Chapter 63

Ye Chen put down the initially educated Taotie Cub and hurried back to his room.

In the room, Shen Mofeng leaned against the window, a cigarette in his mouth, his gaze gloomy. It was hard to tell if he was acting or genuinely upset.

Ye Chen scrutinized the movie star’s subtle expressions. Based on recent experiences, he was ninety percent sure it was an act… That old man was really cunning.

Shen Mofeng: “Where did you go?”

Ye Chen half-truthfully replied, “The bathroom.”

The Chaos Mark was indeed in the bathroom, so his conscience was clear.

Shen Mofeng was surprised, “For an hour?”

Ye Chen considered changing his answer to include taking a walk but feared Shen Mofeng’s questioning might expose his lie. Not knowing where Shen Mofeng had been for the past hour, he decided to respond vaguely, “Yes, anything you need?”

Shen Mofeng pondered, “Wearing my clothes, spending an hour in the bathroom…”

Ye Chen sensed something amiss and quickly defended himself, “Just had a stomachache.”

Shen Mofeng stubbed out his cigarette, “Come here.”

Ye Chen took a few steps closer. As soon as he entered Shen Mofeng’s reach, he was pulled into his arms. A moment later, a warm breath brushed past his ear as Shen Mofeng whispered something.

“…No, I didn’t! I’m not like that!” Ye Chen was stunned, feeling as if an electric current had jolted through his body, making him blush all over.

Shen Mofeng didn’t relent. He grabbed Ye Chen by the back of the neck, leaning in to whisper another crude remark.

Ye Chen’s heart was about to explode. Ignoring all propriety, he quickly covered the old rogue’s mouth, exasperated, “Please, stop talking!”

Shen Mofeng gazed at him silently.

Ye Chen: “…”

Shen Mofeng: “…”

A few seconds later, Ye Chen suddenly understood why critics praised Shen Mofeng, saying “a single glance can speak volumes” was not just empty flattery. Flirting with one’s eyes was nothing new, and a suggestive look was commonplace, but speaking lewdly with one’s eyes made Shen Mofeng a one-of-a-kind master!

“I really didn’t do what you said,” Ye Chen, at his wit’s end, lowered his head, hiding his flushed face on Shen Mofeng’s shoulder. “Why do you bully people like this?”

Shen Mofeng, satisfied, spoke more gently than when Ye Chen had entered, though his words still carried a sting, “You asked for it, you little rascal.”

Ye Chen guessed what had triggered Shen Mofeng’s outburst and explained, “…A girl was in an awkward situation. Lending her a jacket was the right thing to do. If you were closer, you would’ve lent her yours too.”

“Lending it was right, but you looked at her and blushed. What was that about?” Shen Mofeng, in a cheerful mood, playfully tugged on Ye Chen’s ear.

Ye Chen hadn’t realized Shen Mofeng had noticed his slight reaction. Feeling guilty, he was at a loss for words.

After all, he was a pure and innocent young man, not entirely turned, at best bisexual. It was a bit difficult on a physiological level for him not to blush at all when someone as beautiful as He Zhen stood before him, drenched and soaking wet. But on a psychological level, he felt guilty, and thus, Shen Mofeng had caught him by the small braid.

“Chenchen, do you still like girls?” Shen Mofeng asked softly.

“…Yes.” Ye Chen admitted, worried that Shen Mofeng might be hurt by this. As a man, it was necessary to give his prospective boyfriend a sense of security. So, Ye Chen gritted his teeth, pressed his face against Shen Mofeng’s shoulder, and added, while faintly smoking, “Shen Ge, don’t be upset. It’s not because of my sexual orientation that I’m with you. I’ve started… to like you these past few days. I like you as a person. Other men don’t work for me anymore, and women don’t either.”

The more he spoke, the quieter his voice became.

Shen Mofeng felt as if a fire had scorched him from head to toe, his internal organs burning intensely. In a hoarse voice, he asked, “Then who works for you?”

“You,” Ye Chen squeezed his eyes shut, “only you.”

“F*ck…” Shen Mofeng couldn’t help but curse, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “After all this, you’re still stringing me along? You…”

Shen Mofeng was utterly certain, “Little rascal!”

Ye Chen gritted his teeth, his temples throbbing. “Even if I’m stringing you along, haven’t you already done everything you wanted to?”

Before officially dating, he had a small goal: to earn more than a billion!

