Chapter 26

After receiving the affirmation from the Realm Spirit, Ye Chen immediately began preparations.

He had done his homework on raising Ranyi fish, and just a few days ago, during his free time, he went to the flower and bird fish market to buy fish fry and starter feed, so as not to be in a rush when starting the cultivation.

The Ranyi fish fry were delicate and had certain requirements for water temperature before they matured. They couldn’t be put into water with floating ice flowers. So Ye Chen fetched a large basin from the toilet, knelt by the shore, and scooped up a basin of water.

At first glance, the water in the basin looked no different from ordinary pond water, but upon closer inspection, there was a difference. The water in the basin was pale blue in color, with a texture resembling uncondensed jelly, somewhere between water and glue. The difference between this and ordinary pond water was huge, so it was no wonder that Ranyi fish couldn’t survive once they left this water.

After scooping the water, Ye Chen carried the basin to the West Wing Room. As soon as the dejected Fenghuang Cub in the chicken coop saw him, it immediately turned around with a Jiumi, presenting its chubby bird butt to him.

How infuriating!

“Huang Huang,” Ye Chen thickened his skin and turned to face Fenghuang Cub, smiling like a little rascal, saying, “Can I borrow a fire?”

Fenghuang Cub turned around again, continuing to present its bird butt to Ye Chen. “Jiumi!”

But Huang Huang was still angry!

Ye Chen sighed and gently lifted the chubby bird in his palm, holding it over the water basin, and said in a warm voice, “It’s all because Gege was bad.”

Fenghuang Cub blinked its eyes, looking sideways at Ye Chen with a tilted little head, determined to be coaxed by bad brother for three minutes before forgiving him.

“I’m a bad Gege. I actually made Huan Huang look at the chicken coop. Our Huang Huang is the king of birds, beautiful and noble…” Ye Chen’s tone was earnest, his gaze gentle. As he coaxed, he used two slender fingers to pinch off the brilliant fire feathers of Fenghuang Cub. With a stroke, he plucked off a small fireball, which slowly sank into the water basin and extinguished with a hiss. The feathers extinguished by being plucked off didn’t take less than three seconds to slowly reignite.

Ye Chen: “…”

Pluck, pluck, and pluck again, plucking from the left and then from the right.

Fenghuang Cub immersed itself in praise, squinting its black bean eyes comfortably, allowing Ye Chen to rub its real fire.

This appearance, blown by rainbow farts into dementia and then taken advantage of, was just like Shen Mofeng… If it weren’t for the mismatched species, Ye Chen would almost suspect that this chubby little bird was his Shen Ge’s offspring.

The little fireballs crackled and fell like rain.

Phoenix real fire not only raised the temperature of the water but also effectively killed various pathogenic microorganisms in it, protecting the delicate fish fry from disease. Sprinkling some Fenghuang fire into the water saved a small amount of money that would have been spent on purchasing pond disinfectants.

Others might fleece sheep, but I fleece Fenghuang feathers… Ye Chen bit his lip, holding back his laughter, feeling utterly shameless!

When Fenghuang fire had borrowed enough, Ye Chen put down Fenghuang Cub, took out a piece of chocolate from his pocket, opened the wrapper, and placed the chocolate on the ground. He said sincerely, “This chocolate is to apologize to Huang Huang.”

“Jiumi.” That was more like it. Fenghuang Cub walked over arrogantly and pecked at the chocolate.

So Ye Chen quietly walked out with the basin.

Three minutes later…

Fenghuang Cub, whose intelligence was gradually returning, sat upright in the chicken coop with dignity. Its black bean eyes gleamed with light, its bird face serious, feeling that what had happened in the past few minutes was definitely not simple!

“Jiumi… jiumi?! Jiumi?!”

Since the mortal Gege knew how to repent like this…

Why is Fenghuang still locked in the chicken coop, quack?! Why quack?!

…

Carrying the basin, Ye Chen arrived at the East Wing Room. The bubbles containing the Ranyi fish fry floated down leisurely. Ye Chen popped the bubbles and poured out two pairs of fish fry.

Ranyi fish, born without fins but with six legs, had flesh that could prevent nightmares.

These fish fry were about half the size of Ye Chen’s palm, with four muscular thighs on their ventral side, and a pair of… arms.

Yes, something resembling arms, presumably replacing fish fins.

