Li Yuheng: "..."
Shu Bai closed the ledger without changing his expression and put it back in his sleeve: "Hmm, he probably smelled it. Add more sugar, the guardian spirit has a strong palate."
Wen Rui immediately beamed with joy: "Oh, good, good! I knew the adults would like it! I'll go add two more spoonfuls of honey right away!"
As she spoke, she turned and hurried toward the kitchen, her steps becoming lighter.
Li Yuheng stared at Shu Bai, whose illusory figure floated in front of him, arms crossed: "Do I have heavy tastes?"
"Otherwise what? You want the barbecue flavor for potato chips, and you think the plain flavor is too bland. If you don't put enough sugar in the sticky rice cakes, can you even eat them? Besides, we're already being generous by giving them to you, why are you being picky? Do you even know how much brown sugar costs per pound these days?"
"...That's hilarious, you talk like you know everything."
"So, am I asking you that? Hmm?"
"..."
Li Yuheng gave a forced smile, grabbed Shu Bai, and headed towards his room.
Shu Huaijin had just emerged from the side hall, leaning on his cane, when he saw the two figures. A smile spread across his face, and he was about to greet the guardian deity:
"Guardian Deity, you..."
Li Yuheng nodded to him, then slammed the sparse white door shut decisively.
Shu Huaijin: "..."
Wen Rui poked her head out from the kitchen: "Old man, what's wrong? I think I heard a really loud noise?"
Shu Huaijin waved his hand: "It's nothing, it's nothing."
He stood on the veranda, staring at the tightly closed door, motionless for a long time.
Wen Rui walked over with the prepared bean paste and nudged him with her elbow: "What are you daydreaming about? Help me wash the steamer cloth later."
Shu Huaijin snapped out of his daze, took the basin, and asked in a somewhat unsteady tone, "Old woman, tell me... why did our guardian angel wake up?"
Wen Rui rolled her eyes at him: "Is that even a question? Didn't the ancestral precepts say that the family will awaken when needed to protect the bloodline?"
Shu Huaijin opened his mouth, then swallowed his words back.
There were some things he had kept in his heart for many years.
That ancient contract actually has another sentence in its second half.
When the destined person appears in the world, the gods awaken; this is fate, and also a contract.
He didn't believe in these things at all when he was young.
Guardian deities and destined individuals are all just fabrications made up by our ancestors to scare people.
Until the day Shubai was born.
He remembered clearly that when he went to the meditation room to change the offerings as usual, the bag of potato chips he had casually put down was now right in front of him, one chip missing.
He thought he was seeing things.
But the next day, the whole bag was empty.
From then on, the potato chips offered would mysteriously disappear.
He tried to watch over them, but as long as he was there, the potato chips remained unharmed.
When he left and came back, he was gone.
He had no choice but to believe it.
The Shu family truly has a guardian deity.
But what followed was even deeper confusion.
If the guardian spirit awakens because of a "destined person," then who is this "destined person"?
At the moment of Shu Bai's birth, the color-changing jade shone brightly, revealing its innate full color...
All the signs pointed to this child.
But Shu Bai is a boy.
Even the righteous gods are male.
How could the "destined one" be a boy?
Shu Huaijin held onto this secret that she could not tell anyone, watching Shu Bai grow up day by day.
He watched Shu Bai learn to walk, learn to read, and practice the art of purification, watching him grow from a child into a teenager.
He became increasingly uncertain and increasingly afraid to think about it.
Even today.
Shu Huaijin stood in the courtyard and suddenly felt relieved.
He turned and left, his steps light.
I don't want to think about it anymore.
That's it, then.
…
Inside the room.
Li Yuheng pressed Shu Bai against the door panel, lifted his chin with his fingertips, and said in a low voice, "Open your mouth."
Shu Bai blinked, his mouth wide open, revealing his back teeth, as if he were waiting for a appointment at a dental clinic.
Li Yuheng stopped in his tracks: "...What kind of expression is that?"
The male protagonist can no longer distinguish whether his wife or himself is more abstract.
"Cooperate with the inspection," Shu Bai said, his words slurred. "Let's see what new tricks you're up to now. Do you need me to say 'ah—'?"
