“Ever heard of kitchen play?”
[System (taking a sharp intake of breath): No, what on earth did you experience in your twenty-five years in the real world?! Why are you so knowledgeable about these things, aren’t you supposed to be set as a professional single dog?!]
Ruan Weibai: So what if I have never eaten pork, are people not even allowed to watch pigs run a race?
[System: The pig you are looking at, did it not take a bit too large of a stride? Is it running a marathon instead?]
Before Ruan Weibai could reply, a pair of incomparably gorgeous hands wrapped around him from behind. The slender fingers looked fair and exquisite, resting against his dark robes patterned with hidden motifs, creating a striking and captivating contrast between black and white.
Clearly, those hands were merely encircling his waist without any superfluous movements, yet the sight of it was endlessly evocative.
A familiar scent brushed against the back of his neck, and without the interference of hair, even the breathing felt all the clearer.
He was right behind him.
[System: Oi, he really went straight for a waist-hug! Sss, his hands resting on your waist are just overflowing with erotic tension! Wuwu, host, your waist, who could look at it and not lose their mind? No wonder the Heavenly Lord refuses to let go every time he grabs it!]
“Ah-Ruan has given me the cold shoulder for two days, why did you suddenly have Shuxue invite me over here?”
Ye Tang’s voice pressed closely and softly against him.
This fellow’s voice was always pleasant to hear, but whether it was imagination or not, today his voice carried a trace of grievances amid its deepness.
Ruan Weibai glanced at the hand wrapped around his waist, feeling certain that in the very next second, that hand would press against his flank and pin him down against the stove!
[System: Ahhhhh, I can picture it completely!]
Striving to calm his racing mind, he feigned nonchalance as he picked up the scallion oil noodles to toss them, then placed the previously fried egg on top of the noodles before using his chopsticks to pierce the yolk, letting the runny egg liquid flow down over the noodles.
“I made my signature dish, but eating alone is a bit uninteresting, so I wanted to find someone to praise me,” he turned around on his own accord, looking at Ye Tang with a trace of petty smugness, “Although the Heavenly Lord is already accustomed to innuendo-free fasting, surely you will not reject me?”
Ye Tang looked at the noodles in Ruan Weibai’s hand, a hint of surprise in his gaze, “Ah-Ruan made this with your own hands?”
Ruan Weibai picked up a mouthful of noodles, considerately twirled them, and brought them right to Ye Tang’s lips, “I even planned to feed you personally, will Husband not give me some face and taste a bite?”
Ye Tang looked at him in mild disbelief, prompting Ruan Weibai to add, “It is wrapped in egg liquid and tastes exceptionally good, give it a try while it is hot.”
The scallion oil noodles coated in bright yellow egg liquid truly looked quite appetizing.
Ye Tang parted his lips slightly, and feeling a surge of delight, Ruan Weibai fed it to him, watching with his own eyes as Ye Tang chewed and swallowed before setting down his bowl and chopsticks with a smile to ask, “How is the taste?”
Ye Tang buried his face into the crook of Ruan Weibai’s neck, “The taste is very good.”
[System: My goodness, he really, he took the bait?]
Ruan Weibai patted the head buried against his neck, “Then sit down and eat slowly.”
He spoke as if intending to break free from Ye Tang’s embrace, but instead of letting go, Ye Tang reached a hand out to stroke the back of Ruan Weibai’s neck, “Your attire today is different from usual.”
[System: Awoo, as expected of the host, the Heavenly Lord actually falls for this trick of yours!]
Sensing the warmth of the other’s breath, Ruan Weibai made a show of pushing him away slightly, “Don’t, this is the kitchen after all… If someone walks in and sees this later, do not blame me when you lose all your dignity as the Heavenly Lord.”
The moment he finished speaking, Ye Tang pulled him even tighter instead.
[System: Playing hard to get, ahhhhh, host, you really know how to play.]
Ruan Weibai was still holding the bowl: “If the noodles get cold and clump together, they will not taste good.”
“Ah-Ruan, are you still angry?”
Ruan Weibai could not help laughing, “Why does your voice sound so aggrieved, as if I am the one bullying you?”
Ye Tang asked softly, “May I kiss you?”
“You were not nearly this polite in the past, why have you changed your tune today?”
If it were the past, this fellow would have long since grabbed his chin with one hand, pinned him against the wall, and kissed him fiercely. How could he possibly have asked so cautiously today?
