Chapter 27

The next day, Ye Chen got up before dawn, took the car keys borrowed from Xiao Gao last night, and quietly gathered the sleeping cubs, who had transformed back into their original forms, into the spacious interior of his military coat. He was ready to use the rare free time today to prepare Shen Mofeng’s birthday gift.

Leaving the farmhouse, Ye Chen drove the company’s car out of the village for more than a kilometer, took several turns down dirt roads, and parked behind a stack of straw, creating the illusion that he had driven back to the city alone.

As a man with many secrets, Ye Chen had to play the whole game.

After getting out of the car, Hundun Cub opened a Chaos Mark, and Ye Chen returned to the quadrangle courtyard, where the cubs he had gathered in his coat gradually woke up. Upon hearing that they were going to pick spiritual pears, the cubs instantly lost their sleepiness and rushed into the Mountain and Sea Realm with pots and pans in hand, preparing to have a feast of chilled pears after the harvest.

The cubs were proficient at picking fruits, so Ye Chen didn’t intervene and decided to go to the chicken coop first, pick up some eggs, feed them, and clean up the chicken poop… However, as soon as he reached the entrance of the West Wing Room, he heard a noisy chirping inside. Alarmed, he thought there was a fight in the chicken coop, so he pushed the door and rushed in, only to see Fenghuang Cub playing a game of catching chicks with the chickens…

A mother hen led the way, followed by a string of half-grown chicks. Fenghuang Cub waved its short wings and darted left and right, chirping and laughing. The chicks also chirped and cheered, creating a harmonious and friendly atmosphere.

“Huh?” Ye Chen blinked.

“Jiumi!” Fenghuang Cub was shocked and quickly turned 180 degrees, hopping while facing away from Ye Chen, its fluffy buttocks raised in anger, and it nervously chirped, “Jiumi, Jiumi!”

Huang Huang was angry! It, it wasn’t playing a game!

“… ” Ye Chen suppressed his laughter and silently walked to the table, picking up the two stranded Ranyi fish and throwing them back into the basin.

The Ranyi fish were lively and liked to jump around. Coupled with their developed leg muscles and the shallow basin, they often accidentally jumped out of the basin. Over the past few days, Ye Chen had returned the stranded Ranyi fish to the water several times.

Ye Chen recalled the scene when he first saw the Ranyi fish jumping out of the basin—it was a male Ranyi fish. Unable to jump back into the basin no matter how hard it tried, it seemed to decide to conserve its energy and wait for rescue.

Perhaps it was an instinct caused by its physiological structure, it adopted the Slav squat, which was popular among Russian youths… Its fish tail “sat” on the table, its four legs were self-explanatory, and it squatted with a sense of purpose. Its two forearms were even placed arrogantly on its knees, creating an extremely eerie scene. Ye Chen couldn’t help but want to hand it a cigarette and prepare a basin of hot water for it to soak its feet in.

When Ye Chen first saw the Ranyi fish fry, he felt physically uncomfortable with those arms and legs, and even worried that they would grow leg hair when they matured… However, as the fry developed, those humanoid forearms quickly transformed into wings, and the shape of its four legs gradually leaned towards chicken legs… And there was no leg hair at all!

In this way, the edibility of the Ranyi fish has increased significantly.

Due to the blessing of Fuxi’s power, the fish fry grew rapidly. Since the day before yesterday, the basin had begun to feel a bit crowded. Ye Chen rolled up his sleeves anxiously, pushed aside the obstructing fish bodies, and focused on the bottom of the basin. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw clusters of translucent fish eggs— the large fish had successfully spawned, and they could be released back into the pond. Next, he would let these fish eggs hatch naturally in the warm basin.

However, to release the large fish back into the pond, the pond needed to be disinfected and sterilized with Phoenix Fire…

Ye Chen squatted down and poked the little Fenghuang Cub. “Huang Huang, can I borrow some fire?”

The little Fenghuang Cub suddenly twisted its body. “Jiumi!”

Refusal!

Ye Chen took out Shen Mofeng’s lighter from his pocket.

A Dupont lighter, a limited edition in homage to the famous actor Sean Connery’s Bond, very fitting for the status of the actor. It cost sixty thousand, but it was casually handed over to Ye Chen by Young Master Shen to keep. Every time Ye Chen touched it, he felt like he was earning fifty cents just by playing with it…

Ye Chen approached Fenghuang Cub and lit a fire with Shen Mofeng’s lighter. With a cunning smile, he said, “Since you won’t lend me fire, I’ll lend you fire.”

