GRMFBS CH119

Zhan Yunkai was simultaneously simmering his second and third pots of kumquat paste.
His Majesty, the Chongming Demon King’s, culinary talent was extraordinary. After just one taste of the imperfect first batch, he immediately grasped the perfect ratio and heat control. He even deduced two different recipes.

One involved mincing the kumquats finely, resulting in a paste that could be used as jam in addition to being dissolved in water. The other involved just cutting the kumquats in half and removing the seeds. This version, when cooked, had large chunks of kumquat pulp and could be eaten like candied fruit.

Before these two pots were finished, Ji Yueming returned.

Zhan Yunkai was watching the heat and stirring the pot, so his hands were temporarily occupied. Before he could call out, Zhan Yan had already jumped up and run to open the door for his mom.

“Mom! I’m back, did you miss me~”

He had recruited many demons for the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau at the cultivator conference! Zhan Yan felt he had done something great, but unfortunately, there was no one to share it with, and he certainly couldn’t tell his mother. However, his heart was soaring with excitement that he couldn’t contain, and he just wanted to bounce around in front of his mom.

Ji Yueming smiled and gave her youngest son the first hug upon returning home.

The sweet fragrance of cooked kumquats and melted rock sugar filled the room.

Zhan Yunkai finally finished the two pots. He scooped a spoonful of the large-particle kumquat paste into a small bowl, let it cool slightly, and fed it to Ji Yueming. “Try it. How’s the sweetness?”

The warm kumquat pulp burst in her mouth, presenting a wonderful combination of soft and chewy textures. Zhan Yunkai had intentionally not cooked the pulp all the way through. As her teeth met, slightly tart juice overflowed, mixing with the sweet, gelatinous paste coating the pulp’s surface, enriching the texture and flavor by more than just one level.

Ji Yueming gave him a thumbs-up. “Absolutely perfect!”

As the couple was having a sweet moment, they suddenly heard scratching at the door. They both looked over.

Earlier, Zhan Jinli had used small dried meat treats to lure Xingxing into a room and shut the door. The little foodie only realized it was trapped after finishing the treats and began to scratch at the door relentlessly. Its small, tender voice couldn’t yet produce an imposing sound, but it tried its best, meowing “Meow! Meow!” to show how angry it was.

After the kumquat paste was all jarred, Zhan Yan went to let Xingxing out.

Xingxing was very angry and started yelling at him.

What took you so long?! I was trapped in there for so long!

But it was also easy to coax. Zhan Yan just picked Xingxing up and cuddled it, and everything was fine.

Xingxing whimpered softly in his arms.

Listening to it, Zhan Yan couldn’t help but laugh. Xingxing was quite smart; it had already learned how to express itself. It had just been telling him that Zhan Jinli was bad!

Tattling! Tattling with all its might!

“Brother,” Zhan Yan said sweetly to his older brother, “let’s not hold a grudge against a little kitten. Could you please try to coax it?”

Smart kittens hold grudges, and he couldn’t let Xingxing hold a grudge against his brother forever.

Zhan Jinli started backing away as soon as Zhan Yan spoke. He retreated three steps and looked like he desperately wanted to escape.

Zhan Yan had been like this since he was little. Whenever he wanted his brother to do something, he would just speak directly with a wicked sweet smile. Outsiders who didn’t know better would think he was so innocent and cute, completely unaware that the little trickster was doing it on purpose. He clearly knew about Zhan Jinli’s problem with hearing people speak and usually communicated obediently through text, but he insisted on speaking aloud at times like these.

Zhan Jinli really wanted to run.

He was extremely reluctant to establish relations with the kitten.

But his sister blocked his path with her leg. Zhan Jinli was only a beat too slow before his sister linked arms with him.

“Oh, brother~” Zhan Suiru also smiled sweetly. “What are you hiding for? Come and sit down.”

The hair on Zhan Jinli’s arms stood on end.

His sister also almost never called him “brother,” especially in such a clingy way.

