Lu Que’s gaze slowly landed on Shi Yunmu’s stubbornly upright ahoge, and then gradually slid down to his exquisite facial features.
Under the reflection of the light, his smooth and delicate skin seemed to be coated with a layer of hazy, soft glow. Looking at it from left and right, not a single trace of injury could be seen.
A perfectly intact jelly.
Furthermore, it was a freshly baked jelly.
“Why didn’t you blow-dry your hair?” After showing concern about the hair first, Lu Que closed the door and only then belatedly asked, “Why did you take a bath?”
He glanced at the clock hanging in the house; the hour and minute hands pointed to five-thirty.
Shi Yunmu: “Uh…”
The young man shifted his eyes away slightly out of a guilty conscience, deliberating an excuse: “If I finish washing up early, I can play early. Anyway, I’m not going out anymore.”
“Is that so?” Lu Que countered with neither warmth nor coldness.
“Yes, it is.” Shi Yunmu cheered himself on and straightened his back to make this affirmation appear more credible.
Of course, the truth was not like this.
The real reason Shi Yunmu took a bath was actually because his magic power had been heavily depleted after killing the ten-legged spider just now, and the bloody stench left behind by the ten-legged spider was still on his body. If he didn’t wash it clean, he was afraid the human would ask, “What is that strange smell on your body?”
When that time came, it would be even more troublesome than explaining why he took a bath so early.
It was unknown whether Lu Que believed it or not, but in short, he did not ask about the matter of the bath anymore. Thus, it was time for Shi Yunmu to fish for information: “Hubby, why did you come back in such a hurry?”
In a hurry?
Lu Que froze slightly and lowered his eyes to look at the time on his phone. Originally, it required fifteen minutes from Mafu Lane to their neighborhood, but right now, he had returned home in less than ten minutes.
A few feelings that could not be clearly explained spread through the depths of his heart. Lu Que put away his phone and calmly indicated: “I just wanted to do a surprise inspection to see if you were in.”
Fortunately, looking at it, the domestic magic creature had not been affected.
Shi Yunmu hesitated to speak, chewing on potato chips and asking indistinctly: “By the way, hubby, you guys didn’t encounter any strange things during the investigation, right?”
Lu Que suddenly raised his eyes to look at him: “Strange things? What are you referring to.”
The man’s gaze possessed too much insight, causing Shi Yunmu’s heart to skip a beat, always feeling that the probing he was trying to cover up was completely seen through by the other party: “Uh, just encountering strange, like, murderer-like…”
Before he could finish his description, Lu Que’s phone rang again.
While changing his shoes and entering the living room to inspect, Lu Que connected the call at the same time, his dark eyes sweeping across the entire living room: “Speak.”
During the short afternoon he was not at home, the living room had been made an absolute mess by the slime, with snack bags flying everywhere.
It didn’t look like he was raising a magic creature; it looked like he was raising a beagle.
The beagle itself did not feel a single bit of guilt regarding this matter: He certainly didn’t litter. Those snack bags were ones he hadn’t finished eating; the snack bags he finished eating had all been thrown into the trash can by him!
On the other end of the phone, the voice was hesitant, “Uh, Erol, we received a transferred emergency call over here…”
Lu Que’s brows furrowed: “Speak the result directly.”
Shen Xiangyu coughed: “It’s just that a clerk from a milk tea shop reported to the police, saying he saw a suspicious person and wanted us to investigate thoroughly to see if it might be related to the Mafu Lane case. The communications section over there then looked at the surveillance footage, and the result showed that the suspicious person in his words entered your neighborhood… So it was transferred to us, and it also came with a screenshot of the suspicious person, asking us to go and conduct a visit.”
As a result, once they saw this stature and the screenshot of the “suspicious person” passing by the entrance of Mafu Lane, what else could the few team members not understand clearly wasn’t this sister-in-law/brother-in-law!
Lu Que: “…”
He turned his head back to look at Shi Yunmu. The young man had already plopped his bottom onto the sofa, and on the coffee table in front of the sofa sat a cup of untouched milk tea. One glance revealed it was the milk tea brand mentioned on the phone.