At the sight of the Ranyi fish fry, Ye Chen suddenly remembered the popular salty fish emoji on the internet, which had two large thighs. These Ranyi fish fry looked quite similar to the salty fish emoji, incredibly eerie.

Ye Chen placed the four fish fry into the basin, and the fish fry spread their strong thighs, galloping wildly at the bottom of the basin.

Thump, thump, thump. It was the vigorous footsteps of fish playing in shallow water…

Ye Chen, having lived for so long, heard such sound of fish playing in shallow water for the first time!

Ye Chen respectfully clasped his hands towards the basin, sighing, “Fish Ge is amazing.”

“Pour a cup of fish food for my Fish Ge.” Ye Chen muttered to himself contentedly, taking out the fish fry starter feed he had bought earlier, pouring out a bottle cap, and sprinkling it into the basin.

The dense water density of the basin, combined with the extremely light and fine starter feed, couldn’t sink. As the Ranyi fish fry trotted on the bottom of the basin, flapping their two forearms and kicking their four hind legs, they swam to the water’s surface in a frog-like swimming posture, fighting for the fish food.

Fish, swimming frog-style.

“Hahaha! What on earth?!” Ye Chen was so engrossed in the eerie scene that he couldn’t help but squat by the basin, grinning foolishly. He watched for a full ten minutes before reluctantly having his fill, then carried the basin into the warm West Wing Room… He had fooled Shen Mofeng into thinking he had a greenhouse at home before, and now he actually had one, heated by Fenghuang. The sophistication was enough to outshine all the other greenhouses in the world.

…So, it’s not like I’m a total fraud after all, thought Ye Little Trickster, comforting himself. He placed the basin containing the fish fry on the kang, used the power of Fuxi to intimidate the more than one hundred chickens, and ordered them not to touch the basin. Anyone who violated this rule would be executed without mercy.

Although those who didn’t violate the rule would be killed all the same after being fattened…

“Don’t cause trouble, Huang Huang.” Ye Chen poked at the still deeply mesmerized Fenghuang Cub, “If you kill the fish fry, you won’t have any fish to eat.”

Fenghuang Cub frowned, “Jiumi.”

Huang Huang felt that this mortal was a bit cunning.

“Huh? I don’t understand.” Ye Chen took a few steps back and quickly slipped out of the door.

…

After the mortal world welcomed the first snowfall, the temperature in the mountains plummeted precipitously.

As the temperature plummeted, Shen Mofeng’s nicotine-ravaged respiratory system promptly began to act up. On this day, he had to film a scene of emotional outburst, with a continuous 0.4-length dialogue. While not extensive, several lines required shouting. Shen, who was renowned for nailing a scene in one take, was tormented today by the sudden cold air. His vocal cords, still adjusting to the temperature, were disobedient. As he delved into the intense part of the performance, he couldn’t stop coughing violently, breaking into hoarse notes.

Initially composed, Shen Mofeng couldn’t bear his temper after several “ng”s caused by his throat. He turned around and kicked down a pile of snow, then snatched the throat spray from Xiao He’s hand, fiercely spraying it into his throat.

Chen Jing’an and the script writer huddled together, brainstorming how to rearrange this scene, planning to wait until Shen Mofeng’s health improved before shooting.

Shen Mofeng suddenly turned his head, shooting a fierce glare, and gruffly said, “I can shoot it, give me a minute to adjust…”

Before he could finish speaking, he accidentally inhaled a gust of cold air, followed by another round of heart-wrenching coughs.

Seeing this, Ye Chen hurried over and began massaging Shen Mofeng’s back to help him breathe easier. After a few strokes, Ye Chen subconsciously twisted open the bottle of mineral water he had been holding and advised, “Take a sip of water to soothe your throat, uh…”

Mid-sentence, he suddenly remembered that he had taken a sip from this bottle himself ten minutes ago. Hastily retracting his hand, he apologized, “I forgot I drank from it, let me get you a new one…”

But Shen Mofeng, as if he hadn’t heard, reached out and took the bottle of water, tilting his head back to gulp down a big mouthful.

Xiao He reached out to take the remaining water from Shen Mofeng, but Shen Mofeng, as if he hadn’t noticed, stuffed the empty bottle back into Ye Chen’s hand.

Xiao He’s gaze suddenly turned sharp: “…”

Was it me being overly sensitive, imagining Shen Ge as too roguish, or is Shen Ge really that much of a rogue?