"...I asked you to open your mouth for this?"
"Otherwise what?" Shu Bai closed his mouth, looking knowing. "Want to kiss me again? You should have said so earlier, instead of going through all this trouble."
As he spoke, he suddenly reached out and cupped Li Yuheng's face, his thumb gently brushing against the other's lower lip, his tone teasing: "Young god, if you want to kiss me, just say so, it's not like I won't agree."
Li Yuheng narrowed his eyes: "Who wants to kiss you? I'm performing a sacred protective ritual."
“Oh.” Shu Bai nodded. “A ritual performed with your mouth? Your divine realm has rather unique rules.”
As he spoke, he leaned forward and lightly pecked Li Yuheng's lips before pulling away: "Was that sacred enough?"
Li Yuheng was slightly taken aback.
Shu Bai patted him on the shoulder, her tone relaxed: "Alright, the ceremony is complete. Can I go get a drink of water now? I haven't had any for most of the day."
"Want some water? You should have said so earlier, I have plenty."
"???"
Before Shu Bai could react, Li Yuheng had already lowered his head and kissed her.
He was caught off guard by the kiss and instinctively tilted his head back, but the back of his head was pressed against the door panel with nowhere to retreat.
Li Yuheng held the back of his neck, not allowing him to dodge, and gradually deepened the kiss.
…
At dinner time, the octagonal table in the hall was fully set with food.
In addition to everyday dishes, there are also braised pork knuckle with rock sugar and braised prawns, and the steaming hot sticky rice cakes in the center are particularly eye-catching.
Shu Bai held his chopsticks, glanced around the table twice, and finally couldn't help but speak up: "Shu Huaijin, Wen Rui, haven't we been having a lot of lavish dinners these past few days? Isn't our family always supposed to eat breakfast like an emperor, lunch like a minister, and dinner like a beggar?"
Shu Huaijin was placing the fourth sticky rice cake on Li Yuheng's plate when she heard this, her hand didn't tremble at all: "Times have changed, and health preservation must also keep up with the times. Now the emphasis is on eating a good dinner, which is called... maintaining a prosperous appearance."
Wen Rui nodded hurriedly and pushed a plate of shrimp in front of Li Yuheng: "Yes, Xiao Bai, look how thin the Guardian God is, he needs to eat more!"
As she spoke, she pushed another plate of shrimp toward Shu Bai, saying, "You should eat more too, you've been working so hard lately that you've lost weight."
Li Yuheng bit into the sticky rice cake, and the sweet honey filling his mouth. He squinted his eyes contentedly and nodded to Shu Huaijin and Wen Rui: "Thank you both for your thoughtfulness."
Shu Bai shrugged and was about to start peeling the shrimp when Li Yuheng caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of his eye. With a casual wave of his hand, the shrimp on Shu Bai's plate were instantly peeled clean.
Seeing the shrimp that suddenly appeared in front of him, Shu Bai paused, somewhat stunned.
Li Yuheng smiled and said, "Don't be too touched. Even guardian spirits can show their gentleness sometimes."
"Thank you. Actually, I was just thinking," Shu Bai picked up a shrimp, "that your technique is quite skilled, you didn't work at a seafood restaurant before, did you?"
Li Yuheng's smile froze.
Shu Huaijin started coughing violently, and Wen Rui quickly patted his back.
"...I'm just naturally gifted." Li Yuheng sneered. "Peeling shrimp is nothing. I can even perform surgery on grapes without breaking their skin. Can you? Can you? Can you?"
"I won't. But I'll buy some grapes tomorrow."
Li Yuheng raised his foot and lightly stepped on Shu Bai under the table.
Yes, I'll let you know.
Bai, the magistrate of Qingtang, shook his chopsticks at Li Yuheng, his face stern and impartial: "It's no use stepping on me."
Watching the two of them chatting back and forth, Wen Rui couldn't help but laugh: "It's so nice, the house hasn't been this lively in a long time."
Shu Huaijin silently served her some food, her gaze shifting between Li Yuheng and Shu Bai, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.
Old woman, your grandson is gay...
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