The “suspicious person” himself stared with innocent green eyes, looking back at him in confusion.
Lu Que’s silence seemed as if it were about to solidify into substance. He turned his head away and continued the phone call: “I know.”
Shen Xiangyu asked probingly: “Then it’s no problem for me to reply to that side, right?”
“Yeah.”
Hanging up the phone, the man looked at Shi Yunmu again with a complex expression: “Why did you go out this afternoon?”
Shi Yunmu gave a start: How was he discovered?
He almost blurted out “How did you know,” but with his face wrinkled up, he still didn’t ask it out loud, only pushing the milk tea forward a bit: “Hubby, I went to buy milk tea for you! I bought a cup for myself as well along the way.”
The young man looked at Lu Que earnestly, his whole face written with “I treat you well, right?”.
It was another brief silence. Lu Que turned his head to look toward the kitchen: “Where are the dumplings? Are they warmed up?”
Shi Yunmu raised his hand, like an elementary school student who didn’t understand in class, and said extremely honestly: “I don’t know how to do it!”
He delivered a “please serve me” look to Lu Que, expressing his attitude clearly and explicitly: He just did not intend to learn housework.
Shen Xiangyu’s side sent another message, thoroughly determining that it was B-025 who acted in Mafu Lane, urging Lu Que to hurry over to inspect the corpse.
Lowering his head to reply with a “right away,” Lu Que still entered the kitchen, cooked the dumplings for Shi Yunmu, and instructed him: “Just turn off the fire after twenty minutes.”
Shi Yunmu stared at the dumplings tumbling in the pot, not feeling a single shred of attachment to his husband who was about to leave: “Hubby, you go ahead, bye-bye!”
Lu Que: “…”
Conscienceless.
No longer staying, Lu Que turned around to leave. His peripheral vision caught sight of the milk tea on the coffee table. After hesitating for a moment, the man still took that cup away.
Apart from the matter of not knowing how to do housework, Shi Yunmu was actually considered quite well-behaved and quiet. Digesting the magic power of the ten-legged spider also required a period of time, so he subsequently enjoyed the university life of humans in peace and comfort.
It was only when the matter of Mafu Lane was handled and the case was closed that Shi Yunmu suddenly realized this matter had already spread within C University, and moreover, as the story passed from one person to another, it became increasingly distorted from reality.
Class Monitor: You know about the matter of those bullying brothers dying in Mafu Lane, right?
Class Monitor: Mainly, there was a little lackey who didn’t go who said they went to block you, but as a result, you are going to and from school perfectly fine, while they, one by one, have entered the funeral parlor instead.
Class Monitor: Now it is being rumored that you know how to curse, so they took the wrong path, encountered a freak murderer in Mafu Lane, and were all killed, with not a single one left behind.
In the large theoretical class, Shi Yunmu and the class monitor sat side by side, communicating silently with their phones.
Seeing the messages sent by the class monitor one by one, Shi Yunmu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: Where did he know any curses?
Jellocloud: So absurd, where do I know any curses!
Class Monitor: I also think it’s absurd. If you really knew how, that brother of yours wouldn’t need to bully you; he could just go directly to the underworld to report.
Just as the class monitor sent this message over, Shi Yunmu’s message closely followed right after, still in a slightly humble tone: I studied it before, it’s just that I didn’t manage to learn it, failure.
Class Monitor: “?”
Class Monitor: …For real or fake.
Jellocloud: Just kidding ^^
Class Monitor: “…”
He could not help but glance at the young man playing with his phone beside him, falling into deep thought.
Why did he feel that the other party’s tone didn’t seem like he was kidding?
The one human and one slime chatted off and on, and as they chatted, it reached dismissal time.
There weren’t many classes today. Shi Yunmu slung his backpack over his shoulder and left elegantly.
By the time he opened the door and returned home, he discovered that Lu Que, wearing casual clothes, was currently reading a book by the French window.