“Feeling better?” Ye Chen asked softly and gently, his watery eyes agilely meeting Shen Mofeng’s gaze, who happened to be looking at him.

Seeing that Shen Mofeng’s eyes were still relatively gentle, Ye Chen sneakily extended two fingers toward Shen Mofeng’s hand, cautiously taking the throat spray from his grasp, as if extracting a rotten tooth.

Shen Mofeng didn’t move, letting him take it.

Ye Chen breathed a sigh of relief, using the gentle tone he used to pacify his irritable and senile father, softly saying, “Don’t spray too much, after all, it’s medicine… Why don’t you get into the car and warm up, and take a break?”

Shen Mofeng stared at him silently, lips slightly curved with a hint of annoyance but amusement. After a moment, he resigned himself, “Hmm.”

Xiao He also breathed a sigh of relief, looking like an eldest son who had successfully comforted his father, who had been irritable after being injured.

The three of them got into the car, which was warm and cozy. Shen Mofeng opened a new bottle of mineral water and took small sips.

No one spoke in the car. Seizing the opportunity, the eldest son, Xiao He, complained to the spoiled youngest son, “In the past few days, the temperature suddenly dropped, and Shen Ge’s throat hasn’t been in good condition. He coughs every night until the early morning, and then he smokes a pack a day. He’s been taking cough medicine like it’s food, but it’s not working…”

Listening, Shen Mofeng suddenly felt uncomfortable being exposed. He lazily cast a threatening glance at Xiao He and said, with a hint of threat, “Are you telling Ye Chen about this?”

Xiao He, with a strong survival instinct, quickly added the second half of the sentence to save himself: “…You should talk to Shen Ge, tell him to smoke less. We’re not filming night scenes these days, so he doesn’t need to stay awake. Even if he smokes half a pack less a day? Shen Ge doesn’t listen to me when I say it.”

Implicit in his words was that he would listen to Ye Chen.

Shen Mofeng interpreted the implicit suggestion in Xiao He’s words, and with a restrained smile, the slight discomfort instantly disappeared. The threat in his eyes transformed into appreciation, and he even gave Xiao He a subtly meaningful smile.

Xiao He responded with a forced smile, “…”

Generally, Shen Mofeng couldn’t stand people nagging about smoking less and drinking more water in his ears. However, if it was his little friend at home, with his clear and gentle voice…

Shen Mofeng chuckled to himself, thinking that even if Ye Chen scolded him in that tone, he would probably still enjoy listening.

“Oh.” Ye Chen didn’t quite understand why he could persuade Shen Mofeng when Xiao He couldn’t, but he still turned to Shen Mofeng obediently. With a clear and gentle voice that implied Shen’s roguishness, he said, “Shen Ge, could you smoke less? It’s not about nagging you… mainly, your health really can’t take it. The coughing affects your sleep, creating a vicious cycle.”

Shen Mofeng’s lips curved into a smile, and unusually, he didn’t interrupt this motherly lecture. He was as easygoing as a bodhisattva, “Okay, I’ll smoke less in the future.”

Ye Chen thought to himself that Shen Ge was actually quite reasonable… Suddenly remembering the spiritual pears he had given Shen Mofeng before, he asked, “By the way, did you feel your throat getting better after eating the pears I grew?”

Shen Mofeng recalled for a moment.

To be honest, he only remembered that the pears were delicious. As for whether his throat felt better or not, he didn’t have a strong impression.

“I did.” Since he couldn’t recall clearly anyway, Shen Mofeng simply reassured Ye Chen, “It felt better.”

Ye Chen felt a small thrill in his heart, thinking of finding a reasonable excuse to give Shen Mofeng another batch of pears. The pears on those four trees were ripe and ready. He would sell half of them at the morning market tomorrow and bring the other half to Shen Mofeng. Even if they couldn’t cure him completely, at least they would help him sleep without coughing.

…Tomorrow there’s no filming for me, and Shen Ge’s birthday is the day after tomorrow. The birthday present can also be prepared tomorrow. Going back to the city for a day trip, a round trip of ten hours by car, isn’t an impossible task… Ye Chen’s gaze wandered, secretly planning his little scheme of repaying kindness.

“What should we do? There are no pears grown by you here…” Shen Mofeng muttered to himself and then turned to Xiao He, spreading his hands, “Where’s my cigarette?”

