A full hour later, Gu Shengsheng finally registered as a new streamer.
“Ding-dong.”
A system notification appeared: Swan — record your one-of-a-kind self. Please upload your first work~
Gu Shengsheng posted the steak-cooking video, then stared confidently at the viewer count in the top right corner.
She waited a long time. The number stayed at 0. Looked like no one had found her video yet.
Finally her neck felt sore and her eyes dry. She exited the app and felt a chill down her back. She turned — and saw Shen Wang.
Perhaps it was an illusion, but his usual cold face looked even colder today. Gu Shengsheng clutched her overheated phone, suddenly feeling a pang of inexplicable guilt.
No — why should she feel guilty? Shen Wang usually ignored her anyway… She sneaked another glance at him.
Gu Shengsheng scooted closer, clutching the phone:
“Shen Wang, Shen Wang. Let me read you some jokes — they’re hilarious.”
Shen Wang said coldly:
“Stay away from me.”
Gu Shengsheng excitedly opened Weibo, ignored the flood of @ mentions and insults, and pulled up a few funny posts she’d seen earlier.
But her sense of humor was tragically low. She started laughing at the very first word. Her sweet voice turned into pig-like squeals as she laughed and pounded the bed.
Shen Wang: “…”
Gu Shengsheng laughed until her stomach hurt. Wiping tears, she said:
“Okay, okay — no more laughing. I’ll start over. Once upon a time there was a kid named Xiao Ming… pfft… hahahaha hehehehe… uh!”
A scorching hand gripped the back of her neck and pressed down.
Gu Shengsheng’s laughter cut off instantly. Her almond eyes widened as the deep, close face suddenly filled her vision. Her breathing stopped.
The hand tightened:
“Still noisy?”
A wave of numbness shot from her nape down her spine. Blazing yang energy and the man’s unique scent enveloped her. Gu Shengsheng nodded blankly, then quickly said:
“N-no… not noisy anymore.”
Her soft, milky voice carried a crying tone — sweet and babyish. Shen Wang’s fingers itched. He pinched her cheek — but accidentally caught her chin instead.
“Ah!”
Gu Shengsheng let out a miserable yelp and collapsed into his arms:
“It hurts! It hurts! My face, my face!”
Shen Wang rubbed his fingers, remembering the bodyguard’s report: This woman is unbelievably stupid. He let her go out — a perfect chance to escape or call for help — and instead she went straight to the hospital… and got her face done again. Probably even uglier now.
A warm, soft bundle huddled in his arms, whimpering like a bullied kitten. Shen Wang frowned and — for the moment — didn’t push her away.
Gu Shengsheng’s eyes brimmed with tears. She was completely wilted. Her chin had just been injected with dissolving enzyme — who knew if Shen Wang’s rough pinch had ruined it.
She secretly wiped her tears on his pajama shirt. Suddenly she caught a faint scent of food. Looking down, she saw several spots of soup stains on his collar.
A scene flashed in her mind: Shen Wang picking up chopsticks, fumbling to clamp a piece of vegetable. After several tries, before it even reached his mouth — it dropped onto his clothes.
Such a proud man — how could he bear to let anyone see him in such a wretched state?
So he would rather starve…
“Move your ugly face away.”
Shen Wang’s patience ran out quickly. Those few cold words instantly shattered every soft feeling that had just begun to grow in Gu Shengsheng’s heart.
Gu Shengsheng jumped three feet into the air, hair practically standing on end with rage:
“I’m not ugly anymore! You’re not allowed to call me ugly again! If you say it one more time, I’ll—”
She froze, desperately searching for a powerful enough threat. Finally she spoke slowly, word by word:
“You won’t get any meat tomorrow!”
Ah, what a terrifying punishment.
Shen Wang’s response was a soft scoff. His face remained expressionless, yet when he wanted to, every tiny shift in his features could radiate blatant, lofty mockery.
This man is so hateful!
Gu Shengsheng flung herself off the bed and stomped away — pat pat pat.
Quite a temper.
Shen Wang’s brow lifted slightly. He heard more rustling and unconsciously paid a little attention, trying to figure out what she was doing.
A sudden gust of wind rushed toward him. Shen Wang instinctively raised his hand to block — only to grab a handful of cool, silky softness carrying a faint fragrance.
Shen Wang kneaded the clean sleepwear. A complicated expression flickered across his face.
His fever hadn’t completely broken. He had only wiped himself down with hot water and changed out of the sweat-soaked, wrinkled pajamas. Even so, he felt refreshed all over — a pleasant sensation.
Gu Shengsheng also took a shower, climbed back into Shen Wang’s bed, and lay down — still angrily refusing to speak to him.
She opened the live-streaming app again. The viewer count in the top right corner was still 0.
Maybe it’s too late — everyone’s asleep?
Gu Shengsheng clicked into other streams. Barrages flew across the screen in every single one.
One guy was teaching people how to make “head-explosion” octopus, pouring soy sauce and vinegar like crazy. Viewer count: 5000+.
Gu Shengsheng returned to her own empty stream and stared at the tragic 0:
“…Hmph!”
