Humans have always been social animals, so how could anyone truly want to live a solitary life? Perhaps they are simply afraid of someone getting close enough to understand their true selves.

When Ye Feng is alone, he likes to watch videos, chat in group chats, and take out his phone to check if anyone has replied to his messages. This is all because of loneliness.

The old pear tree, having just gained some sentience, naturally did not understand Ye Feng's sorrow. At this moment, it was still vigorously shaking its branches to make the pear blossoms fall continuously, making the already handsome and otherworldly Ye Feng look like a figure in a painting.

A figure glided across the moonlit night sky, gently landing on a branch beside Ye Feng, seemingly detached from the world.

"You're here?"

"They're here."

"Let's get started?"

"all."

After a few brief exchanges, Ye Feng took out the freshly made toothpick beef from the jade slip, along with a large jade bottle and two cups.

Once the cork of the large jade bottle is removed, a rich and fragrant aroma wafts out, its mellow and aromatic scent instantly intoxicating even the most seasoned wine connoisseur.

Ye Feng filled both cups with fine wine. The bright moon was reflected in the smooth and transparent wine, as if even the moon in the sky couldn't resist asking for a drink.

The two clinked glasses lightly and each took a sip.

Wu Qiuyu was already very tall, and even sitting next to Ye Feng, she didn't look short. She stretched out her long, graceful neck like a swan's and curled her lips in disdain before saying, "No wonder our Shushan Sword Sect suddenly has a Tianquan. It turns out they knew you wanted to open a fish farm."

Ye Feng was bewildered by her seemingly random and nonsensical remark, and asked, "What do you mean?"

Wu Qiuyu nodded her chin, her smooth, jade-like chin swaying in a graceful arc.

"Look at what's in your glass. Is that drinking wine? Isn't it like raising fish?"

After saying that, he turned his wine glass upside down, and not a single drop of wine spilled. Ye Feng's wine glass, however, was still more than half full, so he couldn't just turn it upside down.

After being rebuked by Wu Qiuyu, Ye Feng could only smile wryly.

This is probably just a matter of habit. In the South, most people prefer to drink a little for enjoyment, and there are very few scenes like the North where people drink heavily. Besides, he's not particularly fond of alcohol; rather than drinking it himself, he prefers to pour it into dishes as cooking wine to remove fishy smells and enhance flavor.

Since the customer had made the order, he naturally had to comply. He picked up his glass and downed the rest of the wine in one gulp. The wine felt like a ball of fire flowing down his throat, but it wasn't irritating. After finishing, he imitated Wu Qiuyu and turned his glass upside down.

Seeing that Ye Feng had finished his drink, Wu Qiuyu nodded in satisfaction, and then her gaze was drawn to the plate of toothpick beef.

The glistening slices of beef, dipped in white sesame seeds and chili flakes, not only look tempting but also have an intense aroma that makes your mouth water.

She picked up a toothpick of beef and put it straight into her mouth. The familiar spiciness told her that it must have been stir-fried with devil's tendon peppers. Needless to say, it was perfect for her taste.

This level of spiciness is normal for me, but it's not normal for my junior brother or others, in fact, it's extremely abnormal. How could my junior brother possibly eat this?

Looking into Wu Qiuyu's eyes, Ye Feng automatically imagined seven words: "Are you sure you can handle this, you little rascal?"

Any normal man would absolutely not tolerate this!

Ye Feng boldly picked up a toothpick of beef and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing it a couple of times before swallowing it.

Wu Qiuyu was about to give Ye Feng a thumbs up and say a few words of praise when Ye Feng's face suddenly turned bright red.

Holy crap! I was careless!

Although I only chewed it twice, the feeling of drinking lava lingered in my mouth.

Ye Feng couldn't help but open his mouth to inhale and relieve the spiciness, but unexpectedly, he spat out a mouthful of flames as soon as he opened his mouth.

"puff……"

Wu Qiuyu, who had just picked up his wine glass and taken a sip, immediately spat out the wine in his mouth and burst into laughter.

Ye Feng's immunity to chili peppers was actually quite high. Compared to southerners on Earth, he could definitely be considered an anomaly. But he never expected that the toothpick meat he made according to Wu Qiuyu's taste would be this spicy.

Before, "so spicy it could breathe fire" was just a figure of speech, but now it's actually happening to me! I hurriedly poured myself a glass of wine, downed it in one gulp without a second thought, and then…

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"

The fire that spewed out this time was even bigger. Wu Qiuyu, who had finally managed to stop laughing, was now laughing so hard she could hardly live anymore. Luckily, she didn't fall off the tree branch.

Fortunately, the old pear tree was no longer the same one from years ago, and Ye Feng only spewed out ordinary flames. Otherwise, this old pear tree, which had finally gained sentience, would probably have perished here.

Wu Qiuyu reached into his robes and took out a gourd. Inside, a chubby little spirit was sleeping with snot dripping from its nose, occasionally snoring.

The little doll immediately became unhappy when Wu Qiuyu took it out, and said angrily, "Why are you playing with fire here so late at night instead of sleeping? Believe me, your spirit father will give you a hard time!"

Wu Qiuyu flicked the little boy on the head and said, "Bring out some fruit."

The little spirit immediately shouted, "What?! Not only did he disturb my sleep, but he also tried to take something out of my stomach?! This is intolerable! I'll fight him one-on-one!"

"Look carefully before you speak."

"Hmm? I am the personal magic weapon of a powerful cultivator at the Great Ascension Realm. Who is there that I dare not provoke? I'd like to see..."

As the spirit spoke, it opened its sleepy eyes.

Before me stood a person who looked somewhat familiar, but whose face was flushed like a monkey's bottom.

Upon closer inspection, wait a minute? He looks a bit like Ye Zhizun?

Holy crap!

The spirit's eyes were already very large, but in that instant they widened to almost the size of ping-pong balls.

"This...this...this...leaf...leaf...leaf...cluck..."

The spirit's large eyes instantly turned completely white, and it lay there pretending to be dead.

Wu Qiuyu sighed helplessly, then used a hand seal to open the gourd space himself.

After some fiddling, he had a plate of strawberries in his hand. He gathered a bit of cold light on his finger, touched the strawberries, and pushed them to Ye Feng.

Ye Feng was amused by the way the spirit was acting and wanted to laugh. He saw Wu Qiuyu push the strawberry over, picked one up, and stuffed it into his mouth.

The sweet and sour strawberries paired with the icy coolness instantly relieved the spiciness in his mouth.

Wu Qiuyu took out a toothpick of beef from the white porcelain plate, stuffed it into her mouth, and chewed it with relish.

A demonstration! A blatant demonstration!

Can we tolerate this? Of course not!

So what if you can't eat spicy food? Can't you think of other ways to eat it?

Ye Feng reached into the white porcelain plate, picked up a steamed bun, put a lettuce leaf inside, then picked up a toothpick, put some beef inside, removed the toothpick, and took a bite.

The spiciness was still there, but after being diluted by the lettuce and steamed buns, it was already within Ye Feng's acceptable threshold. Moreover, eating it in big bites like this, he could enjoy the chewy and substantial beef, the soft and fragrant steamed buns, and the crispness of the lettuce. The taste was even three times more delicious than eating toothpick beef directly.