The supermarket wasn't crowded. Shu Bai pushed the shopping cart, his eyes scanning the shelves, and deftly tossed high-energy bars and portable water bags into the cart.
Li Yuheng was standing next to him, but she wasn't looking at the merchandise at all.
He stretched out his arm and lazily draped it over Shu Bai's shoulder, pressing almost half of his body weight onto her. His chin rubbed against the top of Shu Bai's hair as he took a deep breath.
"Hmm—the air in the supermarket feels fresher because of your pheromones, little white one."
Shu Bai felt a sudden heaviness under the weight: "Get up. You're as heavy as a bear."
"No bear is as handsome as me. Besides, this is the weight of happiness. A man filled with love has a higher density, you know?"
"All I know is that if you don't shut up, your hiking boots might 'accidentally' step into a pile of dog poop tomorrow," Shu Bai said coldly, trying to pry his hands off his shoulders.
Li Yuheng withdrew his hand: "Oh, don't be so fierce. I'm just warming you up for tomorrow's mountain climbing activity, giving you some weight-bearing acclimatization training in advance. See how thoughtful I am, bringing my own weight-bearing equipment, even though it's just me."
As he spoke, he quickly reached for two more bags on the shelf next to him and threw them into his shopping cart.
Shu Bai looked down and frowned: "What are you doing with the jelly and potato chips?"
"Hiking supplies!" Li Yuheng said confidently. "When we reach the top of the mountain, with the wind blowing, we can share sweet snacks, one bite from you and one bite from me. How romantic! This is my carefully selected 'Romantic Hiking Package'!"
"...I didn't see any romance, but the junk food was spot on. Eating this while hiking, are you trying to get dehydrated halfway up or attract wild animals?"
"What's there to be afraid of when wild beasts come? With a single release of my pheromones, every ferocious beast within a ten-mile radius will kneel and call me 'daddy.' Besides..."
Li Yuheng suddenly leaned even closer: "...Aren't you the most 'dangerous' little wild beast? I've been 'marked' by you long ago, inside and out, completely and utterly."
"..."
Shu Bai closed his eyes, at a loss for what to do.
"...Whatever. Don't expect me to carry you if you can't climb."
"No way!" Li Yuheng took a long stride and followed, sticking close to Shu Bai again. He confidently tossed his head and said, "I, Li Yuheng, am the chosen super A, with unlimited stamina and boundless energy. Let alone carrying you up the mountain, I could do a thousand squats while holding you and then sprint to the top without even breaking a sweat! Hey, speaking of which, how about we try it tomorrow? I'll carry you?"
Shu Bai pushed the shopping cart, made a nimble turn, and used the metal frame of the cart to precisely separate Li Yuheng, who was almost touching her.
"Give it a try?" Shu Bai raised an eyebrow, his eyes filled with undisguised provocation. "Sure. But let's change the rules. Whoever can't hold on any longer has to carry the other down the mountain, and—unconditionally grant the winner one request."
Li Yuheng raised an eyebrow: "It's a deal, but Xiao Shubai, don't complain that I'm heavy later."
"Heh," Shu Bai sneered, "Don't be too sure of yourself, 'Crispy A'. It's still uncertain who will win or lose."
Li Yuheng stood there, watching Shu Bai push the cart around the corner. The carefree smile on his face slowly faded, turning into an extremely irritating, profound look, as if he had grasped the truth of the universe.
He raised his hand, stroking his smooth chin, and let out a long sigh to the system 0090 in his mind, a sigh filled with honey-like distress: "Little system, sigh... the male lead is very distressed."
0090 immediately played along, continuing the scene: [Your Highness, what's wrong?]
Li Yuheng's eyes were vacant, as if he were staring at a chessboard of fate in the void. His tone was one of carefully crafted melancholy: "Right now, I'm facing an unprecedented dilemma of choosing between happiness and hardship. Tell me, should I win tomorrow, or should I 'lose'?"
Before System 0090 could reply, Li Yuheng shook his head and said, "Look, I won. I can get Shu Bai to carry me down the mountain, and I can even make requests, like having him call me 'my darling baby' a hundred times in person. But making my wife suffer is not the behavior of a male protagonist."
“I lost,” he couldn’t help but smile. “It’s my turn to carry him. Tsk, he’ll definitely be unwilling, but he’ll have to accept defeat. He’ll just have to lie on my back, hug my neck, and breathe on my ear… He might even bury his face in the crook of my neck because he’s too tired or embarrassed.”
"Oh my, who could stand this? This isn't punishment; it's a reward! A top-tier reward! Although I have to 'unconditionally grant him one request,' knowing my husband's personality, he definitely wouldn't really make things difficult for me. At most, he'll just make me shut up for a day."
Li Yuheng crossed his arms and spun around in place, his expression a mix of conflict and excitement, as if he had just received a fantastic offer but didn't know which part to enjoy first.
"So, whether I win or lose, it's all because I, the Crown Prince, have won so many times. Ah, invincibility is just so lonely and unpretentious."
0090: […Your Highness is wise!]
Li Yuheng was lost in his own reverie when he looked up and met Shu Bai's indescribable gaze.
Seeing that no one was following, Shu Bai turned back.
As it happened, they saw Li Yuheng making an extremely rich variety of expressions in the air.
Sometimes he frowned deeply, sometimes he smiled foolishly in ecstasy, and finally he even crossed his arms and spun around in place.
"...Are you having an attack?"
Li Yuheng snapped back to reality in an instant, leaping back to hug Shu Bai's arm, clinging to her like a big bird: "How can you call it an illness? It's like I'm channeling my power! I'm accumulating energy for tomorrow's victory. Can't you feel my immense energy field?"
"..."
Before Shu Bai could even peel the large pendant stuck to her body, a little boy holding a space monster toy tilted his head and stood curiously in front of them.
The child's gaze lingered on Li Yuheng's excessively handsome face, which was now forced to feign a wronged and coquettish expression.
She glanced again at Shu Bai, whose arm was tightly held by him, his face frosty yet clearly acquiescing. Her little head seemed to be engaged in complex logical calculations.
Finally, he looked precisely at Li Yuheng, who was trying to rub his chin against Shu Bai's shoulder, and asked in a childish yet loud voice:
"Brother, are you an omega?"
The air froze instantly.
Li Yuheng abruptly stopped halfway through his movement.
Shu Bai's hand, which had been trying to push his head away, froze in mid-air, and the corner of her mouth twitched slightly involuntarily.
Li Yuheng blinked and slowly straightened up.
"Sure, sure," he nodded slightly and said seriously, "Little friend, would you like to take a picture as a souvenir, or get an autographed stamp?"
Then, with great seriousness, he straightened his collar, which wasn't actually messy.
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