds at the moment, and she pointed out directly,

"In contrast, our Tianxiu people are born equal. After waking up, we have equal material compensations, share the same public health and education system, and own the same political rights. No other galaxy can compare with us. We are unique and peerless in this universe."

At this point, some students even straightened their backs proudly.

"However, " Yao Tai immediately crushed the pride they just built up, "if this makes you believe that we are a nation founded upon equality and human rights, then you could not possibly be more wrong."

"In order to prevent laziness, which tends to bore from this kind of natural equality, we are much more strict and demanding towards nurtural efforts. In fact, Tianxiu people have the most cruel social hierarchy in the entire universe, that is—"

Her hand slapped on the whiteboard, "The Dom-Sub relations.h.i.+p between spouses!"

Translator’s Notes:

The Tianxiu Adults were divided into Qizhu (契主) and Qizi(契子). Qi(契) means contract in Chinese. Qizhu literally means the owner/master of the contract, while Qizi means the one bonded to the contract. I cannot find a pair of English words that are both suitable in meaning and sounded good, so I decided to use leave them in Chinese instead.

PS: Qizi (契子) sounds almost the same as 妻子(Qizi), which means wife in Chinese, except the tones were slightly different.  XD