GRMFBS CH217

“Yan Yan…” Gu Jiancheng was in a wonderful mood, hugging his boyfriend and refusing to let go.

Doing Rong Sui such a massive favor—now that her romance and happiness were secured, how could she have the nerve to stand in his way? Hmph, hmph~

The highest hurdle for meeting the parents was already cleared. Once they finished helping Yang Ran purge the curse of Infinite, he could continue with his plan to meet the family.

His future brother-in-law was socially anxious; he’d have to think about how to get along smoothly with someone who had severe social anxiety… Didn’t his brother-in-law run a bakery? Maybe he could run some ads for him. Well, he’d figure that out after doing some research.

He didn’t know much about Yan Yan’s parents, only that their family ran a venture capital firm. Mm… financial background and assets were very important. When he got back, he would ask Wan Shitong to help organize and tally his net worth and assets.

Sigh, they were going to be apart for so long again, he really couldn’t bear it…

Gu Jiancheng buried his head in his neck. Mm… Yan Yan’s shampoo is still green-apple scented.

“Call me when you get home.”

Zhan Yan had just scrolled to an old gossip thread: Deep Shadow had said online that he had business and ditched him, only to log off and immediately call him to act cute and spoiled.

Zhan Yan: “Hmph, hmph~”

Gu Jiancheng dawdled: “Hm? You don’t want to call me?”

“I’ll call you, I’ll call you. Hurry up and leave, if you don’t go, my brother’s going to get here.” Zhan Yan thumped his shoulder twice to push him away. If you don’t leave, I won’t be able to stop myself from settling scores with you to your face!

Gu Jiancheng actually managed to taste a faint whiff of having an illicit affair from this.

After finally sending off his clingy boyfriend, the urgent matters were basically resolved.

Zhan Yan at last found the time to seriously think this whole situation through.

Gu Jiancheng = Deep Shadow.

The boyfriend he had always thought was just an ordinary chuunibyou had turned around and become a top-tier player who had climbed out of Infinite.

So Student Xiao Gu hadn’t been an actual chuunibyou.

Just how had he struggled his way out of Infinite?

Zhan Yan remembered that he used to suffer from insomnia at night, that he always ate with solemn focus during meals, that he claimed to have no fixed residence, and that when he first arrived at school, he would sit all by himself in the corner with a deadpan expression, making everyone think he was terrifying… Once, when he accidentally knocked over a water cup, his whole body froze stiffly, his eyes dark, sunken, and hollow; after pausing for two seconds, he bent down, reaching out his bare hands to pick up the shattered porcelain shards.

Were those his aftereffects? When he sat there all alone, what was he experiencing?

A dense, fine ache welled up in Zhan Yan’s heart.

Fortunately, his aftereffects were all healed now… Zhan Yan suddenly realized something.

Didn’t the gossip threads say that Deep Shadow’s lover had healed him? Wasn’t his lover a healing-type powerhouse? And the kind with super strong information defense capabilities at that. But he didn’t know any healing-type abilities…

Scroll the melon threads, scroll the melon threads.

It really was him! So every time he was investigating Deep Shadow’s healing-type powerhouse lover, had he actually been “investigating myself”? And the reason he could never find anything was that he had used the Gossip System to give himself an ultra-strong information defense barrier?

But he truly didn’t possess healing abilities. How had Gu Jiancheng gotten better?

Because of love? Was Gu Jiancheng really that much of a love-struck fool…

What should he do? It was a little sweet. He didn’t even feel like holding a grudge over how he had just sneered “heh” at him online with the account “I Just Saved the World!” and then clung to him acting cute offline; how he had pushed Approaching Science so hard online that he had to refresh melons and clear anomalies every day, only to secretly feel aggrieved offline thinking Zhan Yan had no time to date him, suspecting his own charm wasn’t enough and he was losing his appeal; interrupting his own dates, getting jealous of himself, doubting himself, and that whole string of silly antics.

He kept scrolling through the gossip threads.

Well, well, he even thought Approaching Science was playing favorites!

Fine, fine, fine, I’ll favor you in the future too.

However… were all the points he had painstakingly hoarded completely useless now…

The big shot Deep Shadow had no need for him to hoard points to exchange for thunder talismans.

So his conscientious completion of missions and his hard work Tianshi points from Chongming Demon King (before dropping the vest), Master (before dropping the vest), Artisan (before dropping the vest), and Deep Shadow (before dropping the vest)… had all been done in vain all this time…

How was this any different from shifting points from his left hand to his right hand! Heartbreaking!

Xingxing padded over to rub against him. Seeing Zhan Yan’s expressions morph unpredictably in such a short span of time, he couldn’t fathom what on earth this human was going through inside. But seeing that he seemed down, well… Xingxing lowered his head to nuzzle him. Here, you can pet me.

Zhan Yan scooped up Xingxing and petted him: “Ooh, you really are the best.”

No one in the whole family let him have peace of mind! Student Xiao Gu didn’t either!