His eyebrows and eyes were serene, his long hair uncombed, falling scattered about at will.
After taking quite a few more looks, Shi Yunmu only then remembered to ask a question: “Hubby, why are you at home? Didn’t you go to work?”
Lu Que’s eyes moved away from the book and looked toward Shi Yunmu: “Today is a day off.”
The death of the B-grade magic creature also brought huge deterrence to the magic creatures roaming in the dark zones of C City; within a short period of time, they certainly wouldn’t dare to come out and make trouble. Investigating the cause of the ten-legged spider’s death was a gradual process, and the Special Security Section did not intend to act with undue haste either.
But the “day off” in Lu Que’s mouth was not entirely a day off.
He was at home today, in fact, to repair the detector at home.
Relying on daily feeding, Lu Que had begun to suspect somewhat that what he was raising was not his spouse in name, but a little dog that would carry its food bowl over punctually to beg for food. Captain Lu finally drew a conclusion: The slime indeed didn’t have any threat, but out of safety considerations, he still repaired the detector, wrote up the report, and decided to continue observing the slime in the capacity of a husband.
But after observing, Shi Yunmu’s life was truly tedious: a point-to-point life between two locations, with at most one more convenience store or fast-food restaurant in the middle.
Except for the days he needed to attend class, he spent all the remaining time at home playing games, drinking cola, and eating french fries, unwilling to step out the door even a single bit.
In view of this, Lu Que had also tried to let Shi Yunmu learn to share the housework… But the result of sharing it out was that Lu Que still resignedly managed it himself, to save Shi Yunmu from making the house an absolute mess.
He had already understood clearly: Magic creatures might all be good-for-nothings in daily life.
Too lazy to put his backpack into the bedroom, Shi Yunmu threw it onto the sofa at will, and then actively picked up the chocolate on the table.
“You brought a huge bag when you went to class today.” Without even raising his eyelids, the man abruptly let out such a sentence.
Shi Yunmu’s movement jammed, understanding the other party’s meaning: The quantity of snacks had exceeded the limit, and he should control it a bit.
After agonizing for a long time, Shi Yunmu still resolutely tore open the chocolate packaging, stuffed it into his mouth, and muttered in a small voice: “Eating tomorrow’s portion, I won’t eat tomorrow.”
A slime shouldn’t have calorie issues… right?
His tongue was entirely filled with the sweetness of chocolate, and Shi Yunmu slumped on the sofa, picking up his phone.
He originally intended to start a round of a game, but he saw a message pop up in the notification bar.
It was a text message sent to him by Shi Yubai the two of them were even too lazy to add each other on WeChat.
Shi Yubai: There is a charity banquet tonight. If it’s convenient, come over for a bit.
Shi Yunmu elegantly typed out two words: Not going.
The other party began to bring out the same old set of persuasive methods again, something about “manifesting family harmony,” “mending the cracks from the last family dinner,” “showing the outside world that our family has already reconciled”… Shi Yunmu was too lazy to look at them.
But following the cue of Shi Yubai’s words, Shi Yunmu still gave face by searching for “charity banquet.”
“Huh?”
Upon touching upon an introductory post about the charity banquet, his round green eyes could not help but light up a bit, “Handmade by a Michelin chef? For real or fake?”
He turned back to that text message page that was still constantly sending messages, asking excitedly: Is tonight’s banquet made by a Michelin chef?
The other side, which originally had a continuous desire to express, jammed because of this text message that was incompatible with the context and evidently didn’t take the words of persuasion seriously at all. Only after a long while did he reply: It should be.
Stroking his chin, Shi Yunmu was somewhat craving it, cheerfully accepting the invitation: Then I’ll go!
It would be fine just to avoid those boring humans; he himself should be able to enjoy a beautiful, hearty meal to his heart’s content.
Shi Yubai: …?
With a satisfied heart, he put away his phone. Shi Yunmu’s face turned toward Lu Que’s direction, his voice sweet: “Hubby, I’m going out for a bit tonight!”