Moreover, the pure and innocent Ye Chen thought that there wasn’t much difference between officially dating and not. It was mostly a change in mindset. What had he refused Shen Mofeng recently? To be honest, this hardly counted as “stringing him along” anymore…

“Me? What have I done?” Shen Mofeng was stunned, his eyes wide with disbelief.

Ye Chen also widened his eyes, daringly saying, “Are you experiencing memory loss?”

Shen Mofeng, amused and exasperated, incredulously said, “I’ve only kissed you a few times and slept next to you a few nights with a blanket in between!”

Ye Chen went mad, “Isn’t that enough? Just in these few days, what else do you want to do?”

Isn’t that what early stages of dating are about?!

“I… I want to do a lot more with you, at least a hundred things, step by step. Right now, it’s not convenient. Do you think… if you had formally agreed to be with me that day, I’d still be indulging you like this?”

Not agreeing too quickly was indeed the right decision, Ye Chen thought, feeling a lingering fear.

Otherwise, he might have already died of embarrassment by now…

Moreover…

A hundred things!

Isn’t it basically just that? How could there be a hundred different things?! Ye Chen couldn’t think of that many variations even if he tried.

Ye Chen silently gritted his teeth, “…”

What kind of rogue is my Shen Ge?!

“Forget it, let’s not talk about this for now.” Rather than aiming too high and expecting big things, it was better to start small. Shen Mofeng looked Ye Chen over and said, “Anyway, you’ve made your prospective boyfriend unhappy today. How will you make up for it?”

Ye Chen lowered his head, “You tell me.”

So two hours later…

Ye Chen curled up in his bed, the sleeves of his pajamas covering his hands, and his pants were also too loose, giving him a rather rakish look.

“Shen Ge,” Ye Chen sat up, feeling restless, “I can’t sleep. Could you…”

Shen Mofeng calmly adjusted his overly large collar for him and said kindly and innocently, “You won’t be able to sleep because you changed your pajamas, are you indulging in flights of fantasy ^[1]Letting your imagination run wild.?”

“I…” Ye Chen started.

Shen Mofeng kindly suggested, “Should I help you take them off?”

“No need for that.” Ye Chen shrunk back into his blanket. His mind was filled with X-rated thoughts, making it impossible for him to focus, and he felt like digging out the Winter Velvet Flowers from the pillow to eat.

A health pillow couldn’t save an adult!

…

To fill his little girl’s small belly and give her as much good food as possible, these past few days, if Shen Mofeng woke up late, Ye Chen would sneak home in the morning to organize the divine beast cubs to go clamming.

Yes, clamming at home.

—After mastering the tidal patterns in this area, Ye Chen thought about it and felt that it was a waste to have the sea confined to a small courtyard of several hundred square meters. So he simply had Hundun Cub put away the Chaos Mark in the courtyard and found a depression in the Mountain and Sea Realm far from crops and trees, with a basin-shaped terrain. He had Hundun Cub create a larger mark to artificially create a small ocean without any restrictions. As a result, when the tide rose every day, the sea water would carry various types of seafood such as clams, snails, and small crabs into the realm, and when the tide fell, they would leave behind a sea of seafood that looked baffled in the black humus soil. Ye Chen and the divine beast cubs came to pick them up whenever they had time, saving them the trouble of using fishing nets.

Ye Chen wore rubber boots from the crew, stomping on the mud mixed with seawater, making popping sounds, picking up a large starfish from the ground, and digging out a sea snail from the mud, throwing them into the basin.

The divine beast cubs also carried small buckets and dug various shellfish that liked to burrow in the mud or suddenly lifted stones to catch the startled little crabs hiding underneath.

Taotie Cub was not to be outdone, using its hooves to dig everywhere. As it dug, it found a hard-spined sea urchin.

Without hesitation, Taotie Cub swallowed the sea urchin in one bite. Its teeth were not afraid, but its tongue was uncomfortable from being pricked, so Taotie Cub spat out the sea urchin in annoyance. It lowered its head and smashed the sea urchin into a sea urchin cake with its horn, which was harder than gold and stone!

It was also a hot-tempered little Lolita.

“Tao Tao, come over here. Hou Hou Gege has something delicious!” Hou Cub had sharp eyes and was the one who found the most seafood among the divine beast cubs. He squatted by the sea with a plastic bucket filled with seafood, used his chubby hands to pick up a shell, washed off the mud and sand on top, and handed it to Taotie Cub’s mouth. Taotie Cub crunched the shell and meat together.