Did he want to kiss, did he want to kiss, or did he want to kiss him?
Ye Tang remained motionless. After a brief pause, he whispered softly right beside Ruan Weibai’s ear, “Just like in my dreams.”
Ruan Weibai blinked, his hand holding the bowl remaining frozen in place, and asked with some uncertainty, “What?”
Holding him, Ye Tang remained silent for a moment before continuing in a voice that was barely audible, “During the past hundred years, I often dreamed of Ah-Ruan just like this.”
Ruan Weibai: “…”
“In the dream, you returned without a sound, always starting by quietly smiling at me, and then, just like before, you would lecture me, scold me, and endlessly tell me so many, many things.”
“Yet whenever I tried to get closer to you, you would vanish.”
His voice grew somewhat hoarse, “Ah-Ruan, no matter how hard I tried, I could never find you.”
Ruan Weibai was momentarily at a loss, having never seen Ye Tang look like this.
In the past, the two of them frequently argued at the drop of a hat, but it was primarily Ruan Weibai throwing a one-sided temper tantrum while Ye Tang always maintained a cold expression without talking back. Once Ruan Weibai finished his tirade, Ye Tang would deliver an irrefutable summary.
Every single time, it made Ruan Weibai so furious that he grew even more furious!
In his memory, Ye Tang was arguably the best at emotional regulation he had ever seen, making it difficult to discern likes or dislikes from his face.
He was always so poised and elegant, giving the impression that everything in the world was completely under his control, radiating charismatic charm with his every movement and gesture.
No one would harbor the slightest doubt about his words or actions; it was an unquestionable, innate regal aura.
Yet a Ye Tang like this was something he had never witnessed, at least not during his lifetime.
“You left for far too long, so long that the version of you in my dreams began to blur.”
Remaining silent, Ruan Weibai realized that today’s Ye Tang was truly behaving abnormally.
“Later on,” Ye Tang refused to raise his head, his voice coming in intermittent snatches, “I began to realize that those were all dreams, mm… merely my own wishful thinking. Yet as long as I could see you again, even a dream was fine.”
“That is why I dared not speak. As long as I remained silent, the Ah-Ruan in my dreams would keep talking and talking to me.”
“And I could stay with him a little longer.”
Thump.
Thump.
The sound of his own heartbeat suddenly felt so loud. Frowning slightly, Ruan Weibai finally set aside the bowl in his hand, raised his arms, and returned the embrace by hugging Ye Tang back.
“Sometimes I would think, how wonderful it would be if I never woke up from this dream. At least I could be with the version of you in the dream.”
The hands Ruan Weibai had extended hesitated for a moment before gently patting Ye Tang’s back a few times, resembling both comforting gestures and soothing strokes.
“If I could not wake up, perhaps I would not have to endure centuries of solitude all by myself.” Tighter still, Ye Tang pulled the person in his arms closer, a trace of lingering grievance woven into his tone.
“An Ah-Ruan who only lies there without moving is not cute at all.”
“These past two days, when Ah-Ruan ignored me, I had those dreams again.”
“Yet ever since you returned, I have grown unaccustomed to falling asleep every night holding that cold body.”
“Do not ignore me… alright?”
[System (covering its trembling mouth): Wuwuwuwuwu, the Heavenly Lord, he, he, he loves you so much. I am going to cry my eyes out, wuwuwuwu, host, aren’t you taking this a bit too far?]
Ruan Weibai: … Isn’t giving each other the cold shoulder during a lovers’ quarrel a completely normal thing? How did it become going too far when it comes to me?
[System: You, you, you are giving him the silent treatment, wuwuwuwu, look at what you have driven the Heavenly Lord to become?! Where is even a shred of his usual high-and-mighty demeanor, he is just completely obsessed with you and cares too much about you! Hurry up and apologize to him, or I will cry to death for you to see!]
That’s right, Ye Tang was acting completely differently from usual.
Realizing something, Ruan Weibai immediately turned Ye Tang’s face toward him and leaned in to sniff him.
“Ye Tang, you actually drank alcohol?!”
Yet this action seemed to instantly provoke Ye Tang, whose waist was firmly pinned down by someone as he was forced to stagger back against the table, his lips, before he could escape, fiercely captured in a kiss by the other!
“Mm. don’t.”