When Shu Bai returned to the old house, dusk had already fallen.
The hall was filled with the aroma of food. Shu Huaijin and Wen Rui were sitting at the table waiting for him, but their eyes kept glancing at the black ring on his finger.
"Little White is back?" Wen Rui got up to serve rice, and couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Guardian Angel... didn't come back with you?"
Shu Bai sat down at the table and picked up his chopsticks.
"He's tired and resting."
Li Yuheng stared wide-eyed from inside the ring.
Who's tired? He's full of energy!
Driven by the "concept", the ring began to feel slightly hot.
Shu Huaijin coughed lightly: "Xiaobai, you must be respectful to the guardian deity. It is the Shu family's good fortune that the master has condescended to help after waking up, so you must not be negligent."
"Hmm." Shu Bai picked up a piece of green vegetable with her chopsticks. "I haven't neglected you."
Li Yuheng was burned again.
Wen Rui added a piece of pork rib to his bowl and gently urged him:
"The master has just woken up and needs to rest. You should be more accommodating and discuss things with him."
Shu Bai shoveled a mouthful of rice into his mouth and mumbled, "Following the grain."
Wow, that's amazing!
Li Yuheng was hot.
Keep scalding it, keep scalding it, until you get tired of it.
Shu Bai remained unfazed and continued eating.
After the meal, Shu Huaijin picked up his teacup and asked casually, "Xiao Bai, how did you feel about handling this case on your own today?"
Shu Bai put down her chopsticks: "...It's alright. The old lady of the Cheng family's heart is not troubled by the 'false beauty attack,' but by her deceased husband."
Wen Rui exchanged a glance with her husband and then asked, "So... did it go smoothly?"
"Hmm." Shu Bai looked up at the two elders. "Thanks to the help of the Guardian God, we discovered that her consciousness had been tampered with."
His peripheral vision caught the ring on his finger.
The heat has faded, leaving only a chilling silence.
Li Yuheng crossed his arms and snorted coldly inside the ring.
Oh, so now you're looking at him?
…
After listening to Shu Bai's account, Shu Huaijin's expression turned serious, and he frowned, saying:
"He's wicked. I discovered he was secretly learning forbidden techniques years ago, so I expelled him from the Shu family. I never expected him to resort to such despicable means now!"
Shu Bai picked up his teacup: "It's alright. The guardian spirit said he'll handle it."
The ring on my finger is slightly warm, 40%.
Shu Huaijin hesitated, as if he wanted to say something, but Wen Rui gently patted the back of his hand under the table.
"Little Bai," she said softly, "since the adults have already made their plans, you should just cooperate."
Shu Bai: "Of course. Although he's busy, he's quite capable."
The words had barely left his lips when Li Yuheng's voice boomed into his mind: "I can hear you!"
I know. I was just telling you.
…
After washing up, Shu Bai returned to her room.
Only a bedside lamp remained in the room, casting a dim, warm light.
As soon as he sat down on the edge of the bed, the dark ring on his finger began to glow with a faint red light, and a wisp of black energy escaped, solidifying into the semi-transparent figure of Cheng Yuheng beside him.
Li Yuheng crossed his arms, floated in mid-air, raised his chin slightly, and glanced at Shu Bai, his eyes clearly saying, "This god is very unhappy."
Shu Bai pretended not to see it and reached out to turn off the light.
"Wait a minute."
Li Yuheng spoke, his voice chilly.
Shu Bai's hand stopped on the switch, and she turned to look at him: "Is something the matter?"
"You were extremely disrespectful to me today," Li Yuheng floated closer. "You played tricks and spoke rudely. How do you intend to settle this score?"
Shu Bai withdrew his hand, sat up straight, and asked calmly, "How do you want to settle this?"
Li Yuheng stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly smiled, a smile with a hint of malice.
“Simple. Since you say I’m ‘old, sleep little, and talk a lot,’ then I’ll live up to that reputation. You won’t be sleeping tonight.”
Before he finished speaking, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
The light in the room suddenly distorted, blurring the scenery for a moment before returning to normal.
Shu Bai found herself still sitting on the edge of the bed, and Li Yuheng was still floating in front of her.
But the moonlight streaming in through the window disappeared, the warm yellow glow of the bedside lamp froze, and even the air seemed to stop moving.
Time stood still.
"Li Yuheng," Shu Bai frowned slightly, "what are you doing?"