For the Phoenix, fire was a special kind of food.

Flames generated by burning different materials were all different delicacies in the eyes of the Phoenix. The flames produced by the gorgeous Dupont lighter were like a small mouthful of macarons served in delicate bone china plates, irresistible to the vain and beautiful little Phoenix.

Fenghuang Cub slowly opened its round, black eyes, which filled with a misty gleam. “Jiumi…”

Huang Huang was craving…

“Try it.” Ye Chen brought the lighter closer, and the little Fenghuang Cub quickly pecked off a small cluster of flames.

Earn ten yuan with one spark! Ye Chen experienced the exclusive joy of being poor, carefully put the lighter back into his pocket, and said, “Help me pour some fire into the pond, and I’ll let you have another bite.”

Fenghuang Cub eagerly hopped around. “Jiumi! Jiumi!”

Quick! Quick, take Huang Huang to pour fire ya!

…

Ye Chen released the four adult Ranyi fish back into the treated pond and planned to let Qiongqi Cub slaughter one to taste its flavor after all the fish eggs had hatched.

On the other side, four pear trees full of fruit had been successfully picked bare by the divine beast cubs. In total, these four trees produced 300 catties of spiritual duck pears. As usual, Ye Chen set aside 50 catties for the cubs to replenish their spiritual energy and nutrition, and allocated another 100 catties to Shen Mofeng—although it was certain they couldn’t consume all of it, Ye Chen planned to use the two large iron pots in the farmhouse to make several large jars of spiritual autumn pear paste for Shen Mofeng. He checked online and found that homemade autumn pear paste could be preserved for up to six months in a low-temperature state. When it needed to be consumed, one only needed to scoop out a spoonful with a clean spoon, add water, and stir, as it had the function of moistening the lungs and stopping coughs.

The reason for making so much at once was because Ye Chen estimated that after the completion of 《Aspiration For The Throne》”, he would no longer have any interaction with Shen Mofeng, a celebrity of his status—at least not in the short term. So he planned to make more autumn pear paste for Shen Mofeng to stock up on, insisting on using it until the next time they met. By then, he would make another batch for Shen Mofeng to last half a year.

Meeting twice a year shouldn’t be a problem, Ye Chen reasoned.

He had received so much generous care from Shen Mofeng when he was at his poorest and most destitute, and he felt that repaying this was just the beginning. He had already planned that if Shen Mofeng couldn’t quit smoking, he would make him spiritual autumn pear paste for the rest of his life.

Ye Chen loaded box after box of pears onto the tricycle, thinking of Shen Mofeng’s appearance when he gave him one-on-one lessons, and a warm smile curved his lips.

My Shen Ge, such a good person!

As usual, Ye Chen took Hou Cub and Pulu Cub, who were good at selling, to the morning market. One hundred and fifty catties of spiritual pears, priced two yuan higher than the market rate, were sold out in just over an hour under the cubs’ cute selling tactics. Ye Chen clutched the money that hadn’t warmed up in his hands and went to buy some monk fruit, red dates, and honey. These were all ingredients for making autumn pear paste.

By the time he finished this busy morning, it was already past ten o’clock. Ye Chen rode the tricycle back home. Just as he parked the vehicle, he received a WeChat message from Shen Mofeng.

Shen Mofeng: Where did you go?

Ye Chen hurriedly replied: Went back to town.

Shen Mofeng: What are you doing there?

Ye Chen hesitated for a moment and replied: It’s a secret… You’ll know soon.

Thinking of his upcoming birthday, Shen Mofeng understood and didn’t ask further. He just replied: You’ve taken all your belongings… What time will you be back?

At this moment, in Shen’s mind appeared a cunning yet soft and cute love cheater, who had played with the emotions of innocent men and was now running away with their money.

Ye Chen was taken aback, realizing that he hadn’t left Shen Mofeng any cigarettes. He quickly replied: I’ll definitely be back before two in the afternoon.

At this moment, in Ye Chen’s mind appeared an old actor who was left destitute and alone, with his unfilial son running off with all his belongings, leaving him with nothing and no one to rely on.

Shen Mofeng: Two o’clock it is, be on time, or else… you’ll see.

Text couldn’t convey tone, but in the split second when Ye Chen read this message, he imagined the smile on Shen Mofeng’s face.