He had actually been dating while wrapped in such a huge vest! Even while in a relationship, he didn’t know how to tone it down, acting supercilious every day, being arrogant to everyone. One moment he was out-grinding his brother, the next he was dodging his father, and he even had an active three-party bounty on his head. How on earth was he supposed to meet the parents in the future…

Too hard, just too hard. Zhan Yan felt that being in a relationship was simply far too difficult!

Oh, right, the three-party bounty identity.

Zhan Yan immediately opened the small group chat he had just created for healing Yang Ran. Aside from himself, the group included his sister, Gu Jiancheng, Ning Xi, Da Wuyue, and Nie Ling.

The secret room in the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau capable of shielding against the power of Infinite was developed by Nie Ling, utilizing the ritual power of Da Wuyue. Yang Ran’s soul still harbored the power of Infinite, so to ensure absolute safety, his consciousness wasn’t allowed on the network for now.

This small group chat was a new platform jointly created by Nie Yu, Wan Shitong, and his sister. Everyone could trust it, but it didn’t have a private chat function.

Zhan Yan had no choice but to @ directly within it.

Approaching Science: [@Ning Xi, do you guys want to revoke Deep Shadow’s wanted poster first?]

The group had just been set up to communicate critical information, so nobody was chatting casually, and no one had muted notifications.

The moment his message was sent, everyone received the prompt.

Nie Ling: …

Nie Yu: …

Da Wuyue: “Pfft.”

You guys ask someone for help and haven’t even canceled their bounty?

Ning Xi: …She really had been too busy and clean forgot. Deep Shadow’s bounty had initially been put out to track him down, but over the years without any clues, the thing had basically become a decorative relic. Later, as Deep Shadow’s condition improved, even fewer people paid attention to it.

Ning Xi: [My apologies.]

Ning Xi: [I’ll revoke it right away.]

She first had Nie Yu cancel the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau’s wanted poster, then contacted the Myriad Demon Alliance to cancel theirs as well. As for Mount Chaofu… no need to send word to Mount Chaofu. Out of the four ghost kings on Mount Chaofu, three didn’t bother managing affairs, and the only one who did had entrusted all these “tedious mortal matters” to them long ago. Having Nie Yu revoke it all together was enough.

Zhan Yan received a private message from Gu Jiancheng on the forum.

I Just Saved the World!: [Thanks.]

The gossip thread also refreshed:

[After seeing the message in the group, Gu Jiancheng really wanted to reply “Heh.” “It makes no difference to me if you keep it up,” but after thinking it over, he held back in the end.]

Holding Xingxing, Zhan Yan: “…Pfft.”

Xingxing let out a proud “meow-meow.”

See, see? I knew it, nobody can resist the joy of stroking my fur!

Petting Xingxing, Zhan Yan started chuckling, but as he laughed, he sighed again: “Ah, Xingxing, tell me, why isn’t there a single ordinary person around me?”

His dad, his mom, his brother, and his sister weren’t ordinary people—that probability was already utterly absurd, and now even Gu Jiancheng wasn’t an ordinary person! If he bought a lottery ticket, it would be unreasonable if he didn’t hit the jackpot.

“Now you’re the only one left… you really are just an ordinary cat, right?” Zhan Yan lifted Xingxing up, looking directly into his eyes.

Xingxing couldn’t understand. What did “ordinary” or “not ordinary” mean?

“Meow?”

What’s wrong with you?

Zhan Yan was already flipping through the melon threads while swiftly conducting a simple check on Xingxing.

Oh, Xingxing was an ordinary cat his sister had picked up, but the little tag Xingxing wore was specially made by her. Because he had been disliked by all small animals back then, his sister made this specifically so small animals wearing it would be affectionate toward him.

Wuu wuu wuu, my sister is so good!

Thud, thud, thud. A knock sounded at the door.

Zhan Yan opened it.

His brother had come to pick him up and take him home.

Zhan Jinli looked at him, not speaking, not typing, and not moving.

This was the first time they met face-to-face since he found out his younger brother could deceive people; he had to take a good, hard look.

Zhan Yan lowered his head to type, then raised his head to display his phone screen, looking at him with a picture-perfect face of pure innocence. A wisp of soft curls drooped over his forehead, and the Ghost King Seal pendant his brother had gifted him swayed on the phone: “Ge, you came to pick me up! I missed you so much!”

Zhan Jinli: This was exactly how he got fooled!

Even though this kid was mischievous and loved to banter and tease him, every single time he would look at him with wide, innocent eyes. He had been tricked like this for over a decade!

Zhan Jinli reached out a hand and typed on his phone screen.

Zhan Yan obediently held up the phone screen, waiting for his brother to finish typing before turning it back to read:

“Picking you up to go home. I missed you too.”

Zhan Yan’s eyes immediately curved into a beaming smile.

Zhan Jinli entered the room, looking down to exchange glances with Xingxing, who was perched on top of the suitcase, for a few seconds.