“You just said you’d smoke less!” Xiao He’s composure was slightly crumbling.

“I’m not going to smoke,” Shen Mofeng smiled, “Give it to me.”

Xiao He handed a pack of cigarettes to Shen Mofeng with a black face.

Shen Mofeng then passed the cigarettes and lighter to Ye Chen.

Ye Chen was taken aback, “What is this for…”

“You said I should smoke less,” Shen Mofeng teased Ye Chen with a playful expression, “Don’t just say it, practice what you preach. How about you supervise me a bit?”

Xiao He, who saw through everything, couldn’t help but sigh and rub his forehead, “…”

Clearly, he was just looking for an excuse to banter with the little kid. Xiao He imagined the tricks and tricks Shen Mofeng might use…

If he asked for a cigarette in broad daylight, he could bear with it. But if he had a craving in the middle of the night and wanted to crawl into someone’s bed for a smoke… what should he do? Wait for the public security organs to handle it?

“Okay.” Ye Chen was naive, unaware of the twists and turns in the minds of the two men before him. He took the cigarettes and lighter, and with a serious demeanor, began to establish rules with Shen Mofeng, fulfilling his duty as a filial and virtuous grandson. “From now on, I’ll help you keep track. Let’s limit it to half a pack a day, okay?”

Shen Mofeng stared at Ye Chen’s earnest face, filled with adorableness, and without hesitation said, “Okay.”

Ye Chen replied seriously, “But what if you secretly smoke other cigarettes? You can’t possibly carry only this pack, right? Why don’t you just leave them all with me?”

Shen Mofeng chuckled, “Are you planning to take inventory of my house?”

Ye Chen vigorously shook his head, “No, no! Please don’t misunderstand…”

Unexpectedly, Shen Mofeng lightly bit his lip, softened his tone, and smiled, “What are you afraid of… it’s not like I’m stopping you from taking inventory.”

The tone was so playful, it was almost teasing…

Poor Shen Ge! Xiao He, the bystander, observed with acute insight.

How could Shen Mofeng suddenly become so playful in response to Ye Chen’s obvious tone of coaxing?!

“Take all the cigarettes from my car and bedroom and give them to Ye Chen,” Shen Mofeng instructed Xiao He, turning his head.

“Okay.” Xiao He dared not say anything and got out of the car with a few packs of cigarettes.

“It’s just the beginning,” Shen Mofeng’s mind wandered, a smirk forming on his lips. “I’ve practically handed over everything, even the cigarettes…”

Asking the wife for permission.

He didn’t say the second part, just smiled.

Ye Chen, still a bit clueless, chuckled along, his mind quickly drifting to a speculative thought:

Imagine being able to manage Shen Mofeng’s “assets.” With his wealth, even if he just put it in a simple investment like Yu’e Bao, the daily returns would be enough to support his whole family. Maybe he could even save up to buy a tractor… As the saying goes, when one is poor, one’s ambitions are short. Ye Chen’s mind was filled with fantasies of Yu’e Bao returns, so he didn’t dwell on the ambiguity in Shen Mofeng’s words. He simply lowered his head, pocketed the cigarettes and lighter.

The author has something to say:

Seeking nutrition for the waves!

Ye Qiongqiong’s account book today:

Lots of cigarettes…

But they’re pretty much useless.

Shen Mofeng’s account book today:

— Handed me the water he drank. Little guy.

Shen Mofeng’s Favorability: +10

Current Favorability: 260, Three Stars.

— The way he cautiously took away the spray was too cute.

Shen Mofeng’s Favorability: +20

Current Favorability: 280, Three Stars.

— Worried about my health, coaxing me to smoke less in the tone of coaxing a husband.

Shen Mofeng’s Favorability: +10

Current Favorability: 290, Three Stars.

— Asking him to manage my cigarettes, his earnest little look… feels like I want to tease him.

Shen Mofeng’s Favorability: +10

Current Favorability: 300, Three Stars.

What Shen Mofeng doesn’t know is that his character has changed from an ordinary father to a cantankerous one suffering from senile dementia, prone to violence, destruction, and drug abuse… Under the knee of the old father, there are two sons, the eldest of whom is not favored. Any offenses against the old father must be confessed to the younger son to handle… (Manually saying goodbye)

TN:

Yu’ebao is China’s first ever Internet fund(Kinda like a money market fund) specially designed for Alipay. Settlement of income on a daily basis.

The fish meme