She had been so sure she would become an instant sensation, explode on Swan Live.
Instead — not a single ghost in her room.
As the former number one beauty of the cultivation world — a woman whose every movement could captivate thousands — Gu Shengsheng found the huge drop unbearable.
She tossed the phone onto the carpet, buried her face in the blanket, and went completely silent.
Shen Wang pushed her lightly. She just huffed and rolled farther away from him.
She was furious right now — Shen Wang had better not provoke her! Otherwise… otherwise she would go sleep with Sister Li!
Something like an angry little milk cat lay beside him — huffing and puffing, zero actual threat, just sulking at him.
Still mad?
Shen Wang’s lips moved faintly.
“Plastic-surgery face.”
“Ugly freak.”
The seductive aroma of steak still lingered in his mind, making him look forward to tomorrow’s breakfast even more. So he compromised with a middle-ground nickname:
“Little monster.”
Gu Shengsheng half-turned her head and glared at him. What kind of nickname was that?
The bedroom was dark. Only thin silver moonlight slipped through the gap in the curtains, outlining Shen Wang’s deep, statue-like profile.
His voice was low and rich, carrying a trace of awkward stiffness:
“I can’t see.”
“Huh?” Gu Shengsheng looked up in confusion.
Shen Wang suddenly turned his face toward the inside, every muscle in his body going rigid.
Gu Shengsheng blinked — then suddenly understood what he meant:
You being ugly is fine. I’m blind anyway.
Pfffft —
The little pufferfish’s air valve was instantly deflated. She collapsed back into a soft, boneless bundle.
Gu Shengsheng rolled over, leaned close to Shen Wang’s ear, and spoke in the tone of someone sharing a little secret:
“I went back to the plastic surgery hospital today. I got my face fixed. I’ll be very pretty from now on.”
Her body carried the warm, clean fragrance that always came after a bath — fresh, pure, sweet. The perfect example of “warm fragrance, soft jade.”
— As long as you don’t think about her face.
Anyway, he’s blind.
So Shen Wang calmly let out a single syllable:
“Hm.”
Gu Shengsheng’s eyes instantly heated up. Shen Wang was actually pretty nice!
Once she got happy, she couldn’t stop talking. She chattered on and on about everything that happened when she went out today.
“I had those super famous crab roe soup dumplings today. I wanted to bring some back for you, but they’re not good once they get cold.”
“I also drank bubble tea! I never knew there could be such a delicious drink. I even brought a cup back for you — oh! I forgot to give it to you!”
“Why does my live-stream room have zero views? I’m obviously way better than the others…”
Normally Shen Wang would have told her to shut up after the very first sentence.
But tonight his mind kept drifting — entirely focused on the soft pressure right in front of him.
She was so excited she kept squeezing against his arm. With every breath and excited gesture, the soft sensation became clearer and clearer.
“Shen Wang, Shen Wang? I’m asking you — what pastry do you want for breakfast tomorrow?”
Shen Wang snapped back to reality and blurted without thinking:
“Milk… milk bun.”
“Okay! I’ll look up a video tomorrow and learn how to make it.”
Gu Shengsheng chatted with him for a long time. Eventually she got thirsty, turned on the light, and climbed out of bed to get water.
Shen Wang wanted some too.
Gu Shengsheng found it a little strange. She brought the cup over:
“You actually want water? If you need the bathroom at night, just call me.”
Shen Wang drank nearly half the cup in one go. His throat moved visibly. Then he returned to his expressionless face:
“Shut up. Sleep.”
“Okay~”
Gu Shengsheng put the cup back, kicked off her slippers, climbed into bed, and lay down properly.
In the darkness, she secretly reached out and hooked his fingers.
Shen Wang was like an extremely high-grade spirit-gathering stone — endless blazing yang energy inside him, desperately trying to rush into her fingertips.
This time Gu Shengsheng didn’t dare absorb any. Last time the yang energy had forced a lot of impurities out of her skin. She was afraid it would also expel the fresh injections she’d just received.
She only held his fingers and condensed her weak water spiritual energy into a thin thread, quietly probing the condition of Shen Wang’s legs.
Both of Shen Wang’s leg bones were completely shattered. Even though the outside looked healed, her spiritual energy could still sense the countless cracks inside. She tried to use it to ease the pain in his legs — but her tiny amount of spiritual energy disappeared like a mud ox into the sea, instantly swallowed by the yang energy.
“Ah!”
Gu Shengsheng’s heart ached so much she almost cried out loud. My spiritual energy…
She had cooked several dishes today and only gained this tiny bit of cultivation.
Gu Shengsheng felt so wronged that she shrank into the blanket and fell asleep.
Her soft, even breaths rose and fell. One hand tugged the blanket down a little — fresh air rushed in. Gu Shengsheng rolled over bonelessly, hugged the big pillow beside her, and finally relaxed her brow.
Moonlight bathed the mountainside villa in silver. Cold wind lifted the curtains, revealing a pair of mortal lovers sleeping with entwined necks — a moment of quiet tenderness.
But by the next morning, everything had flipped.