The next morning, Chen woke up to the smell of food.
He opened his eyes.
For a few seconds, he simply stared at the ceiling.
Then his stomach growled.
Loudly.
Chen sat up.
“…Is that really food?”
He quickly left his room and followed the smell through the palace.
He reached the dining hall and stopped.
A large table had already been prepared.
There were fruits glowing with faint spiritual energy, bowls of steaming soup, plates of pastries, rice-like grains, roasted meat, strange vegetables, and several drinks that seemed to shimmer whenever they moved.
Bai Yuexian was already sitting there.
She looked at Chen and smiled.
“Good morning.”
“Is all of this for me?”
“Some of it.”
Chen looked at the enormous table.
“How many people are eating?”
“Two.”
He stared at her.
“Two?”
“Yes.”
“You prepared enough food for twenty people.”
Bai Yuexian picked up a piece of fruit.
“You’ve been complaining that celestial food is too expensive.”
“I never said that.”
“You implied it.”
“When?”
“Every time you looked at the prices in the Heavenly Market.”
Chen paused.
“Whatever.”
He sat down.
The first thing he picked up was a small golden fruit.
He took a bite.
His eyes widened.
“…Oh.”
Bai Yuexian laughed.
“Good?”
Chen took another bite.
“This is ridiculously good.”
“Of course it is.”
“What is it?”
“Moonlight Peach.”
Chen looked at the fruit.
“It tastes like peach.”
“It is a peach.”
“Then why is it called Moonlight Peach?”
“Because it grows under moonlight.”
Chen nodded slowly.
“Celestial naming is complicated.”
He tried another dish.
Then another.
The soup was warm and slightly sweet.
The roasted meat had a flavor Chen had never experienced before, and the strange vegetables were surprisingly delicious.
After a few minutes, he realized Bai Yuexian was watching him.
“What?”
“You’re eating like you’ve never seen food before.”
“I spent hundreds of years eating whatever was available in your palace.”
“And now?”
“Now I have discovered happiness.”
Bai Yuexian burst out laughing.
Chen continued eating without shame.
He tried a small crystal-colored dumpling.
The moment he bit into it, a faint warmth spread through his body.
He froze.
“What was that?”
“Spiritual energy.”
“Most celestial food contains some.”
Chen stared at the dumpling.
“Can food actually help cultivation?”
“A little.”
He immediately picked up another.
Bai Yuexian smiled.
“I knew you’d like that answer.”
Chen ate another dumpling.
“So why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“You never asked.”
“I didn’t know I had to ask whether the food could make me stronger.”
“That sounds like a personal problem.”
Chen shook his head.
“You’re impossible.”
“And yet you still work for me.”
“Because I’m trapped.”
“You could call it employment.”
“I call it a very long-term contract.”
Bai Yuexian raised her cup.
“To long-term employment.”
Chen sighed and raised his own.
“To surviving four thousand years.”
Their cups touched.
For once, there was no mystery.
No banquet.
No strange celestial figure.
No hidden memory.
Just food, conversation, and the beginning of another ordinary day.
Chen looked out through the enormous windows.
The floating mountains drifted peacefully through the golden clouds.
He smiled.
Maybe life in the Celestial Realm wasn’t so bad after all.