“Where to?” Lu Que’s hand flipping the book paused.
Shi Yunmu scratched his cheek: “Shi Yubai called me to go eat delicious food.” After a pause, Shi Yunmu belatedly showed concern for his husband, “Are you going?”
Lu Que naturally would not go: “Not going.” The man pondered for a second, “I have to go work overtime.”
“Is that so,” Shi Yunmu feigned regret on the surface, “Then I can only eat your portion as well.”
Lu Que: “…Eat it.”
Shi Yunmu went happily.
Shi Yubai, at least, did not make things difficult for Shi Yunmu on entering this stage of the charity banquet.
When nightfall arrived, the young man entered the interior of the five-star hotel with a calm expression, waved the electronic invitation card in his hand, and entered the banquet hall as a matter of course.
Figures crossed paths, and everywhere people were conversing about business.
Shi Yunmu searched everywhere: Not to find his “brother,” but to observe the place to eat.
There was a buffet dessert area, but the other dishes did not seem to be buffet-style, but were instead waiting to be served during the banquet.
Little Wei, who stayed inside his pocket: “Oi! I feel like we can fiercely gorge ourselves on a hearty meal, and it won’t even cost money!”
Shi Yunmu pinched its fluffy exterior: “It still cost money, the taxi fare.”
Originally Lu Que said he was at home, but he picked up a phone call, and the person went to work overtime again.
Sigh, fortunately, he didn’t have to keep watch over an empty room alone.
“Xiao Mu, over here.” If it weren’t for Shi Yubai catching sight of Shi Yunmu, the latter would probably have already sat down anywhere in a grand and proper manner, sitting and waiting for the food to be served.
Seeing him, Shi Yunmu still raised his feet and walked toward him. After all, he had questions he wanted to ask the other party.
Father Shi and Mother Shi sat beside Shi Yubai. One let out a heavy snort upon seeing Shi Yunmu, while the other was not very familiar with her biological son, wearing a somewhat awkward smile.
Shi Yubai glanced at the clothes on Shi Yunmu’s body: The young man still wore whatever was comfortable, completely ignoring the necessary social rules of humans, coming grandly while wearing a T-shirt and long pants.
He revealed a bit of a deep, meaningful smile: “Xiao Mu, do you need to change your clothes? Wearing this is not quite appropriate.”
Father Shi also looked over, snorting coldly: “Not a single bit of upbringing, why are you dressed so casually?”
Shi Yunmu flipped open the menu in front of his dinner plate; the white, stiff paper still carried a faint scent of perfume: “When is the food being served?”
Shi Yubai said: “Right, I have a spare set of clothes. Why don’t I call a waiter over to take you to change?”
Shi Yunmu seriously inspected the dishes on the menu, wrinkling his brows: “Smoked salmon? I don’t like smoked salmon so when is the food being served?”
Shi Yubai continued: “However, that set of clothes is from a past season. I don’t know if it’s suitable or not; you can go and try it on.”
Shi Yunmu closed the menu, took a deep breath, and asked: “When is the food being served?”
Shi Yubai’s smile finally had a crack in it: “Apart from eating, can your brain not think about anything else?”
Shi Yunmu answered forcefully, with every word carrying weight: “Correct!”
It caused Shi Yubai’s eyelids to jump straight up.
But the words Shi Yubai blurted out just now had already attracted Father Shi and Mother Shi’s gaze: For Shi Yubai’s own soft-spoken and gentle persona, it was too crude.
Mother Shi coughed lightly to remind him: “Yubai, pay attention to your grace.” She said tactfully, “Your younger brother hasn’t been to a banquet before.”
Shi Yunmu ignored the latter sentence, choosing to affirm Mother Shi’s former sentence: “Exactly, you have to pay attention to your grace. Can you tell me when the food is being served now?”
Shi Yubai: “…”
He completely lost the interest to mock Shi Yunmu, and a sense of grievance choked up in his heart.
What else could he say? The opposite party was just like a silicon-based robot, repeating only that single sentence back and forth: “When is the food being served?”