Chapter 44

On the second day of Ye Chen’s arrival in Florence, which was the day before Chinese New Year’s Eve, the crew of 《Aspiration For The Throne》 officially wrapped up filming. Chen Jing’an managed to finish this work before the Spring Festival.

After receiving the news of the wrap-up, Ye Chen sent a WeChat message to Shen Mofeng to congratulate him during the breaks in the endorsement photo shoot and also wished him a Happy New Year in advance. The message was sent at eleven in the morning, but until the end of the day’s work, Shen Mofeng had not replied to his messages.

Normally, Shen Mofeng would reply to his WeChat messages almost instantly, at most taking the time for one scene, and would politely add a sentence like “just filming a scene” as an explanation. It was quite easy for someone who was fond of him to misconstrue. However, Ye Chen was extremely clear-headed. Even though Shen Mofeng was so considerate, he didn’t feel he had the right or the need to ask Shen Mofeng if he was busy. If Shen Mofeng didn’t reply to him, he felt too embarrassed to speak up again, afraid of being bothersome.

After work that day, Ye Chen instructed Hou Cub to lead the other divine beast cubs to sneak into the country.

The little ones streamed out from the Chaos Mark opened in the master bedroom. Ye Chen distributed snacks covered with foreign words, scavenged from the kitchen cupboard, to the cubs and instructed them not to shout loudly. The villa was quite spacious, and the guest rooms where the little ones stayed were far from the master bedroom. The two housekeepers responsible for daily cleaning and maintenance were also given time off by Ye Chen. Additionally, the soundproofing of the interior walls was quite effective, so as long as the divine beast cubs didn’t make a racket, there was no fear of exposure.

Ye Chen turned on the TV for the cubs to watch an Italian dubbed version of Peppa Pig. The cubs sat around on the bed, munching on snacks while listening to Big Brother Qiongqi educate them, “…Smuggling people secretly out of the country like Dun Dun is called “head of a snake^[1]human trafficker,’ it’s a crime. If caught, he’ll sit in prison.”

“Pfff—” Ye Chen sprayed water all over the floor.

“So, will Dun Dun be beaten up by the prison bullies again?” Hou Cub anxiously rubbed his bunny ears.

Although Hou Cub was good at plotting, he didn’t understand much about matters of the world…

Hundun Cub, who was busy devouring potato chips, trembled in fear at the mention, its fur ball shaking like a sieve.

“It would be ten times worse than stealing manhole covers,” Qiongqi Cub asserted sternly, casting a commanding glance at the younger ones, “Keep your mouths shut tight, don’t betray your brothers.”

Ye Chen, still recovering from choking on the water, managed to speak, “Cough! You! Cough, cough!”

“Gudun…” Hundun Cub’s round body rapidly softened into a thin sheet like ice cream under the scorching sun, as if it had been scared stiff, “Wuuu…”

Qiongqi Cub chuckled, “Ranked among the ‘Four Evils,’ yet this is all it takes to frighten it.”

“…Don’t scare it, or are you going to clean up the mess if it pees again?” Ye Chen finally suppressed his cough, flicking Big Brother Qiongqi’s forehead with his hand. Then, he picked up the trembling little pancake from the bed, ready to clean up the floor, and reassured, “Qiqi was just teasing you, nobody’s going to beat you up.”

Military Strategist Rabbit Head consoled, “Dun Dun don’t worry. If anyone dares to bully you, just swallow all the air in his stomach, and then he’ll suffocate.”

“Kids, don’t talk about these things.” Ye Chen’s face darkened as he raised his hand threateningly, “If you talk about them again, big brother will spank you.”

The little ones promptly shut their mouths and obediently ate snacks while watching TV.

At ten o’clock in the evening, Ye Chen bathed the divine beast cubs. In the bathroom connected to the master bedroom, instead of placing a bathtub, they had assembled a soaking pool, said to be filled with spring water diverted from elsewhere.