Zhan Jinli wanted to run. He tried to pull his arm away forcefully but failed to free it from his sister’s grasp.

…Was his sister really this strong?!

The siblings coordinated, and the inescapable Zhan Jinli was forced to make peace with the kitten.

Zhan Yunkai joined in the fun and made a quick version of cat food. Ji Yueming watched the excitement while tasting the other type of kumquat paste.

Zhan Jinli held the cat food that Zhan Yan had forced into his hands, his shoulders were held down on the sofa by Zhan Suiru, and an equally reluctant kitten was thrust into his arms. When Zhan Yan placed Xingxing on Zhan Jinli’s lap, it flattened its ears unhappily. But the human it liked wanted it to sit here, so it would reluctantly sit for a little while.

Just a little while, not a second more!

Xingxing wanted to run after sitting for less than ten seconds. But Zhan Jinli had already been forced to offer the cat food.

Xingxing: Gulp.

No cat could refuse Zhan Yunkai’s cat food!

Zhan Yan pressed down on his brother’s hand and gently stroked Xingxing’s back a couple of times.

Xingxing was eating its cat food. Its little ears twitched back, but it decided the food was more important and ignored the touch, continuing to eat.

After it finished eating, it wanted to run again but was held down by Zhan Yan.

Zhan Yan spoke seriously to Xingxing, “You’ve eaten the good things brother gave you, how can you still be grumpy?”

Xingxing looked at him blankly.

Zhan Yan held its little paw. “Come on, high-five. You can’t be angry anymore after this, okay?”

Zhan Suiru forcibly opened her brother’s large hand, and Zhan Yan made Xingxing’s paw press against his palm.

The man and the cat were forcibly reconciled.

Zhan Jinli had a look of someone who had lost the will to live.

So childish.

So boring.

Why did he, a dignified Ghost King, have to play such a game with a cat?

But this was his younger sister and brother.

A flash went off from across the room.

Zhan Jinli looked over.

Ji Yueming had forgotten to turn off the flash while taking a picture. After being discovered, she even asked him to smile. Zhan Yunkai simply started recording a video openly with his phone.

These were his father and mother.

The Linyuan Ghost King silently held the cat.

Forget it, forget it.

Anyway, no one knows who I am.

As long as my secret identity is secure, what does Zhan Jinli holding a cat have to do with the Linyuan Ghost King, who would rather die than own a cat?

After successfully helping his quiet, socially anxious older brother and the childish, grudge-holding foodie kitten reconcile, Zhan Yan returned to his room, satisfied.

While waiting for his boyfriend’s call, Zhan Yan caught up on the piece of gossip he hadn’t finished earlier.

After the Tie Lao Ghost King returned to Mount Chaofu this time, he found that the Wanyan Ghost King, who had originally quieted down, was causing a stir again because of the Linyuan Ghost King’s reply. He had a brief three-minute breakdown, then habitually began to clean up the mess.

The Tie Lao Ghost King and the troublesome Wanyan began their confrontation.

To enhance his presence, the short Wanyan cat-cat squatted on a rock, head held high and chest puffed out.

To achieve eye level with the Wanyan senior squatting on the rock, the Tie Lao Ghost King squatted in front of the rock.

“Who are you?” the Wanyan cat-cat asked, twitching its ears.

The Tie Lao Ghost King was taken aback. “You have amnesia again?”

The Wanyan Ghost King was shocked. “What? I have amnesia again?”

Tie Lao Ghost King: …

After a period of explaining at cross-purposes, the Tie Lao Ghost King finally managed to make Wanyan understand what was going on.

The Wanyan Ghost King didn’t have amnesia again; the damn cat simply didn’t remember him.

Because the Tie Lao Ghost King was extremely busy, he had met with the Wanyan Ghost King fewer than ten times in over twenty years, and most of those meetings were concentrated in the period just after Wanyan woke up. Their last meeting was more than a decade ago.