Hou Cub gently stroked Taotie Cub’s horn and whispered in a loving tone, “Is Hou Hou Gege the best among all divine beast cubs?”

Taotie Cub rubbed against Hou Gege with its horn, “Xi Xi.”

Qiongqi Cub wasn’t very good at finding these little things. It was difficult for him to fill the bottom of the bucket with seafood. It turned its doughy face black and threw the plastic bucket aside. When Ye Chen wasn’t paying attention, it transformed and jumped into the sea with a splash.

“Chen Chen Gege!” Hou Cub saw it and ran over, jumping and hopping to report, his rabbit ears bobbing up and down, “Qi Qi has gone into the sea and is going to be swallowed by a whale! Quickly catch him!”

Ye Chen’s mouth twitched. “Are you guys at it again?”

He carefully considered which words to use, hesitating, “‘Spoiling’ sounds too grown-up, but these days I’ve noticed that Tao Tao is basically a little emperor at home. The seven little brothers act like they’re in a palace drama, all competing to make delicious food for Tao Tao. Even Fenghuang, with all its pride, is willing to endure humiliation and sneak into the chicken coop to steal eggs, let alone the stubborn but soft-hearted Qiongqi. Among them, Xuanwu and Pulei are the most pitiful, each possessing the heart to spoil their younger sister, but even sneaking into the kitchen is a challenge for them. They can only slowly battle for the ‘who ranks first’ and ‘who ranks second’ in brotherly affection.”

Seven brothers spoiling to the extreme.

QQ Space doesn’t lie, Ye Chen thought.

He wasn’t too worried about Qiongqi. As the divine beast cubs grew stronger with age, Qiongqi could now single-handedly challenge the Ranyi Fish on land, let alone ordinary fish in the sea.

Sure enough, not long after, Qiongqi trotted ashore with a fat fish weighing about three pounds, dropped it in front of Tao Tao, said nothing, shook off its fur, and left, appearing calm and aloof, but actually nervous with even its wings tense.

“Xi Liu—” Tao Tao happily bounced around, disregarding the shell offered by the Hou brother, and wolfed down a sea fish.

“Xi Liu?” Is there anything delicious inside? After finishing the fish, Tao Tao peeked into the sea with her little lamb head, seeing Ye Chen catching crabs. A small cluster weighing less than two pounds silently slipped into the water.

…

In the distant Ligurian Sea, a mature sea bass was vigilantly searching for prey. It was ferocious in temperament, over a meter long, weighing over thirty pounds, a predator in this small sea area, preying on smaller fish and shrimp.

Far away, a petite creature was swimming in the water. The sea bass had never seen such a strange sea creature before, but judging by its size alone, this little thing could easily become its meal. So, relying on instinct, the sea bass swam towards the little one.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the Taotie Cub was on its first hunt and also locked onto its prey. Following its instinctual nature for battle, she buried her head deep, her curved and hardened horns facing forward. Then, mimicking the posture of a bull digging before a charge, she forcefully dug the water with her front hooves… Then, like a thunderbolt, she swiftly rushed towards the sea bass!

The sea water churned, and silver-like bubbles spiraled upwards towards the sea surface. The sea bass was hit several times by the Taotie Cub, flipping white with each hit. Along with the bubbles, it rose up, and the Taotie Cub gently grabbed its tail, paddled with all four hooves, and shot towards the shore of the Mountain and Sea Realm.

…

On the shore, everyone looked at the large sea bass dragged ashore by the Taotie Cub with complicated feelings, suddenly realizing that these days, clamming was just for fun and didn’t have much meaning!

The Taotie’s ability to eat fifty times its weight wasn’t without reason. Her strength increased proportionally with the filling of her stomach. When starving, she was just a weak and helpless little lamb, but when full, she could single-handedly kill enemies ten times her size. Ye Chen had originally planned to let her hunt on her own when she was older, but he never expected the little girl to be so bold. She hadn’t even been born for a few days and dared to sneak into the sea to catch fish on her own…

The seemingly innocent Hou Cub asked, “What about Qi Qi? Qi Qi, come see the big fish!”

However, the pretentious eldest brother Qiongqi had already slipped out of the Mountain and Sea Realm.

The author has something to say:

Qiongqi Cub: Pretentious as the wind, always by my side.

Tao Tao: Think again?

Qiongqi Cub: …Always by your side.

Shen Mofeng: You can’t hide who you are, even if you cover your mouth, the lewd talk will still flow from your eyes.

Chen Chen: Shut up, close your eyes… hold your breath. 🙂