The divine beast cubs transformed to their original forms one by one and jumped into the pool with a splash. Ye Chen wrapped a towel around his waist, transforming into a scrubbing assistant, washing the fluffy cubs with shampoo and conditioner, and using a toothbrush dipped in body wash to clean the shell-covered ones. Fenghuang Cub initially stood by the edge of the pool with a disdainful expression, observing for a while, then sneakily slipped into the water… However, as Fenghuang Cub’s true fire was not yet strong enough to burn in the water, the feathers that had transformed into flames extinguished with a sizzle the moment its entire body submerged, and the little Fenghuang instantly turned into a bald chick.

The divine beast cubs burst into laughter at seeing the usually proud Huang Huang turned into a little baldie.

“Bo…ji” “ Gudundun!”

“Jiumi! Jiu, Jiumi!” Huang Huang, with a disgruntled look, flew back to the shore flapping its bald wings, pecking the pool wall vigorously.

What a lousy pool! No, unreasonable!

Ye Chen suppressed his laughter and fetched a large bathtub from somewhere, filled it with hot spring water, and placed it at a distance. He then isolated the angry Huang Huang in the water behind a bath curtain, preventing the other divine beast cubs from seeing the bald chick in the tub. He even placed a row of plastic ducks on the water’s surface for Huang Huang to play with.

After taking care of the cubs, Ye Chen also enjoyed a relaxing soak in the hot spring. He then draped himself in a bathrobe and lay down on the oversized bed in the master bedroom, surrounded by the seven cubs in their original forms, ready to sleep.

Just before falling asleep, Ye Chen glanced at his phone.

There was still no reply from Shen Mofeng, and his Moments were quiet.

Actually, Shen Mofeng hadn’t spoken to him much in the past few days. After all, they were nearing the end of filming, and there were endless trivial matters to deal with, leaving little time for chatting. Shen Ge must be really busy lately… Ye Chen smiled amiably, raised the corner of his mouth, locked his phone screen, then lay down on the downy flower pillow, rubbing his cheek against it, smelling the comforting scent of frost and snow, and drifted off into a half-asleep state.

He was in a daze when his phone, placed on the pillow beside him, suddenly vibrated.

Opening his eyes just a crack, without even checking who the caller was, he answered in a groggy voice, “Hello?”

“Chen Chen,” Shen Mofeng apologized, “Did I wake you up?”

“No, I wasn’t asleep yet.” Ye Chen shook his head vigorously, shaking off his drowsiness, fearing that Shen Mofeng might have some urgent matter to discuss at this late hour, “What’s wrong? Is… something happened?”

“Nothing.” Shen Mofeng chuckled softly, “It’s Chinese New Year’s, can’t you think of something good?”

Ye Chen’s tense nerves immediately relaxed, explaining, “I was just worried about you. It’s late at night, I’m just glad you’re okay.”

There was silence for a moment, then Shen Mofeng suddenly asked inexplicably, “Where’s your assistant?”

Ye Chen, puzzled, but still honestly replied, “Sleeping.”

Shen Mofeng interrogated, “Are there other people where you are staying?”

Ye Chen glanced at the bed full of divine beast cubs and replied, “No one else.”

Shen Mofeng smiled and said, “Do you know why I suddenly called you?”

“I know,” Ye Chen calculated the international roaming charges and replied confidently, “You’ve had too much to drink.”

It must be some celebration for wrapping up filming!

Shen Mofeng: “…”

Ye Chen anxiously asked, “Where are you? Is there an assistant with you?”

If Shen Mofeng was alone, drunk somewhere outside, Ye Chen could have easily gone to take care of him for the night before sneaking back.

But Shen Mofeng didn’t answer. Instead, his tone softened, “It’s snowing here.”

Ye Chen subconsciously turned his gaze to the window.

It was midnight now, but the ethereal light of the sky seeped through the curtains like water.

—The sky was illuminated by the snow.

In the distance, there were excited shouts in Italian, piercing through the snowy night and faintly drifting into the bedroom. Florence’s climate was warm, with very little snowfall, so it was rare to see snow. It was an exciting, low-probability event.

“It’s a coincidence, it’s snowing here too…” Ye Chen continued chatting in an attempt to soothe the drunken mood. But halfway through his sentence, the cheers from the distance coincided with the background noise from Shen Mofeng’s end.