"Let's 'chat' for a bit." Li Yuheng sat down beside him leisurely, his shadowy figure causing the mattress to sink slightly. "The night is long, we have plenty of time."
He leaned close to Shu Bai's ear, lowered his voice, and said seductively, "Tell me, what do you think of me after seeing my true face today? No lip service, I want to hear the truth."
Shu Bai moved back half an inch.
"Excellent appearance, without a doubt."
"Anything else?"
"It's gone."
Li Yuheng narrowed his eyes and lightly pointed his finger at his heart: "You're lying. Your heart skipped a beat. I can see it clearly."
"A normal reaction." Shu Bai said without changing his expression. "Seeing beauty for the first time and feeling admiration is no different from seeing rare treasures, famous paintings, or antiques. Appreciation doesn't mean anything else."
"Oh? Just admiring?" Li Yuheng raised an eyebrow, drawing out the last syllable, "Then why don't you dare look me in the eye?"
Shu Bai remained silent for a moment before finally raising his eyes and meeting Li Yuheng's gaze.
In the still light, those eyes appeared exceptionally deep, as if they contained a flowing galaxy.
"Have you seen enough?" Li Yuheng met his gaze, his smile deepening. "Do you still think it's just 'superficial'?"
Shu Bai stared at him quietly for a few seconds, then suddenly spoke, her tone still flat:
"Li Yuheng, you've lived all these years, has anyone ever told you..."
"What?"
"You can be quite childish sometimes."
Li Yuheng's smile froze.
Shu Bai, however, had already shifted his gaze to the frozen night outside the window, his tone carrying a hint of knowing wisdom from someone who had been through it all:
"This kind of behavior of demanding that others acknowledge your good looks is usually only seen in the young grandson of Shu Huaijin's old colleague who has just started kindergarten. He throws a tantrum if he doesn't get praise."
Li Yuheng: "..."
He suddenly moved closer, his shadow almost enveloping Shu Bai, his voice laced with gritted teeth: "Shu... Bai!"
"Hmm," Shu Bai responded, still looking out the window. "I heard you. You don't need to shout so loudly, I'm not hard of hearing."
Li Yuheng stared at his profile, which was so close to hers, the dark earring hanging quietly with its beautiful lines.
My head is buzzing.
These earrings...
Like a small black mole. It deserves to be picked at.
Like mosquito blood. Needs wiping.
Like sesame seeds. Needs to be rubbed.
...Ugh, annoying.
Shu Bai waited for a while, but received no response, so she turned back to look at him.
Why aren't you saying anything?
Li Yuheng snorted coldly and turned his head away.
"Li Yuheng?"
"..."
Shu Bai looked at his tense profile and understood.
“Okay.” He said calmly, “I apologize for what I said this afternoon.”
Li Yuheng glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, but still didn't say anything, though his taut jawline relaxed slightly.
“You’re not old, you don’t talk much, and you don’t like to show off,” Shu Bai readily added. “It was my choice of words that was inappropriate.”
Li Yuheng then slowly turned around, raising an eyebrow: "Anything else?"
"what else?"
"Where's the sincerity?" Li Yuheng tapped his cheek with his fingertip. "All talk and no action?"
Shu Bai looked at the spot he was pointing to and remained silent for two seconds.
Are you sure you want this?
"certainly."
Shu Bai raised his hand and pointed to the frozen moonlight outside the window.
"Let's restore time first."
"You should show your sincerity first."
"You recover first."
"You go first."
The two stared at each other for a moment.
Shu Bai suddenly sighed, his tone carrying a touch of the melancholy typical of the elderly: "These young gods nowadays... they really take things too seriously."
“Sparse and white”.
The male lead is really going to get angry.
"I'm here," Shu Bai replied, a barely perceptible smile flashing across his eyes, so quick it was almost an illusion. "How about this, let's compromise. While you recover, I... I'll buy you two bags of potato chips tomorrow. Barbecue flavor."
Li Yuheng squinted, seemingly weighing his options.
"Three guarantees," he bargained.
"make a deal."
Li Yuheng snapped his fingers.
Moonlight streamed through the window, the bedside lamp's glow swayed gently, and the air began to flow again.
Shu Bai stood up: "Now, can I sleep, Guardian?"
Li Yuheng floated into the air, crossed his arms, and nodded reluctantly.
"Approved."
He watched as Shu Bai lay down and covered himself with the blanket before transforming into a wisp of black smoke and slowly retreating back into the ring.
The dark red luster on the ring flickered briefly before settling back down.
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