After taking a shower, Li Yuheng was covered in warm steam. He casually put on a pair of loose pajama pants, sat on the edge of the bed with his shirt off, and dried his still dripping hair with a towel.
Water droplets slid down his well-defined chest and back, disappearing into the fabric around his waist.
The intense "sparring" and banter in the afternoon made him feel relaxed and refreshed, but a certain obsession lingered in his mind.
Why is his spiritual form so stubbornly refusing to open its tail feathers?!
It's been several days already!?
“Hey, I say,” he slung the towel over his shoulder and muttered to 0090, “isn’t my spirit being a bit too disrespectful? Its master is handsome and charming, and it can’t even open its screen? Is that acceptable?”
0090: [Your Highness, Mr. White Peacock might just be a bit reserved...]
"Being reserved my ass!" Li Yuheng grumbled in dissatisfaction. "I think it just needs to be taught a lesson! It's going to be open today whether it wants to or not! I refuse to believe that I can't handle it!"
Let's get right to it.
He closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into a mental image.
The next second, soft white light gathered in the room, and an elegant white peacock appeared.
It still held its head high, glanced at Li Yuheng with a hint of disdain, and then began to preen its iridescent feathers on its own.
"...All you do all day is vain, vain! You don't do anything useful. No way, you have to get back at me today, hurry up and do a display!"
The white peacock glanced lazily at Li Yuheng, as if to say: I won't, what can you do to me?
Li Yuheng got excited and even stopped drying his hair. "I'm feeding you well and letting you show off your feathers to your future master. That's your chance to shine! It's the highlight of your bird life! Wow, you're still not happy?"
He put down the towel, stood up, and put his hands on his hips: "How dare you! In front of this esteemed Master Qing Tang, you still dare to flaunt your modesty and act coy?! Guards! Drag him away, pluck his feathers! And stew him in soup!"
He played both roles, lowering his voice, "Majestic—"
Then the judge switched back to his tone: "White Peacock, do you know your crime?!"
Sin 1: Disrespect for the owner!
Crime Two: Passive Negligence!
Third offense: Being too beautiful is suspected of showing off!
Sin Four: Refusing to open your screen and obstructing this guide's marriage prospects!
For multiple offenses, you are sentenced to immediately, right now, facing the direction of your neighbor, display your screen! Execution immediately!
The white peacock turned away in disgust, pointing its tail at him.
Seeing that coercion was ineffective, Li Yuheng's eyes lit up and a plan came to mind.
He instantly switched to an American announcer's tone, his voice exaggerated: "Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls!"
Now, the moment of witnessing a miracle has arrived!
Let us welcome the invincible, star-studded, beauty-and-wisdom, elegance-and-power embodied in Mr. White Peacock! He makes his dazzling entrance!
e on! Show time! make some noise!
Cheers to its magnificent transformation! Shout praises to its breathtaking display!
oh yeah! baby! You are the king of the world!
"Open Sesame! Open! Open! Open!"
...
However, it was of no use.
hateful!
He himself has never praised himself like that!
What an ungrateful spirit!
It's alright, the male lead still has a trick up his sleeve.
Li Yuheng then adopted a mournful and pitiful tone, sniffed as if he had suffered a great injustice, and pressed the wet towel he had just used to dry his hair against the corner of his eye, his voice trembling and on the verge of tears:
"Heavens above! Earth below! I offered my heart to the bright moon, but the bright moon shines on the gutter!"
He staggered two steps, one hand on his chest, the other pointing at the white peacock that was still facing him with its rear end, heartbroken:
"Shu Bai! My dearest Shu Bai! You have no idea how much I love you! For you, I would go through fire and water, I would bang my head against a wall! But—"
"My worthless spirit! It won't even open its screen! It doesn't understand my unwavering devotion until death!"
"It's hindering our marriage, tripping up our pure love! Without a beautiful bird displaying its plumage to celebrate, what's the point of our courtship?! What romance is there left?!"
As he spoke, he picked up the half-damp towel, pretended to vigorously wipe away non-existent tears, then raised it high as if raising a tragic banner, and sighed to the heavens, his voice mournful and desperate:
"So be it! So be it! Since it is fate, and our destiny has not yet arrived... My devoted guide, please wait another lifetime!"
His arms hung limply at his sides, and the towel drooped down in a limp manner. He seemed to have lost his soul, and he acted out a scene of "utter despair" as if possessed by a dramatic genius.
At this dramatic moment—
"puff."
A barely perceptible hissing sound came from the direction of the doorway.
Li Yuheng froze abruptly, all his exaggerated movements instantly frozen in place.
He turned his head with extreme stiffness.
The dormitory door had been pushed open a crack at some point.
Shu Bai was standing at the door, one hand still on the doorknob, the other clenched into a fist and pressed against his lips, his shoulders trembling almost imperceptibly.
His handsome face, which was usually frozen, now showed an extremely complex expression, as if he was forcibly suppressing some surging emotions. His lips twitched, then he pressed them tightly together, but the hint of a smile in his eyes that hadn't completely faded away was clearly seen by Li Yuheng.
Clearly, he had been standing there watching for a while.
He witnessed how Li Yuheng coerced and lured his spirit, and then performed that vivid and moving monologue.
Their eyes met.
The air was deathly still.
Li Yuheng's mind went blank for a rare moment.
Even the usually aloof and elegant white peacock spirit seemed to sense the outsider's gaze, gracefully turning around and curiously glancing towards the doorway.
However, Li Yuheng's thick skin has finally stood the test of time.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, he instantly composed himself, casually putting down the towel he was holding and draping it back over his shoulder, as if the dramatic maniac from just moments ago was not him at all.
He even coughed lightly, trying to salvage his image:
"Hey, Sentinel Shubai, when did you get here? Why didn't you knock?"
Shu Bai lowered his hand from his lips, the slight ripple on his face vanished, and he regained his usual coldness.
"Just arrived. Your door wasn't closed properly."
His gaze swept over the conspicuous white peacock in the room, then fell back on Li Yuheng's bare upper body and still damp hair, his eyebrows twitching almost imperceptibly.
"It seems that Director Li is very busy."
Li Yuheng: "It's so-so."
"..."
Shu Bai suddenly turned his head away and burst into laughter.
The laughter came unexpectedly, like a river frozen for thousands of years suddenly cracking open and gushing out fresh, hot spring water.
He leaned against the door, head down, laughing so hard his shoulders were shaking, his black hair trembling slightly with the movement.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com