“Where are you?!” Ye Chen suddenly sprung up from the bed like a drawn bowstring.

Even he, slow as he was, finally realized that something unusual was about to happen.

“Downstairs.” Shen Mofeng’s tone remained unchanged, “Can you come down and open the door for me?”

Ye Chen was stunned for a moment, hung up the phone, quickly shook awake Hou Cub, gave a few instructions, then hurried downstairs to open the door.

He couldn’t fathom why Shen Mofeng suddenly rushed over, but he could feel a romantic, strange, and chaotic surge stirring in the depths of his consciousness. With each step down the stairs, they surged a bit closer to the surface. When the door lock clicked crisply in the silence, when the frosty wind carrying fine snow whistled into the room, when Shen Mofeng’s tall and straight figure appeared behind the door… the surge burst forth.

“Happy New Year.” Shen Mofeng walked up from a few steps below, stepping over the silvery snow.

He was draped in a knee-length pure black overcoat, the fabric heavy, with a profound sense of weight. As he moved, the snow attached to the hem fell rustlingly.

“… Happy New Year.” Ye Chen suddenly blushed uncontrollably. He took a few steps back to make way for Shen Mofeng, his voice nervously drifting, still trying futilely to fit everything that was happening into a frame he could accept, “Why did you suddenly come over? Do you… have work here too?”

Shen Mofeng closed the door behind him, tilted his head slightly, as if teasing a child, “Didn’t you say you were coming to my home for Chinese New Year?”

“Well…” Ye Chen responded, suddenly a guess flashed through his mind.

“This is my home.” Shen Mofeng didn’t even bat an eyelid, turned on a few wall lights, filling the room with warm yellow light, which reflected off his extremely handsome features.

Now Ye Chen couldn’t say a word, staring at Shen Mofeng as if he didn’t recognize him.

“I’ve surprised you… have I shocked you silly?” Shen Mofeng smiled helplessly, pulling out a small box from his coat pocket and handing it to Ye Chen, his tone extremely gentle, “A New Year’s gift.”

Ye Chen’s eyes trembled slightly, but he didn’t take it, just shaking his head and stuttering, “This… you…”

Shen Mofeng sighed softly and opened the gift box himself.

Inside was a Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon watch, accompanied by a small card.

Ye Chen was stunned, “…”

He recognized this watch, which had a retail price of two million two hundred thousand, but what impressed him was not the expensive price, but the design and symbolism of the watch itself.

The dial of the watch contained a panoramic view of the northern hemisphere’s starry sky, with multiple layers of gemstone crystal discs displaying patterns of the sky, galaxy, and lunar phases. They rotated at specific rates, replicating the trajectory of the stars. Because of the single character “辰”( (Chen- Third Solar Month. Also the character of MC’s name), which was related to stars, Ye Chen was deeply impressed by it, but he hadn’t mentioned such things to Shen Mofeng.

Shen Mofeng lowered his gaze and placed the watch on Ye Chen’s slender and angular wrist. He gently tapped his finger, motioning for him to read the card.

Ye Chen stared at the card blankly.

On the card were two handwritten sentences, with extravagant and unrestrained handwriting that Ye Chen immediately recognized as Shen Mofeng’s.

Perhaps the love words were too cheesy for him to say aloud, so he could only put them into writing.

—”From now on, you are no longer the star revolving around me…”

—”You are my entire starry sky.”

Suddenly, Ye Chen remembered a rainbow fart sentence from the fan forum of the FengYe CP. It was a sentence that fans said to Shen Mofeng after Ye Chen publicly stated that he entered the entertainment industry for Shen Mofeng: “That long-standing admiration, like a tiny star beyond light-years, has been revolving around you for so many years, but you never knew.”

Shen Mofeng remembered it.

The author has something to say:

Wife-chasing mode ON!

… Before becoming mad(Feng) dog, first be romantic for a while, because our Shen Ge won’t have this kind of mood later (manual goodbye).

TN:

One is wife-chasing the other wants to be filial to his Emperor Father☠️.