Ye Chen: Of course, don’t worry.

After replying to Shen Mofeng, Ye Chen took out a clean woven bag from the closet and called the divine beast cubs to go to the Mountain and Sea Realm together to pick Winter Velvet Flowers.

Winter Velvet Flowers were the small white flowers that grew on the tips of Winter Velvet Grass during its flowering period. These small white flowers clustered together, each one different in appearance, resembling snowflakes—some were branch-shaped, some were star-shaped, some were needle-shaped… This depended on the proportion of different forms of snowflakes that the root system of the Winter Velvet Grass encountered while growing in the snow.

Although these Winter Velvet Flowers look like snowflakes, their texture is soft and dry, somewhat resembling dandelion seeds. It is said that they are very suitable for filling pillows and quilts. Bedding filled with Winter Velvet Flowers is not only warm and comfortable but also helps with sleep.

When the first batch of Winter Velvet Grass bloomed, Ye Chen tried filling a pillow core with these fluffy flowers. The pillowcases were bought on Taobao for twenty yuan each, and Ye Chen bought two to qualify for free shipping.

After filling it, Ye Chen slept on the Winter Velvet Flower pillow for three nights.

Previously, due to economic pressure and heavy thoughts, Ye Chen sometimes had difficulty falling asleep. On nights when his mind was restless, it might take him half an hour or more of tossing and turning in bed before he could drift off. However, after switching to the Winter Velvet Flower pillow these days, he would lose consciousness in less than three minutes in a serene atmosphere akin to falling snow. Even if he only slept for six hours a day, he felt refreshed and clear-headed.

The divine beast cubs didn’t need these pillows. The little ones had no worries and didn’t suffer from insomnia. They didn’t need to work hard to make money during the day, so they could catch up on sleep… Ye Chen planned to fill a pillow and give it to Shen Mofeng as a birthday gift.

After picking Winter Velvet Flowers for a while, Ye Chen straightened up and stretched his back. The divine beast cubs were short, so they didn’t need to bend down to pick flowers, giving them a significant advantage and allowing them to pick much faster than Ye Chen.

Once enough Winter Velvet Flowers for a pillow were picked, Ye Chen tightly grasped the opening of the woven bag and quickly stuffed a pillow with the Winter Velvet Flowers.

From the pillowcase to the filling, this pillow was exactly the same as the one he was currently using.

Two identical pieces of clothing are called couple outfits.

Two identical pillows… might as well be called parent-child pillows!

The author has something to say:

Ye Qiongqiong’s account book today:

Today’s income: Pear 5 yuan/catty * 150 catties = 750 yuan

Today’s expenses: Red dates 12 yuan/catty * 2 catties + Honey 15 yuan/catty * 6 catties + Monk fruit 28 yuan/catty * 3 catties + Rock sugar 5 yuan/catty * 2 catties + Pillowcase 20 yuan/item * 2 items = 240 yuan

Balance: 958.5 + 750 – 240 = 1468.5 yuan

Ye Qiongqiong: Finally reached the thousand-yuan mark!!! ╰(*°▽°*)╯

Shen Mofeng’s financial statement for today:

—On the second day after handing over my family property, Chen Chen took the money and fled, craving for cigarettes, causing me great distress.

Shen Mofeng’s favorability -1

Current favorability: 299, three stars.

—I imagined what it would be like if Chen Chen took the money and fled… it’s so cute.

Shen Mofeng’s favorability +21

Current favorability: 320, three stars.

Ye Qiongqiong: Parent-child pillow! Empty nest old father! ╰(*°▽°*)╯

Shen Mofeng: Is it that I have to press you onto the bed and have a meal before our relationship can ever be straightened out? 🙂

Answering a question~

Q: Even though Shen Ge only has three-star favorability, why does he seem to really like Chen Chen?

A: Because three stars indeed mean he really likes him~ When it reaches five stars, it’s time for a direct confession and a passionate kiss against the wall hhhh

(That is, when Chen Chen flips out for the first time + Si Feng goes mad for the first time…)

(Yes, it means there will be a second time flipping out + a second time going mad hahaha…)

I refined the appearance setting of Ranyi Fish a bit. How about it, does it sound much better now? (。

They don’t have leg hair, really no leg hair.

TN:

Slav Squat – those fish are creepy asf! I don’t care if they have leg hair or not!

I Will continue releasing 5 free chapters on the weekends—3-Sat and 2-Sun. You can read ahead through coins.