Lift… Xingxing automatically hopped down to find Zhan Yan. Zhan Jinli switched to lifting the luggage.

Watching his brother carry the cat and backpack down the stairs, smiling the moment their eyes met, Zhan Jinli let out a sigh.

Forget it, so what if he got tricked? Let him trick him, then.

Zhan Yan got into the car with his brother, holding Xingxing and rolling down the car window.

The summer breeze carried the scent of greenery as it blew in through one side of the car window and drifted out the other.

Zhan Yan narrowed his eyes, set Xingxing on the adjacent seat, and used the small hair tie his sister gave him to tie his moderately long hair behind his head.

Ah, he hadn’t been home in so long; he missed home too.

As the car passed the intersection, Zhan Yan couldn’t help shifting slightly.

Zhan Jinli gave him a questioning look.

Zhan Yan: Well… how should he put it? He had just remembered that his brother had been caught by Ghost King Wan Yan at this very intersection, and he also remembered finding out about his sister’s “Artisan” vest after she passed this intersection, and Gu Jiancheng had dropped his vest not long after passing this intersection too.

This was a magical vest-dropping intersection!

Zhan Yan felt that in the future, he should drag everyone he knew through this intersection for a lap.

For no other reason than the sheer probability of being surrounded entirely by cloaked powerhouses—Zhan Yan felt he wouldn’t even be surprised if he ran into a few more vest-wearing monsters.

The car pulled up in front of the door, and Zhan Jinli was helping his brother unload the luggage.

Their next-door neighbor, Aunt Bai Linghui, opened her door. Seeing them, she greeted them with a beaming smile. She nodded to Zhan Jinli and hailed Zhan Yan: “You’re back, Xiao Yan! Come, Aunt Bai has freshly made pastries here, take some over.”

Xingxing had already dashed off like a streak of smoke to roll around in the yard.

Bai Linghui handed several boxes of pastries to Zhan Yan: “Oh, those two boxes of grapes your brother gave me earlier were so delicious. Can those grapes be made into raisins?”

She wanted to make pastries using raisins. Grapes with a lychee fragrance would definitely make amazing pastries. She already had new pairing ideas.

“If those grapes are made into raisins, they lose their lychee fragrance and taste just like regular raisins. But they can be made into grape juice and wine. Once the products over there are ready, I’ll bring some more over.”

Bai Linghui felt deep regret. Raisins allowed for so many varieties of pastries, but wine worked too; it could probably be used to make fermented pastries…

Bai Linghui: “Great! I saw the video of you selling grapes, it was filmed so well!”

Zhan Yan recalled the grape-selling video Luo Luoluo had edited for him: …

True social death isn’t dying before strangers, but dying socially before acquaintances.

Bai Linghui praised extravagantly: “It was filmed just like a movie!”

Zhan Yan: …That’s a bit of an exaggeration, Aunt Bai.

After listening for a bit, Zhan Yan felt something was off. He asked Aunt Bai for the video link. Once inside, he tapped open the link.

Inside was not the video Luo Luoluo had edited for him, but a mashup edit combining clips from the movie Haunted School with his grape advertising video.

In the movie, the protagonist was being chased by ghosts wailing like banshees, cornered against a wall. The camera cut, and Zhan Yan’s eerie, terrifying ghostly face instantly transformed into a bright, sunny smile: “Would you like a grape peeled by this young master’s own hands?”

Zhan Yan: …

Silly netizens really were capable of anything.

After watching the video, Zhan Yan began unpacking his luggage.

He first took out Xingxing’s cat bed and cat toys and arranged them properly, saving the little guy from scratching at the bag non-stop—those were all Lord Meow’s property!

Silently, Zhan Jinli pushed over a box of small cakes.

Zhan Yan: ?

Zhan Jinli sent a message: “Made it for you, give it a taste.”

[Zhan Jinli suspects that the reason you suddenly like eating the desserts he makes is that you are overexerting your mind and need to nourish your divine soul, but eating too much sweet food isn’t good for ordinary mortals, so he specially developed a half-sugar version of the cake for you.]

Zhan Yan was touched. His brother was so good!

Zhan Jinli watched him, his gaze serious yet expectant.

Choosing to make desserts was a matter of necessity; in the process of making food possess sufficient divine soul-nourishing effects, it would somehow turn bizarrely sweet. Desserts turning sweet was at least reasonably normal; if he cooked a pot of sweet malatang, it would truly become dark cuisine.

Ghost food required intensely rich flavors, but mortals did not. Zhan Jinli had tried very hard to lower the sweetness, unsure if it would still be useful to his brother.

Under his brother’s expectant gaze, Zhan Yan picked up a spoon, scooped up a mouthful of cake, and popped it into his mouth. His face instantly contorted.

He had forgotten that according to his brother’s standard of sweetness, half-sugar was still nowhere near a level of sweetness acceptable to humankind!