The Tie Lao Ghost King stared at Wanyan, staring so hard that Wanyan felt guilty. The little cat’s head turned left and right, pretending not to look at Tie Lao.

Fine, it wasn’t the first day he knew what kind of character Wanyan was.

The Tie Lao Ghost King returned to the main topic and said seriously to Wanyan, “If you cause any more trouble, I’m going on strike.”

The Wanyan cat-cat couldn’t understand what was so scary about a strike. “What does your strike have to do with me?”

Tie Lao Ghost King: “If I go on strike, there will be no one left to work on Mount Chaofu. There will be many, many tasks, and Linyuan will have to take over. If Linyuan takes over these tasks, he will be very busy. Even if you find Linyuan, he won’t have time to deal with you.”

“Impossible!” The Wanyan cat-cat was unwilling to believe it. “Will he really be that busy?”

Tie Lao Ghost King: “Do you think I have free time? How many times have you seen me in over twenty years?”

The Wanyan cat-cat thought for a moment and said with great sympathy, “You really are busy, so busy that I forgot about you.”

The Tie Lao Ghost King’s nose tingled.

To prevent the Tie Lao Ghost King from going on strike, the Wanyan cat-cat agreed not to cause trouble.

Hmph! No matter how much I protest, the Ming He won’t let me out anyway. Bad people! They are all bad people trying to stop me from finding Linyuan!

But the Tie Lao Ghost King’s defenses were broken by his chat with Wanyan.

Thinking about his past twenty-six years of hard work, busyness, and cleaning up messes, the result was that the damn Wanyan Ghost King forgot him! The Linyuan Ghost King probably didn’t have much of an impression of him either; Linyuan had run off before they could even formally meet. The Minghe Ghost King had a carefree personality and probably didn’t have much of an impression of him in her heart either.

What was he so busy for?

The Tie Lao Ghost King felt extremely bitter and went to the Minghe Ghost King to express his firm desire to resign.

The Minghe Ghost King’s clear eyes watched him quietly. Her eyes were like the gently flowing Underworld River, calm and encompassing, carrying every soul with impartiality.

“I know, it’s been hard on you all these years,” she said softly.

The Tie Lao Ghost King’s bellyful of grievances instantly deflated.

Sob, sob, sob, someone did see his contributions!

The Minghe Ghost King looked at his collapsed expression and continued, “It’s alright, you need a good rest. Let someone else handle this work.”

The Tie Lao Ghost King was soothed by the Minghe Ghost King’s tranquil voice. The long, quiet river was peaceful and calm, washing away every bit of his anxiety and fatigue. His mind felt like it was floating on the river, needing to think of nothing, just drifting along with the gentle current.

The Tie Lao Ghost King left in a state of soothing relief with the task of handing over his duties, thinking with great emotion, Ah! Senior Minghe is truly so considerate and gentle.

In the midst of his emotional moment, a large ghost holding a notebook hurried over. “Lord Tie Lao! We finally found you! Please take a look at these documents and how to handle them. They all require your seal.”

The Tie Lao Ghost King was abruptly pulled back to work. He habitually approved more than half of the documents before suddenly remembering. Wait a minute! He had already resigned!

“Don’t come to me in the future. I have already resigned. These tasks are no longer under my jurisdiction,” the Tie Lao Ghost King put down the notebook.

The large ghost asked blankly, “Ah? Not under your Lordship’s jurisdiction… then whose jurisdiction are they under?”

Tie Lao Ghost King: “Hand them over to my successor.”

The large ghost: “My Lord, then who is the successor?”

Tie Lao Ghost King: “The successor is… I haven’t found one yet.”

If he had found one, would he have been working nonstop for twenty-six years?!

The large ghost asked cautiously, “Then… before a successor is found, will you still handle these things?”

Tie Lao Ghost King: …

Damn! Why is it still me?!

Through the gossip system, Zhan Yan watched with wide eyes as the Tie Lao Ghost King was completely fooled by the Minghe Ghost King with just a few words.

So tragic, truly so tragic